Angel's Library

It's as he's on his way home, stopped at a stop sign, that Roquefort sees the poor thing. It's a mangy, scrawny hound, lapping at a puddle on the sidewalk further ahead. As he drives closer, he peers at it. There was already cause for concern; now it's grown, thanks to him noticing that it's got one of its hind legs held up.

He comes to a stop a little ways away and parks his car. After getting out and grabbing his cane, he cautiously approaches it. He calls out to it gently so as to not startle it too much.

"Hey there, poochie."

The dog jolts, then whirls towards him. Its ears fold back against its head, tail tucking between its legs.

"It's alright, I won't hurt you," he says.

Adjusting his grip on his cane, Roquefort kneels down and holds a hand out to it. It shies away. After a moment, when he doesn't move, it hesitantly steps closer. When he remains still, it pads even closer. It sniffs at his hand. It looks up at him with its big, brown eyes.

He offers it a smile.

Continuing to stare at him, the dog tilts its head a bit.

He tilts his own head, though he does so in order to get a better look at its neck to see if it has a collar on. Which it...doesn't. He frowns.

Roquefort shifts his gaze to its injured leg. It's hard to tell what exactly is wrong with it from here. It doesn't seem to be bleeding, though, which is good. Most likely just broken.

He hums thoughtfully. The only animal hospital on the island is a decent ways away. Roquefort will have to convince it to get into his car somehow.

He doesn't have any treats on him, unfortunately. But perhaps asking will work? It has in the past. Not always, but enough for him to figure it's worth a shot.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" he asks it.
Its ears perk up. It tilts its head to the other side.

Slowly standing up, he turns, gesturing for it to follow as he says, "Come on, then."

The dog pads after him as he makes his way back to his car. It hurries ahead a bit, stopping by the rear door. He chuckles when he sees its tail wagging.

Upon reaching the car, he opens the passenger side door. The dog stares for a moment, before it moves to climb in, only to be stopped by Roquefort putting his cane in front of it.

"You'll hurt yourself, little pup. Give me a moment, and I'll get you in."

Leaning his cane against the door, he slowly reaches towards it. It stares at him. Its ears fold back a bit, but otherwise it doesn't react. Carefully, he picks it up, being mindful of its leg and its reaction. He's a bit surprised that it isn't squirming around, but thankful. That means it's less likely to hurt itself further.

Gently, Roquefort sets it down on the seat. It remains perfectly still, aside from turning to look at him. He frowns.

Poor thing must've froze up.

Grabbing his cane, he shuts the door, then makes his way around to the drivers side.

As he gets in and buckles up, he wonders about the pooch's owner. After all, dogs don't just magically wind up on Vandelay Island. It's owner has to be around somewhere. Hopefully, it has a chip.

Roquefort starts the car and glances over at it. It's still sitting there, just staring at him.

He sighs. Then, he offers it another smile and gently pats it on the back. "Don't worry, poochie. I'll sort this out."

"What do you want, Zanzo?" Rekka asks as soon as the call connects.

"I was thinking! I need to test some of my latest and greatest creations," he explains, dramatically posing as he speaks. "And I thought: all of these lousy, uninspired, WEAK DUM-1Es are destroyed in mere moments! I need a much tougher volunteer!"

"So...you're asking Rekka to beat up your bots?"
He grins. "Yes!"

"Hmm." She narrows her eyes. Then, she smirks. "Rekka'll be down in R&D before you can say, "Get ready to rumble!'"

About 10 minutes later, Rekka bursts into R&D. She looks around, but Zanzo is nowhere to be found.

With a huff, she makes her way into the waiting room for the first test chamber. She stomps up to the receptionist desk. But before she can say anything, the speakers overhead crackle.

"You didn't get here before I could say, "Get ready to rumble,'" Zanzo states, his voice echoing through the room. "But no matter! Proceed into the chamber!"

Grumbling, she does as told. The doors shut and lock behind her.

"What is Rekka up against?" she asks as she rolls her shoulders.
"As stated earlier: my latest and greatest creations!"
She slams her fists together with a scowl. "Which are what?!"

When a barely audible squeak comes in through the speakers, she smirks.

"W-Well—" He laughs nervously. That laughter turns a bit more maniacal after a moment. "Why don't I show you?"

