After the Vault

Fifteen Years

Even she had to admit, it was a pretty decent office.

She half expected it to be some garish affair, with ugly colours and no sense of taste, but it was... quite practical in its decor.

The whole room was cast in an orange glow from the sunlight streaming into the tinted window, the dark mahogany desk covered with stacks of papers. The whole room reeked money and she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose a little at that, but then again, he WAS former Hyperion. Some things never changed she guessed.

"Just take a seat anywhere while I get myself changed," he declared as he slipped behind a partition screen, and Fiona smirked a little to herself.

He re-emerged a few minutes later to find her with her feet up on his desk, her hands behind her head as she leaned back in his office chair.

She looked over to him and smiled at his small frown. "Don't crush my papers Fiona," he chided as he picked up her legs and plopped them off the desk, her boots hitting the floor with a small smack.

"You did say I could sit anywhere," she replied and he rolled his eyes.

"Christ I forgot how annoying you can be when you want to be," he muttered to himself more than her, but to Fiona's surprise the tone was....oddly tender. "C'mon, need my computer to show you something."

Fiona cocked an eyebrow, pushing away from the desk with her boot as she motioned for him to get to this computer.

"And wouldn't it be easier for me to just stay here and have you show me?" She pointed out.

He rubbed his eyes for a few moments before he maneuvered around her, typing something before he dragged the chair forward.

Fiona let out a small whoosh of surprise at the movement and she swore she heard Rhys chuckle.

He pulled something up onto the screen with a swipe of his hand to reveal what looked like a group photo.

She realized with a small grin it was a picture of all of them, shortly before they had gone to defeat the Vault Monster. Sasha's eyes were shining brightly, Vaughn was grinning with an edge of nervousness, Rhys looked overly confident to the point it seemed false (which granted, it was to a degree) and she was actually smiling. Loader Bot had taken the photo for them, and she smiled in fondness at the memory of it.

Her eyes darted between the Rhys on the screen and the Rhys standing beside her, the subtle differences. How he looked less boyish and more like the type of person who ran a company such as Atlas. How the confidence seemed to be more genuine now, though she supposed power allowed confidence to develop if someone felt there wasn't a threat to their reign.

The not-so-subtle differences stood out as well, the silvery hair for one. She would never actually say it to him (no need to stroke that ego of his), but it suited him. He ran his metallic hand through it absentmindedly as he leaned against the chair, his other hand supporting him by gripping onto the desk. His mismatched eyes were focused on the photo before they darted down to look at her, and her stomach tightened.

Probably just hungry or something. Wouldn't be surprising considering how long she was probably stranded in the desert.

"We...I..." he began gently before he took a deep breath and swallowed as he continued to stare at her, his eyes still set on hers before he broke his gaze and looked back at the screen. He shuffled slightly so that he was standing up fully, his hands twisting and untwisting in front of him as he searched for the words.

"I'm guessing this wasn't taken yesterday," Fiona replied and Rhys nodded with a small smile.

"Fifteen years ago, to be precise," Rhys replied quietly.