Chapter Specific Characters: Porter Gage, Allen Lee, Captain Avery, Grand Zealot Richter, High Confessor Tektis, H1-87/Skye
After a shower and breakfast the next day, Ash and Gage returned to The Island, Ash deciding to relay them right to Acadia so they could see how the fire was going. The fact that the ground was muddy and the fire was out suggested rainfall the night before had put an end to the fire before it could fully consume the building. It became quickly apparent that the fire had at least lasted long enough to draw attention because Ash and Gage's sudden appearance startled a few Far Harbor residents who had been picking through the charred remains of Acadia.
"Hey." Ash greeted casually, hearing Gage take aim behind him as the loud one from Far Harbor stomped over with his gun drawn. He had a bandage over his right ear and that made Ash feel warm and fuzzy inside even if the injury clearly hadn't taught him his lesson.
"You do this, synth?" He demanded, motioning behind himself with his head.
"You'll never believe that I didn't." Ash replied calmly, smiling behind his respirator mask.
After a second or two, the loud one narrowed his eyes, seeming to realize he either admitted to believing Ash didn't do it or proved him right. Just as he was opening his mouth to say something that would've probably gotten him shot, the voice of reason came over. Ash couldn't remember either of their damn names. Cap! He knew she was Cap. Cap came over.
"Allen, what are you- oh." She started, noticing Ash and Gage and frowning deeply. "I don't suppose you two know what happened here?" She asked, tone trying so hard not to be accusing.
"It's a long story that you really don't need all the details to, but the only human who was living here tried to burn the place down with us inside. She's the one who started the fire." Ash replied, glancing behind Cap to see how many people were rummaging through the semi-crumbling remains of Acadia. "She's dead now, though, so, y'know, wasteland justice or something." He muttered, seeing a few others. Not more than he and Gage could handle easily.
When Gage snorted out a brief clip of a laugh at Ash's comment it made him smile. Gage was usually so serious when they were dealing with people so it felt good to know he could make him crack a little. Cap and Allen seemed to notice as well, Allen's eyes narrowing at Gage but Cap's attention quickly going back to Ash.
"Suppose the reason she tried to burn it down with you two in it is one of those details I don't need?" Cap asked, frowning in a way that Ash could only describe as "disapproving grandmother". He'd never liked his grandparents on either side. Nate's had been insufferably sweet and Nora's had been stricter than both Nate and Nora combined.
Mood suddenly a bit more sour than when the whole exchange had started, Ash gave a shrug. "As the leader of the Institute, I felt it was my right to reclaim my property. She didn't appreciate that."
"The-" Cap started, getting cut off by Allen.
"I knew it!" He shouted, raising his gun and dropping dead a second later. The sound of Gage's gun going off caught the attention of everyone in the area and Ash giggled softly at the sudden escalation, not caring nearly as much as Cap did that they were all three now covered in bits of Allen's brain and skull.
If her expression was any indication, Gage's gun was now leveled on Cap. "He's been a douche since we got here." Ash hummed, sliding his hands casually into his coat's pockets. "Was he always like that, or?" He trailed off, raising an eyebrow that Cap couldn't see questioningly.
It all happened really fast after that, with Cap reaching for her gun and getting shot like Allen. Then the people down below who'd been watching tensely started drawing their weapons and Ash let out a sigh, drawing his shotgun and helping Gage clear out the dock rats pilfering Acadia. It wasn't even a minute later when everything got quiet again, the harborpeople dead now and Ash and Gage spattered with gore.
"You'd think after seeing how easy it was for you to kill the other two, they'd consider just walking away, but no, they chose to die instead." Ash muttered, shaking his head at the corpses lying in the rubble. "They always choose to die instead."
"Scavvers." Gage agreed, glancing at Ash and smiling a bit. "We're gonna go kill the rest of 'em now, ain't we?" He asked, his tone knowing.
Smiling broadly, Ash looked at Gage. "You know me so well."
"You're a "sins of the father" kinda guy. That town was doomed the moment Avery there drew her gun." Gage replied, tone distinctly lacking any judgment.
"That verse isn't about punishing the son for the sins of the father, it's the opposite." Ash informed, frowning a bit when Gage looked puzzled.
"What verse?"
"You- sins of the father, it-it's from the bible." Ash muttered, frowning more when Gage looked at him like he was crazy. "Ezekiel 18:20." He mumbled, deflating a bit when Gage just kept staring.
