Okay, um, hello there! My name's Hazzard (yes, two z's though I wish I could change it but people are used to it now) and this is my first Portal/Portal 2 fanfic. I'm not new to the game but I am new to the Chelley fandom and - oh my god - I need it to be a thing! Why is it not a thing? Well it is a thing to us lot, right? Anyway. This was meant to be a one-shot...but then I started to waffle - I tend to do that. So I hope it's interesting, I hope its entertaining, I hope you, my lovely readers, enjoy it and I hope to hear your views (good or bad, they both help) in a review! Please and thank you~!
Just a little background checked for this story, Chell isn't quite free yet but Glados has momentarily lost interest, focusing on Atlas and P-body's testing for now giving Chell a much needed break.
The Chairman's Poison
Chell exhaled deeply as Glados unlocked one of the doors that she had passed many times yet never really noticed before - maybe because it was just a simple door and not anything like the normal doors she had to rush through or shoot a portal at. Either way when she entered the room she found that she was walking through one of the office rooms that she had passed through all those years ago the first time she had escaped from the AI's reach.
"Don't think because I am allowing you this time to rest that I actually care about you," she heard the tinny voice echo out of every speaker she passed as she walked through the room, "I don't. I merely need you to be refreshed for the next section of testing chambers. Your body will also last longer if you take a break from all the adrenal vapor once in a while."
Chell rolled her eyes at the super computer's bluntness and trudged on following the rooms and hallways by a path marked out only by certain doors being unlocked and others remaining shut and unmoving. She yawned as she went, feeling the fatigue slowly creeping in to her strained body. The voice rang loud through the intercoms on the walls now, "I suggest you find a place to rest quickly because as soon as the adrenal vapors filter out of your system it's likely you'll immediately lose consciousness and it would be a hindrance if you were to fall and injure yourself in some way. It would force me to consider allowing you more time to heal and, let's be honest, that's frankly a waste of everyone's time. Now hurry along to the employee's quarters and don't even think about any clever escape plans - my turrets are lining every corridor apart from the one I have set out for you."
Oh, yay, Chell groaned internally. More danger in a place where she was supposedly meant to be safe and resting. Though let's face it - nothing Glados was in control of was ever entirely safe.
Chell finally found herself wandering in to a warmly lit room with deep red walls and a cream carpet on the floor. It was so differently from the usual harsh lighting and white sterile walls and concrete flooring that she was hesitant to enter. She may have stared at until she blacked out if the door hadn't closed behind her, forcibly pushing her inside the room.
She fell on to the carpet and was surprised to feel the warmth and soft texture of it on her hands and exposed knees. She ran her hands along it in awe as the door clicked behind her locking her in to this section of Aperture temporarily. Sitting back on her hunches, she sighed deeply retracting her hands in to lap and finally taking a look around the room.
In one corner, black cupboards lined the walls, one set of small cupboards high and hung up above the bigger lower set of cupboards. Next to them a silvery looking long cupboard stood and the other side of that was a black machine of some sort.
Maybe she would play with it later and work out what it did.
Her eyes next wandered over to a long, spongey looking couch with black fabric which was opposite another identical sofa with a long glass coffee table in the middle. On the coffee table was a couple of papers and books scattered about.
She rose slowly to her feet and wandered over, 'Maggie lost 8 st in just four weeks, read her tips inside'. Chell frowned at the headline of the magazine hardly seems important her as she was in top shape unless these were left by the scientists who were murdered by Glados. She pushed the magazine aside to read something off of the next paper underneath. 'The Aperture News Report' seemed to be a small paper booklet entirely of articles focusing on Aperture. It had picture of man smiling in the corner and a lady standing beside him smiling. The caption read, Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science.
Maybe she'd read it later and find out more about the company she had been with since she could remember. She had been here so long and in Cryosleep for god knows how long that she just couldn't recollect anything from her past before the first time Glados put her through the test chambers - if that was the first time. Maybe she would never know.
Chell noticed there was a bookcase at the other side of the room crammed with book that were covered in dust and beside that was an open door. She glanced around the room and then ventured to the next room.
The walls were cream in this room but it was still felt warm and comforting unlike the white of the chambers. There was a large bed in the middle of the room too and it looked although covered in a sheet of dust like the most comfortable thing she had seen in ages. There was a small white table beside the bed with a digital clock that just kept flashing the same four digits over and over again 12:00 - maybe it was broken.
