Work Text:
Doorknob. Made from the increasingly common choice of stainless steel.
Click.
My eyebrows furrow as I listen to the loud creaking of the door that - - hm. We should replace those hinges. Making a mental note to speak to Shuichi about it, I enter the room, bracing myself for-
Low-quality notepad. Found most commonly-
Empty water bottle. Recyclable in at least 40 countries as of-
Posable spinosaurus figure. $15 at-
30-inch flat screen-
Masking tape. Useful for-
I close my eyes in a futile attempt to clear the pop up-like thoughts flooding my head as I enter our room. I would be lying if I said this feature was not useful. However, it’s calm moments like this where it truly isn’t needed.
It takes me a moment to re-open my eyes. I have no word to describe my constant state of analysis. Bearable? Nerve-wracking? Chaotic?
Difficult. Needing much effort or skill to-
“Stop,” I mutter under my breath, re-opening my eyes and-
“Stop what?”
Shuichi. 37,603 results regarding “Shuichi.”
I yelp and step back, nearly hitting the door, had I not calculated my distance from it when I walked in. Shuichi chuckles and tilts his head slightly.
“S-Shuichi, hi.”
He smiles. He smiles that dopey, warm smile that I can’t help but return.
“Hi,” he repeats fondly, I glance to the side.
Laundry basket. Used for-
Carpet. A common beige found in most western-
I shut my eyes again, huffing in.. annoyance.
“..Are you okay?”
Right.
“Can you turn the light off?”
I can almost envision the raise of his eyebrow, but after a moment-
The average human reaction time is about 0.2-
.. I hear his quiet footsteps becoming further, and a small click, before they come back.
I open my eyes again.
Sunlight. Light from-
..I shut my eyes again, tightly. Am I shaking?
“Woah, hey. What’s going on?”
I feel him grab me by the shoulders, but his touch is hesitant.
Concern. To worry (someone-
Taking a shaking exhale, I lean back to stabilize myself on the door.
“I- I don’t-“ My voice is no louder than a mumble. It may as well be, really. I hear him fumble over his words for a moment, as if he’s unsure of what to say.
“..Is it a feeling? Can.. Can you describe it-?”
Describe. To give an account in-
“Loud-“ I ball my fists. His grip on my gets a little tighter.
Reassure. To say or do something to-
I move my hands to my face, gripping the fake, plastic hair that falls in front of my eyes as I sink to the floor. My breath shakes. I hear him follow me, sitting on the ground in front of me and gently prying my hands away.
Panic. Sudden uncontrollable fear or-
I feel heavy, an intense anxiety washing over me for no real reason.
Panic. Sudden uncontrollable-
“Kiibo, Kiibo- Calm down. Kiibo, hey-“
He taps at my cheek a few times, and I look up at him with wide eyes.
Panic-
“Kiibo, you’re overwhelmed, you need to breathe, or. No, you need-“
Overwhelm. To give-
I shut my eyes.
Warning. Intense distress may lead-
My breathing speeds up.
Warning. Intense distress-
What is this?
Warning-
I hate this feeling.
Emergency shutdown activated. 15 seconds to-
I vaguely hear Shuichi speaking, but what he says is a mystery.
12 seconds to-
I can’t do it today.
8 seconds-
Why is today any different?
4-
2- -
..
….
….….
….….….….
….….….….….….….….
….…K..bo-?..
…Kii-o…
“Ay, Keebler!”
I feel a sharp hit to my head and startle awake with a faux gasp.
“W-What-“ I glance up to see.. Miu?
…
I glance up to.. see…
…..
Um.
“You scared yer’ wife,” she grins, holding a roll of papers, most likely what she hit me with. I turn to see..
I turn to..
…
I turn to see Shuichi, in all his - upset - glory. He doesn’t look mad, just.. upset.
What’s the word for that?
Worry. To give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.
..Ah, there it is.
“Hi,” I mutter under my breath. He smiles.
…
“..Okay, what’s going on? It’s all-“ I wave a hand in front of my face. “-Quiet.”
“Then it worked! A-plus for me!” Miu exclaims, clapping her hands together as if to say ‘we’re done here’ and walking to the other side of her lab to put away the papers she was holding.
“Um,” Shuichi begins. “We spent a few hours looking through your code. Turns out you were processing and analyzing stuff, like.. way too fast. That on top of basically having a search engine-- um. Anyways, I- I think it’s fixed now? So..”
He shrugs, and I blink, looking around the room.
…
“..It’s. Quiet.” I breathe, looking back at him in disbelief. “So.. that wasn’t how people normally think?”
He shakes his head.
“I’d say normally, it’s more ‘emotion’ than analysis. I don’t know the.. sciency stuff for it, but- like. um-“
“People don’t think every second of every day.” Miu interrupts. “There are exceptions to that, like feeling a lot of worry, being excited, working on something that takes thought. All we had to do was find the right balance of ‘thought’ and ‘emotion.’
“Don’t worry, though. Enough thought about one topic and you’ll still be able to use that Brain Google if ya’ need it.” She pats my head.
"...Oh."
I mutter, my brows furrowing. To say this is a bad change would be a lie. This is a very big quality of life upgrade for myself, after all, but not being able to give answers instantly makes me, ah....
Normal?
Maybe.
...
..
"What if we had like .. Well no that'd be dumb. I think if we moved the room around it'd look nice but not now. Definitely not."
"Mhmm."
I lay next to Shuichi as he continues his tirade of tired, unfinished thoughts. I never really know what he's saying half the time. I just like hearing him.
"Yeah? Okay what if.. hey, what if you had a desk riggghtt next to mine? So we can hold hands? But mine has to be on the left I'm not ambidextrous."
"That'd be nice."
I murmur. I enjoy his presence when he's like this, completely unfiltered; because his filter doesn't stop things that aren't appropriate. Those are usually never there to begin with. It's just thoughts about nothing. About everything. About whatever was on his mind. It's how I'm sure he isn't secretly loathing this. Humans are... complex. You never truly know.
"Why didn't you um. Tell me about your brain going crazy?" He asks. I blink.
"..Good question." Is the best response I can give. And it truly is. Why I assumed my constant thoughts were normal is beyond me.
"Word of advice ..
Keeping that in? gnarly. When we were going through your brain I died inside."
"What-?"
"I dunno what I'm saying," He giggles. And I believe it.
I do wonder just how much he's been working for him to be this tired. We haven't had much time together as of late. I make a mental note to remind him of such in the morning.
"I think you should rest," I utter, and he huffs.
"Only if you do first."
"..Um. No, you first please."
And he listens without argument, which I find amusing. I'm not entirely sure why.
It doesn't matter.
Shuichi. 37,608 results regarding “Shuichi.”