N-no. No no no no. Nnnnooo. [There's no faking that response, not by a long shot. Needs it as much as he wishes-- just at the edges of his own thoughts-- that he didn't, lifting his hands to wave off the idea entirely.] Believe me I am literally the last person that needs a reminder of how it all went down, okay.
Or-- you know, how pissed off every single person on Pandora was about it. [Like it was personal. Like every last Hyperion employee was dead set on breaking into the cardboard boxes they call homes and murdering them in their sleep.
Which: totally untrue. It's like 60/40 at least.] I just need to know if she goes all crazy, that you're going to be there to watch my back.
[ Athena exhales, the sound almost as tired as she is beginning to look. Lines wearing, edges starting to fray. Panic tore down her walls, exposed the soft core underneath, and unintentionally or not Rhys struck a hard blow. She can only compensate so much. ]
I won't let her smear you into the pavement, Rhys. [ Somewhere she made it her responsibility to keep them alive ─ Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Vaughn ─ beyond what had been outlined in the contract. ] Or sick her robot on you.
[He exhales slowly through his nose in relief, leaving only that bottled, rapidly receding guilt. Doing what's necessary, taking every open opportunity - that's how business works even outside the meeting rooms - that's how he and Vaughn secured that mining deal with a lot of knives in a couple select backs.]
[ If she knew she might understand, the tactic is painfully familiar from the days she spent as the knife Atlas plunged into many different backs. It would be hypocritical if she got angry. She lies to Springs just as easily, doing whatever is necessary to ensure she never finds out the truth.
Eyes closing she drops her head, brow furrowing in mild frustration. ]
I've...got a place, yeah. [It's admittedly not up to his standards, but it beats Pandora, if nothing else, and he can't imagine it'll take long to find some structured ladder to climb in a place as busy and needy as this.]
No yeah no-- [He wilts under the sharpness of her stare, hand going to the back of his neck at the fact that she effectively rebuffed his joke.] That...makes sense.
Yeah. [There's a lowness there in his tone, stuck between his tongue and the back of his teeth when he goes to inhale as he watches her leave, feeling out the way the last, sputtering urge to stop her die out.
Better to just be what you are anyway, right? If he's a liar, let him be a liar.]
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Or-- you know, how pissed off every single person on Pandora was about it. [Like it was personal. Like every last Hyperion employee was dead set on breaking into the cardboard boxes they call homes and murdering them in their sleep.
Which: totally untrue. It's like 60/40 at least.] I just need to know if she goes all crazy, that you're going to be there to watch my back.
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I won't let her smear you into the pavement, Rhys. [ Somewhere she made it her responsibility to keep them alive ─ Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Vaughn ─ beyond what had been outlined in the contract. ] Or sick her robot on you.
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Thanks, Athena.
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Eyes closing she drops her head, brow furrowing in mild frustration. ]
Have they provided you somewhere to stay?
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You?
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Echo the location─ [ She stops, frowning, uncrossing arms to wave a hand about the air. Right, the echo net doesn't exist here. ] Text it.
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--you're not trying to come live with me, right?
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No. But it'll be easier to find you if I know where you're staying.
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Bye Rhys. ]
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Better to just be what you are anyway, right? If he's a liar, let him be a liar.]
Later, Athena.