There's Something Happening - Digital Time Fanfic

Chapter 5: Tulips

Colin's perspective: It was the middle of the night. I had been procrastinating sleep ever since I'd watched Tony play that horrifying game. I decided maybe a snack would help. I got up, walked down the hall and entered the kitchen. I had to make sure I didn't make a sound, or else someone might wake up. I opened the fridge and looked for something to eat. Then, I heard something behind me. Footsteps. Big, heavy footsteps. I spun around quickly and turned on the flashlight I carried with me.

"Who is it? Show yourself!" I cried. Suddenly, Steve stepped into the light. I sighed.

"It's just me, bud. Why are you getting a snack this late at night?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep," I replied.

"Don't you have some sort of sleep mode or something, seeing that you're a computer??"

"I'm not a full computer. I still have many human parts. I have eyes, I have hair... I even have a-"

"I get it, Colin!"

"What I'm trying to say is, when the... accident... happened, not all my body parts were replaced with a computer. Some of them managed to survive. And also, the computer that was used to replace my body was from the 70's, meaning it was very out-dated. Only the new computers have sleep mode."

"I didn't come down here for a lecture," Steve murmured. 

"Then why did you come down here?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"To find my chef's hat. Lars hid it from me," he frowned. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to bed now. There's nothing good in the fridge anyways. Just some expired milk and some soggy grapes."

"Alright. Goodnight, Colin."

"Bye."

Tony's perspective: I woke up early the next morning. When I walked into the living room, Lars and Shrignold were sitting on the edge of the couch, waiting for their show to start.

"Does anybody know where Colin is?" I asked, stretching my arms over my head. 

"He's been sitting in the front yard all morning, I have no idea what he's doing out there," Paige said. I looked out the kitchen window at the front yard. Colin was sitting in the grass, picking some of the tulips in the flower bed.

"I'll go talk to him," I said, walking towards the door.

I kneeled down next to Colin in the grass. He turned his head at me and cracked a smile that sent shivers down my spine

"Colin, are you ok?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder. He flinched at my touch and I immediately moved my hand away.

"Of course I am, Tony. I just didn't sleep very well last night. Well... actually, I didn't get any sleep at all," he explained. 

"Is this about that video game? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-"

"No, no, no, this isn't about the video game. And you didn't scare me," he assured.

"Well... what're you doing with those flowers?" I asked, pointing at the bouquet of tulips he had gathered from the flower bed.

"Oh, these? These are for you!" He sang, handing me the bouquet. I took them into my hands carefully.

"For me? You know my birthday was months ago, right??"

"I know exactly when your birthday is, silly. These aren't birthday presents, though. I picked them for you because..." he paused and closed his eyes for a moment. "I thought you'd like them."

"They're beautiful," I said, still unsure of what was going on.

"Great!" He exclaimed. Suddenly, he leaned in towards me, almost close enough to touch me. My heart dropped into my stomach. 

"I'm so glad you like them," he whispered to me. His breath was warm on my face in the crisp, fall air. I laughed nervously and ran my fingers through my hair. I hadn't seen Colin act this way before. 

"Erm.. w-well, there's breakfast in the kitchen if you want it," I stammered. Colin backed away from my face.

"Right, breakfast! I'm starving," he said, standing up and clapping his hands together. I stayed in place, watching as he went back inside. There was most definitely something wrong with Colin. He would never get that close to me. And the flowers confused me too.

When I walked into the kitchen, I put the flowers Colin had given me in a little glass vase, sitting on the windowsill. Everyone was sitting at the table, eating their breakfast already. Colin had a seat saved for me beside him, so I grabbed a plate and sat down. It was unusually quiet for a Monday morning in our apartment. Finally, somebody spoke.

"I tried cooking breakfast for the first time, how does everyone like it?" Paige asked.

"Well, everything is pretty good. My only question is, why are the eggs purple??" Steve asked.

"They looked boring so I decided to add some food colouring to them," she grinned. Today was off to a weird start.