Long Road Ahead (1x1 with Sori)

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

----H A N D S O M E J A C K ----

• When he sees rhys shudder, he instinctively moves to take a very light hold of one of rhys' clenched hands. He listens as he finishes and nods easily. "well, i can definitely understand why now. Thought i don't get why n AI version of me would want to hurt such a pretty face. But i guess i'm glad i dealt with it in my own line then. Made Nakayama imply some modified rules that we didn't implement in the bots. Ya know, those old school rules of robotics stuff." He answered with a light shrug of his shoulders.
  
  
• "Thought i can assure your friends now that i'm nothing like that. Seeing as i'm pretty much a very different man now." He concluded with a large smile on his lips. Thought he still had yet to take his hand away from Rhys' own. Almost like he'd either forgotten it was there or didn't want to take it away.

[/quote]

[Sori]

▀▄ ʀʜʏs ▀▄

The touch relaxed Rhys a little, and when he noticed Jack wasn't letting go a blush creeped up on his cheeks. "I know you aren't like that. You're much nicer." Rhys smiled and turned his hand over so he could properly hold Jack's hand, which he hoped he was okay with. "I've actually gotten Yvette and Vaughn to ease up on you a bit by having them listen to some of the ECHOs- still don't entirely like you but they don't hate you with their entire being anymore." Rhys idly brushed his thumb over Jack's knuckles. This was really nice just holding his hand like this. Rhys hadn't had a crush this bad since Sasha- and that relationship fell apart really quickly when they tried it. He hoped that if anything came out of this it would last.

"There's another big part of the story I still gotta tell you. Kinda why I got angry about you trying to hack your ECHO, which I don't think I ever apologized for so sorry about that. I just didn't want you to use this information in your timeline since I didn't trust you enough yet then." Rhys continued telling his story, and how they stumbled across an actual Vault key. He told Jack about Gortys, what they went through to put her together- and how they ended up opening the vault of the traveler sometime after Helios fell. "Me and Fiona were the only ones to actually go in the Vault. And what was inside was- well, I can barely remember any super specific details which was an effect of the vault- but we found information on the history of the Eridians and how exactly they used Eridium."

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

----H A N D S O M E J A C K ----

• Jack lightly squeezed rhys hand, but didn't take his hand away ad rhys explained. "Rhysie. Unless you made all that information public. Me going on the echonet, would of never found out. But thats still interesting." He stated with a small chuckle, quite amused it seemed as he looked at rhys. It was still nice that rhys was sharing this with him, and now he also knew he wasn't going to be death glared at by either of rhys friends too.

[Sori]

▀▄ ʀʜʏs ▀▄

Rhys shrugged. "A lot of people know about us opening the vault. And we've been putting a lot into Eridium research so you'd probably find something about it one way or another." He laughed a little and looked down at their hands with a smile on his face. He gave Jack's hand a squeeze. Rhys kind of just wanted to sit there forever holding his hand, even if their hands might've already been a little sweaty at this point. "You know, I'm really glad you're here." Rhys looked back up at Jack- sort of wanting to kiss him. But Jack hadn't even been back for a day so it was probably a bad idea to. Didn't want to scare him off if Rhys was misreading him even though they were literally holding hands.

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

----H A N D S O M E J A C K ----

• Jack smiles, large and broad but not as predatory as it use to be at the statement. "Ya know, i'm actually quite glad to be back despite being a prisoner the first time around." He states playfully with a small chuckle. He's obviously teasing Rhys a bit with how they first met and all. They were both hot-headed idiots in their own ways. Jack ever so faintly picked up the lingering gaze, raising a brow ever so slightly. "What'cha staring at anyways there kitten? something bout my face got your interest?" He hummed curiously.

[Sori]

▀▄ ʀʜʏs ▀▄

Rhys blinked at him and was visibly flustered by the question. "Sorry, I just- you're handsome," he made a vague gesture at Jack with his free hand. "Which- you already know. It's a little distracting, actually." He sort of mumbled the last part and was mentally cringing at himself. Why did he have to be so awkward with every sort of romantic social interaction? Rhys looked away and cleared his throat, initiating a topic change to save himself from more embarrassment. "Anyway! You're not going to be basically a prisoner this time! No guards- and you can do whatever as long as you're not harassing anyone. Believe it or not we installed some actually nice guest rooms, too." Possibly because Rhys was hopeful that Jack would come back eventually. "So you'll be staying somewhere comfortable."

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

----H A N D S O M E J A C K ----

• Jack grinned in amusement when rhys stutters over his words and compliments him. Then he tries to change the subject, but he'll definitely remember that as he chuckles a bit and nodded. "About time. And i'll definitely be keeping you to that. You're probably going to be getting lot of complaints concerning me." He joked with a soft chuckle, finally forced to take his hand away so he could adjust himself and brush himself down.
  
  
• The medication was really starting to effect him thought. It was relaxing him quite a bit now that he'd stopped paying attention and fighting its effects. If he wasn't careful it was going to be like last time d he was going to fall asleep on Rhys mid-conversation practically. Not to mention he really should be getting some rest and rhys did say he'd get him a change of clothes too.

