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Philip understood basic concepts. Hot and cold. Hard and soft. Pain and comfort. The only problem was that he had been told that his opinions or experiences didn't matter for so long that he didn't always remember to say something when his surroundings affected him. As long as he could remember the most he had ever gotten in response to declaring that he felt cold was an impassive explanation about ideal lab room temperatures. So he stopped saying anything.
"Let me know if you get cold," Shoutarou told him at some point that first week while it was still December.
Naturally Philip's response was, "Why?" and Shoutarou looked at him like he had spoken in Spanish. Wait, had he spoken in Spanish? That was not an improbable situation.
"Why should I tell you?" Philip repeated his question just to be certain.
"Look," Shoutarou set his jaw and pointed a finger right at Philip, "I don't need any attitude from you. Like it or not, the Boss left me responsible for looking out for you. We have enough to worry about with armed thugs and that creepy worm lady after us. I'm not going to let a draft take you out instead."
Philip blinked at Shoutarou's finger.
"You misunderstood me," he said, faintly amused.
"Huh?!"
Philip touched his fingertips to his lips as he thought it over and chose a different phrasing.
"What will happen if I tell you I am cold?"
Shoutarou scratched his head, completely at a loss.
"I... don't know? I'd get you a blanket or make you a hot coffee to warm you up?"
"You sound uncertain."
"Most people would have drawn that conclusion without an explanation."
"How fascinating."
"Uh... yeah..." Shoutarou put his hands on his hips. "Ah! But don't turn on the heat unless you're really, really cold. We can't afford to waste money on it, okay?"
"Shoutarou."
"What?"
"I am cold."
It was true, but mostly Philip wanted to see cause and effect at work.
Still looking somewhat baffled, Shoutarou nevertheless grabbed a throw rug off the bed in the corner of the office, shook the dust out of it, and tossed it to Philip. Philip gave it a bemused look, and Shoutarou, sighing, walked over to take it back and wrap it around Philip's shoulders. He opened his mouth to say something, squinted at Philip, and appeared to reconsider. Instead he just shook his head and walked back towards his desk.
Philip looked down at the cable knit blanket on his shoulders.
This was thrilling!
All it had taken was a simple experiment for Philip to prove that here in the outside world, not only could he make decisions for himself - vocalizing his perceived drop in body temperature to a second party - but people would listen to his decisions and act accordingly. It was a laughably basic realization to anyone who had not lived their life as Philip had until now. To Philip, wrapping the blanket tighter around him and grinning to himself, it opened up a staggering number of possibilities.
Was this what Narumi Soukichi had meant? Much like when they had become one and changed in W, Philip felt the necessity of Shoutarou's presence. It wasn't just the decision itself that mattered, but how it affected and impacted others. There were choices. Blanket. Coffee. Heater. A cost balance of effort and rewards with each one. This was too abstract to look up in the Gaia Library without further keywords.
Philip decided to experiment more instead.
"Shoutarou, I am cold."
Shoutarou looked up from his typewriter with a frown. "Still? Even with the blanket?"
Not really, but lies didn't count in the name of science, right?
"Yes. I want the other thing you mentioned. Coffee."
"Uh... okay. Do you know how to make it?"
"No. Make it for me."
Shoutarou leveled him with a glare. "Please."
"What?"
"You say, 'Please make it for me.'"
"Oh. Why?"
"It's polite."
Philip didn't understand. No one at the lab ever said "please". He would have to research the word later.
"Please make it for me," he repeated carefully.
"Okay, okay." Shoutarou continued to grumble, but he got up from his desk and soon Philip had a steaming mug of coffee in his hands. Philip sipped it thoughtfully. Though Shoutarou had complained, he did not appear to be angry, and the outcome of Philip's request was still hot coffee all the same. Maybe it was the "please". Maybe Shoutarou just enjoyed recreational grumbling. There were a lot of variables to consider.
Next, Philip decided to turn on the heater without asking.
"HEY!"
Oh. Shoutarou was angry now.
"That costs money, Philip!"
"So things that cost money make you irritable?" Philip was sitting backwards in a chair, still holding his coffee between his hands. He was very excited.
"What? No, it's just that heat is expensive, and I don't know what's going to happen with the agency, and I can't afford to use the heat unless I really need it. Besides, you already have a blanket and coffee. Are you really still that cold?" Shoutarou turned off the heat and gestured angrily with the remote.
"Not particularly," Philip replied. "I was curious to see how you would react to my turning on the heat though."
Shoutarou made an incoherent noise somewhere between a growl and a quack.
"What am I going to do with you, Philip?"
Philip smiled to himself. "It's fascinating how much you care about the decisions I make, Shoutarou. I never thought deciding something for myself would have any effect on anyone or anything. So I never made any of my own decisions until I met you."
Shoutarou's anger fizzled out almost immediately.
"... really?"
"I like you, Shoutarou. You have such interesting reactions to everything I do."
"Is that a good thing?"
Philip thought for a moment. "It's a good start."