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It’s weird, when they wake up, sometimes they feel heavy. Not literally, but still. They had to get up to work in the hotel kitchen; they couldn’t just stay in bed. But they wanted to, though. X tugged at his upper arm, and they groaned. Four pushed X away, making the other sigh. X stared blankly at them before getting up. He seemed uninterested in trying any further. X walked over to their bathroom door and closed it behind them. A wave of nervousness rushed across Four, one he was all too familiar with. Four scrambled to their feet.
“X!” Four called to him. X opened the door slowly, Four putting on his usual blank smile. X frowned and put his hands on his eyes.
“Fouuuuuuurrr…” X whined. Four blinked back.
“Mhhhh, what is it?” They hummed back. X looked confused, scratching his top nub.
“What are you doing?” They asked, waving a hand at them. They just blinked some more, hoping he would forget what had happened quite literally a minute ago. X looked away.
“Never mind,” he said, walking back into the bathroom, but left the door open. Four followed.
X started brushing their teeth and watched in the mirror as Four trotted in, then sat on the floor beside them. X spat in the sink, then started walking out of their apartment. Four hurriedly followed, stepping into the elevator alongside X. Once they got to the right level, they stepped out. Four continued to follow X as they quickly walked all the way to the kitchen, swinging the doors open. X seemed more confident and less upset, so he looked back at Four with a smile.
“You ready?” X sang at him. They paused before putting on their usual aloof smile. The two of them got out the supplies needed, then started their shift. X usually made the sandwiches, while Four made the sides, so they pulled out a cutting board. Then they grabbed a kitchen knife and some veggies, planning to make small salad cups to go with what X was preparing. They washed their hands quicker than physically possible before beginning to chop.
Four knew how to cook, they really did. But today, apparently, they couldn't.
They scowled, chopping the vegetables quickly. He gritted his teeth, slamming the knife down. Why were they so STUPID? So stupid, stupid, STUPID! They scowled and, in an instant, zappied the veggies into a burnt crisp. They put their hands on their eyes and clawed at their face, grunting. Then they felt a soft hand on their back. They whipped around to see X staring at them with a sympathetic look on his face.
“It’s okay, Four,” He hummed, having his usually high-pitched voice grow slightly hushed. They shook him off.
“It’s always okay, X,” They retorted. X frowned and turned back to making sandwiches, seemingly done trying to comfort them. They put a smile back on and spawned new food, taking it slower with cutting them this time. And wow, he could cook again! They wondered why they were even upset earlier. They hummed to themself, proud. But then the anxiety had to strike them again.
Oh math, what if they made X mad? Would he try to leave again? Then again, they were already working at Two’s hotel, so where was he to go? But- still!
Four stretched his arms longer and reached across the room and grabbed X, then reeled him back like a fish. He wrapped the variable in a tight hug, squishing them so hard that it made their doughy texture hiss. X’s expression seemed confused and conflicted, but Four didn’t care in the slightest.
After a moment, they released, and X stumbled away. He looked back to look at Four’s face, trying to find their motives, but couldn't decipher it from their black smile. He seemed even more conflicted, his gaze flickering left and right on the floor before turning back and going to work on the food.
Okay, so now Four was worried. Usually, X brushed their actions off, but something was different. He seemed much more bothered by it this time. They would go to hug him again, but that seemed to be what caused their emotions in the first place, so maybe not the best idea. They started to feel frustrated again.
Why the hell was X mad at them? What could they have possibly done to upset him? He was being stubborn or stuck-up. Wait, where had they heard that before? They swore they heard that definition of a person recently, they wonder who…Oh well! Doesn't matter now, does it? Whatever.
You know what? Screw X. It’s not like he cares about Four anyway. When has he ever shown that he cares about them? They don’t remember a single time. If X doesn’t care about them, then why are they even here? …Why was he here?
