Chapter Text
“Quite the commentary I’m getting from someone who doesn’t even wear clothes.” Lou brassily said to the orange doll seated across him.
“Quite the commentary I’m getting from someone who’s constantly giving commentary.” Wage said back.
“That comeback was cheap.” The blonde flatly replied.
“Like your suit.”
“Repeating the same quip isn't very clever.”
Ugly Dog and Lucky Bat sat opposite to each other, both getting a good view of Lou and Wage’s little banter.
It started with Wage asking why other pretties bothered getting dressed, Lou arguing back with the fact that it’s like asking why a human isn’t walking around naked like animals; it just looked wrong. Wage snapped back about being compared to an animal…
It eventually became a conversation on clothing prices, after the orange doll called Lou’s old suit ‘cheap’.
Wage props an elbow to rest her cheek on her palm as she starts, “I’m just saying…” she took an aggressive sip of her chocolate shake, “… if clothes like the one you used to wear shrink easily in water, then it really shouldn’t cost that much. Fabric that delicate may as well be sold cheaply.”
Lou rolled his eyes, before leaning against the opposite side of the table. “And I’d like to rebuttal by saying that it’s not the material itself, but the skill and resources it takes to make the product it was turned into. Glass artwork is sold for millions, and most glass breaks easily.”
“If you were to create something so beautiful with talent and hard work using fragile materials, would you want it to be sold for just 5 dollars?” He rhetorically asked the orange doll, giving her a look as if to challenge her.
With a huff Wage replied with, “Okay… I see what you mean.”
Lou smirked in satisfaction.
“Though… your suit ain’t that fancy, it still looks cheap.” She slyly added.
The blonde only sighed, not bothering to argue, “To each their own… But that suit still held value because it came from a toy shop in Germany.”
He took a small bite of his very seldomly eaten cake before continuing, “Caradoc was the one who gave it to me and said it had been with him since the 60s… it was too small for him so he thought I should have it so I could look more professional... It was a graduation gift.”
That made Wage straighten up, “Oh…”
She cleared her throat and slowly stuttered out, “I-I… didn’t mean…”
Lou looked back up and raised a brow amused.
“Hey now…” He started, and continued with a chuckle, “Don’t lose your sass on me. I didn’t bring that up to get pity points.”
“I just remembered it. That’s all.” He casually shrugged it off, as he continued to eat.
Using his free hand he pointed at the scarf around his neck. “Besides, I still have this. It didn’t come with the suit, but it still came from Caradoc.”
“What do you mean it didn’t come with the suit?” Ugly Dog asked.
“The suit came with a green bowtie, but… uh…” A small blush formed in Lou’s cheeks as he hesitated to continue. “I… don’t know how to tie one.”
He ignored the stifled giggles slipping out of the other three uglydolls.
Clearing his throat he continued, “Plus the shade just didn’t suit me, so he gave me his spare scarf and said it looked more mature when paired with the suit.”
“You?” Wage squinted her eyes at him. “Mr. Blondie McPerfect Pants, who knows almost everything in the institute and brags about it —can’t tie a little ribbon around your neck?”
Lou pointed his fork at her. “You say that like you’d know how to tie one.”
“Well yeah, duh!” Wage retorted. “Us not knowing is given. But the guy who used to dress like he attends black tie parties not knowing how to tie a bowtie… isn’t it a little reasonable to be surprised?”
“I just never bothered with learning how to, since I had more important things to think about.” Lou shrugged, stabbing his fork into his cake again.
“While I’m sure I’d still look great, it would’ve looked too young anyway... I’m just picking between two different goods, and chose the better option. If I looked better in a bowtie, I would’ve learned to tie one.” He finished saying before bringing the forkful to his mouth.
There was a beat of silence before Ugly Dog’s mouth formed into an amused grin.
“…He said that with zero hesitation.” He loudly ‘whispered’, leaning towards Lucky.
“I’m just being honest.” Lou casually says after chewing. “Maybe perfection isn’t a standard here anymore, but I’m not ugly. I’m still attractive and can voice my own opinions on my looks.”
“Wow, thanks.” Wage frowned.
Confused by her sudden mood shift, Lou raised a brow before asking, “I thought you said ‘ugly’ wasn’t offensive to you?”
“I also said it depends on the context.” Wage said in an unamused tone, crossing her arms. “And saying you’re not ugly right to a bunch of uglydolls’ faces is kinda rude.”
Lou let out an exasperated sigh, and rolled his eyes. “Ugh. I swear to god…”
He stared back at Wage. “What I meant… is that I was designed to look attractive —albeit with the features of someone I want to forget…” he mumbled the other half before coughing and continuing, “I’m intended to look good. You’re intended to look… strange. And if you’re designed like that on purpose, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Take my earlier statement as an insult, if your brand owner intended for you to look like me but came out looking like that.” He gestured his hand up and down at Wage.
Wage’s frown only deepened at the action, “You’re making it really hard not to take this personally.”
Ugly Dog shifted to rest from his left elbow to his right so he was leaning towards the orange doll this time, “Uh… to be fair, you take a lot of things personally… You’re so naturally aggressive that some dolls wait for noon to tell you good morning.”
Wage redirected her glare at the blue dog when she heard that.
“Yeah… I think Lou just… doesn’t bother filtering his words.” Lucky politely added, “Now that we found out we were officially made to be polar opposites he’s just stating blunt facts. He’s not ugly, we are. But… in a good way?”
Wage’s arms loosened a bit, but then she sighed and uncrossed them. “Yeah… right… My bad, I’m just kinda still getting used to this guy…” she pointed her thumb at the blonde.
Lou only replied with, “Likewise.”
Wage rolled her eyes.
“Hey, Wage.” Babo emerged from the kitchen doorway, as he tucked a wet wrench back into his pocket. “I fixed the leak in the sink.”
Wage turned to the grey doll smiling, “Oh, good! Thanks, Babo.”
Hopping off her chair, she approached the bigger doll and placed a hand on his back, “Actually… Do you have the time to handle something else too? I just remembered that thing I saw when cleaning the fridge coils.”
“Sure.” Babo happily allowed the orange doll to guide him back into the kitchen.
Lou watched them disappear into the other room, as a question formed in his head.
“So…” He subtly leaned towards Lucky, still staring at the doorway. “Is this like… fixer husband and baker-wife?”
Lucky looked up at him confused, “What?”
“Just curious.” Lou shrugged and went back to his mostly eaten dessert, “I see the big guy here almost all the time, even when he’s not eating. Those two spend a lot of time here together, I was starting to think that maybe they were together-together or something? They give sitcom couples vibes.”
Lucky and Ugly Dog slowly looked at each other, their lips twitching up before one of them snorted and bursted out laughing.
Lou looked between the two confused. “Uh… was it something I said?”
Ugly Dog slapped the table a couple of times before wiping a tear from his eye and straightening up.
“Yeah. I… whoo! Hehehe…” He pushed out a few left over chuckles before answering the blonde. “I… I get what you’re saying. But, uh yeah, no. They’re not together.”
