D.O.L.L. (BoyXBoy)

Chapter Seventeen: Arthur Doyle Part ll & Lullaby

"Arthur used me like a servant. But that's what I am, right?" Xavier laughs again without humor. "Be was always locked up during the night with another woman and she was different every time. I remember there was the one lady, Elizabeth, who tried to get me--"

I shudder. Gross.

"--but Arthur stopped her and said I was off-limits," he says, smiling but then covers his face. "Then he said:"

"' I don't want you touching my robot because he doesn't know how to do anything.'"

I hear a sniff and my mouth drops slightly when I see his shoulders shaking.

Robots can cry?

"After that, Arthur got really mean. He reprogrammed me and made me do all the spy missions," Xavier says and balls his hands into fists. "I hate him."

I move closer to him and put my arm around him. He leans into me and takes a shaky breath. "I had a friend, someone who didn't care I was a robot. Her name was Ivory and she was a librarian at the local library. She really was pretty."

I stroke his head softly as he continues. I try to ignore the fact that we were really close.

"We met in secret, but eventually Arthur found out about Ivory..." he sniffs. "And then he did what he did with her and she told me that I betrayed her."

His sniffing had become louder, so he pauses to cry. I rub my hand on his back in soothing circles. "Th-That's why I don't want to get close to anyone anymore. Arthur will take them away."

There was a silence for a while and then I ask:

"Want me to sing a song?"

Xavier looks taken aback and so am I because I just blurted that out.

"You...You can sing?" he asks softly.

Ouch.

I nod. "Well? You can tell me all about Arthur later when you're all calmed down, yeah? so just try to stop crying, okay?"

He nods, wiping at his eyes. "Okay."

I smile and try to think of a song. When I have it, I take a breath.

"If love was the strongest thing,
Then why do we despise it?
An angel of ice,
Could break your heart,
But holding love
Doesn't become real
Once it begins.
A lie cannot transform
The truth.
I will never fall in love again..."

He stares at me for a moment but then laughs. "What the heck? what is that? a tragic love song?"

I smile on the inside, because he was smiling but on the outside I glare at him. "Well, sorry about that. It was a lullaby."

Xavier raises an eyebrow. "Was?"

"When I was younger, Sebastian used to sing that to me to get me to sleep. He said that he made it up on the spot."

Xavier looks thoughtful. "I feel like I know that song."

"He said he made it up on the spot," I repeat.

"Your brother may have been trying to impress you, Rowan," Xavier deadpans.

I shrug. "Eh."

"Anyway," Xavier begins, smiling. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For listening to me."

I smile back at him. "Any time."