A hatch on one of the walls opens up. A large, black, grey, and yellow robot flies through it, landing in the center of the room. It stands up straight and looks at her. Then, it lets out an odd sounding roar as its hands spin, changing into buzzsaws.

"Rekka, DM-ET1L! DM-ET1L, Rekka."

Rekka stares at it, wide-eyed. Then, she chuckles as she starts to pull off her gloves.

"I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart," she tells it with a wicked grin.

Korsica's alarm blares, waking Peppermint, 808, and her. The former groans, pulling the covers up, over her head. The latter sits up, grabbing her phone to turn the alarm off. 808 stands up, circles a few times, then lies back down.

After pecking the top of Peppermint's head (despite the blanket), Korsica gets up. She grabs her sleeves. Pulling them on as she decides what to wear, she thinks about what she has to get done today. A meeting with Ms. Vandelay to discuss remodeling the security wing. Figuring out more permanent fixes for the nodes...

Flexing her fingers, she stretches her arms out in front of her. She takes a deep breath. With shaking hands, she pulls her clothes on. Fully dressed, she heads out of the room and into the bathroom.

Grabbing Peppermint's hairbrush, she starts brushing her hair. After almost dropping it, though, she goes back into the bedroom to grab her stabilizers and put them on. Once they're hooked up, she flexes her hands. She sighs.

Pulling her hair up into a ponytail with steadier hands, Korsica looks at herself in the mirror. Her eyes land on the scar on her cheek. After a moment of contemplation, she gets her concealer out. Dabbing some on, she covers the scar as best she can. Once she's satisfied, she starts brushing her teeth.

While she does that, 808 gets up. Hopping out of her bed on Peppermint's desk, she stretches, then shakes herself. Glancing at the bed, she makes a soft, curious sound. She pads out of the room.

Peering into the bathroom, she watches Korsica for a few seconds. She doesn't seem to notice 808. So, she pads towards Chai's room to seek attention from him. Upon finding that his door is shut, however, she huffs and heads back for Peppermint's room.

Hopping up, onto the bed, 808 nudges Peppermint's head.

Unfortunately for her, Peppermint is already fast asleep. She murmurs softly, squeezing the pillow in her arms.

So, 808 starts meowing. Loudly.

Peppermint groans. Korsica hurries into the room, eyes wide. When she sees what's going on, though, she chuckles.

"Morning, 808," she says as she walks over.

Scooping her up and holding her with one arm, Korsica leans down. She uses her free hand to pull the covers down just enough to reveal Peppermint's temple. She gives her a peck.

"I'll see you later, love," she tells Peppermint.

She gets a mumble in response.

With a smile, she leaves the room, petting 808 as she walks. She stops to set her down on the couch. She gives her one last pat on the head before heading into the kitchen. 808 mewls, hurrying after her.

Korsica grabs a protein bar and a bottle of water. She also grabs a breakfast bar, which she leaves on the counter, along with a hastily written note. Then, taking a bite of her bar, she heads for the door.

808 mewls again, catching her attention.

"Sorry, girl, but I have to get to work."

Her tail droops. Korsica sighs. After a moment of thought, however, she smiles.

Walking over to Chai's door, she opens it a smidge. 808 immediately perks up, racing into his room. Korisca chuckles as she heads back for the front door and exits into the hall outside.

A few hours later, Peppermint wakes up to a quiet, empty bedroom. She isn't upset or surprised by this.

Sitting up with a yawn, she stretches her arms up, over her head, the covers falling off of her. After throwing them the rest of the way off, she scoots to the edge of the bed. She grabs her crutches from their spot against the wall. After positioning them just-so, she carefully stands up, using them as support. Then, she slips her arms through the cuffs one at a time.

Grabbing the handles, Peppermint makes her way out and into the kitchen. She thinks about what she needs to get done today. Helping to look through applicants, rewriting some code...all things she can get done from here. Which means minimal walking and she gets to stay in her pajamas.

She smiles when she sees the bar Korsica left out for her. Leaning against the counter, she eats the breakfast bar and reads the note. A light blush spreads across her face.

Once she's done, she stops by the fridge for a bottle of iced coffee, which she puts in the bag attached to one of her crutches. Then, she heads for the bathroom.

