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The Arronax mission had been a bust. Wifies was annoyed, and Hummer had trudged his way to the hold of his ship. Unlike his new friend, his room was below, where no one could see him. Where his thoughts were only watched by him... and Levi.
Who cared what Wifies and Arronax thought? Levi was real! He was real, he had proof! Every time something happened, he would get a horrid buzzing headache, like Levi was trying to reach him. Hummer would reposition his antennae, and the feeling would grow stronger- Levi was trying to talk to him! He knew Levi was real, that was proof enough! What more did anyone want?!
Who cared if he hadn't been seen, Hummer had felt him! That was enough evidence, surely! He slumped on the floor, fiddling with the dials on his (cheek?) for some form of solace. He didn't care if they came loose; something had to stop his mind from racing. He had felt Levi. Everyone was wrong, Arronax was wrong. If he could just convince one person...
If he couldn't find Levi, then that meant he wasn't trying hard enough! One hand still flicking the dials on his face, he clutched one of the antennae on his head, wiggling it to try and catch any communications from Levi. He just had to prove it to Wifies. He just had to get one measly transmission. He just had to bend the wire at the right angle for it to-
*SNAP!*
Hummer froze. His hand slowly drifted downwards, snapped wire in the clutches of his palm.
"Hummer?"
Dammit. He could hear Wifies' footsteps, his hands brushing the rungs of the ladder. He had to act quickly, or else he'd see. Why was he so desperate to hide it, Hummer could not understand, but he still scrambled about aimlessly. It was broken, torn off in his hand, with nowhere to put it and no way to fix it quick enough. Sure, it had happened before, so he kept spares in a chest, but he had always been alone before. This sudden swell of shame in his chest stopped him from doing anything.
"Hummer? I wanted to apologise for earlier...- properly, I mean. We can still go out and look... I'm just... losing a bit of hope here."
The sounds were growing louder, he had nowhere to hide, no way to fix anything! He always ended up like this, no explanations, no evidence! Of course Wifies wouldn't trust him if nothing he did actually came to fruition! What would Hummer expect...
"Kinda need a response... Hummer...- Hummer-"
Wifies had made it down... he had seen. Oh for the love of Levi he had seen. Hummer stayed crumpled on the floor, antennae in his hand, the wire scraping the silver of his palm, tarnishing it. Sound turned to static as Wifies approached, everything buzzing whilst his shoulder was grasped. He flinched, but Wifies still managed to turn him around.
"Hummer! Hummer what happened..?!"
He took Hummer's hands, slowly easing the wire out of his palm. He tried to bring him in closer, so he could look at the damage site on his head, but Hummer had stiffened up, an immovable force against the theorist's grip.
"Hummer... you need to let me look- please."
Hummer only made harsh breathing noises, filtered through staticky sounds that crackled as he refused to move. His screen had started glitching at the edges, his hands only free as Wifies held them in his grip.
With enough effort, he was pulled over, his companion able to see the broken edge in the antenna port. The wire had bent at an angle, the split sharp and clean, obviously unnatural. Having been found out, the static noises from Hummer increased, embarrassment flaring as the colours on his screen kept glitching. The lights hid in the fabric of Wifies' jumper, his body shaking in the man's grasp.
"How did this happen- no, you don't have to tell me yet. Better question. Yeah...- Should I tape this up?"
Through his shaking, Hummer managed a negative noise, and Wifies placed the severed wire on the floor, now entirely engulfed by the other's body weight. He wondered if Hummer could even speak properly with all the static filtering through his breathing. If he didn't want it fixing... what could he do? Had this happened before?
Tilting his head down, Wifies spoke into what should have been Hummer's ear.
"Hummer, has this happened before?"
A pause... then Hummer nodded, weak and timid, but it rubbed against his hoodie all the same. Right.
"Do you know how... to fix it?"
Another nod. An arm shuffled about, breaking free from Wifies' grasp, and shakily pointed towards a chest at the side of the space. He still burbled static noises, burying back into the theorist's chest as he retracted his arm. The positioning was inconvenient, but Wifies at least knew what he had to do.
Shuffling across the back of the wall, the two were still stuck together, but Wifies managed to inch closer to the chest. His arm was bent awkwardly, but Hummer was unlikely to respond based on the loud static flares he kept making. Using the tiny bit of dexterity in his fingers, Wifies flicked at the lock on the chest, eventually pushing it open. He couldn't look inside, so he worked against his better judgement.
"Hummer..? Can you hear me?"
No response. The buzzing of static must have been messing with the tv's senses. He sighed, pulling Hummer upwards to face him. His hands held either side of the screen, feeling the warmth from the air vents on each palm.
"Hummer. I need you to come back, okay? I need you to tell me what to do."
.
..
...
..
.
The screen flickered through the glitches for a moment, crackling a noise other than static.
"S-Spares... i--nnn... sw-w-wap."
...
"You want me to get another... wire out and fix it..?"
Hummer nodded, pulling away from his grip, curling up into a ball. He slumped his head in the cross between his arms, the fuzz on his screen subsiding, but it kept glitching despite it. He still couldn't understand why he was so upset that he had been found out.
Plucking a wire from the chest, Wifies appeared back in front of his companion, his hand softly placed on Hummer's head to steady it. He could see a little extra piece of wire still stuck in the port, poking out like a trident stuck in a rock. In order to replace it properly, he would have to pull it out.
There's... still a piece left in here. I'm... gonna pull it out, okay?"
A shaky hum, glitched out slightly, and Wifies grasped at the wire, tugging at it to get it out in one piece. Hummer made a staticky squeak, clutching the fabric of his trousers tightly. He had done this alone, but it hurt more when he thought too much about it. Picking up the new wire, Wifies carefully twisted it around into the slot. Hummer squeaked again, but he slumped further into his own arms, against the force of the other's grip.
"There, all done."
"..."
"Look... Hummer."
Hummer didn't budge. Wifies sighed, grasping the bottom of the other's face- where his chin should have been. He pulled upwards, using his other hand to hold Hummer's head from falling back down. It was mostly back to its regular colour bars, but it kept distorting in horizontal waves. He had seemingly calmed down a bit, but it was hard to read his emotions with that screen.
"Hummer, this has happened before- you... you said so. Um..."
He trailed off. What was he meant to say?
...
So they sat still, Wifies holding Hummer up so they could look at eachother. If words failed, at least they had eachother.
°○
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"... I don't know why I was scared."
"H-Huh?"
The pair must have fallen asleep- at least Wifies had, anyway. He was woken up by Hummer's sudden voice, who had rested his head on his shoulder softly... though the weight had started to ache now that he was awake.
"You're right... it has happened before. I... got scared for no reason."
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Wifies kept listening.
"I think... it was because of you."
...
"Wh- Huh..?"
"I didn't want you to find out. I thought you... would find it weird.- Or maybe...- I don't actually know. Um..."
...
"I think I wanted to keep a good impression."
Wifies looked up at Hummer.
"Hummer."
"H-Huh?"
"I don't care about this- you shouldn't have to hide it- I'd... I'd feel worse if you stayed hurt."
"I-"
"Why do you think I keep sticking around? I... I'd rather have someone to guide me to the Leviathan- to... Levi."
That seemed to do the trick, as he watched the screen light up in joy, the glitching fading as the colour solidified.
Maybe... they could keep searching. Just for a bit longer.