Prompt: Wheatley calls Chell by her name.

"Chell?"

Wheatley needed her to come in and help with cleaning off the table. There were papers that seemed extremely important, least, they might be to Chell. To him they were just white pieces of paper with ink on them that meant nothing.

But she remained at the counter, cutting up her dinner. Wheatley wasn't sure if she was ignoring him(!) or just didn't hear him.

"Chell?" he said, a little louder this time. She had to have heard him.

Nothing! She couldn't be ignoring him, could she?

Stepping closer, he tried once more. "Chell?!"

Alarmed, he cried out, "Luv? "

And then she finally turned, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He breathed a massive sigh of relief. "I said your name three times, luv, and I got so worried you couldn't hear me or something horrible was happening and that there was something wrong with my voice box and—"

Chell scrunched her eyebrows, this time in confusion. She hadn't heard him call her three times before that.

"What did you say?"

The question puzzled Wheatley, causing him to stop talking mid-sentence. What did she mean by that? "I said your name, luv."

Chell cracked a smile. Had she really not responded to her name?

"What's so funny, luv?!" Wheatley was a little offended at the fact that there was something she found hilarious that he was missing out on as a joke.

"You didn't call me love, or sweetheart? You said "Chell"."

He nodded, still not understanding.

"Wheatley, I got so used to hearing you call me by pet names, I didn't even respond to my own name."

Suddenly, it clicked, and he laughed out loud, falling onto the doorframe of the kitchen. "Oh my goodness! Luv! …Man alive, that's hilarious!" He could hardly speak through his laughter. "You got so used to…"

Chell started laughing too, having abandoned her kitchen task long ago.

The laughter spread between them, until it died down slowly.

Finally, he remembered his task. "Oh, by the way, these papers, luv" – he stifled another laugh – "did you want me to put them someplace safe?"

"Bag." Wheatley nodded with understanding and slid them carefully into her work bag before turning on the TV.

Chell came out a few minutes later and took her place at the table, watching Wheatley with an amused smile while he watched a dancing show, constantly saying something or another about the dancer's posture or the judge's verdicts until it ended, and he joined Chell back in the kitchen to help dry dishes and laugh every once and a while, murmuring some pet name or another while kissing her temple, causing her to smile and lean into him for a few moments before going back to chores.

Sometimes, she really did love him.