Soul needed an escape. From all of it. The responsibilities, the bickering — hell, even Darrel velcro'd to her side was too much right now. She knew what was coming. The fallout that would soon hit the Psyche. So she took a walk along the edge of the woods. He didn't know what happened — if he was just tired, if it was the pressure of incoming cacophony — but the next thing she knew, she was blinking herself awake on the ground.
There it was. The fog. The fog that set in to signify the start of cacophony. His head pounded incessantly. There was one silver lining though… at the edge of the fog…
“Harmonia…?” She called out carefully. She waited
“... Harmonia, are you here…?”
“Harmonia, please… give me guidance. Tell me how to make it though yet another loop. I'm exhausted… I can't go through this anymore… I need your help.”
No response, yet again, though he could swear the fog shifted… that he saw two glowing shapes among it. Harmonia…? Has his goddess appeared?
“Harmonia, please… give me strength… I call out to you… please,” she all but cries out. No response… she sighs, pushing herself off her knees. She has to return home.
Mind rubbed its temple, a tension headache hitting his servos. He thought about programming out his pain sensors, but that would be illogical. Pain had a purpose, it's a biological need, a sign of problems. His current problem…? The emotional mess that calls themself the Heart. Artemis cried and whined about how his emotions were more important than logic; a statement ‐like most of the things he said- entirely illogical. He screamed and sobbed, acting more like an infant than a grown man, particularly in his latest incident earlier today. Apollo had to admit to itself… his temper rose to a point he wasn't proud of. It kept a decent amount of control, though, if he said so himself. Regardless, he let out a synthetic sigh, going back to writing on the paper in front of it. He had to get this work done, if not simply for the sake of its completion, than to distract itself from the growing annoyance that made its fans run louder.
Heart all but growled to himself, trying to ignore the shaking caused by their burning rage and searing tears. They hid themself under their blankets, pillows and plushies surrounding himself in a sort of comfort-cacoon. Mind pissed him off again. Stupid Mind with his stupid logic, and stupid order. It needed to understand that having a heart was just as important, maybe even more important than his cold “rationality.” They couldn't stop the muffled, shrill squawks and chirps of anger that left his throat. He felt a movement against his blanket, and was moments away from jumping up, expecting either Mind's annoyingly robotic voice coming to taunt him or Soul's gentle voice coming to “calm him.” They didn't need that right now. The patronizing voice coming in to tell him they were overreacting. He pauses before he could when they heard a soft, curious cluck… Darrel. He shifts slightly, lifting their wing to allow Darrel a space into the cacoon. The chicken gladly burrowed his way in, snuggling against Heart's side. It was nice, comfortable… Heart pulled the chicken in closer, letting out a soft chirp to signify their happiness, and earning one in response. Heart closed their eyes, content for a moment, about to start drifting off before he heard the front door close, causing Darrel to lift his head. Soul was home… He almost sat up, though he heard another door open and close, followed by the familiar, alarmingly perfect and mechanical footsteps of Mind. They let out a low groan, burying himself farther into the blankets “stupid Mind, with his stupid face, stupid logic, stupid—” he was cut off by a soft cluck and a shifting against their side. Darrel. They quickly swallowed their grumbling, pulling the chicken closer, causing him to let out content sounds.
“...you're back,” Mind said, hovering in the doorway of the main room, causing Soul to jump. “what was the reason for your departure this time?” Its voice was flat in a way that could have been mistaken for a lack of care.
“Just, uh… out,” she responded, before realizing how… weak that excuse sounded. “On a walk. To clear my head… and to try to talk to Harmonia again.”
“Harmonia, again?” Mind responded, its voice definitely dismissive this time - a tone that Soul understood, not even needing the other to continue. Regardless, it did, pushing off the wall with a soft tut in that ever condescending way. “Seriously, Atlas. You have to let that go sometime. It's just the three of us in here, there's no goddess or whatever you claim her to be.”
Soul felt a rising anger burn in her chest, a retort bubbling up in his throat, before he choked it down. “... There's a fog,” he says instead, “all around the edges of the house. Thick… probably not a good idea to go through it.”
“...noted,” Mind responds, “though you know I don't tend to wander. You should tell the other one that. We all know that imbecilic bird-brain would probably attempt to fly through it during one of his outbursts.” Its words dripped with a certain venom.
