Chapter Text
The weeks following the great confession in the boiler brought an unprecedented peace to the depths of Playtime. The underground no longer felt like a metal prison; now, under the joint management of its two most brilliant minds, the factory had finally returned to the home that the toys had missed so much.
Y/n had returned to her duties with a renewed energy. The medication had not only swept the infection from her system, but the acceptance of her own feelings had lifted an invisible weight off her shoulders. There was no longer a need to hide, nor to break rocks in the darkness, nor to fake a scientific indifference that no one believed. She was in love with her best friend, and that surrender, far from weakening her, made her feel invincible.
Her routine had become highly active. She spent her days organizing the delegates, optimizing the distribution of resources, and, her favorite project, training a new group of toys to become the factory's nurses and doctors who would help her first students. She taught them to mend seams, disinfect wounds, and treat different illnesses. Doctor Y/n was back to doing what she knew best: saving lives.
However, there was a small "side effect" that Y/n had to deal with daily: the affective monopoly of Experiment 1006.
Since they had confessed their feelings in the middle of the fire, the Prototype had transformed into a clingy, territorial, and ridiculously affectionate boyfriend. He had waited months, calculating every interaction in silence, for his kitty to finally admit that she loved him. So now that it was official, Oliver had no intention of wasting a single second away from her. He wanted her by his side twenty-four hours a day, enveloping her with his anatomy and pampering her with an obsessive devotion that sometimes filled the woman with laughter.
It was during an afternoon in the central area of the laboratories when Y/n decided that was enough affection for that hour. 1006 had her snuggled against his torso, using his thin metal fingers to stroke her yellow ears for the umpteenth time that day, emitting that rhythmic purr that made the floor vibrate. Y/n, with a mischievous smile plastered on her face, decided to break the idyll.
"Alright, Ollie, that's enough for today," she declared, breaking free from the grip with the agility of a small chimera. "I have to go to the Playcare to check the supply warehouse and make sure no one is stealing anything. You can't keep me kidnapped here forever."
"The warehouse can wait, my little kitty," the creature replied, reaching out a hand in a lazy attempt to catch her again. "Your place is here, with me."
"If you want me so much, then look for me in the heights, metal spider!" Y/n mocked, letting out a laugh. In a swift movement, she flapped her wings at maximum power. The buzzing echoed through the large room as Y/n soared into the air, rising more than ten meters high, floating freely near the ceiling, looking down at him with crossed arms and a highly sarcastic expression. She was convinced that, due to her boyfriend's immense and heavy body, being up there made her temporarily unreachable.
The Prototype looked at her from the ground. He still remembered the first time he saw her fly; Y/n did not stop teasing him.
"What do you think? Jealous? I can fly and you can't," she had told him, and then made him chase her for a while before returning to him.
It was at that moment that he understood how it had been possible for her to reach the clouds of the Playcare and how she was always able to move so fast.
It had been a good move, he admitted.
Even so, Y/n was mistaken.
1006 widened his terrifying jaw, and from his chest escaped a machiavellian laugh, low and distorted, that made the cat's antennae stand on end. "If you think those little wings are going to save you from me, kitty... you are underestimating your King's capabilities," he hissed in a tone loaded with absolute triumph.
Immediately, the Prototype's colossal body set into motion. With an agility that completely defied his enormous weight, 1006 began to climb the concrete wall. The spider legs moved in a rhythmic and fast frenzy. The Prototype began to scale the vertical wall as if gravity were a mere joke to him, advancing straight toward the ceiling.
"What the...?! Hey, that's cheating!" Y/n shouted, her eyes opening wide as she saw how the arachnid colossus was climbing at full speed.
"There are no rules in war and love, sweetheart!" he answered her, perched upside down on the ceiling, moving through the pipes with the speed of a giant tarantula, extending his long metallic arms to corner her.
