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‘…Excellent work. Here are the caps that I promised. Remember, the Commonwealth is an almost unlimited source for these technical documents.’
‘Mhmm, yeah, thank you,’ Nate mumbled, eager to end the conversation. He was here only for the caps, and didn’t particularly enjoy being aboard the Prydwen any longer than necessary.
‘Check every building you explore during your patrols very carefully…’ Quinlan continued, apparently not taking the hint. Nate made a sidelong glance towards MacCready, intending to roll his eyes in a ‘what a nerd…’ kind of a way – except MacCready wasn’t there.
‘Did you – did you see where my… companion went? Wasn’t he here a moment ago?’ Nate asked aloud when Quinlan was finished.
Quinlan looked up, apparently surprised that they were still talking. ‘Ah, not as such. That is, no. I haven’t. I was more concerned with the… payload you brought me.’ He gestured to his documents.
‘Right. Wandered off again,’ Nate said, and marched out of the doorway.
A quick glance up the corridor in both directions didn’t reveal his missing companion. He headed towards the mess hall, guessing that MacCready had gotten bored and sought out a drink while Nate handled the specifics. He wasn’t there.
It took several minutes of searching the ship to find him. He turned out to be standing by one of the beds in the living quarters upstairs.
‘For fuck’s sake, Mac!’ Nate called as he approached him. ‘What are you messing about at? You could at least warn me before you go wandering off.’
‘I was looking for a bathroom,’ MacCready explained, flipping through the pages of a magazine he’d apparently pilfered from some poor soul’s bedside. ‘I genuinely couldn’t find one anywhere. What do you suppose they do on this ship? Just piss straight over the side?’
‘I wouldn’t know,’ Nate said flatly. ‘But I’m all finished up here, so we can –’
‘I mean it’s got to feel pretty satisfying. Powerful, I’d guess. Takin’ a piss from such a great height. But then, isn’t the airport right below us? Wouldn’t want to soak some poor scribe minding his own business at ground level. Unless the scribes were into it, I guess, which is also pretty hot –’
‘I get the picture!’ Nate interrupted. ‘But like I said, I’m done here. We can leave, if you like. I’m sure there’s plenty of bathrooms at ground level.’
MacCready half-turned as if to follow Nate out, and paused. ‘Is this Danse’s bunk?’
‘What?’
MacCready closed the magazine and thumbed behind him. ‘Is this Paladin Danse’s bunk? That meathead tin can jock you found in some police station somewhere?’
Nate looked. It was hard to tell; all of the bunks looked the same except for one or two personal artefacts. The main thing that distinguished this one from the others was that it had a set of T-60 power armour stationed next to it. ‘I can’t be sure,’ Nate said. ‘The power armour does look like his, actually. But then, I never see him without it, so…’
MacCready was already rifling through the bedside table, looking for confirmation. ‘I was thinking that dumb magazine is the kind of thing he’d read. Aha!’ he exclaimed, pulling something out that seemed to confirm his suspicions. ‘It’s a diary,’ he grinned, brandishing it in front of Nate.
‘Have you ever… heard the words “personal boundaries”?’ Nate bemoaned in a mostly rhetorical way.
‘Ooh this is a good one,’ MacCready said excitedly, settling on a page. ‘Encountered a wasteland wanderer during my time at the Cambridge police station. He and his companion saved our hides from an attack of feral ghouls. Have been experiencing intense erotic fantasies and wet dreams about the two of them ever since, especially the handsome younger one with the long coat…’
‘Oh fuck off it obviously does not say that.’
‘You don’t know for sure.’
‘Will you leave his stuff alone?’ Nate demanded, snatching the book out of his hand and replacing it in Danse’s drawer. ‘If his power armour is here then he’s got to be nearby somewhere, and probably coming back soon. Like I said, I’ve literally never seen him out of it.’
‘So there’s a naked Danse wandering around somewhere? Pretty hot,’ MacCready concluded, now investigating the power armour.
‘I thought he was a meathead tin can jock?’
‘Nice to look at, though.’
‘Well you don’t just step into those things butt naked, you know. I’m sure he owns some actual clothes. Wherever he is, there’s no reason he’d be naked.’
‘You might be wrong there, friend. I reckon he’s taking a shower. This suit of armour is funky.’
‘Huh.’ Nate considered it. ‘I suppose he’s at ground level then. If they don’t have so much as a urinal on this ship then I doubt they have any showers hidden away. Anyway, you’ve done your snooping, you’ve had your fun, now come on, let’s go.’ He took a few steps and sensed MacCready still wasn’t following him. He reared around again. ‘Come on, we have to… what are you doing?’
MacCready wasn’t facing him – he was still standing up close against the power armour, and his body was jiggling slightly under his coat. ‘I’ll be with ya in a sec,’ he said without looking round.
‘Are you… are you jerking off?!’
‘Ahh, no. Definitely not. Cos that would be weird.’
