Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After recently getting kicked out of your apartment, due to not being able to pay rent; you found yourself wandering the streets around your apartment complex. You have no idea what to do or where to go at this point.

The dickwad of a landlord locked up the apartment with all your possessions inside because he got mad that you couldn’t pay for the last few nights. With this, the only things you had remaining available in your possession were your car, with little gas, your phone with half battery, a few pairs of clothes, and a few random possessions that were in your car. You didn’t have any money to pay for gas, if you were to plan to get to a gas station. Though, you might be able to find help if you did go to one.

Once you thought this up, you walked back to your apartment only to find- you somehow got lost. You weren't in your neighborhood anymore. Some random neighborhood… you looked around trying to recall your steps, but to no avail. You really shouldn't have walked too far from your car. With being at this point, you started just walking and walking. Trying to figure out where to go, how to get back to what you considered ‘home’ at the moment.

After hours passed by of this searching, you managed to go through two more neighborhoods and if anything- get further away from your car. You found yourself on a sidewalk to a public street with cars zooming by. And some other people are walking around. Joggers, people walking their dogs, homeless people… you felt like you fit right in.. but there’s no time to be feeling like shit and hating on your situation right now, you just had to find someone- or something- to help you get back to your car. It was your only valuable possession at this point, and basically shelter. It also had your phone's charger, which was losing battery slowly. But once thinking about the phone charger, you felt like an idiot and realized you could’ve used Google Maps to find your apartment…

god fuck you can be a moron.

But thinking further, maybe you should take this chance to look around while you’re here. You have no idea how far you are, and you may be able to find help for your situation. Plus this keeps a bit of gas in your car, since you didn’t use it to get here. And maybe you can get more gas somehow. Somehow… begging?... You’re unsure, but you decided to go ahead and try to figure something out, as you looked down the busy streets and across from them. There were in-fact gas stations. Also convenience stores. Maybe you could steal some food and gas… you have little choice here. First, to see if you can either beg, or maybe even beg for a job at one of these places. You then approached the street. You waited till it was safe, as you then used the crosswalk to make it to the gas station across the road.

You went inside to look at what they had. You double checked your pockets for any change at all, a dime is all you found. You sighed in desperation and a bit of aggravation. You put it back in your pocket and took a look at their food choices first. Just cheap gas station food. But it would have to do… if you could find a way to get it. Prefferbally without becoming a criminal.

You looked around some more; thinking of what you may need. Though, thankfully, your car has first aid kits, sanitary items, nightly routine stuff, and emergency items for both: protection and other emergency situations. You were smart enough to have those kinds of things in your car since you used to use it so much. You know going to work and back, but recently.. you were fired for a complaint a customer made that was false. You groaned at the memory.

You took a look at the people, thinking of how you’re about to beg for help, as you then grit your teeth together in embarrassment. And with a sigh, you approached the first person. You asked, ‘If they could cover a small meal and a drink, you’re homeless and have no money and just need help for tonight's meal. While you figure something out.’ is basically what you said. They declined, stating they would, but they used the cash they had brung for gas and didn't bring any more. You thanked them anyway, and started going from person to person. You lost your shame as you got desperate and more and more used to it.

Eventually, someone called out to you. They seemed to be an employee. They asked what you were doing, because customers were getting bothered by your begging. You explained your situation and begged again for food. And as you were talking to- apparently the store manager- you asked for a job. Stating, ‘you could be around all the time and do extra work, off pay even, as you were desperate’. They declined and told you that you could take a small meal with a drink, as they wouldn't just let a person starve. But you did have to leave. You understood, and thanked them greatly and then left the place. You got over to the grocery store next door and sat on the sidewalk in front of it. You took a minute to eat your small meal of a corn dog and water.

It made you cry, knowing this may be your last meal for a while… and that this was your current meal. A corn dog… ugh. You felt pathetic and like sobbing your heart out. But you didn’t have time for that. You had to think.

Once you finished your corn dog, you held onto the cup of water as you got up and started to walk again.

Chapter Text

As you wondered quite a bit you ended up finding yourself in the middle of nowhere somehow. What the fuck is up with you and wondering. And how the fuck did you end up in some place that’s mostly open, ...spacious, ...land ...away from everything else..

In this field-like place, there were only a few buildings. The rest was land. Grass. Cows.. some deer and birds. For buildings, there were five from what you could see and tell. A few that looked like storage for machines, supplies, and whatever else laid in them. Others were outhouses or buildings you couldn’t determine the purpose of. And one building was hidden by a forest and was located in the back of the massive land, you could barely see it but there was smoke coming out of the top.

You began approaching the buildings, there was quite the walk to any of them. As you got to the first two, you took a look inside to find no one and nothing useful for you. Just some rusty tools and large machines. You continued on, going more and more towards the building that was letting out smoke towards the back left of the rest of the buildings. While making it to the rest of the buildings, and inspecting them, you still couldn't make out what they were exactly. Thanks to the closed windows and doors. And then you noticed you were spotted by a few workers who either just looked at you confused or whispered to each other and then started walking towards the smoking building in the back.

You could tell they were workers based on their outfits, which were either a uniform of; overalls, a doctor's cloak, or loose shorts and a large t-shirt. The uniforms were covered in the colors of the rainbow, with black patterns. They had different but specific patterns. It was quite odd but they were definitely uniforms. They had a large logo print on the backs- that you couldn’t tell what it said or looked like, as you were trying to get away from the stares of the workers. Some also wore lower-face masks. Huh, what is going on around here?

Eventually you made it to the smoking building in the back, after quite the walk in the warm heat. It seemed to be a factory? The top of the things releasing smoke were stained with different colors; red, blue, yellow, pink, and so on. The smoke itself was orange or brown. The building was a combination of metal in certain areas and brick, or concrete, in others. It was insanely tall and a lot bigger and wider up close. It had weird smells depending on where you stood. Some places just smelt like-... how exactly do you describe ‘factory smell’? Some places just smelt like what a factory would is expected to smell like. But in other areas, they had an odd lingering smell that was a combination of rubbing alcohol, blood, crayons, and various chemicals mixed together. Kind of makes you think of a murder scene. But… what was up with the crayon smell? It was very distinctive out of the rest of them.

As you were wandering the outside of the building, just following its walls, you found yourself at the back of it, which has a few doors. You- for some reason- decided to try each one to see if they’d open. The fuck where you gonna do if it was? Go in? Anyways, one of the doors ended up being unlocked and you just kind of gave it an ‘oh…’ , in surprise as you then held the turned nob. You tilted your body, and head, to take a peek inside as you opened it further. But as you did so, a worker called out to you ‘hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t go in there!’. At this you yelped in a panic and dashed inside. Closing the door behind you in a slam, you didn't think. You just began to speed walk as you found the floor to be a tile, and made loud noises when you ran. So you instead carefully speedwalked.

You just kept going till you were a minute worth of walking into the factory, and in between a bunch of what seemed to be large metal… cabinets? You couldn't tell what kind but they had locks on them. And you weren't able to see much as it was very dark, the area you were in didn’t seem to have much lighting. The only lighting was from the rest of the factory which was busy with workers and loud with machines; and different kinds of noises from bubbling to yelling, splashing, and walking. You remained in a random area in between the large cabinet-like structures. They were massive and tall. You just stood with your back to one as you breathed heavily, catching your breath. Hearing a worker pass mentioning a stranger getting into the factory, you held your breath when they passed. Looks like you might be searched for any minute now… or already being searched for.

Once you started moving, just trying to get out of this maze of huge cabinets… or whatever they were. Once you did manage to get out of them, you stood in between two, but to where you could manage to see the rest of the factory. You then took a second to look around. Above you seemed to be an upper floor. You could hear footsteps sometimes. Looking to the other side of the place, there was a railing for an upper floor that had stairs leading up to it. On the upper floor, there seemed to be more doors and some windows. Maybe offices? From here, you could also see some of the machines; they looked like a wood chipper, something with huge glass vials attached to it, and some sort of machine that was extremely tall. At the bottom of the tall one, colors oozed into a tray that led to another machine. Each machine had screens and were quite loud.

What was up with the rainbow of colors in the tray? It just looked to be bright, glowing, bubbly colors that poured into the tray, from the front of the machine. After spending a minute being a bit wowed by the color spewing, and the rather intimidating machines, you snapped back to looking for something to help you in this situation. At this point you decided to just look around, maybe find food.

You thought that since there’s workers here, they have to eat on breaks and whatnot… so they likely have food stashed somewhere. You thought to yourself, trying to justify your sneaking around some weird, intimidating, odd factory. But hey, maybe you might figure out what this place is and could even potentially get a job? Something? There has to be something you can find to help you in this huge intimidating place. But why is it rather dark everywhere? The only lighting comes from the glowing colors and large lights, that were poorly placed on the ceilings and walls. Odd.

Continuing your careful and ‘sneaky’ walk around the place, thankfully- where you went and aimed, there were no no workers in sight, or any that sounded nearby. You kept going as you then recalled hearing footsteps above and discovering the upper floors, and recalling the staircases on the other side of the place. Maybe there were stairs to go up on your side. You then took a second to look, as you squinted your eyes. You then saw, in a very dark corner of the factory, on your side there were in fact stairs. You dashed to them, no one was close enough to be able to hear you currently. And you could basically guarantee they wouldn't be able to see you with how dark it was in this area. Seriously, what is up with the lights in this place? Can’t this be considered a safety hazard?

You made it to the stairs, as you carefully and slowly climbed your way up them. Not sure what you’re thinking here, but at this point you’re just sneaking around a factory for shits and giggles. You could barely see the steps below your feet, but got a hang of where they were as you climbed up. Once at the top you started to walk along the walls of the upper floor. You pressed your hand against the wall, tracing it as you felt as you felt door handles, which you tried. No luck. What exactly was the plan if one of them was unlocked? There might be someone inside behind any of these doors for fucks sakes, you were thinking they may be offices after all. But whatever. If you get caught you’ll just leave. Or something like that. You ventured on as you walked and jiggled more door handles. Each locked.

As you got to the more poorly lit up areas you sank towards the walls the doors were on, no one was on the opposite upper floor, or in sight, but you still needed to be careful.

Gotta be sneakkkyyy.

Chapter Text

You’ve found yourself to thankfully not be noticed, or apparently noticeable, in a decently lit spot on the upper floor.

You’ve been staring down at the lower floor, leaning on the railway with your hands, for a few seconds now. Workers have looked in your direction, but seemed to not notice you or at least make out that you're not a worker. You could see them well, but they just didn’t take notice of you. Or did and didn't care? You weren’t sure, but you didn’t really care. You were taking a look at the machines from above, and getting a good view of the lower floor.

Looking to the machines, you watched the top of the machine that was pouring colors. Workers keep bringing large crates of random objects that get thrown into the machine next to it. Seemed to be some kind of shredder afterall. Once it all went through that one, it would go through the one with the vials next, and with the next one it all seemed to turn into a liquid. It then became different colors of brown, peach, and other rather bland colors. The liquid would then appear at the top of the color machine and spin, somehow changing colors as it did. The top of the machine, that was the one spewing the bright glowing colors, was a large funnel of a pool of different, bubbling, and apparently very hot colors. It was steaming. As the colors seem to spin in the pool any bland colors would churn into bright reds, yellow, purples, and other bright colors that children would likely like. Once they seemed to get to the lower part of the machine, they would gain a glow to them. What exactly is this factory? A color making factory? For like… crayons? You’re unsure but it is odd that this large color making machine seems to be the main thing around. Workers payed almost all of their attention to it, ignoring most other commotions around. So many workers tended to it too.

As you get dazed off staring down at the floor below, leaning more, your hands on the railing. When you hear someone in a rather deep voice speak right into your ear, in a grumble as their warm breath sends a shiver down your neck and back, “ And who would you be? Stranger running around my factory after breaking in. Hm? ” You jumped in place as you snapped your head once moving away from the voice a bit, you looked to who it was, it was… so fucking weird and scary.

They were incredibly tall, and had to be at least six feet. Maybe taller? They had long blue and curly hair, with a pompadour on top of the fluff of their hair. Red, almost glowing eyes, a metal hand for their left hand, their right hand seemed to have something like claws, and their skin… it was a somewhat dull yellowish-orange. Who the flying fuck was this tall alien-like humanoid?! What the actual fuck. They were wearing a white doctor’s like cloak with colors smeared on it and black dress slacks. You couldn’t really see the clothes underneath the cloak at the moment. And they sounded pissed… and with that look they’re holding… their eyebrows were furrowed as they backed up a little and just glared down at you, unpleased at the least. If anything in the factory, this guy might just kill you.

As you felt panic set in, you turned your body to them, and stumbled back a bit. Preparing to run, they reached into their back pocket and pulled out a fucking gun. They pointed it at you, and for a second you could’ve sworn you were already dead. Though they simply aimed it at you, as they clicked it to load bullets and then took a step towards you. They spoke angrily and with a bit of a growl to their voice, “Don’t try to run.”, they said it lowly but you could hear so clearly, they then continued, “Now. Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my fucking factory. Why did you break in. Speak.” You tried steadying your breathing, as you breathed in lowly-quiet but quick breaths. Your heart raced. Your eyes were widening by the second before you finally spoke in stutters, and a rather high pitched voice out of fear, “My name is [ Redacted ] and I don't know man. I came across this scary ass factory and went in through a back door because it was unlocked! One of the workers kind of scared me… that's why I ran in… out of fear… as stupid as that sounds.”, you pause for a second before quickly continuing and finishing, “I was just bored and kind of looking for help. I can leave. Whatever you want out of me, I’ll do- or keep quiet and quietly leave. I promise. I just wanna get out of this giant fucking factory at this point.” Shaking and trembling, you were practically begging right now.

