Aaannnddd because I saw the opportunity and so I took it ~ 💫

Ralphxjerry

They are so cute together

It was another suspiciously quiet, spring morning in the outskirts of Detroit, and even the birds seemed to feel that something was off, only chirping in small bursts of noise. They sounded apprehensive to be performing their jobs, like they wanted to take off and fly away from all the wreckages still smoking behind the scenes. But, it was normal to feel an air of unease about the place recently. A small, yellowed analogue clock, vintage, from the year 2018, ticked loudly away on the coffee table, whilst a much more futuristic clock behind it scrolled the date and weather for the day in stoic silence. The 4th of May 2039, all the horrors of the previous year fresh in everyone's mind, still forcing a clumsy-handed distrust of any androids that may be walking round. Thanks to Markus, humans and androids had struck up an uneasy peace accord of ceasefire, content to live in harmony as long as nobody said the wrong thing. So far, everything had been much calmer than anticipated, but everybody knew it wasn't long till something drastic happened again. But for now, androids were enjoying their new lives, lying low and making families for themselves. Two such androids were curled up close together in the corner of their beloved loveseat, so close that even a trained eye wouldn't be able to tell who's limbs belonged to whom. They were spending some quiet time together, having risen with the dawn, and refused to separate, even for a second,for fear that they might lose each other. One of them, a short, blond design, was muttering quietly to himself, just mere numbers and random letters, to fill the space and calm his mind, whilst the other, a taller, redhead lay, gently carding his pale fingers through his partner's hair. A small smile was playing around the edges of the redhead's lips, as he listened to his boyfriend's rambling, the voice as familiar to him as his own, but still so melodious as the first time he had heard it in that recall centre courtyard. He felt a very close bond with his partner, a sort of pleasant firmness, spreading straight from his synthetic heart, a feeling that the humans-and now him as well- called 'love', which, as he stroked his hand through his partner's hair once more, made him grin like an idiot. He was still trying to shake off the archaic sounding, formal language from his android days, but, with each new dawn with his love, he could feel himself becoming more human, more normal. A slight shifting from his boyfriend, who had slid to being reclined on his legs, pulled him back to the present, and drew his attention to his blonde haired love. "Do you love Ralph?" he asked, a sort of concerned look pulling his features into a frown. Ralph seemed to be feeling self-conscious, so, stroking a few stray strands of hair out of his love's face, the redhead replied with a small smile, reassuring him. "Of course I do. We're a family, remember? Me...and you...." He replied, watching as a hopeful light came on behind Ralph's eyes, and he smiled, instantly ten times happier. "Yes.Ralph and Jerry. A family." he murmured, as he moved back to his previous position, still smiling. "Yes,that sounds right." He nodded, making the early morning light glint off of the scar down one entire side of his face as his fingers lightly traced the raised ridges of irreparable damage. It didn't cause him any pain anymore, but occasionally, he would start stroking it when he got scared, or was deep in thought, as a sort of unconscious movement. His stationary position didn't last long though, as after only a few short seconds, he twitched, and jumped around to face Jerry again, a big smile on his face. "We will do as the humans do!" he exclaimed, excitedly, as he captured his boyfriend's hands in his own. "We must!" Enthusiastically, he bounced off of the loveseat, holding his hands out to his love. "Jerry and Ralph will...will go out!" He smiled, as Jerry ran a hand through his own hair in joke exasperation, before hauling himself off of the seat. "I love you, but you're gonna be the reason I start getting grey hairs." he chuckled, watching as his love hurried off, up the stairs. Ralph paused halfway up, on the corner, and bounced on the balls of his feet as Jerry slowly plodded up the stairs. "Come on!" he shouted, sounding less insistent, and more growly now. His blond hair was still messy, bed-head, but, in his new state, it seemed more as if it was trying to get away from him, standing up in all different directions. Jerry sped up a little at the sound of his love losing some of his restraints, quickly catching up to him, and placing a calming hand on his arm. "Ralph." he said softly, refusing to let go as the shorter man tried to pull away. "Ralph. Calm down. It's okay. Deep breaths. Come on, just a few more. In. Out. In. Out." Jerry coached his love, keeping a firm hold on the pale skin of