Opening comments:
Dearie me.
Please do not tell me when the last time I updated was, I am scared to know.
Please also forgive me for being gone so long and then only posting such a short chapter… As it turns out, I actually do not have that much plot left.
"Are you sure you should be doing that?"
With a cocked eyebrow, Bass stared at Roll's back as she fluttered about the kitchen, preparing an elaborate lunch for Wily. Both because she was eager to cook again, and to thank the old man for her repair, she worked with an especially high level of cheery energy. Bass halfway expected a slew of forest animals to pour in and engage her in a musical number.
"Hmm?" she hummed absent-mindedly, arranging a colorful salad and chopping up bacon bits. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Well," Bass rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "You were only just repaired, so are you sure you're alright with doing work again already?"
Roll blinked a couple of times before breaking out in redness. "Huh? I'm fine… Really! Thank you, though…" Her smooth, experienced energy turned into a jittery, nervous sort of rushing as she hastily returned to finishing the meal. Bass wondered what he had said to upset her so much. He felt a little guilty, but decided not to say anymore.
To Roll's surprise, a few of the Wily Numbers asked her if she was recovering from her injuries all right. She responded eagerly to the thoughtfulness and asked in return if there was anything she could do to help those who were also recovering. Of course, no one had any needs that could really be met by the fragile female bot, but as such gestures of kindness were rare in their hostile environment, they appreciated her solicitousness all the same.
These exchanges widened Roll's awareness of the looming fact that Wily's robots weren't exactly the cold, killing machines she had come to believe they were. She was also beginning to realize how fond of the gang she was growing, and how they were growing fond of her, and how dangerous such a path would be in the long run. She silently repeated her desire to go home like a mantra, constantly reminding herself that she didn't belong here, she never did, and what she was feeling must just be the stockholm syndrome Bass had mentioned.
Treble nuzzled himself against her leg as she followed Bass back to the living quarters, and he was really not helping her convince herself of anything at all. But, naturally, Roll did not have the heart to tell him to stop and instead reached down to pet him. For a brief moment, his warm, metal head felt just like Rush's.
"Please, I don't need it, and I really don't mind going back to the floor."
"Would you stop being stubborn and just listen to me when I offer you something?"
Treble watched with his pointy, little ears perked upright in curiosity as his master and his master's charge argued back and forth over who was going to be occupying the bed that night.
"You're still recovering," Bass continued in aggravation, "and it's a pain to get the old man to do me any favors, so I don't want to deal with it again or anything!"
"But I'm telling you, I'm perfectly fine; my body has already adapted to the repairs! I don't feel right in taking your space."
"I seriously don't care, just take it already!"
"I don't want it! It's not that much more comfortable than the floor anyway!"
"Ah, geez, why do you have to be such a nuisance!"
Bass huffed and glared at the rosy-faced pest that refused to yield to his dominance. He could hold himself up in battle, command the majority of his older brothers out of the way, and sometimes even exact a bit of control over his own creator, and here was this teeny tiny domestic bot defying him. Absolutely humiliating. He'd been growing too soft lately.
After a few more moments of mutual glaring, he exhaled another huff and tossed himself onto his — admittedly, not that much more comfortable than the floor — bed and said no more to the ungrateful little girl.
He closed his eyes and listened to hear if Roll would join Treble on the floor after all, or cave and give in to his offer. For a long time, there was silence. Then there was the sound of her bare feet padding across the floor, the quiet rustling of her dress fabric, and — this being the part that really surprised him — the creaking and sinking of the edge of his mattress. A defeated sigh escaped the girl's lips as she lowered herself onto her side and folded her arms together. Her back was turned to him, so he wasn't sure if her eyes were closed or not, but he did hear her mumble to herself, "I'm small, and there's enough room if I stay near the edge, right…"
For another long while, Bass just stared at the thin back that he had grown so familiar with, wondering what to make of this situation. True, there was room enough for the both of them to fit comfortably and not encroach upon each other's personal space, but this wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he had offered her his bed. A part of him informed himself that it was not that huge of an issue either way, and that he ought to just close his eyes again and sleep without wasting another thought on the matter. Sleeping quarters were really just a matter of convention, since their energy was regained through a system shut-down, something any healthy Robot Master could do in any position — standing, sitting, in a Yoga pose, what have you — and comfort was not a necessity to this process.
