The Most Important Gear

Chapter 20

"you didn't have to," you said in disbelief yet in happiness.

"it's your favorite," he confirmed. "i want you to enjoy yourself and eat well. you spend all your time working with only two breaks for meals."

"thank you," you said gratefully. "i'll definitely eat well!"

you washed your hands and began to work on your food, scaramouche walked over to you and washed his hands as well. "what is it scaramouche? did you want something?"

"i'll help you cook," he said. "go finish working on {robot name}."

"you don't have to," you said shyly. "don't worry about it! you brought the ingredients, it's only fair for me to do the cooking."

"i'll help you."

seeing as there was no talking him out of it, the two of you cooked dinner together. after you both ate and were full, you did the dishes while he relaxed on the couch reading a book. sure this was the 30th time reading it, but in a sense he never got tired of it. after you finished doing the dishes, you wanted to continue working on {robot name}.

"scaramouche i'm going to go work on {robot name} now," you called, drying your hands on a towel.

"it's getting late, so make sure to use your time wisely. when it's midnight, you need to sleep."

"what are you, my dad?"

he gave you a very 'done-with-this-shit' look, one so disappointed that you couldn't help but laugh. "s-sorry- i'll make sure to do as you ask. are you going to stay the night?"

scaramouche thought for a moment, "would you be willing to host me?"

"mhm," you nodded. "of course! i have a lot of rooms you can choose-"

"yours."

"huh?!"

"can i sleep next to you," he asked you innocently, almost a 180 degree change from his usual cold and haughty demeanor.

"u-uh, i mean sure," you said. "wouldn't you be uncomfortable though?"

"nonsense," he brushed that idea off. "are you uncomfortable?"

"no i'm fine with that," you said, cheeks flushed from the idea. "... did we ever sleep in the same bed?"

"no we haven't," scaramouche clarified for you. "i'm just messing with you. i'll take the guest room. but... you know what never mind. go work, you're wasting time."

"i mean if you say so," you muttered. "see ya."

in truth, he was very worried about tomorrow. your memory restoration had failed, and very grim thoughts plagued his mind. she was suffering when she only had a partial amount of memories restored, and yet that backfired as well... can she handle the full amount? this will be interesting, but i can't help but feel worried.

"scaramouche! come here!"

he shut the book and ran all the way to your tinkering room, slightly worried considering your outburst was so sudden. when he stopped in the doorway, he saw {robot name} up and running again. it moved its leg experimentally, looking around the room until its eyes landed on scaramouche. it gave him a very experimental look, almost questioning his presence.

"{robot name} probably doesn't recognize you due to the tampering," you said matter-of-factly. "with some bonding time, it should work out very well."

he nodded, walking over to the robot and placing a hand on its head, hearing it make a content humming sound. {robot name} may have forgotten him, but he didn't forget that {robot name} liked having pats on the head.

"i guess you remember," you said, placing some scrap metal and the molds away as well as collecting the tools and spare gears.

"how could i forget? it used to let me into your house all the time and sat by me while i read on your couch."

"aww," you cooed. "that's so sweet."

"tch, it's a nuisance," scaramouche said, yet the soft look he gave your robot said otherwise. "... but i'm glad you're awake now."

it made a very happy humming sound, twirling in a circle before jumping off the tinkering table and scurrying off. he gave it an owlish look, making you laugh. "{robot name} is off to find its favorite pillow."

"that round one right?"

"yeah! it's his self defense pillow. not like it'll do anything, but it makes him feel safe."

"i remember," he said. "when i first came over to your house, it grabbed the pillow and guarded itself."

"haha, yeah i'm not surprised." you stretched your arms with a yawn. "i'm super tired. i think i'll go to bed now. are you going to stay up a little later?"

"i have something i have to talk to lesser lord kusanali about," scaramouche said. "you sleep first."

"alright, goodnight in case i'm not awake."

"goodnight."

you exited the room, grabbing your pajamas and placing them in the bathroom while you got ready to take a shower. scaramouche walked out and grabbed his hat, placing it on his head and flew off to the sanctuary to talk to nahida.