She smiled at the cosy looking room until she heard, "There you are."
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she whirled around and ducked behind the door. There was open fire but nothing hit anything in the room. She peered out and saw that there were two large windows that looked out at the hallway from the bedroom and there was a turret outside looking in trying to target her.
She sighed with relief and a little irritation as she slid out from her cover and walked over to the window where the turret was still maddly shooting at her. She shook her head at the sad little thing and then looked around to find a levered that when pulled dropped a shutter, blocking the site of the room as well as blocking out some of the harsh lighting coming from that hall. Now the room was lit in wamr orange glow of the lamps hung either side of the bed.
"Are you still there?" she heard the muffled voice of the turret ask. Ignoring it she decided to dust and clean the bed as best she could before she became too tired to do so and woke up choking from inhaling it in her sleep. She shudder at the thought.
So she got to work cleaning up the living quarters, finding that just behind the door to the bedroom was another door leading to a bathroom, with a shower at the far end of the room, a tub as well, a toilet and sink basin with a mirror propped above it. Finally Chell was feeling her eyes becoming too heavy to resist it anymore and snuggled in to the now clean sheets of the bed letting sleep take her.
From behind her eye lids she could see an irritable light turning on and off rousing her from her slumber. She squinted, lifting her haze filled head to look around. That's when she remembered she was in the Aperture employee quarters - or part of it at least - and the annoying flashing was of the clock still telling her the same time. Clearly it was broken. She reached down behind the table and pulled the plugged out ceasing the bothersome flashing of the clock.
She then sat up properly, propping herself against the headboard of the bed and yawned, streching to wake herself up. She hadn't slept naturally in so long that it felt strange. Good but strange.
Just as Chell was beginnning to wonder what she should do first today she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach and she knew this as hunger. Glados regularly gave her meals that looked like bowls of grey porridge and plastic bottles of a clear liquid that appeared as water. It was according to the AI a meal containing a mash up of all the nutrition a human needed though it tasted god awful and never satisifed her for very long.
As the girl rose from the bed she prayered that there were something in those cupboards - anything - other than that terrible grey mush and maybe even water that was actual water this time.
But as she opened the door to the living room area she froze as there was someone at the cupboards on the other side of the room. A person. A human it seemed. She had never seen another human. It scared her, terrified her but also filled her with hope...until said person felt her gaze and turned to find her standing there staring.
They smiled widely at her and she her hope faded as she took in the metalic sheen to the figure's face and exposed arms. It was just another robotic experiment it seemed, not a another human after all.
The disappoint although still present, was almost completely masked by intrigue. She had never seen this kind of machine around the facility before and why was it a humanoid? Was Glados trying to make more lab rats such as Atlas and P-body just more in likeliness to humans? Whatever the reason it was strange looking though familiar.
This test subject - if that was in fact its intended purpose - was tall, thin and had artificial blond hair atop its head. It wore glasses probably without the need, but maybe it was to make it appear less threatening. It had illuminous blue eyes and wide smile directed at her currently. It was wearing an a greyish faded suit which was probably again to make it seem less threatening and more life like. It appeared male.
"Am I glad to see you," it cried and the voice made her eyes widen in shock. That voice was too familiar to mistake, "When was the last time we saw each other? It's been quite a long time hasn't it? Err and about...you know, all the betrayal and trying to kill you business, I just wanted to say I am so sorry. Truly. Can we just put it behind us and get back to being pals, again?" Wheatley asked taking two steps to beginnning advancing towards her only to stop when she jumped backwards in what looked like fear, "Ah," he spoke his expression deflating and his posture slumping ever so slightly. He tried to sound upbeat still but it was obvious that he was hurt by her reaction, "Okay, no, its fine. I understand. Yeah, I deserve that. Okay, well, um...I'll just spend the rest of my time making it up to you, I guess. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Take a seat, love, I'm making you breakfast."
The robot turned back to the cupboards and he was using that black thing that she wasn't sure of. It had fire bursting out of it now - had he broken it? It wouldn't had surprised her seeing as it was the clumsy, accident prone Wheatley but it seemed like it was controlled for now. He had this black place with a handle over the flame and something was sizzling inside of it.