As she brushes her teeth, she absentmindedly wonders where 808 ran off to. Either she went with Korsica to work—unlikely—or is with Chai. But she's pretty sure he closed his door last night. Then again, though, 808's smart enough to figure out how to open a door.

Once she's done in the bathroom, she heads over to her workspace. It shouldn't take her too long to get her work done. Then, she can play video games. Or work on a pet project she's been meaning to get started. Hmm...

Carefully sitting down at her desk, Peppermint grabs her iced coffee, and sets her crutches aside. Turning her PC on, she scoots her chair in and cracks her knuckles.

Chai coughs a couple of times. 808 looks at him worriedly. The sound of his hacking ricochets off the walls of the hideout. Once he's caught his breath, he sighs, sniffling.

Nuzzling the underside of his jaw, 808 starts purring. Her ears are folded back against her head.

He pats her side, offering her a smile.

"I'm fine. It's just a dumb cold." He sniffles. "I'll die of boredom sooner than from this."

She mewls, nuzzling him again. Chai huffs. Which makes him cough a moment later.

"Do you need more cough drops, Mr. Chai?" CNMN calls from the kitchen, where he's making soup.

He rolls his eyes. "No, I'm fine."

Despite him saying that, 808 gets up to fetch him one from the bag on the side table. She sets it on his chest. He glances down at it, then knocks it to the floor. She tilts her head.

Patting her on the head, Chai says, "Again: I'm fine." He sighs heavily. "I don't get why everyone's making a big deal about this," he grumbles.

Peppermint, Macaron, and Korsica had all gone out to investigate the room under the SPECTRA building that had unlocked. They said he couldn't come because of this stupid cold. Normally, he'd be thankful to not have to go with. But he's annoyed and antsy. He doesn't get why he wasn't allowed to go. It's just a cold. He feels fine. He's fine.

Chai sneezes about ten times. They're all perfectly in-time with the fairly aggressive rock song playing. Which is a bit of a problem, because the BPM is in the upper 100s.

He groans once his sneezing fit has passed. Grabbing a tissue from the box next to the couch on the floor, he blows his nose. Then, he tosses it at the nearby bin. He frowns, shutting his eyes when it doesn't land inside of it.

808 frowns, curling up on his chest with her head tucked under his chin. She starts purring again. He starts petting her in response.

With a sigh, he figures he may as well just take a nap. It's not like he has anything better to do.

Chai holds his hand up. 808 hits it with her paw. He claps his hands together. Then, he holds his other hand up. She hits it. He claps again, then puts both hands up. She makes a mrr sound as she shakes her head, backing away.

"What? You don't like say, say, oh playmate?"
She narrows her eyes. Her tail flicks.
"Okay, fine...what about this?"

He scoops her up, tossing her into the air. Catching on immediately, she turns into her ball form. Catching her one-handed, he chuckles, then throws her a few more times. On his last one, he sends her towards the pillow she usually sleeps on. Partway to it, she turns back into her cat form. When she lands, she's on her feet.

With a smile, 808 hops towards him. She licks Chai's cheek, earning her another chuckle and a pat on the head. Then, she climbs onto his chest, circles a few times, and lies down.

He quirks a brow at her. After a moment, he shrugs, stretching his legs out so he takes up the whole couch. Setting one hand on top of her, he absentmindedly pets her.

They're lying together in bed, Chai on Macaron's chest with his arm draped over his side and Macaron's arms wrapped around him, when he says it.

"No one ever cared about me like you."

It's said so softly, Macaron almost doesn't hear it. When he glances down to look at him, Chai's eyes are closed, as though he's about to fall asleep.

Macaron frowns. "What do you mean?" he asks.

When he doesn't get a response after a few moments, he assumes Chai did fall asleep. But then, he replies.

"I never..." He frowns. "When—before, y'know, I didn't really...it was just—me. I mean, I had family. Friends, sorta. But...I...they...things were difficult."

Macaron adjusts his hold on him, making it a bit firmer.

"No one was there for you? Not even your family?"
Chai shrugs. "Sorta. Kinda."
"I'm...I'm so sorry. You deserve better than that."

He smiles as Macaron squeezes him, nuzzling his hair.

"It's alright. 'Cause things are different now. With you. You're so..."
He trails off, sounding uncertain. His brow is furrowed the way it always is when he's thinking.

