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" Trust me, I would rather sleep than deal with Talon, " he chuckles dryly, finally opening his can. He takes a few careful drinks -- always that voice in his head -- before he holds it against his thigh. " At least here I get emotional telenovella-esque conversations. "

(( there's some songs where certain lyrics just Scream Gabe to me and uh

Annoying.

Shut up.

Nudges ( read: kicks ) him in the side.

" Get up. You're in the way. " His tone is as dry as ever, hands carrying two mugs of coffee.

" Maybe so -- but I wanted to go this way. " There's a hint of amusement in his voice now, crouching down beside Jack. One hand reaches out, offering a mug to him. " Made you coffee. Don't question it too much. "

" Almost ten. " He stays in the crouched position , hand idly swishing the coffee around in his mug. " Came to check on your progress ; found you passed put on the floor. Speaking of which, why the floor? You should just bring a blow-up mattress in at this rate. "

He doesn't respond to the appreciation at first, finally sitting down across from him and lifting his mask just enough to drink from his mug. " You would have bitched at me if I gave you black coffee. It's too early for that. "

" Wasn't that bad. " But, sometimes he did overdo it to piss Jack off. Right now he was too exhausted for bickering. He's running on no sleep. " Guns wake you up faster than coffee does. Read it in an article. "

Teeth clench for a moment -- despite everything, talk of the war still ... brought conflicting feelings along with it. " Yeah, they tend to do that. They were as stubborn as you. " Another sip of his coffee.

" I'll say it again ; our stubbornness was the base for our friendship. We were both stubborn as hell. " They fought harder than anyone, he knows. Against the Omnics, against each other. " I can still appreciate the stubbornness -- until it's in the way. "

" One of us has to give up the title. " He finally glances up again, taloned gloves tapping against his mug. " Only way this ... -- " Stops himself. This? What, they were just going to makeup and act like they could go back to their old normal? " Nevermind. "