Chapter Text
Something no one likely expected, but should have probably seen coming in hindsight, was how the rapid shift in temperatures and environment would affect them all. The chill which Elliott experienced out in the snow during the initial match on Talos should have warned him of that. But noooo, here he was instead, sick as a dog and lying on his couch because he was too tired and aching to reach his bed. The couch was fine, it was right next to the kitchenette, so whenever he bothered to get up and eat something it'd be just there. Still, those few feet were an awful lot of steps...
He coughed harder into the pillow he'd buried his head under, and his head pounded hard. ...wait, it wasn't his head this time. It was the door. Elliott peeked out under the cushion and mustered up a glare, willing whoever it was to go away.
Instead, a metallic, cheerful voice -which had no business being this happy while Elliott was down and out- said, "Friend, I have a gift for you! I believe you call it 'soup'."
Okay, maybe he could forgive Pathfinder for being lucky enough not to catch the virus going around. Elliott squinted, his quarters dark because the flourescent lighting started to hurt his eyes and give him a headache. He cursed when his toe stubbed the leg of his coffee table, and he hopped the rest of the way to the door. He was sick, why did he have to do this much moving around?
When he opened the door, the first thing he saw was that smiling face on the screen. The second was how much the hall lights sucked like the indoor lighting. "Wow, friend! You look terrible!"
Elliott knew this was one of the few times he didn't look his absolute best, but he seriously thought of slamming the door in the robot's face. The allure of the steaming soup though stopped him. It was chicken noodle, and it smelled amazing. "Did you just come to give me the soup?"
The smiling face on the screen switched to an exclaimation mark. "It's from our new friend. He said he didn't want to catch your vile germs, so he asked me to give this to you." Pathfinder held out the bowl, and Elliott stared down at it. "You're supposed to accept it." he promptly when Elliott did nothing.
"I know that!" Briefly, he thought of turning it away, but his empty stomach won out. "Did he say anything else?" he grumbled.
"Yes!" Pathfinder said too damn cheerfully. "He also wanted me to give you a message: get better so we can get this date over with."
It was definitely the illness which made his cheeks flush, and Elliott's hands tightened on the soup container. "It's not a date! I don't even like him!"
The image on Pathfinder's screen changed to a frowny face. "That is not a nice thing to say about our new friend. He made you soup, of course he likes you!"
Elliott was too sick and tired to deal with this, or anything else related to Crypto right now. He was jumbled up inside, thinking of their interactions and wondering this and that until it caused his head to ache. Like right now. "Look, people are com-comple-hard to understand. He made me soup, great, doesn't mean he likes me."
The emoji which flashed on Pathfinder's screen was probably as close to confused as he could get across. "Yes, humans concepts are strange. Don't worry, I will find out more about it!"
Elliott wasn't quite sure just what there was to understand about this, but his brain was too muddle and he decided it was better for his health to let it be. Coughing into his hand, he closed the door and carefully navigated his way to the island in the kitchen. The soup was still warm under his hands, and he wondered when Crypto made this, or that the guy could even cook. It might even be nice to talk to someone other than Makoa about recipes and-
No, that was another thought he wasn't chasing. Elliott was just going to enjoy a free meal, and not spend his time thinking about what this meant. Right, solid idea.
And yet when he was back on the couch and head once more buried under the pillow, Pathfinder's loud voice cut through the air and pierced straight into Elliott's skull. "Exciting news! Our new friend called you an idiot, and he's done so multiple times. I think this means he has given you a nickname, so he must like you!"
Elliott buried his face deeper into the pillow, his face reddening right to the ears. Of course Pathfinder would actually go and ask Crypto about this. As if this whole thing wasn't awkward enough. Elliott was sure he'd never be leaving this room again, and he went into another coughing fit.
Fine with him. He could leave all his confused feelings about the mysterious, cool hacker at the door.
...wait, did he just complim-aw, damn it. Elliott groaned, and wanted to slam his head into a wall. Oh yeah, this was going to be a hell of a lot more awkward now.