Adjusting to a world that isn't yours

There must be more than this

It was dark in the room today. 4S sat alone, soaking in the silence, and sitting on the bed. Being alive again was strange, but sitting alone, in the dark room, felt normal. It felt safe, like how it had felt while he wasn't... exactly there. He wasn't sad, or anything, no, a better word for it was definitely just... Overwhelming. It's been twelve years, and he was still trying to soak in all of the information that TestTube had filled him in on, and process that neither he, nor his brother, were in any danger now, at least regarding the thing that caused his departure in the first place. There was no problem with the hotel itself, really, it was just... loud. It was often hard to focus, in the few times during the week he had been here, while he was out of the room. Too much was going on all the time. Overwhelming was the right word.

After a while of soaking in the silence, his gaze immediately moved to the door, as it clicked open, MePhone peeking his head in.

"Uh, hey-- um... How's it going today?"

"Things are loud."

"Right, uh... Do you want to try leaving the room today? Or if you don't, do you want me to stay with you?"

"You don't need to. I will be fine here, alone. The silence is favorable."

"Uh..." MePhone glanced down to the floor for a moment, before looking back up;

"I'm not going to push you to do anything or whatever, but can you try to be a little social? I think it could be a good thing... um, for you to make some friends," MePhone spoke, almost as if he were nervous to say what he did. 4S didn't take any offense to it.

"I'll... try. Only for you though. Is there any update on the roommate situation? It's been three days."

"Ah, well uh, I'll ask OJ about that, okay?" MePhone smiled into the room, 4S not smiling back. Not because he was upset, or unhappy or anything, just because he didn't really smile much, his expression remaining neutral.

"One last thing before I head back out, uh, I've texted MePad, he and Toilet are going to come visit, so you guys can meet each other, I really think you two would get along,"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, MePad gets along well with just about everyone, really, but I think you two could really enjoy each other's company,"

"Okay. Is this all?"

"... Yeah, see you later, do you want me to bring you dinner or anything?"

"I don't... need to eat."

"I know, I just figured I'd ask, I mean, I don't either, but I still do anyways," MePhone shrugged, now leaning in the room's doorway.

"Hm. Thanks for asking, but I'm good."

"Oh, okay,"

"See you later then." 4S gave a dismissive wave to MePhone, who frowned a bit, before moving to leave, and close the door.

"Uh, yeah, see you later then."

And the door clicked shut, 4S letting his posture drop a bit-- not realizing he had become so tense. Things were never this hard before, so why was it difficult now? This was annoying. Maybe he should heed his brother's request and go out and talk to someone. That might help. Being in this dark room was starting to feel frustrating, anyways.

The moment he stepped out into the hallway, he realized, during the time he had been allowed here-- which may have only been three days, but that wasn't the point-- he had never been given a proper tour. So he wandered a bit, following one way of the hallway, until he reached the stairs. The safest bet for interaction was probably the first floor, or the lobby or something, so he went down, until he reached what he assumed had to be the first floor, or at least the bottom of the staircase. He didn't know if this place had a basement or not. He didn't care. Thankfully, as he stepped out of the stairwell, the hallway was short, before leading out to what he could only assume was the lobby, as that was where it was loudest. He stepped into the room, leaning against the wall as he observed the objects in the room, two objects he recognized from season one, Knife and Pickle, on the couch, playing what looked like a videogame, along with a third object he recognized only from the photo's TestTube had showed him, as Microphone? He closed his eyes, listening to the chatter, hearing other voices too, he assumed from the kitchen, which was to the side of the room. One of the voices sounded vaguely familiar, while the other did not. He stepped away from the wall, glancing into the kitchen, to see Paper, and... He thinks it was Soap. She was also one of the pictures from the whiteboard. The two of them were chatting away as Soap wiped down the counters. The talking seemed to stop gradually though, as they noticed him, standing in the entryway to the kitchen, having just been staring at them for the past three or four minutes.