Chapter Text
At first you worried it’d be another whole back and forth to finally find somewhere to eat only to be pleasantly surprised when Anatolia had swiftly found another nearby Italian restaurant that was far away from the negative propaganda.
Winter had piped up saying that he needed to grab something for some odd reason but the slight downward twitch of his rather neutral look was worrying enough. He had walked off before you could even address said concerns but Anatolia the ever focused bot that she was, swiftly guided you in as the both of you were sat down at one of the smaller tables in the far corner.
All you really wanted at the moment was a sweet treat, sure it’d be more filling to order actual lunch but it was already midday and the incident from this morning felt like enough of a excuse for you to get something sweeter. Anatolia seemed to silently agree with your train of thought as well as when she saw you pick up the dessert menu, her rays popped out a little before mindlessly twirling like she was interested to see what you would pick.
She had both elbows propped on the table as one mindlessly rested and the other was used as a stand to rest her head upon, she smiled down at you while you ordered and you couldn’t deny that the cozy vibe was really making this feel like she was taking you on a date but you decided not to word such inappropriate thoughts to her, after all, this was just a city visit.
The menu was horribly translated but luckily there was pictures on the side which one showed a cake slide that looked like as if it had a consistency similar to a moist brownie which your empty belly seemed to think was the most appetising thing right now as before you knew it, you had already ordered it which gave you and Anatolia some extra time alone. Winter’s unexpected retreat still bugged at the insecure side of your brain and once again curiosity got the better of you… or perhaps self doubt this time.
“…I didn’t scare Winter did I…?”
She blinked at you before carefully waving you off with her one unoccupied hand, lips smiling still like she was trying to reassure you in body language as well.
“No, no! He uh… isn’t really one for crowded spaces Y’know? He can handle an open street or well a train station if he’s leaving it but being in a small full restaurant? Nah, nah, too much for him!”
She must’ve saw the worry that was still present in your frame as she quickly stumbled over her own words in just a few seconds.
“Well-! Not like you know! But don’t worry!!! He- uh- is probably just wondering around outside!! He doesn’t tend to wonder off far!!”
You let out a soft sigh realising you probably weren’t helping her own anxiety, maybe you really weren’t you when you’re hungry.
“Sorry, I- today’s been a lot is all”
You were tempted to say this entire week had been, you knew the bots meant well but some of them could be handfuls especially when you hadn’t meant to set them off.
One of the waitresses stopped nearby placing a small glass bottle of water on your table along with a singular cup, she gave a quick glance towards Anatolia if uncertain if she should get another cup but deciding to swiftly leave before airing out her own thoughts unlike yourself. You poured some of the water into the provide cylinder but the waitress’s behaviour had sparked a question of your own as you placed the large water glass back on the table.
“Can you guys like… eat or like… I even drink? Like-! I think most of you can smell! Can you?? Sweet Dream’s room was full of all kinds of smells but they followed a similar pattern and uh- the backyard! You and Cinnabar kept all the possibly bad smelling plants- the carnivore ones outside!”
You felt your face burn with embarrassment like you voicing something far more private out in public but to your surprise Anatolia fell into a fit of giggles over your flustered state.
You stared mouth agape at her until she finally calmed down and reached over, giving the back of your hand reassuring pats while her rays twirled.
“Don’t- don’t worry Lovebug, your curiosity is well deserved…”
You felt your lips morph into an uncertain line though pleasantly surprised by the new nickname she had decided to give you. She took a further moment to actually explain as she leaned further into her other hand with a soft smile once more.
“Short answer…. Yes, some of us can but not all of us”
You opened your mouth to ask what she had exactly meant only to be interrupted as the waitress from before had returned and placed the dessert you had ordered earlier in front of you. You offered the lady a quick “thank you” before she had disappeared once more to no doubt service others.
A familiar thought returned to the back of your head, a distant guilt for getting her to practically info dump all the information she had relating to the others instead of letting yourself get used to them… you decide to play the long game this time.
“Are you one of them? I mean- are you one that can like taste and eat Y’know?”
She seemed surprised by the question like she had expected you to ask about the others most likely, you did feel a touch bit more guilty for how you’ve technically neglected her in a way for the others. She looked conflicted on what she should say before instead just giving you a simple nod in response to your question.
She sat up in disbelief as you pushed the fork over to her as you opted to use the spoon that the waitress had provided with the sweet treat. She looked between you and the silver utensil before finally picking said object up.
“How much can you like… taste? Is it actual taste? Or like… I don’t know, the chemical make up?”
