Soft spot (paper hat)

Six

TW: neglecting eating, self harm and gore.

(Flug's POV yes still)

I felt tense in my seat. All hunger had left me before I even sat down. I never really ate anyway.
"Is there a problem, Flug?" Blackhat's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"N-No, Sir. I-I'm just not v-very hungry." I pulled my eyes away from his and looked at the floor.
"How long has it been since you've aten, Flug?"
"Uhm, I.." I didn't want to answer.
"Flug."
"A-at least a w-week, S-Sir."
The three other people in the room looked concerned. Demencia has stopped eating, 5.0.5 just stared, and Blackhat, seemed angry.
"Flug," Demencia started, being cut off by Blackhat.
"That's not acceptable, Flug. You could die."
I had no response to give them, just silence.
"Flug, please eat a little bit." Blackhat was chillingly calm. He was definitely concerned, though.

I don't understand him. He used to be so rude, and still is sometimes, but now he suddenly cares? He doesn't make sense anymore.

"Flug. That's an order. Eat. It doesn't have to be the whole plate, but only as much as you'll take."
I nod, grabbing the fork. I twirled some on the fork and brought it to my face. I didn't pull the bag up, I slid it underneath, and ate it. I was noticeably nervous about it.

5.0.5 and Demencia's concerned faded a bit, and they both continued eating. Blackhat started eating when I did. I only took a few more bites before feeling full.

Surprisingly, we all finished around the same time. Demencia, 5.0.5, and Blackhat and nothing left on their plates. I on the other hand, hand an almost full plate left. Nobody said anything. It was just awkwardly silent.
"I-I'm gonna go back to work now." Upon breaking the silence, Blackhat nodded, sending me on my way.

(Blackhat's POV)

Flug left dinner. Looking at his plate, he really doesn't eat much, does he.
"Are we going to talk about how Flug just doesn't eat?" Demencia asked.
Shaking my head I responded, "No. And if we do, we have to be careful about it. It's obviously a sensitive topic for him. Especially if he even decided to not eat much now. For now, leave him be."
It makes me wonder though. What other things has he pushed away?

Demencia had already left the kitchen, 5.0.5 started to clean up the kitchen. I stood up, and went to check on Flug. He may not be as well as we all thought.

I entered the lab, him sitting with his back turned from the door, gloves put on either side of him. "Flug?"
He set something down to his side next to the glove.
I looked closer at the object,
A knife. Covered in blood.
I rushed to him, sitting behind him, holding him closely.
"Flug, what's wrong?"
I waited for his answer, but he didn't speak.
"Flug?"
He started crying, which quickly turned into sobbing. His head dropped down, I felt tears run down my arms. I glanced at his face, he had moved his goggles up his head.
"It's going to be alright, you're safe. You're okay." I tried to comfort him, but I'm not the best at this stuff so I don't know if it's working or not. Plus, I've never really done this before.
He clutched my arms, leaking blood onto my trench coat.
We sat there in silence, other than Flug's crying. I closed my eyes,

This feels......nice. I rather like comforting Flug....It's odd, I never thought I'd do this. Why do I even care so much?  I mean, it's not like I have a crush on him........Do I?

"S-Sir?"
"Yes Fluggy?"
"A-Am I....useless?"
"What? No, of course not." I was shocked by his words. Sure, I treated him like it, but he shouldn't have taken it so personally.
"B-But I've f-failed y-y-you countless t-times. I-I-I've messed u-up and-"
"Flug. Listen to yourself. You sound insane." He stayed quiet, so I spoke again, "You're better than any scientist I've ever met. I've met a lot of them, too. But out of all of them, you're the most resilient, smartest, and sometimes most crazy scientist I know. You're my inventor, you're my scientist. Of course you're not useless."
"A-Are you sure, S-Sir?"
"Yes, Flug. I'm very sure."
"O-Okay, Sir."