[Sori]

▀▄ ʀʜʏs ▀▄

"Maybe, but try not to give them anything to complain about." Rhys grinned, and was slightly disappointed when Jack took his hand away even though it was bound to happen. He looked pretty drowsy- probably the medication kicking in again. "Get some sleep, handsome. I'm not exactly sure when the doctors are going to let you leave, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out." He pushed himself up from the chair and brushed his fingers through his hair to fix it up a little- even though it didn't really help. "I'm going to assume you haven't had a decent meal in a while, so I'll bring you up some food in a bit, too. Also those clothes." Rhys he stepped around to the end of the bed and shot some playful finger guns at him as another thought crossed his mind. Jack would probably greatly appreciate if he brought him that picture of Angel he'd taken off his desk, so Rhys mentally added it to the list.

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

----H A N D S O M E J A C K ----

• Jack looks mused with the finger guns, chuckling faintly as he laid back. After rhys leaves, he lets out a soft breath of relief, letting his shoulders drop completely as he took a moment to inspect the mechanical leg, impressed with the craftmanship being n engineer and all before finally pulling his legs up onto the bed and laying back. He stares at the ceiling for a while, vision blurring out as he closes his eyes and is soon enough lulled into a dreamless state.
  
  
• Jack's surprised he slept the entire night without a horrid dream that startles him awake. So when he does wake at his natural time thats waaaaay to early for any normally sane functioning person. Then again, jack got up this early to get to his office before anyone else so to be fully awake and prepared for the idiots of that day/morning. Then when everything went to hell, to avoid being found and killed. so he does awaken and finds the clothes, food and something else laid out for him. Thus he sits up so to first eat the food, then change into the new clothes.
  
  
• Hmm... The shirts alittle snug but, jack's not complaining, its fresh clean clothes. so once changed and having carefully taken the IV out himself and covering the area, he checks the third item. His heart lurches from his chest, to the pit of his stomach then up to his throat. Its a picture of angel. One he lost a long time ago. He brushes his thumb over the slightly dusty glass as a smile tugs at his lips. He tucks it away for now before carefully leaving the medical bay. The halls are empty of people obviously because its still to early, but jack manages to find his way to the food hall at least. He's not going to lie if asked but the idea of coffee has his mouth watering.
  
  
• So he makes himself one cut, downs it within seconds, makes a second cup, drinks it more leisurely. By the third cup, he's grabbing a second mug to fill then heading off with a hum. It doesn't take him long to find his way to Rhys office. Its obviously been cleaned up since his tantrum three months ago. So he sets one of the mugs down on Rhys desk, then his attention is taken by a box of 'denied' projects. Projects that failed testing or never made it past the prototype stage. Thus he takes that over to the cushiony seating area to go through them, curious. Maybe he could fix the issues.

[Sori]

▀▄ ʀʜʏs ▀▄

After Rhys dropped everything off, he went back to his room to wash off all the grime from the day. The blood probably was going to leave stains on his clothes, so he just threw them out instead of even attempting to wash them. He took a shower and changed into pajamas- and Jack's sweater- afterwards. Before he went to sleep though, he headed to the dining hall to grab dinner with Yvette. He might've gotten a few judging looks on the way there since the CEO of Atlas was walking around in his pajamas and a Hyperion sweater, but it's not like anyone could tell him not to.

It probably wasn't the best place to talk about it since there were a few other scattered employees eating, but Rhys actually had the guts to tell Yvette he was crushing on Jack. "Oh really? I haven't noticed, Mr. 'I'm going to wear Jack's sweater anytime I'm remotely emotional.'" She raised her eyebrows at Rhys before taking a bite of her food. Then she tried talking him out of it- reminding him that he literally still has nightmares about the AI, and all the warnings Rhys already knew. He dismissed them and assured her this version of Jack was a completely different person. The only downside he could think of was if anyone came after Jack. Then they'd run into trouble- and Rhys would be destroyed if anything happened to him.

Rhys had a nightmare that night, even though he was hopeful that he wouldn't. Blue flickers on a monitor just to the side of him- his wrists strapped to a chair and he's unable to move as a saw blade inches closer to him. He holds his breath as it grazes his skin and he snaps awake. Rhys frantically glanced around the room before taking a few deep breaths. He was safe, that AI wasn't a problem for him anymore, everything was okay. He curled in on himself, resting his forehead on his knees. Even if he'd been having these dreams for so long, they still made him feel scared. Which he hated. He didn't need to be so scared about a part of his life that was completely over.

Since it was the middle of the night, Rhys tried to sleep again once he'd calmed himself down. A lot of good that did him. It didn't seem like that much time had passed, but the next thing he knew his alarm clock was going off. It was too loud, and Rhys pulled his pillow over his head with a groan. At least he'd see Jack today. His Jack- the good Jack.

Rhys got out of bed eventually. He put on some pinstriped pants, and even though it wasn't professional he left the sweater on since Jack said he wanted to see him in it. He went through his usual morning routine rather quickly, and checked his schedule afterward. Yada yada- some meeting in the morning and quite a large chunk of free time between that and a check in with the agriculture department. Rhys made his way up to his office, and was surprised to see Jack had made himself comfortable in a chair, flipping through a pile of rejected projects. He'd already seemed to have gone through a lot of them. "Morning, handsome. Nice to see you up out of that hospital bed." Rhys brushed his hand on Jack's shoulder as he passed him to get to his own chair. He was wearing Rhys's shirt, and that made him smile. It was a little tight on Jack but he still looked very good in it, of course.