That's when the smell finally registered and it made the human girl shudder in anticpation as her stomach moaned impatiently. Whatever he was making for her smelt like nothing she had ever smelt before and it was just making her stomach rumble all the more. Since he was making her breakfast she decided to comply to his earlier wish and sat down on the couch that was facing him.
Since the trust had been destroyed she was not going to let her eyes off of him for too long while he was around. She would watch his every move - not that he could do a lot now that Glados was back in control of the facility. That's probably why she used him of all the cores to test this new machinery. If it hadn't of worked, the loss of Wheatley wouldn't have moved Glados in the slightest she just would have calculated where it may have gone wrong and tested again and again until it worked.
The idea of Wheatley being lost for good, as in not ever existing again not even being lost in space, made Chell's chest tighten - or maybe that was just the hunger again.
Finally Wheatley hurried over with a white circular plate and set it on the coffee table in front and beside it he left a blunt knife and fork. He then rushed back to the cupboards, picked up the black plate by its handle, with a bigger looking fork in his other hand. He returned beside her and used the big fork to stab the two strips of meat in the hot dish to put on to her cool white plate.
"There's some bacon for you and I'll just get that egg as well," the robot explained as he rushed back to the cupboards placing the black plate on the side and retrieving another she hadn't seen behind the first. He brought that over and instead of stabbing the food, this time he pushed the white and yellow thing gently on to her plate with the side of the fork while saying, "Here we go. Now I don't suppose you've had a breakfast like this in a long time but from what I've read a lot of human's really like fry-ups. That's what this is. A fry-up. Generally because that's how its cooked. You fry it in frying pan. It looks good but I couldn't tell you if it was as I can't taste anything. She working on that. I don't know what she's trying to do exactly but I don't mind at the moment. I can walk around freely without needing a rail and I can pick things up and if one of my components need replacing I can do it myself now. It beats floating around space alone anyway."
Chell was barely listening, the food was too good to be able to concentrate on anything he said. Oh, lord, why was Glados so cruel as to never treat her with this sort of breakfast from time to time? After all she did the best she could on all of the tests. Didn't she derserve some kind of reward? This would be enough right now.
Wheatley was washing the frying pans in a sink she hadn't noticed yesterday, while chattering away, "...it wasn't really company, y'know? He just goes on and on and on and on about space. SPACE and stars and the moon. Do you know many times he told me that we were next to the moon? I counted 873 and don't judge me or think I'm exaggerating - I'm not! That was after I started counting as well. We were out there so long. The couple of years that I've spent with him and all he could talk about was bloody space. You know what, I don't ever wanna hear the mention of the word space again. That's it I'm done with space. Never saying the word space again. Goodbye space," he finished washing up and turned round to find her staring back at him with an plate empty and the knife and fork crossed on top of it, "Bloody hell, you were hungry weren't you? How was it? Did you like? I hope you did."
The woman nodded and looked around uncertainly, What now? It seemed that Wheatley was in the process of wondering that exact question as well.
"Maybe you should take a shower it would make you feel better, more ready for the day and while you do that I'll find something in these cupboards to drink. If there's nothing in here I'll check the other lounges. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to follow me there and if you did, you'd most likely be shot. Sorry, its not my doing - I promise! But there are turrets everywhere around this block at the moment. She's made it pretty clear to all of us that you are not to go anywhere out of this specfic zone," he explained with a shrug. Chell looked down at her feet and nodded in understanding. She sighed and then stood up turning to the bedroom.
"Sorry, love," she looked back at him and saw his apologetic gaze. She just shrugged in response with a sort of sad smile and made her way to the bathroom as he had suggested.
There was a clean pink towel in the bathroom hung on a railing that hadn't been there yesterday. It made her wonder how the robot hadn't woken her up by moving around given how silence was not his strong point. At least it had to have been him, how else would the towel get in there.
She sighed and began to disrobe. As she shed off her clothing she realised that although she was grateful for the thought it was still a little creepy that he could move around her so easily while she was asleep without her knowledge. She hoped it was just the fact that she had been exhausted last night and not just that she was apparently a heavy sleeper.
