Interlude: Observation

Chell was eating a candy bar.

Wheatley wasn't looking at the candy bar; he was looking at her mouth, which just happened to have a candy bar in it. It wouldn't have mattered if she was talking or drinking coffee or just smiling, though it was a bit more interesting when her tongue peeked out through her teeth as she took another bite.

No, stop thinking like that, that's awful of you, he thought, and tore his eyes away from the curve of her lips, only to find his gaze falling on her hair. It shone faintly in the light, revealing traces of gold in her dark hair. A strand kept falling into her eyes, and she kept tucking it behind her ear with her slender fingers. Her hand moved gracefully as she tucked it away again and rested her arm on the table, toying with the corner of the page she was reading.

She looked up, and he hastily turned his attention back to the book he was reading, or trying to read at any rate. When he risked a glance at her a minute later, she had gone back to reading.

He tried not to stare, but he couldn't see to help watching as she took another very slow bite from her candy bar. She tilted her head slightly so her bangs fell to the other side, and leaned forward. This had the fortunate—no, unfortunate—no, wait—the effect of making her...her chest...amazingly—alarmingly!-a lot more obvious. He swallowed, knowing he should look away and unable to find the willpower to actually do it.

She turned her head slightly, and he buried his nose in his book again, holding it a little too close to his face in an effort to hide the flush creeping into his cheeks. It was a good five minutes before he dared to raise his eyes. She was absorbed in her book once more, and was thankfully sitting back again, so his eyes weren't drawn to her...feminine...assets. He could only hope that nothing else of that nature happened again, because he wasn't sure he could handle that.

To his relief, GLaDOS arrived as Chell's break ended, before anything worse could come up. With a sigh, Chell closed her book and walked to the lift, leaving him alone in the break room.

"Hey, moron," said GLaDOS in a bored voice from the doorway. "If you're being useless, I have a job for you."

"Ah, yes, alright," he said distractedly, his head spinning a little.

She gave him a strange look as he walked down the corridor a few steps behind her. "What's the matter with you?" she demanded. "You didn't even react when I called you a moron!"

"I'm fine," he said hastily. "Perfectly alright. Also, ah, not a moron."

She paused, still giving him a look which seemed like she was calculating. Then the corner of her mouth twitched in a smile and she turned away, humming softly to herself as she led the way to the mainframe chamber.

A/N: Wheatley is an incredibly fun character to write. His ramblings, both internal and voiced, give me no end of entertainment. And his adorably awkward foot-in-mouth moments are so fun. This interlude was great to write. :D