So Justice blew my mind. I was raving at the TV. I no longer like Wray.

OoOoOoO

Rush had just been hit with a realization that rather disturbed him.

It hadn't been an easy thing to face. In fact, now that he thought about it, his subconscious had probably spent the last few weeks dragging his waking mind to this conclusion. Dragging his spitting, yowling, all hackles raised, claws out, unwilling waking mind to a sort of sudden thought.

And now that he was prey to this unwanted thought, he recognized that it was probably there to stay and would be a painful nuisance to get rid of. Nevertheless, he was a staunchly logical man, and anything could be removed. Doubtless he would have to begin immediately. It wouldn't be easy.

No one liked cutting off a hand for the sake of the body, but for the greater good-

Nicholas Rush could do almost anything for the greater good.

Somewhere along the line, and he couldn't quite identify where, he had come to think of Eli has a comrade. The word 'friend' couldn't quite be applied, and Rush had never had good luck with those anyway. And it wasn't a very good relationship, he could attest to that very well. Eli frequently annoyed him, and Rush was certain that he had done his share of returning the favor with his own cutting tongue.

If he could pin it down, he would say that it was Eli's company he minded the least, and this was probably because Eli was the only brain capable of following his train of thought. Yes, that was it.

Now, in order to prevent from tying his hands in future events where even a slight friendly affection would trip him up, he would have to attack this prequel to a feeling. He'd lost someone before, and that was a wound that still bled frequently, and he couldn't survive something like that here. People were too fragile to be counted on to live. Oh, he was well aware of how the people on Destiny reacted to his doctrine, but that was irrelevant. Rush need look no further than Eli's childish awkward attachment to the late senator's daughter to find relationships disgusting.

"Hey, got some good new for ya."

Rush jumped ever so slightly at the intrusion to his thoughts, rounding on the perpetrator with ever intention of a quick admonishment. Eli cut him off by shoving a bowl of processed food into his chest and continuing to chatter.

"So, Becker told me you hadn't been in the mess hall all day today or yesterday, and that he knew you got grumpy when you hadn't eaten, so here you are." Rush blinked, vaguely aware that perhaps he had been neglected his daily food intake, and somewhat confused that Becker would care. This train of thought had derailed his new found determination, which he then regained and stopped himself from thanking Eli.

"A spoon?" He asked rudely, looking at Eli with a blank expression. Eli looked slightly hurt, but recovered with one of his awkward smiles.

"Right, here you go."

Utensil gained, Rush was somewhat disgruntled by the fact that Eli did not immediately leave. This was not going exactly with plan. For a few moments, Rush stared at Eli, waiting for him to leave, and Eli waited, concealing a grin rather terribly.

"Well aren't you going to eat it?" Eli prodded. Rush gave a small snort, and then ate a spoonful. His eyebrows lifted and he swallowed.

"Banana." He identified, surprised.

"Isn't it cool?" Eli burst out, obviously having been waiting for the moment. "They got some flavorings now, so no more eating cardboard!"

"I suppose that has raised morale?" Rush asked, rubbing at his eyes and finding his way to a proper seat. Eli followed him, much to his disappointment.

"Yeah, definitely."

"Thank you." Rush told Eli, stiffly folding up his legs and realizing he'd been standing at the console for longer than he had intended.

"No problem." Eli answered, and then left before Rush could say anything else. The scientist swirled a spoon around his bowl. He hadn't quite stuck to the plan, and perhaps it would require a little more thought. The lines around his forehead deepened as he frowned.

There was something about Destiny that seemed to make every issue twice as problematic as it had any right to be. But it hadn't prevented him from making tough decisions before, and this was exactly the time to stop himself from entangling himself. He was the person that this ragtag group depended on.

He couldn't afford to be human.