They just stared down at you, with what was in between disgust and anger, but it did soften as they just looked annoyed. They softly spoke, “Don’t run.”, as they lowered his gun, unclicked it, and put it back in their back pocket. You quickly nodded while keeping eye contact and fixed your posture to be standing up properly, and a bit more relaxed. You awaited their next words or moves as they shoved one of their hands in their white cloak’s pocket. They then gave a low grumble and finally spoke after what felt like minutes of standing there, “Well.. so… the backdoor.. was just unlocked?” They continued their deep and low grumble as they seemed calmer but still definitely angry or annoyed. You just nodded and remained quiet, unsure if you should speak. They then turned their body towards the railing, took a step towards it and leaned over it a bit, then called out to the workers below. Speaking loudly, though their voice still managed to be dark and intimidating, “Hey! Four of you. Check all doors leading to the outside on the lower floor. Report back to me if one is unlocked. Now.” And with that you leaned over a bit yourself, to see a few workers in a group scramble to go check the doors. The something of a person you just met then leaned back a bit, just simply scanning over the factory now.

A minute or two later; once you heard the footsteps of the group returning, you leaned further a small bit to view directly below you two, and see the group of workers return. You watched as the yellowish-orange tall something of a person gestured with his metallic hand, a ‘come here’ motion as they called out, “Come here. One of you. Report.” With that one of the workers went ahead and scattered to the nearest set of stairs, climbed up, and made their way to the both of you. You moved to the side, in a way where you leave room between all three of you. The worker then reported that in fact three doors, out of seven, were unlocked.

With this the ‘something person’ growled with gritting teeth as they then gestured in a ‘go’ and spoke angrily, “You and your group go fix it now. Infact, grab two other groups of four and check every door in this factory to make sure they’re all locked.” They gave a heavy growl on the ‘now’ before they then moved to call out to the rest of the workers, leaning on the railings, “If I find that a door is unlocked again, someone will be thrown in the rainbow maker!” The scowl on their face was prominent as workers started quickly speeding around to do as he said, almost as if they believed he truly will throw them in… the rainbow maker? Is that what the huge funnel machine is? Or it and the ones connected all together?... You didn’t want to ask as you then moved a step back to stand next to them, but a foot or two away as you awaited their next move.

Turning to you, they kept close to the railing and a hand on it, “Now. Follow me.” And so you did, as he walked past you and towards a door on the upper floor. Maybe they are offices afterall, and this one is his?. Unsure, you just followed as they reached and grabbed the door handle, once reaching the door. Turning it, they cracked it open, a light shone through and now that you recognize that; you noticed the closed blinds covering the large window for the room, did have light shining, while the other blind-covered windows on the upper floors didn't.

Maybe if you noticed that earlier you wouldn't have come over here… it would've been clear someone is over here or going to come over here… ugh.

They paused before opening it all the way, looking to you from the corner of their eye as you stood behind them. They just seemed to be staring you down for a second before speaking, “Take a seat.” You both then walked in, you after them as they went in. You went to ask, as they seemed pissed about it earlier, “Should I close and lock the door?” They just grumbled as they walked over to a desk, in the decent sized office. Giving a ‘just close it’ as they then sat down at their desk. Taking a quick scan to the room, file cabinets were along the walls, a decent number of them too. A couch and a chair sitting around a coffee table, that’s next to the large window, and the desk in the middle of the office. A counter and other cabinets behind it. But the cabinets looked like they might contain food or office supplies; as the counter below them held a coffee maker, a microwave, a minifridge, and other appliances and dishes for eating and drinking.

Scanning the room some more, you recalled they told you to sit down; so you took one of the two seats that was in front of the desk and sat down then looked at them. You just held your hands in your lap as you sat there patiently waiting for their words. They opened a laptop and clicked around on it. They opened a cabinet from behind the desk and grabbed some papers, then placing it on their desk in front of them. They paused and looked at you as they adjusted their position to face you and had their arms laying on their desk , leaning on it a bit, “Now. What did you say your name was again?” Still speaking in that dark and grumbled voice as they then grabbed a pen and shuffled some papers to have the one they wanted ready to write on.

You spoke, “ [ Redacted ] . My full name is [ Also redacted ] .” You waited for their next questions or words. If this person-thing even commanded you to do something right now, you were ready.

They wrote on the paper and glanced at their laptop screen before looking back at you, “Hmmm… this is problematic.” Is all they said as their eyes flickered back and forth slowly from the laptop screen, to the paper and back. Then looking at you one last time.

Chapter Text

As their eyes snapped back to you once more, they sighed as they gave a painfully-annoyed expression, “You see… normally I write down a file for people who manage to get in my factory. I plan for them… to be killed.” They spoke as their eyes slowly drifted back down at the paper. Speaking the last bit as if it was candy was on their tongue. They leaned back into their chair and slouched into it, twerling the chair side to side as they seemed to be thinking while staring at their laptop screen.

They… plan people’s death? Or would it be considered murder? Their words that came out as nearly a mumble made a chill run up your spine as your heart started racing again. Your facial expression attempted to stay collected as you just watched them. You then mumbled to yourself recalling all the safety hazards on your quick venture around the factory, “You can consider me dead with how this factory is in shape… it’ll get me killed before anyone else.” They seem to have heard your words as they snap their eyes to you and furrow their eyebrows, “Excuse me?” They hissed. You snap your eyes to them as you then gulp and bring a hand up in a dismissive wave, “N-nothing… my apologies.” You practically whisper.

“No. What do you mean by that? My factory is in what shape? Huh?”

They turned their body to face you firmly as they stared you down, but the thing was you genuinely couldn't tell if they were angry or genuinely curious as to the meaning behind your words. Fine, if you were going to answer that you were gonna let it all out. You took a sharp and deep inhale as you closed your eyes and then spoke swiftly, calmly and seriously to them,

“Well your entire factory is one huge safety hazard itself. The lighting is absolutely horrendous with the way you cant even see bellow your feet or infront of you sometimes, you’re just now fixing the fact that doors get left unlocked by accident, I happen to notice no safety precautions around the top of the machines or around them for fucks sake, your workers are not wearing proper safety equipment for their jobs, the machines outside and the dangerous tools and equipment is not secured in any way and are rusting, your workers don't seem to care much for strangers wandering around the factory or in it by the way… as they didn’t attempt to grab me instead just running to you. Like seriously dude, if you’re going to be running around the factory, owning this place, keep randoms out, and keep your workers safe you’re gonna need to seriously fix many things around here. The pipes too. Oh- and the dust this place accumulates is a safety hazard by the way, unsure if you have a janitor but you might wanna either get one or tell them to clean the entire place in and out… maybe hire a few in that case. I'm just saying, without fixing all these problems either your machines are doomed to eventually explode or you’re going to have someone killed… not… on purpose.”

You then cleared your throat as you started to shake and sweat from nervousness. They on the other hand just watched you as their eyes during your mini speech flickered as if thinking in consideration. They Just seemed to be thinking for a good minute as they did not speak and just looked from you, to the window behind you, to their own hands. They soon enough sighed and leaned back into their chair, but continued to think. You just sat there, waiting. Did you piss them off? Or is he thinking of having you fix these issues perhaps? You didn’t have a clue on their thoughts. Though he did mumble very lightly, “That would explain losing a worker twice a month..” Huh… did you just hear that right. Twice a month? People have died in this factory because of safety hazards? Jesus christ. Is this guy dumb too? How could he not piece together that he needs up the game of safety precautions. What an idiot..

After a few more minutes they then looked to you and then to the paper they were previously writing on. They slowly grabbed it then mumbled, “Congrats. You get to live.” You sighed in relief as your eyes widened again. Is repaying you for pointing out the factory's flaws and potentially saving workers?

You’re amazing. You’re awesome. You’re great. You deserve the world. You go.

“But you’re going to work for me. As my assistant.”

You’re awful. You suck. You’re horrible. You deserve shit. You lost.

At his words you feel like you signed your own torture warrant. You just wanted to leave this place, you were about to be killed minutes ago. Now you’re gonna work in this safety hazard under some thing that wanted and maybe still wants you dead? Death sounds better.

You stammered and stuttered as you spoke surprised, as you started to lean forward in your chair, “W-wait what… your assistant? Why. What do you want me to do?” They snapped a glare your way, you shut up. You sat back in your chair as you looked at them in fear again. They spoke, “I will have you do paperwork on this factory. I expect you to walk around and inspect it for any and all safety hazards. You will report them to me in writing. You will also do some side work for me.” Listening to their words you felt like groaning in annoyance but you didn't. You were worried they’d cuss you out.

You then realized you didn't even know their name, what they are exactly, anything about them or their factory. The most you’ve gotten is that they are a grumpy, aggressive, murderous, asshole and that the factory was basically a death trap that… makes colors? If you could recall correctly. You then spoke the question, “Well… as your assistant could I know your name… and… what.. exactly are you?” You said as your voice grew squeaky towards the end. They then sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose as they grumbled, “Fine.” They then leaned on their desk once again, their arms crossed as they looked at you.

“I am Walden Darling. Some refer to me by “Wally” instead of Walden. You will refer to me as ‘Mister’ or ‘Sir’ or ‘Boss’. Got it?”

You nodded and let him continue, very curious as to what exactly he is.

“I am a puppet.”

Pardon?

“That is why my skin is yellow… orange..? Whatever.”

Interesting ... you suppose.

“Any more questions?” He spoke this with a rather annoyed tone of voice and what sounded sarcastic… you couldn't exactly tell but yes you did have more questions, “Will I be paid? And my living situation? I'm homeless… Also, what is the issue that caused you to think on not killing me? If I can know…” You said the last part quietly as he seemed to be sighing and about to speak but then popped his head up to look at you with a confused and… maybe concerned look. “Oh… well… uhm. Yes, you will be paid [ Redacted Amount ] . About your living situation…. euuhuuhhhuuugghhhuhh…” He grumbled as if he wasn't sure and was annoyed about it. He stood up and started walking to the office door, you just sat there for now, as he turned the corner and went out of view. You turned your head and body to watch the doorway to his office as you awaited instructions. He spoke as you heard him move around out of view, “Oh uh- uhm… I still have to file several deaths from the past year… and do paperwork to cover them. I don't really want to build that up more to be honest… out of laziness not because of workers dying.” He spoke certain parts in a voice that hissed but sounded as if caution in his voice.The end, he spoke it as if trying to make sure I heard it. He is definitely a cold blooded murder.

Eugh… this guy is definitely bad news.

Chapter Text

You heard a door being opened, a click, and then him grumbling stuff you couldn't hear. After some coughing on his end, some sneezes, and some shuffling he returned to you while seeming to clap dust off his hands. He looked at you, “There is a room next to my office. It is what is on the other side of those blinds.” He then gestured his head to the blinds you actually didn’t notice till he mentioned. There were blinds on the wall to the left of his desk, they seemed to be covering something that was the same size as the window in the front of his office. He continued, “That room used to belong to a partner of mine… they quit and then disappeared on me. So that room has been locked and shut closed for quite some time… it's a bit… dusty. But that can, for now, serve as your temporary room.” He finished saying as he then pointed to the blind, “And don't open the blinds. Only times you should open the blinds is for emergency purposes, or if it's serious. Got it?” You nodded. He turned to you after looking towards the room you were to take as yours, he then mumbled quietly, “I mean… It does have a mini-kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and office all in one, set up. My ex-business-partner was… needy.”

…

Jesus christ, that room sounds huge. Or was it all seriously squished tight? You hoped not.

You then waited for him to look in your direction as you leaned forward a bit, “Can I go check it out? P-please?” He nodded, as he pulled up and folded his sleeves up to his elbows. He has some muscle… stuffing? How the fuck does a puppet look muscular. He gave a hand gesture for you to go before mumbling, “The manners are unneeded. Not gonna make me any happier.” He said before turning around and sitting back down at his desk.

You quickly nodded and then stood up and hurried to check out the room that was likely to be your home now.

Entering through the doorway, the lighting was actually great and you could see well, you partially expected it to be like a horror movie scene.. All dark and eerie. You walked in and saw it definitely had plenty of dust built up and a few cobwebs. As you scanned the room you noticed, thank god, it was a huge room. The general area itself was wide and open and then there was a room built in. There were lots of large boxes laying around and random items… likely to be from the previous owner.

You walked further in and started to check out the room that was inside the room. You found the bathroom located in a back corner, small but what more could you ask for. It had a small shower bath hybrid, a small sink with a mirror above it, and a small toilet. The rest of the place contained the kitchen in the back, a lot like Walden’s- or… ‘Mister’s’. Though it had several other appliances. To the front of the giant room was a washer and dryer that were slightly smaller than your average, they sat under the window almost in a corner with some shelves. A laundry room… the machines and shelves, along with some other items, sat in a corner that was on the opposite side of the door to the main room. There was also a bed, with a nightstand and a dresser near it, that sat in the back corner, furthest from the door to the room. It was a full sized bed. Neat. And the office portion of the room was sitting nearly in the middle of the whole place, slightly off, and would definitely be the first thing you walked in to see. It had the exact same set up as Mister’s office. Interesting. The previous owner seemed as if they practically lived here, or was that just that extra? Who knows, but thank god for it. You could actually live here thanks to this.

You whispered a ‘thank you’ as if the ghost of the previous owner would hear you. Wonder if he or she is dead… anyways. You smiled wide to yourself as you spun around thinking this could actually be sweet.

You then got startled by Mister, as you yelped and your body took a screenshot when you noticed him walking towards you from the main door. He raised an eyebrow as he made his way to stand near you. Managing to stay a foot or so away as he then spoke with his hands in his pockets, “This will work right? There aren't any issues?” He looked down at you. This made you ask him, “How tall are you…” He gave an annoyed look as he spoke quickly, “Six-foot-eleven-inches. Now answer.” DAMN.

…

You held a shocked expression, but should you really be shocked when he’s standing right there, and you can see how tall he is. Anyways, you answered after giving your head a gentle shake, stuttering a bit, “No. It’s actually almost perfect. I didn’t expect this much space and stuff… I thought it would be a compact office with a microwave and a toilet in the corner to be honest. But a clean up and I can actually really live here. This is sweet!” You spoke rather enthusiastically. He looked at you with a slightly confused but more of an ‘ok then’ look as he nodded and closed his eyes while speaking, “Okay, well you’re eventually going to be moved to another room… I think. I haven’t decided exactly yet, but. I don't want you right next to my office and me. I can probably have something similar built somewhere else in the factory. So don’t get comfy alright.” Heavy on the ‘don’t’. Damn, he definitely didn’t like you. You nodded and gave a quiet ‘right’ as you watched him walk out and on his way out the doorway he asked as he slowed his pace to look behind him, at you, “ [ Redacted ] , it was. Right.” You nodded as you mumbled to yourself as you turned around away from him, “Damn does he have memory issues? That's the third time asking me. He is kind of stupidafter all, huh.”