"Not really a bible kinda guy, boss. Didn't really take you for one either." Gage said, now sounding judgmental.
"No, I- wait, so that's just an expression, then? It just means punishing someone for something someone else did?" Ash asked, trying to keep control of the conversation.
"Well, yeah." Gage replied, shrugging.
"Huh. Good to know, I guess." Ash muttered, taking a moment to reload his shotgun.
"So, about that bible thing." Gage pressed, following Ash's lead even as he kept eyeballing the teen suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm not religious." Ash said, waving a hand dismissively at Gage. "I used to go to church with Nate every Sunday I could though. I always thought it was both amazing and incredibly stupid that an ancient book could control how so many people lived their lives."
Looking relieved, Gage laughed softly, shaking his head. "That sounds more like it. Ya had me worried for a minute there, boss."
"Don't worry, Gage, I was never a religious man." Ash said, pulling his Pip-Boy up to start plugging in the coordinates for a Far Harbor relay so they wouldn't have to walk. "The closest I'll ever get to believing in divinity is being around you."
Eye widening, Gage's face turned red but he coughed and looked away to try and hide it. "Jesus, boss, no need to get all mushy on me." He grumbled, hoping that Ash couldn't somehow hear his racing heart.
Smiling a bit to himself, Ash simply took Gage by the hand and triggered the relay. Gage could pretend to be all tough and above sweet-talk, but Ash knew otherwise, able to remember vividly every sweet word Gage had ever whispered to him during or after sex. He wasn't sure Gage was aware of half the things he ever muttered between kisses but Ash catalogued every bit of mushiness and cherished it. Gage could act all tough and pretend to be above sweet-talk, but Ash knew he lived for that sappy shit just as much as he himself did.
As soon as they arrived in Far Harbor with the usual zap of blue lightning, Ash and Gage gained an audience. Cocking his shotgun with his usual unnecessarily dramatic flair, Ash decided to skip the preamble and simply shot the first person closest to him. The docks immediately erupted into chaos but chaos was the environment Ash tended to thrive in. Gage didn't thrive in chaos so much as he was gradually getting used to that being his working environment and was acclimating, but he still did a good job of helping Ash kill everyone in Far Harbor, mostly taking out targets up on the wall surrounding the docks or down below on the lower docks.
With Ash being more suited to close-up combat and Gage being more suited to range, they complimented eachother nicely and Far Harbor was without a single living resident within ten minutes of their arrival. It always awed Ash to think about how quickly he was able to clear locations of living inhabitants. It made him really and truly feel like a force to be reckoned with.
"That was fun." Ash sighed, looking around to make sure they'd gotten everyone. "Wonder if there are any other towns on this shitty island."
"Suppose we could explore and find out." Gage said, nudging a nearby corpse with his foot before turning his attention to Ash. "Can't exactly ask the locals anymore."
"Probably shoulda thought about that." Ash mumbled, shrugging a bit and reloading his shotgun. "Something to consider for next time."
Huffing out a laugh, Gage shook his head and as he looked away from Ash, his eye was caught by some movement. "Think we mighta missed someone, boss." He mumbled, nodding his head in the direction he'd seen the movement.
"Oh, fantastic! We can ask them about other towns." Ash said happily, walking in the direction Gage had indicated and breaking into a sprint when the person who'd been trying to hide started to run. For running in four-inch tall heels, Ash was pretty fast and furthermore, he had a distinct habit of never giving a single fuck about anything and so simply tackled the person when he got close enough rather than trying to catch up to them.
They both hit the ground and rolled a bit due to the momentum and the person ended up on top. Just as they were going to get off of Ash, a bullet whizzed past their head from behind them and Ash grinned. "That was a warning. He won't miss again." He said, actually getting a good look at the person and realizing he recognized the kind of clothes they were wearing.
"Get up nice and slow." Gage called from a ways behind them, his gun cocking threateningly when the person hesitated.
They quickly put their hands up and slowly got off of Ash. He heard Gage coming closer and sat up, flicking on his Pip-Boy light in order to cut through the gloom of the fog all around and get a better look at the rags the person was dressed in. "I've seen clothes like that before." Ash said, looking up at the person from his spot on the ground. "I came across a whole group of people wearing them once."
