Note: Thank you for the lovely reviews. Onwards.


So. Belle was worried about him. Which was kinda fucked up… Brock too. Which was kinda worse than fucked up. Look. Butch was a man. Butch could do whatever he damn well wanted to (and get away with it.) He could take care of himself, okay. What? He ain't a kid. So what if Sister was giving him dirty looks? Butch-man could take him, bust him up and hang him by his balls from the flight deck.

"101, it's not his balls Belle's worried about." Yeah? "It's yours." Oh. Shrap and Flak, for once, were explaining things to him properly. Shrap and he had a truce of some sort and now Butch was cutting his hair. (He was an awesome barber, alright.) All three of them were at the marketplace and chilling, sharing a bottle of vodka between them. At the other end, where Gary's Galley was, Tin Can was briefing his guards about something…river water or some shit like that. Butch ain't listening to crap, okay. And he wasn't checking Tin Can out.

"Hey man," Butch said, noting the way Lana Danvers stared at Tin Can like she was hungry. Butch took a long swig of the bottle. "My balls are the least of her problems."

"You're right. Your mouth's the bigger problem." Flak sniggered at his own joke. Shrap guffawed. As he snatched the bottle from Butch's grasp, he grinned like he just figured something out. "You like Danvers, don't you?

"Sure." Who wouldn't like a woman in tight armour and tight pants like that? Tin Can had an eyeful everyday, didn't he? "Don't ya?"

"She's loud," Shrap said. Butch chuckled. Yeah. Lana was loud. Just like Amata. Such a fucking loudmouth. She had a voice that'd beat the constant alarms they had in the Vault. "I'd hit on that if she wasn't security."

"Don't you love a challenge?" Flak asked Shrap. Shrap just shrugged. Butch could figure this out easy. Reason: Shrap hit on Lana once and she bashed him up. He chuckled before snipping off a lock of hair. After he was done, he lounged on their couch, just watching everyone go about their business. Would Knoxxie ever visit him? Not that he missed his snake brother…just …he was kinda confused right now and Knoxxie was probably the only dude out here who knew him well enough to understand.

See. Two days ago, he snuck into Tin Can's room while Tin Can was 'sleeping'. (Don't ask him. He didn't know why he was there at 2 in the fucking morning, okay.) He just slinked around quietly, not about to wake Tin Can up when a hand closed around his arm and…he jumped. Look. Butch was used to slinking around in the Vault. Usually the only people who would grab him after hours were the ones who wanted to scar his pretty face. So, when something grabbed him in the dark, he wasn't gonna just take it. He's gonna fight, dammit. He pulled back a fist and before he could smash it into a face, he was flipped over, landing like a stupid Lurk hit too many times in its face. Oh…it's on. It's SO on. With his free hand, he grabbed an ankle and his attacker fell over him as Butch twisted away. Take that, sucker. Butch felt for something …the baton that was kept hidden under the cot. He wrenched it out and was about to hit when he felt the click of a gun right under his chin. Fuck.

"Butch?" Tin Can's voice came at him. Damn, but his sleepy voice was kinda sexy in the dark. Saying his name too. "Is there…a problem?" And Tin Can's asking if there was a problem. Shit. Like hell there was a problem. Butch-man's in your fucking room at 2 in the morning.

"Damn, man." Why do you trust Butch-man so much? "Don't ya ever relax or something?"

"This is enough reason not to relax." Good point. "What are you doing here?"

"I ain't gonna slit your throat." Tin Can pulled the gun away from Butch's chin. Tin Can was truly badass. More badass than him. (Not that he'd admit aloud.) It wasn't often anyone got a step ahead of the Butch-man without being tipped off by scum like Wally. Even if it was robot or whatever, this was badass. Then Tin Can reached over and pried the baton out of his grasp. Those fingers…were human. Ain't a tin can's. And Tin Can smelled…good. Shit. Butch froze for like… three seconds (cause…well, Butch was badass too, okay) before he moved away from the closeness. He did, however, offer to pull Tin Can up, just to feel him again. Shit. Really...those were human hands. They're rough and firm and calloused. Y'know. Normal. Like his own hands. He watched Tin Can put on a shirt and switch on the lights. Butch squinted from the sudden brightness.

"Explain."

"I told ya –"

"Yes. You 'ain't a doctor'." Tin Can sucked in his lower lip. "Is there a problem?"

"This question again?"

"You didn't answer it."

"Yeah…uh…I can't sleep?" Okay. So, that was the truth. He had never been much of a sleeper. In the Vault, the best work was done in the dark after curfew. The best escapes were the same. The daytime was for everything else. The plans, the spying, the training, maybe a couple hours of shut-eye. Butch was used to staying alert most hours of the day. He rarely felt fatigue, unless he had been fighting continuously or something. Oh and…after he had been drinking.

"So, you decided to come here?" Tin Can eyed him as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You Vault kids don't make sense."

"Yeah? Well, you don't either, ti- Chief." Butch walked to the tin can gift to pick up the note. Tin Can stopped him.

"Don't –"

"Why the fuck not?"

"Not while I'm here." There. That very, very faint blush was there. Butch stilled. Shit. Tin Can was actually fretting about the note. It just made him want to read it all the more. Tin Can finally lifted his eyes to smile. "Tell you what DeLoria. Have a drink with me."

And then shit hit the fucking fan.

Okay so it didn't. And it was just purified water they were drinking while Butch carved more marks into the metal of the railing. And they weren't even talking much… just chilling, listening to the wind or whatever. For some reason, Butch wasn't really bothered by it. He was calm and warm all over. It kinda felt like he was on a date or something. (The last time he was on a date, he was sixteen and it was with Christine. He did it just to rile Wally up…When Christine found out, man, was she pissed off.) When it got light enough and Tin Can was an hour away from his shift, they walked back to Tin Can's room, where Butch snatched up the note. Tin Can made about to protest but Butch pulled him close to whisper 'Thanks for the date, Chief' hotly into his ear before 'escaping'. The look on Tin Can's face was worth it. Butch returned to the Muddy Rudder feeling triumphant all over again.

Today, though, Butch pulled out the note from his pocket. He still hadn't written a reply.

..............

B

You're the one stalking me.
Have you been checking me out?

TC

..............

See. He was confused cause Tin Can was right. (Not that he would ever fucking admit it.) Thing was…he had been stalking Tin Can AND he had been checking Tin Can out. Sure. It's cause he wanted to know if Tin Can was more human than android. Yeah. But…seriously, what would it matter? It wouldn't matter. He knew. But why the fuck did he feel like it mattered?

Fuck. Shit really hit the fucking fan, this time.

He picked up the pen lying on Flak's footlocker beside him to scribble a reply. Somehow he found himself in Tin Can's room, in front of the tin can, placing the note into it.

..............

TC

Yeah I check ya out.
You got a problem with that?

B

..............

Y'know what. Flak and Shrap were right. Both his mouth and his balls…they were the problem.