Rhys is still stuck in Jack's... his office, sort of. In Hyperion. He finds it hard to really call it his office. Technically, his name is on the door, and technically, everyone still thinks Handsome Jack is long dead.
But if they knew, Rhys knows his status would be gone in no time, along with any work he had done to keep the company going.
Not that he really is doing much. He's staring at pages and pages of reports, trying to prepare for the meeting tomorrow. It's a big one, involving a merger with a smaller mining company, and he knows he needs to get this right, but he really isn't that well versed in the numbers side of things. He could text Vaughn, but... he knows the chances of him actually getting a hand out of this hole is slim. He needs to present something appealing to this company, something stretching the truth just enough (Hyperion talked big, but after Jack's death, the profits definitely started dwindling with shares falling and gossip mounting) but not enough to get him labelled a liar...
He feels sick. He glances at the time again, a groan slipping past his lips. There's no way he's going to get this done alone without pulling an all nighter. He doesn't want to bother him, but...
"'Sup, kiddo?" Jack's holo appears in a flash of blue light, hovering at just the right angle to give the impression he's seated on the desk in front of Rhys. His usual clothing has been replaced by a bathrobe and a pair of boxers, effectively giving him the appearance of someone who's been lounging around on a virtual couch all day. To top it off, there's even a pair of fuzzy unicorn slippers. Apparently he's been fiddling with his own code again.
The AI sounds pleased to be called on - which isn't anything new. If there's one thing Jack enjoys, its being paid attention to.
Of course Jack is showing off... Rhys sighs, feeling a bit of a headache coming on to see Jack looking so relaxed while he's been working himself to the bone.
"You know what's up! The merger meeting is tomorrow morning and I'm absolutely screwed! I know you said you'd handle the public speaking, but I'm not even gonna have a speech prepared for you at this rate. The numbers are a mess, our employee death rate is honestly a little preposterous... there's no way they're gonna take our offer. They're gonna find out about this and call Hyperion a laughing stock, and then I'll be fired, and I'll have to go back to living on Pandora or something-"
"Whoa, whoa there, cupcake - slow down for a second, mmkay?" Jack cuts him off, motioning with a hand for silence.
"First of all, you're not gonna get fired. You're the one that does the firing now, remember? Second, I've dealt with worse numbers than this before. Higher death rates too. It's all how you spin it, you know? Ample opportunity for career advancement, early retirement, great life insurance benefits, blah blah blah, like that."
He leans in a little closer, looking Rhys up and down with an appraising expression. "Talk about nerves though, huh? You look like crap. Y'know what? I can improv the speech. It's no big deal."
Jack examines his holographic nails, pausing for effect. "....and, well... I know its not technically my turn yet, buuuuut~ Sounds like you need a break real bad. I could be convinced to take the wheel if you wanna turn in a little early."
Rhys looks nervous, swallowing hard and making a face as he realizes how dry his throat is. "You sure? You sure someone couldn't find a way to... like overthrow me, I guess?"
He rubs a hand over his face. "I know I've gotta spin this right... are you sure you want to handle it, Jack? I guess you probably can do meetings like this all the time, but you were counting on me to help..."
He groans softly. "I do kind of need a break, though. Think I haven't been sleeping well enough." What with the guilt over ditching everyone still sort of riding on his shoulders... "You totally don't have to if you were enjoying your break, I can definitely keep working..."
"Well, I'd say don't piss off any devastatingly handsome code monkeys and you'll probably be fine," Jack responds with a grin.
"Look, I'd rather step in now than let you pull an all-nighter beating your head against this stuff. It'll suck so bad if I have to do the speech running on fumes. Not that I haven't done it before. Even did a few high as balls back in the day. Oh man, you should have seen their faces." He chuckles and wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye.
"Anyhow- I'll let you make it up to me later, okay kitten? For now, just hand over the keys to the city and get some rest." The hologram's smile is maybe a bit too eager, but its impossible to tell if that means something or if it's just part of Jack's normal manic behavior. His projection flickers out as he waits for Rhys inside what he's been calling their 'mind palace.' And only partly because the name seems to annoy Rhys.
