CHAPTER 2: KEEBO/KOKICHI: WIREPLAY

Keebo may be in a pickle. (He still doesn't understand that phrase, and that's after assessing uses of it over the internet multiple times now. Why would he be in a pickle? That's unsanitary.)

To put it more plainly: Keebo was going through some trouble.

(There. Better. No more confusing metaphors.)

He'd been a bit too immersed into his thoughts, and that'd led to him doing something that, well...

He fell down the stairs.

An entire flight of them, in fact. So loudly, the sounds of clanking metal reverberating through the entire floor, that he'd be hopeful someone would come and help. However, it was also 1am.

Everyone should be in their dorms, asleep. So here Keebo was, tumbling down the stairs of the third floor at a concerning speed before slumping against the very bottom.

He could recall begging his master for pain sensors years ago, in a shoddy attempt at feeling more human, and he'd never regretted a decision more right about now.

"Ouch," He winced, untwisting his limbs before getting into an unsteady standing position. "Oh, it's the first time I've had to say that. It doesn't feel very momentous, does it... "

He checked himself for any popped-out-of-place parts or worse, tears, and was able to sigh in relief once he found none.

The sigh of relief stuttered considerably when his hand brushed over something, right at the base of his left arm. Was that—

"Oh no."

It was a loose wire.

Sticking out, gaudy and obvious, was a red wire. An almost-torn red wire, barely keeping together at the middle.

If he was able to use both hands, he could easily just ease it back in his arm component and request Miu fix it tomorrow morning.

As he did not have three arms, that was impossible.

And so Keebo sat down on a step, put his face in his hands, and worried about it for a good five minutes. Letting anxieties stew wasn't good, apparently. He only felt worse the longer he sat still and kept thinking.

Keebo was learning something new about emotions without even trying now! If he wasn't in this situation, he'd take time to smile about it.

But he was in this situation, and so there was no time for smiling. Only despairing.

"Hey, Kee-boy! What're you doing?" A familiar high-pitched voice chimes in, inches from his ear.

Keebo would insist that he most definitely did not scream in fright, except that he did. The robot propels forward a few inches, nearly falling off the step he was sitting on.

"K-kokichi?" He says uneasily, hand pressed against his chest. A very human gesture, he briefly noted. "You scared the life out of me!"

Another metaphor but at least it didn't involve pickles, and somewhat made sense.

The boy addressed laughed, black hair bouncing slightly when he plopped down next to Keebo on the stair, entirely too close to be comfortable.

"Can't have life if you're not alive, silly!" He said, grinning.

"Even late at night, your bigotry knows no bounds." Keebo deflated, too used to this to even get upset anymore. "What are you doing awake?"

"I was in a lab, when I heard some loud-ass noises." Kokichi hummed. "Thought the exisals were coming out and got excited, but I guess I was just hearing things."

"Ah, that was..." He stopped, suddenly realizing that Kokichi is definitely going to laugh at him. Not what he needed right now, but he couldn't think of an excuse. "...it was me."

The human cocked his head, "You? You're not that noisy when you walk."

"I am not noisy at all!" Keebo huffed. "I...may have fallen down the stairs."

Keebo expected laughter, but not the amount he got. You'd think Kokichi had heard the funniest comedic rhetoric in all the world, with how his head tipped back, crazed laughter echoing across the school.

"It is not funny!" Keebo couldn't help the pout on his face, eyes narrowed and hurt. "I even injured my machinery, and I don't have anyone to h—"

Kokichi's laughter abruptly came to an end. When he looked at Keebo, he was still grinning. "You did what now?"

He had a feeling he'd just made a very big mistake.

Keebo really should have insisted that they do this in his dorm room instead. Maybe he should've insisted that they don't do this at all.

"I can totally do it!"

"You...want to help me?" Keebo's voice accidentally bled his skepticism.

"Not particularly." Kokichi shrugged. "But if it means getting a reeeal close look at your robot parts, I'll do it."

