Murder Bean Personified

“Oh come on, Missy! It’d be fun!” You tugged on Missy’s arm, wrinkling her stark white cuffs, as you tried to tug her along. The department store down the street was having a sale and you’d bought a very large, intricate Lego set as a weekend activity. Somehow it’d now made its way down to the vault, much to Missy’s annoyance. “I could never afford these as a kid.” To her credit, she hated being yanked about like a puppy and you knew that; still sometimes, you did it anyways. 

“You don’t think I have anything better to do for the next two days than play about with some tinker toy with you?” Missy entertained your ideas occasionally, let you hang onto her and be frivolous, but today she was in one of her moods and not so forgiving. You should’ve known not to pressure her. “Why are you being so annoying?” It wasn’t odd that she pushed you away.  Sometimes if you got on her nerves enough she’d brush you off or move you to the side, but never too roughly. This time, you must’ve truly been irritating her because when she pushed, she pushed. With a surprised yelp, you fell into the wooden arm of her chair a few steps away; you were prone to falling, it shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did. This time, Missy caught you off guard, shoving you back before you could stop yourself from falling too hard. 

Missy heard the crack a few seconds before you felt it, stood frozen while you crumbled from where you landed on the piece of furniture and slowly doubled over onto the floor. “Poppet?” She sounded hesitant, cautiously judging. You were used to rough behavior, but it was typically confined to the bedroom and you’d never heard such a crack- Missy tried to be careful with her human. “Get up now, don’t be dramatic.” When you didn’t respond she knelt next to you, grabbing your arms to try to stand you up. Reluctantly you went with her, but remained bent at the waist, hand gently cradling your rib cage as well as you could. It did nothing to help the pain. That wood hadn’t been forgiving in the slightest.

“I’m fine, Miss.” You were not, but you saw the judging look in her eye and had to look away; she would know you were lying instantly. She always knew. Usually, she’d play it off, but she stayed in tune to every part of you she could. If you had more energy to reassure her you would, but self-preservation kicked in faster.

“You don’t seem very fine.” Missy carefully guided you off the floor and onto the sofa, the plush cushions a welcome relief to your aching side when she let you sit down.  Still, every breath was a task and you were clearly injured a great deal. “Did I push you too hard?”

You waved her off, trying to sit upright and failing. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but I… I should probably see a doctor, huh?” You couldn’t let her know how much it hurt. She’d get upset, maybe even try to fix you and injure you further… and you hated the passing thought through your mind that she was capable of hurting you much more if she decided to. She wouldn’t. On a good day you couldn’t outsmart her, but while in enough pain you could barely sit up straight? You were easy prey if she decided she wanted to lash out at something. She could. “I’m sure urgent care could see me this afternoon if I hurry.” You couldn’t hurry if you tried. 

Missy came to sit next to you before you gained the strength to stand, reaching out to place a hand on your thigh and you hated yourself for shifting away, could instantly see the disappointment across her face. Nevertheless, Missy pressed on, smoothing her skirts down as if she’d never tried to touch you at all. “I could wrap you up and you’d be right as-“ 

“No!” You leapt from the couch and god, it hurt so deeply you could feel tears budding in the corners of your eyes. “I mean.. no, don’t bother, it’s not worth it.” Before you knew it you were backing away from her, taking advantage of the forced burst of energy and moving towards the vault door with every step. “Besides I probably need uh, human care, you know, boring stuff like you always say.” Just how much pain you were in hadn’t set in yet; Missy often took the limitations of humans as loose guidelines instead of hard limits. She looked so small sitting alone on the couch, staring you down with a mix of hurt and frustration. This was her fault, she didn’t mean it, but it was and you didn’t want to risk further injury. You were mad and you needed some sort of painkiller, if not some solid anesthesia to set your rib back in place and she wasn’t concerned. Missy’d hurt you and she didn’t care. The realization made your blood boil; you were mad at her. “I won’t tell the doctor though, I promise.” He’d go mad if he knew what happened; honestly, he might be more mad finding out you only told him after the fact, but you had to take that chance. Upset as you were, you didn’t want him to take it out on Missy. She didn’t mean to. Your hand was on the door, you were almost out and then you could cry. “The doctor, I mean, tall, grumpy… won’t breathe a word of it.” Missy wouldn’t let you go if she thought you’d discuss this with the Doctor, you both knew there’d be repercussions for that.

“What?” Her head tilted in confusion for a minute before she understood what you were getting at. If he found out, they could most likely say goodbye to your free vault access. Missy knew that. She understood now. Missy scoffed, rolling her eyes as she watched you fall against the door in an exhausted huff. “I don’t- He doesn’t matter, it wasn’t on purpose!” The Doctor had given both of you many lectures on rules and regulations and such, but you never paid them any mind- Missy liked to push, but she’d never permanently harmed you. “Why ever would you tell him?” Her voice was too small, wavering with apprehension.