"Do you really know the way to the Vaughn's facility, Gortys? Thank heavens we met you," Fiona said in a relieved tone, as the marched through the jungle. Rhys was walking the last, watching Fiona's back. Well, wasn't she behaving as if nothing happened? He was still a little light-headed, but Fiona seemed to be her usual self.
It was unsettling, he had to admit. He couldn't deny that it was easier when they thought they were alone on some abandoned planet, clinging to each other in despair and longing for safety and support. He was even doubting she would ever open herself like that if she was not sure he was the only other human left. Rhys would have called the notion bitter and humiliating if not for the feeling of her breath, her lips, her scent still lingering in his senses. It was worth it, even if she would never mention it again. He couldn't help grinning widely. It happened, no matter what came next, it did happen.
Gortys led them through the wild Pandoran flora, never ceasing her lighthearted chatter. She explained them how the Loader Bot took two spare parts of her while upgrading her, and put one part in the facility and the other one into his own core, so she could always find both. She told them how she found her robot friend and he told her to search for them, Rhys and Fiona, and how happy she was to find them together, so she didn't need to choose between them.
"And if you had to, who would you choose to find first?" Rhys asked, casting competitive glance at Fiona. If they were to resume their previous bickering relationship, he would oblige. Fiona noticed that, but only rolled her eyes, which, of course, remained unknown to the man behind her back.
"I would turn on my random number generator, and for the values lower than 0.5 go for Rhys, and for the values bigger or equal 0.5 go for Fiona." Gortys elaborated.
"So, just flip a coin?" Rhys nodded casually.
"What does that mean?" Gortys asked eagerly.
Rhys waved his arms trying to depict uncertainty. "Y'know, take a wild guess, try your luck, cast lots..."
Gortys stopped. Turning back to Fiona and tugging at her sleeve, she wondered: "What does Rhys want to say?" Those expressions were evidently not familiar to the young robot.
Fiona smiled slyly, and it looked like a bad sign to Rhys. "Don't worry too much, Gortys, Rhys has just banged his head, it'll pass. Or not." Shooting a victorious glance at him, Fiona made a small gracious nod of her head, touching her hat with two fingers. Rhys frowned.
But Gortys was too kind and caring to let it go. "Oh, Rhys, are you injured bad?" She looked at him sympathetically.
Rhys shook his head lightly, his face softened. "I'm alright, sweetie, don't worry." He replied.
An amused look appeared on Fiona's face at his choice of words. "Sweetie, huh?" She arched an eyebrow at him.
Now, she had just bumped into that one. "Yeah, like in 'sweet little thing'," Rhys answered matter-of-factly. " If nobody calls you that it doesn't mean the word became obsolete." And grinning boyishly he walked past her, silent for onc. Smooth.
It appeared to be a long journey by foot. They rested, ate fruit that was fortunately found, but then the night began to gather.
"We need to stop for the night, I have to save my batteries, and you... probably, too." Gortys suggested. "I will go in the sleep mode, and in the morning you wake me, okay? There's a button with a picture of the moon on my head." She tapped her finger there. And then Gortys regained her spherical form, glowing ever so slightly in the dark night jungle forest. It was a beautiful, otherworldly sight.
Rhys and Fiona sat down, not far from the sleeping robot and each other, suddenly silent, mesmerized by the scents and the sounds of the untouched wildlife. Gortys lights gone, they barely saw each other in the delicate pink shades that were cast by the setting sun and the cute metal ball lying quietly at their side.
Rhys tracked his eyes back to Fiona's face. She was so peaceful, safe for her hands, fumbling with the interlaced fingers. She cast occasional glances at him, unsure, but needing. He gave her his best reassuring face. In that fairytale dusk, the day's banter and tiring walking gone, the desire to be close to her once again grabbed him.
"Rhys..." She began finally, not quite looking at him.
"Yes?"
"I-I need...need you..." His heart leapt high. "...to do something..." Fiona turned her face, and those pleading eyes quenched all the doubt arising in his head when he heard her last words. He nodded.
"Promise, you'll do it." She insisted.
"I will."
The tough, determined look returned to her face. "Rhys, I need those photos deleted."
He felt his jaw falling down. Was it how the victims of her con felt like? What had he agreed to do?
"But how? She's offline, we can't do that!" He protested, albeit weakly. He had promised, damn her.
"I don't know! Maybe she has some memory card?" Fiona looked displeased. "You're the computer guy, you're Atlas just as her, do something!"
Rhys frowned. This was too much. "Okay, let me tell you this: I will not hack into Gortys' mind, and furthermore, I will not crack her open to see if she has a memory card!" He exhaled in disbelief. "She is our friend, Fiona, you can ask her to delete it." Rhys added more calmly.
Fiona turned away, but he could notice a glimpse of shame in her features. "I can't."
"What's the big deal?" Rhys asked her, perplexed by her unexpected reaction.
"It's hard to explain." She muttered stubbornly, lowering her head to her knees.
"Care to try?" Rhys encouraged her softly.
Fiona raised her head and stared at him, seeming surprised by his attentiveness. The resolve was back in her green eyes, as she gathered herself.
"Well, it's like... you know, if you sing in the shower, and you're totally okay with that, but...you don't want your friends to have the recordings... You see?" Fiona ended helplessly.
