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Aaaaand…click!
Another test solved. God knows how many left to go.
“Hey do you mind if…” Wheatley started. “If maybe we take a little break? If that’s alright with you?”
You nodded and sat against the wall. He collapsed next to you.
“How do you humans walk everywhere? ” Wheatley groaned. “I could use a few hours back on my management rail…”
Looks like you would probably be waiting for a while.
You glanced up at the wall, seeing an inactive security camera. If she wasn’t gone, you probably wouldn’t even be able to take a break in the first place.
Sitting down made you acutely aware of how much your feet were hurting without you realizing it. Maybe a break isn’t so bad .
Wheatley pulled his knees to his chest and rested on them.
“I once tried to get a job in surveillance.” He explained. “Apparently I was too ‘distractible.’ Job looked boring anyway so…” He paused for a moment. “But hey, being in charge of the humans worked out I guess, cause now you ‘n me are getting out of here!”
He sat up with a smile and a glow in his eyes.
For a robot, something about him was just so very... human. And not just the way he looked.
Wheatley smiled at you with something that wasn’t a robot calculating what response was appropriate. He smiled at you with a sort of recognition.
You had common ground together, a shared goal, a shared trust.
You had no choice but to trust each other, but you hadn’t guessed you’d also enjoy each other’s company so much.
Wheatley never stopped talking. He loved to share his life with you. He got so giddy whenever he helped you solve a test.
Not to mention the look he got when you showed interest in what he was talking about. It was one of pure warmth. Relief? Comfort? Joy? Maybe some mix of all of those.
The word for it didn’t matter. It was Wheatley.
He sat up, breathing out heavily.
“When we get out of here.” He tapped his fingers together as he spoke. “Can we stick together?”
You were surprised at the question, assuming it was a given. It wasn’t a secret that Wheatley would have nobody waiting for him on the surface, nowhere to go.
Besides, even if he did, it’d still be impossible to just part ways.
You nodded. Of course. Obviously.
He smiled with that look again. The way Wheatley and nobody else can make a heart melt with just the corners of their mouth turning up.
“That’s...tremendous.” He said.
His eyes were a vibrant, glowing blue. They were the one thing about him you could place as not human. The rest of him looked so real, acted to human. His eyes though, when they flickered and lit up like that, it reminded you of what he was.
It reminded you of how strange what you were feeling was.
Wheatley was robot. An AI. Plain and simple. It was hard to know if he was even capable of romantic feelings, or if his feelings were even genuine at all.
They certainly felt genuine. You couldn’t imagine it otherwise.
But something felt so incredibly taboo about the way you began feeling about him.
It would be so easy to place your hand on top of his, to lean over and rest on his shoulder...but what would that even mean to him?
“You alright, luv? You look a bit pale.” He asked, looking at you with concern.
You smiled and nodded.
No. God no you’re not okay.
“Y’know I’m feeling a bit lightheaded myself. I mean, what if we…” he bit on the tip of one of his fingers. “What if we don’t make it out of here, you know? Or if you get shot by a turret or if…” He trailed off.
“Be honest, is it better on the surface?”
You hesitated, but nodded nonetheless.
Wheatley sighed, something between relief and futility, and leaned fully against the wall.
“I hope so…”
“Wake up luv!” Wheatley shook you awake gently.
Your eyes slowly opened. Wheatley was sitting in front of you.
“Oh thank god, I’d worried you’d died.” He smiled in relief and scooted away from you. “I wouldn’t recommend falling asleep in one of these chambers...I mean, never know when a turret could pop out, or, oh! I hear these panels are terrible for your back!” He mumbled something about humans being overly delicate.
“Hey! Tell you what, if you need to sleep, you go ahead and lean on me, that way you’re probably more comfortable, and I’ll be able to tell if you’re dead or not!” He smiled innocently.
Maybe he didn’t realize the implications.
But you didn’t wanna turn down the opportunity to be that close to him.
Nervously, you leaned against his shoulder.
“Don’t be shy!” He encouraged, offering for you to sit in his lap and lay against him.
Just don’t make it obvious how flushed you are .
”Part of me wishes we could just stay here instead of doing more tests.” He chuckled. “Ah well, no rush I suppose. You get your rest.”
He placed his hands on his knees.
And he began humming something.
It wasn’t a tune you quite recognized, bar maybe a few notes. It sounded like he was making it up on the fly, maybe combining melodies he’d heard around.
“Are you asleep, then?” He asked after a few minutes.
Eh, close enough. If you answered it’d take longer to fall asleep. You didn’t respond.
“Right.” He chuckled to himself, then gently placed his hand on yours and sighed. “Don’t get attached to humans, they said.”
He rested his chin on your shoulder carefully.
His hand was strange, almost human. His skin felt like a human’s, but his movements were too jerky to be organic. His body wasn’t a consistent temperature either. His chest was warm, like direct sunlight, but his arm grew colder the closer to the hand it was.
He softly hummed to himself again, closing his eyes with a soft click.
After a careful bit of consideration, or maybe just making up an excuse for yourself, you shifted to grip his hand as well.
His eyes shot open and he sat up in shock.
He stared at his hand, then back at you, like a puppy learning a new trick.
“You…” For once, it seemed Wheatley was at a loss for words. “You were awake then.”
You glanced back at him, but his eyes were now firmly locked on your clasped hands.
You angled yourself more towards him, leaning more your side towards him than your back.
Your eyes met. You could see the blue lights flicker behind his eyes. They shone through the skin ever so slightly, creating a sort of blueish blush.
You smile at him.
He nervously offers back something smile-adjacent. It doesn’t come across as a polite fake smile, more just, being too nervous and shocked to offer a legitimate one.
You’re so close.
“We…we should get going…right?” Wheatley suggested. “Still, uh, lots of test chambers to get through.”
But he doesn’t make an effort to push you away, he almost gets even closer.
“And we‘ll get to the surface together.” He leans a bit closer. “Together, right?”
You nod.
Well. This is the part where he kisses you .
“Well then…” he looks anywhere but your eyes for a moment. “I guess that…” He looks at you nervously for confirmation. “This is the part where I kiss you?”
“Yeah.” You answer simply.
Your go-ahead was all he needed.
He’s an awkward kisser, but that was probably to be expected. You can feel that he’s clamping his eyes shut and that every bit of his body has tensed up.
You can feel his cheeks get warmer as his lights grow brighter.
His hand, still locked together with yours, is shaking.
And you pull apart.
He looks terrified of how you might react.
But you’re happy. Of course you're happy. You love him. And he loves you.
Because holy shit, he loves you .
He smiles weakly.
“Right...brilliant er….” He starts to stand up a bit. “We should probably get back to escaping, I think.” He’s tapping his fingers together and staring at a wall.
He starts for the exit, before turning to you and smiling.
“Off we go then, luv.”