Two sighed as he sat back in his chair, watching from slightly afar as the challenge went on. It was…certainly a mess, but what else could he expect? The teams bickered and progress seemed to jitter like an overwhelmed seismograph and everything seemed to go perfectly, orderly wrong.
And yet he was bored.
Horribly bored. Bored to the point of supercriticality. A core itching at the seams and ready to give in at the slightest tilt of the screwdriver.
And really, sitting here watching the show from a safe, liveable distance wasn’t enough. Really, what Two wanted was simple: company. And like an internal clock, the number 14 clicked into place in his head, and he was once again reminded of the dissonant note that had started the episode off.
Gaty.
He thought long and hard about her elimination, though not by his own volition. He wanted it to be a dream he could wake up from, to have drunk too much of that milk and slept a little too long—he’d give up anything, everything, every drop of power in his veins to go back and swap the scores. Gaty? When Marker was right there? Who even liked Marker? More than Gaty! Blimey…
He sighed and rolled his eyes. It was no good arguing to himself about it again. It might be more worthwhile complaining to Nonexisty; at least then, someone would hear his problems, even if they had no voice nor mouth nor brain to respond and reassure with.
Reassurance…a miracle and a privilege he had never once experienced before Gaty. Now, it had been ripped out of his hands. It felt too soon, but any time before or after would’ve felt just as uncalled for.
Which was why he let himself be selfish. Just this once. Maybe Clock’s late departure was for he and Winner, but this time, temporary kitchen employment was for Two's sake.
A snap brought him exactly where he needed to be, and the challenge went on without notice.
Gaty leaned back against the salmon-toned counter, watching contently as Four and X bickered and giggled over the pastries they were making. It had been a while since she’d really gotten a good look at them, and by a while…well, how many years had it been since BFB 16? And they sure were different. X was more energetic, and Four’s behaviour was less strained. They were honestly pretty kind now, outside of their typical shenanigans and the gate-awful chores they assigned her. Not to mention getting called Clock earlier…but it was X, so at least she got an apology.
Yawning softly, she looked around the kitchen. It was a pretty kitchen, though often a mess. For every strange chore she was made to do, she was happy this wasn’t one of them. During her occasional breaks, she would sometimes return to see the room covered in grime, then 15 minutes later finding it spotless. Odd, but nothing Gaty paid any mind to. Her breaks were short and her chores were long; she just wanted to get to the next resting period.
The last chore was different, though. Tasked with frosting the cupcakes Four and X had made, they seemed to realise they’d overstimated their exhaustion by a few orders of magnitude and snatched the job right up for themselves. They never gave her a new task, so instead of dooming herself to more work, she enjoyed the peace—
“…psst…”
—and…debatably, quiet.
“…psshht. Hey.”
What was that noise, anyway? Maybe it was just Four and X messing with each other.
“Gaty! Come here!”
No—she recognised that accent. And she bolted upright as soon as she realised who it was.
Eyes flitting in a sort of panic around the room, she finally caught her eye on the doorway leading to the other part of the kitchen, and that’s when she saw him. Peaking his little green face out from behind the wall, hands gripping the edge, eyes wide and hopeful that she’d see him. The two made eye contact, and it was a chore on its own to not scream his name.
But no, she had to be quiet. Immediately after making eye contact with Two, she looked over at Four and X again. They still hadn’t even acknowledged her, though this time they looked a little more distracted with each other. Sensing the perfect opportunity, Gaty walked as fast as she could to the doorway, hiding behind the same wall as Two.
“Phew,” she let out softly, a little relieved they didn’t see her. She was about to say something else, something to the tune of “it’s been a while” or whatever, before Two gave his own ever so slightly more sudden greeting.
She didn’t have even a moment to speak before Two fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her rectangular form. Something stuttered out of her before faltering, hands not sure what to do so going limp instead. But after a saddening little squeeze, she couldn’t help it. She missed him, and she could feel the way he missed her in his gestures.
Gaty’s arms anxiously raised up to hold Two, and the moment she touched his back, she could feel him release a bout of tension and melt into her even more. It made her want to cry.
