… Roguefort got the half-bot comfortably to a couch, seeing as they weren’t too tired even after crying as hard as they were. A silence ran through them both as they sat together, an odd feeling of comfort seeping out for the friends. For the thief, it was because they could, perhaps, trust the small one with their life should worse come to worse, and for Cyborg, it was due to the fact that they had someone to relate to. Someone that understood how it felt when driven to kill, perhaps giving them some roundabout peace knowing that...maybe things were better than they thought they were? Sure, the sight of death was grotesque, but… maybe it had to be done every once in a while? … “Roguey...why did you do it?” “Hm?” “...You said I wasn’t dreaming, so… why did you kill them?” “...Why did you kill Aloe?” The question stung, sure, but it was one that somewhat made sense to the half-bot. It was only fair that they were asked this… “I was really scared, Roguey!!” It was hard to recall these events, but they tried to push past it. “I didn’t want to get fixed again…! Not after what they told me!” “That’s right…” They murmured, petting the half-bot’s head. “We were both scared.” And...it all just seemed to click for the smaller one. They both acted out thinking there was no other option…? Well, in Roguefort’s case, there really was no other way to go about keeping them alive. The thief would have continued, but was stopped by Cyborg leaning on them. “It’s weird…” “Hm?” “I thought you would never get scared!” “Well, I never said that myself. It’s normal to be scared when it comes to things like this. We are dealing with what’s more or less unknown to us when it comes to fixing.” “Aloe and that weirdo know about being fixed… or, at least one of them does! He acts so….head empty! Hempty!” “Hempty…” They repeated with a chuckle. “Ah, well, he hasn’t been here for long. But, it is strange that he doesn’t think like the rest of us do.” Swinging their feet back and forth to keep their urges for constant movement down, Cyborg continued to think about the circumstances Mint brought himself into. He didn’t want to fix them, but… there was no way that guy was thinking of anything important. …What was wrong with him? “...Do you rember-” “Remember?” “Uh!! Remem…Remememember anything about him?” “...Not particularly, why?” “I thought at least one of us would have seen him by now! I would have seen him if he was walking with eyes that hempty!!” “You’re saying… he shouldn’t have been there?” “Kinda? Maybe? I dunno, he’s just weird! I don’t like that…” “No need to be rude over an assumption....” “Mmm….okay. I’m gonna watch him, though! With at least one eye! The other one needs to sleep.” “That’s not… how sleep works.” “It is now, Roguey!!!! Just for me though, because you need to sleep like a normal person!!! …You’re nearly falling asleep listening to me!” The half-bot playfully bapped at the jewel thief, who was trying to snap themself out of it the moment it was noted.
“I’m not tired!” “Your eyes were closed, dummy!” “Pff, if you think telling me I’m tired will make me sleep any faster, you are sorely mistaken.” They smiled at Cyborg, then flicked their gaze to a window. No husks outside, from what they could see. …The stars were quite nice to look at, however. …It seemed that the half-bot would look at them, too. “...Roguey?” “Yes?” “What do you think of us?” “Hm…?” “Like… With what you know about all of us!” “...It’s rude to speak of people who aren’t listening, but…Aloe and Mint are still very unknown to me. I’m nervous to get close to that scientist… I do know they mean no harm, and it has dulled down my worries for them. Perhaps we’ll be good friends… wouldn’t you think? As for you, Cyborg, you’re quite a handful to be around. A good handful, mind you.” Roguefort glanced back from the window for a moment before continuing. “You’re probably the reason we’ve all stuck together through this. I never thought someone so naturally happy existed under all of our forced personalities. We already know that Mint’s happiness is far from…whole, but yours… Ah, if yours didn’t exist, none of us may have ever broken free. It’s a fighting type of happiness, one that commands to be heard above the happiness of the husks.” “Is that a good thing?” “I hope so.” They murmured, gazing up at the small twinkling lights above. Were those all the same in brightness and hue, as well…? They could only wonder. “...I’m still sorry.” “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Are the thoughts of your dreams still plaguing you?” “Yeah…kinda.” “Your dreams have no bearing on who you are or what is to become of yourself. Apologies that you had to see such an event and recall it all as a dream not more than a day after..” Aloe’s voice surprised them both as they took a seat