Chell stepped in to the shower and pulled the curtain back to shroud herself and after fumbling around with the different buttons and knobs on the wall underneath the showerhead, it finally started to spray her with fresh clean water. Chell pulled out the band from her hair and let it fall past shoulders. It had a kink to it being held up for so long.
She tilted her head back and turned around, letting the shower water push down and smooth out the black film that was her hair. The bottom of her hair line above her neck ached where she hadn't freed it in such a long time. She winced as she ran a hand through it and caused a small yet sharp pain along that line.
She saw that there was soap and a bottle that read shampoo, strawberry hair gel on the edge of the bathtub which was also behind the curtain rail with the shower. She picked up the bottle first and filled her hand with the gooey stuff and then proceeded to massage the it in to her wet mass of hair. Next she picked up the soap and dragged it across her skin over and over until she was certain that all of the dead and dirty flakes were scrubbed right off.
Chell was about to turn the widget that she had turned to start the shower when she stopped. She hadn't felt this clean and good in so long and the warm water felt amazing on her skin. She decided she would stay here for a just a little longer letting the water cascade down her body, dragging the soap suds with it.
She sighed and then her eyes caught the sight of something that she hadn't noticed on the other side of the bathtub. It was a box with a picture of a weird device on the side that she hadn't seen before. On the back of the box it displayed a cartoon woman holding the device to her leg with an arrow pointing up. Reading the instructions she realised it something to remove the hair on your legs and under your arms. Heat flared in her cheeks as she realised that she actually really needed it - at least the hair on her legs wasn't dark but it was clearly there and she wanted to be rid of it now that she had been made aware of it.
After following the instructions carefully and ridding herself of her hairy legs and under arms she was plesantly surprised at how soft and smooth the skin felt now. It made her smile.
She lifted the blade to her face to inspect the razors in the tool. They looked sharp but they hadn't cut her skin only the strands of hair. She ran her thumb experimentally across them and instantly regretted it.
She hissed dropping the tool on the floor of the shower and grimaced as blood began to ooze out of a rather large cut across her thumb, Okay, sharp! Very sharp! Owowow! Chell lifted her hand to the shower, the water washing the blood away but that didn't stop it from pouring out.
She panicked slightly and left the shower without turning it off. She grabbed the towel and slung it around her body. Before running out of the bathroom still dripping wet and leaving a trail of water in the carpet through the bedroom into the living area.
Wheatley was sat on the couch with his back to her reading a book. There was a glass of liquid and a bottle of the same colour liquid beside it on the table in front of him. She hurried over to him and he heard her just before she reached his side.
"I wondered how long you were going to be," he commented, folding the corner of the page he was on and putting the book down on the coffee table. He stood up and turned to her, "Are you feeling better..." he trailed off as he realised she was stood there soaked with just a small pink towel wrapped around her, and she was looking at him with arched eyebrows holding out her thumb to him.
After the intial shock that Chell was practically naked in front of him he cleared his throat trying to supress the blush that would have coloured his cheeks had he not been mostly machine. He noticed the blood then, "Err, what, um what happened, love? H-how did you do that?"
She glanced back at the bathroom and pointed to it and made scraping motions with her arms as if she were still holding the blade but to Wheatley it looked like she miming painting instead, "Err, right," he said uncertainly and reached out to touch her shoulder before stopping himself, "Come this way. There should be bandaids and bandages in one of the top cupboards and as before if not there will be in another lounge. I've seen them somewhere. I know I have."
Wheatley turned away from her and started searching through the cupboards while the blood continued to slowly flow from the deep cut in to her thumb that felt like it was throbbing now. Chell stared at it noticing that in the corner of the cut the blood had changed colour and frozen somehow. It was finally beginning to dry and scab over.
The machine man turned back to her and held his hand out to her, "Injury please," he chirped brightly trying to make it less of a problem with cheeriness. Chell looked up at his smile before looking down at his hand emotionless and placed her own hand in his, upturned.
He gripped her wrist gently and with his other hand he brought a damp cloth to her thumb and wiped at the blood that had cover most of her hand. When he had cleaned the area. He wiped one last time at the wound that was still trying to leak and quickly wrapped a soft, thick white material around it.