“Yeah.” Lucky Bat said after calming down as well. “They’re just friends. Babo just has the talent for fixing things. Wage is always calling him so he just sticks around the diner since she’s the one who calls for him the most. And Babo doesn’t like staying at home all day so he doesn’t mind staying nearby.”
Ugly Dog nodded in agreement, “Yeah, and just so you know. If those two ever get ‘together’ it would not last long.” He chuckled at the thought. “Babo is a bit of a… uh…”
“He’s resourceful and nice, but not very conversation-intelligent… at least to Wage’s liking.” Lucky offered, in hopes that the wording was as polite enough.
“Yeah. That.” Ugly Dog acknowledged before continuing, “He and Wage don’t really get along as a ‘one-on-one’ when it comes to regular hang outs. That woman would tear her head off if it wasn’t sewn on, if she had to spend more than ten seconds trying to explain something to the big guy.”
Lou hummed, tapping his fork lightly against the plate. “So… she's impatient, and he’s incompetent when it comes to other skills than his own?”
“Pretty much.”
“Yup.”
Lou breathed out an amused sigh, before looking up in thought again. “Actually… Come to think of it… are there any couples in Uglyville? I’m not trying to pry, but I realized that very… little to none of the dolls there ever behave towards each other outside of a platonic view.”
He pointed a fork at Ugly Dog, “I mean I’ve seen you flirting with some dolls, but they’re always pretties. I’ve never seen you make advances towards an ugly.”
Ugly Dog sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, uh… you are right about what you’re seeing. No one in Uglyville ever even had the thought about going out with each other.”
Lucky took a sip from his drink, and placed the mug to stare at the half finished contents, “I guess that’s just what happens when you live in a small town full of dolls who have a lot in common? You get so used to them that they’re like family… you never really think of pursuing anything… more…”
Ugly Dog looked at the bat, subtly shaking his head. But then he caught a glimpse of something out the window, approaching the diner.
He smirked and stared back at the bat, as he teasingly said, “Well… at least until now. Am I right?”
Lucky immediately snapped his head up to look at the dog, “What?”
The dog pointed at the door at the exact time it was being pushed open.
“Look who’s on the dot for their daily waffle sandwich!” Ugly Dog whispered to Lucky, who finally saw who came in and shrunk in on himself.
Lou raised an eyebrow at the two, and idly glanced at the door out of curiosity.
The doll who came in, was a yellow ugly.
Lou was sure he'd seen her before… Unless there were other dolls out there who had a literal table surface for a head top.
The yellow uglydoll walked right up to the counter and called for the orange doll. “Wage?”
Right away, Wage emerged from the door and tended to the front counter. “Wedgehead! What’s up?” She asked as she turned around to grab a paper bag.
“Oh you know… just the usual.” The doll, who was apparently named ‘Wedgehead’, replied. “And speaking of… I’d like my usual breakfast order, please!”
Wage instantly turned back and plopped a paper bag on the counter in front of her, “Already had one prepared for when you come in.”
“Thanks!” Wedgehead gratefully took the bag and handed over two dollars to Wage.
Wage went back inside the kitchen, as Wedgehead turned to leave.
She paused as she noticed a familiar shade of red as she passed by.
So she turned to wave, “Hey, Lucky!”
Lucky flinched, before meekly turning around and waving. “Hey.”
With that, the yellow doll left.
As soon as she disappeared from the window view Ugly Dog doubled over on the table and started laughing.
“Stop that.” Lucky firmly told him, as the dog kept laughing anyway.
Lou awkwardly looked between the two of them and the direction where the other doll left. Wondering if that was something he shouldn’t have seen.
“Uh… so… who was that?” The blonde decided to ask.
Ugly Dog pushed himself back upright, as he replied, “Oh. That’s… pft… that’s just Wedgehead.”
“Uh, yeah I can see that. But uh, I mean…” Lou pointed the fork between Lucky and the door, “the whole… thing with the… that.”
Lucky must be really glad to be naturally red, as Lou can’t tell if he’s blushing or not.
“She’s just… the newest doll we had on that day we left for the pipe… We didn’t really know her back that well.” Lucky answered.
Ugly Dog scooted over to the bat’s side and draped an arm around him, “But Lucky here started getting the hots for her when she started working at the library he goes to.”
Lucky shoved the teasing dog off him, “W-Well I can’t help it! I’ve never seen an uglydoll as graceful as her before.”
Graceful?
Lou raised a brow at that, as he was sure that yellow uglydoll marched out of the diner like a 5 year old imitating a soldier, while carelessly swinging her paper bag.
Resting his chin in his hand, Lucky smiled as he said, “The way she moves around so fast when organizing shelves, while still keeping a good balance of ten or more books on her head.”
Lou snorted. Pretty loud too.
Lucky looked at him confused.
“I-I’m sorry…! It’s just…” He waved apologetically at the bat while snickering into his closed fist.
Ugly Dog stared at him amused.
He composed himself enough to face Lucky again, “A-Are you sure this Wedgehead girl can keep books on her head because she’s graceful? Or because… pfft!”
The blonde snickered into his hand a little more, but it quieted down when he noticed the bat was genuinely confused.
Lou noticed Ugly Dog was still holding the same smug grin. Clearly aware of what the blonde was implying, but Lucky just… stared.
Well… this is awkward.
Though he could easily explain the humor, the bat seemed to genuinely see something ‘graceful’ in the flatheaded doll.
So he cleared his throat and reacted a little more appropriately.
“Well… I guess being able to move quickly and gracefully while doing chores is… uh, a fairly attractive trait?” He said to the bat.
Lucky, though still confused, slowly smiled at him. Then turned to the dog, “See, even Lou sees it.”
Ugly Dog rolled his eye, “Oh, sure. I’m sure blondie finds her very attractive too.”
He playfully elbows the bat and continues his taunting, “Hey, better hope he doesn’t like her too. He might beat you to it!”
Lou immediately waved off the dog’s comments and replied, “Ah… don’t worry about that. Trust me, I wouldn’t… She’s uh, too… wedgey… Not my type.”
Lucky chuckled but smiled at the reassurance.
Ugly Dog on the other hand, leaned towards Lou, curious. “Well now, that’s actually got me wondering. What is your type?”
Lou raised a brow, “Huh?”
“Just curious, man.” Ugly Dog gestured to air to indicate the whole surrounding as he continued, “Literally every doll in the institute, had the hots for you. And I haven’t seen you take interest in a single one.”
Placing a hand to his chest, he said, “To answer your earlier statement, I don’t shoot my shots with my fellow uglies ‘cause they just don’t got the spice I want. They’re too nice, and I like me some aggressive divas, and your institute is loaded with them.”
Pointing over his shoulder he said, “Wage has the aggression, but she’s more ‘angry hag’ than a saucy queen to me.”
“I heard that, wannabe casonova!” Wage yelled from the other room.
Ugly Dog ignored her.