"I wasn't planning on it," Rhys mutters, making a face. Was that comment supposed to indicate anything? Did he know about the fact he'd left Vaughn on read not too long ago? Not that he was a code monkey, but he was more tech-literate sometimes...
The joke at least distracts him and allows him to manage a wry smile at Jack's antics. "Only you could pull something like that off, I'm sure." Rhys especially isn't good for covering his ass. So... this is probably for the best. He closes his eyes as the hologram flickers out of sight, returning to that space somewhere in the back of his mind, between consciousness and peaceful dreaming. Or something. He has no idea what this place is, really, but it glows faint blue every time he takes a step, lighting his way towards Jack.
Oh, Jack is aware of a lot more than Rhys probably thinks he is. He makes a great effort, after all, to pretend that he's just relaxing and minding his own business while Rhys is using the body. The code-monkey thing is a reference to himself, of course, but perhaps the massive propaganda campaign to bury his humble past had worked too well on his favorite little Hyperion stooge to make the joke work. Ah well.
He waits at the end of the nothingness, genuinely pleased to watch Rhys make his way towards him as if he truly is the center of their universe. Which as far as he is concerned, he most certainly is.
"There he is~ That's my special boy," he says, arms held out in welcome. Rhys is wearing the getup with the robe and slippers now and Jack has returned to his normal business outfit. His words are accompanied by a hint of dopamine - something he had discovered he could manipulate inside their shared head - with the promise of more as soon as Rhys made contact.
Well, of course Rhys isn't aware. Why would someone like Jack care about the mundane details of Rhys' life? They're business partners, that's all. Jack is only focused on Hyperion...
But it's nice, when he's in here, to pretend a little that Jack cares about him. At least about making sure he gets some rest. He feels warm and comfortable in the soft robe, and as empty as this space is... it makes him happy, being in here. He approaches Jack a little more quickly, though when he gets there, he probably isn't expecting much. Jack's not... gonna hug him, right?
It's totally endearing how Rhys speeds up, despite the obvious question in his eyes. Is Jack actually going to hug him? The AI lets him wonder for a second before laughing and clapping him hard on the shoulder instead.
"Welcome back to the casbah, pumpkin. You just rest your little head and I'll work some Handsome Jack magic on these numbers, alright?"
The happy juice is flowing now, welcoming Rhys into it's chemically euphoric embrace.
Oh. Right, no hug. That would be pretty weird, right? What was he even thinking? And why does he feel weirdly disappointed...?
Luckily, the chemicals don't give him much of a chance to feel awkward, and he finds the weight on his shoulders easing immediately. He feels sleepy and comfortable, giving Jack a sort of goofy, drugged smile.
"Right... I could use a nap. You'll, um, let me know when the meeting is all done?" He doesn't want to rely on Jack too much to fix things, after all.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2022-12-05 10:12 pm (UTC)Rhys is still stuck in Jack's... his office, sort of. In Hyperion. He finds it hard to really call it his office. Technically, his name is on the door, and technically, everyone still thinks Handsome Jack is long dead.
But if they knew, Rhys knows his status would be gone in no time, along with any work he had done to keep the company going.
Not that he really is doing much. He's staring at pages and pages of reports, trying to prepare for the meeting tomorrow. It's a big one, involving a merger with a smaller mining company, and he knows he needs to get this right, but he really isn't that well versed in the numbers side of things. He could text Vaughn, but... he knows the chances of him actually getting a hand out of this hole is slim. He needs to present something appealing to this company, something stretching the truth just enough (Hyperion talked big, but after Jack's death, the profits definitely started dwindling with shares falling and gossip mounting) but not enough to get him labelled a liar...
He feels sick. He glances at the time again, a groan slipping past his lips. There's no way he's going to get this done alone without pulling an all nighter. He doesn't want to bother him, but...
