Archer

3

The first things I see when I wake up are two glowing blue eyes. "Good morning, Ashley!" Chucky chirps. I smile sleepily at him and move him over so I can literally role out of bed. I hit the floor with a soft thump, and I yawn loudly as I forcefully unwrap myself from the blankets. "Good morning, Chucky," I sigh as I stand up and tuck him securely on my hip. "Time to get ready for school."

I spot Andy in the bathroom so I playfully shove him out of the way so I can reach my own tooth brush. "Well good morning to you too," he snorts, making me laugh through the toothpaste. "Hurry up, buttercup, or you're gonna be late!" "You mean we'll be late." "Shut up you lil shit." The brunette laughs and pulls on my hair, causing me to squeal and run away from him. I momentarily forget the doll on my hip and when I feel him slipping, I stop short. Andy collides into us, creating a heap of laughing kids. "All right, all right," I finally breathe out. "Move your ass. We gotta get goin."

I set Chucky in a drawer so I can hand Andy the jelly for our sandwiches. "Can't forget the cheese," I sing, placing a single slice over the peanut butter. "I swear you aren't my birth sister," Andy remarks, wrinkling his nose. "Oh, hush up. You could be the adopted one for all you know." He snickers as he cuts his sandwich in half and sticks it in the board. He takes off into the living room while I lick the remnants of jelly off my fingers, again momentarily forgetting that Chucky is there.

I lift him up again and set him down, letting him wander into the living room as Andy grabs us both a jacket. "Andy," I hear Chucky say. "You forgot your science b-book." I lean against the wall and chuckle as Andy reminds the doll that the toilet paper is indeed not a science book. "Aw, don't be mean, bro bro. He's just trying to help." Andy rolls his eyes and slings on his backpack. "Like a dog?" I snort and smack the back of his head. "Get going dumbass." I give Chucky a swift peck on the forehead. "Be good. Don't break anything. You're free to use my computer if you get bored. Bye!"

_______

"Well today sucked," I comment as Andy and I return home. "Yeah, well. At least we aren't being bullied," he replies. "True..." Andy opens the door, but upon hearing Chucky's greeting, he reels back, knocking me onto my behind. "Ow," I pout, standing and picking the ginger up. I nuzzle his head affectionately, and I'm a bit surprised when I hear his heart click and whir, as though it's cooling itself down. I hope he isn't having another problem... "Were you here the whole time?" Andy asks him, to which Chucky responds by holding out a broken popsicle stick to him. "I made you a present."

I can't help but coo out an awww as Andy hesitantly takes it. "A busted stick." "Andy." Both of us look over at Shane who hushes us, making me glare at him and take Andy's hand. We head out back where I pull out one of my hidden cigarettes and light it while Andy target practices. "I just don't get what she sees in Shane," he vents, throwing a rock. "I mean. He's not nice. He's just as asshole." I blow out the smoke and sit between him and Chucky. "It doesn't matter anyway," I mutter as Andy rests his head on my shoulder. "He's just gonna end up leaving us.. like everybody else." "I will never leave you," Chucky argues, wrapping himself around my arm. I smile softly and place him in my lap so I can hug both him and Andy at the same time. "Are we having fun now?" "Yeah. Yeah we are."

______

"Attack?" Andy shakes his head at Chucky. "You shouldn't lead with your chieftain. I still have so much to teach you about this." I smile warmly at the two as they play chess, my fingers softly stroking Rooney's fur. My two favorite boys are finally getting along. I'm knocked out of my daydreaming when one of the pieces lands in my lap, but when I move to pick it up, the cat snarls and hooks his claws into my wrist. "Ow!" I throw the Tom off of me and wince. "Ashley? Ash, you ok?" Andy takes my hand and examines the cuts, wincing at them. "Damn..." "What is that?" Chucky inquires as the blood drips from my fingers.

"A scratch," I reply, gritting my teeth at the stinging pain. "Kitty hurt Ashley..?" "Uh.. yeah." Andy glances at the android. "Stay here. I'm gonna help her clean this. Stupid Rooney," he mutters as he leads me to the bathroom. "I swear I'm so sick of this cat." "Andy, he's just territorial. It isn't intentional. You know that." I yelp as the alcohol stings the scratches. "Almost done," Andy says, opening a couple of band aids and placing them over the no longer bleeding cuts. Rooney's yowls greet us as we return to the room, only for me to cover my mouth in panic as Andy rushes into the room. "Chucky! Stop!" The AI releases the cat, his eyes a fiercely glowing red. "You can't do that!" Andy yells. "Why would you do that?!"

"He was hurting Ashley," Chucky replies. "He was making her unhappy." Andy turns away from the doll, so I kneel in front of him, placing my hands on either side of his face. "Chucky, baby, listen to me. You can not hurt people. You can't hurt animals." "And don't say any weird shit or creep people out," Andy chimes in. "Hey!" Shane steps in, holding the agitated cat. "Cats freakin out." He pauses and glances around. "And clean this room." "Except maybe that guy.." Andy mutters, making me laugh softly. Andy grins and pulls Chucky and I into a huddle. "I got an idea."

______

We gather in the hallway stairs, and I tremble with excitement already. "Okay," Andy begins. "If this is gonna work, I need you to look as creepy and scary and angry and mean as possible. All right?" Chucky nods happily. I jump in in a hurried whisper. "So, open your eyes as wide as you can!" He tries his best, but I end up snickering. "No, you still look cute." Andy keeps mentoring him until he gets the look right, but at his little snarl, I burst out laughing. "Ok, ok," Andy interjects. "You can stop now."

The growl of a dog draws our attention to the kids and animal walking up. "Shit," the boy hisses. "Sorry." The dog barks, setting off Andy's hearing aid. We cover our ears until the ringing stops. "It's fucking loud," the boy groans. "It's fucking loud!" Chucky chirps back. "That thing just swore," the girl declares. "It's not supposed to be able to do that.." "Yeah, he's special," I sniff, gathering the doll to my chest where he happily clings. Andy sighs. "He doesn't really follow the rules.." "It doesn't follow the rules? Like it has a choice?" "Obviously," I huff, caressing his hair.

"Sorry, can I pop in here?" The boy asks. "So he just does whatever? You can make him do whatever?" "Pretty much," Andy replies. "Okay," the girl jumps in. "Can I just point out that this is how every robot apocalypse scenario begins?" The boy leans closer to Chucky who still clings to the collar of my green hoodie. "Say 'dick cheese.'" "Dick cheese." The boy is very obviously excited and I snort at his enthusiasm. "That is the coolest," the girl admits. "I have so many questions," the boy rambles. "Um. Who are you?" "Ashley and Andysup," Chucky answers for us, making me ugly laugh for a moment. "Uh, Just Andy," The brunette corrects.

"Falyn," the girl replies. "And Pugg. Why are you in the hall?" "Uh.. we were trying to teach him to creep our mom's boyfriend out, but probably a bad idea.." "You're wrong," Pugg argues. "It's perfect. And we're doing it right now."