#I LIKEhim 😖😖😖

[absentmoon]

1K word Yes Man oneshot! Takes place in the Wild Card route :)

"Yes Man," Spade said, tapping pale fingers together absentmindedly. "Tell me again about the factions we need to... uh, get to know?"

She was in the penthouse— formally Mr. House's penthouse— reclining languidly in the chair facing her friend. Yes Man on the big screen was, well, distracting to say the least; but they weren't going to say anything. Whether he was in the mainframe or the nearby securitrons (both, in this case), Spade was probably going to be distracted regardless. Her intense crush on him was less-than-subtle according to Boone, but Boone wasn't there right now so she could pretend that she was perfectly secretive— wouldn't Yes Man had said something by now otherwise?

He hummed, bringing back Spade's sometimes-sporadic focus. "Well, we've gone over some of the nobodies around— and you're doing a great job! I really mean it!"

This securitron was going to kill them. Their eyes were drawn to the floor, instinctively ducking her head into her scarf. She never could quite handle his compliments, but that never seemed to deter him, even when she was hiding behind a shock of pink hair or her ratty old scarf.

A low laugh drawled out of Yes Man's speakers, though thankfully he moved on without comment. "Now, this is just my idea, buuut.. I think it's time we check in on some of the more... Uhm... interesting parties hanging around. Oh, but that's just me— you should do whatever you think is best!"

Spade's lips quirked up behind her scarf, long since used to Yes Man's unique way of sharing his ideas. He was smart (and she wasn't so prideful that she couldn't admit he was likely smarter than her), but his programming made it often difficult or impossible to say what he meant. "Go on, Yes Man. You know more than me here— I trust your ideas, yeah?"

"If you say so!" Yes Man said cheerily. "There are a few little troublemakers running around out in the wasteland, but the one we'll probably want to look at first is the Brotherhood of Steel."

Spade leaned forward slightly, ghosting a hand over the desk. "I've heard of them, I think. About them at least, not much in the way of specifics."

"You wouldn't have, if you hadn't specifically been asking about them," he replied. "The Brotherhood, uh... How do I put this? They have a thing about technology. Not like you, of course, they're a lot more. Explodey. About the whole deal. Not exactly big fans of securitrons— or robots in general that aren't theirs. More than a few of Mr. House's securitrons have gone missing around their area. Spooky, huh?"

"Missing?" Spade sat up in alarm, an anxious feeling curled against their chest. Sure, they had an entire securitron army, but... They still didn't like hearing about anything bad happening to any single one of them. "That's— Yeah, I want to take care of them, um. Now, preferably, rather than later."

This was concerning, to put their nerves mildly. Robots were important to them, more important than anything else; they really loved every single one they came across. And with Yes Man accompanying them, that feeling was only increased moreso. To think that an entire faction was out there, waiting to get their hands on the countless bots that Spade had grown attatched to...

It was unsettling.

"Where are they located?" Jacket, Pip-Boy, powerfist... "If they're far I'll need to get a move on." Various health supplies, snacks.. Everything seemed accounted for. "'Specially since I'll have to go on foot."

"Woah, woah, woah, courier," a whirring sounded softly behind her, and Spade turned to see Yes Man— in a securitron this time— holding up his hands in an almost comical placating motion. "We had a whole thing going on, remember? You help me see the sights, I help you fire missles at anything that stands in your way?"

Spade leaned away, a little - it was hard to think with how close he was standing. Hands fluttered anxiously around one another. "Yes Man... You make me feel safe. And I like your company more than anything else." They were being embarrassingly obvious right now. "But, this isn't— I mean, why would you want to? It's not– they're going to be targeting you the second they spot you."

Yes Man didn't respond for a second, whirring antenna gently filling the silence. That was good- that mean he was considering her words. "Because.. I want to make sure you're safe, Spades. I mean, you know my neurocomputational matrix is reuploaded several times a day— or, when I'm threatened! So, no need to worry about this securitron, right?"

Spade twisted their hands together, before taking a deep breath and grasping Yes Man's claw with a sort of tenderness that felt odd against the exceedingly strong securitron iron. "Of course I'm going to worry. You're.. Yes Man, I don't want you to get hurt at all. You're important to me. And, um..."

Yes Man tilted his head up from where he had been looking at their hands. "Go on, courier. I trust your ideas, yeah?" Though there was a teasing lilt to his voice, it was quiet, too. Genuine. Almost imperceptibly his claws tightened around her hands, just one of his nearly dwarfing hers in size; it was a gentle reminder that he could very much protect himself, that he was a literal war machine, but...

"It's just," Spade started, worrying her lip against her teeth, "I mean. You're, you always have to agree with me, you know? How do I– what if you don't actually want to go?"

He hummed as though considering, lightly brushing the back of her hands still holding his. A little shiver stole up her spine, and Spade mentally chastised themself for being flustered even in such a serious moment. "Well," he said, uncharacteristically low in voice, "that is a conundrum, isn't it? You're a little worrywart, huh, Spade?"

His spare claw came to tilt their head up from where she had begun to find the floor tiles very fascinating. "Listen, this is important. I want to be with you. Even if it's dangerous— especially if it's dangerous! And I know that you'll keep worrying about whether or not I actually want to be there," and here he brought his claw up to teasingly tap against their forehead before bringing it down to poke against her chest, "so you'll just have to trust me when I say that I mean it. 'Kay?"

A little dazed, Spade could only nod a little absentmindedly.

"Swell!" Yes Man chirped. "Now howsabout you and I get a move on, huh? We've got a faction to take care of!"

#I LIKEhim 😖😖😖 #daisy.pdf #💬 #📺.yesman #🍂♠️.august spades (fnv)