"There we go. All better. But leave that on there until I say so. Take it off too quickly and you'll re-open that cut and it looked like quite a nasty thing. How did you say you did that again? With a paint brush?" Chell frowned confused, she didn't even know how to paint so how had he misinturpreted that? "Why were you painting anyway?" Wheatley continued as he started toward the bathroom, Chell following closely behind him rolling her eyes at his incorrect spiel, "I didn't even know I had left a paint brush in there? That's not how humans clean, by the way. I thought that would be obvious to you at least. I mean, I know you're no ordinary human, lady, and you're a very shelter child but come on. Even I know that painting isn't part of the cleaning ritual."
As they entered the bathroom, Chell grabbed his sleeve which made him turn back to her with confusion. She frowned and shook her head at him. She then moved quickly around him to retrieve the blade from the floor of the shower which was still running.
The woman turned back to him and held it up so that he could see it clearly.
"Oh! The razor! Well, now that makes much more sense. You cut yourself with that," he frowned then, "What were you doing that made you cut your hand with it? Do you not know how to hold it? Would you like me to show you?" He glanced down at her legs then, making her blush and feel self-conscious, "You don't need to use it though it seems."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She tapped her nose.
"You know? Oh, you already know how to use it," he realised and then frowned again, "Then how did you cut yourself, love?"
Chell moved her thumb above the blade to show him and, of course, she wasn't so silly as to do it again but that didn't Wheatley was. He jumped and reached out for the tool crying, "No! You don't have to show me! God, lady! You don't need to cause yourself anymore harm doing it again just explain something to me! Dear, oh, dear! You must be more brain damaged than I thought."
Chell crossed her arms over her towel and glared at him. He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Err, joking! Joking! I was just joking! Of course, you're not. Lighten up, love. Anyway, you have a spare change of clothes on the bed for you to, err," his eyes glanced down at the towel and he had to drag them away back to her glaring grey orbs, "For you to c-change in to. Once you're done come and sit down with me in the lounge. I found something drinkable! I, err, I can't tell you how it tastes again because I don't have, um, those senses as of yet. But there was a lot of it in the chairman's personal apartment suite. He had lot of things actually. Wouldn't surprise me if he lived here most of the time when he was alive."
Chell cleared her throat as Wheatley stared at nothing inparticular in deep thought. The noise from the mute caught his attention though and broke his trance, "Yes?" She rolled her eyes yet again and motioned for the door, "Oh right. Yes, sorry, yeah. I'm going. I'm leaving. See you in lounge, love."
He left without another word and the woman quickly dried herself incase he came back before she was dressed again. She peered around the bathroom door and was pleased that he had remembered to shut the bedroom door for her to get ready. She walked over to stand in front of the clean clothes that her friend - although she was still mad at him, he was still her friend - had set out on the bed for her.
Her brows knitted together. That's not a jumpsuit.
The door opened and this time Wheatley was sat on the opposite sofa so that he was ready for when she came back in to the room. He looked up to see her enter and just stared for a moment. Chell blushed in embarassment.
She knew it! It made her look fat! Glados always told her she was and when she realised the clothes weren't her usual jumpsuit she cringed as she began to pull the material over her skin.
She sighed deeply and turned back to the bedroom, pointing back to the room as if to say, 'I'm going back in there'.
"No, wait!" Wheatley cried and took two more seconds just to look at her. Finally he pried his eyes away from her body, which was hugged by a long flowing washed out orange gown, and looked back up at her confused face. He beamed brightly, "You look beautiful! I knew that dress would look great on you. Good ol'Wheatley's done it again! Err, something right, that is. You look great, love."
The Chell's eyebrows lifted - almost off of her face entirely. He had never called her that before. Beautiful. In fact no one had. Not anyone had paid any compliments before. Only Glados had given her were insults left, right and centre.
Before she realised it her face was burning red and she was staring intently at the ground, clearly averting her gaze. It was so embarassing being stared at like that. Not as bad as before she realised that his reaction was positive but still a little uncomfortable.
Wheatley seemed to notice her uneasyness and patted the seat next to him without a word, just a big warm - and what he hoped was an - inviting smile. Chell took deep breath to try and get rid of this annoying blush on her cheeks as she made her way toward him. Instead of sitting beside him like he had invited her, she sat down on the couch opposite him. It disappointed him a little but he tried to ignore it as if it were nothing. Instead he reached for glass on the table and held it out to her.