“I suggest you watch your fucking mouth.”

You hear him scold in a growl, as you jump and turn around to see him still faced away but now looking at you from the corner of his eyes with the most pissed look you’ve seen from him yet. He looked like a super villain with how the lighting hit him right now and how his pupils seemed to shrink onto you.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You’re dead. Great going. You just got a nice place to live and now you’re about to be killed by some huge man-puppet.

Your eyed extremely wide you paused before you saw his grip on the doorway tighten and could swear you saw his hand cause claw marks in the doorframe, “Who the fuck do you think you are. You want to say that louder? How about to my fucking face you tiny little cuck of a fucking pathetic. Shit filled. Fucking human.” His words grew into more of a growl as he spoke and looked to just get more and more pissed. For some reason you got on your knees as if praying as you bowed your head and quickly stating in desperation, “I’msosorry- Ididn’tmeanit. I-I was getting aheadofmyself. I’mjuststressedsoI’mactingoutabit. Iapologizewithmywholebeing. Dowhat youwishtome, I’lltakeanyconsequence. Youcanevennotpaymefor a few months. I’msosorry-” He cut you off from continuing, he growled out, “Shut up.” And you did so. You remained in your position, shaking and nearly crying. You heard his footsteps move as he stated and left, “If I ever hear you speak like that to me, or about me, again I will show you how fucking smart I can be when it comes to torture. I don't give a fuck if you’re stressed. I better not fucking hear it ever again. I will fucking kill you.” He growled most of it out and hissed the last part. And then he was out of your sight.

...

That was a close call.
Let's not do that again.

And so it began from there. You got up and started to clean your room, dusting the place and moving boxes. You checked what worked and what didn't out of the appliances in your room. Everything seemed to work actually. Just needed a cleaning. You spent quite the time cleaning and moving things around. Some boxes contained supplies for some appliances; some things were disposables like laundry detergent, soap, medicine, and other stuff. You checked expression dates, most of it was still good for about a few more months actually. You were scared to ask about some questions popping up in your head about the room, you did just piss him off.

After a few hours you got everything set up and almost cleaned. But other questions concerning your needs and job came to mind. They began to swarm as you felt like you had to ask him soon. As much as you didn’t want to. You went and laid down on the mattress of your new bed; the sheets, covers, and blankets were in the wash. Thankfully the water worked and so did the heat. As you laid there you were thinking on convincing yourself to get up and ask Mister your ‘dire’ questions.

But you know, the longer you laid there, thinking. You realized how exhausted… how tired… how drained you were.

Your eyes slowly feel heavier and heavier as they started to close. Attempts to blink them open were made, but as you didn’t move as you just breathed calmly.. listening to the sound of the factory go on in the background. You felt yourself slip unconscious and into sleep until…

Everything was black and you snoozed.

Chapter Text

‘Get up’...
‘ Get up. ’...
‘ Get up! ’-

“Get up!” Getting yanked by your arm, you snapped your eyes open as you gasped and nearly panicked looking to what grabbed and was now holding your arm.

You looked to see Wal- Mister holding you by your arm, with a scowl on his face as he growled at you, “God damned. Wake up, it is nearly noon. You have a job to do.” He let go of you and you fell down to your bed, as he walked away, hissing the last part. You grumbled as you rubbed your face with a hand, trying to wake up, “Jesus christ… there are less aggressive ways to wake me up..” You said with a yawn as you then moved to stand up from your bed. As you looked at him with one eye open, stretching with your arms to the air, he stood in your doorway. Glaring at you. Of course, what better does he have to do than scare the fuck out of you, to awake you, and take a good second to glare at you. He spoke firmly, “You were supposed to start two and half hours ago. Hurry up and get to work.” You finished stretching and walked to your desk to sit down for a moment as you gave a tired ‘okay’ motion with your hand and said in response, “Yes Sir.” With that he walked off to do who knows what. Is he on the job right now? Probably… you thought to yourself that he was probably a ‘work-a-holic’. Though he did admit to being lazy yesterday.. who knows. You don't have time to care. You have to get on track with work, you’re already late… on your first day.

You grimaced down at your desk, before noticing a laptop sitting on it. It was closed, but you could tell it was new. Your expression changed to surprise as you carefully brought a hand to it, you gave it a graze with your fingers along its slick surface. Ah… that’s nice of him. Or was it him? You dunno but you’re appreciative. You went ahead and opened it up, watching it light up once you hit the power button. While it booted up you scanned your fingers across its keyboard. It had plastic protection covering, the type that you’re meant to peel off. So you went ahead and took a minute to first peel off the keyboard protective plastic, afterward searching the new laptop for anymore plastic protection to remove and peeling it.

It was a nice feeling, it made you miss your laptop that was locked in, what used to be, your apartment though. You customized that one and organized it all nice and pretty. You might never get it back. Thankfully it didn't have any important documents you couldn't access. Everything was backed up onto Google Documents, a drive, or to your phone. You sighed at the thought that your documents were safe and then realized you can probably in fact access them from this new laptop, with that thought you went ahead and did the little ‘start up’ process for the laptop. Once done, you went ahead and started your work for the day, the documents would have to wait till later, you were late for work right now.

Next thing you know you heard a light knock at your door, you popped your head up to see Mister . You gave a, “Hello. Yes?” and he walked forward, placed a couple of papers on your desk, and then started walking back out. On his way out he spoke, “One paper is for you to fill out your information as an employee of mine. Another paper is for your report when walking around, and the last is to write down any contact information you have or make. Got it?” “Yes Sir.”, an affirmative ‘hm’ from him and then, “Get to work.” “Yes Sir.” And with that you gently pushed your laptop out of the way to make room of your desk for the papers to sit. You began to fill out the paper of your employee information. There really wasn’t much to fill out though, it is as if he doesn’t care about his employees and he doesn't feel the need to do business precautions at all. Does this man know how to run a business? Or is he some guy who decided to go ahead and start one without any fucks and knowledge on it? Weirdo. Seriously, what an idiot and a weirdo.

Probably should stop thinking so negatively about him, who knows if he can read your mind. He is a living puppet after all… apparently.

Giving your head a small shake to snap you out of your insulting thoughts towards your new boss, you finished filling out the employee information paper, then making your way to his office afterward.

Once at his door, you give a knock, try to listen for a ‘come in’ of some sorts. You hear his grumble of a voice as you, give a turn to the door’s nob and open the door. You walk in as he raises his head to look up at you. Your eyes are currently rereading your papers to make sure there aren't any errors and to assure yourself it is all correct and doesn’t sound dumb or something. Then as you pick your head up, once you reach to be standing in front of his desk, you look to him.

You reach to separate the paper from the others, but as you’re doing so you then notice he seemed to be in his work attire. His hair, even the little pompadour that was previously on top of his head yesterday, was tied back in a slick but slightly messy ponytail, with some strands loose. He has a pair of black secretary-like glasses, they seemed to compliment his eyes. His outfit was more fitting to his body; a long sleeve rainbow and black colored uniform shirt, it has a little fancy collar that was kinda cute for the outfit. You couldn't see much of his pants, just the top of them and his dark brown leather belt, the pants seemed to be a dark gray almost black pair of slacks.

As your eyes make their way back to him, he is raising an eyebrow at you, as you now realize you’re moving slowly and very clearly “observing” his outfit. He reaches a hand as you’ve finally quickened your pace and handed him the paper he was to take for now. He grabbed it giving you a weirded out look, “Should I even ask.” He said to you, you gave a ‘hm? About what?’ and he just shook his head, “Nope. I don't.” You gave a small shrug before starting to make your way out of his office. He then spoke again, “Hm… I don't need you to write down that you’re depressed to figure that out.” You turned around to look at him as if offended. He looked at you with a stern look, “What.” You opened your mouth to speak but instead just closed your mouth and shook your head, “Nope. Nothing.” And then spun on your heel out of his office.

His uniform that you took a minute to observe came back to mind… he looked really nice in it. Wait- uniform. You need one. You where currently just wearing what you’ve been wearing since yesterday; [ Redacted - cough cough you guys chose what you are currently wearing - cough cough ]

You then turned on your heel again and went back to his office. You didn't bother knocking this time when you entered and walked a few steps into his office. He shot his head up with a disapproving look as he made a gesture at the door, “Knock?” You looked at it then back to him, “Sorry- uh-” “What.” “Uniform.” “Unifor?- oh.” “Yes.” “... right.” Were the words exchanged as he then looked down at his computer and started clicking around, “What is your size.”, Ah- ,“ [ Redacted Information ] .” With that a few more clicks. Then he groaned, and then clicked some more. Once he seemed to be done he looked to you, “I ordered three sets for you. We don't have any that small. You’ll have to wait.” Jeez- was he trying to imply it being offensive that you’re smaller than him? You just gave a nod. “Anything else?” He asked and you nodded, “Yes, but is it okay if I email all my concerns and questions?” He gave a ‘meh’ gesture with his hand as he went back to work, “I don't care what method you use. Just give them to me soon so I don't have to deal with it later.” And with that he made a ‘shoo’ motion with his hand. Lord this sassy man. Anyways- you went ahead and went to do your check around the factory.

You spent your shift of several hours; speed walking around the factory, stopping every now and then to observe something, and then continuing your walkthrough. You jotted down anything that seemed like a safety concern or could turn into one. By the end it was nearly ten-o-clock. And you had the entire page completely covered, so with that you went for lunch. Stopping by his office to ask where you will eat and what to eat since you don't have food. He just told you to eat in your office and then pointed a thumb behind him, “There’s different canned foods in my cabinets. Pick something and go.” With that you nodded and went behind his desk, you went ahead and opened the cabinets and found some Chef Boyardee ravioli. You gave a ‘yess!’ upon seeing it and grabbing it. To which he turned around in his chair to give a judgmental look, you ignored him as you took the can, then stood up. You searched for a bowl, found one, and grabbed it. Same for a fork, and then left his office. Back to your room to heat it up and eat it. Yum yum yum.

You sat at your coffee table in your office, eating, as you thought about your day, yesterday, your future, and really anything that came to mind. Once you were done eating you checked the time, it was now ten-thirty. You went ahead and cleaned up. Once clean, you grabbed the last paper and began your last piece of work he assigned for you today. You worked on logging into all of your socials, making sure you had access to all contacts and writing them down, and checked your documents.

Thankfully, you were able to log into everything, with only minimal difficulty. You checked all your inboxes, notifications, messages, and anything else you felt like checking. Once you had everything he wanted written down and anything you felt he would need to know or have as your boss you felt tired. You gave a small yawn, stood up, headed to his office door. You bent down and slid it under, not feeling like interacting with anyone right now. Especially not him. Once you did, you heard a ‘Don't do that again, hand papers to me.’ from behind his door, you rolled your eyes since he couldn't see you.

You went back to your room, closed your door and locked it, then realized it was so late and he had been working all day. Huh. Definitely a work-a-holic. You figured you'd ask him that in your list of questions and concerns you would write tomorrow.

And with that as your last thought for tonight, you snoozed again.

Chapter Text

When it came to be the next morning, you got up early and got ready for work and the day.

Mister made remarks on you waking up late yesterday, when you clocked in, and how ‘you should wake up this early everyday of work’ to this you rolled your eyes and mumbled to yourself. He’s one sassy man- and in your defense you fell asleep without planning to last time ! Yeah ! Anyways…

Once coffee has brewed; and you added your desired creamer, sugars, and other add-ins. You then headed to your desk, took a nice big stretch with a yawn, and then sat down to start on the lists. First list was gonna be your actual work: making an organized, pretty, and neat list; of all the safety concerns, hazards, and needs for; the factory, the workers, and even the boss. Though it made you wonder if he would even listen to your concerns towards and for him. Nonetheless; you typed, organized, and created the list. It didn’t take too long, maybe an hour or two because of the organizing.

Upon completion, you then sent it to Mister Now you were to make a separate list from that one, this one wasn’t for work though, so it didn't need to be as pretty and organized. This list just contained questions for him to answer about anything you could think of. From the factory, to his intentions when it came to you, to the murders;

What is the chain of machines in the main area of the factory? I noticed it is kind of the main event.

Do people actually die in this factory twice a month on average? Or was that just something to scare me further?

Have you documented every single death that has happened within or revolving around this factory?

• Follow up: Have you held funerals for them? Any of them? Were their deaths given respect in the least?

Another question about the deaths with this factory: How many people have been killed for breaking in?

• Follow up: How many for reasons similar to breaking in?
• Follow up to previous: Were they documented? Funerals?... respect??

More about the deaths: Are you considered a criminal for these deaths, do you count as a murderer for them?

• Follow up: If so, are you in hiding or is some sketchy shit with the government going on?

Are you the type of person who works constantly, does not take breaks very much? Overall, am I to expect to find you working almost always?

• Follow up: Will it anger you to interrupt you or come to you about stuff during these times?
• Follow up to the previous: What kind of things anger you during work so I don't do them?

Could you elaborate on the whole you being a puppet thing?

• Follow up: Do you have organs? Or is it just stuffing?
• Follow up to the previous: What is your ‘skin’?
• Follow up to that: Please elaborate on the whole puppet thing.

Will I be getting keys to access the locked rooms in the factory?

Am I allowed to leave the factory?

• Follow up: I more of meant temporarily to do something, but am I allowed to permanently leave this factory?

Do you have any sort of plan with me?

• Follow up: I don't know how else to phrase that.

Do you hate me?

Am I allowed to ask personal questions about you?

• Follow up: Will you answer them?
• Follow up: Is there anything you want to know about me?

You also had a thought he might reply to all of this in the most vague answers he can, you had a feeling he would be a pain in the ass about it. But hopefully, he simply answers your questions properly.

