All We Have Left

Chapter Five: A New Friend

    And a new character is introduced, roleplayed by my friend!

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    Michael sat in the living room, curled up on the couch with a sketchpad that he currently doodled in. He focused on the drawing, eyes narrowing in concentration as he tried to fight off any unwanted thoughts or memories, a task that grew difficult and overwhelming from time-to-time. Distracting himself seemed to be working.

    Henry peeked into the room, being sure to keep the small animatronic bear out of sight. "Hey Michael?" A smile appeared on his face, his excitement to show Mike what he had made for him growing. "May I borrow you for a moment?"

    Michael glanced up, blinking a few times as he forced himself from his thoughts. "Hm? Uh, sure." He set aside the sketchbook and pencil. "What's up?"

    Henry walked into the room, holding Helpy behind his back. "I've got a little surprise for you!" He kneeled down in front of Michael. "I've noticed that you have trouble doing things sometimes; don't take that as an insult haha, so I decided to make you a little something to help with that." He brought Helpy out in front of him, carefully standing him on his palms.

    Michael stared at Helpy, blinking repeatedly. His head tilted. "You built me a tiny bear?"

    Henry chuckled. "Oh, he's much more than just a tiny bear, Michael." He flicked on a small switch that was on Helpy's back. "His name is Helpy."

    Helpy sprang to life. He blinked, looking up at Michael before smiling and jumping up with his arms spread, his face turning into what looked like a cheery smile.

    "Wha-" Michael reached towards him. "An animatronic? How did you..wh...why did you build me this? It probably took a long time, never seen one so tiny before." He gave a small chuckle. "He's kinda cute."

    Henry smiled, holding Helpy out for Michael to grab. "Like I said, he'll be there to help you when I'm not able to. I thought it'd be nice. And don't worry..." Henry put him in Michael's hands. "He wasn't that hard to make."

    Michael tentatively took Helpy form Henry, as if he were afraid he would break the tiny bear somehow. "You, um, you didn't have to do that for me."

    "Yeah." He stood, ruffling Michael hair. "But I did anyway. I'll let you two get to know each other a bit alright?" Henry walked out of the room and headed back to his office.

    Helpy jumped again, his eyes closing and a high-pitched note came out of his voice box.

     Michael blinked down at him. "Uhh...hi?"

    Helpy let out another spew of notes in a way of saying hello back. He took a step forward on Michael's hand, then plopped down on his palm and looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

    Michael couldn't keep back a few laughs. "I never thought I'd like an animatronic. Why the heck are you already adorable? That's not fair."