“Anyway, I’m just saying…” He continued talking to the blonde. “I am recognizing a lot of hotties here. But I’m not seeing you interested in any of them. Which begs the question, are you just not into anyone or you got like… specific preferences?”
Lou rolled his eyes at the dog’s shameless comments, before responding, “Well, honestly… I don’t think I’m romantically or physically interested in any of the prettydolls, even if any of them were my type… and my reasons for that are a very, um… complicated topic that I don't want to explain.”
Ugly Dog held his hands up, “Won’t pry. But uh, what is your type though?”
Lou bit his lip as he contemplated answering.
“You know how different there are different places with different toys?” He asked them.
“Yeah.”
The blonde continued, “Well, each place has different beauty standards. And it usually depends on what matters most to their toy brand and toy type… prettydolls are just clean and neat.”
“Clean and neat?” Ugly Dog repeated while looking at the nodding blonde with a half-lidded eye. “Your beauty standards are clean and neat?”
“And a symmetrical build… as written on paper, yes.” Lou answered nonchalantly. “But… personally, that’s not what appeals to me the most in a doll.”
“Then what does?” Ugly Dog asked.
“I… admire what the plush dolls I’ve met back in the city choose to value most.” Lou answered, “Which is their texture quality...”
“Texture quality?” Lucky repeated.
Lou nodded and continued, “Dolls like my kind are different from standard stuffed dolls, because we’re more on visual quality than plush comfort.”
He lifts his glass up to his face, to stare at his wobbly reflection. “All the weight is practically in our heads, while the rest our bodies are meant to imitate human proportions.” He bluntly voiced.
Ugly Dog huffed a short amused breath, “That’s a funny way to describe your entire doll type. It’s also kinda ironic coming from you of all people.”
“Yeah, I guess…” Lou lightly laughed as shrugged and placed the glass down, “But, I’m not saying we don’t look good. I’m saying we were built to look good but not appropriate for every texture preference.”
He explained, “Certain parts of my body were shaped by thermoplastic. Stuffing was just to keep the shape firm. While plush dolls have a more… ‘free build’. Rather than to appeal, they’re made to feel… As their motto states.”
“So… I guess what I find most attractive in a fellow doll… would be their natural sense of comfort.” Lou carefully finished.
“Plush dolls are just more soft to the touch…” He quietly said as he lifted his glass again, to take a sip from it.
Lucky blinked at that, “What?”
Lou’s eyes instantly shot open as he moved the glass away and looked between the two nervously. “Uh. Did I say that part out loud? You didn’t hear anything.”
“Aw NAH! Hahaha!” Ugly Dog slammed his hands on the table grinning menacingly. He pointed at the blonde, “We are NOT letting go of that!”
Playfully poking the irritated blonde’s arms, “Man, what a discovery! So blondie likes ‘em squishy!”
Immediately, Lou slapped the hand away and defensively shot back, “Ew! Don’t phrase it like that!”
Ugly Dog kept laughing as he continued to prod at Lou, until the blonde growled and started blocking the dog’s hands, it eventually escalated into a pathetic little slap fight. As if they were two energetic toddlers imitating seals.
“Not even gonna deny it?”
“Shut up already, you unfiltered mutt!”
Lucky chuckled at the two.
As the two continued batting at each other, the door chimes rang as someone came in.
“Hey, guys!” Moxy waved but slowly lowered her hand and stopped in her tracks when she processed the little fight the blonde and the dog were having. “Uh…”
Ugly Dog and Lou slowly turned to look at the pink doll, and noticed Ox who was giving them the side eye, standing next to her. Followed by Mandy and the six other prettydolls entering the diner.
Eventually the two of them slowly moved away from each other and lowered their hands, stopping altogether.
“Uh, hey...” Lou said, offering a small wave.
He lowered his hand again when no one waved back.
Ugly Dog immediately pointed at Lou, “He started it.”
“I did not!”
“You slapped my hand first!”
“You wouldn’t stop poking me!”
The corner of Nolan’s mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh, especially when they still don’t have a clue over what the banter was about. So instead he asked, “What exactly are you fighting about?”
Ugly Dog grinned and said, “Oh Lou was just telling me how he—”
“Don’t—”
“—dated ten different Gwendie dolls back in the city!”
Lou’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the grinning doll, and gave him a questioning stare. Though he’s glad Ugly Dog didn’t say anything, he definitely wasn’t going to let that sudden lie be taken as actual fact. It’s not like he’s actually seen a Gwendie doll anyway.
“Uh…” Lydia looked between the two curiously, “Is that true?”
“No.” Lou bluntly answered. “Even if I had the time and interest to date, I’d never date a doll from Hattel’s.”
That earned him some confused glances.
“Why not?” Ugly Dog teasingly asked before quietly whispering, “No soft girls around that brand?”
Lou glared at the dog. “No…” Yes, technically. But not the point. “They specialize in plastic toys. And, while I can’t explain anything specific without it sounding wrong…” he trailed off, “I just have an aversion to plastic dolls…”
“Ha!” Ox suddenly laughed out, making everyone turn to him.
Brows furrowing, Lou looked down at the bunny, “What?”
“Nothin’… it’s just…” Ox laughed again, this time, sounding a little more bitter. “Hearin’ ya say ya don’t like plastic is a little funny, because of how ironic it is.”
Lifting a brow as he glared at him unamused, Lou asked, “Ironic how?”
Ox shrugged as he smiled aggressively, “Well… considerin’ what plastic is and who ya are, I don’t really see any difference…”
“Fancy. Cold. Hard and fake. Just like ya’ve always been.” He said, crossing his arms.
And in an instant, the atmosphere thickened. Thick enough that Wage and Babo must’ve felt it from the kitchen. Both dolls finally returned to the front counter as the scene unfolded.
“What is your problem?” Right away, Lou stood up from his chair and marched closer to the green bunny, before either Ugly Dog or Lucky could hold him back. “Didn’t you just come in?”
Straight away, Ox answered. “Yeah. And now I’m heading out.”
He turned on his heel and walked past the others and out the door.
“Ox!” Moxy called out but wasn’t able to grab him in time.
Lou growled, his fist clenching as he stared at the retreating bunny.
Tuesday slowly reached a hand out to the blonde, “Lou?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he moved his arm away before Tuesday could touch him, and stormed out of the diner, heading after the green bunny.
.•.•.
“Ox!” Lou yelled out, making the bunny stop in his tracks and turn around to glare at him.
“What do ya want?” Ox yelled back.
“What do I—Ohoho my god…!” The blonde dropped his arms as he breathily laughed, exasperated. Tiredly smiling at the sky. “—What I want… is to know why you’re acting like this when all I’m doing is talking with your friends?”
Ox scoffed, shaking his head as he looked away for a second, like he couldn’t even stand looking at Lou for too long. “You were just yammerin’ off in there like nothin’ happened…”
“Like ya didn’t…” He stopped himself, jaw clenching. “…like ya didn’t do anythin’.”