"I do not like your phrasing of that." Keebo frowned.

"You want my help or not, Kee-boy?" Kokichi huffed, already sounding impatient.

"Well… "

He did need his help. And he was about to get it. Whatever it was.

The robot glanced uneasily around him. Kokichi's room looked... um. It was certainly unique. He avoided touching the horse mask situated on the boy's bed.

Well, if Kokichi was up and about at 1 am, maybe he didn't spend very much time in his dorm. His unsettling dorm.

The boy in question shut the door behind him, locking it casually. A large red !DANGER! appeared before Keebo's eyes, but he willed it away, keeping his gaze on the comforter. Kokichi wouldn't kill him, would he?

At least not with everyone right here. If Keebo screamed, he would be heard. Maybe it was Kokichi's safety precaution, locking the door.

Kokichi sat down beside him so suddenly Keebo bounced a bit in place. The robot cleared his nonexistent vocal cords, planning to get straight to the point.

Any words he'd planned on stalled when Kokichi grabbed his arm, looking down at it with a suspiciously joyous air. "So I just need to put this back in place?"

He moved to poke the wire, and Keebo barely managed to refrain from batting his hand away. "Please don't do that. It's very fragile."

Kokichi slumped with a sigh.

"Leave it to the robot to be no fun." The grip on Keebo's arm turned gentler, if grudgingly so. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh! My apologies." Keebo met his gaze for the first time since they'd gotten to the dorm. "You just need to pull my forearm component back, carefully stick the wire in, and then put my arm component back in place. I'll get Miu to do the rest in the morning."

Kokichi nodded wordlessly, looking 45% more bored all of a sudden. Ah, Keebo had forgotten that he wasn't the fondest of Miu. She may have a foul mouth, but she'd always helped Keebo with new abilities and fixing him.

Sure, she did it... a little weirdly, but if it's what motivates her to get his repairs done, then she can moan and cling to him uncomfortably close all she wants.

"You see these two buttons?" Keebo motioned to the buttons at the base of his arm, under his elbow. "Just press them at the same time."

"Got it, got it." Kokichi did exactly as he was told, which was a pleasant surprise.

He made a sound of awe when the lid of Keebo's arm component snapped back, revealing a panel of wiring and other inner workings of his limb.

"Woah!" Kokichi exclaimed, and Keebo couldn't help the twinge of pride. Finally, he was being taken seriously! "So what would happen if you cut these?"

"I'd lose very important requirements needed for this arm to function." Keebo answered automatically, and then reeled back. "Wait, why are you asking—"

"Just curious!" Kokichi giggled, clinging to Keebo's side, his small hands on the robot's arm to keep him from moving away. "Quit squirming, Kee-boy, or I won't help you at all."

Keebo stilled reluctantly. "Please hurry."

"Don't rush me," Kokichi's hand hovered over his arm for a tense few seconds. The human's eyes flicked up to Keebo's face. "Or I may accidentally mess up somewhere, heh."

Before Keebo could process a good comeback, Kokichi's fingers brushed against his inner wiring. A hot flash of something went up Keebo's back and he gasped.

Kokichi looked up again, eyebrows raised. "Something the matter, Kee-boy?"

"Uh—" Stuttering was not a part of his programming, so the fact that he was doing it was baffling. It was suddenly so hard to focus. "I-I...no. Nothing's wrong. I'm sorry for my outburst."

Kokichi held his gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time, purple eyes narrowed. Then, just like that, "Alright then."

With that, Kokichi dipped his hand back in his arm component, and the firm way he stroked over his wires was anything but accidental.

"Ah—" Why wasn't his mouth obeying his protocol? Everything felt too hot, too hyper-focused, and his eyes squeezed shut. He had the urge to squeeze his legs together, so he did. "K-kokic-"

His protests did nothing to make Kokichi stop, so Keebo tried to weakly push him away with his functioning arm.

