Chapter 654 - Err'ing Commitment.

The man's face was stricken with terror, and his eyes darted around as if searching for salvation... They lock onto Anja and Juan, the latter of which has many conflicting emotions flash across his face.

"Should he be awake for this? It doesn't seem pleasant at all..." Juan mutters, thanking that Anja wasn't able to see this... He imagined she'd have a panic attack as soon as she lied down on the table...

Afton just shrugs, "This guy killed three innocent people and tried to steal some equipment from Novac, this small punishment is only the beginning of his imprisonment." he states unempathetically.

"Still... It seems over the top." Juan mutters.

Afton just shakes his head and activates the intercom, "Hey, Dala, I think you put the eye in upside down."

Dala's monitors glance at the window as she tears out the implant, getting the guy to groan in response. Despite his lack of pain, the feeling of having an eye torn and losing vision from it must be at least somewhat uncomfortable.

Once the eye was out, Afton chuckles and starts the intercom again, "Uh, nevermind, you had it right the first time." at his words, the prisoner motionlessly and futilely tries to get away.

...

"You're kinda messed up man." Juan states from the side but Afton just shrugs in response.

"Uh-huh, you guys are next on the table, so get ready for it." he says before leaving, not needing to be around for this. He trusted Dala and Usanagi's skills in this department. Besides, if something went wrong, Glados could just inform him.

"Creator."

Speak of the devil... "Yeah, Glados?"

"Your 'baby-momma' and her friend have returned." she informs.

"Baby-momma?" he asks, unsure where she learned that from.

"Affirmative, I acquired the phrase from your Juke-box."

Jefferson... That makes sense... "Alright, I'll go meet them. Try not to mention Usanagi while I'm there."

Afton leaves and heads towards the teleportation area, easily finding Josie and Tamia stopping by a coffee stand, they spot him and he gives a slight wave as he approaches them...

He's not encouraged by the frowns that make their way onto their faces, but he soldiers on anyway. "You guys are finally back..."

"Like you care." Josie sniffs, turning away like some kind of pompous princess.

"Uh... Ok... Have you guys calmed down yet?" he asks, and immediately regrets it.

"Calmed down!?" Josie gravely asks with a glare.

...

"Yeah... I'd kinda like to talk about your previous announcement... You know, the baby." he slowly says.

"You!-" Josie growls but is cut off by Tamia who steps between them.

"Josie, wait here for a minute, I need to talk with him." she states as she drags him off to a nearby alleyway.

Afton shrugs off her hand and looks at her, "What's up with you two? Did I do something wrong somehow while you were gone?"

Tamia crosses her arms with a frown, "Yeah, you were supposed to follow us and prove that your girlfriend actually mattered to you, idiot!"

...

"Wait, what?" he mutters in confusion.

"We waited in New Vegas for two days for you to arrive, yet you didn't come!... I thought you understood what I meant when I left you in the restaurant." she states.

...

What she meant?

[Flashback]

"Worry less about your face and more about your potentially pregnant girlfriend you idiot."

[Flashback end]

Yeah, that sounds about right... Well, he was on a fucking up spree, wasn't he... Mind the pun.

Though, he didn't think he could be blamed, how was he supposed to know that he should have followed them? One day they wanna be alone, the next they want you to follow them and intrude... He tried that one time and earned a plate to the face for his trouble...

Afton releases a sigh and rubs his face, "Yeah, well, I thought you guys wanted to be alone... What should I do?" he asks, not really knowing how to proceed without unintentionally annoying Josie again.

Tamia impatiently taps her foot as she thinks on it... Eventually appearing to think of something. "Look, Josie was upset because she wanted to see some commitment from you. She is pregnant after all... So, to fix this situation as quickly as possible, you gotta find something that would have stopped you from looking for her, something for her." she states.

...

"Yeah, I'm not really following. What could I be doing that would've taken two days? I could say I was working with Usanagi again, but I doubt that'd earn my any favours..." he grimaces at the thought.

Tamia sighs, "I mean, to fix this you should propose... Or something similar." she states, "Unless you never intended to marry her in the first place, in which case, I have no idea what to say to you."

"M-marry!? I'm way too young for that!" he stutters in response.

"But you're old enough to knock her up? Grow up Afton! Look, you want to fix this? Get a ring, get a gift, and propose. That's all I've got to say." she states before going to leave.

...

"W-wait!" he calls out.

Tamia turns and looks at him with crossed arms, "Yeah?"

...

"Fine, I'll do it. But you gotta stay here for a bit to cover for me while I arrange things." he states.

She shrugs, "Alright, but I don't know how much you'll be able to get done before Josie looks for us."

Afton shakes his head and calls on Glados, "You'd be surprised... Glados, fire up the matter converters and divert any power required for it from other unessential areas. I need you to create two gold rings, er, what colour is Josie's eyes again?"

"Brown, creator." Glados confirms.

"Brown... Er, inlay a large hazel-coloured diamond on each of them, along with our names inscribed on the inside of the rings..."

"Pure gold, creator?"

Afton shakes his head, "Mix it with some Saturnite, I have no idea what the colour'll look like afterwards, but it's better than having fragile jewellery... Er, also, make a granite statue of me and Josie dancing... Make her look slightly pregnant on it." he states and Glados gets to work after confirming the details.