A/N: So, my laptop just crashed on me. The screen won't turn on anymore. It was working fine this morning, but now it's not. Luckily, I still have my desktop to fall back on, but that means I had to rewrite this chapter from scratch. So annoying…

Disclaimer: I own none of the following content.

Words as Feelings

January 29th, Parergon

1. Something that is an accessory to a main work or subject; embellishment.

2. Work undertaken in addition to one's principal work.


Why was he doing this again?

Agent Florida's mission was to safeguard the Alpha AI; no more, no less. All of the other idiots in this canyon were just accessories to keep up the illusion to keep him unaware of what was really going on. Interacting with them any more than necessary was pointless. So why was he leaving Church unattended in favor of Private Tucker? They weren't even talking about anything important; just Tucker talking about his life back home (which he really didn't care about) and asking him about his life (which he lied about).

Private Tucker was just a spare body in case something happened to the one Church was using. He was lazy, inattentive, and much preferred his 'extracurricular activities' to anything that actually mattered in the long run. That's why Flowers picked him for the mission; because he was the worst soldier candidate he could find. So why was he wasting time talking to him? He tried to justify it as making it look like he wasn't playing favorites, but Tucker had already called 'bullshit' on that. He did have to admit, the boy was smarter than he let on.

There was the possibility he was making sure that Tucker wasn't a spy trying to sabotage his mission, but he'd already thrown that out the window. He'd triple-checked his files for any inconsistencies and had found none. Even if there was something being hidden from him, Florida was an expert in lie detection. Tucker was completely honest with everything he did and said, even if it was often inappropriate.

He just couldn't comprehend it, but for some reason, he enjoyed talking to him. Maybe, just maybe, in all the time the three of them were together in the canyon, he'd grown attached. He scoffed to himself; since when did Agent Florida have an honest-to-goodness heart? He played the role to complete the mission, but he felt nothing.

…Right?