Chapter Text
It’s been a couple of days since the dateviators crashed into your life (quite literally) and you’ve really been enjoying meeting everyone, running around your house, fixing everyone’s problems.
You love helping people, sure, but you also can’t help but feel a little responsible for neglecting your objects in the first place. Hell, you’re apparently the reason your washer and dryer broke up.
You do need a break though. Even if it is just running around your house, it’s starting to get tiring. Even your objects are starting to notice. But if you stop now, you’d feel like you’re letting them all down. You already agreed to meet Timothy at noon, and Disuke still needs those glasses delivered to The Tipsy Tumbler, you just can’t stop now!
“You alright sugar? You’ve been sitting like that for a while and we’re all getting a bit worried." You’re pulled out of your thoughts by a tap on the shoulder. You turn to see Betty smiling softly at you, but you don’t miss the small worry line between her brows. You turn around to see the clock behind you reads 9:00.
You hadn’t realized you were sitting for so long.
“Sorry Betty, just zoned out for a bit… I promise, I'm fine.” You smile at her brightly, hoping she believes you. But you don’t even believe you, so why would she?
“Oh yeah, that's why you’ve been staring at the wall for half an hour, right? Not that I think Wallace doesn’t deserve the attention, but I think you could use a break. You’ve been working yourself silly for everyone the past few days” Betty is right, and you know it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still have work to do.
“Really Betty, I'll be fine. I’m just walking around my house! It’s not that tiring.” you mused. You hope she’ll just drop it so you can go use your last charge before collapsing into bed, but you’re not that lucky.
She squeezes your arm gently and lets out a small sigh. “You know, eventually helping several objects a day with all their random requests will take a toll on you. You’re only human after all.” you know she meant no harm by it, but it still felt like some kind of insult… “We can deal with our own problems for one day” She gives you a thoughtful look. you guess one day couldn’t hurt, but you still had plans for tomorrow and-
“Hey, how about this” she claps her hands together, proposing an idea “ we can have a girls night! One night that's just to have fun and unwind. We can go out, party, get drunk, and tomorrow you can rest a bit. Or go back to running around if you really want to.”
You’re not sure. It would be fun, and you have been wanting to catch up with Betty, but you don’t want a massive hangover in the morning. Not to mention, Beverly's place still doesn’t have much foot traffic…
You reluctantly agree though, and Betty gives you a tight hug before running off to the closet to find something fitting for you to wear.
She comes back with one of your favorite red dress shirts and a pair of tight black jeans, and you take it upon yourself to style it with your usual silver bracelets, a black studded belt, and a black lace choker.
Berry and Amir offer to do your makeup for you but you realize the dateviators make that a bit difficult, so you just do it yourself. Once you put the glasses back on though, you are quickly bombarded with compliments by the two, before promptly getting dragged away by Betty.
Betty herself is wearing a beautiful floor length navy blue silk dress, that is strangely reminiscent of the silk pillowcases you have in the closet. You got them because you heard they were better for your hair, but you hated the texture and threw them in a box instead. It’s good that someone is making use of them though.
Just as you’re about to make your way down the stairs, Betty stops you and pulls you to the hall closet instead. You give her a questioning look, but she just opens the door and points to the breaker box in the center of the wall before disappearing into it.
Well, here you go.
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You aim the dateviators at the small metal door and press the button, but instead of a person, you’re standing in front of… a bigger door?
And as the dark door swings open, you realize you’re not in your closet anymore. You’re somewhere entirely more… stimulating.
What?
A classic speakeasy club welcomes you in. The low electric lights glow warmly, and live music drifts languidly from the velvet–red stage that envelops the audience in a pleasurable haze of pure vibe.
How did you never know this was here?
The gentle clink of cocktails in glasses rises from a wood bar to the left of you, and you see Betty already there, waiting for a drink. You only recognize about half the objects in the room, but it’s not as crowded as you’d expect a place like this to be.
One object in particular catches your attention though, the dazzling man walking straight toward you.
“Well now, what a delightful surprise. A brand new patron!” The white haired man stops only a few feet from you and you can’t help but feel a bit nervous. You take a second to process what you’re seeing. This man is glowing, literally and figuratively.
You've seen a lot of objects, sure, but this guy is one of the first that you've seen that didn’t look entirely human. Excluding the object themed outfits of course.
One of the most prominent features being his hair, that's draped in front of his shoulders. It looks like pure electricity, and you kind of want to touch it… even if that's probably a bad idea.
