Chapter Text
“I swear I can do it this time!” the winged man said. A daring grin spread on his face, as he stood directly in front of the threshold.
“ Heart , I do not recommend—“
Crash, Snap, Thump, Boom. Heart immediately fell down the staircase.
“Dear god…” Mind shook his head, as he followed Heart’s direction in a more graceful manner.
Heart appeared to have broken at least sixteen bones. Despite this, he still gave Mind a beaming thumbs up. “I did it right?”
Mind sighed, and said something that his machinery registered as a mumble. “Sure, whatever, just get up.”
Rather than struggling to his feet, Heart merely lifted his arm, like he expected Mind to pull him up.
“I’m not picking you up, Heart .” He rolled his eyes and shoved his mechanical hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
“Mmph,” Heart murmured through the carpet. He began to flail his large, feathery wings in protest. Mind pulled his hand to his screen, as a wave of feathers hit him directly in the face.
“Guys, what was that—“ Soul burst into the room. Soul’s previously furrowed eyebrows released, as he glanced at Heart , then at Mind, then back again, and he tried (and failed) to suppress a slight chuckle.
“Hey, Soul . Can you help this idiot stand up?” Mind’s mouth was still etched into a frown, but you could hear a hint of playfulness in his computerized voice.
“Not an idiot!” Heart chimed, ruffling his wings to an obnoxious degree. Fluffy white feathers began to litter the ground, and a few had even stuck in Mind’s outfit by now.
“Fell down the stairs?” Soul asked, though he already knew the answer.
“Yep,” Mind sighed.
“Ah, well,” Soul began, raising his bare index finger in the air like a cartoonish school teacher. “ Logically—“ he put emphasis on the word ‘logically,’ which made Mind scoff— “you’re closer to Heart than I am. Therefore, it would take less stamina for you to help him, rather than force me to walk aaaaalllllllllll the way over there—”
“God I hate you.”
“—So I’ll let you take care of this one. Cya!” Before Mind could argue, Soul was already gone.
“One of these days, I’m going to put a gun in my mouth,” Mind muttered.
Heart seemed to stop flailing for a moment, and appeared intrigued to what Mind had said. “I can help with that,” Heart murmured. Unnervingly, Heart was only half-joking.
Mind scowled, as he remembered Heart’s futile attempt at killing him all those years ago. “Just get up.”
“Ok.” A few silent seconds passed by, before Heart slowly raised his arm again.
Mind somehow frowned even more, but knew there was no debating with his emotional counterpart. He grunted, as he forcefully grabbed Heart’s arm and heaved him up.
“Ow!” Heart squeaked, “I think you might’ve dislocated something, Jesus.”
“You’ll walk it off,” Mind groaned.
Heart stretched once he finally managed to stand. Apparently his broken bones had mended themself within a minute, which baffled Mind. He ruffled his wings once more, and the feathers somehow managed to lay straight again. His hand reached to touch his face, and he froze, feeling around his face for something.
“Oh, Mind, where is my blindfold?” Heart turned towards Mind, and Mind furrowed his glowing eyebrows at the sight of Heart’s bare face. It’d been so long since… nevermind.
“It’s—“ Mind spotted a black cloth on the ground, and quickly picked it up— “It’s right here.” Mind handed Heart the blindfold in a slightly pushy manner.
“Thanks,” Heart said. He wrapped the blindfold around his eyes, and tied the knot with ease. Heart’s mouth creeped into a line, like there was something more he wanted to say. “Mind?”
“Why must we continue this interaction? I have much better things to do elsewhere—“
“ Mind .”
“WHAT? WHAT OTHER THING COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT?”
Heart flinched at Mind’s voice, and raised his hands defensively. Mind took a deep breath.
“…What do you want now?”
Heart seemed shaken, but continued with his question. “Can you take me into the kitchen? I could do it myself if it bothers you so much, but it’s easier with someone else nearby.”