"...Good," Chai eventually settles on. "You're really, really good to me. And I appreciate it. A lot. And I—I love you."
"You don't need to thank me for that. I love you, too. You know that, right?"

Opening his eyes, he tilts his head so he can look up at Macaron. He grins. "Yeah. You're really good at reminding me."

Macaron smiles back.

"Hey, Mac!" Chai calls as he walks into his office.
"Oh—hi, Chai! What're you doing down here?"
"Just stoppin' by to see my favorite guy."
Macaron chuckles. "How sweet of you!"

Walking over to his desk, Chai hops onto it. He leans forward. His legs start swinging back and forth with the beat.

"So...whatcha been up to?"

"I've been working on hiring some human programmers, alongside some updates for the PGR-0101s! And, of course, I'm still trying to get CNMN repaired. I wish I could make that my main priority, but there's so many other things to get..."

Chai watches as Macaron crosses his arms. The way his brow furrows, and the corners of his mouth turn down. But then, back up again, laugh lines becoming more pronounced, and his dimple becoming visible as he starts talking about how understanding CNMN is. His eyes crinkle a little. They almost seem to sparkle with joy. But maybe that's just the light reflecting off of his glasses.

He can't help but watch the way Macaron's mouth moves as he talks. Everything, down to the slightest twitch, is perfectly in time.

Chai's tongue darts out of his mouth to wet his own lips. His face feels a bit warm.

"...been up to. What about you?"
I wanna kiss you.
"Chai?"
"I wanna kiss you."
Macaron's eyes widen.

Chai jolts as he realizes he said that out loud the second time. He almost can't believe he did. His face gets even warmer. When a grin starts to spread across Macaron's face, the warmth spreads into his ears.

"I, uh..."
"You've been wanting to kiss me lately...?"

"No! I mean—yeah—though, I wouldn't really say lately, 'cause I've sorta wanted to since way before I asked you out—"

"Oh. Really?" Macaron asks, brows raising.
Chai's gaze flicks away as he tugs on his scarf. "...Yeah."
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

As he asks, he scoots his chair closer to Chai.

"Iunno. I mean—kinda weird to just...say it, isn't it? But...um...since we're talking about it..."

He looks up at Macaron coyly. He moves to the edge of the desk. Reaching for him, Chai gently grabs the front of his jacket and tugs.

Macaron chuckles. Moving closer, he leans forward, into his space. His grin becomes a bit more sheepish as he starts to blush, too.

A single beat passes.

Chai leans in and kisses him. The music swells.

But before another full beat can even pass, he pulls away. His face and ears are almost as red as his scarf. The song diminuendos.

Macaron blinks, brow furrowed. He's still smiling and blushing, though. After a moment, he chuckles and shakes his head.

"You've been wanting to kiss me all this time, and that's it?"
"I—uh—" Chai fiddles with his scarf. "...I guess?"
"Where's my confident, devil-may-care rockstar?"
"Wh-What are you talkin' about? I'm right here!"
"You didn't even kiss me for a full second."
"Well—I—"
"I didn't even get the chance to kiss you."

Macaron leans even closer. He sets his hands on either side of Chai. His smile is more coy now, but there's still a genuine sheepishness to it.

The tempo quickens. Chai starts drumming his fingers against Macaron's chest. His eyes slowly wander until they meet Macaron's.

They lean in at the same time. The music swells again.

Macaron places one of his hands on Chai's back, and the other against his side. In turn, Chai's drumming fingers curl, grabbing at Macaron's jacket again.

When they both pull away, Chai's eyes are wide and sparkling. Somehow, his face and ears are even redder than before.

Macaron grins. He leans in and kisses him again, but this time on the cheek. Then the other. From there, the kisses just don't stop coming. Chai's quickly snapped out of his state of awe by it, as he snorts.

The next time Macaron goes to kiss him, Chai tilts his head to get in another one on the lips. This catches Macaron off-guard, effectively ending his onslaught of them.

As Chai pulls away, he smirks. "Just can't get enough of me, huh?"
Macaron blinks, then laughs. "There he is."

It's as Chai is looking through the many things he picked up along his way through Vandelay that he finds it. It's nothing particularly special on the surface. Just another log. It's contents, though, are special. So special that he can't help but laugh as he reads it.

I have to get one of those.

