The Strongest of Us (Tf2 x Reader)

43. Hello and Goodbye

"Well, yeah. I've been looking into his stories lately... this is just his collection of short stories and poetry, but still... Do you like him?" (Y/N) set her bookmark between the pages.

"I did, for a time, but," Spy sighed, "He hasn't published anything in years. He's a recluse, for all we know. Rumor has it not even his publisher would be able to pick him out of a crowd."

(Y/N) looked down at the deft book in her hands, turning it from side to side, and just fidgeting. She soon set it down in her lap, and turned on her pillow to look up at Spy with a very serious expression.

"Do you think his friends call him 'television'?"

Spy, who had once been at a solemn state of mind, suddenly had a curled lip and a damn near insulted expression. He opened his mouth to say something, but (Y/N) only bursted with laughter.

"Oh, shut your gob, you know that was fucking funny!" She pointed at him, nearly falling on her side from just his reaction alone.

"That was awful," Spy tsked, acting like he didn't like it, but the tone in his voice said he was amused.

"It was great," (Y/N) stuck her tongue out at him, and that managed to get the Frenchman to smile, despite the crude nature.

Spy looked back at the keys of the piano, but he chose not to play. (Y/N) looked back down at her book, but just fiddled with the pages, rather than read the curiosities within them.

The sun turned the garden a deep orange as it touched the horizon and started to sink down. No one in the building really thought something like this could end. They had grown so close to each other. Closer than any of them had ever been, and they were better friends than ever. Why would someone so deliberately tear something like that apart? Why would someone be so cruel?

"You guys in here?" A voice rang across the quiet scenery. It was Dell.

"Yeah!" (Y/N) called back, slowly getting up with a grunt. "By the piano."

"Y'all gotta make your way to the living room," Dell said, but his tone wasn't as chipper as it used to be. "Pauling's here."

Spy and (Y/N) both looked at each other, then stood up and left the garden as quickly as possible. This couldn't be good, especially after so much time spent in silence.

Time seemed to warp, and (Y/N) and Spy got there faster than they realized. Everyone was already in the living room, sitting on or by the comfy couch. Pauling stood in front of the television, the back of her heel bouncing nervously as the last few people took their places by everyone else.

"You're all fired."

Those words hurt like a punch to the most fragile part of the nose, but no one said a single word.

"Due to a new management takeover," Pauling continued with only a gulp, "We've all... lost our jobs. And we may be allowed to go home. Respawn will be shut off momentarily, and if needed, the chip in your arm will be taken out, with a fee taken out of your final paycheck."

"What about the voice?" Spy murmured. (Y/N) looked to him, confused, then to everyone else. They looked like they all knew what he was talking about.

"The voice has... gone. I don't know where, but somewhere far away, I assure you. She won't be returning, because she no longer has any orders to give," Pauling explained, and (Y/N) tried her hardest to catch on. Pauling was looking up and scanning all the faces of the small crowd. Every disappointed face broke her.

"Go home, you guys..." she murmured and shook her head. She smoothed out her skirt, then started to walk away, leaving the room in the silence of her wake.