#1 | WAS THAT GOOGLE TRANSLATE?!

If you want an alibi, I was with Soul and Heart. We were just going out for the day; I had a day off and we decided to just drive along and possibly do a couple errands. We were just down Exhibition Street where Heart got lost for about 30 minutes and we had to drag him back from Queen Street. He was alive surprisingly. Back to the original story, we were headed to Hofbräuhaus for lunch, when we randomly got pulled over. The accent sounded odd, probably American? Just not from around here. It didn’t even sound like a cop. My hands tightened against the wheel. “Yes, ma’am?”

“You look upset.” She stated it like it was fact. What. My hands tightened around the wheel more, eyes narrowing at what appeared to be a teenage girl wearing a Halloween costume. It wasn’t even close to Halloween, it was August, just turning from winter to spring. It would have been cold for her.

“I look upset?” I raised an eyebrow before looking to Soul and Heart. Both shrugged. I looked back to the girl, tapping the wheel. “You look a little young to be pulling people over.” I tried pressing the gas, but we wouldn’t really move forward. We were forced to remain in one space. “Soul, do I look upset?”

“Mate, you always look upset,” Soul said bluntly. He was right, I always looked like bees were in my shirt, at least that was the way Heart described it before the entire incident with him. “Just not to me or Heart. Miss, It’s just like that.”

The girl narrowed her eyes at me. I wanted to leave. I held my foot on the gas I needed to go. She spoke after thirty seconds of staring at me. “Yeah, no.” I am going to get a headache from this. I rubbed my temples, groaning at the entire ordeal.

That was a positive and a negative. It broke my brain. “HUH!?” Heart sounded. He was also confused, chirping up from the backseat. At this point I was about to climb out and go off on her and her little uniform. It looked professionally made, which was the worst part. “Miss, we’re going to be late for our lunch, and I’m starving.”

“Make a decision, yeah or nah?” Soul got a polite nudge to put the Winfield’s and lighter away, especially in front of an impressionable young girl like this one. His curls bounced slightly as he tilted his head and asked in his most charismatic voice. “Can we leave?”

“No.” She was a bit too loud for my liking. “You are the source of a mad bummer that’s causing problems for us! We need to purify it!” That’s it. I got out of the car, opened the door in front of her and slammed it shut. I started walking off. I wasn’t going to deal with this today. Heart and Soul could understand, and they could follow me out. We could go back for the car. “Mind, where are you headed?”

Okay. So, this random girl follows our car, pulls us over, forces us to stop, but now she knows my name?! This is so weird. I do not like this one bit. I turned to her for a moment, tilting my head. “Right, miss? You seem so set on me being some sort of perpetrator, where’s your proof? Sure, good on you that you found someone on one of their only off-days in the middle of the * noon to stop in their tracks just because you need an ego boost. CONGRATULATIONS, you mongrel!”

“Mind, calm down-” Soul was already getting out of the car to stop my seething self. Honestly, I would have said more. “She’s probably just some girl who wants to play a prank on us. She probably means no harm.”

Heart fell out the vehicle. I chuckled a bit as the smallest caught up and huffed to meet us. He ran his hands through his hair before twitching his ears a bit. It always seemed like an instinct for him. I don’t know how one can wiggle their ears like that. “I mean… she’s just a kid. Thirteen, judging by her voice?”

“She looks fourteen, maybe fifteen.” Soul added, gently tugging my arm to get back. “Let’s just ignore her, ‘kay?” It was probably best to ignore her. I took a deep breath and nodded once to Soul, then another polite nod to the girl. That wasn’t long until she did something stupid. HARMONIA FORBID.

“ガーディアン・ピース！ ゲームへの愛！” WAS THAT GOOGLE TRANSLATE? There was a beaming shot of light coming from the bow on her chest. We were leaving now. We were leaving now! WE WERE LEAVING NOW. WE WERE LEAVING NOW! I was giving up on Heart trying to run at this point, so I hoisted him over my shoulder and started booking it. That was when I bumped into another. This one was a redhead, the other one that looked like she was going to explode was blonde.

“YOU KNOW WHAT? Fine.” I put Heart down and raised my hands in surrender. “I don’t care anymore. What do you want from me?” I was an intimidating guy, Heart and Soul said it themselves that I get people to listen when I want them to. Was I actually going to intimidate a young teen to let us leave? Yes. I stared at her with deadened eyes. “What is it? Do you want me to choke, drown, burn?”

“Smile,” the blonde said simply. That was it? She only wanted me to smile. That’s not happening. “C’mon, if you’re having a great day, you can do it. You and your two little friends.”

“Miss, I physically cannot smile.” I deflected. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked back once to Soul and Heart. “And they aren’t ‘little’, you just think you’re so high and mighty.” She walked over to me, and I took a step back. My fists tightened. I was mentally preparing to punch a young teen, yes. If she took that action first, I would only be defending myself. Also, how is no one seeing this?

I looked around to notice the lack of people. Where is everyone, why isn’t someone calling the cops on the two random magical girls? Wait. I think I just realized something. I got socked in the face. I held my bleeding nose, oil dripping from the site. I looked to her with somewhat wide eyes.

“OH MY GOD HE BLEEDS BLACK, HE REALLY IS A VILLAIN!” She yelled and her little friend started dogpiling on me from behind. This is not fun, not that I was ever a man to like fun, but I hated this. I started getting slightly lightheaded, but I shoved the girl off, who now had two girls beside her.

Honestly, they all looked the same except their color pallet changed a bit. It was like someone took a hue shift of one and applied it for the others. There was blue, which was the original one, a purple, a pink and what appeared to be green(?) I’m red-green colorblind, so I don’t really know. I am assuming she is green because the other is pink. Soul is also green, so I should know.

The green one laughed randomly. I don’t know what was so funny about beating a man to near death. “ガーディアン・クローバー！シールドバッシュ！” That was definitely translated using Google. I understood it, a shield bash. I was confirmed right when a big clover-looking shieled bashed into my shoulder. Well, I can say I am probably taking off work tomorrow.

It was a merciless beating; I was half conscious when they stopped. My vision was spotting. Their names, however, didn’t slip me by. I was a very attentive listener unlike a certain blind friend. Peace, which was the blue one, Spade, which was the purple one, Clover, which was the pink one and Diamond, which was the green one. Wait. No, Diamond was pink, Clover was green. “A DAY WELL SAVED, GIRLS!” One cheered. They all had the exact same voice. “バイバイして！”They left without another sound. I hated this.

I sat against the concrete of the empty road, like the animators of the anime were too tired to draw the surrounding people. My head throbbed. Did I seriously just get jumped by 4 teens wearing frilly vestments frivolously “saving” random people on the street? Heart and Soul helped me up, wiping a bit at the oil that drizzled from my mechanical body.

Soul tilted my head toward him, trying to get my face a bit cleaner. “Do you want medical help for this? At least take the day off tomorrow.” He helped me up, gently guiding my body to stand up right. I gripped onto his green sleeve quite tightly. It was nearly impossible to think straight. What about thinking gay?

“You sound really bad.” Heart, not very helpful, tried to hoist my arm over his shoulder to help me walk to the car. It didn’t work. Soul had to put himself under me too. Yes, I know I am heavy, make fun of me, I dare you. “Are you sure Mind’s gonna be okay, Soul? It took a really heavy beating.”

“It’ll survive. It always does.” Soul smiled warmly at the both of us. Sometimes that little smile made everything seem just a bit better. “Those girls had no idea what they were talking about. Didn’t even know Its species or gender.”

“Well, you don’t see a robot undercover, usually. How were they supposed to know It bled oil?” Heart mentioned, shoving his free hand into the pocket of his hoodie. He thought about it for a little more, a coo forming in his syrinx before he forced it quiet. “Nor do you see an angel or entity, but here we are.”

“Right,” Soul said. “God, they need to pull their * heads in.” I was helped into the passenger’s seat and Soul took the keys. Soul gave a sigh of relief, laughing a bit. “Jesus, you were walkin’ like your legs were stolen.”

I was about to go to sleep, but Heart shook me awake. The feathers brushed against my temple. I shot up, oil pump pounding in my chest. “Stay awake. I don’t wanna see you out cold.” That was funny because he doesn’t even see me anymore, let alone see me out cold.

And we were off to treat my injuries. We were home for just a little bit so Soul could ‘help’, more like just handing me the tools while I fixed up myself. About as good as new, I say about because there was still a small dent near my jawline. We ate in, no need for a stupid restaurant anyways. Also, if it got out that I’m supposedly a ‘clanker’, then who knows what could happen for my job.

#2 | God, I hate poetry

“And like a sinking ship, the words tank your confidence lower and lower until it ends in the depths of Hell. And only then are you able to meet the Cain that put you through this. He points a finger between your eyes.” I took a bow, and Soul helped me off stage.

