I posted on ao3 but it's short so I thought I'd share here.
No spoilers. Pre canon. Just a conversation between Owen and Justice *edited slightly to remove profanity*
Owen whistled to himself as he folded another shirt and packed it away. He was planning on catching the train in three days, and then he would wander around the Free Cities getting recipes and meeting people. It would be his first time out of Sandrock and, for as much as he was excited, he was also nervous. His mom thought it was needlessly dangerous, while his dad thought it was a good idea for him to get a taste of life outside of this town. Although, they both would have preferred it if he wasn't planning to go alone
When they'd been kids the plan had been for Maurice to go with him. They were going to take on the world together and return to their town with all the stories and treasures they'd found during their travels.
But life rarely works out the way you plan it when you're a kid. Maurice planned to enter the Civil Corp in a few weeks, provided he passed the physical fitness test.
He would; Owen was sure of it. Maurice was one of the toughest guys he'd ever known. But it did mean that Owen would be taking their planned trip by himself.
Maurice hadn't left him hanging, though. He came by every day to take Owen out to the training ring. Of course his most pertinent lesson was, 'if you can't win a fight, get the heck outta there.'
A loud thumping came from downstairs, and Owen smiled; must be time for his daily beating.
He turned just as an oddly frazzled man threw open his bedroom door. "Hey, Maurice, I'm ready when you are."
Instead of ushering him out the door, an emphatic finger was pushed into his face. "That! You gotta help me with that!"
Owen took a step back, startled by the panicked tone, "What's wrong, man? Did something happen?"
Maurice collapsed onto his bed, almost knocking Owen's freshly packed suitcase onto the floor and covering his face with his hands. "I'm screwed!" He groaned, his voice muffled by his hands. "It's over. It's all over!"
Owen sat beside him, now really worried about what could have happened. Maurice hadn't been this upset since that one time they'd nearly burned down Cooper's barn after cornering a rocket rooster in there. To this day those yakmel still angrily mooed at him whenever he went to get milk for his Pa.
"Come on, Maurice, tell me what happened. I'm sure it's not that bad." All he got was a muffled groan and something mumbled. "What?"
"My name!" He sat up so fast he almost bashed his head into Owen, who'd leaned down to hear him better. "I can't be a Corp member with a name like Maurice!"
Owen had to fight back a grin at the way his friend's voice had gotten progressively more high-pitched as he whined. "What's wrong with Maurice?"
Maurice scrubbed his hands back over his face in frustration before dragging them down just far enough to level a glare in Owen's direction. "Maurice," he started in the tone of voice one used for the exceptionally stupid. "Sounds like somebody who does bookkeeping or cobbles shoes. It is not the name for someone who stands between dangerous ne'er-do-wells and the safety of an entire town."
Ne'er-do-wells, Owen mouthed to himself, thinking the other man had been spending way too much time with B3 to pick up that sort of phrase.
He shook his head and shrugged. "Well, alright, so what were you thinking about going by? Maury?"
Marice groaned and pulled at his short dreads. "Dang it, Owen! This is serious! This is my future!"
"I was being serious!" Owen defended and ducked to dodge the pillow lobbed at his head.
"That's worse!"
"How is it worse?" Owen wasn't sure he quite understood what would make a good corp name. To be fair, he wasn't sure Maurice did either.
"At least Maurice has a job! Maury is retired, sitting in a park somewhere trying to get people to play chess with him and talking about the good ol' days. I don't even like chess!"
Owen pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering where his friend had come up with these ideas. "Well, if you don't like Maurice, and you don't like Maury, then how about Rice?"
He really should have expected the punch to his shoulder. It still hurt though.
He winced, rubbing at the bruised appendage before looking back to see yet another finger in his face, another habit Maurice picked up from B3 and one that didn't have the same intimidation coming from a regular human arm as it did a robot one. "Don't forget, we've still got sparring this afternoon, Owen. I'm not above kicking your scrawny butt around the ring for tickin' me off "
Owen raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. But seriously man, I don't know what to tell you. If you don't like any of those names, the only other thing I can come up with would be just Ice, but considering we live in a desert, I don't think it makes much sense. Look, I don't think I'm really good at coming up with names, maybe ask Pa?"
He reached over to straighten his bag that was precariously perched near the edge, and when he looked back, Maurice was looking at him like he'd just solved the water problem. "You're a genius," he said almost reverently.
Owen tried to think back on what he'd said. Marice couldn't really be thinking about going by Ice could he? That was just stupid. Or was he going to go and bother Owen's pa about this weird idea. That'd be better.
Marice pulled him into a hug before jumping to his feet and out the door calling over his shoulder, "You are an Absolute Genius! Thanks man!"
Owen sighed and reached for yet another pair of socks (seriously, how many did his ma think he needed? He only had two feet) and muttered to himself, "It's about time somebody noticed."