You can’t stop your eyes from traveling down from his face, over his waistcoat, which is adorned with several different switches, but your gaze immediately flits back up to his eyes when you hear him chuckle, and you realize you were just staring and haven't said anything.
“Ah- sorry i..” you can feel your face heating up as you try to avoid eye contact. This is embarrassing… and where did Betty go?
He actually laughs this time, which definitely doesn’t help the flush spreading to your ears now. “Don’t worry, it’s quite alright darling, I get that a lot. Would you like to try that again?”
It would have sounded condescending if anyone else had said it, but for some reason it felt genuine coming from him. “Yes please…” you still aren’t looking him in the eye and he seems quite amused by all this.
“Right, now where were we.. ah yes! welcome to the breaker box, the pinnacle of luxury and entertainment, and the most exclusive club in the house. Impressive isn’t it?” the man steps aside and gestures to the rest of the room. The introduction seems scripted, like he’s said it hundreds of times before. It does make you wonder if there are any other clubs in the house though.
“It’s really nice, um.. What was your name again?” you realize this entire time you forgot to ask his name too. Add it to the ever growing list of embarrassing things you’ll do tonight.
“Ah of course, I'm so sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Volt” he extends out a hand to you and you take it, albeit reluctantly. You really don’t want to mess up any more than you already have tonight.
Volt lowers his head and brings your hand up to his lips. You feel a spark of static electricity as he gently kisses the back of your hand. Oh wow. You can barely hear the music over your own heartbeat now and you can only imagine how red your face must be.
Apparently quite a lot, seeing as he laughs again as he lowers your hand back down. “You know, you have quite the reputation around the house, live wire”
You can feel butterflies in your stomach at the new nickname. God, where’s Betty with those drinks? It can’t possibly get any worse though, right?
Volt's voice lowers and his eyes darken ever so slightly, "I'm eager to explore it for myself.”... Oh it can. It definitely can. You open your mouth to speak, but your voice doesn’t want to work.
Volt takes pride in watching you short circuit. And he has absolutely no plans to stop now. “Shall I take you to one of our VIP tables?” He asks you, but it's basically a rhetorical question. He doesn’t wait for an answer before he wraps his arm around your waist and begins walking with you farther into the room.
You don’t make it very far though, as you hear a new voice from behind you both, along with a barely noticeable buzzing sound. You see the lights flicker for a split second before everything is normal again. How odd.
“Volt..”
You both turn, or rather volt turns and you move with him, to see the stranger. He looks exhausted. frustrated, and annoyed. He wears a matching vest to volt. You think they must be connected in some way. Coworkers maybe? The new man’s sleeves are rolled to the elbow, and he fidgets with an old rag in his hands.
“Eddie! Just in time to meet our guest.” so his name is Eddie. He barely looks at you when volt mentions you. It’s almost like he didn’t notice you were here.
“The human? What’s she doing here?” Ouch. Despite his words, the way he says it makes you think he’s more tired than it being anything to do with disliking you. But it’s hard to tell, it could be both.
“Well, I'd imagine if we don’t poison the mood, they’ll be joining us for the headliner show!” he looks over to you, “joining us for tonight's show i hope?” You see Eddie roll his eyes, not particularly interested in the conversation, if he even was before.
“Uh, yea sure I guess so?” You say, still a bit flustered from a moment ago, but at least you can talk again. You don’t even know what this show is, but if volt’s going to be there, it can’t be too bad. He seems nice so far… and hot.
“Hmm, we’ll have to work on that enthusiasm.”
“...Right. Well, have fun with that. I fixed the patch, I'm clockin’ out. Not my best work, but it'll hold for the show” You watch Eddie glance over to the stage, almost like he’s looking for something. Volt brings his attention back when he speaks.
“Ah, I see. And… you’re sure you’re… feeling alright?” This is a very different tone than earlier. It’s the first time you’ve heard anything from Volt that wasn’t flirty and confident. This worries you a bit too.
“I-” you hear the lights buzzing again when Eddie speaks, and you see a subtle flicker in his dark eyes, ”I’m fine, just… don’t overdo it.” he turns and trudges away, focusing on the rag in his hands. Once he’s out of earshot, you turn to Volt, “is he okay?”