“Good on you, Heart!” Soul cheered, adjusting the blindfold over my eyes. “I swear to Harmonia, if you don’t get first place, I’m gonna go off on them. They’re going to hear from me.” He cracked his knuckles. Feathers erupted across my forearms as I gripped his shoulders to keep him from doing anything stupid.

“Soul, please. He’ll get another chance.” Mind pulled me away, letting both of us breathe. I need to keep it down. I need to relax a bit. This is why I always wear hoodies; people see feathers and freak out. The automation then plucked a feather from my chin and inspected it. “You’re growing a bit of a beard, Heart.” Its voice gently reminded me of the fact that I almost outed myself to everyone.

“I know, I know,” I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. I hated that. I just hated how feathers felt on my body. At least they reminded me to preen myself. Constantly. I swear, I believe Mind said I was slacking more than I heard It say I was illogical. And both were REALLY often. “You say that 25/8.”

“I say it quite often,” Mind said blandly. It sat back down in our table and Soul took place next to It. I didn’t want to sit beside Mind (no offence, It just smells like cars all the time), so I just sat on the very edge of our seat. They moved a bit for me.

The next poet was up. I felt Soul’s shoulders tense up. His pulse jumped in his neck, heart beating almost twice as fast as it went previously. Mind’s systems stopped completely. I didn’t hear the gears whir in It anymore. It was, without a doubt, frozen. I didn’t think It could freeze up like that. I only realized what was up when I heard that stupid, high-pitched American accent.

“I reach my hand to the stars, the ‘L’ shape covered everything but the north. I sailed so far, trying to find the other sort. The ones I have been chasing for a while have no rest or domicile. I will find them very soon, rest assured, and their little friends too, all secured.”

We need to get out of here right now. I tugged on Soul’s arm, trying to pull us out the shop. I didn’t need to see who won today. I felt a happy gaze looking at my face. Why did she deliver that poem with a smile in her tone? Why was she chirpier than I was?! I tugged on Soul’s arm again.

She hopped off the stage and tapped on my shoulder. “Hello, ma’am!” I wasn’t a girl, nor was I old. I was 26! I am only 26, I’m literally not a ma’am!! DO I LOOK LIKE A GIRL? I LITERALLY HAVE A STUBBLE. I’m LITERALLY a guy. She tapped my shoulder again. “Ma’am? Might I ask you something?”

“I’m a sir,” I responded, trying to get Soul and Mind to get the hell away. “Yeah, ask me anything.”

“You look familiar to me,” She stated. I GOTTA GO. GO. GO. GO. GO. I tugged at Soul’s arm, finally lifting him from his temporary shock and we scrambled to reach Mind. GET UP!!! Mind didn’t move Its mechanical body for a moment before jolting awake and nearly bolting before realizing It would look suspicious if It did that. “Did you perhaps head to Exhibition Street Monday?”

“Psh!! No!! We were at uh… we were at our apartment. Yeah. We were at the apartment.” We definitely weren’t at the apartment. My heart pounded in my chest, along with Mind and Soul’s… well, more like Mind’s oil pump and whatever the hell Soul had. I could just hear Soul in his head now. I could hear him tell me that I was such a horrible liar. “Y’know, three-day weekend, we were tired as hell.”

“No, no, I get it, school can be so overbearing sometimes!” Did she imply I was a high school teenager with his parents? Or did she imply that I had a child in school? No, no, she probably said school because she was in school.

“Yeah, it was pretty overbearing,” I chuckled awkwardly. I was always really awkward around people. Usually, especially in public, Soul or Mind would talk for me, because I always say something stupid. My grip tightened on Mind’s hand, I wanted to pull It out immediately. “But y’know, it get’s easier.” Did I seriously say ‘y’know’ twice in a row?

“Yeah! But you find some people you adore, like you and your boyfriend.” WHO? WHO THE HELL IS… I then realized I was holding Mind’s hand. I pulled away from It rather quickly, mortified that someone could have thought that. One, Mind was queerplatonic, so basically aroace, It came out to me like- two years ago. Two, I kinda hated It, to be honest. Like not HATE-HATE, but enough hate to not get in a relationship with It. Little bro has to have Its pronouns capitalized!

“Heart and I are not dating,” Mind said simply. It was already backing up to leave. “I am quite happy not being with him.” Soul was following, and I was left to catch up. It’s weird how the background characters are never put into light, but I can see why for plot reasons. Mind stopped suddenly and went the other way. Wait, what was happening? “We’re going through the vents.”

“Mind, that’s stupid.” Soul pulled him back. “We can talk things out, right?” WHAT WAS HAPPENING?! I turned my head to Soul, wearing the most confused look I can give when my eyes are covered. “The girls are back, Heart.”

* IT!!! I remember those high-pitched voices that all sounded the same for some reason. It was like someone copy-pasted them. Eugh. It sent a bad taste to my mouth. “Y’know what? Yeah! What do you want from us!?”

“I know your secret,” She whispered to me. Our secret? What secret?! I don’t gotta wear hoodies to cover up the feathers on my arms! Soul doesn’t have to put rocks in his shoes because he can’t stay on the ground otherwise! Mind doesn’t have to shove It’s plug tail… cord… thing… in Its pant leg because it will sway otherwise!

“And what are you going to do about that?” Soul’s voice grumbled. He didn’t use that grumble unless Mind and I were fighting again (On that note, we had been quite clean when it came to that). “It’s not like an ankle biter like you can do anything about it. Boo hoo, I’m in pain, I am sad, boo hoo.” Oh. I thought she was talking about the entire ‘not human’ thing.

She cheered brightly. Her shoes tapped against the floor for a moment. I was perplexed. Someone tugged on my wing for a moment as her voice rung out. “ガーディアン・ピース！トランスフォーメーション！” Oh! So, it was Peace! I started pushing Soul to bolt the hell out of there. I hate magical girls; I hate magical girls. That was a lie, I loved magical girls, Soul can vouch. Mind slung me over Its shoulder again, bursting out from the empty café. Why was it empty?! This is NOTHING like real life, it was never this empty! I couldn’t help but squawk in surprise, trying my hardest not to fall. It was fast as hell.

Soul caught up shortly after, huffing and coughing. Mind always had better stamina than us all. I dunno why, maybe It was built like that. Maybe It was just built in the first place and therefore can’t get winded. “Y’think we can take them?”

I shook my head way too quickly. “Buckley’s chance. You know how bad they went off on Mind? It’s built like a truck.” I heard a small mutter of disagreement from Mind. I knew It wasn’t saying It could take on those girls. “Mind, don’t even try it.”

“I wasn’t going to. I was running away,” Mind scoffed. Its grip tightened on me. Usually, Soul would be in my place, but now it actually matters. “Unless you want me to throw you at her and leave Soul and I to run off and have a happily ever after.”

“I’m not opposed,” Soul muttered absently. It was a low chuckle from the both before Mind recollected Itself. “Yeah, yeah, focus, yaddah, yaddah, I get it.”

“You know me so well.” Mind suddenly hit a wall, falling back with me in Its arms. This was just like a cartoon and the thought made me laugh. I immediately started feeling about Its nose, didn’t look too hurt to me. “Okay. So, who put that there?”

Another girl’s voice, just slightly lower pitched resounded with the other. “Nice to drop by, right, Peace?” Heels tapped against the ground from where they landed, and fabric rustled as she dusted the imaginary dirt off her uniform.

“Thank you so much, Miss Diamond!” Peace cheered. I just knew the girls were hugging. * it. It’s not that I don’t like yuri, I love yuri, it is just the fact that they’re being really annoying.

“Thanks, Diamond.” I was very sarcastic. Both girls seemed to notice, and they eyed me down. It was a sort of glare that scared children into admitting the truth. It wasn’t too horrible. I could only feel their gaze on me like a second power. It wasn’t like I could do anything about it. “What?”

“You’re stupid and I’m bored,” Diamond muttered under her breath. “Can we go now, Peace?”

“Yeah, we can go.” And the girls hopped away without a second word. That was anticlimactic. She looked so stoked to beat our rears until she just left. I was mentally preparing to be sent to the hospital.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!” Soul yelped, clearly feeling the same way as I. Mind groaned and shoved Its head into Its hands. That was so stupid! “GOD, THEY MUST BE WALKING LEGLESS TO ACT LIKE THAT-”

“EXACTLY!” Mind interrupted. It acted like Its life flashed before Its eyes, which was true. It would have happened twice. “I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE magical girls! I hate them! I hate them more than Heart, no offense.”

“No drama. I agree, actually. I hate them more than I hate myself.”