"Then you came across a group of Atom's children." The person said, surprisingly calm for someone being held at gunpoint. "Your eyes glow with the gift of Atom."
Shooting Gage a look over the person's shoulder, Ash got up, taking a moment to brush off his clothes before putting a hand on his hip. "You think so, huh?"
Nodding, the person slowly put their hands down, looking at Ash with what he could only describe as great interest. "Are you the one who burned down Acadia?"
"More or less." Ash answered, tilting his head a bit. "Why? You here to avenge them or some shit?"
"Certainly not." The person scoffed, tilting their chin up almost indignantly. "We saw the fire and I was sent to investigate. I arrived in time to see you two slaughter this village of heretics." At that, Ash raised an eyebrow, suddenly very interested in this person. "I thought you were simply two exceptionally powerful trappers, but now that I see you've been blessed by Atom, I believe differently."
"Wait, so, you're like from a religion?" Ash asked, his curious tone making Gage raise an eyebrow at him.
"I am a Child of Atom and you, I believe, are a messenger sent by the divine glow to cleanse this island of the heretics who would reject the holy fog."
When Ash's eyes started to glow even brighter than they had been, Gage felt a glimmer of hope. Then Ash opened his mouth and it was snuffed out like an old cigarette. "You are perceptive. Atom's glow surely shines brightly within you, as well."
Straightening up, the cultist practically beamed with pride, grinning at Ash with their bleeding gums. "I think the High Confessor would be delighted to meet you, messenger."
"You may call me Ash."
"Ah, what a fitting name for a messenger of Atom." The cultist hummed, turning and looking Gage up and down briefly before frowning. "Your friend here is neither a messenger of Atom nor one of the blessed, I see."
"He is my loyal protector." Ash informed, shooting Gage a wink before the cultist looked his way again. "Where I go, he goes."
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for him to see our holy ground." The cultist said, nodding to themself and leading the way to wherever the High Confessor was.
"This is all for fun, right?" Gage whispered, keeping pace with Ash a few steps behind the cultist. "You don't really think you're a messenger of Atom or some shit?"
"Of course not." Ash responded, a grin in his voice. "But I found more people for us to kill."
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, which he realized dimly was a horribly morbid thing to do given what Ash had just said, Gage nodded a bit. "Alright. So long as I ain't losin' ya."
"I already told you, Gage, I'm not religious. I do love religious people, though." Ash muttered, putting a decidedly sinister emphasis on "love".
After a few hours of tromping through mud, ankle deep muck, and the occasional innards of some unfortunate creature looking for a meal, the group arrived at the base of the Children of Atom. Outside the actual base, there was another group and the cultist leading them held their arm out to tell them to stop. Tilting his head curiously, Ash watched the scene unfolding before them.
"Richter, please. You can't do this. We've been loyal-" A man started, getting cut off by another man, the one in charge if the other two people flanking him were any indication.
"It's Grand Zealot to you." The man, Richter, growled, calming down again a moment later. "And your dedication has come into doubt. You need to prove your faith. One of you may return to the fold, the other will return to Atom."
"Richter, this is insane! You can't expect us to-" The other man started, getting cut off when the woman standing beside him drew her gun and shot him, his words ending in a cry of pain.
Raising both eyebrows, Ash looked to their guide who looked pleased before turning his eyes back to the scene. "Will there be anything else?" The woman who'd shot the man asked.
"That'll be all, sister." Richter said, sounding pleased.
"Thank you, Grand Zealot." The woman said, nodding once before walking into the base.
When their tour guide continued forward, Ash followed them, Gage trailing behind uncertainly. "Ah, sibling, you have returned." Richter said, offering their guide a slight smile before his gaze turned to Ash and he frowned lightly. "And you've brought outsiders."
"This is Ash. He is a messenger of Atom. He holds Atom's glow within him." The guide said, looking back at Ash eagerly.
Taking that as his cue, Ash tilted his hat back and got his eyes to glow, finding he only needed to focus to make it happen instead of needing to call on mental images to get his heart racing. He knew he'd succeeded when Richter's eyes widened in surprise.
"So he does." He said lowly, coming closer and examining Ash's eyes. "Fascinating. Am I correct in assuming you're the one who burned Acadia, then?"
