#noxhero

Chris had been ready to lie on the floor, as he always has even before Timothy came to stay with him, when the question comes. With the pillow tucked under his arm and the blanket slung over his shoulder, he has to turn to look behind him where Timothy’s sat at the edge of the mattress.

Why does he say “please” like Chris thinks him some kind of burden? What is it in his voice that makes Chris think that Timothy’s got no idea Chris will do anything for him?

He’s thankful for the low light, if only so Timothy might be less likely to see how warm his face has gotten. But maybe the slice of moonlight through the slit between his curtains makes it obvious when Chris swallows.

In the end, though, he murmurs a soft, “Yeah.” And then, a sheepish chuckle following, he says, “Scoot over. I don’t wanna fall on top of you or anything.”

Amidst the blare of the alarm around them, Rhys’ irritation shines through when he says, “I am trying to save precious files before Dahl screws this place from the inside-out, so if you could leave me the hell alone, that’d be fan-fucking-tastic.”

Then Rhys looks up, and his heart jumps into his throat when he sees the man standing in the doorway.

Jack? Handsome Jack? Oh, God, did I just tell Handsome Jack to--

“I-I...” He gulps. “I’m sorry, sir! It’s just-- I couldn’t let this data get lost, and-- not that I’m saying you won’t save us all, of course! It’s just always nice to have a contingency plan, and...

“And I’m totally messing this conversation up, aren’t I?”

@noxhero​ sent in ;;  “You’re scared.” // @ rias

Her first reaction was to jump like one would seeing something move from the corner of her eye, she thought for a moment like she so often did so saw the blue glitching she had been used to, about to nervously chuckle this off to herself as not enough sleep. Rias stopped what she was doing and paused. 

Turning to the individual she had seen out the corner of her eye, she now doubled back. It was a miracle the normally clumsy CEO hadn’t just fallen on her face right now, however she did back up into the wall like a terrified animal. 

Heavy breathing and though she knew it was totally impossible for it to be whom her brain was projecting it to be, she was having a hard time. She closed her eyes now trying to get that laughing and his words out of her head, until the other spoke. 

Now it was his voice but there was something different to it, she wasn’t sure on what it was exactly, maybe one would call it somewhat softer than the one she knew. Slowly her breathing while still a little panicked and obvious to her slight fear, she actually took a good look at him. 

He definitely didn’t hold himself like the original and well she could have sworn from her snooping on information for the sirens on Hyperion’s network when she was still working for them, that she had come across something about Jack and some body doubles. She was surprised to see one here, the only place she had encountered one before was a trip to Opportunity, but even then she couldn’t have been totally sure it wasn’t just Jack. 

“I-I...Bet you get that reaction a lot...I’m sorry I’m another to the pile...I just...guess it happens when he’s lived in your head awhile. I-I’m sorry...” She took a deep breathe and brushed down her waistcoat, bumping her hand past the pocketwatch like Jack’s she still wore, before she looked up to the other. 

“All right, spill.”

Amidst the sound of them cleaning out their guns and the crackle of the fire between them, Jake’s eyes find the face of the man in front of him. No way can he just call him “Jack”, right? Jack’s the annoying fuck who hired them. Jack’s the reason he’s on this piss-poor moon.

But Jake digresses. At least he’s getting money out of this shit.

In a time where infection is more or less synonymous to death, Chris decides he’s glad Timothy fell off the roof and scraped his arm on the edge of it instead of being infected by the Golgotha monster he left behind.

It’s dead now, of course. The creature has sizzled and melted atop the one-story building, no longer living after the flames used against it had eaten it up. Timothy may have fallen down for doing it, but it doesn’t make him any less badass for being able to use a flamethrower.

“You know,” Chris starts as Timothy sits in the back of his truck, his arm having been temporarily wrapped with a scrap of Chris’ own shirt when he found him, “when I radioed for backup, I didn’t think you’d be listening.”

Nor did he think Timothy would actually come after him. He’d given him a comms unit before in case Timothy ever needed anything, but Chris hadn’t counted on Timothy using it because Chris needed him.

Jake decides this is fitting, considering the key Tim had just pulled out from the toilet. After being shocked multiple times by Deadlift only earlier and just barely escaping the clutches of the New-U, Jake would love nothing more than a fucking break.

Alas, looking out into the open field and the kraggons that populate it, he supposes that isn’t in the cards if they decide to push forward.

“Look, the waystation shouldn’t be too far out.” Jake refills his revolver with bullets, clicking it back into place. “Then we’ll get the dumb car, and you can sleep while I drive us somewhere to camp.