Tobi woke up before the sun began to rise; he looked down at the young man lying beside him and smiled slightly behind the mask. Tobi leaned down and gently nuzzled Alex's warm cheek making the human smile slightly in his sleep before turning on his side and relaxing into a deeper sleep. There was a moment of silence as Tobi got up to his feet and grabbed a candle, lighting a match like Alex had taught him, and slowly walked into the cold hallway.
He stared at the pictures that lined the walls as he passed them. He always liked them during the mornings when the sunlight lit the house but when it was dark there was something a bit scary about them. It had taken a while of Alex reminding them that the pictures were moments stuck in time by paint and beautiful frames, that none of them were truly real. But Tobi had an active imagination, most of the time when walking alone he would swear he saw the eyes within the pictures move and follow his frame as he walked along alone. The only one he really liked was the large picture of Alex in an army uniform. The frame was painted gold, hanging gently against the lovely light blue wallpaper that Tobi liked so much. He always thought of it as something that kept him just as safe as the real Alex did.
The little flame flickered slightly as Tobi opened a door to the kitchen and looked around curiously trying to find where the hot chocolate was hiding from him. Alex had only allowed him to drink that sort of thing in the mornings and once at night before bed. But Alex wouldn't know he took some without permission if he was sneaky right? A window had strangely been left open causing Tobi to tilt his head to the side curiously, he assumed that the staff always made sure that everything was closed and secure before leaving for the night. He shrugged and walked to the window, setting the candle down on the counter before he began to pull the window down. It squeaked loudly in protest, moving only an inch or two. The wind picked up, causing a draft through the open space to blow the small flame out leaving Tobi in pure darkness. He whimpered slightly, he always did hate the dark but he didn't want his master to wake up and the house to be freezing cold. Tobi counted to 3 silently before finally pushing hard enough down that the window closed with a loud slam that seemed to vibrate the walls and counter he was leaning against.
He silently began to dig around the drawers in the kitchen hoping to find the matches that were hidden behind the silverware. He finally found it and chirped triumphantly before he striked it against the sandpaper located against the pack of the small packet. The time flame danced a crossed the match as it ate away. Tobi paused a second, watching it only a moment before putting the match against the wick and watched one flame slowly become two. He moved the match quickly back and forth causing the flame to extinguish leaving a faint gray trail of smoke behind. He moved around the kitchen still looking for the hot chocolate only to sadly find himself still quiet empty handed.
He waited only a moment before heading back towards the stairs quickly when he heard the front door unlock; the staff were heading to work to make breakfast Alex would wake up to. Tobi watched them through the rail of the stairs on the top of the floor, head tilted as they all spoke cheerfully about their night. Some spoke of spending it in a pub while the others spoke of being with someone called 'the missus.' which Alex had explained was a term for a human's female mate. The group of staff members went immediately to the kitchen and began their work planning what the meal would be for Alex and Tobi.
Tobi paused a second before slowly sneaking down the steps again and pressed his ear against the cold wooden door hoping to hear what they were planning for the day. Since he had realized that human food considered of more than one type of meal and tastes he was hopeful to try more things. Recently he had tried Tomato soup and realized he didn't like it near as much as something like turkey and stuffing. Everything was wonderful to the proxy; after all he didn't need to eat so he hadn't for years so any sort of food was wonderful and strange. He heard the word stuffing for dinner and squeaked happily. Rocky, who had been sleeping in the living room, heard his friend awake and slowly padded over to them. Its pink tongue hung out as it gave Tobi its best puppy dog grin.
The young proxy paused a moment before he began to pet the dog's soft fur contently and continued to listen to what they were saying. Breakfast was something called Pancakes, Lunch was sandwiches, and dinner was stuffing and corn. Tobi felt himself become happy as they continued to listen in; they were serving most of his favorites so he couldn't stop himself when he began to purr against the door. The staff began their work and soon Tobi found himself bored. Rocky yapped at him before it ran to the living room. Tobi tilted his head a bit before he saw the dog come back with a ball hanging out of their mouth, they let it drop in front of Tobi's feet before looking up at him expectantly. Tobi knew this game, Alex had actually played fetch with Tobi a time of two so he knew the basics but Tobi was the one who normally chased after the ball. He slowly took the ball, looked at it a moment, before he threw it towards the living room in which it once came from. The dog took off, yapping excitedly before it grabbed the ball, and came back.