You looked down at the cake before slowly serving yourself a spoonful, trying to avoid Anatolia’s gaze as the embarrassment in your body only seemed to grow heavier.
Was it rude to offer a bot a shared treat? Especially one you barely knew? You were gonna see her a lot more in the future however and she already felt like what you would consider a friend… not that you had many left towards when your big move happened. To your surprise she did take the offer but only a really small forkful of the sweet treat before eating it herself, she gave a hum before looking off somewhere.
“Did you mean to order chocolate cake?”
You gave her a confused look just as you got your mouth around the spoon only to instantly have your mouth filled with a creamy tender texture of chocolate baked goods. You hadn’t intentionally meant to buy a chocolate cake slice, you just bought it because it looked familiar like something you might like but different enough that it probably wouldn’t a well… chocolate cake slice.
Anatolia chuckled at your reaction as she sat the fork back down on a clean serviette she had grabbed to answer the now stained utensil wouldn’t cause as much as a hassle for the staff to clean later.
“I’ll take that as no…”
You let out a dejected hum as you finished swallowing the piece in your mouth, it still tasted really good and probably better than any cake you could’ve made but you felt couldn’t help but feel flustered for accidentally coming off as plain to Anatolia when you thought you were hoping that you had picked something a bit more interesting.
She gave a soft giggle as you still ate the rest of the slice you ordered but you did note that she still answered your question or at least kinda? She did immediately recognized what chocolate tasted like at least.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
After a few minutes and mainly questioning Anatolia on what exact stores she was looking for, the both of you exited the restaurant after paying and leaving only to be met outside by Winter who stood with a rather bored look once again. Winter greeted you both with a nod as Anatolia eagerly welcomed his presence back, a small upturn smile reached his face plate before glancing back down at you resulting in it being swiftly removed from his expression.
You felt your frame tense at the quick attitude change but decided not to voice it as Anatolia and Winter went over the brochure… more so she was pointing at the places that she would like to go to.
You were a bit surprised Winter had been able to coincidentally be there when you finished but you wouldn’t be surprised if Anatolia pinged him somehow, after all, they did seem to have some network system to alert each other without involving you… which hurt a little but then again they’ve known each other longer so they probably haven’t thought of adding you yet.
Anatolia surprisingly didn’t drag you along this time, rather she enjoyed slowly window shopping at first until she would find stores that specified that they were accepting of credits. You wondered how much credits costed compared to the currency humans had but decided to leave that question for Matthew or perhaps Aggie.
She carried most of what she bought so far but when you offered to actually carry something she gave you a uncertain look before handing you the smallest bag. The bag was filled with various art supplies, some were of watercoloring media which you assumed was for Cinnabar but there was a few other types that labeled themselves as the best for statues.
However when Winter offered to carry one she gleefully handed one of the ones at random, did she think you couldn’t handle a bigger bag? Or was she playing nice by giving you the lightest? You weren’t sure if you should’ve been grateful or offended by the simple gesture.
Eventually you reached a home supply store or what felt like warehouse for various things from pots for plants to towels for bathrooms and kitchens. Anatolia said she wanted to have a quick look at some of the outdoor stuff and gave a pleased chirp about how she’d be back in a minute, ultimately leaving you alone with Winter in the aisle.
You were a bit nervous as Winter has shown nothing except for disinterest but perhaps the moment alone would open a door for future bonding…? Maybe you could find an interest that you could start off on? He seemed pretty focused on a specific wall decoration.
On one of the many shelves sat a metal bronze sun, a wall mounted decoration for assumingely either inside or outside. The mount looked similar to a sheriff’s page as it had six rays with little metal balls ending the tips, in fact it seemed awfully close to the sun pined that was the only thing adorning Winter’s scarf.
There was a slight glaze over Winter’s pale blue eyes and you wondered if maybe you should’ve left to join Anatolia but alas you decided to continue your endeavor of attempting to bond with the bot. You slowly approached before standing off to the side of the bot, an encouraging smile reaching your lips once more.
“Interested? I’m sure it’s perfectly fine to take on the train or we can check if this place has a delivery service maybe-“
“Don’t”
You stopped in your tracks as Winter whipped down to look at you, an intense emotion burning behind those previously distracted optics.
“Pardon-?”
His jaw tensed as he bared his teeth and you were given front row seats to his sharp canines as they seemed to push down on each other like the rows were attempting to crush the other.
“Don’t play coy, I know exactly what you’re doing”
You opened your mouth to question the other but quickly silenced yourself. Glancing around gave you the stark reminder that it was just you and him in this aisle, the silence suggested you were in the most isolated part of the large store as well.
