Long Road Ahead (1x1 with Sori)

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

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• Jack nods a bit in understanding as he leans back slightly. "Well i wouldn't want to stress you out to much then, so i guess we could. To be honest they're probably about to knock me out to fix the cybernetics, maybe even fully replace them since they're, ya know, seven years old and all, so probably highly outdated. So i'll probably be out of it for a while, then loopy too." He answered, jerking a thumb to the awkwardly waiting nurse. So they might as well take a small break, especially since he'll most likely be in the medical wing for a while.

[Sori]

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Rhys glanced over at the nurse and gave them a nod before looking back to Jack. "Yeah, we can replace those for you- and once again I'm going to remind you, if you need anything at all I'm just a call away. You don't need to try hacking anything." Rhys raised an eyebrow as he teasingly said the last sentence. Depending on what Jack wanted to know, Rhys would still tell him certain things if he just asked nicely enough. He cleared his throat and told the nurse not to remove the mask if they thought they needed to- and that it was a personal privacy sort of thing. Rhys quietly waved Jack farewell and went off to shut down the lockdown and give an explanation to why they had one in the first place.

-

In the hours while he waited for Jack to wake up again, Rhys talked to Yvette and Vaughn some more. Some small talk just asking Vaughn how the Children of Helios were doing, and what his friend had been up to, and then discussing the matter of accepting Jack's money or not. Ultimately, they decided it would be worth it to take the deal, and even Yvette agreed after a lot of convincing. If Jack ended up dead somewhere along the way of getting him home it'd still be a really good amount of money for their own company's advancement.

Rhys headed down to Jack's room alone when he got the notification he'd woken up. He didn't want having Yvette and Vaughn there to immediately freak him out. Rhys greeted the guards and tapped on the door a little before opening it. As soon as he stepped in the room he did a quick scan of Jack. Cybernetics were all fixed up and improved, and he also read a little information blurb on Jack himself- which didn't have much besides a basic bio and his name and age. Rhys was older than this version of Jack, and he had to admit he found that a little funny. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he sat down in a chair next to the bed.

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

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• That medical wing was really efficient. Like, really, really efficient. Becuse when he started to awaken, he was still alittle out of it, his eyes opened slowly before blinking a few times, then slowly looking around. He of course, didn't recognise anything at first but it slowly connected so he didn't freak out. Then his attention went to the light tapping sound before see'ing the door open. Rhys' eye is doing that weird glowing thing again, but jack doesn't mention it see'ing as he's trying to get his drug-addled brain to even remember rhys name right about now. But that fails horribly. he'll just stick to his nicknames.
  
  
• "Hey princess..... I actually feel really good right now. Remind me to update helios medical system with these drugs." He mumbled with the faintest of chuckles. His eyes briefly close for a moment, momentarily going silent before speaking again. "You'd of thought locking me in a closet for two days would of been enough for her. But no, she had to completely tear apart my already dislocated shoulder when she dragged me out of there. Never healed right. Went through most of my engineering and programming training with my arm in a sling. Got tired of it after a while and designed the cybernetics that would fix the issue. Guess thats what got his attention." He mumbled, sounding just a bit sour at the end, his/him must of been Tassiter, the CEO before him and how jack very quickly rose to the ranks of Vice-president/tassiter's assistant. It also appeared in his drugged state he was much more truthful/talkative and open then he would be normally.

[Sori]

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"You're really drugged up, huh?" Rhys wasn't quite sure what Jack was talking about but he could piece some of it together. It was a person who had originally messed up Jack's shoulder- and locked him in a closet for two days? That sounded really harsh, and Rhys wondered what the circumstances were and when it had happened. It had to be a very long time ago if it was before Jack was even trained in programming/engineering. At the moment, Jack seemed pretty out of it with how what he just dumped on Rhys. The drugs probably messed with him a little- and he seemed a lot more trusting in this state. "I'm sorry, that sounds really rough. Your arm's all set for now, though."

Rhys leaned forward a little in his chair, taking a look at the clasps holding Jack's mask to his face. He swallowed. "Can I take your mask off? I'd ask you to but, uh, your arm." He made a small gesture to Jack's wrapped up shoulder; he didn't want him to strain it by moving it before the regeneration-hypo healed it completely. And like he said earlier, Rhys very much preferred Jack without the mask. "Also, I got Yvette to agree about the whole money thing." He smiled a little- hopefully Jack would be glad to hear that after the argument earlier. Maybe she only agreed thinking they'd back-stab Jack eventually and keep the money without needing to help him, but she agreed nonetheless which was good enough for Rhys.

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

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• Jack can't help but chuckle quietly at rhys question, nodding a bit in response as well. When rhys then mentions his arm after several seconds of silence, he turns his head a bit to look at said badaged arm and faintly flex his fingers. "Yeah. My mom and grandmother were real classy ladies." He mumbles with a small sigh. It takes jack a moment to realize rhys is talking again afterwards and whats being asked. Something to do with his mask? Didn't rhys tell the nurse earlier not to take it off?
  
