Hey. I'm alive. My new job just doesn't let me write while working. Also, I'm woefully behind on this project, and I've only just finished January.

Originally posted to tumblr 2016-03-02.

/ Day 19 (2016.01.19)

/ adverb
/ 1. Informal. to cease functioning, especially suddenly and completely; fall apart; fail:
/ As soon as the storm hit, every light in town went kerflooey.

Harry could remember when he'd had a heart attack last year. How Eggsy had panicked, against his programming, as he went down, and had still been panicking when Harry'd woken in the hospital. He hadn't been able to stop babbling, and Harry could still hear it sometimes, haunting the dark corners of his mind, that panic sending his heart into a gallop and an unquenchable desire to comfort his lover.

But when Harry woke up one morning to find Eggsy unresponsive, even after commands had been given and buttons pushed, Harry wasn't panicking, he was numb. He couldn't even remember calling Merlin, but he must have, because he was suddenly there, holding Harry tight and close. Harry couldn't even feel the warmth of his longtime friend's embrace. It wasn't until that moment that Harry finally broke down into tears, unable to keep his growing stress bottled any longer.

An hour later, when he'd finally calmed, Merlin released him and set to work getting Eggsy back up and running. All the while, as always, he kept muttering about ancient models that were well past their recycling date. Harry, as always, ignored him. It took two and a half agonizing hours before Harry heard the comforting whirs of his android coming back online.

Eggsy blinked and looked around the room, his human face furrowed in confusion. He took one look at Harry and nearly toppled Merlin to the floor in his race to drop to his knees at Harry's feet.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Eggsy asked in his programming fault's rough accent

Harry couldn't answer. He wrapped his fingers around the hands on his knees, tugging until Eggsy was able to register his silent request and climbed into Harry's lap. Somewhere behind him, the door closed after Merlin's departure.

His android looked all human, but his internal structuring was all metal bones and wiring. Luckily, he'd been built after the discovery of a newer metal, one that was nowhere near as heavy as the older models, and he was light on Harry's thighs.

Without even being asked, Eggsy cupped Harry's cheeks and tilted his head up, and Harry fell easily into his lips, trying to forget that one day, Eggsy was going to shut down and Merlin wouldn't be able to start him up again.

FINIS

2016 10M WotD Master Post (themadkatter13fanfiction tumblr, /10M-WotD-2016).

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