PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER.

    it’s always an uphill battle to remind himself that charlie is just being nice. in fact, she’s always been nice, to him specifically. her other friends were never mean by any stretch of the imagination, but tolerance is different than kindness. he never had to guess which side of the line charlie was on. her offer pulls an actual smile from him, one that looks tentative as if his muscles aren’t used to moving that way. “that’d be great, actually.” timmy’s learned never to ask for help, not from his family at least, but it also means he’s gotten good at accepting it whenever it comes his way. “it’ll probably only take us twenty minutes if we’re both there.” the smile deepens, his cheeks pinking, and timmy suddenly finds the floor a lot more interesting than charlie’s eyes as they walk. “thanks, charlie. really.”

    “well -- kind of.” timmy knows that if elizabeth doesn’t tolerate the mostly-sanitized upper parts of the pizzaplex, she’s going to absolutely hate the lower level. he hasn’t gone further down than the first level, but the staff bots start getting... strange once you enter the tunnels. he jogs to get ahead of elizabeth, scooting past the security bots. his level 3 security badge technically belongs to their older brother ( it’s my spare, michael had said. keep track of it in case i lose mine and need to grab this one ) but timmy’s responsible enough not to abuse it. well, except for right now. he swipes it, opening up a new tunnel, all concrete and chain link fences and stairs leading down. “they won’t bother us. probably. c’mon.”

    “i mean,” timmy keeps an eye on his tone as he gets out of elizabeth’s car. he’s learned the hard way not to make it sound like he knows more than her about anything. he’d never purposefully patronize her but accidents happen. “they’ve got showers in the building, and cots and stuff. laundry, too.” he leads her to a staff door off the front entrance, punching in a code and opening it for her. “i guess they wouldn’t really have to leave if they were really focused on something.”

    “uh --” it only takes him a moment to weigh the pros and cons of either being stuck at the pizzeria once elizabeth leaves and having to ask one of the others for a ride home or dealing with a stranded at the pizzaplex and getting angrier by the second during timmy’s shift elizabeth. “your car.” this way she won’t pick on his driving on the way there, either. hopefully with them getting there before opening there wouldn’t be that many people there to ask questions.

    he knows he’s going to regret his next words and the ( at minimum ) half hour of his time that they promise, but timmy’s knee-jerk reaction to people pleasing isn’t something he’s good at repressing. “i could take you down there.” he pricks his fingertip with the pin on his badge and his whole body flinches at the pain, shoulders tensing as if ready for more. “before my shift, i mean. i’ve got 45 minutes before we open. if you want to go now.”

    timmy doesn’t even need to glance up to know the expression slashing itself across his sister’s face. it’s a harsher version of one their dad used to wear, when their age necessitated being around him more ( supervised feels like the wrong word to use, as does tolerated ). nowadays he simply doesn’t have the time to be angry with them. it’d require him to care more than he does. timmy shakes his head, fishing out his pizzaplex nametag from his pocket and fiddling with it. “i don’t really know about michael.” it’s partially a lie. timmy stays updated on his scheduled only so he can know when to avoid their older brother.

    timmy frowns at that, now. he’s no stranger to being manipulated or used just for any information he might know, but generally elizabeth is more subtle about it. this charlie thing must really be bothering her. not that she’d ever talk about actual feelings with him. ( rule number 1 of growing up in their house -- cry on your own time. it’s not fair to waste anyone else’s with it ). “i’ve seen her coming from parts and services more often,” he confirms, looking down at his hands as he says it. timmy doesn’t know why talking to his sister always feels like he’s doing something wrong. “in the underground, i mean.”

    “you also don’t really... look for us.” any time timmy’s seen their older brother he’s been down in the tunnels or in parts and services, and he really can’t fathom elizabeth making her way down there on purpose. and honestly, gator golf really isn’t her scene, either. timmy doesn’t tend to go to any of the security offices, or into the depths of the pizzaplex where he knows his dad and henry have their workshops. “why are you looking for dad in the first place? do you need him for something?”