Lou’s brows furrowed. “I already told you, I’m not denying any of that—”
“That ain’t the point!” Ox snapped.
“…Then what is?” Lou asked, calmer but still firm.
Ox laughed under his breath. “It was just so easy for you all.”
Lou’s brows pulled together.
“What is?”
Ox gestured back toward the diner.
“This. Them. Moving on.” His hand dropped. “Like nothin’ stuck.”
Lou stared at him for a second, the shook his head slightly. “You think that was easy?”
Ox gave him a look. “Wasn’t it?”
Lou let out a short, humorless laugh.
“…You really think just because you walked in on me having a normal conversation, everything was perfectly fine for me now?”
“Ya looked fine.”
“Yeah?” Lou stepped closer now too. “And you look like you’ve got everything figured out. Guess we’re both great at pretending.”
Ox’s expression faltered for half a second.
But he recovered.
“Don’t twist this.”
“I’m not twisting anything,” Lou shot back. “I’m trying to understand why you’re acting like I personally offended you by talking to your friends.”
“They’re my family.”
“And they’re choosing to talk to me,” Lou countered. “I didn’t force anything.”
Ox’s jaw tightened. “That’s exactly it.”
“You didn’t force anythin’. Ya just… showed up after months of being socially invisible, helped with a few things, and suddenly everyone’s okay with you.” He said.
“And that bothers you because you’re not?” Lou asked.
“Yeah. I don’t trust this…” Ox paused and then corrected, “I don’t trust you.”
Lou didn’t respond right away.
“Fair.” He said eventually. “I don’t exactly have a great track record.”
Ox blinked.
That… wasn’t the reaction he expected.
But Lou kept going, “I know what I did and I made that clear to you.”
“Yeah. Ya did. And I know.” Ox muttered. But said a little more loudly, “But being able to acknowledge what ya’ve done ain’t exactly a noble quality!”
“Uh, yeah. I’m aware of that too.” Lou retorted, smiling wryly.
“Is that what you thought I was doing? Giving puppy eyes and going, ‘Aww, I was mean. I see the error of my ways now!’ —and expect everyone to reward me for being self-aware?” He chuckled darkly, before flatly telling the bunny, “No.”
“Let’s make this more understandable.” He placed a hand to his chest as he continued, “I know what I am. Who I am. What I did. And what I deserved.”
“I also know that apologies won’t cut it for the height of my crime, and that’s exactly why I chose to never say sorry. Not out of pride, but out of the fact that I know a simple ‘sorry’ would sound hollow to most of you.”
He spread his arms out to gesture to their surroundings, “I know that if I truly wanted every single one of my fans and their admiration back, which I don’t —I’d have to go through countless years of penance to get that. No thanks.”
Lou pointed down at the bunny, aggressively poking his forehead as he finished off. “I know that regardless of what you’ve done and said to me, it was still my choice to send you to recycling. I’m not at all surprised you’re still bitter.”
“Hence why I don’t bother talking to you unless I have to. But you’re making it incredibly hard to leave this alone, when you make those stupid faces whenever I so much as breathe in your direction!”
Ox's face wrinkled as his frown deepened.
“But you know what?” Lou asked, though it was more of a statement.
“If I have the chance to let something good actually happen to me…” He slowly looked behind him, accidentally making eye contact with the dolls watching them from the window.
He was grateful they chose to stay inside.
He turned back to Ox and continued, “… why can’t I take it? Why should I keep burning myself out trying to antagonize them, when they’re no longer antagonizing me? I wasn’t trying to get them to like me when I created those documents. But why should I reject it when they did anyway?”
Ox remained quiet. His lips tightened into a thin line.
“I’m tired of it, Ox.” Lou said, a little softer. “I’m tired of wallowing in my own misery… Moxy was the annoying miracle I needed to finally pick myself up again. If I can’t be anyone special, can’t I be someone normal? I want to live like I’m actually alive. Like I’m not alone.”
“Alone?” Ox repeated. “You have a lot of nerve.”
“Ya don’t got half a clue what feelin’ alone is like when you’ve got thousands of yer little groupies hovering over ya, every minute of yer life.” He said, staring right into the blonde’s eyes.
“But you, living in your happy little town of uglydolls with endless fun —do?” Lou questioned.
Ox argued back, “I was the only one who knew the truth. The only one who knew somethin’ the others didn’t. Being the only one of my kind who had to hold the burden of knowin’ such things, is a very lonely feeling.”
“I felt like that… for years.” He said through gritted teeth. “I was alone. For twenty years, Lou.”
Lou’s face remained stone cold, as he bent down to Ox’s level.
Staring right into his eye, the blonde said in a rough tone, “So was I.”
Ox scoffed. “Sure ya were. All that fame must’ve been pretty lonely.”
“Twenty years ago, you would have said that in a less sarcastic tone.” Lou said but then feigned a gasp before adding, “Oh wait, you did.”
Ox rolled his eye, “When we first met, y’were obviously a rookie leader. A lot of the pretties back then weren’t very respectful of ya.”
Gesturing to the blonde as if he was in his old status, he continued, “Oh, but you were able to fix that problem, didn’t ya? I mean, they were crazy loyal to ya. And it must’ve been because I was outta the picture, right? Our friendship clearly didn’t help in boostin’ yer reputation.”
Lou’s smile tightened as he straightened back up, “You say that like it’s my fault.”
He crossed his arms, “Need I remind you, you played a very big hand in unwelcoming yourself? You weren’t very pleasant to be around, Ox. Almost every prettydoll back then had dubbed you the Institute’s Troublemaker.”
Rubbing salt in the wound, Lou added, “Right next to your first nickname, ‘clumsy ox’, was it? I’m surprised you kept the name.”
Ox growled before arguing back, “Maybe if you actually helped me out with getting everybody to loosen up, they wouldn’t have thought I was just a rowdy runt.”
Lou dismissively waved his hand, “Oho no no, you are not pinning that on me!”
Using the same hand he pointed a finger sharply at him, “Blame me for everything that actually was my fault, but you don’t get to tell me I’m the reason why the pretties turned on you!”
“For your information, I did help you! I would call off classes and training and lend you that time so you can hold those messy games and parties you're probably still having in Uglyville. I cared about you enough to do things like that, even when it made me look incompetent. The accidents and slip ups that left the pretties upset were your fault.”
Ox let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
He dragged a hand down his face before looking back up at Lou.
“Yeah. Okay. Sure. Let’s go with that.”
Lou’s eyes narrowed. “Go with what?”
“That version.” Ox gestured loosely between them. “Where y’were the helpful one, and I just… what? Ruined everythin’ for fun?”
“When did I say—”
“Ya didn’t have to!” Ox snapped. “That’s always how ya saw it!”
Lou scoffed. “Because that’s how it looked! You were constantly pushing things to be your way. You kept complaining about the rules—”
“Because your rules were suffocating!” Ox shot back immediately.