"You mean you're embarrassed." Rhys summed it up a bit gloomily. He was not happy with where that all was leading. And it was totally heading into a "sorry-it-was-a-mistake" thing.
"Yeah, I guess." She breathed out. She watched him sympathetically, which caused an unpleasant sickening feeling in his stomach, as he awaited her saying that 'sorry'. It was not the first time he got himself into this type of situation, but this time was in fact different, because no alcohol was involved in the kissing part. And that hurt even more.
Still, she remained silent.
"I think I get your meaning." Rhys decided to get the matter into his own hands. The longer he allowed himself to dream, the more trouble it would do him once the dream was gone.
Fiona stared at him, hard, strained look in her eyes. The kindness was not present in her features anymore.
"Oh, you do, do you? You don't, you arrogant ass!" She snapped, her voice pained and broken. "You're so full of yourself, you can't even imagine this being about me!" Fiona's cheeks flushed red, as she finally managed to open herself to him. "I'm embarrassed because I'm not used to be in that kind of relationship." She took a pause to catch her breath. Rhys couldn't take his eyes from her. He had never seen her so vulnerable, so moved, so... damnably dashing.
"I'm doubting everything, I'm not sure I can handle it, I..." Fiona hugged her own knees hunching her back. She sighed. Rhys wanted nothing more than to hug her, but she looked a bit defensive, and he didn't dare disturb her further.
"My head is filled with that shit," Fiona confessed, looking back at him finally. "Really, you may want to reconsider your... intentions." She suggested, not without struggle.
"No way." Rhys replied without thinking, his heart pacing quicker as he saw her eyebrows dart high, her lips part in surprise. "I want that shit, all of it." Her blush was his best reward.
"Rhys..." She shook her head in disbelief. "Sorry, that I yelled at you." Fiona seemed to suddenly feel very tired, as she shifted her body ro sit on her heels, her shoulders relaxed.
He smirked at her, relaxing as well, resting his forearms on his knees, his legs long enough to support him even when bent in the knees.
"Really? You've punched me, you've spit on me, hey, you nearly shot me today, and you apologize for yelling?" He laughed.
"You deserved all that!" Fiona retorted haughtily. That made him laugh even harder. Rhys covered his eyes with his left hand, as the tears appeared in his eyes. He tried to wipe them, but winced when he accidentally brushed his fingers on his bruised forehead.
Fiona noticed it. "Gosh, I have the first aid gel, I should've remembered it before!" She realized, and reached for the pocket on her leg. "Let me help you." She took out the tube, and moved forward to him, crawling on her knees.
Laughter soon died in Rhys' throat as he found her standing in front of him, between his legs, towering over him, as she stood on her knees, applying the gel to her palm. It was strange to look up at her, as she was shorter than him, but it had advantages. Rhys swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry, as he realized she was breathing in a couple of inches from his nose. Right there. Moving up and down. Breathing.
"Look at my face, you," Fiona scolded him playfully, and he followed the instructions. She massaged his forehead gently, the prettiest smile on her face, that he still saw in the dark due to their closeness. The gel felt cool, but maybe it was just a contrast with his burning skin.
"Better?" She asked.
Rhys smiled. "Yeah, you know I have a scratch from some sharp tree part, here on my chin. Can you take care of it too?"
"Okay, turn you head up a bit..." Fiona opened her tube again.
Then everything happened too quickly. Rhys leaned back on his metal arm to give her better access, but he forgot she would have no support as she followed his movement. Fiona lost her balance, and didn't grab his shoulders at first, for she was still aware of her greasy hands... Without much thinking Rhys steadied her with his left hand on her waist. "Gotcha." He grinned.
Fiona forgot how to breath for several seconds. "Your chin." She muttered somewhat later, clinging to the words as to the last reasonable thing in the world. Rhys offered her his face eagerly.
"Hey, it's done. You've got a stubble." Fiona remarked, as her fingers stroked his cheek absentmindedly. "Do not even think of touching my face with that." She warned him cockily.
Rhys feigned a wounded expression. "You hurt my manly pride, Fiona." He stated solemnly.
She grinned wickedly. "If I wanted to hurt your manly pride, I'd do it with my knee." She teased him, reminding him of his vulnerable position. To clarify her point further Fiona brushed her right knee along his inner thigh, making his hand clutch her and his jaw drop open. He cleared his throat.
"Wh-what happened t-to that not-being-sure thing?" He asked her, his breathing labored, his pulse humming in his head.
"I don't know, I'm not sure," Fiona laughed happily, as she withdrew from his embrace easily, because he was too stunned to counteract.
Rhys watched her go into the dark of the night, his world turning upside down. He swiped his sweated nose and sighed.
"We should be sleeping already, Hyp..." Fiona broke her sentence remembering he was Atlas now, "...ersensitive man." She ended her phrase differently.
Rhys snickered. "The only hypersensitive part of me is my warm and forgiving heart. And not what you meant, you dirty girl."
"Oh, okay. There is a good spot for sleeping here, without much grass. Are you coming?" She called him in a sweet voice.
"No no no, thank you, I'm quite comfortable here," he hurried to answer. He was not going near her again, that sensitivity being the reason. He knew that she knew that.
"All right. Good night," Fiona said kindly. "And, Rhys? That kiss - you deserved it too." She added in a shy voice.
"Good to know... sweetie." Rhys smiled happily as he finally closed his eyes, curling in the grass.