"Correct." Ash confirmed, fixing his hat. "I also laid waste to the heretics in Far Harbor." Richter looked to the guide for confirmation and they nodded eagerly, Richter looking impressed when he turned his eyes back on Ash.
"The High Confessor will surely want to speak with you, then."
"Delightful." Ash said, motioning for Richter to lead the way. He started to, but then the guide piped up.
"Perhaps your companion could wait outside for you, Ash." They said, looking slightly nervous. "The High Confessor has strict rules about outsiders. You are a messenger of Atom and, of course, welcome among us, but- well, your companion-"
As if he had just realized Gage was there, Richter nodded. "Yes, our sibling has a point. Your companion may only enter Atom's holy ground if he proves his faith."
"A vouch from a messenger of Atom isn't good enough?" Ash asked, not dropping the "zealoty" way he'd been speaking since deciding to go along with this shit show despite how he was now preparing to have to drop the act.
"Well, I suppose an exception could be made just this once." Richter muttered after mulling it over for a bit, glancing at Gage again before looking down at Ash. "If you truly vouch for him."
"I do." Ash said, resisting the strong urge to reach back and take Gage's hand. "His faith in Atom's almighty glow is as pure as my own, this I swear by."
"Very well." Richter said, continuing on inside and leading Ash up a ramp to the top of a pre-war nuclear submarine. When he stopped and simply stayed put, Ash stopped looking around in awe and paid attention to what was happening. Another man on top of the sub was giving a speech. Oh, this had to be good.
"-them, we will wipe Far Harbor from the island!" The man who Ash assumed was the High Confessor shouted, Ash definitely coming in a little late to whatever he was shouting about. "The people of Far Harbor need only peer out their windows to look upon the face of Atom, given form in holy fog!" Ah. Leaning a hip against the railing he was beside, Ash smiled to himself. It'd been too long since he'd gotten to hear a good seething sermon. "They are doomed, my siblings, and they know it. Yet no matter how inevitable Atom's reign in this land may be, they deny it!"
A cacophony of jeers from the congregation down below and Ash was happy his respirator mask hid so much of his face since his smile was definitely on the condescending side. "Yes! They scoff at us behind their condensers, kill our missionaries, slay those who only wish to bring them the light! No longer." He paused dramatically and Ash had to bite his lip hard to keep from snickering. "After years of skulking in the shadows like whipped dogs, our purpose is clear, the key to our victory lies within the Nucleus itself. Atom's veil will roll down its streets, holy fog cleansing the land of their heresy!"
The room erupted in cheers but only briefly before the High Confessor threw up his hands to calm everyone. "And when we are finally granted division, it will be as heroes! A new day dawns, my siblings!" The room was charged, it was practically palpable. "Glory to Atom!" The High Confessor shouted, the room echoing the words back at him in unison. Ash wanted to cry. He'd missed religious people so much. He hadn't been so entertained just from listening to someone talk since Mr. Sexy Accent.
Once the room had calmed down, the High Confessor turned only to notice the three of them standing nearby. He caught Richter's eyes and he apparently took that as his cue to start explaining. "The scout we sent to Far Harbor returned with a gift from Atom. A messenger, blessed by holy light and given the drive to cleanse Far Harbor of the heretics within."
Ash's hat was already tilted back and his eyes already glowing brightly when the High Confessor turned back to him and he looked surprised for a moment before grinning broadly. "You are blessed indeed, child. What is your name?"
"Ash." He replied, keeping the grin from his voice. "Far Harbor ran red today with the blood of the unworthy for Atom's glory."
"Atom's light is strong within you, Ash." The High Confessor said, sounding extraordinarily pleased. "Now that our enemies have all been slain, Atom's holy fog will finally be able to take this land back."
Suddenly Ash got an idea. An awful idea. Ash got a wonderful, awful idea. "Not quite, High Confessor." He said calmly, Gage, Richter, and the High Confessor all looking at him in confusion. "Atom has blessed me with one last great task. A task that I can only complete with the help of every sibling here today."
"Oh?" The High Confessor asked, raising where his eyebrow would be if he had any. "What task could possibly be so great?"
"Division." Ash breathed, the tone of his voice giving Gage the shivers. He sounded genuinely excited. Way too fucking excited. "I hold the power to detonate this great vessel of Atom's glow we stand atop but I can only do so if you think our siblings are prepared, really and truly prepared, to be divided by Atom's holy light. If you yourself are prepared."