Y/n let out a mixed cry of panic and pure fun, dodging one of the needle claws by a hair. She began to fly in a zigzag all over the place, doing piruetas in the air while the massive metallic shadow chased her across the high surfaces, laughing with that terrifying vibration that now seemed to Y/n like the most comforting sound in the world. In the end, both enormously enjoyed those dynamic "hunts." It was their eccentric way of telling each other they loved each other.
Below, the Outimals watched them happily. It was great to have your leaders happy and playing with each other.
The chase ended, as always, when 1006 calculated the perfect trajectory and caught her in mid-air, trapping her against his chest while they both returned to the floor. They would end up curled up in a corner of the boiler, exhausted, happy, and giving each other all the kisses they had earned during the race.
However, Y/n knew she couldn't neglect the rest of her responsibilities. The isolation on the cloud had cost her weeks of distance from her children, and everyone missed her. The toys had developed a kind of panic that 1006 would keep her entirely in his "monopoly." In fact, Dogday had already joked about the idea of organizing an armed rescue if the Prototype didn't let her leave the restricted laboratories.
So, using her secret weapon -calling the Prototype by his true human name-, Y/n stood in front of him before leaving for the Playcare. "Oliver, listen to me carefully," she told him, pointing a yellow finger at him while he frowned from his height. "I'm going down to spend the afternoon with the others. I know you hate separating from me, but you have to learn to share. I am not just yours, I am also the mom of this factory."
The Prototype emitted a discontented grunt, crossing his arms, but faced with Y/n's loving firmness and the use of his first name, he had no choice but to yield, watching how his kitty flew away toward the daycare.
Upon arriving at the Playcare, the atmosphere was a party, but Y/n had a priority mission. Catnap had taken the worst part of the previous crisis: the other toys had bombarded him with complaints and scoldings for having kept Y/n's hiding place a complete secret, risking her health. The large purple feline felt overwhelmed and deeply guilty, taking refuge in one of the darkest corners of the daycare.
Y/n walked toward him until she stood in front of Catnap's enormous and motionless silhouette. His large purple ears were drooped and his tail remained tangled around his paws.
"Hello, my climbing guardian," Y/n told him in a soft voice, extending her hands toward him.
Catnap raised his head slowly, looking at her with those fixed black eyes that used to cause terror, but now only reflected a deep sadness of a scolded kitty. "My Angel... I... I'm sorry. Everyone says I should have spoken..." he murmured with a broken voice.
"Come here, silly," she cut him off with tenderness, flying a bit to hug his head. "You did what I asked you to do, so it's not your fault. It's over. I am healthy, I am here, and today I come to spend the day exclusively with you to apologize for causing you so many problems."
Catnap emitted a sound that seemed like a relieved sigh and, with submission, placed his chin on the ground, letting himself be pampered by his Angel's hands, while Y/n began to heal the wounds that isolation had left in the heart of her most faithful servant.
The time in the Playcare seemed to slow down, floating in an atmosphere of calm that the daycare had not experienced in months. Y/n took her task very seriously, dedicating to Catnap all the attention and pampering that the big purple feline needed to heal his guilt.
They spent hours curled up in that corner; she stroked his plush behind his ears and spoke to him with that soft Doctor voice that drove away any ghosts from the past, reminding him that he was still her most loyal guardian.
Y/n talked with him, she explained to the others who approached that Catnap was only following orders of hers and that they shouldn't take it out on him because she had been the one to keep silent.
However, Y/n's presence in the orphanage was not going to last forever. The tolerance time of the factory's sovereign had reached its strict limit. The metallic echo of the spider legs resonated at the entrance of the Playcare, causing several of the smaller toys to move aside. 1006 entered, advancing with an imposing elegance and dignity, but his eyes were fixed directly on the scene at the back: his kitty, curled up in total comfort against the side of the massive purple cat.
Oliver, being the obsessive and implacable jealous type that he was, felt a vibration of pure discontent in his gears. He vehemently detested that anyone else, even his most faithful servant, received the affection, warmth, and attention that he considered his exclusive property.
