AN: Chapter Ten is here.
...
Wheatley spent the next several days thinking about the King and the room. He had found out who was using it, but he still didn't know what exactly was behind that door. Everyone could tell he had been preoccupied lately, but nobody questioned him about it. Wheatley was grateful. He didn't know what, if anything, he should tell them.
On the other hand, Scribe duty was going fairly well. His fingers and wrist still hurt by the end of the night, but not as bad as they had the first time. He also made sure to take extra care not to stare at GLaDOS.
Today, Wheatley knew the preparations for the King's birthday were starting and he was in charge of writing all of the invitations. The sooner they got written, the sooner they could be mailed out, and the sooner the guests could start making plans to come. He got up, stretched, and headed to the Servant's Dining Area for breakfast. Chell suddenly ran up to him and gave him a hug. He smiled.
"Good Morning. How's my favorite little girl?"
She gave him a big smile.
"Glad to hear." He looked at her with a smile of his own. Eliza chuckled.
"So, how many guests are we having for the King's birthday this year?" she asked, as Daniel entered the room with their food.
Wheatley groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "Five hundred and seventy five. And I have to write all of the invitations."
Daniel shook his head. "I'll have some ice ready for you in your room tonight."
Wheatley laughed. "Thanks. I'm probably going to need that."
Daniel placed the food on the table. "Well, I'm off."
Eliza gave him a slightly confused look. "Your not eating with us, today?"
Daniel shook his head. "I have to go to town and get quite a few things in preparation for the King's birthday. I'll be gone the majority of the day."
"Oh, I see."
Daniel took off his apron and draped it over his arm. "Well, I'll see you all later tonight. Good luck today, Wheatley."
Wheatley smiled. "Thanks, Daniel."
Daniel smiled, turned, and left the room.
...
After he finished his breakfast, Wheatley got up to go to GLaDOS's chambers. As he was walking, he heard Eliza's voice behind him.
"Vincent, may I have a word with you for a moment?"
Wheatley stopped walking.
"Of course, Eliza, what can I do for you?"
"Well, you see, since Daniel's going to be in town all day, I really need someone to help me watch the kids. Would you mind helping me if you're not too busy?"
Wheatley turned around.
"Not at all. I'm mostly trimming things up in the front garden at the moment anyway, and I'm still waiting for the delivery of plants for the King's birthday to arrive."
Wheatley watched as Vincent placed his hand on Chell's shoulder.
"We'll have a lot of fun, won't we Chell?" He smiled down at the girl.
She looked back up at him with a big smile on her face and nodded.
Eliza laughed, leaning down to come face to face with her. "Ok, I'll see you later." She placed a kiss on her forehead. "Be good for Mr. Vincent."
Chell nodded her head. Eliza handed Doug over to Vincent.
"And do please keep a very close eye on Doug. He's learning to crawl and there no telling where he might end up. That little one is quite good at hiding."
Vincent laughed as he held the little boy in his arms. "I will, Eliza."
"Good. Thank you, Vincent. You don't know how much of a life saver you are."
"Anytime."
Eliza smiled and turned to attend to her duties. Vincent took Chell's hand and the three of them headed outside to the garden.
Wheatley felt his stomach drop. He had hope Eliza wouldn't have to resort to leaving the kids alone with him, especially Chell.
I have to make this day go by as fast as possible.
He turned back around and hurried up the stairs.
...
Upon entering GLaDOS's chambers, Wheatley noticed her sitting at her chair, reading one of her books. He also noticed his usual desk had been replaced with a quite larger table. It looked like it barley fit in the room. Eleven large piles of unwritten invitations were stacked on it. He sighed to himself.
This is going to take me all week.
He sat down in his chair. As he dipped the quill in the ink, GLaDOS rose from her chair and approached him.
"Remember do not stack them right away. The ink takes a bit longer to dry on this kind of parchment."
He nodded. "Yes, my Queen."
Returning to her chair, she picked up her book and continued to read. Wheatley removed the quill from the ink and began writing out the first invitation. When that one was done, he placed it in the corner of the table to dry.
Only 574 left to go.
An few hours went by and Wheatley was trying to write quickly, but also as neat as possible. He was certain GLaDOS would make him rewrite any invitation that didn't pass her inspection. However, working this way was having a downside. His wrist and fingers were getting tired and sore faster than usual.
The entire time, Wheatley wondered if Chell and Doug were ok.
If he hurts them I swear...
What exactly he was going to do, Wheatley didn't know, but he was damn sure going to do something. He didn't have any children of his own, so Chell and Doug had become his surrogate children in a way.
Being careful not to overlap the invitations, they table was getting quite full. There was only space for a few more.