Nate marched up to him again. ‘Oh for Christ’s sake…’
MacCready had indeed pulled his cock out of his pants and was now rapidly jerking it, pointing at Danse’s power armour. His head was tilted back slightly, his eyes closed, and he was biting the lower lip of a smirk he was wearing.
Nate let out a panicky breath, and checked behind them. ‘Could you… could you not do that? Someone might see you for fuck’s sake,’ he complained helplessly.
‘I don’t see anyone else up here,’ MacCready commented. ‘Besides, I’ll only be a minute. The kick of it is actually really getting me off.’
‘What kick? I mean, why? Literally why?’
‘I figure his gear could use a little… cosmetic upgrade. So I thought I’d be generous and leave our big sweaty soldier boy a little present for when he gets back… oh fu- uh, yeah, that’s gonna do it…’
MacCready took a step back, and no sooner had Nate realised what was about to happen than it was already happening – MacCready groaned loudly and fired a generous few comeshots directly up the front of Danse’s power armour, spattering most of the torso and leaving it dripping down the legs.
‘Or maybe a big present,’ he growled, flicking the last few drops at the armour before tucking his softening cock back into his pants and, for a final flourish, wiping his hand off on the shoulder of the thing with a loud, metallic slip-squeak.
Nate had his arms crossed. After a moment, he asked: ‘You about finished?’
‘Yep, all done,’ MacCready beamed happily.
‘You weren’t exactly subtle. He’s going to notice that when he comes back.’
‘I hope he does,’ MacCready countered, still grinning widely. ‘I can’t imagine what the look on his face will be when he comes back to find someone’s just completely let loose all over his stuff. Jeez, the thought is making me hard again…’ he added, and squeezed his cock through his trousers.
‘Alright, this time I’m not asking,’ Nate said forcefully, and grabbed MacCready by the arm. ‘We’re getting off this ship before someone comes and sees what you’ve done.’
Nate spent the short walk to the Prydwen’s entrance red-faced and trying to avoid eye contact. He marched out of the ship picking the route that took him past as few people as possible. All the while he pulled MacCready in tow, who himself was moving with less determination and more the drunken stagger of a post-orgasm high. It wasn’t until they made it out of the hatch and into open air that he let go of him again.
Nate tapped his foot impatiently while waiting for a vertibird to arrive from ground level – by chance, there weren’t any left to take the two of them down just yet – but a squire had told him there was one on its way. When it finally arrived, Nate got a nervous sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw who was on board.
‘Good to see you again, soldier,’ Danse addressed him as he hopped down from the ship. Yep, he was wearing plain clothes. That power armour had definitely been his.
‘Uh, yeah, uh, good to see you too, Danse,’ Nate stammered. Please don’t ask me please don’t ask me I’m bad at lying I’m bad at lying was running like a mantra through his head.
‘To what do we owe the pleasure? Are you thinking of heading out together? I don’t often see you alone, and you look like you could use a companion.’
‘What? Oh, no, I’m here with –’ and Nate gestured to the empty space next to him. Goddammit, MacCready had disappeared again. ‘Well, I’ve already got company. But thank you for the offer.’
‘Are you still travelling with that ex-gunner? I never knew how you could trust him. Oh, here he comes now.’
Nate looked around, and found that MacCready was indeed approaching them. His face seemed to light up with recognition when he saw Danse, which was soon replaced by an evil smirk that Danse thankfully didn’t comment upon.
‘Good to see you again, sir captain sir,’ MacCready said cockily. ‘Have a nice shower?’
Danse looked taken aback. ‘How did… you know…?’
‘Call it a lucky guess.’ MacCready turned to address Nate directly. ‘I was right, by the way. It was quite the power trip.’
Nate could only look at him confused for a moment before his eyes widened with horror, realising what MacCready was alluding to. ‘Please… tell me you didn’t.’
‘Did so. Hands-free.’
Danse interjected. ‘Did something happen? The legs of your trousers and the lower half of your coat are flecked with damp.’
‘Yeah,’ acknowledged MacCready. ‘It was windier than I’d guessed it would have been.’
Danse furrowed his brow, but thankfully seemed to assume that MacCready was winding him up, and left it at that. ‘I’d better get back to base,’ he said to Nate. ‘And be sure to let me know if you change your mind and want to patrol instead with someone a little more…’ he glanced at MacCready. ‘Well, with someone else.’
‘Hmph. Someone with dirtier armour, you mean?’ MacCready quipped as Danse started walking away.
Danse frowned. ‘My armour is kept in spotless condition at all times.’
‘Yeah, I wouldn’t be so sure about –’ MacCready started, but was pulled with a violent tug by Nate into the vertibird.
‘I’m calling it a day,’ Nate concluded as they began to descend. ‘Before you manage to start an inter-faction war with your dick.’
‘And my mouth,’ MacCready pointed out.
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Nate said with a sigh. ‘Two of your best – and worst – assets.’