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matt-does-stuff · 1 year

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I Want My Friend Back

I have me hear an incredibly scuffed, ooc bc of Maxson being kinda emotional, I don't like to edit things cos it takes too long I got my two homies with issues Anika Laydengardr and Elder Maxson These two mfs need to work shit out and I may or may not write abt that, all you need to know is that this stays in a hard platonic state for all eternity, mainly because I want their relationship to stay that way, and also because Maxson belongs to @h3raklion's character Matryona Smirnova and I love her too much <3

[Word count: 2400]

“So, you came.” hearing her voice, which was a hollow of the pure angelic joy it once was, it gave Maxson goosebumps. He was a fool to go alone, unannounced, despite what his knights had said she was capable of. “I was told I could find you here,” realistically, he could die here without being found for a while, “I was hoping we could talk.” He wanted to reason with her, he really did. He just wanted his friend back, that was all.

“I doubt there’s much to talk about.” The smell of oil, and freshly welded metal ran thick in the air, scents that young Arthur couldn’t stomach, “Besides, shouldn’t you be off on your airship?”

“I wanted to see you.” He looked down, “Please tell me what I did wrong… Why did you abandon me?”

“Abandon you?”

It was quiet. He could hear his own heartbeat. When they were younger, she used to make it a game of him guessing what she’d say next. But this time, he couldn’t guess. He worried she’d become lost to him, become too different from her old self.

“My family just didn’t trust a sixteen year old to be in charge.” she’d stepped out, not so he could see her, but so she could face him.

“You weren’t old enough–”

“But I’m old enough now.” he was quick to cut her off. He hated when people questioned him by his age, that’s why he made sure no one did.

“You cutting me off and ensuring that you are, indicates that you’re not.” a cold and judgemental stare was given to him, piercing straight into his soul.

“Nothing’s changed about you, Arthur, you’re not more mature, you’re just got taller and grew a beard. You are twenty. No one makes rational decisions at this age. I sure as hell know I haven’t, I took over Nuka World. I was placed in charge of three raider gangs because I killed their old boss. Why did I do it? Because I wanted power. I created extensive amounts of machines because I wanted power. That, and I was lonely. No doubt you’ve become a phenomenal leader. I just don’t see you when I think of that leader. When I think of you as a leader, I think of how it was with Sarah, I know you adored her. What you turned into was someone much more closed minded. Sarah would be disappointed in you. And my sister, who you also had a soft spot for because of their similarities, Is disappointed in you. You’re not yourself.” listening to what she had to say, he paused and thought.

“Neither are you, Anika.” he hadn’t said her name in years, it felt almost foreign to him, but it also sounded welcoming, and nostalgic. Oh how he’d missed her.

“Well then, I supposed I should go back to a previous topic. If I abandoned you, why didn’t you come looking for me?” she sounded accusatory, like he just wanted to blame her for everything.

“I…” he struggled to find the words. Seeing her made him like a child again, shy, stumbling in his words. She brought that out in him.

“You don’t know? I would maybe say it was because you were too proud to admit you needed me.” that caused him to bow his head slightly, was he really that predictable? She already knew the answer why, but she wanted him to say it, and he knew that. “I- yes. I’m sorry.” he looked down again. He knew he still wasn’t out of the woods yet, she could turn hostile at any time, which put him on edge. For the first time in his life, he felt unsure of how he felt about her.

“No use apologising, Arthur. You’ve found me now.” she gave him a small, almost reassuring smile.

“Now, you wanted to have a chat. Tea?” he stood there, stunned at her sudden change in demeanour.

He wasn’t a tea drinker, but they got over that hurdle many years ago. She knew how to make tea he liked, and he knew that, because she wanted him to enjoy what she had been growing in the nursery in the citadel. She always grew tea leaves, ever since she found the necessary seeds in an old homemakers store in Washington. Tea was a unique commodity shared by the people of the prewar world, the fact that they had been able to enjoy it fresh, it was quite lovely, actually.