Ralph's arm as he over exaggerated his breathing to establish a pattern. It was less for the need of oxygen, since androids don't breath, rather for the regular pattern to bring him back to Earth. Soon enough, the slight feral look in Ralph's eye faded back out, leaving just a weary resignation, and a few tears in it's wake, as he looked directly into Jerry's face. He read the signs and visibly slumped, knowing exactly what had happened. "Ralph did it again. Ralph got angry." he acknowledged bluntly, failing to keep up direct eye contact with his love, as he struggled to stop panicking. Jerry knew words would do nothing to help in the situation, so, with a weak smile, he leaned down, and gently placed a kiss in the centre of Ralph's forehead, right where his eyebrows flicked up at the ends. Keeping his face close, Jerry buried his nose in Ralph's soft blonde hair, as he had seen the humans doing so many times before in the shows. It just felt right for the next movement to be his arms wrapping softly around the low hips he had come to love so much, pulling them closer. There was no resistance, as Ralph stepped in, instantly looping his arms tightly around Jerry's torso, gripping on as tight as he could. It was the universal gesture for seeking comfort, human or android, so, with a slight adjustment, Jerry was quite content to stand in the gentle rays of the morning sun streaming in through the window, providing all the comfort Ralph required. "Ralph apologises." came a murmur into Jerry's chest half an hour later. It sounded laden with guilt and misery, so, gently detaching from his love, Jerry looked down with concern. Ralph's face was wet with tears, and he refused to make eye-contact, instead staring down at the worn wooden staircase, and scuffing it with his bare foot. "Hey. Look at me." Jerry requested, a soft tone showing his love that he wasn't mad, but, with a slight shake, Ralph started shaking his head. "No,no,no,no,no. Ralph was bad. Ralph was angry. Ralph is going to die." he cried, ticcing out as he spoke. Jerry, reaching a hand out towards the man, dropped it back to his side before it could make contact, where it hung, curled into a useless fist, as his love mentally tore himself apart. They had made a promise to each other, when they moved into the old squat, that tidying up and renovating would be the last time they would use their android powers. That they would try to live like humans. From the point they took their LEDs out, and left them by the kitchen sink like wedding rings, they were human. But, as Jerry stood idly by and watched Ralph practically falling apart, he knew it was time to break that promise. By this point, Ralph had slipped down to the floor, and buried his face in his hands, still repeating that he was going to die. That the fire was gonna come and finish the job. Pain stabbing him in the heart, Jerry turned away from the sight, unable to look any longer than he had to. Taking a deep breath to calm his jangling nerves, and stabilise himself, Jerry closed his eyes, and slid into his mind-palace, seeing his programming, specifically attuned to people's emotions, popping back up in front of him for the first time in nearly six months. A few tasks pulsed in a gentle yellow light, clueing Jerry into what he had to do, so he could help his love, and, with a kind of intuition, he knew why he had to do what he did. "Okay." he whispered to himself, gathering his nerve, and shaking out his limbs. None of the warmups did him any good, but, like everything else, he had learnt from TV, never having been in contact with a human before his awakening. Taking a knee in front of his love, Jerry placed a comforting hand on one of Ralph's, and felt him lean subtly into it, like it was a much-needed calm spot in the middle of his storming mind. "Ralph?" He asked gently, not expecting a response from the, now rocking, android. "I'm going to go upstairs and get something to help you, okay?" Jerry informed, pushing back up to his feet fluidly, and stepping on, past his love. It hurt to walk past, up the rest of the stairs, each sob from his love making Jerry want to turn around and fling his arms around Ralph and never let go. But, onwards he pushed, though the guilt weighed like a lump of lead deep in his soul, and tasks flashed aggressively yellow from behind him as his recently awoken programming struggled to keep up. In a quiet voice, as he pushed into the bedroom, Jerry kept justifying the trip to himself as a small detour on the trip to helping Ralph, just a tiny side-track to grab some supplies to help. One of these ever-important supplies was the hand-made throw Kara had gifted them as a house-warming present, with all of the retreating group's names embroidered in the centre. It had gradually become Ralph's favourite thing, despite the fact it was....to put it kindly...ugly as all heck. Apparently it 'just meant something symbolic' to him, since, whenever asked, he