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The PC was quiet today.
Red stretched out on the floor mattress in the bedroom they all shared. Technically the mattress belonged to Orange, but since Orange had crashed on Red's bunk the night before, it was Red's for the day.
Speaking of Orange, Red had no idea where he was. He knew Blue had dragged Yellow away to explore Minecraft earlier that day, so maybe Orange had gone with them. Although, knowing Orange it was more likely that he'd fallen asleep somewhere.
As for Green, Red knew exactly where he was, because he could see him. Green sat criss-cross on his own bed– the lower bunk on the left– and tuned a guitar. Every couple of seconds he'd strum, shake his head, and go back to turning the pegs.
Red scrolled aimlessly on his phone. The algorithm knew him well– his feed was full of cute animals, Minecraft, and stick figure fight animations. Not like himself and his friends though. Lifeless ones, made by some human animator far away.
Red put his phone down and sighed.
Green hummed absently. "What's wrong."
Red made a face. "Nothing."
Green prodded Red's shoulder with an outstretched foot. "Come on. Spill."
Red sat up hesitantly. "Do you ever think about the way we were before Orange showed up?"
From the way Green's brow furrowed when he looked up he hadn't been expecting that question. He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I guess. Sometimes."
"It was so–" Red shivered. "–weird, right?"
Green frowned. "I don't really remember it."
"Me neither! It's all fuzzy!" Until Orange had broken their routine and their wall. Until he'd showed them a whole new world. Until they'd died– "What even were we?"
"A fighting simulation," Green said slowly.
"No, I know that part." Red waved his hands in the air. "I mean, like were we alive? Did Orange bring us to life? Or did he, I don't know, wake us up from a trance or something? What would have happened to us if he'd never shown up? Where did we even come from–"
He glanced at Green and stopped. Green was looking at him with a misture of concern and something else.
"…what?"
"You alright?" Green asked. "What's bringing this up?"
Red looked away and crossed his arms. "I don't know. I just–" He looked back at his phone. "I don't know if I ever stopped being that fighter stick, you know?" He gestured to Green. "You all found things besides fighting that you loved; you make music now, Yellow does redstone, Blue does alchemy or whatever it's called. But I–" He picked at the blanket. "Where does that leave me? I'm still a fighter."
"We're all fighters," Green said gently. "It's not like we left all that behind."
Red pulled the blanket over his head, feeling his stomach turn. "But I haven't changed."
"Of course you've changed!"
"How?"
"You care for animals–"
"Ugh, I know, I know– I care for animals, I run headfirst into fights like an idiot, and get everybody killed because of it! I know that, but it's not…" He swallowed. "It's not enough." He trailed off, curling into himself.
"Red. Hey."
Red buried his head into his arms.
"Would you look at me? Please?"
Red sniffed, and lifted his head. The blanket obscured his vision a bit, but he could see Green standing up.
Green plopped himself down in front of Red and gently pulled the blanket back from his face. He smiled softly. "Hi."
Red didn't respond, and attempted to make himself even smaller.
Green took a breath. "You're a person, Red. You wanna know how I know?"
Red shrugged.
"You're kind."
Heat spread over Red's face. He ducked his head as Green continued to talk.
"You're so kind; to animals yeah, but also to the rest of us! You're smart– Red, you're so smart– and willing to learn stuff even when it's really hard. You're so postitive all the time, you always manage to cheer us up if we're having a bad day."
Red swallowed past a lump in his throat.
"And also you are the most infuriating stick I've ever met."
Red's head snapped up in surprise.
"Yeah, you run headfirst into fights without thinking, you drive us all insane with pranks, you stick your nose into things that are best left alone. You're stupid, and reckless, but–"
Green ruffled Red's hair.
"–all of that means there's no one else like you. You are the only Red there will ever be, and that wouldn't be true if you were still some blank-slate animation in Flash."
Red blinked hard, his face still burning. He coughed into a laugh. "That's– that's so cheesy."
Green chuckled. "Yeah, it kinda is. So what?"
Red rubbed his face. "I still don't– I still don't do anything useful."
Green scoffed lightheartedly. "That's silly."
Red blinked. "Huh?"
"I literally just said how much you brighten up the group, and how you're willing to get things done even when it's hard."
"But–"
"Do you think music is useful?" Green cut him off.
There was a beat while Red's brain tried to process the question.
"Being 'useful' doesn't matter. We love you the way you are." Green gestured widely. "Ask any of the others. They'll tell you the same as me."
Red swallowed, feeling the lump rising again. "I– I still don't–"
"Alright, that's it. Come here, you idiot."
"H-huh?! Wait–" Red flailed as Green scooped him up onto his lap. Green wrapped the blanket back around his shoulders and hugged him close.
"Let me go–"
"Nope," Green said smugly. "I'm keeping you here until you stop being sad."
Red paused his escape attempts. "…okay, I'm not sad anymore."
"Hmm. I don't believe you."
Red groaned.
Green patted him on the head.
"Fine." Red went limp, sighing dramatically. Despite his protests, he felt the knot in his chest begin to unwind.
He tucked his head under Green's chin. "So… you don't think it's bad that I run headfirst into fights?"
"Oh no, you definitely need to stop doing that. You're gonna give Blue a heart attack one of these days."
"Rats."