You felt a deer in headlights or perhaps a fawn that is finally aware of the red dot aimed at its forehead, alone in the narrow path as the gun’s lenses stare down at you with distain, like you inconvenienced the hunter… or perhaps the hunter saw himself as a buck using his antlers to protect himself from what he perceived as the threat.
“You’re just like the others… you come, you believe that you can herd a group of wild animals with various defects… then you flee with however much money you can cash, acting like it was the fault of your victims for trying to protect themselves against your attempt to dominate…”
Maybe it was the doubt and guilt that flooded your veins but each syllable he spoke made it feel like the store only got colder or colder… maybe it was because you expected him to scream and shout, he didn’t, he was angry yes but he kept a precise demeanor with how he told you off.
“You signed up for a job believing you could take advantage of bots, bots that are messed up from the result of your kind-“
“I didn’t sign up for this!”
You pathetically squeaked it out like a mouse using its last dying breath to convey a message, yes you took the opportunity of moving as a advantage but you thought- no believed, you had signed up for a gardening gig. He had a point, you knew you couldn’t handle these bots yet you’ve done things like make promises and such to dig in deeper as if you could sneak into the comforting bonds they seemed to have for each other.
You weren’t proud of the fact you did somewhat disregard the karma you’d get for blindly following the first offered hand but this only seemed to enrage the other further as the fists by his side seemed to tremble with new found anger. The paper bag he had been holding for Anatolia on the verge of slipping much like his icy behavior started to slip into a more boiling wrath.
“So you admit that you’re nothing but carnivorous scum…? That you’re nothing but a Сволочь-!”
“Winter!”
He froze, rage vanishing into a more guilty look like a kid who had been caught red handed as he looked up and past you towards the end of the narrow path at the familiar voice. You gasped as a familiar butterfly themed both marched past you and at the smaller while pointing an accusing finger at your previous verbal attacker.
“What do you think you’re doing?! Couldn’t you have saved blowing up for when we got back onsite?! I would’ve expected this from Vespa but you?!”
Despite Anatolia only harshly whispering, it was enough to make Winter freeze like a cadet caught lacking by their superior. He kept his mouth shut but the icy blue pinpricks expanded into more larger round orbs, almost like snowballs at her reprimands.
“Annie-“
“No! That’s enough from you! We’ll discuss what set you off later but for now we’re going! So get out and wait!”
He jumped at the last part, optics skipping over to you only to be blocked by Anatolia as she leaned in closer blocking you from his view and unfortunately or fortunately him from your view. You barely made out a slight nod from Winter past her rapidly paced rays as he turned and quickly left the two of you alone.
It was silent for a few seconds.
Anatolia let out an exhausted sigh before slowly turning to face you, her face looked drained as if it took all her energy to will herself into telling her frosty companion to back off.
“Sorry love bug… are you alright?”
Your hands trembled slightly but eventually calmed down to a more manageable twitch, you nervously bit the inside of your cheek and before you could respond your body released your thoughts instead.
“…is that really what you all think of me…? Some opportunistic asshole…?”
You’ve already gone through hell today and the sudden tension in her frame did nothing for your nerves as she finally turned her full body to you.
“…he’s tired, he didn’t mean that… let’s get you home, ok?”
You let out a shaky breath at that, “home” she said it like you were just a canary that just so happened to hop outside of its cage… could you really call the sanctuary your home? Yes you had a dorm but… you haven’t really felt like you had a home in a long time.
“Um, yeah…”
Like a switch, her more peppy attitude returned as her rays sat up straighter with a perk.
“I gotta pay for these ok? But we can go as soon as I’m done!”
Winter was right, you needed to remember these boys were from a rehabilitation facility, a mental ward basically, if you wanted to stay here than you needed to learn to meet them in the middle even if it hurt… after all it was better than where you from, the bots were honest at least.
“Mhm”
You followed along side her as the both of you reached the cash register, Anatolia was quick to place down various things but mainly pots, hooks and various other more mundane items like picture frames. The amount of items made sense for why it took her a bit longer to get back to Winter and yourself but you couldn’t help but wonder exactly what she needed said things for.
Anatolia pulled out a card from her main bug similar to a bank card but you assumed it was no doubt for bot’s credits instead of dollars but to your surprise the blonde cashier held her palm out to stop her.
“No credits sorry”
Anatolia was taken aback, blinking her ivy green orbs at the woman in bewilderment before drawing the card to her chest and pointing out towards the store windows.
