Dactyle sat down, taking a sip.
They looked up at the ceiling. They put their free hand over their left eye. A small, quiet sigh left their lips.
It had been a while since they lost their eye, yet Dactyle couldn't help but think about it sometimes.
Accident or not, it just showed them that it was so easy to lose something. It made them feel afraid that they could lose something else. Their arms and hands wouldn't be too much of a problem, they could be repaired or replaced, and the same could be said for the second half of their tail.
The same couldn't be said for the rest of their body. What if they lost their other eye? What if they lost either of their legs? What if they lost the organic parts of their tail?
What if they lost their voice and they could never get it back?
It terrified Dactyle to even think about that, no matter how much they didn't want to. Despite everything, they thought about it on nights like this. All they could do was let their mind run its course.
Well, at least they were alone this time. Nobody could see Dactyle like this, something that they were glad about…
"What're you still doing up, Dactyle?"
…until this moment.
Dactyle lowered their hand and looked behind them to see Antauri. He levitated over to their side. Dactyle leaned onto their hand, averting their gaze. They took another sip of their hot cocoa.
"I'm gonna head to bed. Just trying to get myself tired enough to do so, det är allt."
Antauri put his hand on their shoulder.
"It seems like something's bothering you. Do you want to talk about it, dear?"
Dactyle debated for a moment on whether or not they wanted to talk about it. They didn't want him to worry, but they didn't want to talk about it either.
They shook their head. "Just my eye, that's all."
"…I see." Antauri softly sighed, almost as if he took a deep breath. "I know it's hard losing a part of you. I know how that is."
Dactyle looked up at him. Their eyes slightly widened.
Right, how could they forget about that? The kids always knew him as he was right now, not when Antauri was a cyborg like the others. All eleven of them had seen pictures of Antauri before his death and revival, so it wasn't like Dactyle didn't know about it. It was just odd for them to think of him as anything other than the blue eyed silver robot they all knew.
"Right, you'd know about that pretty well, huh? I… kinda forgot about that."
Antauri nodded. "I can't say I blame you, it would be hard not to forget that for any of you."
He lowered himself to be more at Dactyle's eye level. He looked them in the eyes.
"I can't promise you that it'll get any easier overtime." He continued. "Get used to it, perhaps, but you might still do things out of habit. I admit that I still do certain things even if I know it's not necessary for me to do anymore."
Dactyle simply hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I still take these off even though I don't need to. Well… I guess "don't want to" might be a better way to put it."
Antauri slightly raised an eyebrow. "While you need them to see better, you don't have to keep them on all the time."
Dactyle looked away from him. They took a couple swallows of their drink.
"Maybe, but it's not like you think you're hideous every time you look in the mirror…" they mumbled to themself.
Antauri blinked as he leaned back slightly. What Dactyle said might've been quiet, but Antauri heard it well enough.
He cupped Dactyle's face and made them look at him. Antauri moved his hand to their left optic lense. Their eyes widened and they tensed up; they grabbed his wrist.
"No no no no, Father, please don't! I don't want you to see it!"
Despite their pleas, Antauri took it off. They lost sight in their left eye, now only seeing darkness.
Their stomach twisted and turned. Tears formed and streamed down their face. Their hands shook and trembled as they stared at him. Dactyle started breathing heavier.
His expression didn't change at all. In fact, he hugged them. He put his hand in their hair.
"You're not hideous, Dactyle." Antauri softly spoke. "You're as beautiful as you always were, your eye being burned will never change that. Maybe it's hard to believe right now, but trust me when I say that. Even then, your beauty isn't limited to your appearance."
He pulled away from them. He placed his free hand on their chest, right where their heart was.
"Your beauty is in here as well. Don't forget that."
Dactyle quietly gulped, trying to hold back anymore tears from falling down, albeit with no success. They hugged him again, this time much tighter than before.
"Arigatō, Otōsan." Their voice cracked.
"Anytime, Hermo. Anytime."
Antauri held them for as long as they needed to hug him.
He understood how it was, not feeling comfortable in one's own skin. While it was drastically different—Dactyle simply lost their eye while Antauri lost his original body—it was fundamentally the same.
They lost a physical part of them, something that they would never get back. Now it was something that they had to live with, as much as it hurt. He would be there by their side for as long as they needed someone to relate and talk to on that level.
Antauri didn't truly have anybody to help him along in that way, and he wasn't about to let Dactyle go through the same thing.