Once you have gathered your list of questions for him, you organized it more and got it ready for him. Knowing how sassy this man is, and his aggressive and cold behavior, you felt kind of stupid for it in the first place. But he did tell you to go ahead and do it, and that ‘he would rather deal with it now than later’. So maybe he will actually answer your questions? But it is also likely he will only answer some of them. He probably doesn't like personal questions.

Emo ass.

One big and long stretch, you’re using it to procrastinate sending the questions, and then you finally go ahead and hit send. At this you felt a bit nervous and regretful but oh well. You just prayed he would actually answer your questions. In the meantime, you went ahead and sent him a notice that you’re gonna eat a snack and lay in your bed while you wait for any responses, or more work to do. Before walking away from your laptop of course, you waited a few minutes, while rereading everything you wrote, to see if he would say anything in response or give you some sort of ‘okay’.

He did not.

You went ahead and did what you said; You went to your mini kitchen and warmed up half of one of the cans of ravioli. You didn't have anything else to eat, or even snack on currently. Your first paycheck won't be here till the end of the week, so for now you have to borrow from Mister Thankfully, you only have two more days that you have to do that. You can't wait to start buying yourself stuff ! You’re gonna fill up the cabinets with everything you need ! To make that easier, you can make yourself a list and do some browsing on the online market for now. In the meantime munching on some ravioli. Which was good for food, though it got old quickly. You craved different flavors and textures of food, but you’ll just have to have patience for now. Soon. Soon. You shall have a variety of snacks and foods. Oh you couldn’t wait.

Finishing up your snack, you cleaned up and grabbed the laptop from your desk to bring it to your bed. You then spent some time to start your little grocery list, and a wishlist ! You also browsed different websites, socials, and apps looking at everything you need, want, and could use. Organizing different favorited sections and building up catalogs on different websites, apps, and socials. This was quite nice to do, being able to think about buying stuff for a home again… but what about your car. You’d forgotten about it for a bit. But you should probably try to get to it sometime somehow. It could’ve been broken into or towed by now though. At that thought you set the laptop on your bed and speed walked out of your office. You headed next door and gave the door a knock, calling out ‘it's me!’ and then headed in.

Wally kept his eyes down as he was on his own laptop, it was his working hours… hopefully he won't kill you. You stood in the doorway for a few seconds, then taking a few steps in his office as you didnt speak. You wanted to wait till he looked up or spoke first. Which he did but with a hiss, “What do you want. I’m trying to respond to your lists..” His words seemed to trail off a bit as he looked his laptop’s screen up and down. You nodded and stammered a bit when speaking, “Oh… right. Uh- I need to speak to you about something important.” He gave a bit of a growl for a groan as his eyes finally went up to you and he shifted his posture in his chair, “Is it about work.” With how demanding his tone sounded it sure didn't sound like a question. “No. but-” “Then wait until my shift is over.” At this your jaw hung open a bit. His statement was fair, you were interrupting him in the middle of working… but what you needed to speak with him on was overly important.

You weren't entirely sure how to go about it from his point. But you wanted to try, as your car and belongings were dire. You closed your mouth, sucking air through your teeth as your eyebrows furrowed slightly in annoyance, before you took a step forward, clenching your fists, “No. I can't. This is incredibly important. Please.” At your words and firm tone, an eyebrow lifted as his gaze shifted to a combination of slight surprise and annoyance. He gave a scoff, “Really…” the word spoken a bit slowly, spoken as if making a statement with just one word. You replied, “Yes.” “Hmph… fine. I’ll entertain it. What is it.” ..entertain? This fucking cuck. You gave a bit of a growl with your voice. His assholery was really starting to get on your nerves. “I told you I was homeless, correct? And I am. But- I did come from an apartment, which I was kicked out of several days ago. All of my belongings are locked up in the apartment as the landlord locked me out and won’t let me back in. I’ve given up on that, but. There’s still my car. It is-... it was in the parking lot of the apartment complex I used to live in. And that car is valuable for me, and it has a good chunk of my belongings in it. Though it has little gas.” You pause for a bit to see if he had anything to say. In which he did, “Was?...” Right. “Ah… ehm… well you know. I was kicked out of the apartment and it has been over a week that it has been parked there… I don't know if it is still there. It could've been towed or stolen by now…” You went silent once more, as he furrowed his eyebrows again, and gave what looked to be a dumbfounded frown. “And you expect from me?” You took in a calm breath, “I would like help retrieving my belongings. Mainly my car. But if I can get my stuff from the apartment too… I would really appreciate it. Please.. Help me.” As you held a weakened saddened face and your voice shifted to a pitiful plea, the corner of his mouth seemed to nearly twitch up. This man… istg. He really did find this entertaining didn't he. Eugh.

“Alright. You could at the least call the place and ask if they still have your car so we know what to expect. Once-” “Can I ask something.?” He gave a sharp glare but you ignored it, “How come you didn't just find some sort of living situation for me elsewhere, or help me with the place I became homeless from in the first place? Instead. You gave me a place to live in, in the factory. Why?” Silence for a few moments as his glare continued and only dug further into you. He spoke in a hiss again, “Don't. Interrupt me.” “I apologize.” “Mmhmmm… anyways. To put it simply… I don't want you blabbering about my factory to people.” You took a minute to think and process before speaking again, “So- you’re keeping me here?” “Correct.” That felt… unsettling to hear. “Now, as I was saying… Once you get information on the car, talk to me again. In the meantime I am going to continue my work. You sent me an annoying list of questions… and I have to decide if I want to answer them or not.” Knew it. You rolled your eyes and started to head for the door of his office as you spoke, “Thank you. A lot, I mean it. You’ve-” “Get out.” As you looked at him in shock, he was looking at his computer almost in a sense of avoiding eye contact. You could see a very very slight red to his cheeks. Was he embarrassed? About what? Being thanked??.. God this man is confusing. But you just gave a nod and a sigh, “Right. Talk to you in a bit.” And with that you headed back to your room to make a call.

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Hearing a notification from your laptop, you go over to see what it is. You got responses to your list.

Alright.

Sitting down and clicking around on your laptop, you read his responses to the safety hazard list. He asks more in detail questions about some problems, for elaboration on others, and just notes when he expects most of them to be fixed. You go ahead and respond to the questions asked, providing explanations and elaboration.

Moving on, you go to read the response to your questions;

What is the chain of machines in the main area of the factory? I noticed it is kind of the main event.

[ Walden ] : That would be the rainbow maker. It turns anything into colors through a complicated but quick process.

Do people actually die in this factory twice a month on average? Or was that just something to scare me further?

[ Walden ] : Yes.

Have you documented every single death that has happened within or revolving around this factory?

• Follow up: Have you held funerals for them? Any of them? Were their deaths given respect in the least?

[ Walden ] : Yes. The workers have held funerals. Another question about the deaths with this factory: How many people have been killed for breaking in?

• Follow up: How many for reasons similar to breaking in?
• Follow up to previous: Were they documented? Funerals?... respect??

[ Walden ] : I don’t keep count. Yes.

More about the deaths: Are you considered a criminal for these deaths, do you count as a murderer for them?

• Follow up: If so, are you in hiding or is some sketchy shit with the government going on?

[ Walden ] : Not sketchy, business. And not “shit”.

Are you the type of person who works constantly, does not take breaks very much? Overall, am I to expect to find you working almost always?

• Follow up: Will it anger you to interrupt you or come to you about stuff during these times?
• Follow up to the previous: What kind of things anger you during work so I don't do them?

[ Walden ] : ? Don’t ask me that, that is rude. Yes. Most things. Be quiet and do your work on time and properly.

Could you elaborate on the whole you being a puppet thing?

• Follow up: Do you have organs? Or is it just stuffing?
• Follow up to the previous: What is your ‘skin’?
• Follow up to that: Please elaborate on the whole puppet thing.

[ Walden ] : No.

Will I be getting keys to access the locked rooms in the factory?

[ Walden ] : Yes, you will receive them with your uniform.

Am I allowed to leave the factory?

• Follow up: I more of meant temporarily to do something, but am I allowed to permanently leave this factory?

[ Walden ] : Depends. No.

Do you have any sort of plan with me?

• Follow up: I don't know how else to phrase that.

[ Walden ] : What

Do you hate me?

[ Walden ] : I will not answer this.

Am I allowed to ask personal questions about you?

• Follow up: Will you answer them?
• Follow up: Is there anything you want to know about me?

[ Walden ] : I’d rather you did not. Probably not. No.

His answers to your questions were almost exactly what you expected. You knew he would answer with as little words as he can, and that he wouldn’t be very responsive to personal questions. Some answers, due to the lack of elbaration, were confusing and sketchy. If you want to know more information on this man you are going to have to get the information from other ways than asking him directly. You now have some background checking on your boss to do. Gotta be real sneaky though, if he finds out we will either be fired or killed. Or both ! Yay !
Hint the sarcasm.

But first, you were to deal with the retrieval of your possessions and belongings. You went and grabbed the number to the apartment complex you used to live in, giving it a call to ask about your car. -

After a rather quick and short call you got news that your car was still there safe and sound, though you were threatened to get it within the next three days or it would be towed. Before hanging up and hurrying with the information, you got about your belongings inside of your old apartment; news was it was all still locked in there and the landlord figured it would be a gift to the next owners. This annoyed you a bit. Upon hanging up with happiness that your things were still safe and there, you went to Mister’s office to let him know.

You knocked on his door, giving again an ‘its me’, and then entering his office. His eyes looked up to you this time as you approached his desk quickly and excitedly. “My car is still where I left it! And so are my belongings! We can get them!” You spoke slightly louder than normal, and had an expression of relief and excitement. He could tell as he simply nodded and stood up, grabbing a set of keys. “Alright. Let’s hurry up and go get it then.” You were happy to see he took to it immediately, of course it was because he wanted to deal with the matter as soon as possible, to deal with you as soon as possible. But either way, it was a relief for you.

Next thing you know you were in the driver's seat of Mister’s car and he was in the passengers. He felt it was simpler for you to drive there, since “you knew where it was”. Though you didn't… but you didn't tell him that. You wanted to drive his car hehe. Instead, you secretly set up a GPS on Google Maps and followed it as you drove his car. Of course, he threatened slaughter if you damaged his car, but you were in fact a good driver. He just layed back in the passengers and watched the road, with a sleepy expression, as you drove. He also had something on the floor of the passenger's side, but you had no idea what. It sounded heavy from when he placed it there but he just said ‘We might need it, don't worry about it.’ so you didn’t question it further.

–

About fifteen minutes of a drive and you arrived. You pulled into a parking space next to your car, as you looked to it in excitement and missings. When looking to Mister, he seemed puzzled as he held a very confused expression, “How exactly did you come to my factory again..?” “I walked… I was wondering quite the bit for a few days.” He held an almost concerned but mostly bewildered look as he noted, “You… walked. From this place to my factory?”... “Yeah… plus more since I wasn’t exactly walking aiming for your factory.” “What the fuck is wrong with you.” You now held a confused expression, “What.?” “The drive was fifteen minutes… that is nearly a few hours worth of a walk. Plus more. Why in the world would you walk that much, and that far, from your car.” You didn't have a good answer to this, you could admit to yourself it was rather dumb. So you just shrugged and got out of the car, as his expression faded to his usual annoyed one.

Once both of you exited the car you of course headed straight for your car as you unlocked it, with the keys you've been holding for a few days. You looked in it to find your belongings where you left them, perfectly okay. You sighed and nearly cried having everything okie dokie. As mister headed for the stairs of the complex you jogged over to him, he was looking to you as if waiting for you to follow. “What’re-” “Where is it.” “Oh- uhm. Here.” You led him to the door, that held a rather heavy duty lock on it, as you stood next to the door and looked to him, “This is what my apartment complex was. What was my asshat of a landlord locked it though…” You then notice he’s holding something as he looks to it and gives a sigh. But suddenly he brung up a ratchet and slams it on the lock. With it, the lock busts open and falls to the ground. This definitely shocked you, as you flinched at the loud crash and swing from him, then held a bewildered expression. He just gestures to the now unlocked door, “Oh wow, it’s actually not unlocked. What a surprise.” Sarcasm threaded into his words as he looks around, seeming to try to make sure no one is around, and then quickly opens the door and heads inside. Damn… you’re glad he’s on your side.

You did the same he did before; checking your surroundings before heading inside. Then went ahead and took a look to your apartment. But you walked in to him pointing towards something as he mumbled, “At least you won't have to pack…” You gave a ‘what?’, before you took a few more steps, and saw what he did. In the living room of, what was once, your apartment you saw a pile of boxes and everything in the living room was gone. It’s been packed. Looking at it you were surprised and didn’t know how to feel about this. You felt it had to have some sort of twist to it. Then you hear Mister call out, “Apparently those boxes have everything. The rest of the rooms are empty too, and no boxes.” It did look like a bigger pile of boxes than it should for the living room. You followed his voice to him, to see for yourself, and he was correct; as you looked into your old bedroom. All that wasn’t in boxes was: your mattress, shelves, and the bedframe. Which thankfully, you didn't care about. You looked up to him as his eyes seemed to scan the room. He looked in thought and suspectful. You just stood there looking at him, waiting to see if he had something to say. Instead he simply, “Alright, bring the boxes to the cars. And hurry up.” With that you just nodded and both of you started hulling boxes into the trunks of the two cars.

“Thank you. I won’t say as much as I tried before. I just want to say thank you.” You were buckling up in the driver's seat of your car as he placed one last box in the passenger's side. He ignored you. But you had to say, “Oh- I have to stop for gas. The car has enough for one last trip, so I'm gonna stop by a-” He interrupted you with this as he held a hand on the door, ready to close it, “No. Head straight to my factory. You don't need more gas. You don't even have your paycheck yet.” Then he gave you a sticky note, it had the address to the factory written on it, and you typed it into google maps as he went to his car. What was that about. Hm… anyways. You sighed as you did what he said, and drove off and on the way to the factory. He made you go ahead as he finished hulling the rest of the boxes to his car and was to soon be on his way to the factory.

–

Arriving back at the factory, you pulled near the door he told you to use to get in. You then began to bring the boxes to your room-office. He apparently had told staff to help you as they were waiting for you and began to bring the boxes to your room-office. It is helpful though, so no complaints there.