“But you have a sign outside saying you take credits? It’s a fairly large sign too”
She seemed to be unconvinced of the woman’s statement like she was offended the woman was trying to unjustifiably let her pay.
“Our store chain changed owners, the new guy is still trying to figure out how to access our credits conversion account so no credits till then… your owner have any actual money on them?”
The cashier gave a bored look towards the bot as if it was obvious and that Anatolia should’ve somehow been up to date with any and all news as the cashier seemed to perk up as she pointed at you. Anatolia gripped her card tighter like she too was on the verge of blowing despite telling Winter off for doing so earlier.
Deciding that you didn’t want to see how Anatolia would lash out, you took out your card and quickly offered it for the woman to examine and slide through the machine and pay before handing it back to you. Anatolia growled as she started to pack away the items, the sound wasn’t directed- or at least didn’t sound to be directed at you as she gave one more glare towards the blonde.
“Not her owner! Just a friend!”
The cashier raised a brow at that as she leaned forward resting her head on her two hands with a way too lax behavior despite the fact she was on the clock right now, perhaps it was because she looked like she was fresh out of high school and maybe this was her first job.
“Oh you one of those bot daters? You know that’s weird right? Why not just go on a dating site if you’re that desperate?”
She lazily smiled back at you like she was just a friend casually asking questions only to flinch as Anatolia slammed her hand down on the store counter between both of you, preventing you from trying to ask the cashier to nicely stop.
“How about you just hand the receipt over and mind your own business? Hmm?”
Anatolia hummed, you barely caught a slight slip of a accent starting to sneak into her voice box much similar to how Vespa’s reverted when he was startled or how Winter’s started to make itself known moments ago.
The cashier gave her an uneasy look and you felt somewhat guilty for pestering the underpaid worker despite her earlier comments, perhaps you were lucky that Winter was already outside the store… you don’t think you could handle having to prevent two angered bots from lashing out at the woman.
“I was just joking you know…?”
The blonde gave Anatolia a hurt look as she printed out the receipt but Anatolia was busy tapping her warmly coloured claws on the smooth surface like she was timing out how many seconds the print was taking.
“Eh’ how about you don’t worry your bloody head off about your absolutely stupid tattles and just hand over the paper?”
You weren’t sure if you wanted to be confused or chuckle at the sudden cockney accent that had escaped from your usually more refined companion. She angrily spoke matching the stereotypical depictions you’ve seen on various shows including cockney characters.
You weren’t surprised someone would’ve given a bot such a accent but her soured mood was not helping the usual images cockneys had, the cashier looked more dumbfounded at the accent but just handed her the paper without another word.
“Finally…”
Anatolia hissed snatching the paper and stuffing it into one of the various bags as fast as she could before picking her bought items and storming out, you gave the originally provoking cashier a apologetic look only to quickly follow the rampaging bot out. Winter who looked like a dejected dog perked up as the both of you came out only to go wide eyed at Anatolia’s aggressive demeanour.
“What happened-?”
“We’re going home! Don’t worry about it ‘eh?!”
She snapped at the other causing him to recoil like he had been burnt by her seething as she swiftly took the lead causing him to break his usually monotone attitude to look at her retreating figure and then at your approaching one before clumsily following her in pursuit.
Seeing their shared retreating figures really broke the bit of dignity as you let out a miserable sob and the tears from your watery eyes finally released like a broken faucet. Why was your new job so hard sometimes?! It’s not like you could exactly blame the bots but you’d appreciate it if they gave you a moment to explain! rather than ridiculing and criminalising you like you were the the cruel mastermind behind all their pain and suffering.
At the moment you really wanted to just go back to your dorm and curl up in a ball on your bed to hide away forever, perhaps munch on a leftover or two that Matthew had made while endlessly scrolling through videos on your phone… it was getting dark anyways so you doubt any of the bots needed you by the time you got back.
…
Everyone is so stupid sometimes.
You tilted your head back to the sky and took a deep breath to snap yourself out of that depressive thought. You decided to try and jog after the two, better bathe in the fact they only somewhat hate you at the moment… you just know they’re all gonna want you kicked out of the sanctuary as soon as Agatha allows the news of the newest additions… which was hopefully soon because you’d really love not have bots lashing out at you becoming a common thing, after all, you’ve already three lose it and two of them were supposed to be you setting in your first impressions.
Too much thinking, you had a rogue butterfly and her sidekick snowman to catch up to before they get on the next train without you which you had not doubt the two bots would do, not even giving it a second thought in their extremely stressed out states.