Seeming to be taken in by Ash's conviction, the High Confessor let out a breath, his eyes wide and his skinny chest visibly moving with the pace of his heart even under all the layers he was wearing. "How will you do it? Has Atom guided you to the key?" He asked quietly, voice almost shaking.
Placing his hand on the High Confessor's shoulder, Ash squeezed lightly. "Do not question Atom's wisdom, brother, have faith instead." The High Confessor's breath hitched and Ash thought he might keel over laughing then and there.
"Of course. I will prepare our siblings. We are ready to be divided."
Nodding once, Ash released the High Confessor and left him to give the good? news to his flock, heading to the control panel inside the submarine. They were alone in the room, likely because everyone had already been gathered listening to the last sermon, so Ash finally allowed himself to let out a wicked little laugh. "Oh, this is going to be amazing." He breathed, crouching in front of the console that the launch key would get put in and examining it.
"Boss, you can't detonate this fuckin' submarine." Gage said, decidedly much less amused than Ash.
"Don't doubt me, Gage, I'm good at blowing shit up." Ash said, examining the hole the key went in and getting out the screwdriver he used to pick locks. With that and the light from his Pip-Boy, he started to poke around.
"No, I didn't mean I don't think you can, I meant please, for the love of caps, don't." Gage clarified, taking Ash by the wrist and pulling the hand with the screwdriver away from the hole he was prodding at. "This is one of those big risks I asked you specifically to stop takin'."
Frowning, Ash looked up at Gage. "It's been months since the last incident. Don't you trust me yet?" He asked softly, seeing clearly in Gage's face that he didn't.
"Not when it comes to detonatin' nuclear submarines, no." Gage admitted, sounding apologetic.
"Do you think I'd kill you if I ever got the chance, Gage?" Ash asked, taking his hand from Gage's hold and standing to look at him properly.
"Wh- no, of course not! I- oh." Gage cut off, seeing where Ash was going with his question.
"So why would I blow us both up? You're here with me and I'd never hurt you." Ash argued, his voice oddly gentle considering how excited he'd been just moments ago up top.
After a bit, Gage sighed deeply and ran a hand through his mohawk. "Damn it." He grumbled, tugging on his hair a bit in frustration before sighing again and motioning at the console angrily. "Alright, I- just this once, you hear me? No more playin' with nukes after this!"
Nodding once, Ash took the connecty bit from his Pip-Boy and started snaking it into the keyhole. "No more playing with nukes after this." He confirmed, feeling around blindly for a bit before he found the port he'd seen earlier. The connecty bit slipped in and clicked into place and Ash looked at his Pip-Boy, seeing that it had indeed linked up with the console. Grinning behind his respirator, Ash worked his magic, hacking into the submarine's console and setting it to detonate without the key after about five minutes of concentrated hacking effort. He quickly unplugged his Pip-Boy when the countdown from ten started and took Gage's hand, triggering the last set of coordinates he'd relayed to.
The flash came at six and by the time Ash and Gage arrived at Far Harbor, the blast was only two seconds away. The boom was thunderous even from so far away and the ground even shook a little. The explosion was far enough away and muffled enough by the bunker and earth surrounding the detonating sub that it didn't hurt too badly to look at it and Ash squeezed Gage's hand as he did just that, his eyes bright and breath heavy.
After a bit, Ash looked to Gage, giving his hand another squeeze to get his attention. "Thank you, Gage." He said softly, taking his respirator off to smile gently at the older man.
Finding Ash's smile hard to resist, Gage sighed, removing his own respirator so he could return the smile. "You're welcome, ya crazy little shit."
Smiling more, Ash turned back to the explosion, which was nothing more than a large smoke column now. "I think that's the second largest explosion I've ever caused." He sighed softly, wincing and jerking his hand away from Gage when his grip got too tight.
"What?" Gage asked softly, slowly looking at Ash as the younger man pouted at him and rubbed his hand.
After a moment, Ash's pout turned into an impish grin. "Oh, did I not tell you about what I did to Vault 111?" Gage clenched his jaw and raised an eyebrow at him and Ash looked away, still grinning. "I moved a bunch of barrels full of oil and gunpowder into Vault 111 and then strapped like four mini nukes together and set them off with a stick of dynamite."
"Why?" Gage shouted, turning fully to look at Ash. "What was the point?"
