Sing of liberty, sing of sorrow,
Spill your heart, your voice, so that maybe someday,
You'll be able to find the dream you once lost.
The world was still, with the exception of the faint chirping of the birds. A figure was shadowing a young boy from the sun, who had been contently practicing a song he had been taught.
Slowly, the boy blinked, the wind whistling through the air. Tilting his head, he asked, "Who might you be?"
His single eye was glazed, the yellow color muted. It held no interest, and he seemed to ask only out of politeness, a quiet obligation.
The standing figure smiled but instead of giving an answer, posed a question of his own. "So you're that new singing android kid?"
Another blink, as if processing it. The boy nodded, as if unsure. "Yes..."
The figure stepped aside and took a seat on the grass beside him.
"You have a name?"
The boy thought a moment. "It's Oliver for now but my creator is thinking of changing it to Devan or Cody. He said Treble isn't a bad fit either."
The stranger laughed. "Treble? Really?"
Oliver tilted his head again. "Is something funny?"
"More than anything, you look like an Oliver to me. Treble-" The stranger made a face, the corner of his lips pulling into a grimace, "That one doesn't suit you at all."
The android said nothing, continuing to blink slowly. His gaze shifted to the sky, following a lone black bird fluttering across.
"Is there something you need of me?" He didn't look at the stranger as he spoke, focused on the creature as it perched itself on the branch of a tree. "Would you like me to sing? I'm quite good at it."
"How about I sing and you listen? I'm in a bit of a singing mood."
A flicker of surprise passed over the android's face, his eye widening and his mouth hanging slightly agape.
"You sing..." the boy started hesitantly, "for me..?" It was an understandably foreign concept to something that had only been programmed to sing for others.
"Yep! How about it? I can even teach it to you if you want so you can show your creator or whatever."
In that instant, the emotionless, mechanical demeanor of the boy melted away as his eye lit up in excitement. A sheepish smile spread his lips apart.
"Then...if you don't mind?" His hands drew his knees closer to his chest and he stared at the stranger, anxiously awaiting a response as his toes curled and rocked his body back and forth.
The stranger gave him a smile and then took some time in clearing his throat. With that, he began, keeping his voice soft and gentle.
Oliver closed his eye and went still, listening, letting the melody surround him as everything dissolved-everything except the voice. The gears in his head were turning as the words pricked at something in his artificial heart.
When the song ended and he opened his eye, the world was more vibrant than he remembered it.
"There," said the stranger with a grin that stretched from ear-to-ear. Oliver blinked in surprise; had his eyes always been such a red color? "How was that for a first?"
"It was..." He trailed off, searching for the right words to describe it.
"Beautiful," he decided. "Simply incredible."
"Want me to teach it to you?"
Oliver shook his head. "I remember every song I hear. My creator plays them often and tells me to sing them later." None of the songs played, however, were sung just for him. The fact that this was a first left a strange fluttering feeling in his stomach. It puzzled him; perhaps he'd ask his creator about it later.
"Technology is advancing a lot," the stranger said, amazed. "People would kill to have a memory like that-I'm not exaggerating." He fiddled with the end of a cane Oliver hadn't noticed him holding.
"Oh, by the way, what's with all the bandages? I thought you were new."
The light that had lit up his eye dimmed, his smile waning as his hand gingerly touched the bandages stretching over where his left eye should be.
"Oh," he said quietly, as if remembering something. "A glitch-my creator is taking the time to fix it."
"Your knee and ankle too?"
The boy glanced down at the bandages tightly wrapped around them and gave a curt nod. "I suppose. They're having issues."
"Huh." The stranger's brows were raised as he studied the android, who expressed no discomfort at him doing so. In fact, he closed his eye and hummed to himself. It was the same song the stranger had been singing earlier.
The two of them sat together without speaking for a while. The birds kept chirping and an occasional breeze would come to roll the grass and rattle the trees.
When Oliver finished, he asked the stranger quietly, "Can you keep a secret?"
It was now his turn to blink in surprise. "If I have to."
He hesitated, his gaze turning skyward. This time, no birds were flying.
"I'm...sad, I think," he said, "I've read books and I think that's what this feeling is." He looked at the grass now, a hand playing at the blades. "But if I told my creator, I think..." he cocked his head to one side, "I think it'll make him sad too."
The stranger said nothing for a short while. At length, he asked, "Do you know why you're sad?"
He was silent as he thought. "I think I'm lonely. It's just my creator and me, but he's busy a lot." He buried half of his face in his arms. "He's been sick a lot too."
"Is there anyone else like you around?"
There was a spark of life in the boy's eye as he lifted his head. "Yes, actually."
Turning to the stranger with a faint smile, he whispered, "Don't tell anyone this either, but I heard my creator knows someone who's working on an android too." His excitement growing, he added, "I heard him say it himself! They're even working on making it sing."
Hugging his knees, he smiled at the ground. "If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to meet it someday."
"What do you think his name is?"
The boy blinked at the stranger. "Fukase. Why?"
He smiled. "No reason." Without warning, he playfully ruffled the boy's hair, who sharply inhaled and stiffened at the action.
With that, he hauled himself to his feet, using his cane as support. "Well, I've stuck here long enough, I'd better get going."
"Wait!" Oliver sprung up, his hand reaching to grab the sleeve of his tattered coat.
He froze. Realizing what he just did, his hand jumped back. His fingers went to fiddle with the bow fastened around the collar of his neck as he tentatively asked, "You'll-come back, won't you?"
The stranger, who Oliver now acknowledged was around his designated age, had been taken aback by the sudden action but he gradually relaxed with a smile. "Yeah."
The boy beamed at his reply, the smile nearly contagious. For just a brief instant, someone could have mistaken him for a normal human child.
As the stranger began walking away, he abruptly stopped and stood in contemplation.
"I have a secret too," he finally admitted, "You think you can keep it?"
Oliver nodded at first but quickly realized he couldn't be seen. "Yes."
The stranger turned on his heel, looking over at Oliver with a lopsided grin and tipping the hat sitting on top of his red mop of hair.
"My name is Fukase."
Realization dawned upon him. A little too late, perhaps, for Fukase had already turned and started on his way again. He waved at the boy without looking back.
"I'll be seeing you around then, Oliver."
Author's Note: I've been wanting to write an Olikase story for a while and this was more of an experiment than anything to see what I could do with their relationship. In truth though, I don't have any ideas for stories so if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it so much if you left your ideas in the reviews or PM me?
Also, I've barely written stories since 2013. I'm trying to get back into fanfiction writing.
If you know my previous story, A Song for Two, this story is sorta connected to it. Not in the sense you absolutely must read one of them to understand the other, but, yeah. If there's discrepancies, I didn't try too hard to connect them. (as in, I did not go back and reread A Song for Two haha, sweats,,)