Chapter 11: Hide and Go Sweet

Within the last few weeks, Marlene and Sun had worked out something of a system for bedtime. Marlene would first turn her room's light on and Sun would settle in. After, she'd ensure the rest of the lights in the house were off. Only then could she finally rest. At first, Marlene struggled to fall asleep. Either the mask rubbed her face wrong or Sun's bells jangled too loudly. In the end, they agreed that Sun should remove the bells at night.

It took a few days to adjust to the change, but it was for the best. A few nights of poor sleep were well worth it if it meant saving on electricity and avoiding a homicidal robot.

In the meantime, Jesse had formed something of a routine themself. Once a week, Jesse used one of their days off to work on Sun. They hadn't gotten all that far, though Marlene didn't expect them to. So far, Jesse had combed through the code and noted what lines were specifically Sun's, Moon's, or both.

"Speeds up the process later on," Jesse explained when she asked about it.

But those weren't the only changes. Marlene finished the interview process for the call center position. Much to her relief, they hired her and put Marlene through orientation. There wasn't much to it, but she appreciated knowing who to call if something went wrong.

"You start your new job tomorrow, right?" Sun asks, watching Marlene grab a recipe from the kitchen cabinet.

"Yeah." Marlene glances down at the paper in her hands. It was her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. To say she was coping well with her anxieties over her first day would be a lie. 'Though there are worse ways to handle stress than baking sweets, I suppose,' Marlene thinks as she collects the ingredients.

When she goes to the cabinet where her mixing bowls should've been, Marlene finds the bowls replaced with other dishes. She loosely holds onto the door, looking at the space in confusion. Marlene begins wondering if she'd moved them when Sun appears at her side.

'Ah… it was you, I'm sure,' Marlene thinks before the robot says anything.

"What are you looking for?" Sun asks, leaning down a little. Her straining neck thanks him for it.

"My mixing bowls. I had a yellow one in here that I was going to use. Did you move it?"

"Oh, yes I did. I worried it might be too high and easy to drop in the cabinet." Sun leads her to a drawer, pulling it open and revealing her yellow bowl. "I thought it would be easy to break but if you want, I'll put it back!"

"Oh no, that's fine Sun." Marlene pulls the bowl out and places it on the countertop. Truthfully, she didn't mind if Sun reorganized the kitchenware. 'A warning might have been nice though,' Marlene admits as she adds in the wet ingredients.

As she cracks an egg open, her stomach churns. It smells stronger than she remembered. 'Let's get this over with.' Marlene begins grabbing another egg.

Sun places a hand over the eggs, as though guarding them against her. "Can I help? I've never cooked before!"

Shuffling back a bit, Marlene guides him through cracking the first egg.

"It's better to crack an egg open on a flat surface." Marlene mimics the motion with her hand. "And don't-"

Sun smacks the egg hard against the table, the yellow yolk splattering out like a slimy water balloon.

"-use too much force." Marlene finishes, wiping away a bit of egg from her face. As she pulls the slime away, she scrunches her nose. A sour taste floods her mouth, a lump forming at the back of her throat.

"I'm sorry, Marlene!" Sun deflates, picking up the eggshells, "I wasn't trying to make a mess, honest! I just… I thought-"

"Hey, it's okay," Marlene interrupts, wetting a washcloth, "It's just an egg and mistakes happen. It was your first time. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

When she turns back to him, she notices an almost water-like sheen on Sun's face. "Oops, hold still, Sun. You've got some egg on you."

"O-oh! That's fine, Marlene. You don't have to do that, really!" The robot gently tugs the washcloth from her hands and begins cleaning himself off. His fans spin faster, and Marlene backs off.

Marlene nods, not terribly concerned. His movements were practiced, like he had done this many times before. 'Sun must have had to clean himself a lot when he worked at the daycare,' Marlene reasons, 'I'd bet the kids made sure of that.'