He stopped a few meters from them, straightening his posture to look even more colossal, and looked at his woman. "It's late, Y/n," 1006 declared, using that authoritative voice that admitted no replies. "It's time to go home."
Y/n looked up, noticing immediately the tension in her boyfriend, and couldn't help but let out a small, amused smile at his obvious jealousy. "Alright, I'm coming," she nodded, starting to get to her feet. But before leaving, Y/n turned to Catnap. With a gesture of infinite affection, she leaned over and planted a tender goodbye kiss directly on his nose. The gigantic purple feline reacted instantly: his large ears twitched forward and the tip of his long tail gave a happy lash against the floor.
If looks could disintegrate, Catnap would have been reduced to ashes in that very second under the withering and terrifying look of fury that 1006 shot at him. Out of pure luck for the guardian of the Playcare, Y/n immediately interposed herself in the Prototype's field of vision, extending her yellow hands toward him to be carried, acting as her protective shield and diverting the jealous monster's attention.
1006 emitted a buzz of disapproval, but he took her in his hands with his usual delicacy, pressing her to his chest as they turned around to descend to the lower levels of the factory.
The return to the boiler was silent and comforting. Upon arriving at their private sanctuary, 1006 lit the great bonfire. The fire began to roar powerfully, filling the space with those beautiful flames and that orange glow that fascinated them both so much. They settled into their favorite corner and enjoyed the landscape.
There, surrounded by the crackling of the bonfire and the heat of the core, they began to talk about the details of the day. They conversed with a peaceful complicity, sharing low laughs and stealing a kiss or two between sentence and sentence, savoring the freedom of not having to hide anything.
While the Prototype spoke, Y/n's mind drifted for a moment into the past, losing itself in the flow of the fire.
Suddenly, she found herself making a mental review of the entire chaotic and incredible path that had led her to this precise instant. She thought of the absolute terror of the day she woke up turned into a chimeric toy, stripped of her humanity. She thought of the first months she spent next to 1006 in this very underground, of the intellectual arguments, of the monumental effort to maintain order and transform the factory into a real home for the children and themselves.
She remembered the electric shock of her first kiss with him, the panic that made her flee embarrassed and confused. She thought of her desperate flight toward the false clouds of the Playcare, of the months of absolute isolation, of the claustrophobic and narrow tunnels through which she had crawled. She remembered Catnap defying gravity on the wall, her own feverish confession under delirium, and, finally, the total surrender of her heart.
Y/n averted her eyes from the fire and looked at the giant wrapping around her. 1006 was curled up next to her, looking incredibly relaxed and happy. She reached out one of her hands, beginning to stroke the top of his head, passing her fingers softly while distractedly playing with one of the bells on his jester hat, causing a faint and musical tinkling.
In that moment, a wave of pure, intense, and genuine happiness completely invaded her, making her sigh. She realized she no longer had to fake indifference. She no longer had to spend nights designing mathematical plans to escape, nor did she have to waste her willpower fighting against the inevitable. She no longer had to deny what she felt. The weight she had carried for so long had evaporated, leaving her in a state of absolute relaxation.
They say out there that if you want to make God laugh, the only thing you have to do is tell him your plans. Y/n would never, even in her wildest dreams, have imagined ending up like this: turned into a chimera, living in the depths of the factory where she used to work, and deeply in love with her best friend, Experiment 1006. It was not, by far, the plan she had drawn for her life when she was human.
But right now, feeling the constant purr in Oliver's chest and the warmth of the boiler, she didn't feel the slightest desire to complain. She loves 1006 madly, she loves her new life down here, she loves the peace of being so relaxed and safe in his arms.
Y/n flashed a final sweet smile, closing her eyes as she adjusted herself better against her boyfriend's chest.
She was glad, she was at peace, and for the first time in a long time, she couldn't wait for the next day to arrive to simply keep being happy with him and the others.
THE END