Crossing the street, the strange trio fell into place as they chose their food, Gordon forced to stop Wheatley from ordering the entire menu. Chell found them seats while Gordon picked up their food from the counter, then the three of them settled into their chairs to being eating.

Wheatley, as always, dominated the conversation, finishing his meal in record time before absently wondering about why the sky was blue. He listed several theories, most of which made Gordon raise his eyebrows, but the other two let him talk.

"You know, space is all blackness, so-well, obviously you've got stars and things, and meteors, and comets, and asteroids, and….God, I was up there a while, wasn't I?"

"Up where?"

"Space? Oh, no, um, no, I wasn't anywhere."

Gordon glanced at him suspiciously, then hesitated as Wheatley stared at his lap, unmoving. "Wheaters?"

"What?"

"Are you…okay?"

"Me, yep, I'm fine, peachy keen, sharp as a button-no, as a tack, a tack, I meant-"

"So besides stars and comets and things….what do you think is in space?"

"I…Well, there's planets. I know that much. And…"

"And?"

"I suppose there could be planets like Earth. With different kinds of humans. They adapted differently, after all, so-extra-Earthlings. Non-earthlings."

"I think you mean extra-terrestrials."

"Right! Terra! Latin! I knew that!"

"You may, Wheatley, but the question is-how?"

A sudden look of panic flashed across Wheatley's expression, and Chell suddenly stood to redirect Gordon's attention back to her. Signing quickly, she shoved their empty food containers over to Gordon, prompting him to also stand. He eyed her for a moment, thinking, then took the containers before searching for a disposal area.

Sitting again, Chell looked to Wheatley, concerned. He was staring down at the ground again, trembling slightly, and she leaned across the table to touch his shoulder. He jumped, glancing at her, then relaxed slowly, sighing.

"I can't do this."

She shook her head, leaning on the table.

"No, Chell, I really can't do this. He knows something, he's suspicious, and we'll have to leave, and I just got a job-I can't, I can't do this, I can't-"

When a tap on his shoulder didn't work, she had to resort to a light slap, stunning him out of his rambling.

"Hey! That hurt!"

She eyed him in annoyance.

"Okay, fine, I got a bit off there…but we-"

She shook her head.

"But he's already started asking…and we can't let anyone know what's out there, it's a good few miles away-"

Holding up her fingers, she signed him a number.

"Wow. Um. More than I thought, there, but-I know we swore never to talk about that…place, I just-I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that place, I would be in space, still stuck there after-" He broke off, trembling again, and Chell stood to cross the table to stand beside him. "I hate this. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. I can't be human. I never was. And I never will be. I'm just some stupid core pretending to be human, I don't know why I thought this would work-"

She cautiously helped him stand, letting him lean on her slightly, and reached up to pat down his wiry hair in an effort to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, I just put you at risk, they'll find you and question me and ask me all sorts of difficult questions, and I won't be able to-"

Finally, fed up, she released him, letting him stumble slightly before poking him in the chest. His attention was sufficiently focused on her for her to begin signing to him, pointing around them.

"A job is nothing, it's pointless-"

More pointing.

"I haven't done anything-"

Now, a gesture to the bags.

"That was all Gordon, I can't-"

She glared at him, and eventually he quieted, sighing.

"I just make a really, really bad human, is all…." She hesitated, unsure how to reply, when he straightened to face her. "So I'm going to need your help. Even more than I have. I want to know everything, not just about manners and how to walk facing forward, I want to-I want to learn. I don't want to be a moron any more."

She smiled softly, shaking her head to indicate that he wasn't a moron, then led him to find Gordon, letting him carry their purchases as they finally set off towards the house.

Wow. Um. This is going on a bit longer than I thought, but if you guys don't mind, I'll just keep going. It's slowly turning from a post-Portal fiction into more of an "Adventures with Wheatley" deal. If there's something you'd like to see more of, or less of, or a detail you think I should mention, go ahead and say so.