[24] ~Grieve The Devil~

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Cobs(?) Didn't speak, he just watched him as Mephone stood up from his bed. Mephone looked around the cramped infirmary, the room starting to feel claustrophobic. He really needed to get out of this room...

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Mephone sat by one of the many orange trees surrounding the hotel. A soft breeze blew through the valley, calming his nerves. Cobs(?) thankfully didn't follow him outside, allowing Mephone to finally relax. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to push the spiraling thoughts from his mind. It didn't work.

If anything it only made them worse. Despite wanting them gone, the chaotic blend of emotions came back tenfold. Mephone whined, this was starting to hurt his head. The creek of the hotel doors opened cut off his racing thoughts. He expected Test Tube, Paintbrush maybe, but he definitely didn't expect to see her.

"Mephone?" Microphone questioned aloud. "What are you doing out here?" Mephone cleared his throat, not sure how to speak with the forfeited contestant. "Just, getting some fresh air. Haven't been outside the hotel in a while.." Mic raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you go all the way to the contestant grounds yesterday?" Mephone froze in place.

"How.....do you know that?" Test Tube promised she wouldn't tell anyone about it. Mephone was half sure she made everyone else present promise as well. Unless....one of them lied. "Knife thinks he's quiet." Mic rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face. "He's not." She smiled kindly at him, an unexpected expression. "But don't worry yourself over it, I doubt anyone else knows, they tend to keep to themselves. And I know what you mean, about wanting to be outside the hotel, you five have been stuck in there for a while I hear."

Mephone sighed in relief, thank god. "But really what are you doing out here? It's past 2, haven't you seen the sky? It's going to rain soon." Mephone looked at the sky, dark clouds drifted towards the hotel. Now that Mic mentioned it Mephone could feel the moisture in the air. Mic shut the hotel doors and sat to join Mephone near the tree.

"So, what have you been doing out here anyway?" Mephone wasn't sure how to answer that. "Thinking...I guess."
"Can I ask what about?"

This was odd. Mephone never expected Microphone to be interested in talking to him. Especially after her dramatic leave from the show... He hesitated to answer. What was he even supposed to say? "I've been contemplating why I'm feeling grief over the person that practically destroyed my life?" That didn't seem very appropriate.

"I've been thinking about...a lot of things." She looked at him, something akin to sympathy in her gaze. "Wanna talk about it?" Mephone froze once again. It took him forever (at least to him) for him to open up to Test Tube, but... Test Tube knew what Cobs did to him. Or at least a little of it. Talking about something like this with her might not be the best idea....

Maybe talking about it to someone who doesn't know might be easier.... His thoughts swarmed around his brain like a swarm of bees. Screw it, he couldn't handle these conflicting feelings right now, especially after yesterday. "Only if you're alright with that." Mic smiled, making Mephone relax. "Don't worry, I don't mind."

Mephone collected his thoughts. "There's this person...they... weren't very good to me." Mephone played with the grass below him. "I know they were bad, and they're gone now. But I still feel...I don't know sad? That they're gone...." Mic felt a stab of sympathy for the phone, but strangely enough...she felt she could relate.

"I don't know why I feel this way...he- they, were terrible to me. So why does some part of me still..... miss them...." Mephone pulled small flowers from the ground and tied them together absentmindedly. Birds chirped and flew off somewhere else, thunder rumbled in the distance. "I don't mean to pry, but can you tell me what they did? You don't have too if you don't want too..."

Mephone stopped fidgeting with the plants in his hands, unsure. He hesitated for a moment before answering. "They...did a lot to me....They were close to me..and they took advantage of that....I'd- I'd rather not go into detail.... if you don't mind..." Mephone choked out, his voice raw. Mic nodded.

Mic tapped the ground in thought. "Mephone...from what you tell me, I don't think you actually miss them." Mephone's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" Mic played with her hands, suddenly nervous. "This person was close to you right?" Mephone nodded. "I don't think you're missing the person who hurt you, it seems to me... you're missing the person you thought they were, or who they were meant to be..."

Mephone pondered what she said. "This person who was close to you, took advantage of you. At some point you must have seen them in a positive light...right?" Mephone nodded regretfully, pulling his knees close to his chest. "It sounds like you're grieving over the person they were before they did all those bad things to you...not the person who hurt you." Mic rubbed he back of her neck. "Trust me...I know how you feel."

It all clicked in Mephone's mind. The vision of Cobs Mephone had before he learned the truth. The genius inventor who created him and who he foolishly aspired to be like when he was only a child. Mephone wasn't grieving the man who cracked his screen and almost killed his contestants. He was grieving the man from his early childhood....the one he actually saw as his "father..."

The sky rumbled, lightning flashing in the smoke colored clouds. "Y'know Mic...that makes sense..." Mic smiled somberly at the incoming storm, thoughts full of a certain someone. "It's okay to grieve over someone you lost, even if they hurt you and they were better out of your life than in it. You still lost someone who was close to you for some time...it's better to let yourself process it and move on than ignoring it and making yourself feel worse."

Mephone felt himself smile, his mood lifted after having an explanation for his feelings. "Thanks Mic...I- I think I needed that..." Mic gave him a kind smile before she stood from the ground. She held out her hand. Mephone took it, allowing her to help him up. "It'll fade eventually, but it's best to just..feel..... at least for right now." Mic looked into the sky and then gestured to the hotel doors. "Now, how about we go inside before it rains. Don't wanna get electrocuted out here do we?"

Mephone chuckled, following her inside. The soft pitter patter of fresh rain bidding them goodbye as they entered the safety of the hotel.

--------------1765 words, hehehe big sister Microphone go burr

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1765 words, hehehe big sister Microphone go burr. I mainly wanted to write this chapter because I feel like Mic and Mephone could relate to each other to some extent. Both of them experiencing toxic relationships, Mic with Taco and Mephone with Cobs. They both looked up too and cared for someone only to realize that person wasn't what they seemed and wasn't good for them. Of course, one situation could be worse than the other, but we don't compare trauma in this house.

(Also I'm not here to argue if Mic and Taco are toxic or not. Yes I know they're a ship, but for the sake of the au, their relationship wasn't the best. Take ur flame wars somewhere else lmao.)

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