"Youknow, she wasn't that clingy before, but after that incident with Macka and... Usanagi's interest in me..." he mutters aloud while in thought.
"Have you tried talking to her about it?" Tamia asks, getting a shrug from him.
"I may be willing to fight Deathclaws barehanded, but getting into that kind of discussion with her? I'd take my chances in a Tunneler hive... Naked."
"Maybe that's the problem then? Relationships are supposed to be about communication... Or something, I think I heard that once and it sounded about right...?"
"Easier than it sounds then..." he shakes his head.
The duo continues to talk until their stomachs start growling, they head off to a local restaurant and enjoy a relatively pleasant afternoon, Afton taking the time to update Tamia on recent things that'd happened in the Mojave, as well as his and House's plans for the future.
Half an hour into the discussion Afton sees someone enter the establishment and feels the urge to bury his head in the menu... Josie had walked inside with an odd expression on her face, looking around as if hunting for prey.
Quickly, she spots Tamia, as well as the, slumped over pile that could only be her boyfriend. She marches over and stands next to Afton with crossed arms, her expression slowly getting worse as he continues to duck his head.
"Er, hey Josie? Something up?" Tamia asks, confused at her friends rather awkward actions.
Josie flashes a small smile but hides it as she looks back down at Afton, "I heard you'd just gotten back and wanted to grab Afton to say hi... Seems like I shouldn't have bothered." she states.
Afton sits up and shoots her a glare, "What's with you? Can't I have dinner with a friend without my minder coming to check on me?" he asks in irritation.
"Minder?" she growls, "Maybe I wouldn't have to keep a close eye on you if you took my feelings into account! You keep making up excuses as well!"
"Your feelings? What are you even talking about?..." he glances at Tamia, "Is this about Usanagi?" he questions, remembering his talk with Tamia earlier.
Josie snorts, "Of course it is! Why was it so hard for you to see?"
"See what!? She's a colleague! What do you want me to do? Avoid every other woman to ease your nerves?"
She shakes her head, "No! That'd be stupid and crazy! I just want you to seriously take us into account when you work... Do you know how sick I felt when you and her locked yourselves away in your lab for two days? Imagine me doing the same with a guy I dated in the past!"
Afton shakes his head, "That's not the same-"
"Actually... It kinda is," Tamia adds from the side, getting the duo's attention. She looks to Afton and shrugs, "You didn't mention that part when you were explaining your troubles, Afton... I think I'd be a bit pissed as well... Why did you need to isolate yourself for two days with Doctor Usanagi anyway?" she asks, and Josie's glare felt like it was stabbing Afton in the side of his head.
Afton sighs, "It was for Anja, alright? The Cybernetic eyes we are developing were incredibly light-sensitive and needed strict and regulated conditions while we worked on them. Plus the fact we needed to see if Anja's status as a Ghoul would affect the procedure in some way... I wanted to get the project finished as soon as possible, and kinda forgot to sleep the entire time." he admits before shaking his head.
"You could have come to visit at any time though, nothing was stopping you." Afton states with crossed arms, "You're just making a big deal outta nothing."
"What do you mean 'nothing was stopping you', your AI wouldn't let me into the lab!" Josie accuses.
...
"Wait what?" he mutters with a confused look, "Glados, did you restrict Josie's access to the lab?"
"Affirmative. I wished to assist you with... What is it called, 'philandering'? I have observed that men who engage in such activities experience a higher quality of life on average." Glados newly appeared drone explains, getting dumbfounded looks for the trio.
"You what!? Is this payback for not letting you shoot the orbital laser at the NCR congress?" he questions, but Glados remains silent, electing not to incriminate herself... Unfortunately, that's all that Afton needed to... Not hear?
He releases a long sigh and sends Glados away while squeezing the bridge of his nose, "As you two can see... This is just a big misunderstanding... And no, I'm not fucking Usanagi." he states absolutely.
He then locks eyes with Josie, "Now, will you tell me why you've been acting so weird lately?"
...
Josie frowns at the question but musters up her courage after a moment, "I'm late... My monthly, I mean." she states, shocking both Tamia and Afton.
"Congratu-" Tamia starts but is interrupted by a voice next to her.
"Fuck." Afton reflexively mutters, paling slightly at Josie's hurt expression.
Josie marches out of the restaurant, but as much as Afton wants to stand and follow her out, he finds his legs simply unable to move... He hoped it was just from the shock of her announcement, otherwise he might actually be having a stroke... "Er, Tamia, is my face drooping at all?" he quietly asks...
Tamia stands with a frown and tosses her napkin on the table, ignoring the waiter who was carrying their main course, "Worry less about your face and more about your potentially pregnant girlfriend you idiot." she states as she moves to follow after Josie.
"Urgh..." Afton groans as he leans back in his chair, the waiter standing beside him with the food. "Do you want me to box this up for you?... So you can eat both meals alone in your apartment..." the man jokes, wanting to take some revenge on this lucky bastard who appeared to be playing with two women.
...
"Do you not know who I am?... Ugh," He shakes his head, "Eat it yourself... And no, you aren't getting a tip." he says as he leaves the restaurant.