As they begin mixing the dry ingredients into the bowl, her nausea begins to die down and she begins enjoying herself again. A hum nearly slips out of her when some of the powder flings out. Most of it hits the table, though a fair amount lands on her too. Each time Sun wipes up a mess, another takes its place. Marlene tries explaining that it was more efficient to wait until the cookies were in the oven to clean, but Sun shakes his head.

"I can't explain it well," Sun replies, rinsing out the cloth, "but each time I see a mess, I need to fix it, or else it's all I can think about."

Marlene doesn't pester him after that. Perhaps baking - or cooking in general - was a poor pastime for her robotic friend.

Marlene shows Sun how to shape the cookies. As he plays around with the dough, Sun laughs. "It's really sticky! It's strange that you shape it into a ball first. They come out flat in the end though? You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Marlene laughs, finishing up a row. With Sun helping her, they make a few more trayfuls load a few into the oven.

"The recipe says ten to fifteen minutes so I always set the timer to ten. We can always leave them in longer, but you can't fix a burnt cookie," Marlene instructs, a beep following each push of a button.

"People don't like burnt cookies. Got it!" Sun parrots, nodding with crossed arms.

Marlene shrugs. "Well, I don't anyway. Some people do though."

Somehow, he looked as though he received sage advice. Marlene didn't know whether to be flattered or concerned.

'I wonder if he takes everything I say so seriously,' Marlene thinks, stretching out her shoulder as she rubs a particularly sore spot. 'He's asking about little things now, but what if he were to ask about a more important topic? Isn't there a better way to teach him about the things he doesn't understand?'

Reminding herself that it's just cookies, Marlene wonders if it paid to worry so much.

The two stare at the timer in silence, a serene silence falling over them. It's a rare moment, where time slows and the room somehow feels lighter than it normally is. Maybe it was how the light hits the light blue walls of her kitchen, brightening the space. The way the sweet smell of baked goods begins to waft in the air might have had something to do with the peace too.

Though, Marlene had a feeling it also had a little something to do with her roommate as well. 'How long has it been since I've made plans with friends outside of Jesse?' Marlene wonders, pausing for a moment before frowning, 'Ah wait… I don't think I have any friends outside of Jesse and Sun anymore.'

Now that she thought of it, She really hadn't had many friends once she started moving around. 'Well… there's also my complete inability to realize it's been months since I talked to them. That's on me.'

The timer goes off and Marlene places the hot trays onto potholders.

"I want to put the next one in!" Sun says, tray already in hand.

Marlene hesitates, but nods. 'It's a learning experience,' She reminds herself and pulls open a drawer full of potholders and oven mitts. "That's fine, but you should really put on some oven mitts."

"But you don't use them?"

"I know my skin won't melt if I use pot holders instead. Maybe your plastic can handle more heat than I'd expect, but I don't want you to get hurt. Better safe than sorry when it comes to these things, Sun."

There weren't any issues getting Sun to use an oven mitt after that. Especially when he pulls out the bulky, quilted oven mitts that she had received as a housewarming gift. They are a gaudy orange, but Sun insists on wearing them.

"Look! They match me!" Sun exclaims, waving gloved hands up for her to see.

'Cute.' Marlene thinks, nodding encouragingly. "They do! Now, just be careful…"

Marlene still bites the inside of her cheek as she watches Sun place the next batch of cookies in the oven.

A taste of iron floods her mouth before the oven door closes.

Placing the oven mitts aside, Sun bounces a little in place. "Can we play a game?"

'That's not a bad idea.'

"What kind of game?" Marlene asks as she resets the timer.

"Can we play something new?" He asks, giving his head an excitable spin. "Like chess? That's something they play in the T.V. shows!"

'What has he been watching while I'm away?' Marlene wonders, dusting some flour off of her shirt. "Well, chess can be a bit of a long game. We can do it another time, I promise! Is there a shorter game you'd like to play?"

"Oh! Can we play hide and seek? It's not new to me, but it is short!"