“And you were always focused on that!” Lou answered back, using the same volume. “You’re always focused on what you want to prove to the pretties, what you wanted to change about the institute, the first time we failed the gauntlet…”
Ox subtly flinched at that.
“And because you were so ‘suffocated’ by all of that, you failed to see some of the good things that were already there in Perfection.”
The bunny scoffed, “Like what? You?”
Lou was actually taken aback by that.
Ox noticed it.
That tiny flicker in Lou’s eyes.
And for a split second, he almost took it back.
…but he didn’t.
Instead, he doubled down.
Lou let out a quiet breath through his nose.
“…Right.” He nodded once, slow. “Of course.”
“You wanna know something funny?” Lou continued, glancing off to the side for a moment before looking back at him. “I almost told you.”
Ox blinked. “…What?”
“The truth.” Lou said plainly. “The real reason why we failed the gauntlet.”
Ox went still. But he was listening.
So Lou went on, “Every possible scanner in this place has me recorded as the prototype… including the one around the gauntlet. It’s rigged to fail me no matter how well I do to avoid inaccurate counting of how many dolls passed.”
“And what about me?” Ox was quick to ask.
“Every prettydoll starts off as a blank slate. The scanners give them an identity, and that identity is automatically recorded into the system.” Lou explains, “But since you’re not from the same model, the scanners didn’t give you an identity. Therefore you had no recorded profile the system could go by.”
“So… when you insisted we cross the finish line together, the scanners only recognized me. My profile overrode your nonexistent one.” He finished explaining but then added, “I’m the reason we failed.”
Ox’s eyes widened as the words sank in.
“…And you just… didn’t say anything?” He asked slowly, his stomach churned as mixed feelings were flowing through him.
Lou shrugged.
“At first, I was going to.” He admitted, while turning to one side to cross his arms. “I called you over a little after the event for that exact reason, remember?”
His gaze hardened as he gave the bunny an apathetic side eye, “But like always… you only ever hear yourself.”
“I couldn’t even get a word out…” Lou said a little more disappointed, “But I’m glad I didn’t. You said quite a lot of things that time… about the gauntlet, about the training, about me.”
Ox’s ears went down, though his eye stayed sharp and aggressive.
The blonde continued, “Enough that it made me realize… maybe it was much better that you thought it was your fault. After all… it was the first time you couldn’t pin the blame on anything or anyone else.”
He mockingly added, “Hey… it even helped you be more responsible when you somehow became a mayor. I’m proud of how you handled things with Moxy, by the way. I really thought you’d try to make her feel accountable for your entire town finding out about the ‘fake’ truth.”
“What are you talking about?” Ox immediately asked, his fists clenched tight at his sides. “When have I ever done anything like that!?”
Lou huffed out a humorless laugh.
Unfolding his arms, Lou faced himself towards Ox again, and gestured between the two of them. “See this is the current difference between the two of us.”
“While I’ve come to terms that I am not a good person…” He pointed at himself, before leaning closer to the bunny. “You still want to act so nice and innocent.”
“Care to explain that half-baked story you made up?” Lou asked him, rhetorically.
Ox answered anyway, “What? Didn’t you say that I shouldn’t tell them all the details?”
“If I remember correctly, I told you not to tell any of our personal issues.” Lou answered back. “I did NOT, however, tell you to make up the most shallow lie and paint yourself as a perfect victim.”
Bringing his hands up to his face, and making the motion of wiping tears, Lou fake pouts and uses a mocking tone, “Boohoo, I didn’t fit in but Lou took pity on me and we became friends for a little while. But, oh gosh… I was just so clumsy and ugly and messed up all the time, that the other pretties never liked me. I was so scared until Lou decided to betray me and made even more scared!”
“If I wasn’t so desperate to get them to leave at that time, I would have started laughing at you, honestly.” The blonde said, and then chuckle a little to prove his point. “You sounded so ridiculous. I’m almost sure the only reason none of them caught onto all those plotholes in your pathetic fairytale was because of how devastated they all were.”
“Pathetic?” Ox repeated, “I’m the one being pathetic? Didn’t you just admit that you let me believe a terrible lie for two decades just because I… what, hurt your feelings?”
He pointed up at Lou, “How fragile can someone’s ego be?”
Lou scoffed, smiling wryly. “You wanna talk ‘ego’, Mr. Go big or go home? You stressed me out for so long, that the day you ‘hurt my feelings’ was the last straw for me!”
“Plenty of prettydolls every now and then, failed the test and had to retake it next year. Even the pretties that viewed themselves way above you.” Lou said, bending down to poke Ox in the forehead again.
Ox grumbled while rubbing the spot on his forehead.
“If my ego is fragile, then yours is as flimsy as a paper bag!” He yelled at the bunny.
“You failed once and you suddenly start throwing a temper tantrum, say the most hurtful things, and demand for a way to leave the institute! Because apparently, if you can’t leave for the big world, then you’d like to be anywhere else as long as you don’t have to spend another year living with a bunch of prettydolls.”
The blonde took deep heavy breaths, before finishing. “Big world or not… your plan was just to leave me.”
“Oh here we go again!” Ox threw his arms in the air exasperated. “Me me me! Just as it’s always been. It’s always about you! Sure, me wanting to leave the institute is just about you!”
Stomping a foot down, and clenching his fist at his sides, Ox yelled at him. “You’re lucky you know how to be entertaining, otherwise all you’ll have is yer terrible personality.”
He went on, “I have never seen someone anymore self-conscious while simultaneously being self-absorbed than you! Ya were so terrified of being perceived as different from everyone else, that when it comes to being either at the bottom or the top, ya worked yer way to the top just so you’d feel better about yourself!”
“You refuse to let anyone see anything wrong with you, that you had to build some good lovable version of you, you can force everyone to see. You’d start breaking out at the thought that someone doesn’t see you in a positive light.”
“Well I guess that settles it then.” Lou said, his smile was wide, but it was anything but positive. “We really are brothers!”
Ox moved back, as he glared at the blonde. His lips were in a thin line.
“I didn’t see all of the similarities before, but thanks to you, I do now.” The blonde finished in a dull tone.
“…Don’t.” Ox muttered.
Lou tilted his head a little before replying, almost tired now, “Don’t what? You said it yourself. Everything that you’re accusing me of—”
“—Ain’t the same!” Ox snapped, taking a step forward.
“It is.” Lou cut in, just as quick. “You just don’t like hearing it.”
“I…” Ox stopped himself, teeth clenching.
Lou didn’t let up.
“You hate that I built myself up to be something better? Something other dolls can appreciate and love?” He went on, voice steady but cutting. “You hate that I cared about how I was seen by my people?”
He gestured toward Ox.
“Well, I’m sorry but you’ve done the exact same thing.”
Ox’s eye widened just slightly.
“You built yourself into the ‘good guy.’ The ‘nice one.’ The friendly little leader everyone trusts.” Lou continued. “And if there’s even a chance that image cracks—”
“Shut up.” Ox warned.
“—you panic.” Lou finished anyway.