OMG I GET WHAT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU SAID MIND THOUGHT SOUL WAS GREEN LOLOLOL

“It was hard to think straight. What about thinking gay?” bros asking the real questions, finding solutions, no wonder hes the logical side

“You were walking like your legs were stolen” well maybe not his legs but his arms hehe see what i did there like because he doesnt have arms… laugh at my joke

i love this LMAOO i'll read the second chapter after class <333

ガーディアン・ピース！トランスフォーメーション！ this says Piece TwT

H1h1_1436 wrote:

ガーディアン・ピース！トランスフォーメーション！ this says Piece TwT

I know, that's the funny part. It's poorly google translated xDD

#3 | Servo

Surely nothing can get us in our own home, I thought, blissfully unaware of the automaton that loomed behind me. Mind tilted Its head, looking to the bubbling pasta. I jumped out of my skin when It gripped my shoulders. Immediately, I started laughing. “Heart said it brought you joy. I thought it didn’t. We made a bet. I apparently lost.” He looked at the pasta for a moment, the only thing I knew how to cook. “The pasta looks nice.”

“Yeah, you’re such a loser,” I giggled, swatting Its hands off my shoulders. “Thanks, by the way.” I looked up towards the man, and It was barely smiling. Just a small uplift towards one of the ends of Its lips. It was never fond of smiling, but when It did, things must have been going very well. “You’re happy.”

“I am quite content.” I could tell that It was happy because Its plug swished slowly, then curled like a curious cat’s. “Productivity has enhanced by 150% this past day. I have been finishing my job quicker.” It pulled Its phone from Its pocket, tapping for a moment before showing me some random car. I didn’t even know what the brand was. “Look at the beauty of a Ford Ranger I fixed up. I’ll drive an essential part back to the shop, the commissioner picks it up, and she’ll be apples.”

I put on a fake smile, mostly because I had no idea what It was talking about. I like supporting them in their endeavors. Not to mention, in return, Mind is my little test subject for a couple of music things I want to show It. “You think I can come with you?” I tilted my head to It, “Y’know, just so we can test our car’s okay?”

“The car is definitely okay,” Mind stated confidently. It was so confident, and for what? I shoved Its shoulder, and It suddenly had enough bite to lift me for a hot moment to scare the hell out of me before putting me down. “Are you just saying that because you want to go on a drive?”

“Yeah.” I was very blatant about it. I also liked going on drives. It was just a way to clear my head. Also, I liked how Mind got. It was a bit more open on the road, willing to chat and listen. It gets better, trust me, you won’t believe it until you see it. “Please?”

“Fine. We’ll take it back to the shop in an hour.” Mind was buttoning up Its shirt again. Its fingers worked nimbly for each button. “Looking forward to it. I’m going to charge in the meanwhile. Knock on my door if you need anything.”

“I will. Cya!” The car keys twirled in Its fingers as It left. There was always a small pop in Its hips when it walked, causing Its tail to sway side to side. It always claimed to not be animated, then pulled a walk like that. I know It walked like that because of the plug, but still!!!

Oh, I think the pasta’s burning. * it, * it, * it, * it. I struggled to strain the pasta and watched the boiling water fall out. I shook the sieve a few times for good measure before placing the pasta back into the old pot and turned off the stove. I am so good at making pasta, it isn’t even funny. I then realized I forgot to make sauce, so it was just noodles. I was just dumping a bunch of spices in there to cover up the fact I forgot.

Heart yelped as soon as the smell got pungent. “HOLY- WHAT THE HELL? Why is it so strong!?” He squeaked and scrambled from his room. His hair was a mess, and he was half-covered in paint. Poor thing even had a bit of blue on his nose.

“I forgot to make sauce, so now I’m improvising,” I stated, watching his nose scrunch a little more as I added paprika. It looked like if someone took a goat and forced it to make something in a kitchen with items that do not match. I should have made sauce. “You wanna taste test?”

“Are you saying that because you don’t wanna try it?” Heart’s head tilted and the headwings fluttered with every small movement. It was a bit adorable. “Just admit you’re a horrible cook, mate. You burn water.”

“Psh, no.” I was absolutely a horrible cook. I couldn’t let Heart know. “I was trying something experimental, and I can’t taste it because I’m sick. So, try some.” I lied about being sick. I was already placing some in a bowl and shoving it into his arms. He winced at how hot it was and hesitated with the fork in hand.

“Are you sure I’m not going to get dysentery from this?” I nodded. Heart cautiously wrapped the noodles around his fork. I’m just happy I will know if it’s a disaster or not before I try. “Fair dinkum?”

“Fair dinkum, just try it.” I smiled as Heart took a bite. Thank GOD, I don’t have to try it first. “See? It isn’t that bad, isn’t it? I’m an amazing cook.”

He chewed for a moment before swallowing. He looked confused, like he didn’t even know what to think if it’s bad or not. At least I know it wasn’t completely bad. “I would be lying if I said it was bad or good.”

“Is that a good thing?” It probably wasn’t. Mind came back about two minutes later, and since It didn’t have a sense of smell, just got Itself a bowl. “Wait, Mind, you probably don’t want to-” It was already eating with Heart.

“You know what? Why does it feel like you forgot to make sauce and instead of admitting your mistake you just dumped in a truck load of spices?” Mind got the nail on the head. I flushed, immediately scrambling to empty the pot. “Not saying it isn’t bad. Just saying that you could have hidden it better.” I paused in my tracks, looking at It with wide eyes. There was a small rumble that resembled a chuckle from Its systems. “Didn’t expect that?”

“I uh…” It was already taking my hand to go. We were leaving earlier than I thought. “Thanks.” Heart retreated to his room to let the pasta rot. I couldn’t allow that. “Hold on.” I pulled from Mind’s grasp for a moment to set the pot in the refrigerator before running back to the automaton who was twirling the keys on one finger. “K, let’s go.”

It carried the transmission in Its arms, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much that weighed, and how often he carried something as heavy as that. The transmission looked heavy, but Mind took care of it no problem, synthetic skin stretched a little bit as metallic muscles worked to make something look easy. I couldn’t help but admire something like that. I wanted to help It, but It seemed to take care of it no issues. “It’s just a fifteen-minute drive.” Mind said simply, setting the manual transmission in the back seat.

Why does this thing even take Its work home?! It would be heavy as hell, not to mention just taking home time as home time and work time as work time. Now the two are merging. Does it provide solace for It knowing that Its job is done? I’m confused. “Alright.” I hopped into the passenger’s seat, pulling down the mirror to check my lipstick. Mind found it amusing. “What?! I gotta look cute.”

“No comment.” Mind started the car, and we were off for about fifteen minutes. “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” WHAT?! I was definitely so pretty! I was the prettiest guy here! Trust me!

“I’m the prettiest guy here,” I said, reflecting my inner thoughts. Mind scoffed and rolled Its eyes. “Really! I’m the prettiest guy here!”

Mind waited for a red light to gently take my hand before breaking the news to me. “That’s because you’re the only guy here.” I groaned. I hated that Mind was right. It kept holding my hand for some reason, probably forgot it was there. If I was holding my hand, I would never want to let go. It pulled away after a minute, as if hearing that thought. “You’re so stupid.” It muttered under Its breath fondly.

“I love you too,” I teased, gently springing one of Its coils. It couldn’t help but give a long-winded sigh. I knew I was winning. I always win in these sorts of things. “Maybe one day you’ll say it for real.”

“No.” Mind muttered. Its hands tightened on the wheel. The plug tail It had didn’t thump or sway but coiled around Its leg. We got pulled over again. We both groaned, Mind slammed Its head into the wheel, giving a loud honk. “OH MY GOD, WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!”

“I knew you two could be happy together! Are you having a good day?” The Peace girl looked at us. I fiddled with a red strand in my hair, the strand Mind would have sworn was green. We hesitated. We weren’t together. “I can assume yeah, yeah?”

I thought about it for a moment, on top of everything that happened this week, I was quite happy. I nodded. Mind took a bit longer to think though. I didn’t know what was going on in Its head. It finally spoke after about a minute. “Yes, we are doing quite fine. Thank you for asking, Miss. Is that all?”

She threw something in the car, and for a moment we were really confused. She grinned. “Uh… no, actually. I want to apologize for Monday. It wasn’t very acceptable of me to leave you like that. I should have finished the job.”

“I actually prefer if you hadn’t,” Mind said. It was so snarky sometimes, I liked that, because that made It funny. “I don’t know about you, but I like my consciousness. Do you like my consciousness, Soul?”

“I love your consciousness.” I shrugged and we laughed. I nudged Its shoulder and tilted Its head towards me. I liked seeing those normally dead, leaden eyes brighten just a little bit. “Who knows who I would be without you.”

“Probably sane!” Mind laughed at Itself, taking my hand in Its before pulling it away from Its face. “But yes, ma’am. We are doing great, and I accept your apology, as weird as it is.”

Huh. That was odd. Usually, they’re really violent. Now, they’re just letting us drive to the shop, giggling and carrying on. It made it to the shop, set the fixed manual transmission on the workbench for the following Monday and scooped me up again. I like it when It jokes like this. It hardly ever jokes, and I think it is only trying to live up to my shenanigans, but it’s nice.

