Work Text:
Thursday, 11:55 am
Hyperion Robotics Programming Department, Helios Station, Pandora Sector
Rhys looks at his watch- again. 11:53 blinks back at him from the digital display. He bites his lower lip, glancing stealthily at Hugo Vazquez, his supervisor, whose back is toward him.
It's now or never.
He slips out of his cubicle, making his way toward the break room around the corner. Eyes trained downward, he's about two aisles away from his target when motherfreaking Vazquez steps out in front of him.
Shit.
"What makes you think you get to take an early lunch?" Hugo asks, arms crossed and mouth set in an ugly scowl.
"I just-" he doesn't even finish responding as he's led back to his infuriatingly tiny cubicle.
His ears turn red as the rest of the office falls quiet. Vazquez's scowl has transformed into an idiotically smug smirk.
"See me after, were gonna have a chit-chat about your chronic impertinence."
Double shit.
Vazquez saunters back to his cubicle.
Disgusting. Rhys holds back a rather colorful insult as his stomach grumbles loudly.
Right now, without a doubt his lunch is probably in the grubby paws of some sneaky miscreant that works on this very floor.
11:59 finally changes to 12:00 and Rhys makes a beeline for the communal fridge in the break room.
Yep.
His lunch is fucking gone. Again.
He sighs loudly, slamming the fridge door shut. This was the fourth time this week.
---
Rhys books it back to his apartment before Vazquez can flag him down. He is pretty sure that Vazquez is this close to firing him already- so why bother ruining the rest of his day?
Yep-
Let's save that for tomorrow.
---
Friday, 11:45 am
Hyperion Robotics Programming Department, Helios Station, Pandora Sector
By some cosmic coincidence, Ass-quez had been called out to a meeting all day and the entire department is left largely unsupervised.
Rhys checks the watch strapped to his cadmium yellow arm and can't help but grin at the gloriously empty cubicle that Hugo usually occupies. He makes his way to the break room and pushes the door open quietly.
Ah- got you red handed.
The convict's back is toward him, still perusing the goods no doubt, clutching a crushed brown paper bag that has RHYS scribbled in huge letters on it.
Rhys wrenches the man's shoulder around with his cybernetic arm, growling, “So you’re the bastard who keeps taking my lunch from the fridge-".
Rhys' mouth drops open at the sight of who exactly is staring back at him.
Shit.
It's- the Handsome Jack.
The CEO of fucking Hyperion.
The man whose face is pasted up on virtually every inch of Rhys' wall.
Rhys is utterly horrified at his own doing and finds himself frozen in place, robotic hand still clutching a handful of Handsome Jack's grey blazer.
Jack, however, doesn't even bat an eye. His expression is smug, a smile playing on his lips as he speaks.
"How about you let this bastard make it up to you?"
Jack wrenches Rhys' robotic arm toward himself, pulling Rhys impossibly close. There's only a tiny gap between their lips, Rhys can almost feel their warmth.
He closes his eyes as Jack closes the infinitesimal distance.
It's amazing. Of course it is.
It's Handsome Jack.
Rhys doesn't even wince at the little nip Jack gives his lower lip as he pulls away. Jack gazes directly into Rhys' eyes and murmurs softly,
"Is this an appropriate form of payment?"
Jack's honeyed tone makes Rhys' knees go weak.
He manages a nod, heart hammering in excitement and utter disbelief.
Abso-fucking-lutely.