There was something eating away at him. A siphon sucking away at him, leeching him, yet insistent on keeping him alive. A burden he carried, even if he did not know it was killing him. Penny knew this. Penny knew that she was sapping him. It took her some time before she realized that she was doing so, but her porous aura sucked in bits of his aura in a fruitless attempt to make itself whole. That was the one issue with her father's semblance: the aura made was never quite right, per say. Therefore, she was not quite right. She did not notice the effects in the Mint, nor did she think it was even occurring at that time. However, in close proximity for a long duration made it clear that she was siphoning bits of his soul, unconsciously. While she could attempt to stop the flow of aura, there was only so much a pebble could do against a flood. Path of least resistance. She knew that this was hurting him. But she knew that he'd be okay with it, if not encourage it to make her feel whole. He was strange that way. She had to somehow convince him to put her aside for some periods in order to make sure his aura did not end up as porous as hers. She made a call.

"Hello, Dove deliveries here. How may I help you?"

"Dove, can you put me aside for a moment, my cooling fans are struggling to keep my temperature low."

"Yeah sure." Dove unhooked the server tower from his back and placed it in the snow. While normally not advisable, the server was partially wrapped in a plastic film to prevent water damage. Poor design choice, but it did what it set out to do. "I mean, my back probably was blocking some of the fans as well."

It was not. "Indeed. Maybe now would be a good time for you to alleviate yourself as well?

"Good idea." Dove stood up and began to fiddle with his zipper as he walked off.

There had to be some way for her to find a solution to her aura leeching tendencies. If not, then she would have to find a way to convince him to leave her for days at a time in order to preserve himself, instead of sticking with her. If only there was a way for her to do so without causing suspicion on his end.

"Why are you so worried Penny?"

"What."

"You've been emitting worry and stress for like the last couple of hours. What's up?"

Penny had to come up with something fast. A good, solid lie that she could use to segue into another conversation. "I was simply thinking."

"It's about my aura, right?" Penny could almost hear the smirk on his face as he called from over the snow mound.

"No, it was most definitely about your plans for what we do when we find the next sign of human life."

"No, it wasn't. C'mon, you know you're not that good at lying."

It was true. She was not a very good liar. "It was about your aura. I apologize for lying to you."

"Naw, its fine," said Dove as he walked over the mound, "I mean, you were probably thinking of some way to convince me to leave you alone as my aura recovered, right? Even if we had to part ways? Or maybe you'd do something heroic or hideous to convince me to leave you. Something like that."

Penny could feel herself panicking. "How do you know this?"

"Because you just told me. I think. Was it the first or second statements that were true?"

"It was the first statement."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll ditch you when I tire of you."

What. What was that supposed to mean. "What?"

Dove laughed. Dove had the audacity to laugh after a statement like that. "I mean, everyone has an expiration date. Maybe you'll reach yours, and I'll leave you to the wayside. Or I'll die first, if I get, like, super unlucky."

"You are joking, correct? Please tell me you are joking."

"Hey. Penny. We're going to die. Maybe not today, but eventually."

"But you are saying this as if you are going to leave me behind before that."

"Because it's a non-zero possibility. I like you. I value as a friend. But I'm not quite sure you're worth more to me than me yet."

Penny could find no faults with that logic. She did not like it for some reason. "And?"

"I may use you to bash a Creep in the face. Maybe I get shot in the back. Better to have armor there, after all. Maybe, I give you to people who value you more. Who knows?"

"Why would you say this?"

"You're not permanent, Penny. Don't start thinking otherwise." Dove pressed down on the end call button.

Penny did not know what to think. How could she be so blind. Dove could not care. He was a cruel person who only thought about his own safety and well-being. It was times like this that Penny wished she had a body once more. Crying did not feel as relieving when one was a box.