“Yeah, sure. Yeah.” Mind wrapped his arm around Heart’s, and pulled him into the kitchen, Heart stumbling slightly behind.
Mind found Soul leaning against the counter, chugging an entire gallon of apple juice.
“Soul, what are you doing?” Mind released Heart’s arm, and Heart began slowly feeling around the room for something.
Soul didn’t break his chugging session.
“What’s Soul doing?” Heart asked.
Mind raised his eyebrows in a comical way, though he knew Heart couldn’t see his gesture. “To me, it looks like somebody is about to spill a few quarts of apple juice on his shirt.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.” After this remark, Heart continued his search in the kitchen.
Mind held up three metalic fingers. “In three, two, one…”
“Gah!” Soul sputtered and failed, sending apple juice pouring to the floor.
“Called it.”
“Shut it, brain boy.” Soul upturned the half-emptied container, and set it on the counter, not looking away from Mind’s gaze.
Mind smirked. “You’re closest, you know.”
Soul began to back away from the scene, wearing a mischievous grin on his face. “I’ve sure been doing a lot of work today.” Soul wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from his forehead. “How about Heart takes care of it this time, ehh?” Soul reached over, and pushed Heart towards the scene of the crime.
Heart instinctively tried to grip the countertops as he sensed he was getting pushed somewhere. “Whoa whoa whoa, what’s going o-“ Heart began turning around frantically, and almost immediately slipped on the apple juice puddle, sending him flying into the table.
Both Mind and Soul chuckled.
“…Idiots,” Mind mumbled jokingly, bracing himself against a wall.
“Heart, what did you do, you clumsy man?” Soul laughed.
“What, huh?? What’d I do??” Heart’s face slowly turned into that of genuine concern, as he tried to process the situation.
Mind stared at Heart’s helpless self for a moment longer, before turning to Soul . “You’ll still need to clean that up.”
Soul sighed. “Yeah.” He reached over, and grabbed Heart’s wrist, pulling him out of the slippery mess.
“What did I do?” Heart turned his head in the direction he believed Soul to be, his mouth curved into a frown. His blindfold started becoming wet, and Mind sighed. When Heart started crying, he usually wouldn’t stop.
“Oh, uh—“ Soul glanced away from Heart for a moment— “It was a joke. You didn’t do anything, I promise.”
“Oh, ok.” Heart loosened. Heart felt around a little more, before walking towards the area he’d stood in prior, while Soul ran out of the room to grab a mop.
Heart then began feeling behind the fridge.
“I don’t think you’ll be finding whatever you’re looking for—“
“There it is!” Heart exclaimed, as he carefully pulled some kind of squeaky packaging from the back of the fridge.
Mind cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“I’ve been storing these behind the fridge.” Heart grinned, revealing an afamed orange bag, which was decorated by a radical cheetah wearing sneakers. Cheetos. “And now they’re mine.”
“Those were Soul’s.” Mind observed.
“‘Were.’ But not anymore. They’re mine.”
“Alright bucko, but I am going to tell Soul about this when he gets back.”
Heart promptly opened the bag, and grabbed a handful of Cheetos. He stuffed them in his mouth before Mind could get a word in, and raised his wings defiantly.
“It’s settled then; you’re dead.”
Heart responded by eating another large handful at once. The bag was already mostly empty, and Mind assumed that it would be gone when Soul came back.
A smirk formed on Mind’s face. “That bastard deserves it,” he mumbled.
Mind and Heart both jumped when Soul came rushing in, practically kicking the door down. “WHO THE FUCK IS EATING MY CHEETOS?” Soul screamed.
Heart froze, with another large handful in his hands. He slowly, temptingly shoved it in his mouth, with a nervous smile on his face.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Soul dashed towards Heart in a frenzy, ripping the bag out of his hands. He felt the bag, and tipped the bag upside down, and fell down to his knees in mourning when the only things that fell out were a bunch of orange crumbs. “No, no, no…” Soul mumbled dramatically, “What did you do to them..?” He glared up at Heart , who’s breathing had become fast and shaky from the sudden eruption of action.