“Shut up!” Ox shouted.
“Just like you say I did with my image.”
“I said shut up!”
Lou didn’t flinch.
“You’re not mad because I’m talking to them,” He said calmly. “You’re mad because you think I’m planning on getting their trust, so I can tell them what really happened…”
His eyes locked onto Ox’s. “… and you’re scared that if that happens they might not look at you the same way anymore.”
Ox’s hands curled into fists.
Eventually, he just let out a shaky breath. Half laugh, half… something else. He shook his head, backing up a step.
“Well, I’m right to think that, ain’t I?”
“No.” Lou responded dryly, “I’m not planning on telling them anything.
He explained “There’s no point in me doing that, because I’m not trying to fix my image anymore. I’m not trying to rewrite anything.”
He gestured loosely between them, “And I’m not doing it for you, just so we’re clear.”
“Then what are you doing?” Ox demanded.
Lou hesitated. Not for too long, but it was enough to be noticeable.
But he finally answered, “I’m just trying to move on.”
Ox scoffed immediately. “Must be easy.”
Lou’s eyes flicked up to him. “It’s not.”
“Sure looks like it!” Ox snapped. “You were sittin’ in there, laughin’, eatin’, gettin’ all chummy like nothin’ ever happened!”
“And you think that means moving on is a breeze for me?” Lou asked.
“Yes!”
“…Then you really don’t know me at all.”
The two dolls simply stared at each other for countless seconds.
Eventually, Ox sighed. And gave the blonde forced grin. “Yeah. I don’t know ya.”
The bunny turned around and started walking away.
But paused after a couple of steps to firmly say, “And we’re not brothers.”
He stayed in place. Choosing not to turn around as he continued, “You’ve already made that clear the day you finally let me leave.”
Resuming his path away from the blonde behind him, he finished off while his voice was still heard, “You said it yourself. I was hardly even a friend to you.”
With that Ox stepped forward. Ignoring how Lou didn’t even say anything.
He’d consider it a victory… but deep down he knew, the blonde was just done with the argument and let him have the last word.
Lou watched Ox walk away. An empty yet heavy look in his eyes.
The silence settled in, heavy and uncomfortable.
“…Lou?”
Despite the softness of the voice, the sudden call made the blonde’s shoulder tense, as he turned around to see Moxy peeking out the diner’s door.
He didn’t answer right away.
“Lou.” She said his name again, a little louder, stepping out of the diner.
He didn’t look her in the eye yet, just let out a slow breath through his nose.
“…What?” he muttered.
“Can you… come back inside?” She asked gently. “Please?”
There was a pause.
She added, “It’s important. I promise.”
Then Lou ran a hand down his face, already looking tired.
“…Yeah. Sure.” His voice was flat and evidently drained.
He turned and walked past her without another word.
Moxy watched him go for a second before flipping the diner sign as ‘CLOSED’ and following behind.
The moment Lou stepped back inside, the shift in atmosphere was obvious.
No one was talking. But the set up said a lot.
All the uglies were huddled in one table.
Wage was standing next to the table, arms crossed.
Babo, Ugly Dog and Lucky were awkwardly pretending they weren’t just watching through the window five seconds ago.
What caught Lou off guard, was when the pretties started walking past him, some offering small friendly waves, as they left the diner.
“Bye, Lou.” Tuesday, who was the last one out, said before shutting the door.
Lou watched them leave, his eyes narrowed skeptically, before asking, “Where are they going?”
“To Ox.” Moxy said.
The blonde turned to her with a lifted brow.
“Why?” He asked her, genuinely confused.
“To talk to him about all of this.” She answered.
Before Lou could ask another question, Lucky cut in to explain, “We were thinking… Maybe we can at least resolve some of the tension, if we can learn what really happened between you and Ox.”
“And I suggested it was best if we remove some of the possible bias by separating in opposite groups.” Then he added, “And, well… opposite ‘leaders’...”
Lou squinted at the red bat, “… why?”
“Because we’ve always listened to Ox our whole lives.” Moxy answered. “And most of the pretties listened to you for most of theirs.”
She added, “We were hoping you’d be more comfortable telling a story to an opposite, than your own people. Since maybe… there’s a tiny part of you that might be uncomfortable sharing with the prettydolls still?”
Though Lou didn’t answer, Moxy carefully took his hand anyway and led him to sit down in the vacant seat.
“We’re not trying to get into your personal issues…” The pink doll softly said. “But we’ve left this alone for way too long. I think we should give talking about it a shot.”
The blonde gave her a soft look as she gently tucked him into his seat.
.•.•.
“Ugh…” Moxy was face flat on the table, groaning into the surface in frustration. She only occasionally lifted her head to take a small depressing sip of her milkshake, that was already extended by a double straw.
The other uglies didn't feel any happier.
Lucky and Ugly Dog buried their heads into their arms, considering sleeping right then and there. Babo did the same, but was leaning on the counter while Wage was trying to clear her thoughts by wiping the tables.
It’s already been an hour since Lou left.
The door chimes rang as someone entered.
It was Mandy and the others. They finally came back.
“Hey Moxy.” The redhead weakly greeted her friend.
Unsurprisingly, none of them seemed very thrilled.
“Hi Mandy.” Moxy greeted back, with just the same amount of energy.
“How did things go with Lou?” Mandy asked, taking a seat from the table right next to her friend and moving it close enough before sitting.
“Not that well…” The pink doll said in disappointment. “He explained a few things… but it wasn’t all that helpful.”
“It was just too… ‘surface level’…” Moxy explained. “He just said stuff like, they got along at some point, but something happened —he didn’t tell us what that something was though— and then the two of them fought after the gauntlet, and Ox left.”
“But that’s about it... And that’s not anything we didn’t know already.” She sighed before finally sitting up straight. “So we practically made about zero percent progress.”
She turned to the redhead, “What about you?”
“We made less than that.” Mandy said bluntly, sighing as she leaned back in her chair. “We couldn’t get anything out of Ox either.”
“What do you mean?” Lucky asked, lifting his head slightly.
Mandy rubbed her temple. “He just… kept dodging. Every time we got close to anything important, he’d either brush it off or redirect.”
Tuesday nodded. “Yeah. He just kept saying stuff like, ‘It doesn’t matter anymore’ or ‘That was a long time ago.’…”
Kitty crossed her arms. “Which is not helpful when you’re trying to figure out what actually happened.”
“I think I get your pain now.” Nolan said flatly, as he glanced at Michael.
“Right!?” Michael exclaimed towards the brunette, exasperated. He groaned as he faceplanted onto the table.
Moxy frowned. “…So neither of them are talking.”
“Pretty much.” Mandy confirmed. “We’ve got nothing…”
“Not nothing.” Wage muttered, as she slowed her wiping and looked at the group over her shoulder, “We just… confirmed that they’re both equally stubborn.”
Ugly Dog groaned into his arms. “Great. So we’re stuck.”
Moxy stared down at her milkshake, while fiddling with the end of her makeshift swirly straw.