Shrugging, Ash had to bite back a laugh as a vein in Gage's forehead popped out a little. "The dynamite was probably the worst part of that plan. The fuse wasn't long enough. I barely made it to the surface before the elevator came rushing up from the blast." Gage opened his mouth to say something but Ash kept going like he didn't notice. "Then I almost got crushed by the elevator when it came back down from getting blown into the sky. Then I almost got swallowed by the sinkhole I created."
"How did you survive long enough to make it to Nuka-World!?" Gage demanded, glaring down at Ash.
At that, Ash paused, frowning a bit. "I genuinely don't know." He mumbled, frown growing more pronounced. "I mean, with all the shit I've gotten up to, it really doesn't make any sense."
Sighing, Gage decided to change the subject before he accidentally sent Ash spiraling. "Well, I guess I'm glad you made it this far." He said, wrapping an around Ash's shoulders.
"You guess?" Ash demanded, looking up at Gage and catching the impish grin he now wore. "Dick." He mumbled, eyes narrowed even as he was smiling.
"Ya like it." Gage mumbled back, leaning down to peck Ash on the lips.
Smiling even more, Ash nuzzled into Gage's side, sighing contently. "Yeah."
After a quick break for lunch, Ash and Gage set off again, deciding to explore. They found little of interest and no people besides the not-raiders, trappers, Ash presumed, remembering how the one Child of Atom had mentioned trappers, and ended up calling it a day by dinner time. After getting cleaned up and eating, Ash and Gage were relaxing in their room. Gage was reading on the couch and Ash was out on the balcony smoking.
As he tapped some ashes over the railing and exhaled a plume of smoke, Ash noticed one of the synths down below and felt a prickle of familiarity. He realized it was one of the synths he'd reclaimed from Acadia and suddenly remembered the exchange between H1-87 and that Acadia courser. The one where they'd used her designation and she'd called them Skye.
Humming, Ash put some commands into his Pip-Boy and walked into the room, snuffing out his cigarette in the ashtray near the balcony entrance. Gage had asked him to stop putting them out on his arm about a month ago and Ash had agreed, realizing once Gage gently told him so that it was an unhealthy habit. "It's bad enough ya smoke the damn things when you don't even like 'em, do you really need to be puttin' 'em out on yourself?" Ash supposed Gage was either persuasive or he was a sucker for those sharp hazel eyes, but the older man was really good at getting him to stop doing self-destructive things.
"H1-87 is coming in. Brace yourself." Ash warned, kissing Gage on the top of his head.
"Ugh." Gage mumbled, sinking into the couch a bit and pulling his magazine closer to his face.
Snickering softly, Ash shook his head and sat on the arm of the couch, waiting patiently until H1-87 walked into the room. "I have a question." Ash started, having learned to state his intent immediately or H1-87 would ask "you wanted to see me?" or "you called?" or something else along those lines.
"Very well." H1-87 said, hiding it as well as ever if they were annoyed.
"Yesterday that rogue courser called you Skye. What was that all about?" Ash asked, noticing how H1-87 grew tense and tilting his head a bit in interest.
"S8-49 and I were close once. She had convinced me one day to choose a human name for myself. I chose Skye." H1-87 replied stiffly, not looking at Ash but instead a spot just beyond him.
After a pause in which H1-87 only became more tense, Ash motioned for the courser to come closer. They seemed to brace themself before they did, stopping within Ash's reach. "Why are you so fucking tense?" Ash asked, frowning and poking H1-87's shoulder only to look even more confused when they almost flinched, the twitch only noticeable due to how close they were to Ash.
"Synths, coursers especially, aren't permitted to have human names. We only require a designation for identification." H1-87 replied, still extremely tense.
After staring at H1-87 for a bit, Ash cracked a grin and shook his head. "Look, I don't know if you're expecting me to be mad about it or something, but I don't give a shit that you picked out a name for yourself." He informed, eyes widening when H1-87 actually frowned at him. An emotion!
"But, we-"
"H1-87, would you like me to call you Skye from now on?" Ash interrupted, watching as H1-87 hesitated before nodding slowly.
"Affirmative." They said softly, still seeming nervous.
"Okay." Ash said, shaking his head again. "That's all I wanted to know. Dismissed, Skye." After visibly relaxing, Skye gave Ash a nod and left quickly. "Wow. That's the most emotion I've ever gotten out of them."