She heard a quiet little sniff come from Two and realised he must have been a little worse at holding himself together than she was. “S-sorry, um…” He pulled back, stepping away with a hand to his mouth. His eyes, unable to lock on a spot but conveniently avoiding her own gaze, were teary and squinted. Gaty could only giggle and reach for his free hand.
“It’s okay, Two,” she laughed. Her tone was sweet, not trying to mock him. “You missed me that bad already?”
“Mmh…” That little groan just made her laugh again, and he quickly wiped away the remains of those embarrassing tears from his face. “I just got a bit worked up. Not to worry, hah…”
Once his eyes were as dry as he could get them, though his face still showed the exhaustion from crying at all, he tried to snap their couch into the room. His hand was shaky, and so it took a few tries, but eventually he got it to manifest. He sat down with a huff and Gaty followed soon after. It was second nature at this point, although this time, it felt somewhat different.
“Okay, um…” Two cleared his throat and clasped his hands together in his lap as he spoke. The normal innocent and excited expression on his face returned—though it was hard to believe, as there was a shudder in his voice and his eyes never lost that teary glint. “How…how has the kitchen been treating you, Gaty?”
She sighed and sat back against the couch cushions. Right on topic, huh? Maybe he didn’t want to focus on the emotions right now. “Well…I like it here. Better than elimination probably is. Four and X are…weird, and the chores they give me are weird, too, but they don’t bother me too much. It’s…actually kinda nice.”
“I’m glad.” He faced the wall across from the sofa and let out a long sigh. He sank down a bit, and a hand raised to wipe his eyes again. “I’m glad.”
Gaty frowned. He really wasn’t doing well, was he? She didn’t want to pry, but she couldn’t deny that it worried her. And wasn’t she the one who got Two to open up in the first place? She could do it again, right?
“Hey, Two…” She watched his eyes widen as her hand found his knee. “Is something wrong? Anything you need to talk about?”
He hesitated, and as he debated with himself whether to speak or not, their eyes met again. And as a darker hue of green tinted his face, Gaty could feel a similar pink warmth on her own. She nodded, and he took a deep breath.
“I…I don’t know. It’s complicated.” His eyes fell to the floor and his entire body melted a little. “It’s barely been a few hours and the show already feels so empty. I’d…I’d always watch your team during challenges. Team8s, was it?”
Gaty nodded. “Yeah. Team8s and Death P.A.C.T. Yet Again when you were in it. You were always so fun to watch. The way you talked with your teammates…figuring things out so well…just watching you help…oh, it was all I did. I had to remind myself to pay attention to the others because I was so concerned with you.”
Two took a pause to shift his position a little. His legs folded against his body and his arms held them halfheartedly. In this position, his face drooped a little closer to his knees, and overall he just seemed more…constricted. “But then all that mess happened with the storm, the teams were all arguing, everyone went missing, I—I practically lost control of the show! And then I’m gone for ten minutes, just to rest for a little while, and…and you’re…”
He pressed his face into his knees, and Gaty finally began to notice how fast he’d started to crumble. His hands gripped his legs now, and he seemed to be trembling. And as if that wasn’t enough, he sniffed and gasped in a way she recognised as if she had heard it a thousand times before.
“Aw, Two…” She moved herself closer to him, enough to wrap one arm around his back in an attempt to comfort him. “It’s okay…just breathe…”
“…sorry…” Until then it had seemed almost like he was trying to hide his tears, but when he spoke, Gaty could just hear the sobs he was holding back.
“No, no, don’t be sorry! You didn’t do anything wrong, y’know. Um…” As she tried to think of what to do, a bit of panic, just a tiny little bit, ran through her head. She bit her lip before coming up with something. Immediately, though slowly, she tried to pry her other arm between his legs and his body. “Want a hug? Would that help…?”
She could feel him flinch softly as her hand made contact with his skin, but he wasn’t too upset by the touch. In fact, once that question left her mouth, Two raised his head up, only his eyes visible now. They were squinted and wet again, though this time, Gaty could see the tears lining his lower eyelids and dripping down his face. This view only lasted a few seconds—because immediately after, he unfolded and pulled her to his chest in one swift movement.
