Surviving - The Small Things (a 'For Every Action, A Reaction' side story)

[churbooseanon]

Summary: Theta embraces humor and cookies solve all the problems in the world.

I wanted to post this TWO HOURS AGO but sometimes my internet does this thing where it craps out for three or so hours between 12:30 am and 3:30 am. So fuck it. Finished it anyway.

As I implied yesterday there was going to be a second collection of random stories to go with the Fragments collection, this one focusing on Wash/York/North. This is that collection.

These will be glimpses into the lives of our trio between For Every Action and the sequel A Reaction. It is also separate from one last collection (a trilogy) that will come later and be explained then. For now, let’s just check in on our guys in their new lives.

 

Surviving - The Small Things (a 'For Every Action, A Reaction' side story)

“You sure about this?”

“I’m sure,” David groans, and yet his voice was equal parts frustrated and pleased.

David was always frustrated when Nic asked, but he knew it was just as true that David loved the reassurance that Nic was thinking about him. That was half the reason he asked every single time he went out and left David alone in their tiny apartment. The other half was because there was always a chance that David would say ‘no.’ Giving him that option was the most important thing in his mind.

“Well, you know what to do if you need us,” Nic called, smiling softly at his young lover.

David was sitting on the middle of the mattress that was their only furniture at this point like he usually did, wrapped up in his favorite blanket—it was the tan one and Miles had gloated over that for the whole two weeks they’d been here—staring down at the newspaper Miles brought in with his morning coffee. The younger man’s attention was so wrapped up in the sports section that Nic allowed himself a moment to bite his lip nervously. How many times had he asked Miles not to bring the damn thing home? They were still trying to feel out the differences between good and bad days for David—the signs were few and hard to read—and Nic had a bad feeling that they weren’t reading him right this morning. Still, David got upset when Miles came back from coffee runs without the paper so they’d relented on that point, as much as Nic was loath to do so.

“Oh, you still here?” David asked at last, looking up from the paper as he turned the page. “We’re you going to…”

“Forgot the bags. Needed to come back for them,” Nic lied, snatching the cloth bags off the handle of the silverware drawer—which was really only serving as a bag holder until they got silverware—and made for the door.

You shouldn’t lie to him.

Remember how we talked about different types of lies, Theta?

Yeah?

Well, there is a type called 'white lies.’ They are minor, really unimportant lies, that you tell to be polite or nice to someone.

Like when you tell Miles that you don’t mind when he wears socks to bed?

A bit like that. David probably knows I was worrying about him, and knew I was just trying to politely apologize and leave him alone.

Weird. Human interaction patterns are pretty strange. Especially lying.

Yeah, well, you’ll forgive me if I’m thankful you’re not as interested in that area of human behavior as Gamma was.

Gamma hurt Alpha, Theta said with all the vehemence he reserved for the trio of AI fragments who had actively tortured their originator, and as an after effect lead to Epsilon and David’s broken mental state.

The pain Theta radiated at him from the memory of what they’d learned about the Alpha felt as raw as it had when they had learned the truth. It always was for Theta. AIs didn’t get the luxury of forgetting things. Every pain was a fresh as first time they felt it, or at least it seemed that way. The worst part was that they didn’t knowenough about AI fragments yet, not to make any educated guesses about how they’d function over the long term.

Nic had discovered one thing though… Theta learned fast. Which was why he opted for the stairs rather than the giant cube attached to a string that claimed to be an elevator. The elevator was rickety, smelled terrible, and they had been so uncomfortable with it that sent Miles had gone into the shaft late one night—overflowing with complaints about hating crawling around in vents—to have Delta evaluate the set up. Delta’s insistence that it really was secure and would be for some time comforted them enough to use it when they were feeling lazy. The rest of the time they opted for the stairs, running up or down them two at a time.

The elevator would be easier, especially considering Nic had long since decided he would take the stairs back up when he was laden with groceries. Still, he made a beeline for the stairwell and when he reached the door he pointedly stared for a long moment at the sign nailed to the wall.

'In case of emergency, take stairs’ the sign read.