She hesitantly accepted and experimentally sipped it as he explained what it was, "It's edible, I swear, had bottles of it in his fridge. But I don't know if he stole it or not because they all have someone else's name on it and I don't think I've read any files with this name before. So whoever this person was he wasn't a scientist here. Maybe he was a friend of the chairman's. Or maybe my first assumption was correct and he infact stole them from someone else."
Chell didn't really care, there was nothing that could be done now anyway - those people were all dead and long gone - besides this drink was nice. If they had in fact been stolen, this Jack Daniels guy had missed out something delicious!
"Is it good?" Wheatley asked leaning forward in his seat. Chell nodded as she took another sip. He smiled widely again, "Brilliant! See, I can do my job! Looking after the humans! Not too bad after all, love, eh?"
Chell didn't answer that she just finished the drink in her hand and held the cup out to the blue-eyed robot.
"Oh, would you like more?" he asked and she nodded. He took the glass and refilled it for her and then gave it back. As she got comfortable on the couch bringing her legs up beside her and beginning to drink again, Wheatley stared at her face in thought for a moment.
When he couldn't think about it any longer he asked, "Love?" she looked at him expectantly, "Can you say anything? Like anything at all? I mean maybe apple was a little too difficult to begin with after you had just awoken from cryosleep. What about a simple 'yes' or 'no'?"
Chell averted her eyes again and took another long sip of the drink. That question made her uncomfortable.
"Not even nod or shake of your head to tell me if you can or can't speak?" Wheatley pushed. Eager to know if she really was a mute or not.
She sighed, looking down at her empty hand resting idley in her lap. Chell then nodded without making eye contact.
Wheatley's eyes widened in surprise, "You can?"
It was secret of hers which she wished to keep because you could tell some much just from someone's tone of voice and she never wanted any of the Aperture laboritories to ever know her too well. If they knew how she felt about certain things, such as her attatchment to the companion cube, her anger at Glados, her sorrow concerning Wheatley's betrayal, she would fall behind and she wouldn't ever regain the pace she had always maintained. If they ever figured out her weaknesses Glados could control her all the more.
Chell peered around the room. She couldn't see any of Glados's camera watching but who was to say there weren't microphones installed to pick up even the slightest pin drop.
"Then why don't you ever say anything? Oh, please say something to me? Anything! A whisper! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" He was down on his knees in front of her with his hands clasped together in a begging. She was staring at him wide-eyed, why did he want to her to speak so badly. It was odd.
The woman stretched out her legs and got up, she manuevered around him and picked the bottle up too as she passed wanting another refill. Wheatley got up as well and followed her to the cupboards. He didn't know what she was doing but even she wasn't sure. Just trying to find something to change the subject.
"What are you doing? Trying to find something interesting to say or talk about?" he asked as she opened and closed cupboards trying to find any distraction. We she didn't answer him, after she closed one of the cupboards Wheatley ducked under her outstretched arm and wedged himself between her and cupboards, "It doesn't have to be interesting and you don't have to talk about it. Just one word! That's all I'm asking for! One word! I won't even tell her, I promise!"
She stared in to his eyes for a moment to decipher whether he could be trusted again. After thinking it over - there was really no way Glados would let him anywhere near her chamber after the last time - she decided that one word would be his allowance and that was it. One word. But what word? He had 'yes' or 'no' was fine but that wasn't a lot to go on and it didn't even make any sense 'okay' would make sense but he might disppointed with that being the only word he had ever heard her say.
Chell took another sip of her drink looking at the sink to Wheatley's side in thought and then she realised something that should satisfy his curiosity.
She leaned close to him and brought her lips up to his robotic ear. She felt him stiffen his hands which were already slightly outstretched ghosting over her hips. She whispered quietly sending a shiver through his body that she felt, "Wheatley."
He let out an unnessessary, but shakey breath which may have made her cringe at one time but since anyone and anything in this facility would react the same to her voice she let it slide for now.
"Love," was all he could manage for a while staring shocked in to her eyes. He then smiled probably the biggest smile she had ever seen, "I was expecting just a 'yes' or something," Chell rolled her eyes with a small amused smile playing at her lips, as if he would accept it if I had. He continued you on rambling excitedly, "But for you to say my name, oh. That was so surprising! But good surprising! Not bad at all. You've made me really happy. Man alive! You spoke my name. My name. Me. Little ol'Wheatley! Ha! Wow...your voice is so soft and quiet. Not at all like mine. Though I wouldn't expect you to sound like me. T-that would be weird, wouldn't it?"