He realizes after a beat that they wouldn't have made any. Considering, y'know, Kale blew himself up and all.

Guess I'll have to call in a favor.

The gang—sans Chai, who they're waiting for—are in the cafeteria having lunch. They're chatting about nothing in particular. Just work things, future plans, and whatnot.

808's ears twitch right before they hear their missing member call out, "Hey guys!"

They all turn to greet him—and then freeze.

Peppermint's eyes widen. "Chai, what the fuck are you wearing?"

It's a rather simple looking white hoodie. On the front, it says, "I Survived The Project Armstrong Defect Fiasco."

"What? You don't like it?" he asks as he walks over. There's a big, stupid grin plastered on his face.
"...How did you even get that?" Korsica questions.
"Had to pull a few strings—it was a real pain in the ass—but! I managed! And I think it was totally worth it."

CNMN tilts their head. "But...why?"
"'Cause it's hilarious!"
"I suppose it is a little humorous."
Chai huffs. "Oh, c'mon! You get it, right, Mac?"
"Uh...sorry, little guy..."

He frowns, slumping forward with his hands stuffed into the hoodie's pocket.

808 hops onto his shoulder. She nudges the side of his face. Smiling, he reaches up to scritch her behind the ears.

"Well, at least I got you on my side."
Peppermint rolls her eyes.

Peppermint looks over at Korsica. She's doing something on her laptop. There's a small frown on her face, like there always is when she's focusing on something or lost in thought.

Her flexing her fingers, causing her arm stabilizers to shift, catches Peppermint's eye. She's reminded of her plans to make her some new ones. The ones Korsia's had since what happened on the LIFT seem to work fine, but they were made in a rush with what little materials they had at the time. They've already needed repairs quite a few times. Peppermint thought it'd be nice to surprise her with a new pair. Of course, with how busy she is, she never actually had the time to start working on any, and eventually just sort of forgot.

She could start right now.

Instead, she lets her gaze wander.

Her eyes trail up her arms. She can't help but think about how strong Korsica is. Her face starts to feel warm.

Peppermint's eyes eventually find their way up to her chest. The implant there glows a soft blue. The scarring under and around it are lit up by it. It also illuminates a bit of her cleavage that's visible due to the low cut, v-neck of her shirt. Peppermint bites the inside of her cheek. Now her face is very warm.

Eventually, she tears her eyes away to look at her face again. Right as she does, Korsica glances over at her.

When their eyes meet, Peppermint's widen. She quickly turns away.

For the thousandth time, she's left yearning for more. Hoping that Korsica didn't notice her staring. Wishing she could without feeling like she'll ruin everything.

Shaking herself, Peppermint decides to get started on drafting a design for those new stabilizers.

The hideout is full of chatter, as Peppermint and Chai talk about nothing in particular. How their days were, work stuff, and whatnot. 808's curled up in the latter's lap. She purrs as he absent-mindedly pets her.

"Where'd you get that new pin from?" Peppermint asks, gesturing at it.

It's a pin of a stick of butter on a butter plate. There's text on the plate that says, "Butter late than never!"

Chai grins. "It was in a gift basket Macaron got for me! There was a bunch of other pins, too. I haven't decided what to put them all on yet. It also had Snickers, Doritoes, a pack of picks—and! A new MP3! So now I can listen to whatever whenever I want again!"

"Oh! That was nice of him."

"Yeah..." He blushes as he stares off into the distance. His smile becomes wobbly. "He's so sweet like that."

There's a pause.

Peppermint quirks a brow.

Eyes widening once he notices the look she's giving him, Chai sits up, ramrod straight. He grabs onto his scarf with the hand that's not now clinging to 808.

"I—I mean—it was! Super nice of him! Haha!"

His brow is furrowed. The smile on his face is strained and too big. There's a certain panicked energy in his eyes that Peppermint knows well.

"Chill out," she says with a huff. "I'm not judging. Just...surprised."
"I'm chill! Chillest guy in the room!" He purses his lips, looking away. "And...good."

A moment passes.

"Not like you'd have room to, anyway, with your crush on Korsica," he mutters.
Peppermint smacks his arm, her face heating up. "Hey!"

"What? It's true!"
"Yeah, well—I don't get all lovestruck like you just did!"

"Bullshit! Literally just the other day you were fawning over her! There were cartoon hearts floatin' around your head and everything!"