"Quit that, or I'll rip a wire out. What's wrong, anyway?" Kokichi asked again, and his voice was noticeably lower. And closer. "C'mon, c'mon, tell me."

"That feels incredibly stra-" Kokichi decided that'd be the perfect time to tug at a wire, and his voice rose an octave higher mid-word. "aaaaange-!"

Kokichi finally paused his ministrations, and Keebo's tensed form slumped over. He had no need for breathing, but he still panted, robotic chest heaving with breaths he didn't have a purpose for.

"Huh." Kokichi said. Eyes roved over his flustered expression, his tightly-drawn legs. "Huh."

"What?" Keebo asked breathlessly, still regaining his composure.

"Oh, it's nothing." He smiled sweetly. "Just didn't know robots could get turned on until now."

Keebo cocked his head, confused. "Unless I'm in sleep mode, I am always turned on."

It was silent for a good moment.

"Yeah. Of course you are." Kokichi replied, a breathy little laugh in his voice. Keebo vaguely wondered what was so funny.

When Kokichi leaned close, his expression could almost be called fond. He reached up to cup Keebo's face between his hands.

"What're you…" Keebo trailed off, seeing the strangely serious look Kokichi was giving him. "Um."

It was when Kokichi came even closer, practically sitting in the robot's lap by this point, and smashed their mouths together, that Keebo's processing circuits finally had to learn first-hand what kissing was.

Oh, Keebo thought. Oh.

Just like about everything when it came to Kokichi, it was frenzied and a little rough. The human raked a hand through his synthetic hair, tugging at it when Keebo didn't immediately reciprocate.

Didn't know how to reciprocate. Or if he even wanted to.

Kokichi's tongue wastes no time in slipping past his lips, licking over everything he could reach. As if this was another way to explore Keebo's properties as a robot.

This would certainly be something strange if Keebo didn't have oral features that were mostly humanoid. A tongue, teeth, the works. Even saliva!

It'd be like kissing a toaster, otherwise.

Why was he thinking about this right now?

Probably because he had no idea what to do about the situation at hand.

Clumsily, Keebo rested a hand against the back of the boy's neck, an action he'd seen his fair share of in romantic movies, the ones he'd perused to understand humans more. It garnered a pleased-sounding sigh, so Kokichi probably didn't loathe it.

When Kokichi took Keebo's tongue between his teeth and bit down, sending a rush of pain to his processors, his senses came flooding back. Injured arm. Exposed wire.

...kissing. Oh.

WHY WAS HE JUST LETTING KOKICHI KISS HIM?!

The way Keebo shoved the human back was none too gentle, and he rushed to scoot away, put some distance between the two of them. Kokichi didn't look too hurt. Quite the opposite, in fact. The flush of his cheeks stood out against his pale skin, and the look in his eyes was downright unnerving.

"W-what was that?!" Keebo exclaimed.

"A kiss, stupid."

"I know that!" Keebo huffed. "I mean why did you—"

He immediately quieted down when Kokichi's hands were back at his injured arm. He held his breath, eyes wide.

Kokichi looked at his arm, and then back up at his face. The quiet was overwhelming.

He grinned, slow and unsettling.

And then he did just as Keebo had asked. Gently stuck the wire back inside his circuit, and closed the top.

"There ya go." The human moved back to his spot, actually letting him have his own personal space.

"Uh." Keebo said stupidly. "Oh. Thank you? I am...very appreciativ-"

"Don't do that." Kokichi's upturned nose wrinkled. "It's gross."

He couldn't even muster up the effort to be offended.

"Well! I'll be going." Kokichi said, springing up from the bed and heading toward the door. "This wasn't the most boring thing I've ever been a part of, Kee-boy. Proud of you."

"Ah, alright. Good night." Keebo said, and then– "Wait, this is your room!"

The door slammed closed, and he sighed.

Robots didn't get headaches, but he massaged his temples anyway.