She arched her eyebrows up but smiled and him as she nodded. She found herself wanting more of the drink and poured herself more leaving the almost empty bottle on the side board. But when Chell turned back to start walking back over to the couch the room moved. How odd?
Then a second later her mind raced and she wondered if Glados had heard her and she transporting the room closer to her chamber to test her and make her talk. She gasped in fear but then the room stablised. Something touched her elbow making jump and almost cry out in fear. Until her scared eyes met Wheatley's and mimicked his confusion.
"Are you okay, love? You're breathings irregular, you seemed to begin hyperventilating just now but then you calmed down again. What's wrong? Did you see something that scared you?" he asked, still touching her arm lightly. Chell put a hand over her face, shutting her eyes. She felt dizzy but she had just imagined the room moving it seemed. So shook her head just so he didn't start worrying about her.
Wheatley seemed uncertain of her answer and lead her over to the couch, "Come on, love, sit down. Maybe you're still a bit tired. Why not take a nap? You can use me as a pillow if you like," he offered half-meaning it, half-joking. He caught a glimpse of her smiling which cause a little flutter in his chest. He guided her down to a sitting position and then sat down beside her. Without hesitating now she leaned against him and he tentatively put his arm around her shoulders.
"I suppose I would be more comfortable if I was softer and not so made of metal. It might also help if I was warm," he commented more so to himself than anyone. Trying to keep the nerves at bay, "B-but she working on it."
Chell looked up at her friend with a quizitive expression. Wheatley knew what she was wondering, "She trying to work out if she can make humans from us. The personality cores."
The woman scrunched up her nose thinking it was an odd experiment, "Yeah. I don't get it either. It hurt when she put me in to this body and I know that this isn't even the ending. This is just the beginning of my testing. But I also know that if I refuse anything she has in store for me, I'll be dead before I can utter another word, love."
Chell nodded listening intently while she finished the last of her drink still in her hand. She sighed and put the glass on the table or at least she tried to. It seemed she had leaned a little too far forward and almost fell face first in to the glass if it hadn't been for Wheatley catching her.
She felt something pressed again places that they shouldn't be. She frowned and looked down aat where he was holding her, "I am so sorry! So sorry! But you were going to fall! I just reached out caught you! It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it. Please, understand," he pulled her back to a sitting position and retracted his hands from her breasts and then averted his gaze feeling both embarassed and shocked and ashamed at what he had just done.
Chell, on the other hand, was still staring down at her chest trying to work out why had needed to grab her in the first place. Why had she even lost balance? What was going on? First the room moved, then she was dizzy now she couldn't quite coordinate her movements and even now as she looked around everything was moving. The room seemed to be trembling but Wheatley wasn't reacting so it was just her it seemed. What in god's name was wrong with her?
Wheatley glanced at her and saw her squinting and then widening her eyes, staring at her hand. She was trying to focus it seemed, "You're not bad at me are you?"
She shook her head and instantly regretted it. She groaned shutting her eyes and bringing both hands to her head.
"Lady, what's wrong?" he asked suddenly aware that she was in pain or at least that's what it sounded like. He took her wrists gently in his hands. She opened her eyes and looked at him, he saw her pupils dialate as she tried to focus on him, "You're not okay are you? What's wrong, love?"
She attempted a shrug this time and that still made the room spin.
"I'll get you some more to drink," Wheatley cried jumping up, "Maybe you're just dehydrated. I know that that can sometimes cause problems for humans."
He returned quickly with more of that golden coloured liquid. Chell gulped half of the glass down and then set it back on the table.
"Does that help?" he asked touching her left cheek lightly.
She thought about the gestures and they caused the room to spin and so instead she just whispered, "I don't know."
He froze again. She had spoken to him again and he hadn't even begged or asked her to this time. After regaining his calm again he stuttered uncertainly, "W-well, maybe it just t-takes some time then. Here lean against me again and this time try not to move. If you want the drink, ask me to get it for you, okay love?"
Again she didn't want to nod for the room would move to quickly for her, "Okay."
She didn't lean against him as such, she moreorless slumped against him almost deadweight...and then she giggled.
