[ note ] written for a school assignment! au where luka's an android and gumi's a human, but towards the end luka learns about emotions and becomes more human, whereas gumi grows colder and more lifeless – almost like a robot.

this is the beginning of it all...

inspired by fnaf sister location and luka&gumi's How To Pretend by circus-p ((they're super coolio aaaa))

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from beyond the curtains

(let me show you somewhere we could hide
we can stay in here until sunrise)

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Luka's dancing again.

She twirls across the stage with light, graceful steps, delighting in the coolness of her bare feet grazing against the musty floorboards. The theatre is empty; she's come to learn over the years that this is usually the case after the dimming of lights and the jingling of keys.

There's something magical about the stage at night, Luka muses, extending a hand to trail along the sides of the front curtains. Her long, flowing hair fans out around her in a magnificent pink arc, its colour barely discernible under the cover of nightfall.

For as long as Luka can remember, the theatre has been her home, and performing has been her life. She loves to sing, she loves to dance. She loves to perform for humans – but only from afar, because Father forbids her from coming into contact with them. They're heartless, CV-03, is what he warns, the glint in his eyes hard but not unkind.

Humans are heartless.

Luka doesn't quite understand Father's words, but she listens to him regardless – it's Father, after all, and Father always knows best. Besides, the stage is all she's ever known. It's all she'll ever need.

It's magical.

CRASH!

She whips around to face the general direction of the noise.

Intruder.

Her gaze sweeps across the stage, all systems whirring to life and set on high alert. Intruder, intruder, where are you intruder –

'Whoops – sorry, sorry!' A faint outline of a tall human lingers behind the curtains on stage left, completely shrouded in shadows. There's a stray prop laying on the ground nearby – the cause of the earlier disturbance, most likely. 'Didn't mean to startle you, eheh.'

Luka hesitates. The only human she ever talks to is Father, and no one has ever stayed past the dimming of lights and the jingling of keys.

'I don't recognise you,' she murmurs at last. 'Who are you?'

'Me?' The willowy figure begins to shift; Luka can barely make out their movements, but it looks like they're planning to surge forward from the darkness –

At least until they slip and lose their balance, causing them to tumble to the ground in a crumpled heap before her.

Luka backs away in mild alarm, belatedly realising that they had been perched on one of the boxes and are not as tall as they'd initially seemed. 'A-ah...?'

'Owie... that's gonna leave a bruise...' The human girl presses her lips together into a firm moue as she rubs her sore back. She dusts herself off and rises to her full height, revealing that she's no taller than Luka's hip. 'But yeah – I'm Gumi! What's your name?'

'Um. I'm Luka – '

'Luka,' Gumi repeats, letting the name roll off her tongue experimentally. 'Luka. What a pretty name!' She bounces forward and peers into Luka's face with round, curious eyes.

'Actually – everything about you is pretty. Like, really, really pretty. Kinda like a doll.'

Luka recoils from Gumi, momentarily overwhelmed. This is not at all what she had expected when she decided to talk to the small human girl.

'I'm not like you, though,' she tells Gumi, tells herself. 'We're not the same.'

Gumi tilts her head, reminding Luka of a scenery wagon moving into place. 'Eh – why not?' Before Luka can reply, she reaches out to hold her larger, much bulkier hand in hers, turning it this way and that. 'You have hands, and so do I. That's pretty much the same to me.'

They're heartless, CV-03. Humans are heartless.

Luka's expression clouds over like an incoming storm. There's a subtle edge of steel to her doll-esque features now, like apples soaked in poison or daggers hidden up sleeves.

'I'm not – ' She cuts herself off, and says instead: 'I'm an android, Gumi. CV-03 is my model number. We're not the same.'

I'm not heartless like you.

She rips her hand away from Gumi – and promptly earns a loud cry from the human girl. When Luka glances back briefly, she's horrified to see a scratch down the length of Gumi's forearm, harsh and red and angry. It's unpleasant to look at; it must've been from one of Luka's stray bolts on her hand.

The bubble of indignant clears as an apology rises to her lips, instinctive and sincere. Father had raised her better than that.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – '

To her surprise, Gumi doesn't seem upset in the least – in fact, she doesn't even let Luka finish her sentence before she doubles over and hiccups a bright, cheery laugh.

'I guess you were right, Luka! We aren't the same, after all,' she chirps, breathless with laughter. Her eyes are glittering like stage-lights, and Luka can do nothing but stare.

'Unlike you, I can feel pain.'

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[ note ] fun fact: i actually have the ending for this au – it got scrapped when i decided to write this instead ahah,, it's on my tumblr if anyone's interested. either way, thanks for reading!