While you brung the last boxes and noticed the staff waiting outside the door once again, you saw his car pull up as he stepped out and popped the trunk open. Saying some words to the staff they once again brung boxes up to your room-office.

As you sat on your bed starting to unpack, he ordered it otherwize you’d help drag the rest of the boxes in, he approached you. “Is this everything you needed help with?” You looked to him as he stood watching you, “Ah- yes. Thank you.” He then just turned around and headed out of your room-office.

–

A few hours went by of unpacking as you became more and more saddened and defeated. It turns out there in fact was a twist to everything being packed. Half of your belongings were now broken. Fuck. You had a few boxes left and upon opening one of them you came across your old laptop. You whined at worrying it might be broken. It looked fine on the outside, but upon opening you gasped and began to call out ‘Nononono- no… please no. This isn’t fair.’ The screen was shattered and smashed as was the keyboard. It was completely destroyed from the inside. Unusable. That laptop had a lot on it that mattered to you, and it was both one of your most valuable possessions and loved. You sat back on your bed with the laptop resting in your lap, as you cried about it. You ended up sobbing for nearly thirty minutes. You felt completely defeated. There wasn't much you could do about your broken belongings.

This is fucked.

Suddenly you heard a voice speak and footsteps walking into your room, “So… I'm assuming I was correct in my thoughts that things would be broken..” You looked up to see Mister looking at the various broken items lying around your room. He stopped by a pile of several broken things as he scanned it with his eyes, “Hm.” You looked to him with your laptop in your hands as you tried to wipe your face from tears and hide your puffy and red face. But your choked voice made you embarrassed, “So that’s what was with your thinking face when we were there huh.” “Yeah. I figured things were likely broken. There has to be something wrong.” You nodded as you looked down at your laptop in your lap, “Yeah… I felt there was going to be a twist. I guess I wasn't expecting this much damage though…” You then set your laptop in front of you with a very small toss on your bed. He noticed as he then walked forward and grabbed it. You continued to hide from him, not watching what he would do. All you heard was, “That was definitely on purpose.” You just mumbled ‘no shit’ as he seemed to pause for a moment then give a small sigh. He never sat the laptop down as he walked out. Before leaving he spoke, “I came in because I have work for you to do… but it looks like you may have your own work. I will allow you to attempt to fix your items. If it can't be fixed, throw them in the grinder. Once you're done contact me, alright?” You remained silent for a moment before you simply stated ‘okay.’ You just wanted him to leave you alone right now. In which he did, he left and closed your door.

You then layed on your bed, facing the rest of your room-office as you felt more tears slide down your cheeks and nose as you looked at all your broken possessions. This sucked. Quite the bit.

A few more minutes and then you groaned to yourself before standing up from your bed. You went to your bathroom and cleaned your face up. Once done so, you went ahead and started to sort through your broken belongings trying to see what could be fixed.

Throwing things that couldn't into a box, and things that could you set to the side to tackle later.

Chapter Text

A few hours ended up going by.
You were trying your best to fix things that simply couldn't be fixed… others, you kind of just sat on your couch, sad. You felt heart broken by some of the things that were broken, and you had to now let go. Fucking. God you hate your old landlord. This was his doing. You wish you could sue him, but you clearly didn’t have the means to be able to do that.

Time spent sitting on the couch with a heart ache and time spent trying to fix things. It wasted a few hours. But finally, you were done. A good amount of stuff thrown in a few boxes to be sent to the grinder, you now just sat on your couch feeling sad. Looking at the time and reflecting on it, you realized you probably should’ve called Mister a bit ago. So for now you did, you went ahead and gave him a call.

Upon him answering, all you heard was ‘Oh, perfect timing. I will be there in a second.’ and then he hung up. … Okay?

A knock to your door and you turn your head to it, watching Mister walk in, he has something in his hands as he approaches you. “What's that?” At your question, he stands in front of you, like directly in front. He doesn't usually stand this close, odd? Whatever. He then holds the thing out as he makes eye contact with you and simply states, “Here.” You reach out and take it. It looked like… a laptop. Upon holding it and inspecting it, it was a laptop. Your laptop. You looked up to him confused, “What-” “Open it and turn it on. I want to know if it works.” At this you give a suddenly shocked expression, then confused. “Oh?” But with that, you look back down to it and reach to open it. Mister moves and sits right next to you on the couch. When you open the laptop the screen is completely fixed, “No way..” You whisper as you wait for it to boot up.

You fix your posture, sitting up, and turn your head to look at Mister. “Y-you actually fixed it?” He looks slightly annoyed and gives a dismissive hand wave, “Wait for it to actually work before celebrating. It may still malfunction or crash.” As you have an astonished look on your face, you turn back to the laptop. The login screen is visible. You go ahead and type in your code for it to then take a few seconds to unlock and properly start up. “Oh my god.” You say as you turn to Mister once more but before you could speak, he does, “Eh-eh-eh. Click around.” But instead of just telling you to do so, he went ahead and reached his non-metal hand and arm over to the laptop to use its pad mouse. As you turn back to look at the computer, he is now gently and slightly leaning against you, his face directly near yours, and he is looking at your laptop and messing around on it while it’s in your lap. You feel a bit embarrassed as you mentally take note of this. You guys being this close makes you feel shy.

After he spends a moment clicking around he sighs in what seems to be relief as he finally retracts his hand and sits back a bit, shrimped next to you. He gives a very small smile, very gentle, “Good, it’s working. Happy?” You look to him a bit puzzled as you scan his facial features and posture, his body language and listen to his speech. He’s very different from the usual Mister. You end up not responding immediately; his facial expression starts to shift. But you then smile to him, “Yes, thank you so much Mist-... eh.” You gave a thumbs up and he gave a very confused expression with slightly furrowed brows, “What was that. Why did you-” “It feels awkward and almost wrong to call you such a professional and up-tight title while thanking you for a nice gift. That's all.” He just gives you a dumb founded expression before sighing heavily, “Fine. I suppose I can understand that. If you are thanking me for something, then you may then call me Walden. Good?” He looks like his usual grumpy self again, as you chuckle and give him a thumbs up, “Yes !”

You look back to your laptop on your lap again, and just feel an urge of happiness. You quickly move it to the coffee table in front of you. He stands and so do you. And suddenly you impulsively and rather quickly, hug him. Wrapping your arms tightly around his torso as you squish your face against his chest and very clearly speak, “Thank you a lot Walden.” You feel him get very tensed, as a growl comes from his throat, “What do you think your fucking doing. G-get off!” You do as he says as you quickly back off, and blush a bit after processing and realizing what you did. Looking to Mister, his cheeks and nose are a light red as the claws on his hand are tract out and he has a bit of a snarl on his face. Oops. Though he didn’t seem actually angry or upset with you, if anything just flustered? If that’s the right word. But you went to apologize, “S-sorry. I didn't mean to- I just acted due to bei-” “It’s fine. Whatever. Just shut up and go… do something.” He seemed at a loss for words as he started to walk back to his office. “Alright. Thank you again!” He gave a hand signal of ‘sure’ as he then walked out and you closed the door behind him. He seems to be softening a bit, you think to yourself.

–

After the hug incident, you went to mess around on your laptop to check on the files and play your games once again.

Few hours gone by; you gave a yawn with a stretch, cracking your back, and then closed your laptop and set it down on your nightstand. You go ahead and get your room tidied up and ready for bed before going ahead and crawling right under your covers and falling asleep for the night. -

Waking up in the morning; you got up groggily as per usual, making yourself a bitter tasting coffee and heading to your desk in your pajamas.
Walde- Mister.. Gave you judgemental looks on this the first couple of times he noticed. But after all, you are technically in your own home. He just noted to you that, “if you go outside your office to wear something more professional, or at the least ‘proper’”. You gave him a thumbs up and continued wearing your pajamas most work days, as you didn’t leave your office often. The work was currently mostly files Mister had you take care of, you’d be tasked with “safety-checking” once again in about a week.

As the hours of the day went by and you completed your assigned work, you got bored and then recalled wanting to know more about “Walden Darling” aka ‘Mister’. With this thought in mind, you went ahead and opened a few tabs, preparing to get into some deep background checking. -

Hours went by, and then days went by. Your “research” on Mister was proving to be very annoyingly difficult. You even tried walking around and questioning employees, but the most information on Mister you were given is that “He does his best to keep anyone from reading him or on him, all files destroyed and burned”. Which basically just tells you this guy ahead of time made sure nobody, including you obviously, could easily find information on him. This caused great difficulty in your “research”.

As the days went by though you got closer and closer as you found small details that you pieced together with different things and used in different ways, which finally ended up leading to larger chunks of information. Most of it was about his discoveries when it came to colors, he was apparently fascinated by them and the chemical reactions they caused, it bloomed his business. Others about some neighborhood that was in place before the factory was, and the residents' disappearances. And others… Ophelia.

–

Two weeks ended up going by after uncovering all of the information and backstory on Walden. You were processing, thinking, and analyzing. The information was weird and sounded like either a horror film or some thrown together T.V. series. It was odd and all over the place. Barely made any sense. Which is mainly why you wanted to approach him about all of it. You wanted to figure out if any of it is real. And as for his kid… you wanted to speak with him on that. You had your suspicions and worries. But of course, approaching Mister on something that he specifically tried to cover up and make sure no one could find, he’s definitely not going to be happy. There’s even a possibility of getting fired… or killed- knowing him. But you had to know and you had to talk to him about it. At this, you spent weeks preparing to approach and speak to him. You organized, rehearsed, calculated, overthought, all of it over and over and over again. And mostly just spent so much time thinking about it all, the meaning behind everything was foggy and confusing. What is going on with this dude.

Now two weeks have gone by and you have been specifically avoiding him as you’re not ready to even communicate with him right now. Thankfully he has not questioned this and has simply sent work to be done and expected it to be turned in on time and properly.

But finally, everything is put together and ready. You’re ready to approach and talk to him about him.

You gather a few papers you have prepared and your laptop in case you need it. You got up from your desk and anxiously and slowly made your way to his door.

You gave it a knock.

“It’s me.”

Of course he simply called out “come in” and so you did.

Walking in, you moved to sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. You set your laptop on your lap for now and held the papers in your hands. Looking down to avoid eye contact as you felt your body shaking like crazy and sweat starting to form around your body. Your heart raced as your throat felt dry, a sense of overwhelming dread was encasing your body. Anxiety. Oh your best friend- hint the sarcasm. But it was a combination of anxiety and genuine fear that you felt right now. And it was taking over as you nearly felt sick and generally unwell. Your head spinning was not helping. This dude was terrifying to you.

To be fair he casually murders people.

It was silent between you for quite the moment as your hearing was nearly starting to ring, but the sounds of him clicking around on his laptop kept you in check.

But soon enough that came to a pause and he spoke, “Is there something you need?” For once something he asked sounded like an actual question, he was getting softer. And you might just ruin that… is this worth it? Probably not… but fuck curiosity kills the cat.

“There’s… questions I have for you… and… something I wanted to talk to you about.” Your voice was cracking and breaking as your throat was still dry. This made you both take pauses in your speech and also pause for now. Your eyes lifted to look around the room, water might help right now. He seemed to have caught onto this as well, as he extends a water bottle to you. You finally look to his face as your eyes twitch up for a second, you don't reach for the water bottle yet as now you feel a shiver run through your body. If anything, he seemed friendly right now actually. His eyebrows ever so slightly burrowed in a worried manner as his eyes scanned you, trying to read you. His metal hand held the bottle in front of you still, you were pausing again. His eyes looked to the bottle for a moment, then to you, then to the bottle before he spoke, “You…” You finally snapped out of it as you took the bottle without a word, opened it, and took a sip.

Wetting your throat to help your voice and clearing it too before talking, you bring your eyes back down again, “I want to talk to you. About… something that I’m unsure how you will react to.” Keeping your eyes down, you just gave a moment to see if he had anything to say.

He didn’t.

“I wanted to know more about you.” You started, you felt your heart rate pick up as more sweat formed and dread got worsened within you, “I did research on you.” Another pause, “I learned about how you got into this whole color-making business and sort of why you did.” Less of a pause, “I learned about some sort of colorful neighborhood that was in place of the factory, before the factory was here. And of course the residents and their disappearances.” Another pause, this one longer as you could swear you felt his stare digging into your head. You took a deep breath before sighing out, “And your daughter… Ophelia.”

But at this..

You seemed to have caused him to snap, you made a horrible mistake.

You heard his desk and his chair made loud noises of getting shoved. You heard fast and heavy footsteps coming towards you. You finally looked up as you knew he was approaching you, and when you saw his face, he was more than merely pissed. He was livid.

You tried to stand up before he grabbed you with his metal arm and pulled you towards him as he hissed and yelled at you, “Who the fuck do you think you are?! My past and history are none of your fucking business and you need to keep your goddamned nose out of shit.” Following his angered words, he gripped your head with his other hand, the claws digging into your skin in a painful matter. You could see his veins pronounced in his hand, arm, and neck. He came close to your face with a defined snarl to his nose and lips. His eyes seemed almost crazed as he hissed at you in a grumble, “You keep my fucking daughter out of your fucking mouth. If you EVER. Fucking even say her name again, I’ll fucking skin you alive.” His claws continued to dig more into your skin as they started to cut and create wounds. Your blood trickled down your face slowly as you grabbed at his arms. You tried to keep balance as you spoke desperately, “PLEASE. WALDEN. I- I Just want to talk! I’m not here for any hurtful reasons! I didn’t bring it up to annoy you! And I sure didn’t bring her up just to piss you off! I understand how you may feel about her Walden! My daughter is dead too.” You hurriedly got out as he clenched his jaws and raised his metal hand from gripping your arm as if ready to strike, but he didn’t.

At your words, you held in a flinching position whilst shutting your eyes tightly. But he, once you peeked your eyes open, he was looking down at you angrily but he wasn’t stiff anymore and now just breathing heavily.

“What.”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

“What.”

You hear his voice speak, he is just staring down at you. Thinking ?
His pupils are shrinking as his snarl only worsens. His grip remains tight on your wrist, his other hand in the air is frozen.

He is frozen.