just smiled cryptically and turned away. As a direct consequence of Ralph liking it, Jerry had started to see the good parts about it too, like the unravelling edges making it look loved, and the way  each of their names had a little symbol embroidered next to them. Pulling one of the edges towards him, Jerry yanked it off of the bed, where they had spread it, and bundled it up in his arms, for once glad of the thin material, as he could easily tuck it under one arm as he moved on to the next supply he needed to get. As he exited the bedroom, letting the door swing closed behind him, he was hit full force by Ralph's cries again. He had stepped up his fearful chanting, upon finding himself alone, so irrevocably sure that he was going to die because he had gotten angry, but steeling himself, Jerry tried to ignore the sound, even as it pulled at him to help, and headed into the bathroom next. Despite the fact that they shared pretty much everything else, each of them had their own cupboard above the sink for their human supplies, like hairbrushes, and toothbrushes, which had an automatic lock, so the other couldn't get inside. Which, as Jerry opened his, became clear as to why. A large kitchen knife lay glinting in the light, scratched up around the handle, but altogether still in very good condition, in amongst all the other, mundane things, on the middle shelf. It did, technically, belong to Ralph, but, after being told about a certain incident involving roadkill, and a little one, Jerry decided that it was safer for him to keep it, apart from in emergencies. And this definitely warranted as an emergency. If he didn't get some form of comfort, Ralph would get dangerously close to self destructing, and, in some cases, he had already tried it, unable to deal with his raging mind all on his own anymore. Each time he had gotten closer to succeeding, but he'd never been this bad before. Jerry was physically scared at the thought of what his love was capable of doing, and what he might do, causing his hands to shake as he picked up the knife, wrapping it in a towel, and adding it to the pile. He also grabbed a small box of Band-Aids from the top shelf, smiling slightly at the story behind them, adding them to the pile, before looking around the room for anything else he needed. Deeming the supplies he had grabbed all that was useful, Jerry headed back out, and, as an afterthought as he started down the stairs, turned around and grabbed the hand mirror from the guest bedroom, slipping it into his pocket. He was sure it would come in handy.  "Hey, Ralph?" he asked softly as he descended back to where his love was, flinching at the volume his fevered chanting had reached, before placing the pile of supplies down, and sitting down himself, cross-legged, a little ways away. Now came the hardest part. Sitting watching his love practically tear himself apart, without being able to do anything to help, until Ralph made a move to signify he would accept the aid. So instead, he fidgeted with the pile of things, spreading them all out in a neat row in front of his love, making sure that Ralph could see them all from his position, before leaning away, and starting to fidget with his fingers as he waited. "Ralph is a very bad boy. Ralph doesn't deserve Jerry." he whispered, as he peeked through the gap between his arms at his love. His eye glistened wetly, a tear sliding down his cheek as he kept up a solid gaze. Jerry pressed his lips together, to keep from pouring his heart out, and merely fixed Ralph with a look conveying all of his love and care, just as the blond stretched an arm out, and picked up the box of Band-Aids. He rubbed the box on his scar, pouting when it didn't stay, before holding it out to Jerry. "Jerry will make it work for Ralph." with a small hitch in his voice. He seemed so petulant, and miserable, that Jerry had already reached out a hand and taken the box unconsciously, before he even knew what he was doing. He pulled out a few different patterns, showing them to his boyfriend, an enquiry silently hanging in the air between them as Ralph picked a simple white one with a pattern of cartoon cats and bows on it. He sniffled quietly, impatiently swiping tears away from his face with one hand, as Jerry unpackaged the bandage, and stuck it gently where Ralph had been trying to place the box. Right across the middle of his scar, where it was fat and bright blue. Almost instantly, he seemed to perk up a little, dropping his arms from curled protectively around his torso to awkwardly linked around his knees, as he warily observed Jerry's movements. "Family." he made a gesture towards the throw, which, as Jerry picked it up, seemed to undulate like a surrender flag in the hands of the losing party. "You want it?" Jerry offered it to Ralph, who shrunk away from his hands, though his gaze still lingered on the material. Distrustfully, he shook his head. "Don't touch Ralph. Might hurt." he murmured, his eyebrows furrowed angrily, as if there was a conflict going on inside his head, whether or not to trust Jerry. Jerry quickly dropped the throw, holding his hands up in a harmless gesture. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I just want to help." he said in a quiet tone, staying knelt in place, though he longed to lean forward and capture his love in another hug. The conflicting emotions warred on Ralph's face for a while, his desperate gaze searching every part of Jerry's face for any subtle signs of duplicity, before he put his head down and hunched his shoulders. "Ralph trusts you." he agreed, though his body language read that he would rather be anywhere but there. Concerned, Jerry hung back. "You sure?" he asked, wanting to clarify before he did anything he might regret, but Ralph just nodded tightly, forcing himself to stay in position, and not run away from Jerry who had stood up, and was slowly advancing, making slow movements to prove he was no risk. Tucking the blanket snugly and warmly around Ralph's shoulders from the back, Jerry quickly came back into sight, and perched on the second stair up from where Ralph was curled, keeping an eye. He didn't have anything to worry about, however, as, within a second or two of being in contact with the throw, Ralph was rubbing his good cheek along the soft material, smiling slightly as he murmured to himself. "Family. This is Ralph's family. Yes, this is good." he whispered, before reaching out one gentle hand and picking up the knife, still swaddled in the towel, as if he was alone. He looked it over, as if appraising it, making sure it wasn't damaged, before looking up at Jerry for permission. His green eye was twinkling with hope, and even his damaged eye seemed to be joining in the fun, as Jerry smiled and nodded slightly. "You can have ten minutes of carving. You've earned it." he approved, standing and placing a steadying hand on Ralph's elbow. Together, they shuffled up the last remaining stairs, and Jerry took out an old, worn, golden key he kept around his neck. Ralph, seemingly unaffected by the events that had just passed, was bouncing on the balls of his feet like a giddy child as Jerry unlocked the closet, and ushered him inside. Black pen covered the walls almost as if it was paint, interspersed with carvings into the brick and mortar itself. And they all read the same thing. RA9. They both looked around with smiles, the decoration here just as much a part of their house as any of the other rooms, if not more so. "You've been decorating without me, haven't you?" Jerry asked, kissing his love on the cheek, and laughing at the totally guilty 'innocent' look he was affixed with. "Ralph would never! Good boy Ralph." He insisted, twitching to start carving. Jerry chuckled again, tousling his love's hair. "Yeah, you're a good boy. I'll be downstairs when you're done." he affirmed, turning to leave the room, the mirror pushing on his leg from his pocket. "I have a really good surprise for you." Left alone in the room, Ralph stared at the door, blinking owlishly at where Jerry had just been. "For Ralph?" he asked incredulously, pointing at himself. He couldn't fathom the idea of anyone caring enough for that. Not even Jerry, who couldn't stop caring about everyone if his life depended on it. Still in a state of shock, he stepped forward, and pressed the knife to the wall, starting to draw it down, and letting his body take over the role, his previous thoughts forgotten as he worked hard. Meanwhile, downstairs, Jerry was working hard to get the surprise ready. He had already cleaned the house to within an inch of its life, communicated with all their friends and made sure that they were doing okay, but, getting antsy after only a few minutes alone, he started straightening up the blankets and messaged them all again, just for something to do. Big surprise, they were all still okay, like they had been before, but still, Jerry pushed the conversation, not wanting to get into Ralph's personal space whilst he was having some alone time, but wishing he didn't have to be on his own. Kara kept dropping in and out of the conversation, as she struggled to get her daughters dressed and ready, but Luther happily filled in, keeping Jerry in the loop about what was actually happening in their chaotic household. Apparently Alice and Sarah kept swapping clothes and confusing both Kara and Luther, to avoid doing their chores, and cause trouble. Chuckling at his nieces' antics, Jerry ended the communication as he heard the stairs creaking, and looked up, just in time to see his love descending, his tongue stuck out as he focussed on each step. A smile crinkled Jerry's face, lighting up his azure eyes, as he moved over to the bottom of the stairs, ready to intercept Ralph, his arms spread for a hug.  