“Ooh, you must have been giving these reagents a hard time.” You wince, fingers brushing around the pulsing red spot in his scalp, you don’t know how he’s managed to tank a brick to the head, but then again, you have no idea how anyone - ex-pop and reagents alike manage to take anything in this place. What you get back from him sounds almost like…a whine?

You hum in an attempt to soothe him, bringing an alcohol soaked-pad to the open wound. A pained shriek rings out in your ears, the sound ultimately torn and weak. “Oh, I’m sorry about that, dear.” Stepping back, you grab the bandaging, wrapping the wound a lot more delicately. 

“Now, see, that wasn’t so bad.” Placing your hand over his, you squeeze, a polite and meek smile curling on your lips. “Is that…petrol?” The aroma of gasoline is undeniable the closer you are to his face, the distance between you and his nozzle merely inches.

He lets out a frustrated groan, words lost in his torn throat. Everything coming out in grunts or growls. In the end, he settles for a nod. You can’t quite tell if he’s smiling, but the tiniest squint in his eyes, beneath the gaps of his mask, makes it a darling sight to picture - if only he wasn’t locked up behind that damned mask all the time. 

This is the most reactive he’s been in all your time treating him, and you’d be lying to yourself if you said the change wasn’t appreciated - besides, you’ve always found him quite…appealing. Not to mention, the more time you had spent assessing him had only fueled your curiosity; what did he look like behind that mask? 

Alas, he still has a job to do. “Well, looks like we’re just about done here.” As he disappears behind the doors of the insertion gate, you roll out your palm to find a pair of eyeballs staring at you. Some poor reagents.

Was this his idea of a joke? You’re not sure whether to laugh or scoff - as you step to throw them into the trash, a post card catches your attention. Did he leave this? Tracing the burnt edges, you can briefly make out a finger print, then something scrawled out in ash;