Guns & Roses

Chapter 50

                                    [Hank]

Almost three hours. That had to be a record. 2B usually either gave up or got tired of his lectures by now. Not that it mattered. A look of disappointment would have said just as much.

He stopped paying attention two hours ago. Rather, he still heard it, he just wasn't listening. He still needed to give the occasional 'mhm' and 'uh-huh' so 2B thought he was listening. It usually made his lectures shorter. Not today, apparently. That, or he needed all the 'mhm's' he had. Hank wondered, as a way to amuse himself, how long the lecture would go for without it. Five hours? Six? Ten?

He struggled to fathom how someone could do nothing but talk for that long. Didn't they have anything better to do?

Anyway. All he needed to know was that D9 wasn't helping this time. Mostly because 2B hadn't even bothered to tell him. How wonderful for Hank.

2B would say he was sulking. He probably was. Not that he really cared. He was bored. And it's commonly considered hard to amuse yourself with several broken bones.

He wondered, would he be down long enough for his body to start atrophying? Then, he wondered if it would be fun or annoying to fight with less motor control.

Probably annoying, he concluded. It wouldn't be fun if his body didn't listen to him. Like his more recent fight. It was fun, then limbs stopped responding. And how perfectly boring had that become?

"I can't believe you. Never in my thirty years of-" 2B paused as the door opened. Based on how little, he guessed who it was.

Sheriff, probably. The cowardly bastard. Oh well. At least he was mildly entertaining. Though, he definitely hated thinking about Sheriff that way. 2B would tell him it was just something he'd have to get used to. Hank would rather shoot himself.

But, as luck had it he couldn't exactly move. Therefore, the preferable option was off the table. He just had to accept their presence was somewhat tolerable. For now, at least.

He was sure he'd become just as annoying once Hank had other things going for him again. Like walking, for instance. Or fighting.

If he could, he'd frown. He swore there was more than those two things.

Oh, right. And listening to the other two talk. He found their conversations mildly amusing sometimes. Not that he'd ever try joining, again. Last time he did that he just got weird looks from both of them. But that was fine. Their banter was perfectly good without him in it.

"At least someone here finally has some goddamn sense." 2B muttered angrily as he walked out, leaving a puzzled Sheriff watching him leave.

Hank watched them carefully. What was it today? They'd tried all of yesterday to talk about something. None of it interested Hank in the slightest, but it was amusing to watch Sheriff stumble over his own words every time Hank didn't respond.

They ended up finding him another fan, too. Not that it did much for the humidity, but a break from the constant heat was nice.

Speaking of, what was it with Sheriff and cooling him down? First it was because he had a fever. Now it was because he was slightly uncomfortable. What was next, carrying a massive fan around to always keep him cool?

That didn't sound half bad. Actually he wouldn't mind Sheriff's presence so much if he was less talky and more of a servant. It sounded good, after how much Sheriff had been a pain in his ass for not dying when he was supposed to.

Either way, Hank amused himself with that train of thought for a while, before realising he was being spoken to.

"...An' I thought you might be interested." Wow. What was he just talking about?