The Bond

Ch 108

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

Ennard descended the stairs swiftly, his footsteps galloping and he made his way to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a cold can of soda, before long he headed into the living room and picked a book on the shelf before sitting down on the sofa. Ennard opened the book, but for a moment his gaze fell on Michael who also entered the living room—Michael went to the telephone and grabbed the receiver, then they stared at each other.

"It's still seven in the morning," Michael said with a deep frown. "Why are you drinking soda so early? It's not healthy at all."

"I don't care." Ennard shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not like I'll get sick."

Michael scowled for a moment, but he decided to ignore Ennard's reply and started typing in a number. He put the receiver to his ear, though his gaze was focused on Ennard who was now reading a book quietly. It felt like only yesterday that he said he hated the animatronic, now they like each other. How quickly time flies.

["Hello?"]

"Lu!" Michael immediately greeted cheerfully as soon as his call was answered.

["Oh hey, Mike, how are you doing there?"]

A grin plastered on Michael's face, he glanced again at Ennard and caught Ennard briefly glaring at him before looking away at his book again. "We're fine, how about you? You're okay in there, right? Do you miss us?" Michael teased.

["You? Yes, I miss you. But Ennard? No."]

He laughed.

["I'm fine, at least my life is peaceful without your bickerings."] He heard Lucy's cackling laughter on the other end. ["However I can't help but be lonely here as well."]

"Aww." Michael sounded touched, before he got excited again but spoke more quietly. "Guess!"

["Guess what?"]

"Something happened!"

["You suddenly have organs?"]

Michael grumbled. "No. I wish I did, but no."

["So what?"]

"It turned out that Ennard liked me and now we are dating!"

["Oh really? Good for you then."]

Michael waited a moment, at least fifteen seconds.

["Wait—you and Ennard are WHAT?"]

The brown-haired man giggled and stifled a squeal of delight. "I know! It was so shocking!" He smiled broadly as he fiddled with the phone cord. "I actually didn't expect that, I thought I was the only crazy one here but it looks like he's no less crazy." He chuckled.

He heard Lucy awe in admiration. ["Damn, Mike, I didn't expect him to have feelings either. Isn't he just an animatronic?"]

"With A.I as the system, yeah."

["It feels like in a movie where robots finally have feelings like humans."]

Michael raised his eyebrows and snorted a little. "My life is already like a film, if something else crazy were to happen I would no longer be surprised. Who knows if my father is still alive or dying? Or both. An animatronic killed me and I am together with him now after I accidentally took away my brother's life. It has exceeded its potential as a feature film."

["Sounds more like a soap opera, but what happened at that time anyway?"]

"Not much," Michael replied casually. "He said he likes me the middle ... uh, something, not too important to mention. Then after that I said I like him too then I kissed him!"

["Wow you have the nerve to do that first."]

"Well," Michael grinned, "that's Ennard, what do you expect? I like him very much."

["More like an obsession."]

Michael pouted his lips. "Why do you keep saying I'm obsessed—hey!" Michael protested as Ennard grabbed the receiver, who had been behind him for some time but he didn't realize him at all, pinning him between the table and Ennard's massive body. Ennard narrowed his eyes at him for a moment.

"Dawson," Ennard said after awhile.

["Oh there he is, the hot-tempered grumpy ass one."]

The corners of Ennard's eyes twitched in exasperation. "Shut up, your forehead could be an airplane landing pad."

["Hey! Insolent!"]

Without speaking further Ennard unilaterally hung up the call, making Michael puff out his cheeks in annoyance. They stared at each other, ignoring the phone ringing again and again. Michael was still caught between the table and Ennard, while Ennard didn't seem intent on giving him any way out. Michael raised both eyebrows, Ennard furrowed even more. After that Michael spread his arms out to the sides, waiting a moment.

Only then did Ennard burst into his hug, making him smile amused and pat Ennard on the back. After they were together, Ennard became more open to him even though his sarcasm was still there, the animatronic became more clingy and that was adorable to him. Like having a big grumpy baby.

"I guess we should just go back to Dawson." He heard Ennard whisper softly.

Michael tilted his head. "Why?"

Ennard tightened his grip. "The scientists are here, we can go back and forth to confuse them. Inefficient, I know, but it's the only way to avoid them other than going to another town."

"So basically you're worried about Lucy."

"No, who said I was worried?"

"Me."

Ennard gave Michael an annoyed look, while Michael gave him a big smile. "I'm not worried about Dawson," he denied again, he was about to let go of their embrace but Michael held him back.

"Sure, Enn." he laughed. "How about we leave in two days? I still want to be alone with you."

"You're not going to do anything weird, are you?"

"Why do you always suspect I have perverted intentions?"

"Because," Ennard paused and frowned, "because it's you?"

Michael looked at Ennard bored for a moment, before he decided to ignore Ennard's reply and buried his face into Ennard's chest, tightening their embrace. He could feel Ennard's body stiffen for a moment, before Ennard hugged him again. He felt warm.

"Enn."

"Yes?"

"Please don't too tight you might break my bones."