As the days passed, the scientist made sure to keep himself busy. Wily wasn't just busy on his second project, the reincarnation was neck-deep in productivity. The reincarnated scientist also knew to look out for Blues, who 'visited' the Wily residence often. His creation allowed Bert to drag him around. It was an amusing sight. Unfortunately, someone else had noticed Blues' increase of appearance as well.
"Ah? Who's Bert's new friend, Aurick?" His 'mother' inquired one day, seemingly curious. This was a peculiar conversation. She had never bothered him about his life too much before, not after the diagnosis. The fact she was asking about Bert's relationship signifies a red flag. This line of questioning sharpened suspicion within the fake child.
"His name is Blues," Wily mumbled, disguising his impatience to deal with her. His little fingers dug into the table when she bothered to smile at him. The woman looked distracted, gaze far far away. "What are you staring at?" Apparently nothing, which threw something icky in the scientist's throat.
"What a pretty name." She mused, and Wily made it a key point to get himself out of that situation by agreeing and retreating back to a safe spot.
His room was always the best place in this house. It also allowed him to think, and Wily made sure to tell Blues to avoid his dysfunctional parents. He was likely being paranoid but...Wily refused to take any chances.
I need true freedom or I'm going to lose my marbles, The scientist seethed to himself, ripping useless, useless, useless papers in barely restrained rage. I will not tolerate either of those fools trying to corrupt my creation! A deep breath went through small lungs, then exited in a heavy exhale. He needed to calm down. Calm…
"Aurick!" A familiar chirpy voice called, and 'Oh', the scientist briefly thought, as the door had been unlocked.
Wily resisted a flinch when Bert crashed into him with an embrace of warmth and energy. The reincarnation didn't bother creating a sound, blankly staring at his ruined work. A laugh rang in his ears but fell short. His supposed brother had stiffened, catching sight of the ripped papers with expert crayon doodles. An air of tension began to settle within the room, catching up with the cheerful boy of the house.
"Oh no," Bert had thankfully let go of him, to which Wily shut his eyes tightly to rub his throbbing forehead. "Your drawings!" The young boy had rushed over to the shreds. "What happened, Aurick? Did you rip them?" His emerald hues grew sorrowful. "You shouldn't. I love your ideas…" The actual child trailed off with a mumble, mouth trembling. Bert's emerald hues adopted a hazy panic.
He ran off without a further statement.
Exhausted, Wily dragged himself to bed. Heated nonsense left his lips as his fingers stung. The ripped paper had likely diced tiny cuts into his hand. There was no bleeding but the pain was quick to irritate his nerves. Papercuts were easy to receive, difficult to heal. It wouldn't be the first annoyance he's had to deal with today.
His door opened again.
Wily didn't bother moving a muscle. His vision was taken by darkness long ago.
The shuffle of paper warranted attention, however, and so the reincarnation shot up with a bitter hiss on the tongue, voice dying out before it left his mouth. Gray-blue eyes squinted in suspicion.
Blues had brought tape and glue. He was testing which crafting tool would work best. Meanwhile, Bert was smoothing out the pieces into fixed puzzle shards.
"Think this goes here?" The actual child of the room inquired, sliding a torn piece into a base frame of a printer-paper rectangle.
"Most likely." Blues replied, deciding on colorless tape rather than liquid glue.
"What are you idiots doing?" Wily managed to say, grasping the concept of these two brats trying to tape shredded paper back together. Anyone with such time on their hands should be executed.
"Fixing it." Bert retorted with a frown. "You can't just create an idea then waste it. Aurick, I thought you knew better!" The other redhead huffed, averting his eyes. "And...And you shouldn't get sidetracked from your goals because of what somebody else said." He paraphrases in his own way. Bert continued to spread the ripped slices into a pattern.
Wily blankly watched them, too tired to yell at them further. He turned on his side to face the wall. The cracked peach paint was more interesting to look at than the peculiar situation at hand.
Where did that come from? Bert had a habit of spewing oddities at the most inconvenient times. Who in their right mind would try discouraging me? Wily actually had a long list but those names lacked actual bodies on this planet. A dark chuckle drummed in his throat from amusement. You'd have better luck leading a horse to water and forcing it to drink. Wily squinted, recalling a near distinct memory of this world. Is he referring to that one time?
The scientist had assumed the other forgot about it by now. It appears he had underestimated a child's memory. Perhaps events of distress may trigger some sort of imprint on children. So Wily had enough influence to cause a couple of indents on Bert's memories?
Noted.
"I merely grew frustrated. That's all." Wily stated clearly, still yearning for the duo to leave the room. The shifts of paper continued to irritate him but he knew better than to throw a tantrum. He was much more graceful than his appearance. Unfortunately, being young again made this resistance a little harder.
