Room 205, Tuesday Mid-Morning

[got_hijacked]

So, Rhys' plans to regain the room he didn't actually want  because he didn't actually want to be here... we're a success. But only because Kuzco went to class.

Whatever, it was still a success.

That would be why there was a pile of stupid looking togas and whatever else he could lift without falling over that belonged to Kuzco... were in a pile outside the door. Because pettiness was a prized trait in Hyperion employees, okay? Prized and cultivated.

And now he was able to empty his inventory pockets to safely figure out what he still had with him. Which amounted to an ECHO eye that was shoved into the very back of a drawer, his stun baton, the old flash drive that he got from Nakayama's corpse, and Dumpy. Dumpy was getting worked on to see if there were any parts he could use without shutting the poor thing down completely.

Empathy for mostly useless robots. It was his thing sometimes.

[open because whose house? rhys' house!]

Comments

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"It's for security. It has to be agile."

Like a ninja, that's our Dumpy.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

Margaery was just going to look at Dumpy with a skeptically-raised brow, there. "Oh, agile. Of course."

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"He just needs to be fixed up," Rhys prorested. "He'll be stunning people in no time."

Maybe Kuzco!

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"He only stuns people?" Margaery asked, a little disappointed at that. "He doesn't inflict more permanent damage?"

He had almost seemed useful, for a moment.

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

The story of Rhys' life right there.

"Why does everyone want murderbots?"

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"My guards at home don't just give intruders and thieves a gentle smack on the wrist for wrongdoings," Margaery pointed out. "Your security will always be compromised if there are not true consequences for encroaching upon it."

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

But he didn't want to kill people. He was super squeamish after all. And you know, borderline morality or some crap.

"You have guards?" Rhys asked with a nervous chuckle. "Seriously?"

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"Of course I have guards," Margaery said, like it was no big deal to her. Honestly, it was strange to not have people following her around, here. "My father has men, anyway. Some are usually assigned to me."

And every so often, some were removed from assignment after they got a little too friendly with that which they were guarding.

"They're people, though. Not...like your friend."

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"Oh my god, am I going to get stabbed for talking to you?" he asked, voice going a little reedy.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"No!" Margaery's reply was somewhere between exasperated and incredulous. "I talked to you first, for one thing. For another, my guards aren't here to do any stabbing anyway."

Not something she relished announcing, under normal circumstances, but really.

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"Oh thank god," he said, sagging with obvious relief. "Let's just keep it that way."

At least she was rooming next to the least threatening people ever. Despite their best efforts. They were like kittens on morphine, weak and constantly falling over.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"Do you spend a lot of time fearing for your life for silly reasons?" Margaery wondered. "What a nerve-wracking existence."

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"No." He made a face before trying to look cool and confident. "No, that'd just be weird."

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

Margaery just gave him a look that suggested she already thought he was a bit weird, all the same.

"So is that what that thing is for?" she asked, nodding to Dumpy. "To prevent stabbings from imaginary, far-away guards?"

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

But he was so chill!

"Right now? To keep Kuzco from locking me out of my room." Again.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"You have to resort to something like that to deal with Kuzco?" Margaery asked, remembering Kuzco all too well from the shuttle. "Really? Can't you just flatter him and try to distract him with something sparkly until you get your way?"

She kind of thought that was the way to get around his...Kuzco-ness, from what she'd observed, but she also didn't have to live with him.

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

Rhys made a face. Somehow he felt Negasonic's advise was better on how to deal with him. "I could, but I don't want to."

Also... he was petty as hell.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"Understandable, but he'll probably be easier to manage if you play into it," Margaery said with a shrug. "Just speaking as someone who's known her fair share of people like that."

Even if she'd never met someone who styled themselves as an emperor.

"You know he's got a guard detail back home, too, right?"

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

And Rhys knew Handsome Jack who had only thought he was a king. Or a hero. Whatever. It hadn't ended well for him, so nope. He was going all in on this.

"I'm sort of doubting they'd want to protect him."

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"He probably pays them," she replied. "Gold can convince some to protect even the most loathsome of creatures."

Not that she disagreed with Rhys' assessment.

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"I can defend myself." Sort of. More like flail his way to safety after several instances of blunt force trauma. "And I know a thing or two about talking people into being on my side."

HA. Said everyone on Pandora.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"Of course," Margaery said graciously. "Well, if it came to blows between the two of you, my bet's on you, anyway."

You were the less pathetic of the two in her estimation, Rhys, even without the robot. Feel proud.

"Just try to keep it out of the halls, if you can. I do live just over here in 204."

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

That's right, Kuzco. You couldn't even beat a guy with one arm!

"Right, right over there?" he asked. "This place is co-ed like that?"

He'd been living in a common room, okay? He missed out on the intricacies of the place. And sort of assumed it was gendered by floor.

[hidingthorns.livejournal.com]

"Evidently," she replied, smirking a little. "Do you anticipate that being a problem?"

She paused. "My roommate is female, as well." Which she was grateful for, but she thought she ought to warn him that it wasn't just her.

[got-hijacked.livejournal.com]

"That's definitely different from when I went to school," he muttered.

At some point he was going to end up getting smacked for walking in on a girl changing. He just knew it.