Tbh, I'm not really too keen on drama, but I felt it was kinda needed here. :P
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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Once Afton leaves the restaurant, he makes a semi-half hearted attempt to find Josie and Tamia. After not finding them in their usual haunts, he finally decides to bite the bullet and ask Glados. "I know you're watching, where did they go?" he asks seemingly no one.
"Subjects designated; Tamia, and Josie, left via teleportation to an unmarked spot in Freeside." Glados states.
Afton runs a hand through his hair, "Freeside? What could they want there?..." he mutters before shaking his head, "If they want to be alone then so be it, I've got other shit to worry about." he affirms to himself while making his way back to the Think Tank.
It wasn't like he didn't care or worry about them, but, he wasn't in the best state of mind to try and console Josie either. Plus the fact he was somewhat responsible for her being upset, and he'd rather stay away until she calms down.
Plus, it wasn't like anyone would be able to mess with them, Tamia and Josie were both pretty tough, add House's protections and his absolute control over Freeside and Afton didn't think there was a safer place outside of Big Mt.
Two days pass and Afton still hadn't seen either of them, House confirmed that they were safe and just enjoying their time in the strip, so he didn't worry about them all that much. Instead, he turned his full attention to the up and coming operation that was scheduled to be due in a couple hours.
He still needed to ask Anja on which option she'd prefer to take, fortunately, she and Juan (Scorpion-Man), were already waiting in the Think Tank lobby, anxiously waiting for the procedure.
Afton cracks his neck and steps out, drawing the duo's attention as he approaches them, "Yo, Anja, Juan, you guys are early." he easily greets.
Juan squeezes Anja's hand and nods, "We just want to make sure everything goes well." he states.
Afton smiles at their closeness but continues with what he came to do, "Yeah, about that. See, there are basically three options two guys have. You've already heard the first, getting Cybernetic eyes that'll function almost the same as your old ones... Probably better if I had to make a guess? But there is another procedure I'd like you to think about..." he trails off.
"What is it, sir?" Anja timidly asks, not having expected this.
Afton shrugs, "Well, I was wondering if you'd want to participate in another experimental procedure in the works..." he holds out his wrist and presents a holographic screen detailing everything the procedure would involve. "In layman's terms, we'd essentially be moving your brain to another body, one bred and designed to your liking... There are a few issues however, the first being that I have no idea how your Ghoul brain would react to a regular human body..." he explains.
Anja has an expression of wonder written across her face, but Juan goes pale as soon as Afton mentions the procedure... "Is something wrong?" Afton asks, unsure of Juan's reaction.
"N-No... It's just... These 'bodies', how customizable would they be?" he tentatively asks.
A knowing grin makes its way onto Afton's face, "Heh, if I really wanted to, I could create the first 'Futa Girl' the wasteland has ever seen... But I doubt you'd want to go that avenue... Maybe, say, a D cup?"
...
Juan looks confused for a moment before his face goes bright red, Anja's mimicking his as he splutters in response. "No! That's not what I mean... I... Will my condition harm her... You know, if she changes bodies." he asks
"Ah..." Afton murmurs, only now remembering what he'd told Juan in the past... That his body emitted radiation and was dangerous to all but himself and any other rad resistant person he'd meet, such as ghouls and some psykers... Oh, and his condition was a complete fabrication to force him to join Bulwark? Probably wouldn't be good to tell him the truth at this point... He'd hate to have to put the kid down.
As to whether it was possible to make the clone bodies rad resistant?.... Maybe? He hadn't actually considered it before, it was possible to mutate humans, but the results were often random. Though, with clones, it didn't really matter how many you fucked up in the process.
Afton shrugs, "It's possible, but might take a while to do... I'd recommend getting the cybernetic eye implants and see how it goes... Anja, if you want to try the other procedure, just let me or Glados know, we'll get to work on making a radiation-resistant body to your specifications.
Anja eagerly nods in response. She didn't mind her ghoul body, but being able to feel everything she had when she was fully human again would be amazing... Being a Ghoul dulls a lot of sensations, especially in places that'd suffered the most necrosis... Fingers, toes... Even her nipples had slowly rotted away... Plus, she'd like to give a pleasant surprise to Juan.
The man had been very accepting of her body, but she could see that he wasn't too keen on it. She couldn't blame him, she'd hesitate if his body started rotting away as well.
"Wait, what's the third option? You only gave us two..." Juan recalls.
Afton shrugs, "Not getting the procedure and waiting for something else to pop up... Not something I'd recommend, either with Anja's lifespan."
After discussing a few more bits and pieces with them, Afton decides to lead them into the laboratory. Their operation wasn't scheduled for another couple hours or so, but he could push it forward if he wanted to.
He leads them into the observation room where Dala and Usanagi were installing some Cybernetic eyes into a blind prisoner... Though, it was Dala who'd intentionally blinded him in the first place. The man was awake for it, but couldn't feel anything due to the cocktail of drugs pumped into him.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Nazlican Erdem
Shameful69
JayJonnaJamison
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