“…No.” She said after a moment, her eyes sparked as an idea came to her mind.
Everyone slowly looked at her.
“We’re not stuck.”
Mandy raised a brow. “How?”
“They didn’t tell us anything.” Moxy continued, “But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find somewhere else!”
“Moxy, what are you talking about?” Wage said, finally stopping her cleaning as she placed her hands on her hips.
The pink doll started explaining, “Maybe Ox and Lou won’t tell us anything, but there has to be someone who’s been here long enough to see or hear about it.”
Lydia spoke up, “Great idea, but uh… the thing is…” she trailed off as she tried to voice her concern. “Any of the past prettydoll batch probably left for the big world a while back already. And that was way before the new, permanently open, portal was made. I don’t think they’re coming back any time soon.”
“Yeah…” Mandy nodded at that, “And I doubt any of the older pretties here that existed after Ox leaving, would know either. Lou doesn’t seem to be the type to talk about the past. Let alone a failed friendship.”
“And if he ever did choose to talk about it, it has to be someone he trusts or respects enough to confide in.” Meghan added, “And I doubt he has anyone like that here in the institute.”
Moxy rubbed her chin, taking her friends' words into deep thought. “But… what if that trusted person wasn’t in the institute?”
The others merely looked at her, wondering what she was thinking.
Moxy spoke up again, “I might have to wait for tomorrow… but I know just the person I can try and ask!”
.•.•.
“And with that, class is dismissed.” Hildegard said, clapping her hands together,as she turned around to wipe the board behind her. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
Every single one of the dolls got up from their chairs and made their way out the door.
Moxy on the other hand, she got up from her chair, but instead approached the Victorian.
Without even looking behind her, Hildegard asks, “Is there a reason why you are still here, miss Moxy?” Her hands still tended to clean the board.
The pink doll flinched when realizing the taller doll sensed her.
“Uh… yeah.” She slowly started, rubbing her arms as she tried to find her words. “It’s not related to the lesson, but… I just wanted to ask something about… Lou.”
At the sound of his name, Hildegard immediately turned her head to the pink doll.
“Ga-ah!” Moxy yelped, stumbling back and shrinking in on herself when the Victorian did so.
Hildegard was confused over the reaction, until she looked down at herself to see a glimpse of her own backside, realizing she had left the rest of her body facing the other way.
“Oh, my apologies…” She said as she twisted her head back, placed down the eraser, and elegantly turned around as a whole to face Moxy.
Bending down with hands on her knees, the Victorian looked down at her.
“So what is it that you wanted to ask concerning Louis?” She asked curiously.
Shaking her head and returning her focus, Moxy straightened herself to look up at the taller doll.
“Do you… by any chance know what happened between him and Ox?”
Hildegard’s mechanical eyes widened just a slight at the question.
“That’s… not a very light question to ask.” She said the pink doll.
Moxy rubbed the back of her neck, nervous and a little guilty. “Y-Yeah… I know… sorry. But…”
She took a deep breath and tried to explain, “Lou has kinda been getting along with everyone —everyone I personally know at least... I can almost say he’s making friends.”
Hildegard didn’t react. Instead she prompted, “But…?”
Moxy continued, “But… Ox is a different case. He and Lou still have a lot of tension… We tried giving them space, but I don’t think it’s helping. Just being in the same room, gives both of them a hard time letting go.”
“And you came to ask me, because…?”
“Because we already tried talking to them, but neither told us anything that could help.” Moxy answered, “I thought since you practically act like he’s your son, you two might’ve been close enough for him to share anything with you.”
She should have scolded the pink doll for the shameless wording.
But instead, Hildegard’s composed expression held for exactly one second.
Before she had to turn away.
And softly giggled.
Just a quiet, pleased little laugh, her hand lightly resting against her cheek as they flushed a little, almost flattered.
Moxy blinked. “… uh.”
Hildegard cleared her throat, straightening immediately as if nothing happened.
“My apologies.” She said, voice returning to its usual calm, measured tone. “That was… unprofessional of me.”
Moxy stared at her. “… Okay?”
Hildegard lightly clasped her hands behind her back again, posture returning to its usual poised elegance.
“Now then…” She continued, “Regarding your question… I unfortunately don’t know all that much of what happened between them specifically. I’ve… never even actually met this ‘Ox’ in person before. I’ve only seen him in a single picture Louis drew, before he threw it away.”
Moxy’s face dropped in disappointment, “Oh…”
“I do, however, know a few things that happened with Louis himself, before their friendship and after the bunny’s departure…” Hildegard offered.
Moxy’s eyes lit up again, “Oh!”
“But…” The Victorian started her voice slowly becoming more firm, “… what reason would you have for me to share such private matters to an uninvolved doll?”
There it was.
Moxy swallowed, shoulders instinctively pulling in under Hildegard’s gaze.
“I… I know it’s personal.” She started, fidgeting with her hands. “And I’m not asking because I’m curious or anything like that.”
Hildegard said nothing, and just watched.
Moxy hesitated for a second, but then pushed through it.
“I just… care.” She said, more firmly this time. “I care about Ox… and I care about Lou too.”
“They’re both… stuck…” Moxy continued, searching for the right words. “And it’s like… no matter what happens now, they’re still reacting to something that already happened.”
She looked down at the floor.
“And I don’t think they know how to stop.”
Silence lingered between them.
“…We tried talking to them.” Moxy added, quieter now. “But they won’t tell us anything real. And I get it. I really do. But if no one understands what actually happened…”
Her grip tightened slightly.
“Then how are we supposed to help them move on?”
Hildegard’s posture didn’t change, but something in her gaze softened.
“You’re not trying to fix their… companionship?” She asked.
Moxy shook her head immediately. “No! I mean… Well, I don’t think I can fix them even if I wanted to… Which I do. But I know better than to meddle with that part!”
A small, awkward pause.
“I just don’t want them to stay like this…” She said honestly, “I thought maybe at least knowing what happened, might help figure out how to let them —if they have to— go their separate ways in peace…”
Hildegard studied her for a long moment.
Then finally, “…Very well.”
Moxy perked up slightly.
“But…” Hildegard added, “I must warn you, what I know on my part is still very vague…”
“Anything is better than nothing!” Moxy said.
The Victorian sighed at the pink doll’s enthusiasm, as she looked up at the ceiling, ruminating.
“It’s been two years since I’ve seen Louis. After he graduated he focused on managing the institute…” Hildegard started.
“But one day, he came back.” She continued, “He started going on about a strange green bunny falling into the institute.”
“And that’s Ox?” Moxy asked, though she knew the answer.
The taller doll hummed in confirmation.
“According to Louis, Ox has been in the institute for a week —before he came to me about him. And…” Hildegard sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, “… dear me. The poor boy had said something about him being a troublemaker.”
“Troublemaker?” Moxy repeated.
Hildegard nodded, “Yes… he would derail lectures, throw these, um… ‘pranks’ as younger dolls would call it. And attempted to, as Louis had quoted, ‘getting others to join in on the fun’… Which was a very… very messy type of fun.”
