It was clear that Avery just wanted to be around someone for the rest of the day. They didn’t want to fly or even talk that much after they had finished telling TO what had happened, they just didn’t want to be alone. It was telling how affected by everything they were that they wanted to be around others, even if they just sat and read while TO sat and did their own research.
TO knew that they should be flying to help strengthen their wings, but they had other things on their mind. For the first time in a long time TO had pulled up the information on bio-engineering. Though TO hadn’t had an opportunity to tell DH about what C12 had said, their words still played over and over in TO’s mind.
Snout had sequenced the DNA of the synths.
Snout knew how King Decon made them.
This knowledge had to be at least part of the information that had gotten them in trouble and if that was the case then it must have had something to do with the activation fluid that Snout had been studying.
So many puzzle pieces floating around their head that TO almost felt they could see the full picture, almost felt as though they could put it together or at least make a good guess about what was really happening, and what the truth was. Maybe they would have figured it out if they hadn’t been so worried about GiDi and DH. Every time they felt like they were getting somewhere their mind floated to their friends. TO had sent GiDi another message but so far there was no response and that worried TO. They wanted to send DH a message but when they thought of doing that they just felt frustrated and angry. DH just didn’t seem to understand how Avery felt in the aftermath of their examination. They had also had trouble understanding how TO had felt after repurposing that synth so long ago. That was alright; TO didn’t expect them to be able to understand. However, they didn’t think it was right that DH got angry and ran off! DH was the one that messed up, and DH should be the one to apologize!
TO decided not to send DH a message, at least not now. IT was a hard decision to stick to though. When they were finally leaving to go back to the dormitories they wondered if maybe they were being too hard on their friend. They flipped between being angry, and being worried; between wanting to rush to find DH, and wanting to ignore them until they apologized.
“TO?”
They were almost at the door to the flight training room when Avery spoke. TO turned around and saw them looking anywhere but at TO as they fidgeted awkwardly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing I just-“ They cleared their voice, their ears flicking down, “I just have an… Odd request.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Well… You know how you often sleep with GiDi or DH?”
“Yes?”
“...I know with you and DH anyway it’s more than just… you know.”
TO felt their ears flick down and burn bright blue, “I know what?”
“You know... You two are a couple, aren’t you?”
“We are not!” TO exclaimed. Panic rolled around in their stomach as their ears burned. Were they that obvious even around Avery when it came to how they felt about DH? “We’re very good friends. The best of friends. Practically family! There’s nothing romantic between us!”
Averys ears twitched with confusion “Oh, Well, I just thought….” they stopped and gave a little laugh, “The way GiDi spoke sometimes, I thought maybe you were. But I guess I should have known better than to assume. “ They glanced up at TO, “I guess we’re even then. You know, for you thinking GiDi and I were interested in one another.”
“I’m still really sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. We’re even. I’ll forget that, you forget this.”
TO nodded, slowly feeling the burn fade from their ears.
“...Still, I was wondering if you’d stay with me today while I slept.”
TO blinked, “You… You want me to sleep with you?”
“Just for tonight!” they protested, “You can leave after I fall asleep! And it’s not... I mean, it’s not anything romantic or anything.” They shook their head, “I don’t even have an interest in romantic fictions; I don’t understand them. I’m not against it, I just don’t care about that stuff.” they looked up again, “But I’d like some company. It’d help me sleep.”
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A part of TO thought that they should really go find DH or GiDi; the two might be worried about them. Though, if they were, they’d have messaged TO back, right?
TO checked their chip again and saw that there was still no response to their messages to GiDi, and that DH hadn’t sent them anything. Well, clearly they weren’t that worried about them.
“Sure.” TO said, flashing a quick smile at Avery, “I’m happy to help.”
======
TO glanced up towards their pod to see if maybe DH and GiDi had gone back there, but the three pods were still open and empty. They glanced at their chip again, but saw no messages.
It was getting late, and their friends weren’t in their pod. Now TO was getting worried, and that worry overcame any anger or hurt they felt from being ignored. They took a deep breath and sent a message to GiDi.
=Are you ok? I haven’t heard from you and I’m a little worried.= TO wanted to ask them if they had seen DH as well, but they knew that GiDi and DH might not be doing great at the moment either. They also didn’t want GiDi to think that their only reason for sending them a message was to see if they knew where DH was.
They got to Avery’s pod and slipped in, letting the door close behind them as they did.
“If you just stay until I’m asleep…” they muttered, “I’d appreciate that. Just tonight. I feel like if I can get just one good sleep then I’ll be ok.”
“It’s fine.” TO said, “I’ll stay the whole time if you want.”
Avery frowned, “Won’t that be uncomfortable?” they asked, “I mean, how do you and your friends manage it?”
TO’s ears flicked out, surprised, “Normally one of us holds the other from behind?”
