it’s only natural… clearly he saw me as special.

[doppleman]

Passengers: Timothy and Rhys
Location: Center Axis, near Infirmary
Date: Immediately after this.
Summary: A familiar face comes back to haunt Rhys.
Warnings: Emetophobia per Rhys 👀

[ Unfortunately for Rhys, this is one of the few occasions in recent memory where Timothy's actually had the time to prepare a little bit. You don't run screaming through a massive casino-turned-tomb for seven years without learning to value things like, oh, the helpful floor plans you're given when you wind up in a new place! So when Rhys lets slip infirmary, he realizes it's actually just as simple as a few minutes of walking and a somewhat unnerving elevator ride to get him from where he was to where he needs to be.

It also means he's had a few minutes to cool off a little and for the panic to subside, but all the same? He needs this guy to not be a problem. Maybe if he can just explain everything, it'll all be hunky dory and he can go back to what's proving to be a really nice life of not constantly getting shot at.

For a guy whose purported goal is to hide, he's not very good at it. Tim's not sure how long he's been out here pounding at a sealed door, but it's not subtle. ]

Hey, numbnuts! You with those twiggy lil legs!

[ Then again, for a guy whose purported goal is to not scare the living shit out of someone who clearly thinks he's Jack, Tim is similarly not very good at it. ]

Comments

[doppleman]

[ For a second, all Tim can do is sit there and gape like a fish, eyes shining and wide as Elpis itself. ]

That's. That's...

[ Whole thing went down. The words echo, ricocheting around the inside of his skull. Whole thing went down. Wreckage and fire, Jack's office reduced to girders and glass shards and Pandoran dust. ]

Thaaaat's FREAKING AWESOME!

[ Tim sort of pitches forward a ways toward Rhys, palms clapping sharply against the floor. ]

Hooooleee shit, I could friggin' kiss you right now—y'know, if that wasn't clearly the most inappropriate and disgusting thing that could ever happen to you, but OH MY GOD I hated that place, and all my paperwork and junk was in there, and if that's all gone in a pile of rubble, then I'm pretty sure I'm not technically a Hyperion employee anymore, so—

[ The words get cut short, choked by a well of unexpected emotion. He swallows, a thick sound, and rakes a hand through an already messy head of hair. By this point in his life, he's started to go gray—the same places Jack did. ]

Like, how even? God, I missed a hell of a lot while I was locked up in that hellhole.

[smugreport]

[ Rhys jumps like a startled cat at Tim's sudden, loud movements. His head turning sharply to look at Tim and cringe at that kiss comment.

He doesn't know what to do with himself here, how to respond to the mans unbridled joy at the news versus how he personally feels about how it all went down. A lot of people probably celebrated Helios's fall, if they weren't downright jealous that they weren't the ones to do it, but this is the first time Rhys is experiencing those effects up close.

Too close. ]

Yyyyep, yeah. You're free- or free as it gets since you're in this place now. That kinda undercuts the sentiment...

[ He's bracing himself against the wall as he tries to shimmy up it and to his feet. He...he needs to get away from everything that's happening right now. He needs to not be around what feels like the walking corpse of the man who tried to murder him. Who made him-forced him into a position where a lot of lives were lost. Who's now talking to him about it with unabated glee.

The real Jack would never, the real Jack would kill him just for being the messenger. That doesn't stop it from feeling wrong. ]

But you can at least consider any of your outstanding contracts null and void.

[ He gives a shaky thumbs up at he finally fully stands, eyes still darting around and past Tim's mug without actually meeting it. ]