Yielding



Yielding is an action possible in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4 where if the player character is to initiate combat with a friendly NPC, either accidentally or on purpose, they can un-initiate combat by holstering their weapon within the first 10 seconds of combat.

Characteristics
If the NPC accepts the yield, they will holster their weapon as well and go about their schedule. After the 10-second limit is up, the NPC can no longer be yielded to.

Also, after the first yield, for the next ten minutes, the NPC will not accept another yield. So if one was to attack the NPC immediately after the first yield, they will not accept another yield and will continue to attack. This is intended to stop the exploitation of the yielding action to chip NPC health away.