It just felt nicer to let the girl have the bed, though, and damn, was he ever getting mushy.
The bed creaked again as Roll shifted her position and rolled over. Bass squeezed his eyes shut and tried to look as convincingly asleep as possible.
"Bass? Are you awake?" she whispered. Bass decided not to answer for the time being.
Even with his eyes closed, he was amazed at how many of Roll's quirky gestures he could pinpoint solely with sound. He heard the moist biting of her bottom lip, something she always did when she was feeling indecisive. Her shallow breaths were typically an indication that she was anxious about something (and in this case, he was guessing it was over whether or not she was trespassing upon claimed territory.) He felt the heat radiating off her body draw near, and the dip in the mattress was a clear giveaway that she had scooted closer. Why she would do such a thing was something far beyond his tactile wits, however.
She whispered again, this time so quietly that it was more like breathing, "You're not gonna wake up and scare me or anything, are you…?" Neither expecting nor receiving a reply, she timidly reached out for Bass's face. The sudden sensation of her small, soft hands against his cheeks was rightfully startling, but Bass held his posture like a professional statue. Was this girl's internal temperature regulation system malfunctioning, or was she just impossibly warm…?
More importantly, what was she even up to? Her hands lingered lightly, with neither an apparent motive nor a readiness to return to their owner's sides. It almost felt like a curious prodding, as if she were checking to see if he were really there. When nothing else happened, she gained a little bit of confidence and felt his face more intently. Her fingertips wandered up his cheekbones, running across his forehead and tracing the violet markings underneath his eyes. Her thumbs rubbed tiny, slow circles into his skin, assessing the texture and making it really damned hard for him to keep quiet. Whatever she was up to, he could not deny that it felt good.
Once she had satisfied her curiosity with that, her hands wandered down his neck (which he had never realized was ticklish until now, and it took a lot of talent to keep silent and still through that), and halted around the borderline of his collarbone. For one thing, he was still in armor and there was nothing novel about the texture of that, and for another, she did not want to wander any longer anyway. Bass risked taking a quick, half-lidded peek at the girl and saw that she had squeezed her eyes shut, hands clenched to her chest as if ashamed of themselves. Even in the dark lighting, he could tell that she was bright red. He basked in her continuously radiating heat, again wondering if this kind of warmth was normal for her or if something was wrong. It was a comfortable temperature, though, so he figured it couldn't be anything bad.
Her eyelids stayed crinkled with how tightly she was closing them, and he could tell that she hadn't shut down just yet. On an idiotic impulse, or perhaps just a desire to move after faking deep sleep for so long, Bass wrapped his awkward arms around the warmth and pulled her against his chest. Her body immediately went rigid, and a surprised squeak escaped her, but she otherwise did nothing against the motion. She was soft and comfortable and fit into the crook of his neck nicely. Her hair had a scentless but still somehow pleasant smell. Her quickened breath and pulsating beat were so deceptively human-like, and for a second Bass felt that if Light could make a robot robot this amazing, then it was no wonder that her dumb brother beat him in battle.
It was stupid and ridiculous and he still wasn't quite sure why he was doing it, but his arms remained around her petite frame, unassuming and gentle and prepared to move at any time should she express resistance. But she never did, and she eventually relaxed in her position. After the tension had completely left her body, she mumbled, "I'm, uhm… I'm sorry… for… I mean, I didn't know you were awa—"
"It's fine," he dismissed gently. "Go to sleep."
He felt her shoulders roll in something akin to a shrug, and nothing else was said after that.
Bass sighed a little bit at himself before shutting down. What was he doing? Her brother would be back for her anytime now, and yet...