Romeo and Juliet but Borderlands (Handsome Jack x Rhys)

Act I, Scene III

Steele reached her house shortly after sending Knoxx out to invite the guests on the party list. Upon entering the house, she noticed that Moxxi, the house nurse, was lounging about.

"Moxxi, have you seen my son? Tell him to come here," Steele ordered her, taking a seat on the couch.

Moxxi replied, putting her hand on her hip, "By the lack of my virginity, consider it done, hon," she paused, shifting her weight to her other leg sassily. She started walking down the hall, calling out, "Ah, where is he? What's he doing? Come here, Rhys!"

"What's up, Moxxi?" Rhys walked down the stairs to the hallway the nurse was in, casually.

Moxxi rolled her eyes at Rhys's disheveled appearance; his hair was sticking up a little and his clothes were bedraggled, an obvious sign that he just woke up.

Moxxi answered, "Your mother requires your presence, sugar."

"Ok! Thanks, Moxxi," Rhys smiled at her and walked into the living room.

Steele looked up at him upon his entry and he asked, "Did you need anything, mom?"

"Yes," Steele paused, motioning for Rhys to sit down on the couch next to her, "Moxxi, can you leave us to talk privately for a little while?" Steele shifted in her seat as Moxxi turned her heel to leave, however; Steele changed her mind and called out back to the nurse, "Actually, Moxxi, come back. You can listen in. You know how young my son is."

Moxxi turned back around and smiled, "Yes, I do."

"He's not even 27," Steele continued, shifting in her seat once more.

Moxxi shifted her weight, "I'm pretty sure he's not 27. How long is it until Mercenary Day?"

"A couple weeks, I believe," Steele answered.

Moxxi continued, "Well, on Mercenary Day's eve, he'll be 27. Rhys and Ellie were born on the same day, wonder how she's doing. But, as I was saying, Rhys will be 27 on Mercenary Day's eve. Yes, I remember it well. It's been 24 years since the big earthquake from the eridium digging. He stopped breast feeding that day, I'll never forget it. I had put a bitter plant on my breast as I was relaxing in the sun in the backyard. You and your late husband, poor man, were in Sanctuary," She laughed, "But anyway, when he tasted that leaf on my nipple, he got irritated and wouldn't feed. Then everything started shaking, as the earthquake happened.

We had to quickly get out of there. Yes, 24 years ago. By then, Rhysie could stand up all by himself; in fact, he could run! I remember because he cut his head while running around the day before. My ex husband, ugh, picked up Rhys and said, 'Did you fall on your face? Ah, you'll start falling backwards once you're older and smarter, Rhys.' And I recall, Rhys stopped crying and said, 'Okie.'"

Before Moxxi could continue her long winded story, Steele interrupted, "Enough, Moxxi. Please silence."

"Oh, of course," Moxxi paused, "But I still can't help but laugh at the fact that Rhys stopped crying and said that! He had a bump on his forehead bigger than a cock's cock, and he just stopped crying at Marcus's words."

Rhys shot her a disgusted look, "Please stop, Moxxi."

"Of course, of course," Moxxi smiled, "Ah, you were the cutest baby I have ever nursed. If I live to see the day you get married, I'd be so happy, sugar."

Steele put a hand on her son's shoulder and said with a tender look on her face, "Actually, marriage is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, Rhys. What are your thoughts on getting married?"

Rhys gave his mom a funny look, "I'd rather not..."

Steele sighed, running her hand through her hair, "Well, you should start thinking of marriage. Here on Pandora there are boys younger than you, boys from noble families at that, who had already gotten married. In fact, I was a mother by the time I was your age," she paused, gathering up her courage, "The point is, Prince August wants you to marry him."

"Ooh, whatta man!" Moxxi clapped her hands together, "He's just perfect. You should go for him, sweetheart."

Steele began again, "So, what do you think? You'll see him tomorrow night at our party. Can you give him a chance?"

Rhys sighed, "I guess I'll look at him and see if I can."

"Ok, thank you, Rhys." Steele patted her son's knee and left the room to go to bed, Rhys and Moxxi following suit.

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The next night had arrived and everything was just hustle and bustle in the Atlas house, as everybody was preparing for the party. Knoxx entered the living room, addressing Steele, "Ma'am, the guests are all here and dinner is served; people are calling for you and Rhys and people are already flirting with Moxxi. Everything's completely out of control. I need to serve the guests! Please, follow me, ma'am."

"Alright, we'll follow you," Steele turned to Rhys, "Hurry now, the Prince is waiting for you."

Moxxi entered the room and said with a wink, "Go, sugar, to the man who'll give you happy days and happy nights."

All four of the Atlas folks leave the room and head towards the dining room, to the party anxiously awaiting them.

A/N: Yay! Rhys has been introduced! I've been so excited to write him in, so I hope y'all enjoyed! Also, in case y'all didn't know, nurses (Moxxi in this story) in Shakespearean times were hired by upper class women to breast feed and take care of their children and sometimes stayed with the family for a while, such as the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet!