★~Vintage Soul~★ (Welcome Home AU)

Chapter 2 - Restoration

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"Alright, I think she has some clothes here" As I rummaged through the boxes, I found a box of old doll clothes and started to take some of them out "Pick out what fits you, I'll get you some more comfy clothes later," I think to myself a little bit, looking back at the small puppet "We should also probably clean you up as well, you've been up here a while" His eye widens, seemingly shocked "Why are you... helping me?" he holds his torn arm tightly, feeling the stitching I did, I giggle softly, "I honestly have no idea... guess it's just because I feel as though I need to" he smiles and limps over to the clothes I've set down, and sits nearby them.

"Such weird... fashion tastes..." He laughs weakly, before pointing to a shirt "I like... this one..." He points to a black shirt with red, yellow, and blue stripes. Almost matching his currently ruined outfit. "And... these" He points to some comfortable blue pants, and a royal blue jacket. I laugh softly at his comment about fashion being weird "Well, it has been more than fifty years since your show was released, things are bound to change-"

"FIFTY?!" He looks rather surprised, rubbing his throat as though it was in pain from yelling. "I knew I was here for a long time, but not that long..." He seems slightly scared at the thought that he's been up here for so long. I start to put the rest of the clothes away, sneezing from the dust in the air. "We need to wash you somehow, I would put you in the washing machine, but you already seem traumatized enough". Wally's face darkened a little bit "Why aren't you scared of me?" I stopped at the question and simply laughed. Wally's face gave off a slightly more serious, but confused look. "why should I be?" as I put the rest of the clothes back in the box, I smile softly. "I don't know why, but I feel like it's my job to take care of you somehow, like somethings telling me to..."

He nods, seemingly understanding what I was saying, before picking up the clothes he picked with his one arm, seemingly struggling to stay standing up. I gently take the clothes out of his arm and smile softly "Here, I got it, let's get you downstairs to get you washed" He nods his head, and I gently pick him up with my other arm. He's still shaking badly, so hold him tightly "It's gonna be okay Wally, I'm gonna help you" I smile softly, and gently open the attic door. Wally flinches from the light, covering his eyes a little bit. "Is it too bright?" He nods once again, hiding his face in my chest from how bright it is. I go down the steps, holding him gently like a small kid. Bringing him into the bathroom and setting him down on the counter

"This place really has changed..." he looks around, almost in awe. I laugh a small bit, before grabbing a bottle of soap and turning on the water in the bathtub. Adding some bubble solution and grabbing some towels and a hair dryer for when he's done. "You want me to put on some music?" he nods softly, and I open my music app on my phone, putting on some calming 70's music before putting it on the counter near him. "Alright, how's that?" he takes a second to listen to the music, before nodding

"It's nice..." He smiles softly. And I nod, taking off his shoes, red scarf, and his cardigan, leaving him in his rainbow leggings and white shirt, before gently laying him down in the bathtub. "Are you okay?" He nods softly, "Yeah, just overwhelmed..." He starts to play with the bubbles, and I laugh a small bit. After a few seconds, I look back over to him "You still didn't answer my question from earlier, what are you?" His soulless eyes meet mine again "Well, I'm Wally! The main character from-"

"You know what I mean," A serious look appears on my face "It's not a normal occurrence for a puppet to be alive" He stopped playing with the bubbles, and looked away slightly. It was pretty clear that the topic brought back some bad memories. I sigh again, and grab some soap, putting it in my hands before washing his hair gently. It was hard to wash however, his hair was doused in hair spray. "You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable, I'm just wanting to know what I'm dealing with" I smile warmly, trying to calm him down. Even though I didn't know what he was, or how he was alive, I somehow felt empathy for the little guy. He leaned into my touch but was still shaken up like he hadn't had contact with anybody for years. "Thank you..." he whispered softly. A soft giggle came from me, as I continued to wash his hair, being as gentle as possible, the 70s music playing in the background.

As I took him out of the bathtub and wrapped him up in some towels, one song ended, and the next started to play. I saw Wally's eyes light up, and I seemed to recognize the song as well, and laughed "You like this song?" He nodded eagerly, he seemed to be a little bit more calmer. "How does that little black box play music like that?" I smile softly and grab the hair dryer "Technology that gotten a lot more advanced, I'll explain later." Plugging the hair dryer in, I see a little bit of fear in his eyes. "Don't worry, it's just gonna blow warm air to dry you off. It might be a little bit loud though" I turned it on to the lowest setting and pointed it toward myself to show that it wouldn't hurt. He takes a sigh of relief and nods understandingly, and lets me point it toward him.

After a few minutes, he's mostly dry. And I grab a hair brush and gently brush his hair, making sure to be careful to not cause him pain, can he even feel pain? As I take a step back, he blows a strand of hair out of his face, and I laugh. "Not used to your hair down huh?" He laughs softly, nodding "Yeah, I'm used to it being held up by hairspray" I quickly think of something, and grab the red scarf he was previously wearing from the counter, and styling his hair into a messy bun, tying the red scarf into his hair as a bow. I hand him a mirror, and his eyes widen in awe. "Hows that? Its not perfect, but it keeps it out of your face." He smiles, and chuckles a little "Its lovely, thank you"

I felt a strong connection to them, one that I had never felt before. Even though I had never before met this... whatever they are.

I don't know what it is, but I'll play along with it for now...

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