Chapter Text
Lightbulb shifts uncomfortably on the couch. He can no longer fall back asleep after his nightmare. He’s had several in the past week following Facty’s abduction, and with this growing feeling of hopelessness and isolation, they’ve only gotten worse… Him and Martian haven’t talked much, not out of anger but out of a mutual despondency. Martian finds herself sleeping on Facty’s side of the bed just to bask in the lingering smell of them. She’s too guilty to face Lightbulb due to her feeling like the abduction is on her and her so called “boys”. Lightbulb stays on the couch just in case Facty finally does return. If they do, he would want to know first.
He flicks the light back on and stumbles his way to the front door, finding himself sitting on the front porch of their small home. Martian hears the door open and close, but assumes he’s gone for another late night walk, which has become more frequent in his behavior.
The cool air doesn’t bother Lightbulb’s glass skin as he looks up into the same night sky that he watched Facty get beamed into. He doesn’t notice the tears streaming down his face until the stars blur into one glowy mass.
“Oh, Facty, please get back home soon…”
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Facty lies on the cold tile floor of the spaceship, contrast to the warm bed they usually sleep in back on Earth. They’ve been pulling at their hair and acting violently towards themselves and other items in the mostly empty room. The roomba still lays shattered on the floor, which they stare at hopelessly. They can’t help but worry and let the thought of something happening to Lightbulb or Martian fill their head. Despite their typically logistical thinking, their anxiety shrouds their mind. Facty can’t even bear to look at themselves through the reflection of the glass because of the things they had done to the roomba. It’s uncharacteristic of them to act so violently, and they’ve been unable to sleep with the guilt and growing fear of not returning back home.
They scroll through photos on their phone and old text messages between the three of them, tears welling up in their eyes. They want to text them and hug the both of them again. Hell, they would even let Martian flip on Via Ferrata again if it meant they could see each other. Even something as small as eating spaghetti at the table again is something they yearn for.
Speaking of the table, Facty doesn’t even want to think about what state the house is in right now. They’re usually in charge of most chores and cooking dinner, willingly of course. They can only think about how Lightbulb and Martian could be living in a messy home with takeout for dinner every night. Or even worse, skipping meals. Facty starts to panic again, feeling as if the spaceship walls are tightening around them and taunting them about what they once had.
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They wake up with a pounding headache and crust in their eyes from their tears. They check their phone only to see, to their alarm, that it’s dead! Facty begins to panic. The only thing keeping them sane and allowing them to “see” their friends. Gone. Obviously they can’t charge it. They’re in space! And regardless, they didn’t miraculously get beamed up with a charger. They hyperventilate, starting to think the worst. What if they never see their friends again? What if they forget what their friends look like?! What if their friends forget them! They curl up into a ball, starting to pull at their hair again. A bad habit they’ve recently picked up. Through their tears they see the roomba again. They slowly crawl over to it, starting to take it apart with an idea.
Facty is careful not to hurt themselves with the sharp pieces, taking what’s salvageable. They begin to craft and stick little figures that are supposed to resemble… their friends? To them it looks similar, and it’s enough to get them through this moment of isolation. They very rarely see the other beings on this ship anyways. The aliens just come every now and then to bring this… alien slop. It’s not very good, but it keeps them from starving to death. Facty begins to play with the figures, pretending that they’re there with Lightbulb and Martian again. They talk to themselves as if their friends were there, slowly starting to lose their mind in this big, empty spaceship.
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Back on Earth, Martian and Lightbulb are still in the house. Martian is reading books they think Facty would like, in an attempt to feel like they’re still there and to learn more about Earth. Lightbulb is on the porch again, sitting on the swing. He stares into the distance, the cold air actually starting to affect his glass skin. Him, Martian, and Facty used to sit there together late at night and plan their next adventures. Well… Try to plan. They’d always get distracted and talk to each other about random topics before one of them would fall asleep on the swing. The memory brings tears to Lightbulb’s eyes.
“I can’t believe I’m crying again…” He mutters to himself, wiping his tears aggressively. He’s trying to stay strong for Martian, who’s easily affected by the emotions on Earth. She says it’s different from her planet, and the way emotions work on Earth make her feel more connected to the person feeling it. He thinks she doesn’t know how to define the term empathy yet… But he is also trying to stay strong so she doesn’t feel any guiltier about the abduction. He knew her life on her home planet wasn’t great, but for them to give her hats that they knew were going to do something bad was evil. Lightbulb has told her to cut off her “boys” several times, but Martian is too nice and believes the people on her planet can change… Lightbulb scoffs to himself before his thoughts are disrupted by Martian bursting through the front door.
“My boys answered! They answered!”
Lightbulb looks at her, a little alarmed at the sudden entrance. Martian has been trying to get in contact with them, fully believing that what had happened was an accident and they would soon return Facty! However… with each passing day the both of them were starting to believe that wasn’t true.
“Well, what did they say?” Lightbulb turns to face Martian, clearly skeptical about the whole situation.
“So…”