He stared down at her wide-eyed. First words and now cute little musical chimes echoing from her. As adorable the sound was, it didn't make any sense. What was so funny?
"Um, are you alright, love? As in...err...as in emotionally?" he asked.
"Nuuu," she mooed quietly and then giggled again and added quietly with a shout at the end, "But I never am. How can someone...in APERTURE!?"
The sudden loudness of her voice made him jump which caused her to giggle all the more. He placed his hand under her chin and turned her face up to his careful not to be too forceful. As they connected eyes she smiled lazily up at him and whispered, "Hello, Wheatley."
"What's wrong with you?" he asked bluntly and then back pedalled, "Not that I don't love your voice or anything. I do! Its wonderful! Musical! But you're acting so weird right now. This is not normal for you. You don't usually say anything and you're laughing at nothing. Usually her chuckles are quiet only just audible and you rarely even do that. Now you're giggling out loud like a small human, and again its cute. It's sweet, but its not normal for you, lady."
"Why do you call me lady?" she muttered and her words were beginning to slur somewhat, "I mean you call me love at lot too, which I don't mind. That's an affectionate name, but lady? My name's not lady, it's Chell!"
"Chell," he repeated.
She smiled and leaned closer to his face, "There we go, see you got it. Wheatley," she pointed to him, and then to herself, "and Chell."
For maybe the hundredth time today he would have blushed if he was more human, but he cleared his throat again and, "Chell, please, why are you acting this way? I don't understand."
"Me neither," she said shaking her head a little to vigorously and nearly following sidewards. Wheatley gripped her shoulders to keep her planted, "Why is the room spinning? Why won't you stand still?"
"I'm not moving, love," he replied confused, "Nor is the room. What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me," she growled closing her eyes for a moment.
"I'm not," he replied, feelign offended.
"Are you lying to me cause you don't like me again?" she asked and a few tears back to form in her eyes.
"Again?" he repeated alarmed he didn't what the hell was wrong with his human friend. All he could do was comfort her and talk with her right now - what else could he really do? He had no idea what in the world was going on here!
"You told me we were going to escape together and then you tried to kill me!" she blubbered pathertically, crying in to her hands.
He felt a stab of guilt shoot through him. Is this how she really felt about that? He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, "I know, love, and I'm so sorry. I really am. I don't know what came over me. But I don't hate you, I never have even though...yeah, okay, even though I tried to kill you and all I just...I don't know what happened to me, Chell. Like I don't know what's happening to you right now! I'm just so very sorry!"
She looked up at him from behind her hand with watery, innocent eyes, "Really?"
Wheatley nodded, "Of course! I couldn't be more sorry!"
She smiled wide before stunning him entirely and kissing him fully on his cold metallic lips. It sent spark throughout his system. Then almost as suddenly as it started it abruptly stopped as the woman fell limply in arms, passing out.
He stared down at her in his lap with his arms still around her for the longest time feeling confusion, nervousness, joy, surprise, worry. All before he thought that the bed would be most likely be a better place for her to rest.
He carried her unconscious body to the room and tucked her in to the warm sheets of the bed. Before he left he lingered in the doorway his eyes trailing back to her again. Their blue glow not wavering for a second. He crept back to her side and planted a soft quiet kiss on to her forehead and then brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. It still hadn't dried yet, he noted with a small smile.
Wheatley closed the door as quietly as he could and returned to the living room area where the bottle was still on the sideboard. He opened the silver refrigerator and placed the bottle instead, "I wonder what kind of person that Jack Daniels was," he pondered to himself.
In the morning Chell woke up with a spilting head and felt the roughest she had in ages with no recollection of how the day before had ended. How had she got to bed? And why was she still wearing the dress?
The end ~ For now
Thank you for reading, apologies for any spelling mistakes and/or grammar errors - its so long in comparison to what I normally write that there is bound to be but if you could point anything out that doesn't make sense in a review and I'll amend the mistake and thank you for it as well.
Also please be aware I am British so if you say something like oh you spelt 'centre' wrong when it should be spelt 'center' I won't be amending those mistakes because that would be american english and as I am not american it would be incorrect for me to spell things in that way. So although they are mistakes to your eyes they aren't mistakes to me. :)
Thank you, guys for reading!
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