Sorry for not posting for a while, here’s chapter one of a reblex book I’m working on.
(THIS IS AN AU, NOT CANON TO REGRETEVATOR OR FORSAKEN)
(I’ll take constructive criticism just don’t be mean!)
“HA, so you’re afraid of this dumb towel?” 1x1x1x1 taunted. Their large transparent green torso seemed to tower over their younger sibling, making the air smell biting and sour.
Kasper was backing away from the piece of cloth that 1x1x1x1 was waving around. “Dude!
Stop!” He spoke sharply, though a voice crack betrayed his fear as his back hit the door of the bathroom, the smooth, cold tile pressing against his shirt like a wall of ice.
1x1x1x1 nudged the towel closer, laughing in Kasper’s face with a laugh distorted from years in the banlands. “You’re so stupid!” They cackled. Finally dropping the towel on the floor after they got their fix of entertainment from Kasper’s fear of the pink-stained towel.
Kasper slowly got up from having been backed against the bathroom tile wall and dusted himself off. “Dude… that wasn’t funny.” He scoffed, walking in front of 1x1x1x1 to block them from grabbing anything else to torment him with, eyes narrowing.
The night had been exhausting, and 1x1x1x1 wasn’t making it any better. They arrived at his shift at a local fast food chain while he was the only employee, just to make closing time a living hell. And to make it worse, they ended up following him home, using their panel, and making everything chaotic.
“Alright…” Kasper exhaled. “Get out of my apartment.” 1x1x1x1 tilted their head in thought for a moment, then let their expression droop to a soft frown. “Fine, geez, I was just messing with my little brother. Who I haven't seen for twenty-five goddamn years…” grumbled the corrupted entity as they made their way to the door, tossing the pink towel into the connected bedroom as they finally stormed out of the door.
A few hours had gone by, and Kasper finally scrubbed the remnants of corrupted code from every surface in the apartment. He was now peacefully eating cereal on the sofa and waiting for his boyfriend, Lampert, to come home from work, his black shirt having a few milk stains from the cereal. He was picking at a thread on his matching black jeans and brushing the pink streak in his brown hair out of his face.
Kasper continued to eat his cereal and milk uninterrupted for the next 20 minutes before a familiar jingle of keys broke the silence. Lampert emerged from the front door, still in his work uniform. He looked exhausted, yet a faint smile lingered on his face, glad that Kasper was alive and happy.
Kasper looked up from his almost-finished cereal and swallowed the bite he was currently chewing to speak. “Hey, babe! Was work okay?” He asked, waving Lampert over to the couch.
Lampert's metal objectian frame made a soft poff sound as it hit the fabric. He set his bag down and wrapped an arm around his partner. “I missed you…” He paused to look away for a moment before wrapping his arms around Kasper's shoulders and almost knocking him off the couch. Lampert’s chassis smelled faintly of ozone, like it always did, a silent reminder that he was still running normally, that nothing was wrong, and that the night would continue like any other.
Lampert pushed off Kasper's shoulders to flop back onto the couch cushions and stretch out. “So, anything life-changing happened today?” Lampert joked. Putting his feet up on the coffee table and letting his limbs un-tense themselves.
Kasper turned to Lampert, suddenly remembering the events that had happened just hours ago. “Yeah, actually. 1x stopped by and decided the day I do volunteer work would be the perfect day to torment me…” he said calmly. “Followed me home too, though he left when I threatened to call Brighteyes.” Kasper continued with a smirk, not noticing the look of horror that was frozen on his boyfriend's lampshade.
“Y-You mean THE 1x?” Lampert stammered, trying to collect himself and hoping that there was some bit of context that meant that 1x1x1x1, the famous myth, the child made out of the hatred of the now banished Telamon, was in their home and actively interacting with Kasper. Lampert felt his palms go warm, a feeling meant to simulate sweat, which Lampert immediately tried to wipe off.
“Yeah, he’s my brother, you know…The Son of Telamon? Shouldn't it be obvious?” Kasper clarified. Putting his hands up in a shrugging gesture.
Lampert took a moment to collect himself, then mentally facepalmed when he finally put the thoughts together. “Right…” Lampert conceded. “Sometimes I forget your parents are the same people who control basically everything in Robloxia.” He replied nervously, putting everything into perspective.
Kasper felt the metal spoon hit the bottom of the porcelain bowl after his last bite. He wiped his mouth and yawned before getting up to clean the dishes. “I might go to bed early tonight. “Today has been exhausting,” Kasper spoke wearily, rubbing his eyes after washing up.
Lampert turned his head towards the kitchen, now noticing the sluggishness in Kasper’s movements, now that he had mentioned it. “Yeah, you deserve it. I’ll probably be up in a minute.” He added, closing his eyes to enjoy the silence for a bit longer. After a long minute of uninterrupted calm, he got up from the couch and padded to the bathroom to wash up. He smelled the bitter scent of corrupted code, which he assumed was from the fight Kasper had told him about earlier. Whirring from his inner systems filled the room with a serene white noise as he wiped himself down with a damp cloth. He finished drying off and then joined Kasper in their bed, plugging himself in for the night and letting his limbs go limp once again.
