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Cecil let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes, blocking out the clear view of the night sky. Cigarette smoke billowed out of his mouth, dissipating soon after. He took one glance down at the freshly lit cigarette, looking at it disdainfully before putting it out and leaning back against the wooden floor of the house.
He had thought that having an open roof on the third floor of the house he had built for himself would be a good idea, and it was nice to see he was right. Part of it had a roof, where he had shoved a couple of sleeping bags and cooler full of food. Didn’t want to wake up to rain drenching him, after all.
The wooden steps behind him creaked, and he didn’t bother to open his eyes. He knew who it was, after all. He heard a couple of footsteps, then a weight lying down on his right side. Weakly, he reached over and grabbed the person’s pinky with his own, feeling them turn his hand and lace their calloused fingers through his own. He waited a moment before opening his eyes and fixing them on the clear view of the Milky Way galaxy above him.
“Y’know, I was really into astronomy when I was a kid.” He mused softly. “My grandpa and I would go outside at night and try to point out the stars we could see. All the light pollution usually meant we couldn’t see anything.” He bitterly chuckled. “He’d love this view.”
“Always wanted to find one of those big fancy telescopes.” Deacon said, gently squeezing his hand. “Maybe we’ll find an intact one one of these days.”
“Maybe.”
There was a brief moment of comfortable silence before Cecil heard the sound of plastic lightly colliding with wood, and he glanced Deacon’s way. As he suspected, the shades had been cast off to the side, with Deacon’s eyes directed up at the sky. The stars reflected on his irises, giving them a childlike twinkle. Cecil gave a miniscule smile before looking back up at the sky.
“What’s that one?” Deacon asked, pointing to a random star.
“That one’s Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.”
“No, that’s you. Shining brighter than any other star.”
Cecil laughed. “You sap.”
“Hey, it’s true!” He chuckled. “What about that one?” He pointed to another star.
“That’s a planet. Venus.”
“And that one?”
“Deaks, I don’t know every star in the sky.”
“Boo. You’re just holding out on me, and you know it.”
“Oh shut it.”
Another period of silence, with Deacon scanning the sky and being enraptured in the celestial painting above his head, and Cecil deep in thought. He wouldn’t dare admit this to Deacon, but he had begun to fall into another depressed lull. With the disappearance of the Institute, thanks to him and the Railroad, he had felt a lack of purpose. Sure, he had the Minutemen to lead, and he was still a loyal agent of the Railroad, but he felt… useless. He could never do anything on his own; he always had to have help on any sort of mission. He always relied on Deacon and the others for everything, and it was destroying him inside.
Deacon wasn’t as oblivious as Cecil would have hoped; he had caught on to what was eating at him, and that was part of why he had come up in the first place. He took in a deep breath and released it before speaking again.
“So Des and I have been talking.” He began, eyes still trained on the sky. “We’re giving you a much deserved break. No Railroad missions for the next month. Preston’s also agreed to giving you a break, though the Minutemen can only spare two weeks. That means no responsibility for two weeks.”
“What? But the Minutemen need their General-” Cecil began to argue.
“To rest up. You took down the Institute almost single handedly, dude. You deserve a break.”
He sighed in frustration as he looked over at Deacon. “And what am I supposed to do in those two weeks?”
“Spend time with me? Catch up on sleep? Maybe a different kind of sleeping, too?”
“God, Deaks… Thanks.”
“Anything for my best man.”
Cecil hesitated before speaking up again.
“Deacon?”
“Hmm?”
“Why do you stick around? I mean, sure, I did help the Railroad a ton, but I almost got us caught by the Brotherhood. So many Railroad agents died because of me. Why bother sticking with a murderer?”
“I’m sorry, but when did you pull a gun on one of our own? Never. Minus that one time you had to pretend to threaten me. Cec, you didn’t cause their deaths. That was the Brotherhood, and they’re gone now.”
“I killed so many people on the Prydwen…”
“They would have happily turned on you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they did the moment Maxson suspected you.”
Cecil was silent, causing Deacon to sigh and continue speaking.
“Look, I stick around because I like you. More than I really should. More than is safe. You’re a friend, as well as… Well, you know.”
“A fuckbuddy?” Cecil muttered dryly.
“No! Christ, no.” Deacon sat up, pulling Cecil up with him. “You mean so damn much to me, you hear? I took a chance with you; I let you in. If you were just a fuckbudy, do you think I’d still be here?”
“If the sex was good, who wouldn’t stick with their fuckbuddy?”
Deacon groaned. “I was here before we started having sex. That’s not even my point!”
“Deacon…” Cecil muttered, startled at Deacon’s raised voice. “I don’t matter anymore. I don’t think I ever did…”
“Sorry, sorry for scaring you.” Deacon rested his hands on Cecil’s shoulders. “Listen to me. You matter, you matter so much to us. You’ve saved the Railroad, the Minutemen, you saved the Brotherhood from themselves, you saved the Commonwealth from the Institute. Someone who doesn’t matter couldn’t have done that.”
Cecil sighed. “I guess so…”
“Hey, chin up.” He whispered, moving Cecil’s chin up to meet his eyes. “I’m here for you; you know that, right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
Deacon smiled before leaning in and planting a kiss on his lips, moving his hand to his neck to draw him in closer. Cecil shifted over and rested himself on Deacon’s lap, one leg on each side of him. His other hand went to Cecil’s waist, bringing his torso flush up against his chest before bringing one of his hands down to his thigh. Cecil’s hands wrapped around his shoulders, with one cupping Deacon’s cheek and the other resting on the hand on his thigh.
Eventually, they parted, with Deacon going to attack Cecil’s neck in a barrage of kisses and love bites. Cecil smiled while holding back a moan, trying to tease, yet when Deacon chose to bite down particularly rough, he moaned involuntarily. Deacon chuckled.
“God, I love you.” Cecil murmured, bringing Deacon back up for another kiss.
He hummed in response, not quite ready to say the words back. Luckily for him, he had one of the most patient men in the Commonwealth on his lap.