"Done!" Bert cheered, and the reincarnation couldn't catch a wink of slumber with the noisy child. Small footsteps hurried over. "Don't worry, little brother. We fixed it!" A sound of paper flapped from air resistance.
Wily finally opened his eyes to peer at the sheet decorated in tape. Sluggish fingers took the paper into aching hands. Gray-blue eyes scanned over the tape pieces and paper rips. A bit off in some places but the picture previously created was present.
Bert and Blues appeared to be waiting in silence, anticipation greatly leaning on the former rather.
Pah. I could do ten times better. The scientist ignored the slight swell of his innards. "So you have. What now?" He grunts, wanting both occupants to leave him be.
Bert scrunched his eyebrows together, puzzled. "Uh...Cartoons!" He nods with enthusiasm to reassure himself. "Blues and I are taking a break! Right?" He turned to the scientist's creation with stars in those emerald eyes.
"Cartoons?" Blues repeated, unaware of sealing his fate.
"Yeah! Come on, Blues! I think you'll like them. The best ones come on in the morning!" Bert laughed, dragging his friend out the room. Blues had looked to Wily for guidance but the reincarnation merely puffed and turned away. It's not the first time he's left his creations to their doom.
"Alright, Bert…" Blues finally accepted this choice.
Well good for him. The scientist sneered to himself.
The reincarnation spent the rest of the daylight hours drawing up a familiar set of armor (although another color) and sketching ideas on the future. He occasionally glanced over at the preserved drawing of another robot in the making. If anyone else were in the room, they'd notice how normally indifferent blue-gray morphed into a softer shine at the sight many tape-patches. Tiny digits brushed the effort in the form of reckless sticky paper.
"Oh, how they'll ruin me." Wily breathed heavily with a chuckle and wiped his forehead. Productivity was always good but with this atmosphere...It doesn't feel right. The reincarnation's face finally morphed back into one of neutral determination.
He really wants his own lab back.
Wily stepped into the living room for a quick check-up on the two 'children' of the house. To his surprise, Bert hadn't dragged his creation into anything further than what the boy had mentioned. Both Blues and Bert were glued to the screen, legs pretzel crossed and voices quiet. They were completely immersed in the show.
Cartoons, Wily muses to himself. Are a fantastic way to distract children. I never knew Blues would like such a childish activity. You learn something new every day. He couldn't recall Thomas' children to like these types of things, but then again he barely knew them after the first war. A new world, other beginnings, Wily supposed.
The television displayed colorful animation on the screen. Explosions and jokes spewed from talking animals as the cartoon raged on. An iconic rabbit ran across the screen.
Wily took a step forward into the room. He was somewhat curious about this new development. His creation had shown interest in many things but this was another factor the scientist had never considered. Perhaps if I, The floorboard creaked in protest.
A pair of heads turned to him.
"Hiya, Aurick!" Bert greeted with his usual smile.
"What's up, Doc." Blues waved to him, monotone voice abruptly replaced by a more accented version. The robot sounded relaxed, almost chirpy. He didn't look as stiff and robotic as usual.
Wily's eyes swiftly fell to a questioning squint, ignoring the cold lurch in his stomach. "What?" The reincarnation's own voice was painfully raspy but also low in tone.
His creation froze, catching the mistake. Wily could see Bert quizzingly glance between the two. The actual child frowned, puzzled by the sudden air change. The television echoed a gunshot but no one looked to the cartoon's ongoing events.
"I apologize, Doc-" Blues began, falling back to his usual monotone.
"No. Don't apologize." Wily decided to stop the other right there. For several reasons. He'd rather not deal with stunting Blues' growth. Additionally, the scientist didn't want Bert to jump to wild guesses. "You can call me that." The nickname had just surprised him, that's all. It's been too long, and the reminder had struck him without mercy.
It's a good thing Wily is used to sudden surprises.
"Wow! Just like Bugs Bunny?" Bert had gestured to the screen with loud cartoons. He glanced between Blues and the reincarnation with mirth. "That's such a cool nickname!"
"Sure," Wily grunted, gaze never leaving his speechless creation. Instead of waiting for a response from the robot. "I'll be joining you two for a couple of episodes. Don't mind me. My back hurts." The scientist grumbles, sitting on the floor. Several seconds passed before Bert threw him a pillow.
Catching the soft cushion with his tiny digits, Wily adjusted the pillow to have a more comfortable position. He didn't thank Bert but it seems the actual child knew better.
The trio lapsed into a calming silence.
Ten minutes later, Wily found himself bored. He never did like television but children shows make it worse.
"Okay, Doc." An acceptance finally reached Wily's ears.
The scientist snorted, closing his eyes to hide the twinkle of amusement.
Good.