'Is he saying I'll be easy to find?' Marlene wonders, quirking an eyebrow at her tall companion.

"Sure, we can play that."

"Excellent! I'll count to twenty! You'd better run and hide!" Sun giggles, covering his eyes.

Feeling like a child of five again, Marlene darts to the living room. No good. Not a single spot would hide her.

"Eleven… Ten…"

Trying to balance speed with stealth, Marlene rushes into her room. She eyes her bed for a moment before dragging a thin box out from under it and carefully sliding herself under. Quietly sliding the thin box back into place, Marlene slows her breathing.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Sun's muffled voice calls.

The silence makes the quick, hard beating of her heart sound dreadfully loud. 'Will he be able to hear my heart?' Marlene worries, her body tensing. As she holds still, she strains her ears, listening for Sun's footsteps.

The footsteps come in sooner than she would have liked. Marlene curses at herself for picking the most obvious hiding spot. 'Come on, Marlene! That's hide and seek 101! Of course he'd look here first!'

Staring at the familiar orange shoes, Marlene holds her breath. Her body cramps as she holds still for what seems like forever before Sun slowly walks out of the room.

His steps fade and Marlene takes in a gulp of air, flinching when a small sound escapes her.

Marlene blinks slowly and the world seems awfully quiet as she lays her head on her arms.

Marlene startles awake at the sound of Sun's desperate yells coupled with the harsh thuds of running feet.

"Marlene!? Marlene, can you hear me? The game is over! You won! Please come out!"

'Hm?' Marlene rubs her eyes, squinting out from under the bed. 'It's not been that long, has it?'

The stiffness in her back beckons her out from under the bed.

"Marlene!?"

Well, stiffness and the obvious panic in Sun's voice.

"Sun?" Marlene asks calmly as she pokes her head into the hallway.

The robot whirls around to face her, frantic yet gentle hands taking hold of her face. He turns her face from one side to the next, quietly scanning her.

Slowly gripping his wrists, Marlene pulls the robot's hands away.

"Sun?" Marlene repeats, gently rubbing the Sun's hands, "What's wrong?"

"I- I couldn't find you," Sun replies with a crackly low voice, "An-and then you wouldn't come out… and I - I got scared you left."

Oh.

Oh no.

'How long did I sleep for?' she wonders, giving the robot a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Sun," Marlene soothes, "I fell asleep in my hiding spot. I'll try not to do it again, though it's not something I can promise…"

"...It's fine…"

Looking at how droopy the robot's orange spikes were, Marlene doubted that.

"Is there anything I can do to make this better? I really didn't mean to scare you like that."

"...Can I have a hug?"

Smiling warmly, Marlene nods and pulls Sun into her arms. He stills for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. He curls down to compensate for his height, fully encasing her in a careful embrace.

They stay like that until Marlene's doorbell rings.

"Oh! It's Saturday, isn't it?" Marlene steps out of the hug, heading towards the front door. "That must be Jesse."

Sun lags behind as Marlene opens the door.

"Mm! Something smells good," Jesse greets as they enter, setting their stuff down in the kitchen.

"It's chocolate chip cookies. Sun and I made them earlier." Marlene separates the cookies from the tray with a spatula. "Help yourself!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Jesse plucks one and begins to set up their work area. Tiring of setting their things up one-handed, they stuff the whole cookie in their mouth.

"Just to let you know, there's a whole table for you to use," Marlene teases, glancing at the cooling trays. Sun must have still taken care to remove the tray he put in earlier. As Marlene slides the last tray into the oven, Jesse answers with muffled, incomprehensible sounds.

As they all settle into work, nostalgia washes over her. A sense of belonging and completeness makes its way into the room, transforming the atmosphere into something calming and warm.

The warmth fades away as Marlene begins to think more about Sun's confession. About how he was scared that she had left.

'Why would he think that?'

But the timing isn't right to ask such a question so Marlene turns the question over and over in her mind until the calm has gone off and rotted.