I like it when Mind tries to make us feel comfortable, even if it means being a little bit of a larrikin like I am. It cleans up quickly though, as soon as It isn’t alone with Heart or me, It spruces up and tends to be more responsible. I admire that.

#4 | Scentpack

* it. The girl threw something in our car that made it smell like it just drove out of a kid’s show. Soul said it smelled very strongly of vanilla, strawberries and whatever the hell else he said. We were looking through the car to see if we can find anything. We hadn’t found anything after an hour.

Heart could probably find it. He was the equivalence of a hound when he wanted to be. I decided to leave it be for now. I’ll get help later. That is what I told myself yesterday… and the day before that… and the day before that… Honestly, it didn’t affect my work much, so it wasn’t too necessary to snuff it out. It wasn’t until Heart flipped out about it.

He was trying to find the source (which apparently appeared randomly in the engine) and urged me to get it. I opened the card that came with it, scoffing at it. It was signed in pink glitter pen with the sort of handwriting that would put hearts on the ‘i’s.

“Hi!” The note said, “I’ll get you soon and the world will be a-okay! Take this under my watch!” Then, in godawful Japanese handwriting, “やってみせます！” It was signed Peace with a peace sign. I crushed the card, hearing a buzzing sound as I did so. I immediately started taking apart the card to see a small heart-shaped object with a blinking red light. It was a tracker.

Well, we can’t move immediately. We must secure those funds. We don’t have the proper funds right now. I’m not making enough to just BUY a house. So, she found our house, she found where we lived, she was going to kill us in our sleep. I couldn’t breathe. My body started malfunctioning, watching the error messages pop up and multiply as something gripped my sensors and shook me crazy with anxiety and paranoia.

My vision darkened in an emergency shutdown. My hands went limp as I knelt to the floor. My hearing cut out as soon as I heard footsteps coming over to me. My sense of motion turned off when I felt someone gently nudge me.

The energy coursed through me when I was plugged in. Someone was gently rubbing my shoulder. I was up and going after about a minute of trying to boot myself up. I woke up to Soul and Heart in my room for some reason. I rubbed my head, it was pounding.

“Good morning, sleepy head. You randomly shut down again,” Soul laughed. He was reading one of the books I got him for Christmas last year. “I saw the tracker.” He shut the book, didn’t even place a bookmark in it, and held the pink, blinking red device and placed it in my hands after a good second of inspecting it. “Is this why you shut down?”

I nodded. It was only a suspicion. It was a sudden burst of panic and worry that now seemed so foolish when I thought about it more. My hands were still malfunctioning. He took my hands, why was he so steady? Heart sat beside me, chirping quietly. “What’s happening?”

“Do you remember the girl that beat me up and called you a woman?” I asked, watching Heart’s face slowly recognize the threat that we were facing. The blindfold slightly rose where he rose his eyebrows. “She placed a scentpack or tracker or whatever the hell this was in our car.”

Heart stepped back from it, hissing like the stupid animal he was. “That’s NOT funny! Don’t point it at me! Ew, ew, ew, ew!” He covered his nose, cowering in the overwhelming scent. The joke is on him, as I do not have a sense of smell. He flapped his wings a little bit, covering his entire face now with the plumage. How interesting that he had control over his little headwings. Half the time, they flopped uselessly.

“Alright.” I crushed the scentpack in my hand. It only made Heart react more violently. He hid behind Soul, pushing his nose into the large jacket he always wore. Soul even repulsed slightly, holding his nose at the utter strength of the scent. That means I probably messed up. I threw it away, not before drenching it in water.

“So, what now? They probably know where we are.” Soul stated simply, already defying gravity. I don’t know how he did it. He was quite literally floaty and bubbly. It was why we had weights in his shoes, and even then, he would still be slightly weightless with two kilograms. We’ve started putting in four kilograms to see if it changed anything. It didn’t.

“Maybe,” Heart said, “they might be still super confused. They don’t know their way around like we do.” Heart pulled Soul down to Earth once more. He held him like a rock would a balloon.

Soul sighed, putting his head in his hands in how stupid that statement was coming from Heart of all people. The BLIND one. It was illogical. “You don’t know your way around, Heart. We have to get you a leash on the bad days.”

Heart squawked, much alike to a bird. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, we do, Heart,” I said, rubbing my temples. I was already getting a headache. It was either the emergency panic shutdown or something different. It could just be my frequent migraines. “I’m already getting a headache from you.”

“You always have a headache; how do you know it’s from me?” Heart stuck out his tongue. The feathers on his neck and chin puffed up like he was preparing to intimidate me. It never worked. Well, there was that one time when I was scared out of my wits, but that was during a malfunction.

I cleared my throat, listing his traits with my mechanical fingers. “Because you’re loud, annoying, illogical, freakish, hollow, bleak, I could go on, but I’ll leave it there.”

“You never leave it there,” Soul said. He narrowed his eyes at me, trying to understand why I left it there so quickly this time. He gently squeezed my hand, just wanting to hold it in his. His hands were calloused from days on end plucking bass strings. Mine? They were hardened from the months spent in the shop fixing up cars. His hands were warm.

“I’m leaving it there today,” I stated simply.

Soul folded his hands, and my hand that was holding his, in his lap. He leaned forward, smiling a bit. He always loved to smile, as sad as he normally was. When happy, he would giggle and smile and play about. Much like Heart, but more grounded. “Alright.” He didn’t sound too convinced.

“Deadset! See, I’ll leave right now.” I raised my hands in surrender, making my way out and shutting the door behind me.

It will be alright. I would like to believe that, at least. She won’t find us, and if she does, well, * it. I won’t be permanently shut down because some drongo decided I was determined depressed. I rolled my eyes at that. It was illogical.

Dear Harmonia, this is like a sitcom.

i love this so much don't stop king

H1h1_1436 wrote:

i love this so much don't stop king

lmao i probably won't :333

#5 | Spade

I heard Mind’s footsteps shoot through, steaming, angry, frustrated and any other adjective that can describe it. I didn’t mean to make Its headache that bad. I felt a bit sorry for It. I wanted to apologize, but I stayed where I was. I shrugged to myself. I felt the resentment boil, unfortunately, it was quiet. It didn’t make any bigger deal except for leaving.

Soul stood up, weightless as always, and I tugged him by the ankle before he could float over. “What? I can’t talk to It?” His voice was exasperated, like he always was when he knew he did something wrong even though he doesn’t want to admit to those wrongdoings.

“You messed up, now you gotta deal with the consequences,” I said, keeping a strong grip on his pantleg. I tugged down, bringing him back to earth once more. He didn’t stay down for long. “Now you’re grounded.”

“You’re not my mom,” Soul scoffed. He was right, I wasn’t his mom. Then again, I could put one of Mind’s ankle weights on him. I let go, he floated to the ceiling, as he was really resisting against my pull.

So, this was the living room, and I was standing in front of the couch. I had just gotten up, so I would be facing the small TV. Therefore, the front door is to my right. That would mean the weight room is to my left. I started heading left and went to scavenge for ankle weights.

Mind was literally a machine. It’s probably why Its ankle weights were heavy as hell. I think It was training for some run at some point before the cancelation. I heard something kick about in the living room. It was probably nothing. Soul liked messing around.

I returned with the ankle weights and didn’t hear a groan from Soul this time. Hm. That’s weird. “Soul? You know it’s not punny when you pull this particular ploy.”

“Your alliterations are awful, additionally more abysmal when analogizing to mine.” A girl’s voice spoke. This voice was different than the girl who talked to us in the poetry competition. The voice was deeper and smoother, much like Mind’s but if It was a girl robot instead of a boy robot. I think It’s a boy robot, at least. It never made it clear.

“Alliterations aren’t your strong suit; it seems that’s assonance,” I pointed out and crossed my arms. Wait. My face dropped. Why was she here?! The girl reminded me a lot of the girls we had met before. I don’t know which one she was. Was she Club? Spade? Diamond? I just know she wasn’t Peace. “Eh… which one are you? I would say your name, but I’m kinda blind.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” She awkwardly stepped forward, the gentle click of her heels was unlike the Diamond and Peace characters I had met before. “My name is Spade… no wait, ガーディアン・スペード.” She was too quiet for a moment. “I’m holding out my hand for you to shake, by the way.”

“OH! SORRY!” I gripped Spade’s hand and shook it sturdily. “No, no, it’s fine. People accidentally say a lot of weird things regarding my blindness. Don’t worry about it. Nice meeting you, Spade.”

“Nice meeting you too, Mr. Heart. I think I was supposed to be doing something.” She paused for a moment; I like to think she was looking around the home. I liked the home. Before I went blind, I tried to make it look pretty. We all agreed on mint green and grey walls with white trimming. “Pretty place you got here.”