Tobi giggled softly at the dog before hearing Alex come down the steps, he rubbed his eyes tiredly before they noticed Tobi standing near the kitchen with Rocky by their side. The dog yapped a couple times trying to get Tobi's attention again before they used their muzzle to move the ball closer to the proxy. Tobi on the other hand watched Alex a second; his pajamas were a bit big on them, the shoulder of his pjs slipped down his arm a bit showing some slight skin of his shoulder. Alex had always told Tobi it's best to wear something at night a bit bigger than they normally would because it was a lot more comfortable to sleep in, something that Tobi had immediately noted. Alex's short brown hair was sticking up at odd angles from sleep. He looked at the proxy with a smiled and walked to their side, moving the mask a bit to kiss them lovingly.
Alex's lips was sweet, it reminded Tobi a bit of honey. Tobi closed his eyes as he savored the soft, loving, kiss before they parted once again and Alex looked at them with only love filled eyes. "Good morning dear." He said softly as they moved the mask back into place. Tobi stared at them lovingly, clinging to their pajama shirt.
"Morning, ARK." He said softly as they pressed their cold plastic mask to his cheek as if to kiss them loving. Alex took their hand gently before whispering soft loving words in his ear. Alex had started that almost immediately after they had realized that Tobi liked the French language, he sometimes read to Tobi in French even though Tobi didn't understand them they found they loved it all the more. Tobi giggled softly at the loving phrases that had been whispered in his ear before he gently squeezed Alex's hand. "Tobi loves ark too." He stated softly before he began to tug them towards the kitchen door excitedly.
The air smelled of fresh pancakes that had just been taken off of the stove, the smell of hot chocolate had mixed with it making Tobi's stomach rumble hungrily. Alex chuckled slightly before grabbing a cup and filling it with the dark, sweet liquid before handing it to the other man. Tobi moved his mask to the side and took a couple sips contently before he nuzzled under Alex's chin lovingly. Alex waited for him to finish his cup before they walked to the dining room and waited to be served, Tobi looking outside the window a moment as the sun came out, and birds' began to sing their morning song.
Later that day Alex sat down with Tobi, teaching him basic counting and his ABCs with a small smile on his face. Tobi had been uneducated to keep his mind new and from questioning the Operator's will. It was definitely exciting to the young proxy to learn to read and write. He wrote his first letter to Alex, it had only been a week ago since it had happened but it was something that Alex treasured. He kept the small card on his beds stand wanting it to be the first thing he saw in the morning when he woke up. It had always made his mornings good. Now Tobi was to write 1 to 50 without error and so far Alex was staring at them proudly as they slowly made their way to the number. It hadn't taken nearly as long for Tobi to learn things like normal children would have due to Alex's way of getting him to want to learn. The reward for every activity completed education wise was a cup of hot chocolate. Something Tobi found himself craving constantly.
Their lives were perfect, absolutely wonderful and Alex couldn't wait for more days like this.
Xxx
A month went by; the snow began to melt bringing on the warm, inviting spring. The grass grew, flowers budded, and baby animals ran around the yard. Tobi stared outside the window contently while Alex sat down in their study reading to them in French. Tobi repeated some of the words softly; he had begged Alex to teach him some French so he could sound as pretty as Alex did. When Tobi had said that Alex remembered that he had blushed slightly before chuckling, ruffling Tobi's hair gently, and finally he agreed to teach him the basics. Now Tobi knew how to speak around 20 words in French after only a week or being taught. Alex watched in amusement as Tobi got up and said softly "Je m'ennuie, permet de jouer au go." Before he grabbed Alex's black silk sleeve and tried to get him up to take him outside so he could play with Alex.