It was a bit of a shock, but not much. Gaty was ready for it. What she wasn’t ready for, however, was the very audible sobbing that came soon after. She was unable to see his face, but she didn’t have to. After a few sobs, some tears dripped down onto her, cold on her back. It only made her squeeze him tighter.
“Shh…it’s okay, Two…just let it out.” That made him sob a little harder, but only for a moment. His hands pawed at Gaty’s back as if he wasn’t sure what to do with them. One hand carefully touched the gate spikes while the other toyed with the hinges on her side. She smiled and sighed. “Is that helping?”
“Mhm,” he hummed quietly. “It’s…d-distracting…”
“That’s good. That’s good. Um…”
Distracting. What else would distract him? She couldn’t think of much else, no matter how much she thought. And thinking for long enough eventually gave her an answer. “…please keep talking.”
By now, the sobs had quieted down to sniffs and little gasps, but the tears didn’t sound fully gone. “Oh, um, okay. Is there anything you want me to talk about?”
“I…I just…” He paused to sniffle. “Please comfort me…”
The way he said it…she almost started crying herself. “Okay, Two, I will.” With a deep breath, she began to talk, going slow so she didn’t trip over her words.
“You’re gonna be okay, alright? I’m not gone yet. You can come and see me whenever you want. I’m safe here with Four and X—heck, it’s safer here than in most of the challenges. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Gaty paused for a moment to check on Two, one hand leaving his back and trailing up to his head. He wasn’t crying anymore, at least audibly, with only a few soft little sniffs leaving him. Her hand eventually found his cheek, and she gently wiped away some tears. “Any better? Want me to keep going?”
“Ah…no, no, um…” He pulled back, and she could finally see his face again. His hand jumped to wipe his face, of course, but she could still see where the tears had dripped down his cheeks. They were drying, but he still had to wipe off some residue off. “I’m…better now. I think. Thank you.”
She smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. And they stared at each other for a while. It felt far longer, but it wasn’t more than a minute. She could see a kind of blush form on Two’s face, dark green under his eyes, and it made her blush a little, too. She had…never seen that before. Never seen him blush. It was such a wonderful sight.
And yet interrupted once again.
“Gaty? Gatyyy…?” An unmistakable pitchy voice called out from the main kitchen, getting closer as it spoke her name. The two had no time to react before X walked in.
“Gaty, we finished frosting the—oh.” Gaty snapped around to face X, who was still wearing his apron, and Two’s eyes widened when he looked up to see him. “Um…”
For a few seconds, all of them awkwardly looked between each other. After a discreet squeeze to Gaty’s arm, Two coughed and snapped, immediately disappearing. After a moment, the couch disappeared too, and she stumbled to her feet. And now Gaty and X were left to hold that weird eye contact.
“I’m…not going to ask about that. Wanna try a cookie?”
Gaty let out a relieved sigh and nodded. “Sure, X.”
“TWO!”
Two nearly choked on his tongue as he haphazardly wiped his eyes with a tissue. He only barely cleaned himself up in time before Fanny got up behind him and began to scream. “Two, where the fan have you been?!”
“Ah, about that, erm—”
Winner chimed in too, and everyone seemed like they wanted to talk. “Two, where’d ya go? The challenge ended half an hour ago!”
“Look, I can explain. just let me explain! I, um—uh…”
But now everyone was looking at him, and he lost his voice. Scratching the back of his neck, he cleared his throat and came up with a story. “I was, uhh, dealing with the, um…the…eliminated contestants! And they were…just…really not eager to see me go…um, they were all like, ‘Ahh, Two, let us out! Don’t leave!’ and I had to tell them, ‘No, guys, I have to go! They’re waiting for me!’ and, uhh…”
It was so quiet, his nervous gulp sounded like it echoed.
“You’re really bad at lying, you know that, right?” an unimpressed Tree told him.
“I hate liars!”
Two huffed and crossed his arms, embarrassed. “Ugh—whatever! The challenge is over, do not make me put all of you up for elimination!”