“Thanks. Where’s Soul by the way?” I realized that maybe this girl did something to Soul. “He’s usually louder.”

Spade stiffened, her pulse quickened, and her heart pounded for a moment. Her temperature suddenly rose. “Oh. Right, uh… Sorry about that.” I heard tape being ripped and Soul trying to stammer out curses. “I was told to take him for ransom, but honestly, he’s too cute to think that. He’s so floaty!”

“I’M NOT CUTE!” Soul hissed, scrambling about in his restraints. It didn’t do well. I crouched to inspect what felt to be a rope. It was smoother than a normal rope, so lucky for Soul that he won’t get rope burns. I fiddled with the ends of the rope, one was a heart and the other a triangle. I made the inference that the rope was one of her powers. “YOU WILL PAY! I WILL SUE YOU IN COURT!”

“We’re little kids and we technically don’t exist, like what the hell are you going to do?” Spade’s voice was matter of fact and certain. As much as I hate little ankle biters scoping around in my business, she was right. We can’t really do anything except deal with them like one would flies. “I’m gonna be so honest, this wasn’t even my own * idea. I just went along with it because I’m tired and I’m clinically depressed.”

“Oh,” Soul and I said in unison. We definitely agree. I mean, we both have been there. I remember staying in my room for days on end and refusing to eat anything. Soul just kinda disappeared slowly from each conversation, staring off into space and you had to shake him to get him to appear in the conversation again. We probably shouldn’t tell her we were depressed.

“Did you try to get Mind too? You better succeed,” I said simply. I had no preservation for Mind and It had no preservation for me. It was a mutual thing, we wouldn’t care if the other died in a fire, but we would prefer if it didn’t happen. If Soul started dying in a fire, we both would become firemen for a little while and yell at him for going in a burning building. Then I would suggest putting on that one fire safety Blinky Bill episode because it would have been Soul’s fault.

There was a scratching noise, probably Spade scratching the back of her head. “I uh- about that…” She was interrupted by someone slamming their head on a table, the sound of a girl crying and a man yelling. There was a small clink against the floor upstairs.

“BUZZ OFF, YOU LOW LIFE, UNFUNNY LARRIKIN-LIKE, KNOCKED DUMB, IDIOSYNCRATIC, STUPID, DULL-WITTED, STUPID, FUNNY-LOOKING, THICKHEADED, LAMEBRAINED, DAFT, FOOLISH LITTLE MONGREL.” WAS THAT MIND?! Wow! I haven’t heard It repeat a word when name calling someone since the Juno incident. Soul and I started rushing up the stairs, I assume Spade went in afterwards.

Soul was scared speechless. I wouldn’t say scared, I would say a mixture of awe and fright. It was like seeing an entire new side to Mind that we hadn’t even considered was real. Its breathing was heavy, quietly panting against the girl’s ear. Mind spoke in a lower tone than Its previous yelling. “Get out or I will make sure every little bit of your DNA found in this household is recreated into its own clone to beat your rear.” We watched as the kid scampered out Its window.

Okay, so I know who owned the house now. Soul took my hand in his, soothing the back of it with calloused thumbs. I remember my hands were ink-stained. They always were, and Soul said he admired my dedication. I tilted my head a little, letting the small chirp arise within me. “That was… something.”

“I acted out of character, Heart,” Mind said simply. Out of character was an understatement, I witnessed how much hate boiled in Its veins. It wasn’t like that ever. Well, It was like that with me once, but the situation got better.

“No, don’t worry,” Soul mumbled, voice a bit distant. I couldn’t tell what he was looking at, but he gripped my hand tighter. “Wow.”

Spade slipped by us, past the daggers being stared at her by Mind. She also climbed out the window, shutting it before she dropped down. What a considerate girl for the other girls in her team.

OOPS

#6 | Library

The day when Heart started packing all his notebooks up, digital from after he went blind and traditional from before he went blind, I kinda figured that something was going to happen today. He shoved his tablet into his satchel, then the first small notebook, then a second. He had a total of five notebooks he filled, one was only filled halfway, some of it had my handwriting, but my handwriting stunk, so he swapped to speech to text and had me fix a couple errors.

In total, there were hundreds of poems he had written down. I don’t know exactly why he was packing them up, but I suppose it was only a matter of time. Not to mention, it would be easier for Mind to work the copier machine if It wasn’t trying to deal with 5 notebooks and a tablet in one arm and pressing buttons with the other. The satchel was easier.

The thing was that we were making copies because we were submitting a portfolio so we could get money. Not that we were low on it or anything, but it was a sort of contest where you also got critique. So, the prose and poems got graded and were handed back. Sad thing is that Heart was blind.

We were basically just copying his 20 bests, because there was no way we were going to copy 500+. No shot in hell. Bad part is that those twenty were spread across the 5 notebooks and tablet. It’s fine though. We were just going to go to the library for a little bit.

We all absolutely loved the library. I liked a lot of the books they had, a really good selection, I better tell you. Please, if you’re by, I know it’s for teens, but read Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, thank me later. Anyways, we loved everything about it. Heart liked the quiet and comfort, as he likes curling up near me as we read. Most times, we do share audiobooks. Mind does Its own little thing, probably wedged in a corner reading Its stuff. I think the main thing that brought us together was the silence.

We all liked silence more than we liked the library. Sure, we liked talking, Mind liked infodumping and Heart liked getting really excited over something (those 2 really aren’t that different), but quiet was nicer. We got to hear the birds outside, mozzies fly about, and our own little thoughts that we kept to ourselves in our own little bubble. I always felt closer to Whole when people just shut up.

I was checking out a couple other novels while I heard the copier whir in the background. “You should have marked these poems you’re submitting,” Mind said, Its voice calm.

Heart’s voice chimed, the chirp in his voice unmistakeable, “Soul said he would do it, but he kinda forgot. I’m sorry.” Yeah, I forgot. I remember Heart asking, voice trembling a bit if I would help. I don’t know why he was scared to ask; I would have done it anyway. I guess he was always like that. He was always scared, Mind or I had to order his coffee for a long while.

Mind’s modulator gave a gentle hum before clicking twice with Its voice. “Don’t be sorry for that.” Its pant leg rustled a bit, a telltale sign of Its content, as Its tail would never rest when calm. “At least you a marker of the general area.”

“Yeah… my bad,” the angel chirped, rubbing the back of his head. Feathers fluffed from the inside of his hoodie, barely reaching past the sleeve. I came over and helped to hide the feathers. He giggled. “Soul, what are you doing?” I gestured to the feathers that sprouted on the back of his hand. His fists clenched a bit.

Mind looked to us, almost curious as to what the issue was. It realized it wasn’t too important. I pinched It and Its tail stiffened a bit. The swaying stopped, the host of the plug noticing that the tail had a mind (pun VERY intended) of its own. It flipped through one of the books, one poem was marked. “Fire Brigade?”

“Copy,” Heart instructed. Mind copied it. “Y’remember that episode? Blinky Bill’s Fire Brigade?” I barely remember that episode. We were 6 at most, maybe younger. I remember watching it with Heart. I don’t remember what came before it, but I couldn’t stay on the ground for the life of me.

“No,” Mind stated in the deadpan tone It always used. OH RIGHT! It wasn’t even conscious enough to remember times before we were 10. It was always tired, trying to build Itself and Its mechanical body up, failing miserably, then going dormant again. I remember It finally reforming Itself properly in one of our science classes, I can’t remember if it was our 3rd or 4th year, but suddenly everything made sense and it was a sort of Mind-thing. Imagine that. the man who says time moves on without them takes the longest time forming. I guess It wanted to form right. It failed.

“Well, obviously not you,” Heart scoffed. “Soul, you remember, right?”

“Hardly,” I admitted. I shoved my hands in my pockets, but I felt someone brush their pinky against my sleeve. I held Mind’s hand, unable to contain my smile. “You were the only one paying attention to that *.”

“Your pulse is up. 88 BPM to its usual 60. Relax.” Mind started to gently run a mechanical thumb over the inside of my wrist, right above my pulse point. It said it like it was normal and a part of the conversation. “Blinky Bill?” Mind’s voice raised up a pitch “Thinking about it a little more, I remember hearing it very muffled. It was only once, however, and the picture escapes my memory.”

“Your hearing wasn’t always great.” I said before a deep breath. I remember box breathing from Heart, how I researched it after one of his breakdowns. Hold for 4, in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, and repeat. It slows down your heartrate. Mind seemed satisfied enough and let go of my hand. “I remember, when you first built yourself, you constantly asked someone to repeat themselves.”

“Then I realized not only was my auditory processing glitched, but the microphone was the wrong way around,” Mind recalled verbally. “Then you were asking me what I was saying.” Yeah, we were pretty stupid. It balanced us out though, Mind was smart as hell, loved every little thing that required logical reasoning, probably would have gotten into Harvard had we have been completely different people. But no, we were three parts of the same person.