"I'm sorry you're bored, I assumed you wanted to learn more French today." He stated playfully, Tobi paused a second before nodding a bit. He loved to learn it but at times like this he would rather be outside playing with Alex then stuck in a room doing nothing. Rocky heard the door open and yapped contently before they chased after their owner's feet happily. Tobi watched in amusement before he picked the dog up in his arms and walked him out to the back yard with them. They plaid until that night and ate before heading to bed contently together. Alex had Tobi say his prayers before tucking them into bed then going on their own side and getting in. He loved holding Tobi close to them, their hearts beating as one as they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next morning Tobi woke up to the soft sound of what to him was Rocky scratching against the floor outside their door. He slowly put his feet on the cold floor and opened the door slightly letting the dog scurry in, their tail tucked between their legs in fear. Tobi tilted their head in confusion as the dog hid under the bed instead of hopping up on the bed like it normally would do when let in. The dogs let out a little whine and whimper as Tobi peeked out into the dark hallway. If there was something or someone in the house Tobi needed to get it out of the house so Alex wouldn't get hurt.
They slowly got on all fours, something Alex always laughed at considering Tobi appeared to look like they were trying to imitate a cat but never quite got it right. He was in a human body after all and as such their body was not made to be on fours. They decided to attempt to find their way in the dark instead of using a candle, not wanting to possibly alert the intruder that they knew they were there. He paused as he passed some open rooms; he looked around for any sign of movement before continuing on. He had been a proxy, taught to fight and hunt. Finding an intruder and getting rid of them would be easy enough it was just finding them and catching them off guard before they ended up being the one attacked.
He crawled down the stairs and halfway down him heard creaking above him. They whipped around to see the Operator standing a ways up the stairs watching them silently. Tobi normally would have chirped a greeting to their master and run to them, wrapping their arms around them happily but now he knew why they were here and Tobi growled lowly in their throat. He wanted to stay with Alex from now on; he didn't want to have to leave him behind. He lowered his head in a threatening manner as he stared up at Operator before crawling towards them quickly hoping to intimidate but it instead got him a slap in the mask by a powerful tentacle making Tobi fall hard against a wall. His head hit making a loud cracking sound before he sank to the floor painfully. Tobi whimpered softly as he was picked up by a tentacle and his old master began to walk again heading towards the front door, back to the cabin in the woods he once lived in. Tobi made soft panicked sounds hoping that Alex would hear and come to their rescue. Operator paused only a second, letting Tobi go before his hands went to the mask making Tobi strain to look up at Operator's featureless face. They stared at them before pain began to fill his senses and he screamed painfully. Blood ran out of his nose, mouth, and eyes slowly behind the mask before the mask was ripped off and Tobi's body fell to the ground limply.
Tobi bolted upright and yelped loudly before they realized it had all been a dream, that Alex was beside him and Tobi still inhabited the human body. He relaxed softly as Alex's hand moved around their back trying to comfort them a bit but he felt his chest making odd movement causing Alex to shush him and hold him close, telling them everything was alright, that it had been all a terrible dream. Tobi clung to him and panicked as he felt liquid slowly staining his cheeks as Alex held them, rocking them back and forth trying to calm them the best he could before slowly letting go and looking them in the eyes softly. "Do you want to talk about it dear?" Alex asked softly, Tobi shook his head violently before clinging to him, his body shaking as he attempted to forget the dream. He didn't want to go back to the cabin. He missed Dakota but he didn't want to go back and live that life again. He just clung to Alex silently, letting Alex whisper loving, comforting phrases to him again as he attempted to get Tobi sleeping again.
Once Tobi was asleep again Alex got up looking out the window, he noticed the faceless being watching them under a tree. Alex closed his eyes a moment, counting to 10 before he opened them again and just like the other times the being was gone. Alex smiled slightly to himself before heading back to bed with Tobi and holding their sleeping yet still shaking body close to their own. "I love you." Alex whispered softly to the sleeping figure once before falling asleep again.
