Robotic Hearts, and The Terror Soon To Come

Abrupt Changes (For Some)

You stretched your arms out, fingers brushing against your stuffie. You pulled it into a close hug, not paying much mind to the fact that it wasn't there before. A soft whine left you as the things that happened the night before came flooding in. The first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was Sun, so you crawled over and nestled under his arm. The next thing you saw was.. Flowers on the walls? No, that was the wallpaper, the Pizzaplex did not have flower wallpaper.

Everything felt shaky and you felt like you were going to throw up just looking around.

You grabbed onto Sun's arms and shook him awake.

His eyes brightened and his joints loosened as his body powered on.

"Good mor-"

Sun looked beyond you for a single second before wrapping himself around you and covering your mouth.

He looked around, yanked the extension cord from his back, and then slowly got up from the pull-out couch you'd both been laid on. He stood hastily, backed himself up against a wall, and covered you as much as he could.

The front door opened, sending a jolt through both of you.

"Oh, you're already up.. Good morning."

"Wha- Moon? What is this?" Sun stammered out.

"Listen, I know this is sudden, much more so than I would've liked.. But, there is this very kind man who has offered to take us in and-"

"Are we in some strangers house?!"

"Hey, no, well- it's complicated. All you need to know right now is that I have been working for him, and that he is more than willing to provide for us in return."

"That's a terrible idea, why would you agree to that?! We- we're probably considered stolen property now, and they'd be a missing child, how do you know he doesn't just want to hand us back or worse I-"

Moon grabbed him firmly by the shoulders. "Sun, you are not property anymore, and I would get rid of anyone or anything who tried to hurt you. I promise."

".. I wish you would talk to me before doing things like this." Sun whispered after a long pause,

"Oh.. Oh Sunny.. I-.. I can do that, we can do things together... if that's what you want."

"... It's a little late for that."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before being snapped out of it by a little squeak from you.

Sun let you down with quiet apologies for not doing it sooner.

Moon knelt down to you, trying to hide the fact that he hadn't realized you were there before.

"Hello, my little one."

".. Hi."

"Aww.."

He cupped your cheek gently in one hand, and rubbed the top of your head with the other.

"How about you go put on some clean clothes and then we can go see something cool, alright."

"Okay.."

Moon dug a fresh set of clothes from one of the bags he'd yet to unpack, and led you to the bathroom.

Sun stood cautiously by his side as they waited for you.

"Something cool?" He questioned in soft worry.

"The man dabbles in toy making." Moon whispered back.

Sun nodded and hung his head low.

You tentatively opened the bathroom door, startling Sun and prompting Moon to take your hand. He started pulling you along to wherever it was you were going.

Nervously you looked up at Sun, for answers, or guidance, anything.

He put a gentle hand on your back, following Moon's lead.

"It'll be okay." He whispered as if he believed it.

You got a better idea of where you were as you left the building. A trailer that was once painted in bright horizontal stripes, but they were faded. Ivy was creeping up the sides, you thought it was kinda pretty like that.

Moon led you two down a cobblestone pathway, towards a wooden house with yellow flowers growing beside it.

"We're going to meet a nice man named Simon in there, okay?" He informed softly.

"Okay.." You mumbled, eyes now fixed on the ground. You weren't in the mood for strangers.

"He's an inventor, makes all sorts of magical things. I'm sure he'd show you some." Moon added, hoping to get you excited, or at least not scared.

Nothing.

He sighed and went forth in silence until reaching the house.

He knocked on the door three times, you and Sun standing behind him.

A loud sigh followed by a muffled deep voice came from inside.

"Damn it Moon, how many times did I tell you not to work today.."

The owner of the voice opened the door and gasped, "Oh! Well you must be the family I've heard so much about!"

"Y-yes sir." Sun stood stiff as a board.

You just stared at the man you assumed was Simon. He wore a sweater, pajama pants, slippers, and an oil stained apron. He looked like a kindly grandpa straight out of a cartoon you thought. But you weren't sure you wanted to let your guard down so quickly.

Simon didn't seem to mind you staring him down.

"Now, now, you don't need to be so formal with me."

Sun made a strained noise and stopped talking. Moon took the opportunity to get everyone introduced.