Theta went from moping to barely restrained giggles immediately. Finally, the AI could take it no more and his giggles washed through Nic’s mind as he pushed through the door and started down, bags slung over his shoulder, keys in hand, and the cash Delta and Theta had allotted for food in his pocket.

How are you supposed to 'take’ the stairs? Theta asked as he always did when Nic paid the sign any real attention.

Well I suppose we could use the fire ax to hack them free, Nic suggested, inspiring more giggles.

But how can you carry them with you? I mean, maybe Tex could have…

Nic just smiled as the pleasure he felt from his AI.

Hey… Hey Nic…

Yeah, Theta?

Did you know Carolina had a photographic memory?

Really? I didn’t…

But she couldn’t develop it.

It was Nic’s turn to burst out laughing as his feet hit the landing for the ground floor. Okay, when I tell that one to Miles, I’m gonna say 'Tex’ instead of 'Carolina’ but you’ve got my blessing on the pun.

Oh, what about the fruit flies one?

David actually used that one on him before you came to me, Nic admitted as he pushed through one door and then another to dump himself out on the street. Hey, you remember what all we need?

There was an affirmative ping from Theta and for a moment Nic felt his AI reviewing the list of supplies they had been asked to gather. It wasn’t much, they couldn’t afford much that was interesting seeing as Miles had only been able to find odd jobs because of his 'vision disability’ making him unsuitable for the construction work Nic was doing. Still, the food run had to happen every week, and seeing as Miles couldn’t cook to save their lives and David was almost as bad, it was going to come down on Nic every time.

Do we really need coffee? Theta asked as they made their way to the store on the other side of town. Nic just grinned to himself.

You know how much he needs that swill.

No, I mean, why do we have to buy coffee when he buys it every morning?

Theta, will you quickly calculate out how much Miles would spend in a month if he bought only one cup of coffee a day at a buck thirty five a cup?

Oh, Theta answered immediately.

They both knew Miles downed at least three a day.

That isn’t very efficient. A very poor use of our limited funds.

Exactly. We’re hoping to cut some of our overhead down. Would you help me with that? We’re running pretty tight this week with Miles running his own errands, but we’ve still got to eat.

Of course I’ll help, Theta breezed in his head and Nic smiled as the AI poured satisfaction through his mind.

Good, because I’m going to need you to help me figure something out. Can you help me buy everything we need and still have a ten free?

The cookies?

Nic smiled as he thought about the group of young girls he’d seen by the store when he’d been walking home the day before. Somehow with all his time with the UNSC and PFL he’d actually forgotten about them. Forgotten about that brief stint his sister had in her own troop, how she’d lied to her troop master about how many boxes of cookies she had sold and how their father had paid for them anyway. He’d been forced to eat so many cookies over the next few months because of Nicky that he barely touched them to this day.

They aren’t on the list. We don’t…

David and Miles will smile.

Theta didn’t argue further.

And when they came home to find a box and a table abandoned in the doorway and Miles on the bed desperately clinging David to his chest, whispering soft promises that their young lover’s name was David Butler, Nic silently put away the groceries. When he was left with the two boxes of cookies he pushed the table out of the way and carried the sweets to the bed. David’s eyes focused and lit up when Nic presented him the box of thin mints. Miles’s eyes snapped toward Nic when he held up the box of samoas just out of Miles’s easy reach.

“Theta had something he wanted me to tell you first,” Nic warned Miles as he waved the box back and forth in his fingers.

“Yeah, Theta?” Miles asked as David tore his box open and extracted a single chocolate coated cookie.

“He just thought you’d be interested to know Tex had a photographic memory.”

There was a look of trepidation on Miles’s face, mixed with actual intrigue. “She did? I mean, it makes sense seeing as she was a…”

“But she couldn’t develop it.”

Miles stared at him for half a moment, then lunched forward to snatch the box from Nic’s hand before collapsing back onto the bed with a deep, pained groan. Theta’s exuberant cheering exploded in Nic’s head at the same moment David doubled over laughing.

“I hate you all,” Miles groaned as he pried open his own box, retrieved a cookie, and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Good one, Theta,” David laughed so hard he almost rolled off the mattress.

Nic just smiled at his lovers and resolved to keep cookies around the apartment.

For emergencies.