It didn’t take long for the woman to guide who used to be an old friend to a kitchen, similar to the one his sentinel described in Vault one-eleven. It was practical, keeping the cooking and eating in the same room. Only a select few in the brotherhood had previously enjoyed the tea Anika grew, Maxson felt lucky to be among them. He never answered yes to her question, they just migrated to the kitchen. She knew the answer, and so did he.

“Do you remember how I liked it?” he took a seat, eyeing her carefully, though he felt he could lower his guard now, she wasn’t one to dabble in poisons. Too quick a death, she always pointed out.

“I remember you liked your berries, your tea always ended up looking more pink or red.” she gave a chuckle as she filled the kettle and set it on her stove. To ensure quality, she took immense care measuring out the ingredients. She still felt pride from when she managed to make Arthur actually enjoy some form of tea. Maxson could look past her excessive work on robots, her affiliations with raiders, because in truth, she hadn’t changed. She always spoke of wanting to become a leader herself, and govern her own people. She never specified what those people would be, but he knew all she wanted to make was a difference in the world.

“I see you got your face tattooed.” he pointed out. He rubbed his calloused fingers over his knuckles, which he soon stopped as the feeling grew unpleasant for him.

“Yeah, and before you ask, no it wasn’t because of the raiders. This was a well thought out and deeply personal decision.” he expected no less from her, she was always one for sentiment. “You always talked about the norse legends, bedtime stories your mother and sister shared with you to ease your mind. That’s why your sister was codenamed Ragnarok by Lyons. I assume the tattoo is related to that?” he was met with a nod from the woman across from him, despite her standing with her back turned to him.

“Yes. My sister, her parting statement was always telling me to raise hell. She didn’t care if it was me or my machines actually causing it. We’re a fighting family, and I don’t have many enemies, because they’re mostly dead. So I ended up with the half skull tattoo, a depiction of the Norse goddess of the underworld, Hel.” she’d begun making the tea, which flooded his mind with nostalgic memories.

“Rings true for when my sister and I fought off that deathclaw when we went on that walk, which you took credit for, then claimed you used a combat knife. A little annoyed that no one fact checked that, my Avalon and I kept our mouths shut.” a sigh came from behind her. “I’m sorry, they just began assuming all these things when we came back, seeing that I had a visible wound and you two didn’t” “Because I’m not the idiot who wandered too close to a deathclaw nest?” she chuckled with her question, the thought entertaining her. “I know, I was a fucking idiot for thinking it’d be fine. But it was better me than you, you would’ve gotten extensive amounts of discipline. They really sugar coated everything for me, huh?”

“You’re a Maxson, the last Maxson for that matter. The entire brotherhood feels they owe a debt to your family because your ancestor founded them. It’s not really a unique name, to be honest, it literally just means ‘son of Max’, and I bet there were a lot of people named Max that had sons before the war, specifically in places like Iceland where they still had that naming system. Even so, everyone turned on Roger Maxson. He wanted the Brotherhood to remain open, work alongside the people, get a perspective from everyone before taking action on who’s naughty or nice. You’re sort of there? You need to open up a bit more, and maybe don’t destroy an entire organisation who’s machines weren’t intended to leave their homes.”

“If you’re referring to the institute, they were a cancer. Who knows what they had in store for the Commonwealth.” he was quick to defend himself. “What they had in store was FEV cure, bringing back extinct species, lowering radiation levels, hell, making the wasteland more arable. Imagine farming if the soil contained more of the nutrients the plants needed. If we unified the commonwealth, there would be no threats from within. A government would be ideal, but not a military one.” she stopped herself as she brought over the tea. It smelled and looked just how he remembered.

“You always had a strong argument, you also always made nice tea.” she gave a small laugh at that. “Maybe you’re not lost to me, Arthur.” “I thought you were lost to me.”

“I could’ve been, had we not been as close as we were, growing up. Hell, I was the only person who actually wanted to be your friend. Do you still write? I remember reading what you showed me, and I loved how creative you were.” he shook his head in response. “I sadly don’t, not anymore.” “What, giving occasional orders to people and sitting around doesn’t warrant enough time to write? Or did… Did they stamp it out of you?” her question turned serious rather quickly. She always told him to keep going with his passion no matter what, she wanted to see him happy. “I suppose… Yeah, yeah they did. I haven’t written any stories since I became Elder, I don’t think.” it was a shame, really, she truly did enjoy the stories he wrote.

“Then I want you to do something for me when you get back, and I’m sure you know what that is.” his eyes met hers, he knew she was serious.

“If I can surround myself with my passion, then you can surround yourself with yours.”

“Writing isn’t like robotics, Anika.” “Isn’t it? Both involve a hefty amount of creativity, you create things, you create people, you depict them in certain ways, you’re a creator.” it was a unique choice of words, people, that word stewed in Maxson’s mind. “You referred to your machines as people, why?” “For a reason you’d hate, because they actually have personalities. They feel emotions because I wanted them to, they have their own likes and dislikes, they can discover things about themselves. I surely would’ve grown mad if they didn’t have those. How would you feel if I said your characters weren’t allowed to be individuals, because they weren’t real people?” “I suppose I’d feel- well I’d be annoyed, that’s for sure, I don’t want them to be dull or anything.” “You just answered your own question with that.” he closed his eyes and nodded.

“Now look at what you did to the railroad and the institute. Even more so, how would you feel, had I been among them and died in your crusade? Rather guilty, right?” “I suppose so.” “Then don’t act like you’re not guilty now. I know you didn’t want all those innocents to die, especially when there’s children among them, and people who were just following orders.”

“I know.” he sighed, he didn’t like to admit when he was wrong. But then again, he wasn’t talking to her as Elder Maxson, he was talking to her as Arthur.

“What’ve you been up to in Nuka World?” he asked, holding the warm mug in his hands.

“Well, I killed their overboss with the help of Ava, and I replaced him. My right hand man, Gage, I like him a lot but I’d prefer my sister in that position, however she appears to have her heart set on getting back to the brotherhood. I assure you, the only person who’s been going around and chatting up enemies of yours, is me. Avalon’s fine, don’t interrogate her, she’s just been working with the Minutemen. In fact, I do believe she was due to be promoted to Paladin? And since your previous two have both left the position vacant, surely you’ll give her that well earned position, Sarah trained her hard and she’s kept up that training.”

“I’ll see how she is, remember it’s been over four years now.” “Then maybe her collection of prewar artefacts that she plans on gifting Quinlan will help? You know he had a soft spot for her, she actually went out of her way to assist field scribes, remember that. You know he’ll vouch for her.”

Maxson sat in thought. He didn’t like this subject. He already knew Avalon would return, and what would happen. He took this time to ask the question that had been eating away at him. “What are we, Anika?” this had taken her off guard. How could she answer this? She hadn’t seen him in years, he was almost a stranger to her.

“What do you want me to be?”

“Would it be too much to ask for my friend back?” “You’ll be expecting me to give up all I’ve gained, won’t you?” she expected their rekindled friendship to come with certain conditions. “No, I just want to know that you’ll have my back when I need it.”

“Don’t worry I will. I knew you were gonna ask if we could be friends again. I could tell from the way you’re speaking to me. Because we’re not talking like grownups.”

“I get it, you have a point about me not being mature enough… Hell you were always more switched on than me. Just don’t turn your back on me for being an idiot.”

“I won’t. I know you want me to keep this conversation in confidence, hence why you came alone. Just do me a favour.” “Yes?” “Please open up to others more.” “I’ll try, Ani.”

#oc: anika laydengardr #fallout oc #fallout 4 fanfic #elder maxson #they are frens <3

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