That was something I always thought about. By all technicality, we were one person. We came from one person when his head broke. Then there were three. One was slow to form, one was quick to take the throne, and one was a hollow husk that was trying to keep his music career together, so we keep the lights on. Then, when we got our stuff together, we were one man. We smiled, and we were one. The last time was a few years ago, and only for two weeks, so we covered it up as a vacation. Hopefully, we can be whole forever and fake our deaths.

Heart tugged on my sleeve for a moment. He always did that when he noticed an off presense. I looked over to find the purple tinted hair. I recognized it. It was straight and long, reaching to about halfway down her back before sweeping up like a cartoon mother’s. Hm. It was Spade.

I remember Spade. She just asked to tie me up. She didn’t make drama about it and explained the deal. It was very reasonable. Well, not really, but she was somewhat quieter, and she didn’t really try to attack Mind. I made my way to her.

“Hey, Spade. John Green fan?” I tilted my head. She jumped, holding the book she was about to check out close to her chest.

“My name is not Spade!” She squeaked, even though she had the same facial features as Spade. “I’m off the job. It’s Ayaka.” I knew it was a lie. Heart knew it was a lie. Mind knew it was a lie. All three of us just looked at her. Heart didn’t, but it looked like he did, so it was close enough. She didn’t look like an Ayaka, not that I have seen an Ayaka before, but she just didn’t look like an Ayaka. “I’m sorry. My name’s actually Perennial, but I’m told to say Ayaka.”

I smiled to her. At least she had some sense. I held out my hand to her and she shook it. “Nice. My name’s Atlas, the blind one’s Juno and the tall one’s Apollo. We prefer to be called Soul, Heart and Mind, though.” She nodded quietly.

“Why are we telling her our names?” Mind inquired, obviously It was still a bit cautious around the girl. It was reasonable to suspect why, It didn’t hear the girl’s deal, It didn’t know how reluctant she looked. And now, finding her here instead of the mall or something, it made me think of her as someone to protect. They call the need fatherly instincts. Mind didn’t have those.

“She’s chill,” I said and smiled at her. She didn’t really smile back, but her shoulders relaxed a bit. It was progress. “Have you eaten today?” I don’t know why that was my instinct to first ask her. It was something I asked Heart and Mind often, both either said yes or no. It was as simple as that. If they haven’t eaten, I urge them to eat, even take them out sometimes, if they have eaten, I congratulate them.

Perennial was different though. She just nodded and went about her day. Looking at her more, she looked very androgynous. I called to her again. “Wait.” I waved. “What are your pronouns?”

“What?” Spade- no, Perennial looked a bit speechless. “I uh… they/them.” Their jaw was slightly dropped that anyone would ask. Then, slowly, the feeling of acceptance creeped upon them. “Thanks. Uhm… no one asked me before. I’ve just kinda… went as that. Thanks. I uh… Yuka… sorry, Peace, just kinda referred to me as that… I hardly know her, being honest, I’m just scared.”

“Oh no, we were deathly scared too,” Heart chirped. I think he was referring to the not exactly human thing. Perennial nodded, then agreed verbally. “I mean… imagine seeing your roommate tied up on the floor.”

“My bad.” Perennial scratched the back of their head. “You guys are pretty cool. I’m sorry I kinda… uh… tied you up, Soul,” They awkwardly giggled. They then left.

Mind didn’t apologize for beating Diamond’s head into the nightstand. It wasn’t in Its character to apologize for that. It was basic self-defense. I thought about if their positions were switched. What if this person we knew took the place of Diamond. What if Mind had shoved Spade’s face into the nightstand and called them those mean names? We wouldn’t know their nature then. We wouldn’t know how quiet they were.

Funny how things played out for that. I found myself chuckling at the thought as they walked away, and Mind copied the poems Heart had come here for. Then I realized how close we might be to harmony. I felt a bit lighter on my feet, gravity slipped me by before Mind pulled me down like I hit an invisible roof in my euphoria. I couldn’t stop smiling.

#7 | The Chook

We got a chook. I don’t know why we got it, but before we knew it, Soul had a feathered “friend” in his arms. We already had one, we didn’t really need another. Heart’s heart bled the second he heard the chicken’s clucks. It must have been a stray.

Soul knelt and pulled it into its arms. He giggled, “He’s so adorable!” It looked soft, that was something to mention, I suppose. It had beady eyes that reminded me of Heart’s. It offput me a bit. I swallowed that down, there was no room to be uncomfortable.

The chicken looked at me. It didn’t cluck. Why was it looking at me of all things? “I wanna name him Darrell,” Heart said, hand finding a way to pet the avian, which noticed that Heart was just like it, feathered and frail. The chicken started flapping in Soul’s arms, jumping to Heart as soon as it realized the similarities. “Hi, Darrell! How are you today?” Heart got a cluck in return. “Awh! I’m happy you’re doing great!”

Since when could Heart speak the clucks of a chicken? Heart wasn’t a chicken; he was a dove. I’ve tested the DNA of his feathers, and it had a 99.8% match to a dove. Chickens were nothing like doves. Then again, the chicken looked so calm in Heart’s hold. Its heartrate was a little under clinical range at about 218 BPM. I brushed my hand against the plumage. It really was as soft as it looked. I tried to keep my tail from swaying, as we were in public.

“Can we bring him home!?” Soul and Heart were already so excited over it. “We won’t bring him if you don’t want him.” We had enough income, hell, it was a great amount of income for the three of us. Three jobs, one that was supposed to handle a family of four, one that was self-proficient and the final one also had a disability support pension. A mechanic (I’ll be an engineer when I finish my education), musician and poet.

I thought about it a bit more. It would be company for Heart and could potentially reduce breakdowns, assuming this will be some kind of support for him. I relented. “We can bring it home. Just make sure it doesn’t interfere with my job or die messing with my stuff.” I knew I came home oil stained each day, no one can treat their * car right. If it gets into my clothing that’s the end for it. Also, it could be distracting when I’m following through with my online education.

Heart and Soul cheered, hugging the chicken tighter against their bodies like it was a new member of the family. In a way, Darrell was a new member of our family. He was something to take care of and cherish, a reason to live through the night. They could have stained wrists but survive purely because there’s a chicken named Darrell waiting for them in the morning. I pet him again.

I bit my tongue before speaking. “We should get home. I’m going to short circuit.” That was a half-truth. The foolish positive energy was building up in my system again. It always made me act in stupid, defensive ways if it wasn’t expelled properly. It was actually how most fights with Heart started, I couldn’t relish in the entropy and instead exploded on him.

“It’s because he’s so cute!” Soul teased, gently forcing my chin to look at Darrell once more. The chicken was pleasing to the eye. I was a bit more concerned about the similarities between Heart and Darrell, however.

Might he be gravitated to the chicken? Heart is smaller, he was always the runt of us. His tallest was one hundred sixty centimeters. Now, especially with his emotions being a bit duller, he was just over one hundred fifty. He was a little under forty-five kilograms. This chicken looked small for its age. It was definitely the runt of its nest and slipped out. The owner likely didn’t search for it because it wasn’t worth the time. It was basically useless. Much like Heart. Or at least that’s what I assumed he felt.

My oil pump stopped for a moment at that realization. The two avians seemed to communicate well. I stood there motionless in public; the realization immobilized me. They were made for each other. Oil started pumping in my body again, releasing my body from the ice that it was temporarily stuck in. We needed to go home.

I started walking in the direction we came, shoving my hands in my pockets. I wasn’t looking where I was going. If anything, I was more focused on the similarities of Darrell and Heart. I didn’t realize I bumped into the same girl who’s head I bashed into my nightstand. She was missing one of her teeth. I should have realized I knocked a tooth out sooner, but I hadn’t. Her uniform was slightly tattered, likely from when I thrashed against her.

I probably shouldn’t have called her all those mean names. Then again, she deserved it, she tried to knock me out with a chemical I didn’t have time to decipher. Little did she know, I technically didn’t breathe. “Hey.” She said simply. She tilted her green- no, pink head. Her hair fell over her eyes. I guess that would help differentiate her from Clover. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not sorry.” I shot her down quick. There was no way in hell she was sorry. I saw her growl and she even bit me. I still have the mark in my forearm under my sweater. “You’re just upset that I bettered you.” If I said I never got arrogant, I would be lying. Sometimes, I just think I’m better. Everyone has flaws.

“Yeah, it was a tactical retreat. Good one, though. You beat me.” She held out a hand for a moment, fingers stretched and twitching slightly. It was like she wanted me to shake her hand. I gripped it, shaking it sturdily. She was put a bit off kilter, but she smiled anyways. “You have a good arm.”