Soul just let out a sigh. “Right. I was planning on it,” she responded. “...Why did you come down anyway, weren’t you working on something?”
Mind let out a soft hum. “I was simply ensuring you weren't also throwing your own temper tantrum. One is enough.” A brief pause, and then “I also need to prepare dinner. God knows we can't let Heart in the kitchen, and I'm not about to let you cook after last time.”
Soul let out a huff. “That was ages ago,” she retorts, “and you know I can actually cook.”
“Putting your disgusting energy drink in dishes isn't cooking, it should be criminal.”
Soul bit back another retort, before responding instead with “...so what's for dinner then, anyway…?”
“Stir fry,” it responds point-blank. “With pork”
Soul nods with a soft hum. “Right. I'm going to… lie down. I'm a bit tired.”
“... you do that, then,” Mind responded, turning fairly flippantly towards the kitchen to cook.
Mind ruffled through the cabinets and fridge, looking for all of the ingredients it’d need. He took a moment to wash the rice, seasoning it before dropping it in the rice cooker. It spent the next few moments chopping up herbs and vegetables, as well as slicing the thawed meat it set out earlier. He threw the sliced pork into the pan, cooking it before starting on the sauce. After the sauce was done and the meat mostly cooked, he threw in the vegetables, stirring it around to cook evenly, before adding the sauce it made, turning the stove off and moving it off the heat. It stepped away, heading down the hall and knocking on the first door it saw.
“Birdbrain,” he called gruffly, about to continue before…
“Piss off.” A low, almost sleepy grumble was heard from the other side.
“Dinner is done, get up,” it continued, ignoring Heart's words. “I'm not letting you skip meals because you're sulking over nothing.”
A loud groan and a shifting was heard before Mind walked off. Heart was getting up, he had no reason to stick around. Instead, it went down the hall to Soul's room, knocking again, and earning a tired groan in response.
“Get up,” it called through the door, “dinner is done.” Another groan and shifting. It turned to leave, but this time, the door opened behind him. It paused its step, glancing behind him. “Ah, you are awake,” it responds. “As I said, dinner is ready… I'll be setting the table,” he continues before walking off to do just that. The other two arrived as he set the last plate down, all three sitting down. They ate in silence for a while, before:
“Can you pass the salt?” the avian asked.
“No need. I added the optimal amount of seasonings when I created it,” Mind responds bluntly, eating scarfing down his meal.
“Optimal amount or not, I still want salt,” Heart retorts, wings flaring up as they felt anger rising.
“Unnecessary. It has been perfectly crafted to be the most satisfying in terms of flavour, texture, substance, and nutritional benefit,” Mind retorts, practically hissing.
“Well you can't just science food, it's up to preference, and my preference is more salt," Heart snaps back, fully growling now.
“...Guys,” Soul tries to interject, “there's no need to fight, let's just—” Her words fell on deaf ears.
“Crafting food is a science— that is precisely what I've done,” Mind snaps, a low buzzing from its fans now audible with its anger.
Heart ignored him, starting to reach precariously over the table to reach the salt shaker. “Whatever, I'm adding salt if I want to.”
Mind snatched the salt away in an admittedly petty way. “You aren't an animal, get off the table.”
“Well, if you aren't going to pass it to me…”
“You don't need it, you're overreacting.”
Bickering. Again. Always with the bickering. Soul rubbed her temples as if it’d help subside the aching this time. Heart and Mind went back and forth for a while before— “Just. stop.” Soul grumbled, half-expecting to just be ignored again.
“... Fine. I don't need to eat anyways,” Mind responds, pushing away to stand.
“And I wasn't hungry anyway,” Heart gruffed, pushing their chair out and standing up quickly.
“Typical Heart, you'd rather starve yourself than accept a no,” Mind grumbled.
“Eating one meal without you isn't starving myself.”
The two bickered back and forth down the hall until their respective doors slammed shut. Her head hit the table with a soft thump as she let out a sigh. Alone. She would have to get used to this again…
Aaaannnnddddd hopefully that was worth the wait? I greatly apologize, guys </3 that being said,,,,, dont expect updates to be uber quick </////3. I'll stay on top of asks, though, so keep sending em in!!! Thank you so much to @bucolicgh for being my wonderful free-range, grass-fed beta for this chapter. I was specifically requested to thank them like this, please spare me /silly I hope you guys enjoyed
