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Ralph sat in his garden among the flowers, and watched the bees flutter between them, the soft buzzing washing over him in much the same way the soft light of the sun brushed against his exposed chassis. They, Jericho, they had offered to make Cyberlife fix his chassis, to make it whole again, like before. But Ralph had never wanted that, not even before, when he was alone in the house with only the thought of RA9 in his processors and on the tip of his knife. The scars didn’t hurt him, not like they had at the beginning. And he didn’t go out, often, so he didn’t need to think about what other people thought of how he looked. He was still too afraid to properly go outside.
And besides, Ralph didn’t need to go outside. He had everything he needed right here, and anything he could need aside from that, well, people would bring to him. Perhaps he had been asking for more things lately, just so that he could see the delivery workers, but. Hm. That was a secret that Ralph was certain the bees would keep for him. They were a part of the secret, after all. This whole garden was, which almost meant that most of Ralph’s life was. It wasn’t a bad secret, he thought at least, if it had made a whole garden bloom.
A bee bumbled awkwardly through the air and collided with Ralph’s shoulder, making him look down with a smile. “Ralph is not a flower, you must be lost!” He chuckled, using his finger to gently scoop up the bee and direct it towards a clump of particularly vibrant pink blooms. Watching it buzz away, he allowed himself a small sigh. This had all started because of the little girl. After all of the…fighting, and the terror, and the running, the little girl and her mother had come to see Ralph again. He had gone back to the house, because he had nowhere else to go. Jericho was too scary, too full of other androids and noise and bustle.
The little girl had given Ralph a hug, and that had been nice. He quite liked getting hugs from the little girl, and watching her smile and laugh as she darted around with her little fox in her arms. He liked her enough to even leave his house to go to, hrm, what had it been again? A birthday party. It had been a huge mistake, too busy and too loud, so loud that Ralph had had to cover his ears and try to find a quiet place. He was sitting miserably behind a shed when he had first met Jerry. Jerry, in their pretty uniform, with a jaunty cap covering their copper hair and an excited smile on their face.
Jerry had been kind to Ralph, had talked quietly and taken him into the employee lounge, let him sit on the sofa and fret at the cushions nervously. Ralph had found himself strangely at ease after just a few moments, the usual panic subsiding and slipping away as Jerry hummed a happy tune and flitted around making sure he was comfortable. Jerry even made sure that Ralph got home safely after the party was over, and tipped their little cap before they left!! Ralph was unused to the warm feeling in his chest that had bubbled up every time he thought about that cute little gesture.
Ralph had seen Jerry again the next time he had things delivered to the house, that same smiling face but a different uniform. They had spoken, just for a bit, and Jerry had said something about how nice it was that Ralph had such a big yard. They liked yards, Jerry had said, because yards could be gardens, and gardens were good for the environment. It was a lot for Ralph to take in, as he watched Jerry trot away down the street to their truck. He was still thinking about it, every time he ordered a new piece of gardening equipment and got to see Jerry’s smiling face again. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything with the tools, he just…hm. He just wanted to understand.
Some research on the internet had brought Ralph some clarity on the issue. The environment was very big and confusing, but one thing that he was able to understand was that the bees needed help. Ralph liked helping. And the more he read about bees, the more he liked them too. Bees were all part of a big family, and they all looked quite alike, and they did their jobs without worrying even if people were mean or afraid of them, and….well, Ralph had been quite distraught for several days over bees. Or was it Jerry. He had never been good at pulling apart his feelings and understanding them.
Ralph had, at one point, been good at gardening though. And he found that now, so long after what had happened, that gardening didn’t scare him any more. It helped sometimes, when he felt the weight of the spade in his hand and remembered the feeling of it coming down against his arm, to think about how Jerry had smiled when they had seen the beginnings of the garden. They had said Ralph was doing a good job, that he was so clever at setting the flowers exactly where they would be happiest in the sun or the shade. Ralph had smiled, and hadn’t stopped smiling for the whole rest of the day.
Now, with his garden in full bloom, his flowers full of grateful bees, Ralph wasn’t quite sure what to do. There was no reason for him to order anything else for his garden, but if he didn’t do that, then he wouldn’t get to see Jerry again. And now that he was here, watching the bees flutter about happily among the greenery, Ralph was beginning to realize that maybe that was what this had all been about. Wanting to see Jerry, that is. Because Jerry made him happy, in ways that he wasn’t quite sure how to explain. Sighing miserably, Ralph looked down at the grass and wished that somehow, he could be a flower among the bees who were always so happy to visit.
A sudden call of his name had Ralph jerking his head up, and he saw to his surprise that Jerry was heading across the garden towards him, carefully making their way around the blossoms without disturbing a single petal. Ralph was up on his feet as quickly as he could manage, swaying slightly and gaping at the android standing in front of him, now happily bouncing on the balls of their feet.
“What is Jerry doing here? Ralph has not ordered anything.” Ralph said, unsure of how to handle the way his thirium pump stuttered awkwardly at the sight of Jerry’s dazzling smile. Suddenly, there were warm hands pulling his up, and squeezing them.
“I thought that maybe you would like some company here in the garden. It would be a shame, after all, to waste all of your hard work here by not properly enjoying it.” Jerry replied, looking around the garden with a twinkle in their eye that Ralph found absolutely captivating. When he found himself unable to reply, Jerry tried again, seeming to understand without speaking that this was difficult.
“Perhaps you could…show me your favorite flowers? I would love to learn more about what Ralph likes.” Jerry said, and that, well, that was something Ralph could manage. He nodded, a smile to match the one on Jerry’s face spreading slowly across his lips.
“Ralph would like very much to show Jerry the flowers.”