“Thank you. You as well.” She suddenly twisted my wrist. My body felt the need to turn back, to drop to its knees. No, I can’t let that happen. I tried to break free. I could try to get her part of the wrist. * it. I buckled. My arm twisted behind my back, and I was pressed against the wall of the alley. I hate this.

Her breath was warm against my ear. I should have suspected this. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and now I have my arm twisted behind my back in an alley and out the corner of my eye, Heart and Soul were just standing there, scared for their life. We could have taken her; it would be a three to one. There is strength in numbers. I was pushed to kneel.

“Listen, bucket head. You may think you’re so smart but the second you let your guard down, every little question that you ask the universe will be answered,” she snarled. That didn’t sound like a threat. It sounded more like someone making a faulty sales pitch. “Probably because you’ll be dead, and you can ask whatever god you worship what’s up.”

Jokes on her, I’m an atheist. I shouldn’t be internally mocking her when I’m on the ground and unable to move. I let an impulsive thought win. “Jokes on you, I’m an atheist. I don’t need some being making sure I don’t die unlike you.”

“I’m not like that,” Diamond hissed, pressing my wrist deeper into my back. I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a hearty, sarcastic one. It was one I would normally give Heart when he wanted to cause harm to me. It was a defense mechanism more than it was a genuine laugh. “S-stop laughing like that.”

I continued laughing. My gut started to tire from the constant piston of air. The coolant was about to leak through my eyes in a mockery of tears. This was the point where I would stop laughing and Heart would go out about his day. I couldn’t stop. Her grip tightened and it only made me laugh harder. I hated laughing.

I hated laughing so much, it always made me feel so weak. I only laughed when I felt the world was about to turn on me. And now, on my knees with my good hand behind my back, the world was crashing down and turning into a tidal wave, and I was the lone surfer. In the face of the tsunami in front of me, I laughed. Not because I was glad, but because it was the only mechanism I had to defend myself without bashing someone’s face in.

She looked scared; genuinely disturbed. She swallowed harshly and her hold loosened. “Stop that,” she said, barely audible over my body convulsing in violent hoops and hollers. She dropped my wrist, and I could digest air normally again. Her heels clicked once, twice, thrice and repeatedly, quickly quieting.

Heart and Soul were still in shock. I was too, but I couldn’t let it show. I stood up, brushed myself off, and gestured for us to leave. I want to go home. I looked to Darrell for a moment and ran my hand through his soft plumage. My breathing was shallow.

Darrell looked at me again, just like the angelic man who was holding him, and clucked. Just a small sound like he didn’t understand what had just happened. I gently picked up Darrell and held him close to my chest. He was so warm, it felt like a cat on a heater.

I felt warm, but not in the way where I would overheat, but in a way where one would enjoy it. I had a chicken to my chest. I didn’t think I would say that sentence, as I was never fond of animals. Darrell felt a little different though. “It’s our little chook,” Soul said, rubbing the head of the chicken in my arms. “Mind, we gotta get ‘im feed.”

“We do,” I agreed immediately. I was used to nodding my head and agreeing every time Soul suggested something. Mostly because it benefited us most and I hated hearing Heart wail on about how it was never fair. “I will see if I can get him something soon. We have some sunflower seeds in the meantime.”

“WHAT? We have sunflower seeds?!” Heart loved those things. It’s exactly why we hid it from him. He ate the shell and everything, I had no idea how he did it. “Please, can I have some?”

“It’s for Darrell,” Soul reminded, adjusting the satchel on Heart’s shoulder. We had just started heading home from the library, I copied out his poems for him. “We’ll give you a packet, how ‘bout that?”

“I’ll get yous some Monster in return,” Heart bargained. “I have some extra money from a commission, I gotta do something nice!” I don’t know why he was getting me a Monster Energy. My exams weren’t for another month or so. It could just be a nice treat. I don’t need it, though.

“Thank you!” Soul ran to hug Heart, bubbling up a bit and turned slightly weightless. The entity giggled against Heart’s shoulder, the light about him flickering. “I love you!”

“I love you too!” Heart was hugging him back now, giggling. They were amazing together. I should bring them back before they get too excited. Their real identities may be uncovered if we stay here long.

I tugged Heart along by the back of the hoodie and Soul got the hint.

#8 | Girls on our Roof

I could walk by myself. Then again, Soul let me take a nap with him while Mind finished up some of its last assignments. At least, that’s what it said. It has a good month or two to study or something. At least, that’s what I paid attention to. I struggled to pay attention a lot of the time. That’s what Mind said was a big issue. I never could consider college ever. Never ever.

I liked my job, though. People pay me to read, and they pay me to paint. Sometimes. Other times, I’m just covered in paint for no reason other than to be covered in paint. Then Soul walks in and sees the lack of a piece. There’s always a piece, even if I can’t see it. They called in inspiring for some reason that an artist of an unknown name submits pieces blind.

I’m always unknown. Sure, sometimes I speak in public, but those are poems I write in an intentionally different style. I’m separate from the poet that won competitions with nothing to his name except puny sentences that I had built for him.

But who cares? I’m hugging Soul and taking a nap. His hold was gentle and kind. The ambiance of Mind’s tapping on his keyboard did nothing, honestly. It was probably another essay. It always did essays, it seems. I said I could help, but It waved me away.

But who cares? I’m sleeping. I’m taking a nap! Right now! I felt my headwings flap against my skull, always an involuntary reaction before settling against my blackened curls with little to no fight. I remember Soul’s curls from when I could see. They were brown like Whole’s (that’s what I call us when we’re one). Mind had black or dark grey hair like me, but It had coils instead. It was weird, but they were always boxy, so that made sense for It.

But who cares? I’m napping. Soul was very cozy. I could hear a steady heartbeat beneath my ear, mimicking a kick drum. Maybe Soul’s heart was the kick and Mind tapping on his keyboard was the high hats. I stretched out one of my headwings as Soul scratched behind it. I don’t know why I always liked pets at the bases of my wings, but they would always stretch and fluff. I was told it was cute.

I heard something on our roof.

Soul continued to rest with me, and I tried to lay my weary head down. He smelled like smoke. It was probably because he stayed behind for a moment to feed that stupid addiction. I swallowed a lump in my throat as heels clicked against the tiles. Who was it? Should I be worried? Soul scratched my headwings again and the worries seemed small.

Someone was walking on our roof.

How did they not notice? I thought it was clear as day. I heard them. I heard murmuring. I couldn’t make out the words, but it was certainly something. “Hey,” I whispered against Soul’s smoky smelling collarbone. “Do you hear that too?”

“Hear what?” the drawled, tired voice replied. So, Soul didn’t hear the people walking on our roof. He didn’t hear the chatter and the click of heels. “Nah, I don’t hear it. Do you wanna go check?” I felt the box in his pocket, I frowned but nodded.

I got up and Soul stretched. He was already headed outside to check the roof. I came after him because I was nervous as hell. I was always susceptible to anxiety. I always liked having someone else with me when I checked on something that frightened me. Soul’s temperature dropped, then rose again with a click and the shut of a box. No, not in front of the kids. I frowned at him.

He took a quiet sigh; it smelled like fire. “Hey, what’re you doing up there? Don’t you know it’s a Friday? Shouldn’t you kids be in school?” He waited patiently for an answer. I don’t know which girls were up there, but I can tell it wasn’t Spade. Spade always had a calmer presence than these other girls.

“We’re just here,” one of the girls said. This voice was unfamiliar. I couldn’t pinpoint if it was Spade, Diamond or Peace. “It’s a right to exist.”

Soul didn’t seem to be having it. He gave another huff, and I could just HEAR the rolled eyes in his tone. “Heart. Get the pistol.” What. I’m not going to hurt these girls. No way! My blood ran cold. Was he really going to be this violent?! “Heart. I’m not going to tell you again. Get the pistol.”

I wasn’t allowed to have the pistol. I know I wasn’t allowed. I bit my tongue and started to scavenge through my room. It wasn’t anywhere. I gave a sigh of relief. Mind caught me and tilted Its head. “What’s happening? I was in my do not disturb mode.”

“The girls are on our roof,” I admitted. I didn’t get a reaction immediately. I only got a deep breath from It. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m the logic. I’m having a little talk.”

“MIND, LITERALLY, NO, THAT’S SO STUPID-”

“Stay here, okay?” I didn’t like how Mind treated me like a child. I ran after him, but the door was locked from the outside. I started pounding violently. I was yelling, flapping, chirping, squawking, any word under the definition of struggle.

OH NO!