"Yeah." Gage muttered, sounding as surprised as Ash. A quiet moment passed as Ash fiddled with his Pip-Boy and then Gage spoke up again. "Still think synths ain't people?" He asked, his tone way too casual to actually be casual.
Smirking, Ash finalized and sent out the new code that would let the synths pick names for themselves before he fell back onto the couch, landing perfectly with his head propped against Gage's thigh. "Everyone deserves a name, Gage. I named the cat for crying out loud, why wouldn't I let the synths have names?"
Smiling a bit, Gage nodded, turning his attention to running his fingers through Ash's hair instead of reading his magazine. "Just checkin'."
"Mmhm." Ash hummed, unconvinced but closing his eyes and enjoying the petting. "I'm pretty sure you were just making sure I'm not becoming too morally upright."
Laughing guiltily, Gage gently tugged Ash's hair for busting him. "Well, I mean, if you suddenly decide you wanna be the good guy, I'm out of alot more than just a job."
Grunting lightly at the tug, Ash opened his eyes to smile at Gage. "Don't worry, I'm irredeemable and you're not going anywhere." He guaranteed, moving up to meet Gage halfway for a kiss. They parted after a moment and Ash hummed happily as Gage kept petting him. He maybe had a thing for hair. Playing with it and having his played with. It was one of the things he really liked Pickman for. When he was allowed to touch the man, he liked to pull his hair and it usually spurred Pickman on, so it worked out for both of them. Gage didn't have much hair to play with but Ash still liked touching it.
After some more comfortable silence, Gage lightly tugged on Ash's hair again, causing him to look up curiously. "How'd you get so good at actin'?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I know it wasn't your natural charm that got those zealots to embrace fiery nuclear death cuz you ain't got no natural charm. You made 'em believe you were a messenger from Atom. Hell, I almost believed it listenin' to you."
Flushing lightly, Ash looked away, a pleased smile playing his face. "I used to act in school."
"They taught you how to be a convincin' liar in pre-war schools?" Gage asked incredulously, eyebrow raised.
"No." Ash laughed, shaking his head and looking up at Gage again. "Well, actually, I guess they kinda did." He muttered, frowning a bit before shaking his head. "They used to make everyone chose a couple of classes that were more for fun than for learning. I guess so everyone didn't hate going as much. I chose drama, that's what it was called, because it was either that or band. Turns out I really like to act and I took it every year I could."
"Huh." Gage said, processing that for a bit before looking back down at Ash. "I heard the people who acted in pre-war flicks could cry on command." Ash nodded in confirmation and Gage tilted his head a bit. "Can you?"
"Yeah. You wanna see?" Ash asked, smiling when Gage nodded enthusiastically and sitting up. He turned so he was facing Gage and his face suddenly went from smiling to serious. Letting out a breath, Ash glanced up at Gage and then down and slightly away. His jaw clenched slightly and then trembled a bit as a single tear escaped his eye. Ash made a sniffling sound and wiped it away in clear frustration, swallowing thickly. More tears quickly followed behind the first and he covered his face, occasionally letting a small sob escape him as his shoulders shook lightly.
After a moment, Ash straightened up and flashed Gage a grin, his eyes slightly red from the tears and his cheeks wet but otherwise, you'd never be able to tell he'd just been "crying". "Holy shit." Gage muttered, decidedly impressed. That had been so real. Well, maybe not real, Gage had seen Ash cry, seen him break down, it looked nothing like that, but if he didn't know Ash as well as he did, he would've bought it. He would've bought as easily as those Atom nuts bought that he was one of them.
"Thank you, thank you." Ash said, bowing dramatically from his spot on the couch before scrubbing the lingering tear trails from his cheeks.
Laughing, Gage humored Ash and clapped a bit. "Did you ever have to cry in your class?"
"No." Ash said, shifting back around and laying down against Gage's thigh again. "I usually played the bad guy. They didn't do alot of crying."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Gage said, smiling down at Ash and returning his fingers to Ash's slowly thickening hair. It was getting healthier along with the rest of Ash and the frequent washing it underwent meant it was almost always so soft. They sat like that for awhile before Ash started to drift off and Gage gently convinced him to move their cuddling to the bed. Ash moved happily and the two raiders went to sleep in eachother's arms.