You look to him, still in a bit of a panic. You gulp as you try to breathe.
You’d rather wait for him to say something right now, than try to speak and manage his reaction to anything.

The unexpected occurs as you hear what sounded like him choking, then you see his expression soften a bit. His snarl turns into a weap as his eyes water and burn red.
His hand in the air softens but takes a second to come down, he lets go of you as he brings his hand to his face. To cover his mouth and nose. He just stares at you in what seems to be disbelief but also just sorrow. He starts sobbing. He then holds his face and head with both of his hands as you watch, between his hand movements, tears forming and streaming. He coughs and chokes on his sobs, his metal arm simply drops down and hangs while keeping the other in front of his mouth. Broken words..

“F-fuck… you..”

“I hate you.”

“Hurts…”

His eyes stay on you the entire time, as it seems like he’s more hurt instead of angry.
But still definitely angry.

You just sit there, watching and trying to process what is happening. After a moment or two, his eyes finally move to search around the room, another moment before you stand up and reach your hand out to him. Not sure of what you’re attempting to grab, but you reach for him, “Walden…” Your hand just falls and his eyes snap back to you. He lowers his other hand as his eyes are now red, his cheeks are wet, and his mouth is quivering.

A pause between you two, as you look to him in clear worry, he looks to you in uncertainty and anger.

You take a deep breath before continuing, “I’m sorry. I know the feeling… the loss… the mourn… how empty it is. Regretful. Angering, frustrating, infuriating, and also just plain and deep hurtful pain.” You pause as you take a step towards him and place a hand on his arm, “I want to be here for you. I am here for you, Walden.”

…

“Why.”

His response, you look him in the eyes as he stares back at you with an extremely heavy stare. You simply sigh and rub his arm gently, “You lost your neighborhood… your wife… and your daughter. It all formed you to this angry and destroying person. That’s not healthy Walden… but most importantly…” You glance around the room,
“I know you’re still feeling a lot of pain. You feel dizzy and shot through, all the time. Right.?” You stop rubbing his arm as you look to his eyes again. He just has a tired expression. He looks exhausted. He mumbles, “And?. What do you wish for me to do about it.” He asks you, his voice is so soft and gentle. So quiet yet so deep.

In response, you give a low huff out your nose, as a show of worry, “Well, I want you to talk to me. I want to listen to your words and voice. What you have to say and tell me.” You awaited him to speak on this. He did, “I can talk to you all you want… but, when it comes to Ophelia.. even whispering her name hurts.”

You rubbed his arm some more and then gestured for him to take a seat. He did. You both sat on the couch, facing towards each other.

He looked down at the couch space, between the two of you, with the most heart wrenching expression you’ll probably ever see him wear. His arms hung, with his hands resting on his lap, limp. His shoulders rather slouched as his eyes, his breathing, and his voice carried the weight of burning trauma.

You just sat there, your hands holding onto your ankle, as you watched him closely. You took a deep breath and rubbed at your own ankle nervously, “I understand. Elli still hurts. I have managed through therapy and coping mechanisms. Plus a lot more, all to get through her death. I don’t like bringing her up.” You watched as his eyes flickered to yours, “But when I found out about Ophelia, I felt this need to speak on her. It feels like the memories have resurfaced and it burns and just… feels fucking awful. Knowing you’ve gone through the same thing, and seeing the result of it. I just had this pulsating need to speak with you even just a few words.” His eyes lowered back to the couch. He sighed, “Okay… did you get that?” “Yes. But… uhm- can I ask about her?”

This part was just your curiosity not just killing the cat, but twisting and churning the blade within your gut.

He sighed again as another tear fell, you impulsively brought a hand to his face. You cupped his face and wiped the tear with your thumb. Oh so gently and caring. He seemed surprised, his eyes widened and that pink buzz on his nose and cheeks returned. You felt yourself go to a surprised expression, but before you could even think, he brought a hand to the one cupping his face and caressed it, giving a sigh and leaning into your hand. As if saying “thank you”. It was so sweet, “Y-yeah… you can. Maybe only a few questions though, please.” A mumble.

You wern’t entirely sure how to react to this, but you simply kept your hand there as long as he’d hold it to his face. Which soon broke between you two. You took your hand back to your lap and he sat himself up with a deep breath. You gave a soft smile as you watched him by his eyes, “What was her favorite color?” He looked to you with what looked like love. His adorable pink buzz resided as he gave a small smile, “ [ Color redacted ]. She really liked —, she didn’t really favor any color… but when she had to pick one, it was always —.” Your smile grew as your expression was a loud “awe”.

He spoke and you listened.

You asked two more questions, slowly. And he answered back slowly. It felt like a while that these answers came out and were answered, but it was nice. Really nice.
A moment between you two, where you were bonding and having simply a heart healing moment.

Once you finished with the questions, you two were sitting on the couch to his office, facing towards the rest of the room. You now both have some tea that you’re sipping on. Walden’s eyes still look rather red and his expression still shows hurt and defeat. You felt like an ass for causing it, but at the same time, you might be helping him heal.

You hope so.

“Can I ask about… Elli- was it?” You turned your head to look at him, he was watching you. You nodded but lacked a smile, recalling your own child's death… there was no way you could smile right now. He seemed to notice as he took a moment, and then you felt a hand on your knee. You’re kinda spacing out right now, it’s hard to not dissociate when it comes to such hurtful topics that you don’t know how to react properly to. You looked down at his hand, his hand sat on your knee as his thumb slowly rubbed you. You took a moment before clicking your eyes upward to look at him. His eyes still watching you as his expression just showed genuine care.

He was waiting.

To make sure you’d be able to handle the questions, and that you were ready for them.

Wow, he can be caring… huh.

You once again took a deep breath in and then sighed and readjusted your sitting position. Once comfortable, you gave a huff and turned your head to him, “How abouuttt… you can ask about Ellie… if- you let me sit very close to you and give me some sort of physical attention.” You await his response, in which he thinks and then taps his claw on his mug, “You’re a very touchy person aren't you.” You give a playful scoff and nod, “Yes, but also… I’m already struggling to not dissociate. Having a reminder someone is with me may help… so.. Touch. Do you understand?” It seemed to click for him as he gave a silent ‘ahhh’ and then smirked, “Doesn't that mean I’m more mentally strong, between us. I was able to answer questions on my dead kid without needing help staying in the right mind. Heh.” You gave him a ‘really’ look and then pointed to him, “Yeah and you also started bawling your eyes out, after nearly killing me when I first brought it up.” He now held a clear ‘well shit..’ expression and then gave a ‘I guessss’ type of gesture with his eyes and head, before opening an arm, “Alright alright. Come on.” Of course you gave a very small smile, the mood seemed to have lightened a little.

You scooched to where your legs were pressing against each others, and your shoulders rubbed his sides. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, his hand slowly rubbing on the shoulder it rested on. You leaned your head slightly towards him in which he simply asked, “This good? You gonna be alright?” It makes you twitch a smile that he cared. And you could smell his breath from how close your faces were, it smelt of coffee… probably from the five cups of coffee he has everyday. It makes you feel relieved. It was comforting. You gave a small nod and he hummed for a second, thinking before speaking, “What was Elli’s favorite color ?” You gave a sad but also happy huff as you leaned your head on his shoulder, not even thinking about it, “Elli was colorblind… but they somehow always managed to pick out [ Color Has Been Redacted ] . He seemed to be surprised as you felt a tiny jolt from him, “She was colorblind?” “Mhm.. it took a minute for us to realize but we eventually got her tested. And yeah, she turned out to not be able to see the majority of colors.” He seemed to think for a moment, “Us?” “Me and Elli.” “Oh.” You furrowed your eyebrows, confused what he meant, but he distracted you with a comment, “Must suck to be colorblind.” “I will stab you with your own false arm.” You just felt his chin graze your forehead, as he turned his head toward you, you couldn't see his face currently but could feel the ‘goddamn’ look.

“How did-...” He seemed to cut himself off as he took a sip of the tea, you took a sip of your own before speaking, “Car crash. Drunk driver hit us at a hundred miles per hour.”...”I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to-” You cut him off, bringing your hand to his that was on your shoulder. You gave it a pat, “It’s fine. Curiosity kills the cat.” He just went silent before you heard him speak again, “ [ Redacted Lore ] . “ You sat up from leaning on him to look at him with surprise. “I-... Walden…” His hand dropped from your shoulder and he gave a dismissive wave, “I don’t really want to touch on it too much.” You just brought a hand to his shoulder and sighed whilst looking down, “Yeah that’s understandable.”

With that you looked back up to him, “Anymore questions?” He looked back at you and shrugged, “Was she adopted?” You gave a silent ‘ah’ in recalling that his daughter was adopted. You nodded, “I’m too scared to have any biological children.”
He gave a ‘hm’ as he looked down and went silent.

Taking a sip of his tea, as you both then just sit there in silence for a while.

Chapter Text

About half an hour of silence with the occasional sip of tea and sighing.

You both just sat there, both simply recalling memories and thinking.

Finally after the half hour, you finish your tea and give a heavy sigh, standing up. “Done with your tea?” You ask as you look to him. He looks up at you and nods, his expression just seeming tired as his nose, cheeks, and eyes are all still slightly pink. You reach a hand out, asking to have the cup, and he gives you the cup. You go ahead and walk to the door of his office, he watches you as he gives a yawn and slowly stands up. He heads to his desk as you then gave a wave, saying ‘bye’, and head out.

To your room you go.

Arriving at your room, you walk to the kitchen sink in the back and place your cups in it and give them a quick rinse. Then heading to your bed, you slowly crawl over to your little spot as you curl up without any blanket, and just kind of layed there with your eyes open for a minute. Things went much better than you hoped, but there were still so many questions you had but you definitely were not going to bother him at a time like this.
As much as you wished to be distracted from your feelings and thoughts right now.

Elli has always been hard to think on… you don’t want to. You’d rather do chores or something right now, even with the little amount of energy you have left. But instead, you didn’t notice yourself slowly drift into a sleep as your body felt lighter by the minute and your mind felt a bit more numb each second. -

Waking up in the morning- except looking at the windows it was dark and looking to your clock it was 3:32am.

Eugh…

You felt your body drenched in cold sweat and your breaths felt freezing inward. Your body was trembling, you think from the freezing feeling of the cold sweat. Maybe. It doesn't really matter, you were a bit more concerned that you couldn't move. Your body was rather frozen, maybe you could? But your brain definitely wasn't going to let you. All you could do was think, shiver, and breath. -

An hour went by where you just shivered and took deep breaths. You were still freezing cold but still couldn't get yourself to move, you finally noticed though that you were in a different position from where you fell asleep in. You were facing the rest of the room and your body was layed out more.

Staring at the dark corners of your room.

It was all unsettling and uncomfortable. Sleep paralysis was a pain. But then..

You felt an absolute splitting sense of dread, and terror go through your entire body, when you heard your door open rather roughly. You had to be dreaming, it was 4:30 am now, who could be at the factory??

Whoever it was managed to pick-lock your door and stumble over to you. They sounded like they were out of breath a bit and their footsteps were messy. They stumbled across your room, slowly getting closer to you. Soon, once they seemed to be standing close to you, you remained silent. It was pitch black in your room, there’s no way they know you’re there. Then they just flopped down beside your bed. Part of their upper body seemed to hang onto the bed but the rest slouched on the floor. You felt something lay on your wrist, a hand. Your heart was racing and now you were pretty sure you were having a heart attack. But you calmed down a bit when a familiar smell hit your nose. You couldn't quite make out what it was but it made you feel much safer and you felt at ease. Something soft tickles your nose.

What the fuck. Who the fuck.?

It didn't matter. You ended up knocking out again, finally returning to a deep slumber. You prayed to wake up, and preferably at the proper time unharmed.

Walden’s P.O.V.

After waking up seeming to experience sleep paralysis for the first time in years,

I wasn't just gonna sit in my sweat and suffer. Fuck this.

I forced my mind and body through it, getting up from my bed and starting to stumble across my room. My mind was incredibly dizzy, it felt like the world was spinning. I could barely see anything, it was the dead of night after all. The time read 3:38am. I had been laying around feeling frozen for a few minutes, but I hate this fucking feeling. I hate nights like these. Managing to make it to the door of my room after stumbling a lot, I go through my house and outside. The warm breeze of the night hitting my entire body and the light of the moon shining brightly right in the top of the sky.

Ah.

Much better. I reached into my pocket to find my keys, good. I headed over to my car after standing for a few moments, getting my mind to stop spinning so much and managing to get control over my legs. Once better I went ahead and got into my car, not exactly sure what my plan is here, I feel drunk, but I can drive… probably.

Upon arriving at my factory, an hour managed to pass. Might've been driving slow by accident. Quickly heading inside my factory, I trudge through slowly, it was incredibly off throwing. Incredibly dark, more dark than usual. Very silent, with gentle whirrings and creakings every now and then.

Towards the middle… up the stairs… to the right- left? Mmm… heading left instead of right.
I’m so fucking confused lmfao. It feels like I have no control over my actions, yet again I know exactly what I’m doing.

Heading for comfort..

I grab my keys and unlock the door, opening it and stumbling in. Everything I do right now is rough, I'm still wobbly. Euuugh. The room is like a pitch black vortex. But I manage to scuffle around till I found something, seemed to be my target. I slouched down to the floor, laying my shoulders, head, and an arm on top of it. Parts felt soft, others hard. A bed? I think so. I heard breathing and my hand rested on something with a pulse, a familiar scent entering my senses, and I felt a lot more comfortable and safe, then I would at my house.

Returning to sleep at last, my mind is finally clear but at the same time drowsy from sleep.

I fall back asleep. -
Waking up, I groggily sit up with a slight groan. My upper body is rather sore. It’s definitely daylight hours as I see light has poured into the room… but I’m not in my room or office. Or anywhere I’d usually find myself to have fallen asleep at. I make circular motions with my shoulders as I look around with an eye closed and a yawn. I recognize this room.