“I… ate them?”
“NOOOOO!” Soul began to sob, as he slammed his gloved fist against the floor. “Why… why me…”
Mind scoffed. “What.”
“What do you mean ‘what’? We’ve witnessed a terrible loss today.” Soul looked up from his kneeling, his eyes red.
“You might as well be called ‘The Stomach’ if you keep this up,” Mind remarked, walking over to Heart. He patted Heart’s shoulder in a slight attempt to comfort him.
“You know, you—“ Soul pointed a finger at Mind — “You can shush. With your sarcastic comments and your witty knowledge.”
Heart giggled, and fluffed his wings. He was certainly enjoying their banter.
“Y’know, sure. Why not? You never listen to me anyways. Now where’s the mop?”
“It’s—“ Soul faltered. “I forgot to get it.”
“Of course you forgot to get it.”
“Hey, what’d I say about those sarcastic comments?” Soul said. He shot lighthearted finger guns at Mind, and smirked.
Mind furrowed his eyebrows. “Ugh, I don’t even know why I still talk to you guys.”
“Probably because you’re unable to stop,” Heart said quietly.
“Shut up.”
“Heart is right. We’re bound together by some tether none of us could even begin to comprehend. Most certainly, we were created together, though for what purpose? I am unsure. But, I believe we, together, are a whole, and losing one of us would be detrimental to our whole. It’s probably not even possible to break our psychological bond, considering these circumstances.” Soul paused for a few moments. “—And we’re under house arrest.”
“We’re what ?”
“Under house arrest,” Soul repeated.
“WHAT?” Mind shouted.
“Under house arre—“
“How is that even possible?!” He swung his arms out, with an absolutely dumbfounded expression. “We are physically unable to go outside! Look at this place!” Mind gestured towards the living room, and Soul momentarily stepped out.
Their house, which looked a lot like your average suburban home, didn't have any doors or windows. Soul couldn’t remember if there ever were any doors or windows, come to think of it. Peculiar.
“Magic,” Soul reasoned, with a smug look.
“That’s it. I’m done with you guys.” Mind scoffed, frowning. “You’re giving me a headache.”
Mind stomped out of the kitchen, his back turned to Heart and Soul . The duo was silent until they heard the loud Slam! of a door, and knew Mind was busy sulking in his room.
“Soul?” Heart whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Why is Mind so agitated all the time?”
Soul sighed. “He… has a lot of weight on his shoulders. I’m sure he isn’t always so broody.”
“Hmm.” Heart thought about that for a moment. “Don’t all of us?”
“Well, yes, but him especially,” Soul explained. “It takes a lot of work to craft a mind. For you and me, a lot of what we do comes naturally, but using a mind often takes work. Effort.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Heart agreed. He nodded his head, and leaned against the counter. “It’s pretty funny to irk him though.” Heart grinned.
Soul chuckled. “I hate to admit it, but yeah. He can be pretty entertaining when he’s upset.”
Heart went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “Is there Cheeto dust on my shirt?”
“Yes.” Soul said bluntly.
Heart tugged at his lavender hoodie, suddenly appearing mildly uncomfortable. It would probably stain if it weren’t washed soon. Heart couldn’t exactly see the stain, but he still hated knowing it was there. “I should wash it.”
“Can you wash mine too?” Soul asked. He didn’t seem to process the fact that Heart could say no, and began taking off his soggy winter coat anyways.
“Em— Sure.” Heart frowned slightly as Soul’s apple-smelling jacket landed on his shoulder.
“Great, thanks.” Soul gave Heart a thumbs up, before awkwardly putting his hand in his pocket.
Heart turned around, and cautiously walked out of the kitchen, his arms outstretched in front of him to make sure he didn’t bump into a wall.
Soul reopened the fridge, and grabbed another gallon of apple juice.