We still sat there. It was extremely awkward.
"S-Sir?" Flug had calmed himself more now. He wasn't shaking anymore.
"Yes~?"
"Y-You can l-l-let go if me, now."
"Ah' of course." I let go of him, my face turning a deep green. We both stood. I grabbed his hands, "Flug, promise me you won't do this again. I know i'm hard on you, but I don't want you to hurt or neglect yourself anymore. You need to eat, and you need to stop hurting yourself."
"Y-Yes Sir. I-I-I promise."
"Thank you."
I hugged him tightly.
"D-Do you really m-mean the thing a-about me being th-the best scientist you-you know?"
"Yes, I do mean that."
"Thank you, Sir!" He hugged me tighter than I had him.
"Now, let's get you cleaned up."
"O-Okay Sir."
I took him to a sink, and cleaned his wounds. There were more than I had thought. There were previous ones as well. A sense of....what's the word? Guilt? Yeah, I think that's it. Guilt ran through me as I helped clean him up.
I grabbed bandages and wrapped his wrists up.
"Th-Thank you S-Sir." He said while putting his gloves back on.
"Of course, Flug. I wouldn't want my favorite scientist getting hurt, now would I~?"
"Uh, of course, S-Sir."
I walked to the doorway, then stopped. "Oh, and Flug?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Tell anyone about this and I will gut you from head to toe." I growled.
He let out and eep noise, "Y-Y-Yes Sir!"
Flashing a smile back at him, "Good."

I left Flug with an extremely blushed face, both him, and me. It's embarrassing to admit it, but as well as a blushed face, I left with a smile on my face. Not the smile that I have when someone's in pain, but an ugh, caring smile. Flug....brings out the ahem, best in me. It's disgusting.

(Flug's POV)

Blackhat had left me in the lab. He shouldn't have had to help me.
Damn. I'm pathetic.
"Aroo?"
I smiled, "Hi, 5.0.5, how are ya feeling?"
Smiling back he made another 'bear' sound, what I assume meant "good"
I patted his head while he nuzzled into me.
"Hey, how buddy. Don't get too comfortable, I have to work." I yawned, almost fully closing my eyes.

5.0.5 cuddled close, having me embedded in his very soft....warm....fur-

*Flug's Dream*

I opened my eyes to hear shouting. It was Blackhat's voice.
"FLUG ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID AND IDIOTIC?!"
I tried to speak, but words wouldn't come out of my mouth. How classic of a nightmare.
"NO ANSWER?!"
I frantically scrambled out of the room.
"OH FLUUG~! YOU KNOW THERE'S NO ESCAPE!"
My breathing was rapid. He's right. There's no escape from this. From him.
I turned the corner, and ran straight into his chest. Terrified, I scooted back, trying to get away.
"Here. Let me help you up~."
It wasn't Blackhat's voice. It looked like him, but it wasn't him. I denied the help and ran. The other version of Blackhat kept popping up, saying he could help me.
Eventually, I ran into the real Blackhat.
"Hello, Flug~" He was grinning, showing off his sharp teeth.
The other version of him popped up, again. Blackhat grabbed my wrist, his claws digging into my skin. He pulled me away from the other. He was the opposite of Blackhat. It was odd to see him in white.
Blackhat was growling, the other smirking. His claws dug even deeper into my skin, bleeding intensely. I started to shake, and groan in pain.
"Careful now Blackhat. You wouldn't want to hurt him, would you?" He purred.
Blackhat's eye flashed red, still growling. He loosened his grip, though. Aching, I stayed still.
The other left me with Blackhat.
"I'll see you soon~" He said.
What the—
"You're not hurt too badly, are you Flug?"
I shook my head no.
"Good." He embraced me. I sat there and just let it happen, my wrist bleeding out next to me.

"Flug!"

"Hu-uh?" I groaned, jolting awake.
"What do you think you're doing? Sleeping at this time?"
"Wha-What time is it?"
"It's almost noon Flug. Get to work."
"Ye-Yes, Sir." I said sleepily.
I can't believe I fell asleep so easily. No, I suppose that's a lie. I know why I did.
I stood, realizing 5.0.5 was no longer with me. I walked to the chair, and looked over the blueprints.
Sigh
These are cooked AF. At least it's enough to go off of.

I grabbed extra pieces of metal, welding them together while adding the contents inside. I could finish this today! If the testing goes well, of course. I finished the prototype in a matter of minutes.
I stood, holding it out in front of me, proudly. I was beaming with happiness and excitement.

With my eyes closed, I pressed the green button on top of the device. When I opened them, I was above the ground!
"I-It worked!" I exclaimed! Laughing joyfully, I looked around the lab. Everything in my sight was floating! I pressed the button again, making me and everything else that was floating crash down.

"FLUG WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"