I love the style of your writing and how you incorporate the manner of speaking that each of them have from the songs, especially Heart which makes sense bc you're largely a Heart kin and i love this and i love you <3333

H1h1_1436 wrote:

I love the style of your writing and how you incorporate the manner of speaking that each of them have from the songs, especially Heart which makes sense bc you're largely a Heart kin and i love this and i love you <3333

FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICES THIS I'M FREAKING OUT IT TOOK LIKE FOREVER FOR SOMEONE TO NOTICE

mr-mystxcal wrote:

H1h1_1436 wrote:

I love the style of your writing and how you incorporate the manner of speaking that each of them have from the songs, especially Heart which makes sense bc you're largely a Heart kin and i love this and i love you <3333

FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICES THIS I'M FREAKING OUT IT TOOK LIKE FOREVER FOR SOMEONE TO NOTICE

i noticed since the start, i just said something now, i've been meaning to <3 you're a great writer

H1h1_1436 wrote:

mr-mystxcal wrote:

H1h1_1436 wrote:

I love the style of your writing and how you incorporate the manner of speaking that each of them have from the songs, especially Heart which makes sense bc you're largely a Heart kin and i love this and i love you <3333

FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICES THIS I'M FREAKING OUT IT TOOK LIKE FOREVER FOR SOMEONE TO NOTICE

i noticed since the start, i just said something now, i've been meaning to <3 you're a great writer

Oop… im giggling, yeah… loll i try to give them their own flavor and im so happy you pointed it out it's like the thing im the most proud of :333

#9 | We beat up said girls on our roof (I know, im so cool.)

“I locked him in,” Mind said, handing the clean-cut metal pistol to me. It flickered in the filtered sunlight, reflecting the very thing that handed it to me. The mechanical man tilted Its head, squinting at the metal. “Are we getting rid of them for good?”

“Hopefully.” I twirled it in my hands and pointed it at the girls who were now fretting for their puny little lives. “Listen up, eh… Clover and… Peace???” I was unsure of who which one was. “You get off our roof now. We don’t want to hear some sort of spiel.” It was hard to talk around the Winfield, but I always knew how. “We just want a normal day where you aren’t interfering. Please?”

It was silent. My finger shook over the trigger. “Just get out. I don’t want to fire, and you don’t want to be startled.” I took a deep breath, narrowing my aim and gaze just above the girls. They wouldn’t know. “Look, Mind’s gotta do Its stuff s’arvo, Heart’s scared out of his * mind, and I’m sick and tired of you girls thinking you can dictate our life…s. Our lives.”

The girls looked at me for a moment. Neither moved nor said anything, just stood their ground atop the bilic cold of my sanity. It was a standoff, a police officer to a robber, a bogan to a trespasser, the small world to the larger one. My finger continued to shake. I spit my Winfield out, the bud dying against the ground. Don’t worry, I’ll pick it up later.

I fired as soon as one of their eyes narrowed. The bullet barely skimmed the green one’s cowlick, leaving a small whisp of smoke from where it lit aflame. They decided now was the right time to pounce. My back slammed into the ground, holding off a girl whose teeth were borne, barely coming out to be human. The rocks of the driveway dug into my back like the spears in Caesar’s back.

My head pounded as she took grip of my hair and slammed me against the ground, right next to the butt I had spat out. I was caught off guard, I couldn’t even drop the pistol, just submitting to the harsh reality of my eminent future. Someone, either me or her, wasn’t getting off with only bruises. I heard quiet grunts, maybe Mind was there too? Mind was fighting them off like I was?

I shoved her by the shoulders, watching her buck and raise her fist. She was going off on me, really. I couldn’t help but admire that as I tilted my head. Her strike kicked up the dust and dirt of the driveway right next to my ear. I’m pretty sure this one would be Clover, because Peace was a talker. Then again, I didn’t hear anything from Mind and Peace’s struggle, so maybe not?

I didn’t have time to think. The glittery girl slammed my shoulders into the rocks again. My shoulders hurt, hell, my entire * back hurts. I took another deep breath, trying to center myself. I did. I flipped us and she was now on her chest, I was hovering her back with her hand pinned. I looked over, just a glance, to Mind and Peace.

The automaton really dealt with this sort of thing well. Well, I suppose when you’re carrying heavy as hell parts like it’s no Wucka’s, you would be decent in combat. Its stance was wide, back slightly bent so It could duck easier. It knew people would go for the face, much like they did last time. Before I knew it, Peace was on the ground with a hearty kick to her shins. It stood over her and pressed Its heel into Peace’s shoulder, pinning her. “Target neutralized.”

“Yeah, I see, Jesus Christ!” For some reason a sensation filled me. I don’t know what sort of sensation, but the way It stood, taller, almost authoritative, even made me a bit anxious to mess with It. It was scary as hell. I mean, imagine a man without pupils stand over you, his jaw set to a small frown, as if pitying, as if calling you pathetic. I saw the disappointment about the fact that she didn’t struggle more.

“Do you want to dine out after this?” Mind asked, pulling the icy blue lipstick from Its pocket and reapplying it. It pursed and rubbed its lips before glancing back over to me. “I can pay.”

“Eh… I’m actually really tired. If you pay for a spa day, though, I won’t be opposed,” I suggested. My back hurt like someone was breaking each bone individually. “Think about it, the world shut off, warm, steamy water, cucumbers-”

“No, Soul. I’m not paying for a spa day. That’s at least fifty dollars more than a salad or something.” I rolled my eyes. Of course, Mind was going to be like that. Then again, spas were never too logical, just places to relax. I guess the last thing It needs is to relax.

The girl struggled against my hold again. I twisted her wrist to cut deeper into her back. She needs to stay the hell down. “Hey, stay down while we’re discussin’ yeah? It’s rude.” I heard a low vibration of a chuckle. I couldn’t help but laugh with It. “Yeah? It’s funny? You like this?”

“Ew. You two get your own * room. Maybe a spa will be good for you,” The girl, whom I’ve known recognized to be Clover, under my hold scoffed. She was being really annoying for a girl I could make revel. “Just let us go, please? I’ll pay, I don’t care, just let us the hell go!”

“Knowing you, you likely will give the wrong currency, and we would have to convert it.” Mind narrowed Its eyes at the pleading magical girl. Her dress was everywhere, it ticked me off at how glittery it was. “So, no. Plus, I have morals.”

“Messed up morals,” I muttered under my breath.

“You don’t say my morals are messed up when you get a good time.” Well, Mind was true about that part. I wouldn’t admit it though. Hell, I would hate to admit it. “Either way, no thanks. I’ll pass on you paying for a spa day.”

Guardian (of lame) Peace rolled her eyes, struggling from under Mind’s heel. It wouldn’t give. That thing in me flickered again. “Ow, ow, ow, ow,” The blue guardian winced, biting her tongue. “Just please, let us go. We won’t come to your house again, please, please, please.” She was pleading so much and for what? I let Clover go, and Mind, who was looking to me for my call, let Peace go. Both scampered off before we could yell at them to head out.

“How’s your back? It looks like it hurt,” Mind asked quietly. It didn’t make eye-contact. It just focused on the retreating girls, who were know in the skyline. Small, retreating blue and green dots in the evening sky. “I can take care of Darrell if you need to lie down.”

My heart softened. I looked to the girls who threatened the safety of this house then the thing that helped me protect it. It always said It wasn’t the best at things, but here It is, staring off into the distance like It was nervous the threat was coming back. It wasn’t. Mind was just paranoid. I took its hand and checked the wrist. Its oil was pounding, mechanical heart beating faster by the second. “I think you need to relax too. You got that last assignment done, yeah? Just slow down for a moment, you have two months until the big test.”

“What if I fail?” Its voice was small, barely a breath in the quiet of the 6:30 PM atmosphere. For a moment, just a moment, I saw that Mind again. I saw the one that could barely form amidst the intense emotion that surrounded him. I saw the one that was constantly tired and unable to stand without being winded. I saw the one that was scared to talk to others out of fear that Its modulator would malfunction on it. It only talked in a whisper at that time.

This Mind broke every single bit of my defences. I kept feeling for Its pulse, the anxiety spiking along with the speed of the oil pumping. “You can try again. It’ll take a bit, but you know most the material by now. You’ll get that degree.”

The automaton’s hand held mine tighter. The shoulders raised and fell with a contemplative breath. “Come on then, let’s go,” It led me back, I saw the plug tail wag from Its pant leg.
I laughed at Its happiness; I don’t know why. I felt like I had to, y’know? Everything felt so bright in that moment, I also saw the features of Its side profile. It looked younger, like the weight had been lifted off Its weary shoulders and now is able to take a break.

I beamed at It. Mind looked over, confused as to why I was laughing and smiling like a little kid. It tilted Its head, even more like that itty bitty Mind I once knew. I tugged Its shoulders in, wrapping my arms around it. Eventually, I was lifted, one arm around my waist and the other helping to support my legs, which were wrapped around Its waist. I giggled this time, as light and as forward as wind chimes.

Slowly, and I mean slowly, a small chuckle formed in Its chest. It was the warmest thing I’ve heard from It. The cheer flickered away as soon as it came and the Mind I know now was back.

I smiled at It again, hoping It would return the jolliness. It did.