"My Queen, is it safe to stack any of these now? I'm in need of more room."
GLaDOS rose from her chair, picked up the candle off her table and walked over to him. Shining candlelight on the invitations, she carefully looked them over.
"You can stack the ones in the first three rows."
He nodded. "Thank you, my Queen."
She gave him a slight nod and returned to her chair, placing the candle back on the table beside her. Wheatley began to stack the first three rows of invitations. Once he was done, he began to move the others down the table in their place.
This gives me a lot more room. He thought, as he continued his work.
Wheatley noticed GLaDOS rise from her chair. She placed her book down on her table, and entered a door to another part of her chamber. He briefly wondered where she was going, but shifted his focus back on his work. He finished the invitation he had been working on, and placed it down to dry. He reached over to grab another one when he noticed he was almost done with one stack.
Alright! Almost one down...
His victory was short lived as his eyes looked over at the other stacks.
...and only ten more to go. He sighed.
Dipping the quill in the ink, Wheatley began to write. About halfway through, the quill stops writing. He dips it in the ink again. It only gets through one word. Looking into the bottle, he discovers it's empty.
Is there another bottle?
Nope. It's the only one he has.
I'll have to ask the Queen for another.
Rising from his chair, he makes his way to the door GLaDOS entered moments before. Upon reaching the door, he notices it's not completely shut. He raises his hand to knock only to stop himself. Right there before him, GLaDOS stood behind a waist high changing curtain, bare back facing him. The sunlight glistened through the windows, showing the glittering gold in her hair and illuminating her pale milky white skin.
She's so beautiful.
Wheatley swallowed a lump in his throat. He found himself staring for a moment, wondering what it would be like to caress her body, to feel her soft skin.
As if she'd ever let you. Came a voice in his head.
He sighed, backed up a bit from the door, and carefully knocked.
"What is it?"
Wheatley swallowed again. "My Queen, I need more ink. The bottle I have has run dry."
"Give me one moment."
"Yes, my Queen." He walked across the room and returned to his chair.
A moment later, GLaDOS emerged from the room, holding an ink bottle and wearing a silk lavender dress. It came off her shoulders and showed her cleavage quite nicely, (at least in Wheatley's opinion). She handed him the ink. When she did, he felt the skin on her hands for a brief moment.
Her skin is even softer than I imagined it would be.
"There you are."
He nodded. "Thank you, my Queen." He hesitated for a moment. "That is quite a beautiful dress."
If he didn't know better, he would have swore he saw GLaDOS blush just the tinniest bit.
She smiled. "Thank you. It's for the King's birthday."
Wheatley smiled. "I'm sure he'll love it."
She smiled again, then turned around and returned to the other room.
Her smile is beautiful too.
Shaking his head to regain focus, he opened the new bottle of ink, and continued his work.
...
By the end of the day, Wheatley had finished just a little over a stack of invitations. His wrist and fingers were screaming at him. He couldn't wait to get that ice from Daniel. Putting the lid on the ink bottle he rose from his chair.
"I'm quite satisfied with your work today."
Wheatley beamed. "Thank you, my Queen."
GLaDOS smiled as she rose from her own chair. "Well, it is quite late. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
He bowed. "Of course. You have a good night, my Queen."
"You have a good night as well, Wheatley."
...
On the walk back to his room, he kept thinking about GLaDOS. How soft her skin really was. How beautiful she was. She even called him Wheatley instead of Jester. If only he wasn't just some lowly servant and well, of course, if she wasn't married.
Even then it would probably never happen.
The voice was right. Wheatley most likely would never have a shot at her, even if things were different.
It was late so most people had already turned in for the night.
So much for spending some time with everyone. He sighed.
As he rounded the corner toward his room, Wheatley noticed a faint blue light coming from Eliza's room.
What in the world?
Walking up to the door quietly, he put his ear to it to see if he could hear anything. He couldn't hear anything, but silence. Careful not to disturb anyone, he slowly opened the door and peeked inside. The next thing Wheatley saw caused him to stare in shock.
...
Smoking his cigar, the man sits in the back of a wagon full of hay that is parked on the side of the road.. He's waiting for the driver to continue on. He keeps his gear close by his side and takes another drag off his cigar as the driver returns to the wagon It cost the man a bit of gold to get this driver to agree to a passenger, but he doesn't care. Once he's completed the job, he'll have more than enough to make up for it, He could very simply kill the man and take his money back once he reaches his destination, but he doesn't need the extra complications. The only thing the man needs right now is to reach Aperture Kingdom.
...
Oooooo. What could Wheatley have seen? :D
Reviews are always welcome.