Hold on…

I snap my head to where my body is facing…

[ Redacted ] …

I hurriedly get up, doing my best to be quiet and not wake them up. I can feel my cheeks and nose growing warm from embarrassment as I shake my head a little. A few gentle knocks to my head with my metal hand as I try to wake up better. Making my way out of their room, closing the door quietly, and then a sigh as I head to my office. Entering, and then moving to my back counter to grab some pop tarts and pour some coffee. I stand for a minute as I chew on the poptart..

So that’s where I went last night… mmm.

Taking a few more bites and then going to sit at my desk, I give another yawn and move my arms on my desk to lay my head down. I’m still pretty tired. It’s not my work hours yet and I need a shower. Brush my teeth… and proper breakfast. I should probably head home for now.

With that I did. I took my coffee with me, getting back to my car and heading home to take care of my personal needs. A few stares from my employees on the way out, they’re not used to seeing me here at this time. I am unusually early. But I’m headed out.

[ Redacted ] ‘s P.O.V.

Slow blinks as I awaken… no alarm. Ah shit, I didn’t set it did I.

I did just kind of crash last night..

I’m recalling recent events as I feel groggy, standing up wobbly and moving to my mini kitchen for some water and a bagel with cream cheese. After preparing my breakfast, I head to my desk as I start eating. A yawn, as I glance over at the time to see what time it even is since I wasn’t awoken by my alarms.

But at that, I nearly spit out my water from taking a sip. It’s two hours past the time I was supposed to get up. I then, of course, hurriedly open my computer and start rushing through my breakfast, cus energy you know. And my next thought being if I’ve gotten any messages from Walden

… Mister?
Does he care anymore. … I dunno.

I end up going ahead and nearly shooting out of my chair, as I scramble to my nightstand, and grab my phone. I tap it awake and look to see no notifications… that should be good. I go back to my desk quickly and go to check my notifications on my computer. Typing in my laptop’s passcode and clicking windows open.

Nope. No notifications, at all.

Maybe he’s too tired today ? Or he just doesn't have work for me to do?
No… he has years worth of paperwork he’s been supposed to be doing, and is making me do. There’s definitely still plenty. Probably just too tired. But he likely isn’t at the factory right now, as it’s not his work hours. As I have no work to do, I just kind of sit at my desk and stare at my computer for a moment. Now I’m bored. Hmmm.
I go back to me and Walden’s messages on my phone I go ahead and send him a text :

“Hey Boss. I gots no work to do. You sleepin ? Or just being nice to me for once?? 🥺”

I see that he starts typing, he is awake.

“I am awake. I work in an hour. I forgot my laptop in my office, and couldn't send over files. I’m sure you don’t mind though. Enjoy your free time while it lasts.”

I giggle at his message before noting mentally that the last sentence sounded like more of a threat than a statement, which is funny to me.

Thank god of these circumstances, I woke up very late after all. All good for me. Imma do some online shopping hehehehe.

Back to my laptop, clicking and scrolling.

--

A few days end up going by, Walden has given me glares for calling him by his first name but doesn't say anything. As I’ve just been doing my work, Walden’s been his usual grumpy self, but he’s a lot less aggressive and uses more words to communicate lately. … with me.
Hehe I’m special.

As for currently, I’m doing my second walk around the factory, checking for safety issues. Which… there manages to still be way too many.

Chapter Text

You know I don't exactly understand how they consider this factory "ready to use" when it's hanging on by a few nails and screws... and some awful welding jobs.

Having to walk around the factory and purposely check out dangerous areas is quite the job. It will and has resulted in nearly having my arms and or head nearly chopped off a few different times. But money is money, and I'm sure as hell not leaving this factory. I just wanna get done with this rather scary scan of the factory. I have online shopping to do ! ... and Walden's paperwork..

I'm snapped out of my mental whining by the swaying of the ground below me. I'm on a hanging walkway in the upper parts of the factory, near above the machines. Looking down at the rainbow maker from up here, it's an interesting view... though the walkway genuinely feels like it's lowkey about to fall apart.-

Moving my feet to catch from falling and grabbing a hold on a rail, which I assume to be useless considering it feels loose. I try to simply stay still, wait till it stops swaying.

But then I feel the walkway shake a bit and start to creak with loud sounds. This thing might be getting ready to break. At the sound I look behind and infront of me to check which way would be better. It's a shorter way backwards, but I’m nearly in the middle of the walkway. I go ahead and start slowly and gently crawling on my hands and knees, one of my hands grabbing the rails, trying to make it to the ladder that will bring me to a sturdy floor.

The walkway drops down a bit with more creaking and a slight crashing sound. It’s about to completely come apart. Hurriedly speeding my pace up a bit but I’m nowhere nearly close enough to the ladder. Out of panic and fear I call for Walden, “WALDEN! HELP! SOMEBODY?!” Looking below me as I crawl, the walkway has holes in the floor, I watch some workers look up and began to shuffle around panicked. I keep crawling trying to beat the walkway before it falls.

Very shortly, I feel and hear footsteps on the walkway, looking up I see Walden. He’s hurriedly coming towards me as he has a hand extended, “ [ Redacted ] , come here!” As I watch him come towards me, he’s walking too heavily, it’s gonna fall through, “Walden ! DON’T!” He slows down, confused, continuing to approach me though. He managed to make it to me and kneels down, offering a hand. But with the action, the walkway drops again, but this time completely on one side. Both of our eyes go wide as he quickly lowers himself and grips hold on the rails as well. The part of the walkway now behind me breaks from part of the walkway on the other side. It becomes one big slide for us, right into the rainbow maker.

The rail I had grabbed pops out of its spot and my hand slips out of gripping it. I panic and try to grab at something else but don’t manage. I’m sliding right down, desperately grabbing at the walkway and the rails. My hands slip off it. “ [ Redacted ] ! SHIT-” Looking at him, he seems to have managed a decent grasp on a rail, but he lets go and starts sliding towards me. As I make it to the end of the railway, right above the rainbow maker, I feel him grab my arm firmly. Hopefully he can manage someway out of this mess. I let out a scream as I feel Walden let go and look to him sliding first, he goes below me. We lose ground below us. What on earth?! But as I began to fall I feel an arm snake around my waist and seemed to grab me firmly. Giving an ‘opmf-’ I stare down at the rainbow maker below us. “Oh please no-” “We’ll be alright. Relax… it would help if you didn’t panic.” I look up to him and he’s managed a grasp on a rail. It seems sturdy but I sure don’t trust how long it’ll be before it pops out of place and we fall. As he has his arm around my waist, I desperately cling my arms around his neck. “Somebody, for fucks sakes, HELP US!” He calls out as people scatter around. This doesn't look good for the both of us. As the workers below scramble around, clearly unsure of what to do, Walden seems to gain a plan as he calls to the workers, “Form a large crowd near the rainbow maker ! Bunch up!” Huh? But they do so, around fifty of the workers forming a large huddled crowd right near the rainbow maker. As I wait to see what the plan exactly seems to be, I feel Walden let go of my waist. I gasp as I slip down a bit but then feel him firmly grab me by my wrist. He starts to sway me around.

He’s going to throw me in the crowd. This might hurt.

But what about him?!

But soon enough as I’m swayed in the air I am let go and fly towards the crowd, barely missing the edge of the top of the rainbow maker. With a yell I land on the crowd, arms and hands grab at me and lower me to the ground as I hear grunts and ‘ows’... sorry guys.

As I stand to my feet, nearly tripping on one of the workers who seems to have gotten knocked over. I look up to Walden, he’s still dangling from the railway, looking at me. Making sure everything’s alright. He then seems to look up and think about how to approach the situation. He seems to have something click, and it seems he aims to be caught by the crowd as well as he starts to swing himself a bit. But his plan seems to fall through and I see terror in his face as the walkway starts to completely fall down, breaking off of the one it was still attached to, as Walden ends up nearly falling in the rainbow maker. I scream as he lands on the side of it, his upper body leaning over the edge and I see him quickly shove himself away from it. He goes falling backwards and hits a pipe with a loud grunt and then lands on a bunch of boxes and other metal boxed supplies. Then finally landing on the ground with a tumble as he groans in pain. I rush over, calling his name loudly as I shove workers out of my way. Sorry again.

Managing over to him, he’s laying on the ground, on his stomach with his limbs slightly sprawled out. I kneel down and hover my hands near him, I’m not sure how I should approach this. “I think I broke a few ribs..” I hear him struggle to say as he coughs a wheeze. “I imagine.” is all I say as I look behind me at the workers, they approach with a few, in what seems to be, medic outfits. Good. We have people who can help.

They speak to Walden trying to figure out how bad the damage is, “Can you walk?” “No.” “Does it hurt to move?” “Yes.” “Are you dizzy?” “Very.” Is all I hear as they bring a stretcher and move him on it. He gives pained yells and grunts as they flip him on his back and carefully raise the stretcher to then start their way towards I assume the medical room.

As they arrive there, some direct me to a room where I can watch but they prefer me to not be in the room. I go with it and watch them through a glass wall. Walden is laid on a metal table as he is holding his ribs with an arm, he seems to be speaking to them but I can't hear. The medics start preparing, bringing out needed equipment; disinfectants of all kinds, tools, and stuff to help clean up like cotton balls and rags. They strip him of his shirt, quickly but clearly trying to be gentle. All I can do is watch and pay attention to his reaction as they don't seem to have any monitors for heart rate and whatnot. Please for the love of god be able to handle this.

As his shirt is now removed, they grab some tools and put a mask on him connected to a tube. I assume it’s anesthesia. They start cutting into his skin… felt?, I grimace but notice it does in fact look to be some sort of cloth for his skin. There’s somehow some scars on his body and the arm with the prosthetic looks rather torn up. Jesus, what happened? There’s a rather deep scar that looks like something scratched him on his chest.

He undergoes surgery and I decide to step out, I didn’t really want to see whatever there was to see. He seemed in pain and he mentioned having felt as though he broke his ribs before. So he has organs? This is confusing. Maybe I’ll ask him about it sometime after. -

Hours go by, maybe four? I wasn’t keeping track, I felt heavy anxiety and worry. I was pacing around the factory, asking anyone and everyone if there was anything I could do around to help. No luck, everyone was very busy and didn’t seem to be looking for any help. So I went to my office and opened my laptop, if I have no work to do I guess I can do some grocery shopping or something? I don’t know. I just want to be distracted from Walden being in pain and undergoing surgery. I’ve been in this worried state for hours, feeling as though I’m gonna puke as my head spins with anxiety. Thankfully it was the last hour I had to wait as I hear the door to his office click and some groaning of pain. I shoot out of my seat as I practically run over to the door to my room, and hurry over to his office. I stand in the doorway as I watch him sit down clenching his teeth, a staff member is helping him sit. “Ah- Walden.” I mumble as I watch. He looks at me as his eyes look me up and down, “No injuries?” I shake my head, “I’m fine. H-how bad… nevermind. It’s insensitive to ask sorry.” My eyes shoot to the floor as I sheepishly shuffle my feet walking over. The employee leaves, closing the door. I look back up at him, as I approach his desk, placing my fingers on the edge of it as I look to him with worry, he has his eyebrows furrowed. Seems confused. “Uhm- I don’t really know what to say or do. I have no work and I’m very worried about you.” Is all I say as his facial features soften, “To answer your question: It’s pretty bad. Broke almost half of my ribs and fractured several other bones. The general right side of my body is bruised up. It hurts. But it’s not like I didn’t have my arm ripped off by a tree. So I’m pretty expectant of the pain. I’m currently waiting on my employees to fetch me my car keys so I can get to an actual hospital. These injuries are beyond my medical team’s capabilities.” He seemed to be about to continue as one of his hands is holding his side, I cut him off, “W-what- let me drive you. Huh? Ambulance?”, Tree?, “Too Expensive. I paid for this factory to be built and look at the condition. I can’t afford an ambulance ride.” “What about the surgery?” “That’s a have too. There aren't any other options.” “Well then let me drive you. Jesus christ.” I say as I head to my room to grab my keys.

Returning to his office, I hurry over to him and reach my arms out to help him stand up, “How should I grab you to help you walk?” He groans as he slowly, with some wincing, stands up. He grips onto my shoulder for a moment to help himself, in which I grab his arm to make sure he’s alright… enough. He manages to stand up after having to pause and pant for a few seconds. We go for the usual arm around the shoulder approach. This seem to seriously hurt him as he groans louder, clutching at his ribs, and clenches his teeth with a hiss, “Fuck. Be gentle.” I just look to him worried, “I’m trying… the sooner we get there the sooner you’ll be in… less pain. So come on.” He just gives me a bit of a growl for scolding him a bit before we go ahead and start walking to the outside of the factory and my car. I then finally realized he never let me get more gas so it doesn't have enough, “Ah- I’m gonna have to drive your car. I don’t have gas.” I said in a tone that I was poking at the fact he never let me get any. He narrowed his eyes at me as I gave a ‘oh darn!’ face, but then reached into his pocket and gave me his keys. We moved over to his car as I helped him into the passenger side and then I got in the driver’s side. Starting the car, and then going ahead and starting our way to the hospital.

Chapter Text

A decent drive to the hospital before we finally arrive.

When we do, I park as close to the entrance as I can, but it still ends up being a bit of a walk. The parking lot is pretty full, is everyone dying today or what.

Exiting the car, I hear him start coughing, and once we meet behind the car, I see blood on his hand. Oh god. I try to say something as my voice quivers in worry, “Walden-” but he cuts me off. “It’s fine. We are here anyways.” I give a sigh, “Right.. come on.” Returning to him wrapping his arms on my shoulder for walking, we go ahead and make our way to the doors of the hospital.

As we enter I get him to the front desk and have him use the counter to balance his standing, he’s feeling worse by the second as he’s wobbling more. Must be getting dizzy. Once he latches onto the counter, he starts coughing violently and blood leaks from his mouth and onto the floor. The desk worker shoves a clipboard with a paper to me, as she picks up a phone hurriedly, “Is- he alright? Does he need immediate surgery?” I nodded quickly with a worried look and she got the message as she called people to come help Walden.

After about thirty seconds, some workers with one of those beds on wheels, rushed over. Walden waited for their help before moving to grab onto the bed. With their assistance by holding onto his upper arms, he went ahead and sat onto the bed in order to then position himself to lay down. Groaning and grunting in pain during so of course. Once he was ready they went ahead and rolled him off to where he needed to go. I was then told to fill out the paper and wait a few hours.