“Of course! Eddie always is…” he doesn’t seem too convinced even though he’s the one saying it. “His ‘human’ skills leave something to be desired. Best simply to give him some space.” You don’t really know Eddie like Volt does. He’s probably right, you think it’s probably best to drop it for now, even though you really want to help…
Volt changes the subject “Ahem, Back to the matter at hand- tonight's show! Shall I set you up at one of our VIP tables?”
“I would love to, but I'm actually supposed to be here with Betty and I should probably go find her…” you feel bad for turning Volt down, but you can’t just leave Betty alone when this whole thing was her idea.
“Oh that's quite alright, I understand. Though I get the feeling she wouldn’t mind at the moment.” You follow his gaze to see Betty sitting at a table in the corner near the stage, flirting with Ben Hwa. Of course.
Just as you’re about to change your mind and take Volt up on his offer, you see the lights flicker again. It lasts longer this time, and the buzzing is louder. It feels kind of ominous. Volt notices too, his face grows serious for a moment, but immediately switches back to his bright host smile when he notices you watching.
“So sorry livewire, it appears that it’s time for me to start the show. Don’t miss me too much though. I’ll be back for you later.” With a wink, he hops nimbly up onto the stage and begins announcing tonight’s act. You can feel the blush coming back to your face already.
This is gonna be a long night... You need a drink.
You finally make your way over to Betty's table after grabbing a drink from the bar. You take a sip and mentally prepare for whatever wild conversation you’re about to walk into, but Betty sees you walking up and immediately refocuses her attention.
“Hey, there you are. Have fun flirting with Volt?~” she teases you. Oh she saw that… “I got you a drink, but I didn't want to interrupt ” Betty giggles, taking a sip of her drink and glancing over to Ben Hwa, who’s wearing the same smirk as Betty
They decide to chime in now, "I hope you don’t mind I stole your date, but I am far more interested in whatever he was saying to you that had you so red~” Was this a date?
You put a hand over your face to try and hide the blush. “I- uh… I don't know, he was just so close to me and he called me livewire and I didn't know what to say and he caught me staring at him and I-" Betty puts a hand on your arm to stop you from rambling.
“Woah, slow down sugar, breathe” she laughed. You take a deep breath and Betty moves your hand from your face.
“He called you livewire, huh?” Ben Hwa leans a bit closer to the table. Before you can answer, the lights in the room dim, and Volt takes the stage with that dazzling smile of his.
“Good evening, you scofflaws and ducky whatsits!” You whip your head around, and you hear your tablemates snickering at how easily Volt had managed to catch your attention. ”Shut up.” You roll your eyes. You couldn’t care less about what they think right now. You were curious about the show, that's all!
“Looks like Johnny Splash is gonna be singing for us tonight! Be warned, patrons, you might get wet.” Volt winks at you before disappearing backstage.
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You had hoped to see volt again after the show, but no such luck. You’d think the host would be out here talking with guests, but you guess he must have other work to do. That's fine though. You’re having plenty of fun with Betty and Ben Hwa, even if it's mostly teasing for how easily you had fallen for Volt's charms. Which you hadn't by the way! you were just… caught off guard.
You hadn’t realized how late it had gotten until it was last call and everyone was leaving for the night. You’re about to get up and leave too, when you see Eddie trudging out of the back room and heading over to the bar to make a drink.
…It couldn’t hurt to just check on him, right? You know Volt said he was fine, but you’ve never been great at leaving things alone. You make your way over to the bar just as Eddie sits down with his drink. “Hey Eddie." He glances briefly over his shoulder before turning back to his glass with a sigh. “Show’s over, club’s closed” he runs his hand through his hair, which you realize is actually an assortment of red, grey, and black wires.
“I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to come check on you.” he finally looks at you now, with an expression of genuine surprise. “What? Why?” because he looks like he hasn't slept in a month. But you’re not gonna say that to him, that would be rude. And you just met. “Because you looked upset earlier,” is what you decide on.
“Well I wasn't. Happy? You can go now.” Eddie takes a long sip of his drink, and when you don’t leave, he starts to get annoyed “Amps sake, are you always this oblivious?”
Wha- Alright fine, fuck not trying to be rude. You were just trying to help, but this guy obviously doesn’t want it. “Are you always this much of an asshole?” You ask, crossing your arms. Eddie looks taken aback, like he wasn’t expecting you to get tired of his shit. But instead of getting mad or just leaving like you'd expect, he… laughs? Seriously?
“Heh, cute. Now get out, I've got work to do.”
And you are promptly kicked out of the breaker box, just as your glasses run out of charge.
What a night.