  
• He still didn't see a problem with that, after all, he's technically dead in this timeline, so when he goes back to his own, who exactly would know? who would they even tell? Maybe in this timeline he could just... not wear it anymore, get some freedom from that. N'aw, who was he kidding. "I've still got one good hand but if you really want to. Just get the curtain first kitten." He mumbled while lifting his right hand and waving it slightly to show his still good, unbandaged hand. Then again, he was like, really drugged/out of it so it'd probably be safer too for rhys to do it.
  
  
• When he mentioned that Yvette finally agreed to the practical payments for helping him, he gave a small thumbs up before letting his hand/arm drop back down. "Good. Good." He mumbled. Now he had the urge to sit up, but with only one arm, it'd probably be pointless because rhys would no doubtedly shove him back down then scold him about aggitating his shoulder while it wasn't fully healed and things like that. He was really easy to read.

[Sori]

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His mom and grandmother-? Oh. The realization that that was who Jack was referring to when he said 'she' hit Rhys like a brick. He'd been abused by them, and Rhys felt disgusted why someone would do that to a kid. He guessed that explained why Jack didn't like confined spaces or confrontation. Rhys didn't want to pry further, but he felt really bad for Jack all of a sudden even though he tried not to let it show- he was certain Jack didn't want the pity.

"It'd be more effort for you with just one and you know it," Rhys said smugly as he stood up to close the curtain. After he was done he returned to Jack's side, leaning over to carefully undo the clasps on the mask. He gently removed it and set it aside on the table next to the bed. "There, handsome as ever." Rhys sat back down and pushed a hand through his hair. He glanced over Jack's face, eyes sticking on the scar again and his white, blind eye. Rhys really didn't know why he preferred that the mask was off- he figured he just liked seeing the more vulnerable side of a man he used to see as completely untouchable. He stopped himself from staring. Again. With a sigh he folded his hands in his lap. "Do you need anything? Food, water, I don't think you've eaten since you've been here." Now that he thought about it, Rhys hadn't either. He'd been too stressed to eat and honestly thought he might've thrown up if he tried.

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

[quote="Agent Maine(Meta)"]

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• Jack chuckled softly in response when rhys stated it'd still be to much effort. "What can i say, i like a challenge." He answered with a shrug. He can't help but feel his pulse pick up just a small bit when rhys goes for his mask and hears the distinct sound the latches make when they're unlocked. He tries not the wince or snap at rhys when its taken off. His tense mood quickly soothed however with the comment.
  
  
• Thus he offers a smile in response. "Agin, if i didn't know any better, i'd say your flirting." He hummed in amusement, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly so to be able to see rhys a bit better. When asked if he needed anything, he shrugged a bit. "Water, Water would be nice." He answered with the slightest nod of his head.

[Sori]

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Rhys shrugged and let a smirk tug at his lips. "Again, who says I'm not?" And now he was actively letting Jack know he was trying to flirt. Which may or may not be really dumb, but honestly Rhys didn't care. He might forget when the drugs wore off, anyway. Many things made Rhys wonder why he was flirting with Jack in the first place after literally everything that happened with the AI, but the reason Rhys came back to was that this was a version of Jack he used to admire a lot. The version he had a celebrity crush on back when he started working on Helios- posters and all. Except he was brought down a lot more to Rhys's level, or Rhys had been brought up to his where he even remotely had a chance of being something other than someone for Jack to use.

"Mkay, I'll be back in a second." Rhys stood and peeked outside the curtain to make sure no one would see inside when he stepped out. He scouted for the nearest water cooler and found one pretty quickly. Rhys ended up getting himself a cup of water, too, before returning. He set the cups of water down next to the mask. "Now I don't want to hurt your dignity too much, but you have to sit up to drink, obviously. And I'm pretty sure you don't want my help with that but the offer is there."

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

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• [color=00008F]"Just don't start with any pet names or anything, thts my thing."[/color] He stated playfully with the faintest of chuckles. When rhys satted he would be right back then left, he lid there until rhys returned. He was surprised rhys didn't just brought his back with a straw. It wouldn't of been the first time. He metaphorically shrugs that off as he listens to rhys tell him he needs to sit up.
  
  
• He mumbles to himself mostly but attempts to sit up. It was alittle more difficult then he expected. He huffs alittle after a second failed attempt in sitting up, thus had to look at rhys. "Yeah.. i think i'm going to have to take you up on that offer." He stated. He could usually get himself up without problems, but then again, hyperion medical wing used the slightly cheaper drugs that you get over real fast and this stuff was hell strong and lasting a while.

[Sori]

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Jack didn't seemed bothered at all by the flirting- dare he say he might have even liked it- and Rhys was probably happier about that than he should have been. Although, if no pet names meant not referring to Jack as 'handsome' when he had the chance to that was a slight disappointment. After watching Jack fail to sit up twice, Rhys quirked up an eyebrow. At the request, he stepped over to the side of Jack's injured arm, ready to help. "Don't worry, I'm going to try to be gentle." He held out cybernetic hand for Jack to grab to help pull him up and put the other hand just below Jack's shoulder to give him some support.