"Why don't you three come on in, I just made biscuits."

"Thank you." Moon replied with a bow of his head.

You walked beside Sun, skeptically glancing at your surroundings. The man seemed nice enough, but with how Moon had acted you needed to make sure he wasn't brainwashed or something.

Eventually you reached the kitchen.

A warm biscuit wrapped in cloth was placed in your hands and you decided that hunger trumped skepticism.

Simon started to ask you if you wanted tea, but Moon interjected, saying you'd probably prefer juice or water.

So he gave you a cup of apple juice, you took it with a quiet thank you.

Then you were led to what you assumed was the living room. Everyone was sitting down for maybe five minutes before Moon declared he was going upstairs to continue working on whatever it was he'd been doing.

"No you are not! Enjoy a few days off!" Simon yelled after him, to no avail.

He let out a deep sigh, "Stubborn that one is.."

"Don't I know it..." Sun murmured, lightly tugging at the ribbons on his wrist.

They went on to chat about hobbies and such, it was kinda boring. All boredom left you when you spotted a big dog trott over. A very friendly old dog. Luckily no one noticed you slip off the couch and onto the floor. You ended up feeding it some of your food, and letting it lay its head on your lap, giggling at its shaggy face, which you deemed to be very silly.

"So can you read?" Simon inquired.

"Yeah.."

"That's just wonderful."

"I guess..." Sun rubbed the back of his neck.

"Were there any books you liked?"

"I-I never had much time to read.."

"Would you like to pick one up? I have plenty you can borrow."

".. Sure."

"Right this way!" Simon stood up, only then realizing who you had found. He chuckled warmly at the sight.

"Looks like you met Molly."

You looked up at him, not doing anything until you found out if that was wrong or not.

"It's fine, more than fine! Now, we're going to look at books, do you want to come?"

You nodded, the last thing you wanted was to be alone in the new place. To your relief, Molly followed you when you got up.

The new room was just books and boxes, like a tiny library. The shelves had flowers carved into them, it looked nice. You sat in the corner and pet the dog, which was fun, until she fell asleep.

Then you looked at Sun, at how he kept tapping his fingers against the backs of his hands. He was probably just as upset as you were.

You looked at the ground next, and all you could think was "I wanna go home". It hurt to try to figure out where home was. Not being able to sit with that thought anymore you went to stand next to Sun.

His attention turned to you in an instant, "You need something, bud?"

"Can I go to Moon..?" You whispered.

"I-I guess so, just don't get hurt."

Only he would see the way you sprinted up those stairs.

You tiptoed across the carpet, your stomach twisted into knots as you searched. Finally, your eyes landed on that familiar sight, you made a small noise to alert him to your presence. Moon turned around, an overflowing box of scrap metals hoisted over his shoulder.

"Hm- Oh!" He slowly sat the box down and knelt in front of you.

"Are you alright, little one?" Moon asked with a tilt of his head, the bell on his hat jingling softly.

Were you alright? Did you even know? You nodded, the pit in your stomach only grew. He stared at you, his face scrunched up, as much as it could that is.

"Honey?"

You didn't have anything to say, you didn't know what was wrong, you just wanted to be with him. After watching your little lips twitch, and your eyes dart away, Moon got the hint. He sighed softly, standing up once more.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go rest..."

Eagerly, you returned to Moon's side, your hand cradled in his.

Sun politely, but just as eagerly, took the opportunity to leave.

Simon seemed disappointed, but he didn't protest. He did, however, fill Sun's arms with books and Moon's with food and clothes before you could go.

Once back up to the trailer, they set everything down, and attempted to settle in.

Sun curled up in a plush armchair, trying to read one of the books Simon had lent him. He had to stop himself from crumpling the pages as fingers gripped them far too tight. He felt so on edge, he couldn't just sit there, he had to do something productive, something bad was coming, he was going to get in trouble if he sat there for too long! But there was nothing he could do, so he gave up, head in his hands.

Moon just held you, letting you nap on his chest. He knew it was too much, that you were being moved around and caught off guard too much. He knew Sun, oh Sun, he didn't even know how much he deserved a calm, gentle life... But Moon would fix it, you both just needed time to settle, to warm up, he was sure.