And at that I did, it was a long night. After spending an hour trying to fill out his paperwork, I ended up having to call the factory to have some staff grab some of Walden’s legal information. I got what I could filled in and turned it into the hospital. How long exactly am I going to be expected to wait here? What about the factory? Am I allowed to leave using Walden's car? I have no idea. All I know I can do is wait for Walden to be alright, especially thanks to scrolling on my phone till it died. -

Hours passed by and a Doctor came up to me finally, as I was on the edge of falling asleep in the uncomfortable plastic chair they had in the waiting room. “Mr. Darling is doing well. We’ve got his ribcage back in place and stable with rods and his inner organs are all healthy.” ‘Mr. Darling?’ Oh shit that’s right, his full name is Walden Darling, weird name heh. He’d fucking skin me alive for that comment.

I nod to the doctor and thank him, I sigh and ask how much longer is expected and he seemed to gain a worried look. “Ah… we apologize for the wait. Going home or somewhere else for the next few hours might be good for you?” “As much as I appreciate that, I can’t. I’d just like to know when I can expect to be able to talk to Walden.” The doctor gave a bit of a confused expression before nodding gently, and fidgeting with something in his pocket, “Likely four to eight more hours. The rest of the surgery will take about four hours, but him waking up can take four hours or longer within itself. It really depends on him at that point.” Giving a nod and a sigh, “Gotcha. Alright… thanks.” With that, the doctor nodded and walked off as he returned from the direction he came from.

I sighed to myself as I sat back down in the uncomfortable chair, but a few seconds in I stood right back up with a grumble. Nope, no thanks. I need fresh air. I head out of the hospital to just follow the sidewalk around it, the large automatic doors opened though it was dark outside. A cool chill crawled around my body and encased it as I stepped outside.

I looked up at the sky, stars lit up in patterns and memories. It’s beautiful. Definitely better than waiting in the bustling and blandly uncomfortable lobby. I started my small walk around the entrance as I watched the sidewalk below me. The chill of the night felt nice, but the anxiety and worry about Walden had its warm sting across my body. I just wanted to go back to the factory with him already.

Hours going by as I pace around the outside of the hospital, sleeping in the backseat of Walden’s car, and use some change to buy snacks from the vending machines. It felt like I was waiting forever, like it’d never fucking end. Like he’d just be stuck in this hospital, never wake up, and never get better. My worry only grew as the time went on. I felt more and more lonely too. I miss Walden…

As I was sitting in the passenger seat of his car, just kind of staring into the parking lot of the hospital, I suddenly hear a knock on the window. My head was leaning on it and I shot up. I looked to see a doctor as I opened the door and stood to talk to him. “Mr. Darling is awake and ready to speak with you. I’m sure he’ll appreciate your waiting.” Finally ! and with that, I shut the car door, locked the car, and started jogging to the hospital entrance.

Entering back in the hospital almost felt nauseating but this time I wasn’t going to be waiting in the lobby. I went up to the front desk, “I would like to see Walden please.” “What’s Walden’s last name please?” “Oh- right, sorry- Darling. Walden Darling.” The receptionist nodded, clicked around on her computer, and then looked to me, “And your name?” “ [ Redacted ] .” She nodded and clicked around more, “You’re visiting as..?” “Uh… friend.” She then hit a button and some noises from a machine started. Then what sounded like printing before she handed me a sticker with my name and “Visitor ; friend” on it. I nodded, thanked her, and then was given direction to where he was staying. The second I got it all I hurried my ass to his room.

When I made it to the doors I took a minute to catch my breath, neatened myself up, and changed from an excited smile to a serious-casual look.

I went ahead and opened the door as I stepped in. Looking in, me and Walden immediately lock eyes as I watch his expression change from annoyance to relief. “ [ Redacted ] ...” I tried my best to hold a serious look but I definitely felt a small smile twitch once or twice, “Walden. How are you feeling?” He scoffed as his eyes scanned the room, the machines, and his own body, which is currently in a hospital gown, “Gaining some new scars… you?” The sarcasm in his light tone clear. I nodded with a weak smile from his usual attitude.

His eyes remained on me as I moved to stand beside him, “At least you're not dead. Who’s going to threaten the workers at the factory then.” My tone returning the sarcasm. He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms gently, and I could see the caution in his movements, “You’ve been waiting.” I mumbled my response, “Not like I had a choice. But yes, I waited. And I’m very glad you’re all better.” He scoffed and looked down, “I’m sure you’re disappointed you don’t get to steal all of my shit and run away.” His voice low. He sounded sad. I tried to assure him, “If you die, where am I going to go? I’m sure you’re not the main boss behind the whole factory. I’d have to deal with them if you went away, I’d rather not. I like my little gig at the factory. I live rent free and get paid, what could be better?” I say genuinely as he looked at me in distrust. “Hm. Neither of us have been at the factory for days though, it’s gonna need some maintenance when I get back.” I nod, “Yeah… but I’m sure no one has di- I’m sure everything is fine. Your workers aren't that incapable…. Right?” He didn't give a response, paired with a look of uncertainty and a hint of worry.

Oh dear.

He yawned and winced as he groaned, “I just want out of here, but they’re going to require a few more days before I can go.” I nodded. “Anything I can do?” He thought for a moment before he sighed and shook his head, “No.” I nodded, “Alright. Well, as I’m not about to sit in the hospital’s uncomfortable ass chairs, I ask to go to the factory. I can do your paperwork and take care of the employees and whatever else. You have your phone right?” He nodded. He looks so tired and worn out, I feel bad but he probably wants to be alone if anything right now.

I use a hand to gently pat his arm in a friendly manner as I turn to leave. He places a hand on mine for a moment, a tender touch as he looks at me. I give a soft and small smile, “You’ll be alright.” He twitches a smirk, “Are you trying to reassure me or yourself.” I just give a scoff, “Oh shush. Is it bad that I’m worried about you?” I shuffle a little to return to my previous stance next to him as he rubs his fingers against my hand, “Kind of odd is all. I’m not very nice to you.” I shrug but he takes my hand from his shoulder to simply hold it in his hands, “And your liking towards my cruelty to you is definitely not normal. You need therapy.” I gave an offended look as I grasped his hand to gently wiggle it in the air, “Don’t recommend me therapy, Mr. homicidal puppet.” His little smirk remained as he rolled his eyes with a warm, small, smile.

He once again grabbed my hand with both of his as he wrapped them around mine. His thumbs gently rubbing my palm and index finger. “Mmmm.” Is all he gave, the tone to his hum sounded defeated. I tried pulling my hand away once again but he basically snatched my hand this time, “Would you quit it.” he said snippy, as he then interlocked his hand to mind and wrapped his other around the hold. I couldn't help but to be surprised and a bit flustered at the motion.

I sighed with a small giggle, “I thought you would want to be alone if anything right now, but you seem like you want me to stay. Hm?” He just looked around the room for a moment before looking up at me, “Yes.” I smiled as I sighed, “Alright, I’ll stay. But I’m not sitting in those chairs, let me ask the staff if there’s anything more comfortable.” He gave a gentle tug to my hand, “Why don’t you just sit with me. This bed is huge.” I chuckled, “I dont think I'm supposed to sit on the patient's bed, Walden.” But he just started to scooch himself to make room.

My goodness.

His clingy side is cute though…

I wasn't going to turn down his persistence, as once he made enough room, I went ahead and climbed up next to him. As I sat there I turned to face him a little, he immediately leaned over and laid his head on my shoulder with a huff. I was rather shocked and even further flustered, but I just felt bad for him.I go ahead and lay my head on his and shuffle a little to get comfy. It was very comforting after all,

it gives my heart a slight buzz to be honest… not sure what that exactly means… but I like it.

He seemed like he needed someone right now, I’m glad I can be here for him.

♡♢♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♢♡♡♡♢♢♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♡♢♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♡♢♡♡♢♡♡♢♢♡♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♢♡♢♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♢♡♡♡♢♢♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♢♡♡♡♡♢♢♢♢♡♡♡♡

Chapter 13: Temporary Ownership Of The Factory

As we laid there, Walden breathed slowly as I felt myself getting tired. I gave a small yawn as I felt a hand cup my cheek and Walden lifted his head, “ [ Redacted ] .” I looked to him as we were laying together very close. I whispered a “yes?”

Chapter Text

Helloooo.

I've finally come to at least do some small editing on the current chapters. I don't know if I'll do any official big time edits yet. Maybe some corrections that I can find, but I'm trying to save all the huge edits till a few more chapters.

As for upcoming chapters; I'm unsure when I'll continue this adorable fanfic. My motivation for this fanfiction that I've started is still rather gone, my total writing motivation is rather low.

My focus is still set on my personal life stuff, as a new adult it's very stressful, takes up a lot of my energy. I as me don't have much energy in the first place to be honest. bleh. I'm especially trying to work on my sleeping schedule and being more productive during the day, it would help out with everything a lot. I just have some wee issues that make me go and lay down instead of actually doing anything. grr.

Hopefully my motivation rises and I can fix my personal issues to have more energy and time. I will post little status updates when I can, if you all care, but for the most part I see it being a nother several months before I return. Probably longer if I start college soon.

Much love to you all ! See you next time. ^^

Chapter Text

As we laid there, Walden breathed slowly, and I felt myself getting tired. I gave a small yawn, as I felt a cold metal touch my cheek, Walden's hand. Walden lifted his head as he gave a near whisper,“ [ Redacted ] .” I looked to him as we laid together in the hospital bed. I whispered a ‘yes?’ and as I shifted my head to look him in the eyes, he spoke in a low raspy grumble for his voice, “... thank you. You’ve helped me a lot. I may have only known you a few weeks, but you’ve been great. I’d really like you to stay with me and the factory for a while longer.”

As I processed his words I felt a faint blush on my cheeks and my eyes watered a little, “Awe… Walden.” I laid my head, with my cheek pressing against his forehead, on his as I gave a gentle nuzzle, “I think I’d be glad to stay for a while longer. The factory seems to seriously need some help right now, what would it do without your assistant.” I say with some tease, before I feel Walden’s hand grip the side of my face, giving a small tug to get me close to him, before he suddenly kisses me.

All I know at the moment is I can feel my heart racing, taste a faint flavor of cigarettes, smell coffee, feel cold metal holding my face, all as my lips touch very soft ones. They weren't cold nor warm. Just soft with a bitter taste. But something about me enjoyed it. I felt a very warm blush hit my cheeks as I leaned in. I closed my eyes and pressed my face deeper into the kiss. One of my hands reached to touch at his neck, gently gliding up towards his cheek, but residing on gently holding his jawline. His skin was truly soft all over, nearly fuzzy… like felt. But not quite. We held this for a bit of a moment before breaking away and as I opened my eyes I saw a very energized,… or happy?... looking, Walden staring up at me. I didn't entirely know what to say or do, I dropped my hand, as did he, and flickered eye contact with his burning red ones and the rest of the room. His eyes were quite the sight, sharp and pretty. They were a bright crimson red, currently rather wide open, looking very approving of the current situation. After a quick moment of silence he went back to the previous position as he rested his head on my shoulder, this time giving a small nuzzle the way I previously did. I smiled softly to myself, though I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I've learned something new about myself today.

The next day I headed to the factory and straight to Walden's desk to do some paperwork. He wasn't exaggerating on the amount he had to do. I began to organize it all into what I could and shred whatever needed shredded. Some of the workers reported needs of meals, new uniforms, and tools. I gave Walden a call and he gave me access to his work debit card. He seems to have a lot of trust in me lately. Hehe. Looking into the account to start the calculations, he has so much money saved up for the factory.ulations, Walden has A LOT of money saved up for the factory. He could definitely be spending some of it, make things a bit better around here. I went ahead and started a little chart, writing on some notepads, having to use a calculator. I spent a long long time coming up with prices for everything we need and need to fix,

It was nearly a week that passed that Walden was in the hospital. I stayed by his side most of the time, heading to the factory after getting his permission once or twice. He seemed to grow slightly clingy as time passed, he didnt favor me being away, whenever I returned I was either given the silent treatment or scolded for something completely random.

Today I returned to the hospital and upon entering Waldens room I went up to him and handed him a coffee, which he refused to take, “You're being discharged in a few hours. Isnt that great, do you feel all better?” As I looked to him, set his coffee on the nightstand and then looked at him annoyed as he was avoiding eyecontact and not speaking. “Silent treatment again?...” No response. I gave a sigh as I sat on the edge on his bed, “Fine, we don't need to talk… or cuddle… or kiss.” At my last comment I could see his head turn out of the corner of my eye. He stared at me with a confused yet frustrated look, then grabbed his coffee cup and drank out of it. Then he finally speaks, “My breathing has improved.” I look to him happily, “Thats good. No pain?” He shrugs. I give a pat to his leg, “You'll be alright.” He nods and then gently grabs my hand to hold, rubbing his thumb across my fingers. “Okay I have to ask.” I say, he raises an eyebrow. “Felt?” I question as I give a squeeze to his hand. He look at our hands as he seems to think, “Kind of.” I look to him, waiting for elaboration, none was given. I give a huff and then move my hand from his to place it on his face in a ‘bap’, “Explain. Elaborate.” I say and he calmly removes my hand, “I dont have one.”...”Oh… no?”...”No.”...”Oh. Okay.” I take my hand back and try to stand up but he then quickly grabs my hand and yanks me back down and towards him. I look to him for an explanation, he wraps a hand around my waist and moves me closer to him, enough to stare me in the eyes with a demanding look. “What.?” He huffs, “I responded.” I stare at him blankly for a moment before I snap to an “ahh” and then give a small chuckle. Then leaning quickly towards him, he immediately accepted as a quick peck was exchanged. I chuckle again, “Happy?” And he sighed as he leans into my shoulder and nods. I give one last small chuckle as I lean in and press my face against his hair, whispering, “I gotta go, my love.” Walden rather quickly sits up and looks at me in surprise, I don't exactly know what that was for. His face is a bit red as I stand up and start walking out. “Bye bye, I'll come pick you up later.” He gives me a small and disappointed wave.