"Jack? Hey... are you awake in there?"
no subject
Date: 2022-12-06 05:33 am (UTC)The AI sounds pleased to be called on - which isn't anything new. If there's one thing Jack enjoys, its being paid attention to.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-06 04:30 pm (UTC)"You know what's up! The merger meeting is tomorrow morning and I'm absolutely screwed! I know you said you'd handle the public speaking, but I'm not even gonna have a speech prepared for you at this rate. The numbers are a mess, our employee death rate is honestly a little preposterous... there's no way they're gonna take our offer. They're gonna find out about this and call Hyperion a laughing stock, and then I'll be fired, and I'll have to go back to living on Pandora or something-"
Well, someone's a little frazzled.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-08 04:52 am (UTC)"First of all, you're not gonna get fired. You're the one that does the firing now, remember? Second, I've dealt with worse numbers than this before. Higher death rates too. It's all how you spin it, you know? Ample opportunity for career advancement, early retirement, great life insurance benefits, blah blah blah, like that."
He leans in a little closer, looking Rhys up and down with an appraising expression. "Talk about nerves though, huh? You look like crap. Y'know what? I can improv the speech. It's no big deal."
Jack examines his holographic nails, pausing for effect. "....and, well... I know its not technically my turn yet, buuuuut~ Sounds like you need a break real bad. I could be convinced to take the wheel if you wanna turn in a little early."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-12 08:31 pm (UTC)He rubs a hand over his face. "I know I've gotta spin this right... are you sure you want to handle it, Jack? I guess you probably can do meetings like this all the time, but you were counting on me to help..."
He groans softly. "I do kind of need a break, though. Think I haven't been sleeping well enough." What with the guilt over ditching everyone still sort of riding on his shoulders... "You totally don't have to if you were enjoying your break, I can definitely keep working..."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-15 05:47 am (UTC)"Look, I'd rather step in now than let you pull an all-nighter beating your head against this stuff. It'll suck so bad if I have to do the speech running on fumes. Not that I haven't done it before. Even did a few high as balls back in the day. Oh man, you should have seen their faces." He chuckles and wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye.
"Anyhow- I'll let you make it up to me later, okay kitten? For now, just hand over the keys to the city and get some rest." The hologram's smile is maybe a bit too eager, but its impossible to tell if that means something or if it's just part of Jack's normal manic behavior. His projection flickers out as he waits for Rhys inside what he's been calling their 'mind palace.' And only partly because the name seems to annoy Rhys.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-21 07:16 pm (UTC)The joke at least distracts him and allows him to manage a wry smile at Jack's antics. "Only you could pull something like that off, I'm sure." Rhys especially isn't good for covering his ass. So... this is probably for the best. He closes his eyes as the hologram flickers out of sight, returning to that space somewhere in the back of his mind, between consciousness and peaceful dreaming. Or something. He has no idea what this place is, really, but it glows faint blue every time he takes a step, lighting his way towards Jack.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-23 09:43 pm (UTC)He waits at the end of the nothingness, genuinely pleased to watch Rhys make his way towards him as if he truly is the center of their universe. Which as far as he is concerned, he most certainly is.
"There he is~ That's my special boy," he says, arms held out in welcome. Rhys is wearing the getup with the robe and slippers now and Jack has returned to his normal business outfit. His words are accompanied by a hint of dopamine - something he had discovered he could manipulate inside their shared head - with the promise of more as soon as Rhys made contact.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-25 03:00 am (UTC)But it's nice, when he's in here, to pretend a little that Jack cares about him. At least about making sure he gets some rest. He feels warm and comfortable in the soft robe, and as empty as this space is... it makes him happy, being in here. He approaches Jack a little more quickly, though when he gets there, he probably isn't expecting much. Jack's not... gonna hug him, right?
no subject
Date: 2023-01-19 10:30 pm (UTC)"Welcome back to the casbah, pumpkin. You just rest your little head and I'll work some Handsome Jack magic on these numbers, alright?"
The happy juice is flowing now, welcoming Rhys into it's chemically euphoric embrace.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 04:36 pm (UTC)Luckily, the chemicals don't give him much of a chance to feel awkward, and he finds the weight on his shoulders easing immediately. He feels sleepy and comfortable, giving Jack a sort of goofy, drugged smile.
"Right... I could use a nap. You'll, um, let me know when the meeting is all done?" He doesn't want to rely on Jack too much to fix things, after all.