[He wonders what sort of judgments might be found in that singular word and the way it's shaped on her tongue. Hope along with all it implies, that indeed even Rip Hunter with all his cold logic and calculation is capable of such sentiment within this world. Certainly he would expect something along those lines before anything else; after all, they haven't fallen in bed together on the promise of being in love or otherwise emotionally attached. For all their talk of mutual importance, the first rule stated and agreed upon is that they would not be sweethearts.
Another word with oh so many judgments lurking beneath it's layers.
He doesn't expect her to understand. Few would, given that Gideon's existence is hardly human. It doesn't keep him from filling in the gap that she leaves unspoken, nor from realizing the truth of it. Out of all of his associates, Gideon is perhaps the last one he would expect to have met within this world.
Equally, she's the first he would hope wouldn't leave without him.]
It will likely come as no surprise when I say that as Time Masters, we were encouraged to keep our attachments to a minimum. [Marriage discouraged, forbidden between two of them. Children seen as a terrible mistake. It was extremely rare for a pair of Time Masters to work together on any given assignment; most whom Rip knew he knew only by reputation, and nothing more.]
Our partners instead were AIs: programs designed to operate major ship functions, and to aide us as needed with diagnostics and research and whatever else we might need. [Able to think and reason and learn, so much more than Rip had ever thought possible before he'd met the one who would become his constant companion.]
Gideon was mine, obviously. We'd been cohorts for well over a decade.
[And that is why it's odd, in the end. Even now, staring up at the ceiling, there is part of Rip that would expect Gideon to dim the lights without him even having to ask.]
no subject
Another word with oh so many judgments lurking beneath it's layers.
He doesn't expect her to understand. Few would, given that Gideon's existence is hardly human. It doesn't keep him from filling in the gap that she leaves unspoken, nor from realizing the truth of it. Out of all of his associates, Gideon is perhaps the last one he would expect to have met within this world.
Equally, she's the first he would hope wouldn't leave without him.]
It will likely come as no surprise when I say that as Time Masters, we were encouraged to keep our attachments to a minimum. [Marriage discouraged, forbidden between two of them. Children seen as a terrible mistake. It was extremely rare for a pair of Time Masters to work together on any given assignment; most whom Rip knew he knew only by reputation, and nothing more.]
Our partners instead were AIs: programs designed to operate major ship functions, and to aide us as needed with diagnostics and research and whatever else we might need. [Able to think and reason and learn, so much more than Rip had ever thought possible before he'd met the one who would become his constant companion.]
Gideon was mine, obviously. We'd been cohorts for well over a decade.
[And that is why it's odd, in the end. Even now, staring up at the ceiling, there is part of Rip that would expect Gideon to dim the lights without him even having to ask.]