But, as Ralph carefully stepped down the last few steps, his foot slipped out from underneath him, sending him tumbling down, straight into his boyfriend's arms. A moment of bewildered silence later, and they both started chuckling at the same time, before separating. "Ralph is clumsy." he murmured, turning his face away in embarrassment, but Jerry just shook his head, and planted a kiss on his love's temple, where the LED used to be. "I love it. Its endearing." he explained, before taking Ralph's hand, and leading him back to the loveseat with a grin. "Take a seat, your surprise will be here soon." he said cryptically, as they both curled back up on the seat. "Ralph must know about the surprise." he ordered, keeping his green eye fixed on Jerry, as the Band-Aid peeled off a little. With a smirk, Jerry refused, smoothing out the Band-Aid, and lingering on his love's cheek. At the next request for information, he ignored it, instead scooping up the remote, and turning on the TV to some antique family sitcom, which he pretended to be immensely absorbed in whenever Ralph asked for more detail, until he trailed off. He felt bad about ignoring his love, but he knew that the surprise would be worth it, when it arrived. Ten minutes later, a heavy knock at the door came. Ralph, who had slid down Jerry's side, perked up at the noise, looking to his love with a question on his face, and hope in his heart. "Is that Ralph's surprise?" he asked, as another knock rang out around the room. Jerry smiled at his boyfriends enthusiasm, and patted his shoulder, before nodding at the door. "I don't know, how about you go find out?" he asked, having to steady his boyfriend as he scrambled off of the seat and nearly fell over the throw he still had tucked around his shoulders. Once he was steadied, Ralph practically ran over to the door, and threw it open, revealing Kara, Luther and their two little girls stood on the other side, smiling as they waited on the doorstep. "Family!" he enthused, the world's biggest grin creasing his face at the sight in front of him. "Uncle Ralph!" the girls, identical in every way apart from their tops, shouted in unison, rushing forward and each hugging a side of him as tightly as they could, whilst the adults awkwardly stood around. "Sarah, calm down a bit! he doesn't want his leg pulled off!" Luther told one of his daughters, who was careful for exactly three seconds before going back to gripping her beloved uncle. "Alice, let me take your jacket off!" Kara gasped, pulling at her other daughter's coat as she struggled to hug Ralph again. Her pixie-cut blonde hair brushed kept falling over her face, though she didn't seem to mind too much, merely tucking it back behind her ear and carrying on with her task of undressing Alice. Finally, they were all de-coated, and the girls were running circles around Luther, playing some sort of circular tag game. "Jerry!" Kara cheered, spotting the other android lingering just off to the side, and greeting him with a warm smile. "How have you been in the ten minutes since I last heard from you?" she asked, encasing him in a tight one-armed embrace, the other arm still being held by Luther, as he tried to corral the girls. "Oh, you know, the normal. Ralph was doing some carving when I called, so yeah, I was bored. The girls want anything to eat?" he asked, already heading towards the kitchen to grab some snacks for them. Kara chuckled, and called back "you're gonna pop their circuits one day, making them this happy, you know?" jokingly, already taking advantage of the vacated loveseat. Jerry laughed joke-mockingly, grabbing some snacks from their refrigerator, from where he had hidden them the night before, for the girls, who, from the sound of it, were terrorising Luther for where he had hidden their stuffies this time. The sounds of excited children shouting and playing was music to his ears, making him smile widely as he prepared the food, occasionally sneaking a grape or two. The ragtag family had gone through so much the previous year, they deserved to be happy, and live like humans, especially the girls. A pair of hands on his shoulders made him jump, since he thought he was alone, but, turning around, he found himself staring into the mismatched eyes of his boyfriend, close enough to smell his shampoo, and feel his heartbeat. "Ralph is happy to have his family." he murmured, a smile creasing his face, and making his eyes twinkle. Jerry, with a smirk, captured his chin with a hand before he could turn his face away, and spoke. "And who is Ralph?" he prompted, seeing the potential sparking in the small space between them. The shorter blonde took a step back, freeing his chin, and cocked his head, confused, before cautiously pointing to himself, like he wasn't sure of his own identity. "That's right! You are Ralph. So Ralph isn't happy..." he praised, leaving his sentence trailing, as cogs whirred in Ralph's head to understand. "Ralph...me...me is happy? no....I is happy...." he whispered, trying to make sense of it, and slowly coming to a conclusion. "Jerry? I am happy."