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For the vast majority, time rolled noiselessly.
The colors of the walls stayed their dull grey, veiled under the same shadows. A dim panic still ricocheting around her chest, but having worn down over the years. It was more like a little tick in the back of her skull by now. Although nothing ever changed, sometimes she saw flickers out of the corner of her eye. They keep telling her that something was near, something dangerous. The idea was solely terrifying.
But on the occasion that something IS near, Three looks the most like herself.
Four poked his head into view, the shadows clearing enough for his blank expression to be recognizable. She let out a ragged exhale before her face softened.
"Uh... hello, Three." Four didn't bother unlocking the gate. They stepped right through it, hands awkwardly folded together as he looked down at her. She didn't say anything back, but she never really did.
"I'm sorry I forgot about you down here," he said, looking around. "I've been VERY busy with stuff. Can I tell you about it?"
She shifted only slightly. A little widen to her melancholic eyes that might not have even been tangible. Four assumed most of the time that she couldn't really understand what they were saying, as she always seemed so out of it. But he decided to take the small response as a yes.
"Do ya remember Two?" He crossed his arms and fell down into a sit next to her. "Well I hadn't seen them in a while, and I didn't WANT to! I've been trying to drive them off whenever I did see them, and I told X to do the same. But they came back from NOWHERE and decided to try and take MY show!" He gestured to himself angrily, Three's eyes limply tracking his movements. "MINE! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE MINE! And now half of my contestants are all GONE!"
Four grumbled and let their arms fall to their side. Three's gaze fell to the floor in turn, blinking slowly.
"And one more thing," Four continued, his voice becoming even more strained, "X LEFT ME TOO! I don't have my co-host, and I don't have anybody to talk to!" He threw his head in his hands and gave a loud sniffle. "I really miss him..."
Her eyebrows furrowed into something pained. She slowly took her hand away from its usual spot, which was hugging her legs, and made a weak attempt at patting him on the back. Four gave her a perplexed stare.
Three had often done random things like that before. He never really understood or liked them, but she seemed to do it when she was happy. Just a random pat on the back or shoulder, usually accompanied with a laugh and smile. At the time, he wished she wouldn't be so annoyingly friendly. Now he couldn't wish that, because the little swipe her arm made didn't even touch him. She wasn't laughing or smiling. They didn't even know if she COULD smile anymore- maybe her face would disintegrate away if it wasn't constantly relaxed.
"Uh, thank you?" He shifted uncomfortably.
Three's hand fell back into place and her eyes flicked away, her expression calm again.
"...Oh, right, and one more thing..." he remembered, "...my students have been acting VERY difficult. They just don't want to stay in one place. It's QUITE AGGRAVATING!"
Three's eyes widened again at his voice raising.
They shook their head. "I just don't feel like doing all this anymore. I'm TIRED! And NOBODY APPRECIATES MY EFFORTS!" He squinted at her. "I don't even know why I'm telling you. You don't care, either."
Three looked back at him, a small shiver evident in her demeanor. She stayed unresponsive, yet her eyes kept focus.
"Uh... wait, no..." Four corrected themself, putting a hand to his face. "X said that's not the best way to describe ya... you're more kinda like... unable to care?"
She kept her silence.
"Just because of the thing that happened?"
She kept her silence.
"...Oh, yeah. I almost forgot."
He stood up, gave her a "one minute" finger and popped away. For a moment, shadows darkened the room again. Her placid look went fearful and she dug her fingers deeper into her sides. Then he popped back in and she relaxed. He held out a plate with a huge chocolate cake on it, decorated down to the detail. She carefully unfurled her hands to take it, peering down at the swirls of frosting.
"Two gave me this," he explained with a frown. "They said 'no hard feelings'. Ha! Ha, ha, SURE! But, uh, I thought you might want it because... I don't." He blankly gave her a knife and fork then started swaying in place, unsure if he should leave.
She set the cake on the ground, ever so slowly, and then dug the fork into the cake's side to eat the most microscopic piece ever. She continued to do that, many, many times. By the time she'd gotten a quarter way through, Four was laying flat on the ground and rubbing his face.
"This is so boring. I AM SO BORED!" he called out to nobody in particular while staring at the ceiling.
Three glanced briefly up at him before licking the fork and continuing.
They rolled over, propping their head on their hand. "You know what? I changed my mind. I want some now."
He grabbed the knife, which had been lying there untouched, and cut himself a slice of cake. Three didn't intervene besides pushing the plate slightly closer to him. He proceeded to pick up the whole slice with his hand and eat it ungracefully.
"You know what?" He scrambled to a sit, huffing angrily. "I bet that Two is doing a really BAD job at hosting. I bet that I'm actually a great host. Much better than them. A-and that all of their contestants are just DUMB."
The fork clattered against the plate as she rolled a small piece of chocolate batter back and forth. For a brief moment, he could look at her and imagine her laugh in response to what they'd just said.
"Aw, of course, Four! Remember that you guys gotta get along, though!"
Heavy bags now lay under her eyes, and her skin had since dulled. It seemed like the movement that this meal required was costing her quite a bit of pain. Her gaze gently shifted up at him, confused and lost.
"I'm sure we can fix up whatever problem you guys are having. Have you told X about it yet? Might make ya feel better!"
He stood up.
"I'm gonna go. I'll be back in a little bit to get the plate or whatever," he told her.
And then she was alone again. She didn't finish the cake. It didn't taste right. She ended up gently kicking the plate into a corner, where it sat for several more days. She longed for more mumbly chatter that she didn't understand, because waiting for some hurt.
Three held her legs back to her chest and buried her face away, waiting for another distraction, wanting for the next occasion.