Work Text:
"I cannot abandon my duty," Ms. Casey insisted. She'd followed Helly all the way to the bathroom. It had taken far too long to convince her to wait outside the stall.
"I'll only be a few minutes. I don't want you to hear me…" Helly's voice trailed off. Something about her just creeped Helly out. The dead look in her eyes, those monotonous speech patterns… somehow, Ms. Casey was more a corporate slave than than the rest of them. Following procedure like a robot.
"I am to watch you for signs of sadness," she repeated. Unchanging.
Helly leaned her head against the wall, germs be damned. After a long pause, Ms. Casey just had to interrupt her peace with, "Helly, are you experiencing urinary difficulties?"
"No," she grit out. This fucking woman—
"I'm noticing signs of sadness." The door opened— because of course Lumon's locks could be bypassed— and in she went. "I can a hug, or perhaps other physical comfort."
"Just leave me alone."
"I can't do that any more than you can stop refining data." She crouched, adjusting to sit in a kneel, dark eyes meeting Helly's. "All I can offer is physical comfort, on request, and to listen."
Did she—
Did she mean what Helly thought?
All Helly had wanted was to escape the monotony of data. Yet here she was, considering taking her skirt off, and. Well. If killing herself wouldn't stop her outie, then…
"Can you leave marks?" Helly asked. Ms. Casey smiled.
"Of course."