Wake Up; Stay Awake

A Cracked Mask

WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Eating Disorders
- Past Character Death
- Referenced child abuse
- Self-shaming/Self-hatred speech
- References to addiction (Alcoholism, Self Harm)

Leaning against the doorframe now, the mostly darker dressed man raised his eyebrow waiting for the other to reply.

Knife could instantly notice how.. off Mephone appeared. His hair was.. messy messy. Messier than it usually was. By usually- he meant just slightly tangled since his hair was.. longer than almost everybody's at the Hotel. Which of course meant it'd be difficult to manage but...
This looked.. neglected, almost.

It took Mephone a moment to respond, he'd stood there with his eyes wide and biting his lip for a good twenty seconds now fiddling with his clothes. His hoodie's sleeves in particular .

"Oh..! Uhm... yeah, sure why not? Movies are.. fun- movies are great.." He sputtered, unable to stay still. His voice wavered, almost as if he were nervous.
Which was even weirder. Why would he be nervous?
Knife bit the inside of his cheek as Mephone went on a ramble, something about movies- though instead of listening, he took a peer behind Mephone into his room.
It was majorly dark. The blinds were almost completely shut, the curtains almost completely blocking all light out. He could make out shapes of things all over the floor, - and if he wasn't mistaken, almost a glimmer of something laying on the ground?

An exaggerated cough brought Knife back to the conversation, an anxious Mephone holding his fist to his mouth, as somebody would when making an, 'ahem?' sound.
"'Aight... awesome. Uh.. I'll..- see you in.. say, an hour? Would that do you? Or later? I know how you are with scheduling.." Knife suggested, scratching the back of his neck.
Mephone glanced from side to side, before taking a look behind him- then back at Knife. Nodding quickly.
"-Oh, yeah.. uh, hour's fine, not really.. doing anything anyway, so.." He laughed, a noticeably forced smile spread across his face.

Knife just shook his head, giving Mephone a sympathetic look back.
"See.. see 'ya, then, yeah?" He confirmed, giving the doorframe beside him a pat before turning around to walk away.
He could hear a quiet, 'Yeah, yeah..' Coming from Mephone behind him as he left, then the sound of a door clicking shut.

Continuing down the hallway, Knife slid his hands into his pockets, lost in thought as he made his way to the hotel's elevator.
Mephone looked like a real mess. Not- not in an insulting way- more of an.. is Mephone okay,? Way.
Knife could almost swear there was something on his face. It was hard to make out, considering Mephone's room was so dark and he was fully submerged in it and its atmosphere-, but it was like there were black marks or something under his eyes and down his cheeks. They'd curved under his eyes like eyebags-
Or maybe that's just what they were..?
Mephone was a robot. Knife had to take that into consideration.. could he even get dark circles like that?
If he could, Knife was certain he could notice some.

But.. he could make sure Mephone was alright properly later. He'd be down in an hour to watch some movies.
Knife would send a text, but hopefully Mephone assumed the others would be there too. Bomb, Pickle and Fan always joined for movies.
But he'd send a text as soon as he got downstairs anyway. Mephone needed context for things. A lot of it.
That was fine though. Understandable.

Pushing down the elevator's call button, the doors immediately opened with a whirring sound, allowing Knife to step inside.
He'd have to see what movies the other three had picked.

—————

Shit, why did he agree to that?!
Oh God, that was really impulsive. He barely got to think about it before his mouth just started yapping for him.
Oh no...
How could he get ready so soon in an hour!? He wasn't ready for this! He looked like shit, felt like shit, and probably smelled like shit, too!
His fucking hair..
He didn't even want to think about it. It was like an entire nest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually brushed it.. with actual effort. Instead of just a few low effort swipes to look presentable enough to answer his bedroom door.