Kasper woke up abruptly to a high-pitched, almost metallic scream coming from the other side of the bed. He jumped out of surprise before gathering himself and assessing the situation, eyes darting around the room before fumbling for the reading light switch. “Lampert? What's wrong?!” he quickly found the switch and turned on the reading light to see what the matter was. Lampert was quickly kicking some sort of cover off the bed in a panic; the shuffling made that evident in the dark bedroom. He put a hand on Lampert's arm to calm him down. “ Babe! What is it?”
Lampert finally caught his breath and calmed down, grounded by the warm hand of Kasper on his shoulder. He let his optical sensors adjust for a moment before reaching down and picking up what had scared him so much. It was the pink towel from the fight that Kasper had earlier that night. “Oh my god, I thought it was covered in globs of that disgusting goo…”
“Babe, you scared me… That was it?” Kasper sighed in relief that it wasn’t anything worse. He grabbed it and folded it up, observing it more closely. “It’s just stained, I’ll go wash it so you don’t have to worry anymore, okay?” He got up and patted Lampert before he started to walk towards the stairs. “I’ll be back in a sec, alright?” He called as he slowly descended the stairs, holding the towel carefully in his hands.
Lampert waved at his boyfriend as Kasper took the towel away. He felt bad for overreacting, but in his mind, he couldn't get rid of the memories that emerged from that terrible day. He lay down and tried to relax again, but he just couldn't shake the feeling of losing his best friend since high school again. He ran through the memories again, even though they hurt, having to live with that… Thing pretending to be Kasper, or at least a version of him that no one had ever seen before, Robloxia News knocking on his door, the whine of “ENNARDDDD I’M HUNGRY” from a mouth that wasn’t quite Kasper's, and the looming thought of doing something, anything, to end Kasper's internal suffering that year. His cooling fans sped up as memories raced through his mind; he quickly turned on sleep mode to escape. He would wake up perfectly fine with his boyfriend beside him, like he always did, like every morning.
The sun slowly washed over the bedroom like orangey-yellow waves over the tan carpet, Lampert's internal clock beeping gently, letting him know it was time to get up and get ready for the day. He unplugged himself from the wall outlet and sat up, metal hands reaching up to tighten his lampshade and run internal diagnostics. Once the cycle was completed, showing that he was running at peak efficiency, he looked back at the space beside him.
Kasper was sprawled under the covers, an arm supporting his head, and the other lying beneath his torso. One of his legs was completely off the bed, but he didn't seem to mind as Lampert listened to the quiet, restful snoring from Kasper's rising and falling chest.
He decided to let Kasper sleep a little longer, then padded down the stairs leading to the kitchen. The droning of his internal systems filled the kitchen with a background noise as Lampert microwaved a plate of two-day-old wings that Kasper left in the fridge for breakfast. When the wings finished warming up lampert took them out and placed them on the kitchen island to cool for a minute before consuming them, the crunch reminding him of the first time he had been to Kasper's house, the memory playing in his vision as if he were there again, the kitchen blurring into Kasper's old, small living room.
Kasper and he both looked younger, about to start their senior year of high school. They were hanging out in Kasper's living room after Lampert finished work. “Yo, you want something to eat? I probably have something edible in here somewhere…” Kasper had asked, rummaging through the small fridge he had in the apartment, pulling out a plate of cold wings. Lampert didn’t eat often at the time unless he had to for a social situation, but he accepted anyway to be polite. He enjoyed it more than usual, and for the first time, he went home and ate dinner.
He snapped out of it when he heard a familiar yawn from the stairwell. Kasper had finally woken up from his sleep. “Dude… can you believe that I managed to sleep wrong on both of my arms?” He laughed as he entered the kitchen, shaking out his arms as he went down the stairs.
“Yeah, I saw.” Replied Lampert, smiling at his boyfriend's antics. He walked over and hugged Kasper gently, squeezing him to start the morning. “Sorry about last night, I don’t know what got into me.” He said while rubbing the back of his lampshade nervously.
Kasper broke the hug to walk over to the coffee pot. “Don’t worry about it, I would probably do the same thing if I were you,” He replied, pouring the hot brown liquid into a mug and leaning on the counter while he drank it, the dark, bitter smell filling the air.
Lampert smiled and wandered over to the sink, turning it on to splash the cool water on his face and chassis. He quickly wiped himself dry and watched the water run down the drain, where a bright pink tint slowly made its way along with the clear tap water. He quickly jumped back, grabbed a paper towel, knocking over a few dishes in the process, and dried himself, his internal systems sounding a panic alarm. The paper towel was completely clean, other than the dampness of the water. He calmed down to catch his breath and put away the dishes. “I think I might be hallucinating, I swear I saw pink stuff run down the drain while washing my face…”
Kasper now noticed how frazzled Lampert looked and rushed over to help. “O-Oh my god I completely forgot to drain the sink when I cleaned that towel last night… Sorry, dude.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously and looked over Lampert to make sure he was okay.
Lampert collected himself and took a moment. He put a hand on Kasper's shoulder to ground himself. “I’m fine… just got a bit spooked, y’know?” He shot a worried look at Kasper to check if he was okay as well.
Kasper nodded back and leaned back onto the counter. “Maybe you should take some time off from work today, you’ve been kind of jumpy since last night.” He took another sip of the hot beverage and offered a cup to Lampert, who shook his head.
“Yeah, I should do that. Thanks, Kas…” Lampert smiled and hugged his boyfriend, feeling the fabric of his shirt and the smoothness of his neck as they held each other.