Avery frowned, “That doesn’t sound comfortable.” they said, “I don’t think so anyway.”
TO shrugged, “I can sit at the end of your pod.” they offered, “I’ll do some reading and leave when you’re asleep then. I don’t think I’d sleep well unless I could lay down.”
Avery gave TO a grateful smile before they settled down on their back, “Thank you.” they said, “Sorry to be a bother-”
“You’re not.”
Avery shrugged, “I know I upset DH.” they muttered.
“DH was in the wrong.” TO said firmly. They still were worried about DH and still wanted to find them and hold them, but they also wanted to tell them that they needed to apologize at the very least! “DH tries to help, but they don’t always understand what others are feeling or going through, and I think they get frustrated when their efforts just make things worse.”
“Still… I shouldn’t have snapped at them. I can’t expect them to understand if they haven't been through anything like that. “
“You were upset. It’s fine.” TO leaned back and brought up the files they were reading earlier, “When DH calms down we’ll talk and everything will be fine.”
Avery nodded slowly, their ears twitching with uncertainty before they turned over on their stomach with their hands under their head like an extra pillow.
if Avery was used to sleeping like that then TO could see how sleeping like they did with DH and GiDi would be considered uncomfortable.
“Thanks again for agreeing to this.”
“Not a problem.” TO said, “I enjoy spending time with all my friends. Besides, you don’t often want to spend time with us, so this is a little bit of a treat.”
Avery chuckled, “I don’t know if you can call my company a treat, but thanks.”
The two fell silent. TO went back to their file for a few minutes before finally a message came through on their chip. It was from GiDi.
=I’m fine. DH found me before I got to the Flight Training room. They said you were busy and not to bother you.=
TO felt their ears pin back in anger. Of course TO wanted GiDi to get in touch with them! Why wouldn’t they? Why would DH tell GiDi that? Why keep GiDi away from them?
=I was not busy. I was helping Avery. Is DH still with you then? They’ve not said a thing to me since they ran off after entirely dismissing Avery’s concerns!=
=DH was trying to help.=
=Did they even tell you what happened?=
=Yes, but I imagine that there’s more to it. Still, they were trying to help.=
=They still didn’t need to get so angry.=
=I know. I had this conversation with them about you way back when. You know, the day you had the meeting with your Overseer?=
=I know. I was thinking about that day too.=
=DH is still a little upset, but they’ll be fine. They’re getting some water now but they’ll be back in a minute.=
TO sighed. They were still angry with DH, but being angry was exhausting, and they wanted to spend time with DH, not let this anger fester in their head.
=I’m with Avery right now. They asked me to stay with them for a little. I’ll be back in my pod later. You can mention that to DH if you like.=
=I will. Is Avery alright?=
=Relatively.=
=That’s something, we’ll talk tomorrow.=
TO sighed and leaned back against the wall as they closed up their files. The whole day had been an exhausting, emotional mess. They felt so tired and almost sick from everything that had happened.
A nice bath, some cold water, and an hour or so to watch some show with DH would make them feel a lot better. Maybe it was too late for the bath, but once they had talked to DH, TO was sure that they could watch a show before they slept.
And even if there wasn’t enough time for that, maybe the three of them could share a pod later so that they could all be together while they rested.
======
It was the pain in TO’s neck that woke them up. They had slumped over and their neck had been bent at an odd angle for a while. They looked around, confused as to why they were sitting to one side in their pod.
Then they remembered that they were with Avery. They checked their chip and saw that it was very late and they knew that DH and GiDi had to be asleep by this time.
After checking to make sure that Avery was sound asleep, TO left Avery’s pod and rushed back over to their own. Their thin shoes slapped against the floor, echoing up towards the ceiling amid the relative silence of the dormitories. It was so late that every pod was closed up as the synths inside slept. Well, every pod but one; TO’s pod seemed to be the only one still opened. They rushed up to their pod, climbing up the ladder as quickly as possible in hopes of seeing DH or GiDi waiting for them there.
TO froze on the ladder as they looked into their empty pod.
They felt hurt and stupid all at once. Of course DH and GiDi wouldn’t be here, it was late! TO and DH were supposed to be watching GiDi, so when they got tired DH probably told GiDi to sleep with them again.
It was fine. TO wanted to believe that it was fine, and that their simple, innocent explanation was true. They didn’t want to think that DH was all that angry at them.
TO crawled into their pod and flopped down on their side before closing the barrier. They wrapped their wings around themself as tightly as they could and after a moment they took the thin pillow from under their head and held it tightly to their chest. They didn’t want to sleep, they wanted to go and wake up DH and make sure that everything was fine! But of course they couldn’t now; it was too late, they were asleep, they all needed rest in case they were tested tomorrow.
Despite how late it was and how tired TO was, it took a long time for them to drift into an uneasy sleep.