An Experimental Family (BeeDuo)

Chapter 2

R-1 woke to T-2 packing.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled, reaching over to the nightstand and putting on his mask.

"I just- I don't know," T-2 stated. "I just have a bad feeling about something."

"So when are we leaving?" R-1 asked, grabbing the set of clothes that Niki had gifted them the day before.

"No specific time, I'm just keeping a bag with food and clothes in case we need to make a break for it for whatever reason," T-2 replied. "Can never be too cautious."

"What time is it?" R-1 asked, looking at the schedule.

T-2 glanced at the clock on the wall. "9:30. We have 30 minutes to get up and grab some breakfast before it gets put away."

R-1 just nodded in response.

They sat in silence while T-2 finished his small amount of packing and R-1 dressed for the day, Hannah eventually coming to the door with a knock, alerting them to get their breakfast before it's gone.

The day seemed to go by slowly but quickly at the same time. Most of the daycare kids had already been dropped off, their parents off to work, so the two boys helped around the place and played with the younger kids whenever Niki or Hannah had to attend to something else.

They learned various things about caring for the young children, and by far the worst part so far had been learning how to change a diaper, but the boy's disgust got a laugh out of the two young adults. And who knows, it could be a useful skill.

Lunch came and went, and before long the daycare kids were being picked up. And no, R-1 would never admit to the wet eyes he got when one of the younger kids ran and hugged his leg before they left.

Eventually dinner came and R-1 and T-2 were happier than they'd been in. . . years. They laughed with the kids and chatted with Hannah and Niki. It made them happy to be able to give the kids the childhood they deserved, even if it was in an orphanage. It was better than what the two had grown up in

"I don't want to leave," T-2 said as they both lay in bed that night, exhausted from putting the other kids to bed. "I feel like I have a purpose here. Like I'm not just some kid on the streets fighting to survive."

"Is this what a family feels like?" R-1 asked. "What it feels like to be loved?"

Sure they had been a sort of family in the lab, all just kids stuck together suffering through the same thing, but there hadn't been a real connection other than mutual pain and understanding. They weren't like siblings.

But here, R-1 and T-2 felt like a real family. It had only been a day, but they already felt like they belonged. Like they were the older brothers to all the kids. One big group of siblings adopted by Hannah and Niki.

"I don't want to go," T-2 said again softly, rolling to look at R-1.

"But we don't have to," R-1 replied, meeting T-2's eyes.

"Weren't you the one who was trying to convince me that we needed to leave?" T-2 responded light-heartedly.

R-1 sighed. "The longer we're here the harder it'll be to leave when the time comes; we both know that."

They sat in silence.

"Goodnight," T-2 said after a while, a quiet mumble coming from the other, as he turned to face the wall.

It hadn't even been two days and he was already attached. The logical decision would be to leave, especially with Dream still in power with his lab still up and running, and odds are since they were caught once, the guards would be heavily on the lookout for the two runaway experiments. But why would he check an orphanage? Last they were seen they were living on the streets and stealing, who would expect that they have a sort of home now?