Moxy winced, sucking at her teeth, as she heard that. That sounds embarrassing.
Though… she did technically do the same thing when she first made it to the institute… She's never attempted any pranks. Now she’s really curious how this all ended.
Moxy found herself sitting back down in one of the desk chairs, as she listened to the taller doll.
“Regardless… he didn’t just visit me to complain.” Hildegard continued, as she started pacing as she recalled things. “Louis was very curious about what he was and asked me if there were any dolls like Ox visiting the city, or if there were any new continents of toys that might look similar to him. He even showed me an illustration of him..”
She turned to the pink doll, “I said no, there weren’t any toys like him. So he went to city hall, and still found nothing about him.”
Moxy nodded, as she remembered that part being mentioned by Lou before.
Hildegard looked at the ground as she exhaled deeply, “S-So he…”
Moxy stiffened when she saw how shaky the Victorian started to get.
Swallowing and clearing her throat, Hildegard pushed herself to continue.
“He decided to go through the pipes,” She finally said, “in hopes of at least finding where Ox’s… respective destination was supposed to be.”
“I was worried, as he never went through other routes apart from the institute and the city before, but he insisted on checking…”
Moxy’s face shifted into worry.
“And when he came back…” Hildegard paused. Her eyes closed as she reminisced about the day, her hand going up to cover her eyes in distraught. “He was so… shaken! He slowly made his way to me, his voice trembling as he spoke about the ‘fire shredder’ he saw…”
“The recycling…” Moxy slowly said.
Though the Victorian didn’t directly confirm it, her next words pretty much answered it.
“I was hoping he never had to see it.”
Moxy perked up at that.
“Wait, so Lou hasn’t seen the recycling before?” She quickly asked.
Hildegard shook her head, “No… it was the first time Louis ever saw the dreaded thing.”
“We had a talk about it, and I had him calm down before he returned to the institute.”
“Talk about it, how?” Moxy asked.
Hildegard turned to her and lifted a brow, “Are you not derailing from your original concern?”
Moxy laughed nervously, “Sorry, it’s just… it surprised me to hear about that… I’d just like to know how he handled it. I don’t think any doll would be able to handle such a thing.”
Hildegard stared before deciding to answer, “Well… perhaps not the modern dolls.”
She continued, “It was just a very long talk. I told him that though the human decision to have us destroyed and rebuilt is cruel… there are fates worse than immediate disposal.”
Placing a hand to her chest she said, “As a doll who existed around the 1940’s, I was tossed around after my dollmaker’s home was invaded. Left tattered and lost, partially buried, and was rediscovered by a plangonologist who stitched my severed midsection back together.”
Moxy awkwardly stared at the taller doll with wide, frightened eyes.
“And… how did he take that?”
The Victorian bit her lip, “He, um… He was still very, uh, unsettled. I believe I made it worse.”
Yeah, no duh. —A thought Moxy kept to herself.
“But, whether my attempts put him at ease or not, he realized he was away from the institute unannounced for too long and had to leave, regardless of his frazzled mind.” Hildegard said, getting back on topic, “He hasn’t come back after that, and I was worried whether it was because of what I said, or he was just very busy…”
“Fortunately, it seemed to be the latter as he did come back, but it seemed to be after his ‘friend’ left. And it wasn’t a planned visit…” She finished, one hand squeezing her arm.
“What happened?” Moxy asked.
Hildegard shook her head, sighing. “I’m sorry, but that part isn’t something I can share.”
Moxy frowned, but she understood.
“You’ll have to hear that from Lou, if you’re truly curious. Though, I’m sure it serves no purpose in your little puzzle anyway, as it was only the aftermath.”
The pink doll nodded, understanding.
She sighed, “Looks like I’m still stuck with nothing.”
Then her eyes widened as she nervously tried to fix her words, “Don’t get it the wrong way though, professor! I’m thankful you trusted me enough to tell me all this.”
Hildegard smiled subtly as she shook her head.
“Not at all, miss Moxy. I already knew I wouldn’t be all that helpful.”
A beat of silence before Hildegard spoke again.
“But…”
Moxy quieted down, listening to Victorian intently.
“I think I might have some way for you to get the truth you want.” Hildegard said slowly.
“Really?” Moxy said, listening carefully.
Hildegard nodded, before her face turned serious, “But I’d like to know…”
She slowly stepped closer to the pink doll, who tried not to shrink into her seat.
“Do you truly care about Louis? How much of this is because of him, and how much is for the bunny?”
Hildegard’s question didn’t come out harsh, but it landed that way anyway.
“I…” Moxy’s grip tightened slightly on the edge of the desk.
“I… care about both of them.” She said slowly. “I really do.”
Hildegard didn’t interrupt.
So Moxy kept going.
“Sure…” She hesitated, trying to sort out her own thoughts as she spoke, “I think I started this because of Ox.”
A small pause.
“He’s been… off.” She admitted. “Not just mad. He’s… stuck. Like he’s still living in something that already ended.”
Her voice softened, “And I don’t like seeing him like that.”
Hildegard’s gaze remained steady, “And Louis?”
Moxy swallowed.
“I care about him too, and though he tries to downplay his own problems… I know he just doesn’t want to be vulnerable.”
That answer came faster.
Moxy looked down at her hands.
“I don’t think it’s fair.” She added quietly. “They’re both just… hurting because of it.”
She looked back up.
“I don’t want to pick a side or think about who I’m doing this for.” She said, “I just want them to… stop hurting, let both of them have someone to understand them.”
Hildegard’s expression changed, softer than earlier.
“…I see.” She said slowly.
She straightened, returning to her full height.
Then turned away slightly, as if considering something.
Finally she spoke, “Do you know those little robots circling around the institute?”
Moxy leaned forward in her chair, “Yeah?”
“I never told Louis this, but they serve as surveillance cameras.” She answered. “They automatically save recordings. And they all have one storage unit. So what one captures on camera, it will automatically be saved to the rest of them.”
“All you have to do is ask for it to playback a specific footage. Perhaps use the name and description of the dolls you specifically want to see.” She instructed, “You can even ask for the robots to filter out and compile the desired footage in a single documentary.”
Moxy tilted her head as she gave the Victorian a questioning look, “Why exactly do you know this? And why haven’t you told Lou about it?”
“Hmm…” The Victorian meekly looked off to the side, as she quietly answered, “I had a very bad tendency to constantly observe Louis, even after graduation. Rosa and Caradoc eventually stepped in and told me to put a stop to that terrible habit.”
Moxy slowly looked as she processed everything, “Oookay…”
“Was that helpful?” The Victorian asked.
“Yes. It was actually.” Moxy said, awkwardly grinning at her professor, she really was grateful though.
She slid off her seat and made her way out the door, “Thanks, Professor Hildegard!” She said waving over her shoulder as she finally exited the classroom.
Hildegard lightly nodded as she softly said, “Of course.”