on the couch next to them. “Where is Mint…?” “He’s bandaged and asleep, thankfully.” They sighed, seeming to be pensive about the recent events. “What do you think of him?” “Of Mint?” “Yea!” “As hollow as he is, I still like him. I simply think he needs someone to guide him through thoughts. It’s an odd concept, but…” “Your hopes in people are weird.” “Your urges for violence are weird.” “Wh- I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!” They turned and bapped the scientist on the shoulder, huffing. Thankfully, it was plain as day that Aloe was joking, so Cyborg didn’t do much worse. “Right, right, anyhow… I’ve never seen Mint anywhere before… So my intrigue is set on him. I want to see what he remembers… Because I worry for him.” “You w- WAIT, you worry for that twink?” “Not as much as I worry for you both, but… Sure. I worry his stupidity may get us into trouble. Might as well try to drive something into that head of his.” “Y’know, that reasoning isn’t all that bad! I can understand wanting him to know something! I don’t want any of us to do anything…that involves bloodies, ever again!” “What a world we would live in if that were the case.” They let out a sad laugh, attempting to relax despite the scares they had just endured. Even with thoughts, they all resorted to heinous acts just to keep each other safe…? Or- Well. Two of them did. Aloe didn’t even know if they were capable of doing the same thing… Their wires hung in the balance, after all. “Aloe… I’m cold. I don’t know why.” It took a moment for the voice to snap them out of their thoughts, and they looked at Mint in bewilderment. “Y-You were under several blankets!!!” “...Then, it got too warm.” “Is that because of your wound?” When asked, the pianist poked at it, trying to see what happened with each attempt to prod at it. He became…oddly persistent with poking at it, even attempting to pick at it and so on, but Aloe was relatively quick to pull his hand away. He was quiet for a moment, looking at the wound. “...It’s warm.” “So instead of stinging, you just feel…warmth?” “Discomforting warmth…maybe.” “I see… Well, don’t pick at it. You’ll only make the discomfort worse, alright…?” They watched him nod, then come over and settle down on the couch as well. He was curled up against a nearby pillow.
The scientist looked over at the other two. Roguefort had fallen asleep sitting up. It must have been a treacherous night for them, so they understood conking out in such an odd spot. “Aren’t you gonna go sleepie, Aloe?” “...I’m not tired.” They sighed, standing up. “I overheard what they said.” “Oh! What they think about you?” “Yes. It’s… odd, hearing someone speak of me in a slightly positive manner.” “Well, you used to always be a bitch.” “No shit.” They huffed, a bit offset by how obvious of a comment that was to them. “Well. Judging from that, I find it all the more odd that they see anything about me to bear any means of hope. Perhaps that means I’ve broken character more than I thought.” “...What do you mean?” “Nothing concrete just yet. All I know is that we are merely pieces on a chessboard.” They stood up, glancing back. “We are puppets to few, but because we are breaking the rules…” “You lost me at chessboard.” “...Hah. Well, you’ll understand sometime, by your own means.” They smiled. “I suggest you rest. We’ll need a lot of it to recover from what happened. I’m simply going to try and put pieces of whatever this grand scheme is together.” “Can’t I help?” “No, because it’s a theory, Cy. Until I am sure of myself, I’d prefer not to share my findings.” “Mmm…Okay! Then I’ll try to go bebbie!!! Even though I woke up…uh…an hour ago…” “Trust me, you haven’t slept as long as you think you have.” “If you’re sure!” They smiled Back at Aloe, then used Roguefort as a pillow to rest on. Somehow, their presence made them feel safer. The scientist, seeing this, finally turned away. Hah, just a theory… How easy it was to throw an excuse at the semi-organic and have it work like a charm. It worked too well. That was the problem. They knew that was the problem. They could figure out the fact that all of them were no more than marionettes, yet… There was definitely still something wrong with all of them. None of them were completely thoughtful, they all had gaps in continuity and logic. Going down to what Mint had dubbed a ‘dungeon,’ the controller of wires could only sit there and receive an aching migraine trying to decipher it all. None of it made sense. Too many things were missing from the big picture, even with the added piece of Roguefort’s killings… And they only had so much time before the world put them at such high stakes again. And oh…how they desperately hoped the next time it happened, it wouldn’t put a strain on them. Not yet. How they wished they had more time.