She glares at him, crossing her arms.

Okay, yeah, maybe she was. It's not her fault Korsica's so pretty.

Chai smirks. She flips him off. He just does it back—so she gives him the double bird.

With a huff, he asks, "When are you gonna ask her out, anyway?"
"Wh—whenever I feel like it! When are you gonna ask him out?"

"...Never," he replies with a shrug.

She gawks at him.

808's ears twitch. The expression on her face shifts, looking more somber.

Peppermint can't tell if it's because of whatever feelings she's getting from their connection, or if it's because he's not petting her anymore. She's more inclined to believe it's the former, though.

"What's with that look?"
"What do you mean never?"

"I...mean...never? I'm not gonna tell him." He shrugs again. "I can live with what we've got. 'Sides, I can always just daydream."

"That's..." Sad. Kind of concerning. Fucked up. Hellish. Relatable.

"...The smart thing to do? Thanks, I know!"
She rolls her eyes. "Shut it. That isn't even close to what I was gonna say."

"What were you gonna say, then?"
"That that's..." She sighs. "...Relatable."
"You're not gonna tell Korsica? Ever?"
"No. Maybe. I...I dunno. I've thought about it, but..." She sighs.

Peppermint wants to. She's planned out exactly where she'd invite Korsica, what outfit to wear, exactly what to say, what sort of gift and flowers to get...everything she'd need. But every time she goes to do it, she backs out. It just never seems like the right time.

His brows go up. "Oh."
"...Why're you surprised?"

"I just figured you'd come up with this whole plan to ask her out, and then she'd be so amazed by how thoughtful and smart you are and say yes, and then...I dunno, you'd makeout or whatever."

Peppermint's eyes widen. "...You think she'd say yes?"
"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't she?"
"Because she doesn't like me. Not like that."
"Sure she does. She's just not obvious about it like you."

"...Okay, first of all, I am not obvious about it. Second of all...how would you even know?"

"'Kay, one: Fawning, cartoon hearts, all that shit. Two: she looks at you the same way. Just discretely. I've seen it, like, twenty times."

"Really...?"
"Yeah."
"Huh."

There's a pause.

"So you gonna ask her out?"
"...Probably. But...if I do, you have to ask Macaron out."
"What? Why?"
"Because he likes you, too."

"...Don't fuck with me like this, Peppermint," he says, eyes narrowing.

She huffs. "I'm not!"
"Are too!"

"Ugh. Just...think about it! He gave you that super thoughtful gift basket, didn't he? And he's always smiley around you. He laughs at all your bad, dumb jokes."

"Yeah, but that's just, like...a friend thing. And he's smiley around basically everyone, he's just a friendly guy." He purses his lips. "And he laughs because they're funny! You just have a bad sense of humor!"

...Okay, so he might be right. About the first two things, anyways. But she doesn't like how Chai's just accepted that it won't work out.

"Well—you still should."
"Why? So I can...embarrass myself? Nah. No thanks."
"How would you embarrass yourself?"

"He'd say no, and then it'd be all awkward and weird. And I'd have to try and dig myself out of the grave I had dug for myself, but it'd be too late for that."

"How do you know he'll say no?"

"Because—" He shuts his mouth. His gaze falls. Face hardening, he continues, "Because he just would."

She frowns. "What if he didn't?"
"What?"
"What if he didn't say no? What if he said yes?"

"Then—I dunno. We'd...makeout, or whatever. But he'll always say no. And I'm never gonna tell him. So it doesn't really matter what'd happen, because nothing'll ever happen."

"It could happen if you just asked him out."

He groans, tilting his head back. "Why are you being so stubborn about this? Shouldn't you be worrying about asking out Korsica?"

"Well, no. Because you're not going to ask out Macaron."
"Dude. Stop being stupid."
"I'm not being stupid!"

"Yes you are!" he exclaims, throwing his hands up. "You're acting like we made some kind of...pact! Which we didn't! And I don't wanna be part of whatever pact you're trying to make!"

They glare at one another.

808's gaze flicks back and forth between them, her eyes wide.

"You worry about you and Korsica," Chai says, "I'll worry about me."

After a moment, Peppermint sighs. She crosses her arms. Her gaze falls.

"...Alright."
"...Cool, cool."