[PSL] Sidewinder reunion

[a_shadow]

 Church and Tex encountered each other before Blood Gulch. Will likely be an AU.

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[a_shadow]

This is the first glimpse she's had into the distortion of Leonard's memories in Church's programming. It gives her a twinge, the way it comes out so casually, but going along with it is probably the best way to get him to accept things being the way they are. It occurs to her, too, that distancing the two of them through latching on to this memory will make certain things less painful.

"You'd like to feel that unique, wouldn't you?" she says.

[beside_myself]

"Mmmaybe," Church hums, lifting his can to take a drink, blinking when it clinks on his helmet.

"Uh. Shit. You wanna hold this for me?" He asks, holding out the can. Why is he even wearing a helmet?

[a_shadow]

"No," she says. These bodies could eat and drink, and could pass for human if you didn't look too closely, but she's sort of not in the mood to make things easy on him.

[beside_myself]

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms as best as he can while still holding the can. "Really? Not even gonna help an old boyfriend out? Bitch."

[a_shadow]

"That's a good way to get your way." She approaches and holds her can out in front of him. "Here, take this." Once he does—if he does—she'll remove his helmet for him.

[beside_myself]

"Worked, didn't it?" He asks, smug, as he uncrosses his arms to take the can from her.

[a_shadow]

"I could throw this in your visor instead if you want," she says. But she put the can in his hand, undid the catches on his helmet, and carefully lifted it off. It's been a long time since she removed her own helmet—not since she realized who and what she is—and she doesn't think she's going to do it now. Not unless he manages to make her feel bad for deciding not to. She sets his helmet down on a nearby lab table and takes her can back from him.

[beside_myself]

Church shakes his head once his helmet's off. "Thanks," he says, his voice soft. But then the tone's gone when he grins at her. "I knew you couldn't resist me, Tex."

[a_shadow]

"Please, I just didn't want to listen to you whine about it." There's the Wash method of consuming beverages with a helmet on, but there are no bendy straws here, and tilting her head back to pour the drink down the front vents would be dramatic and messy. So Tex just stands with the open drink, not drinking it.

[beside_myself]

He rolls his eyes at her. "Uh huh, sure. Whatever you wanna tell yourself." He pauses. "You gonna take yours off, or what?"

[a_shadow]

"I'll get to it." He's made to resemble the Director in some ways, it seems, and she knows she was made to resemble Allison herself. She doesn't want to know how he'll react to seeing her that way—she dreads it, to be honest. She's starting to think less and less that this was a good idea.

[beside_myself]

"Aw, Tex, come on," he pouts, but doesn't push it. Instead, he takes a drink of the juice, then sputters.

"Fuckin' gross. Don't we have any refrigerators on base? Or can we just not afford that anymore?" He holds the can out towards her. "Here, try it."

[a_shadow]

"Gee, could I?" she says. "Maybe you could hock a loogie in it for me, too."

[beside_myself]

"Yeah, maybe," he says, grinning. "C'mon. Don't be a baby, Tex."

[a_shadow]

"You do that and I'll throw it in your face." She sighs, though, and puts her own drink down so she can start undoing the catches on her helmet. It's been a long time since she's pulled her helmet off. She hasn't done it since she realized what she is. Not that she did it all that often before. She's always felt comfortable living in her armor, helmet and all. Finally, she pulls it off and away and sets it aside.

[beside_myself]

He pauses for a long moment when she takes off her helmet, confused. But he's quick to recover.

"Wow, you actually have a face under there?" Church asks, only half joking. "I almost forgot."

[a_shadow]

"Watch your mouth or I'll cover it back up," she says. She takes his can from him and takes a sip. It's warm, sure, but not that bad. "What do you know, I survived," she says, handing it back to him. "You're being picky."

[beside_myself]

"No, I have standards," he counters, rolling his eyes and taking the can back. "We're a high-tech military base and you're telling me there's no refrigerators? Fucking bullshit."

[a_shadow]

"Maybe they had better places for their money to go," she says. She picks her juice up and drinks half of the can at a draft before setting it down again. "Or maybe they're just waiting for you to requisition one, did you ever think of that?"

[beside_myself]

"What, now it's my responsibility to make sure this stupid base has a fridge?" He scoffs and takes another sip, making a face. "Fuck that, I'll just go shove my drinks into the snow."

[a_shadow]

It's right around this time that another soldier in blue armor enters the lab and approaches. "Time's up," he says simply.

"Time's not up until I say it's up," Tex says. The Director needs her for this and Church does too, in his own way.

[beside_myself]

Church takes a small, half-step back, and frowns, confused. "What uh - Tex? What's exactly ... going on here?"

They've been bantering. It felt good, but. There had to be a reason why Tex came to the base - why they're in a lab, of all fucking places.

[a_shadow]

She can't tell him the truth. Soon she will—when she escapes with him, she'll tell him. She'll break it to him somehow, who he is and what they've done to him. But for now, that's not going to be possible. She has to lie to him.

She hates this.

She looks at the expression on his face—bewildered, unhappy, and maybe even a little distressed. She knows he can see her face too, see the synthetic face of the robot expressing her frustration in this situation. Yet, Tex is never hopeless. She has to nudge him, give him something to concentrate on until the next time.

"Your commander was afraid to leave you alone with a Freelancer, even if it was supposed to be a social visit. Take it up with him." Whether his reference to the Director earlier meant he still remembered more than he was letting on at this moment, or whether those recollections were malleable, she didn't know. She just knew she had to stick to her script for now. "Tell you what—I'll let you know the next time I'm due for a visit, and you talk him into letting us meet somewhere else." The fact that they're being spied on goes without saying—the one-way glass window isn't far from where he stands. He has to have noticed it by now.

[beside_myself]

He noticed, he just ... hadn't processed what it meant. He looks around the room again, really taking it in, and when his gaze finally settles on Tex, he frowns a little deeper.

He doesn't say anything for a minute and just narrows his eyes, confused. It doesn't feel right. But it's Tex and he - he trusts her.

"So now I gotta take responsibility for everything? Nothin' new there, huh?" He asks, mostly teasing, trying to slip back into the easy banter. Something normal. "Why don't you talk him into it? Y'know, since you're so desperate to see me." Nice projecting there, Church.

[a_shadow]

Another shift in attitude. She is a bit slow to react, realizing this is how it is. He takes cue, and rolls with it, but there's still something there nagging at him. There's still something there that tells him this isn't right.

But she smirks, a bit relieved that what she did worked. "What, you can't convince him you don't need protection from me?" she says, taking his cue and teasing back.