The two dark figures sat between the pillars of the huge fireplace, Tabitha felt a spring digging into her leg but ignored it easily as she watched her newly found brother silently thinking. It was a strange action that she herself had never done. Sometimes she felt her mental state drain, like she was shutting down and she would sit for hours until someone came to her. But in her brother she saw ideas and memories ticking away, his eyes showed all.
"You have lived here all your life?" Tabitha asked, the silence now becoming far to uneasy, Edward blinked and looked at her,
"Yes" He still looked in shock, Tabitha bit her lip. The man appeared much older than her but acted as if he were only a child; the innocence in his face was not hard to miss.
"I bet it used to be so luxurious here… I mean when The Inventor was here, although he does look kind of drab himself so maybe not… oh, I'm sorry" She chewed the inside of her lip 'digging yourself a very big grave Tabby' she thought "heres your photo back…" she handed the delicate photograph back to Edward who had apparently been unaffected by her rambling,
"No, it's always been like this" he looked about the cavernous room they sat within and then down to the image now in his hand. Tabitha blinked quite dumbfounded, how anybody could live in such a gaunt environment? But as she thought she could have asked a similar question about The Architects cluttered living environment. "Who made you?" The question was abrupt and made Tabitha's mind stutter. She looked at Edward, obvious intrigue on his face that made her feel quite exposed,
"The Architect…" She fiddled with the hem of her worn coat sleeve. The word 'made' had always reminded her that she wasn't a human. She was created from metal, plastics, various liquids, and synthetic organs. Those synthetic organs belonged to plant life and animals, even they were not her own.
"What's his name?" the soft voice spoke again,
"I don't know, I just call him Daddy" Tabitha replied, wondering to herself why she had never asked. There was silence again, Tabitha fidgeted she hated the random uncomfortable silences. It was like watching the sea; the waves would start far out, quiet and then gain momentum, crashing against the harbour but then slowly fade back out again.
"Where do you come from?" Edward spoke up, his voice laced with genuine intrigue, "you sound… different"
"Scotland" Tabitha smiled,
"That's England" Edward stated,
"Um, yes… although it's still kind of separate… I think you'd like it there – it's open and there's lots of woodland" Tabitha thought back to her home in Ayr, shaking the feeling of homesickness away quickly, "hey! You should come back with me… um… I mean if you want to…" Edward blinked in surprise, Tabitha felt him shift a little on the makeshift bed the springs clanking harshly. Tabitha turned her eye away, shortly followed by her head her,
"I'm sorry – I don't think sometimes. I suppose you've never been out of here before"
"I have…" Edward mumbled, sadness tainting his voice, without much warning Tabitha felt the opposite side of the small bed rise setting her off balance slightly. She looked to the side, noticing Edward walking away towards the ice blocks again.
"What? Edward! I'm sorry, please come back!" Tabitha stumbled to stand up, following Edward as he disappeared. She searched behind all the ice-blocks, counting ten in total so as not to repeat herself, "Edward… where did you go?" she mumbled to herself, scratching the back of her head in confusion. She leant against a nearby ice block, feeling the cold moisture lightly soak into her coat. Her eyes wandered down, her lips forming into a small pout at her inability to keep her mouth closed 'I just had to go and scare him off…' she thought while heavily sighing. Her eyes met with an unusual object on the floor she walked over to it and knelt down realising that the object was a large handle to a trap door,
"So that's where you went to is it?" Tabitha mumbled, a smile spreading on her face. With difficulty Tabitha managed to open the door, mumbling a few curses at the heaviness of it. There were a set of stairs that were old and worn, the sign of use evident from the curvature in the middle. Tabitha bit her lip as she cautiously descended down the stairs part of her expecting something to jump out at her. The stairs were fewer in number than she anticipated. As she walked down she noticed a rectangular glow – the end. Slowly she opened the door with a creak, cringing at the sound. Tabitha poked her head from the door, waiting to be bludgeoned by a blunt object by a not so happy Edward. Instead, as her eyes scanned this new room she noticed that the pale man was quite far away gazing out of the enormous windows. Tabitha seized her chance and silently entered the room fully. It appeared to be a bedroom, old like the rest of the house but this room looked lived in. With tentative steps she walked over to where the young man stood and with inward breath placed her small hand on his shoulder,
"Edward?" the man jumped and turned around but did not retreat, simply staring at Tabitha with a blank expression, "I'm sorry, sometimes I say things without thinking" she smiled apologetically,
"You don't need to apologise" Edward responded, turning his head back to look out the window. The clouds had now opened and a casual descent of rain wet the neighbourhood,
"Looks like the rains followed me here" Tabitha chuckled, stepping closer to Edward who remained silent, "Now I wish it would take me back" she sighed, walking away from Edward and sitting on the nearby bed awakening dust as she did.
"You asked me to come with you" Edward stated, keeping his eyes looking out to the heavens,
"Yes…" Tabitha blushed at the intimacy in the request. She had only met Edward little than an hour ago and the idea that he was her brother was not enough to form a relationship in that short amount of time,
"Why?" Edward's question brought Tabitha from her wandering thoughts; she looked up to see Edward looking at her,
"Well… you're all alone here… and in some way we are your family" Tabitha played with her hair nervously, not wanting to make eye contact,
"I can't leave…" Edward mumbled,
"Why?" there was silence, Tabitha eyed Edward up and down, noticing the nostalgic look upon Edwards's profile. She ran a hand across the cool sheets of the bed, her fingers running across worn holes and frayed stitch work. She stood, coming to meet Edward again this time to stand in from of him "Well, I 'am here for two more days, Master Edward you must show me around" she raised a hand as she had seen in The Architects etiquette books, Edward looked down at her and a small smile played on his face, he took her hand remembering his own teachings and led her from the room.