Whatever. Whatever. They are better than him, anyway. They are a god, and he’s just someone leeching off them. Maybe that’s why they stayed, to learn his powers, and nothing else. But who were they to judge? They were just as pathetic, if not more than X. At least people liked him. Math, they wanted to be him. Or with him, or maybe he needed to go away. No…he couldn’t leave. Then they’d truly be alone. No one wanted to stick around, for some reason. They never really figured out why.
The next morning, Four felt heavy again. But they decided that they weren’t going to get up. Yes, they had work. Who cares? Surely not X.
X stared as Four flipped from one side to the other, lying with their back to him. X sniffled slightly, rubbing his arms and looking away. He didn’t know what to do.
“Uhm…You can stay home today if you want,” X murmured, shifting uncomfortably.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” They mumbled back, aggressively pulling the blanket up to cover themselves more. X blinked, confused.
“...What does that mean?” X asked, feeling attacked despite not understanding.
“Nothing, X. Yeah, I’ll stay here,” They replied as they stilled in bed. X frowned but opened the front door, still watching Four.
“Alright. Make sure to eat something, I can bring you a packed lunch if you want..-”
“I can get food myself, X,” Four shot back, which made X sigh. He nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, Four spun to look at them as if they were going to walk back in. For them to apologize to him for being so standoffish.
For a few hours, they lay in bed and did nothing else. No shows, food or drinks, just lying in sorrow. Then, he spawned food. Uninterested in knowing how bad a job he did yesterday, they spawned fast food instead of the food from the kitchen. They ate it in bed, which would normally have X fuming. But since they were powerful, they could fix it with the snap of a finger once they were done eating. Maybe. Sometimes their powers didn’t work when they were like this; they didn’t know why.
Once Four was done with one bag of food, they spawned another, along with the remote. He turned on BFDI and got snuggled back in with his large quantities of food. They continued eating new bags until they felt sick. Usually, eating things doesn’t make them sick, but it didn’t matter enough for them to worry about it. Four tried to spawn a bucket to catch anything if they ended up getting sick, although they accidentally spawned a basket. They looked at it and were instantly reminded of X.
And…Uh oh, speak of the devil. No. How long had Four spent lying? At least they ate, like X said they should. X stood there, shocked for a moment at the mess, glancing left and right. Four got up and used their time-bending abilities to clean it all up in mere seconds, then once it was done, lay back down.
“Four, what did you do all day?” X questioned with uncertainty. Four avoided eye contact.
“Why do you care?”
“Why are you being so stubborn?” He cried. They stared back, shocked. They crossed their arms and turned away from them. Then they realized, yeah, that’s exactly what he was talking about. Four whined and turned back to face them, matching the frown he was wearing.
“I-...I don’t know,” They started. They looked down at their hands, thinking about everything they’d done with said hands. Four suddenly felt disappointed in himself, a kind of disgust he hadn't felt in a good while.
“I’ve always been like this. Bad, and I just don’t understand why. And I feel sorry, believe me…I do. But I’ve always been like this. Since the equation playground, since BFB, since I existed. I’ve…tried to change. But maybe I never will. I wish I could, though…” Four muttered. It felt nice to say, but it also felt like poison falling from their lips. After taking a deep breath, they looked back over to see X’s reaction.
X didn’t seem conflicted anymore. He seemed in thought, yes, but not conflicted. He walked up to the bed and climbed up, and gave Four a side hug. They pushed him away slightly, but then, after a moment, pulled him closer. Once released, he gave their side nub a soft pat.
“I think I understand now. And uh…I think I know what’s ‘wrong’ with you, but it wouldn’t actually change anything, so it’s not important. I’ll…try to be more understanding. I know you don’t usually try to hurt me on purpose. But I’m glad you know you’re doing something wrong...It makes me feel better about it, too,” He confided, his eyes going half lidded. After a minute of silence, Four piped up again.
“So, what should we do now?” They asked. X looked back at them.
“What we normally do, but I would like to sleep,” X hummed, getting under the blankets with Four. They stretched their arms around X and over the lamp and yanked the chain, then snuggled into the bed. And you know what? Four didn’t feel half bad. Maybe he could do what they normally do. At least it’s a little better now.