A Tinker's Job

Chapter 12

"we're friends, yes."

"you'll be tasked with looking after him. is that okay? he is still in a coma, and i've kept him hidden."

your heart leaped, so he's not dead. "i'll do it."

"wonderful," she cheered. "you'll still have time for your duties as engineer, so i'll have the balladeer be transported into your office as it has enough room. will that be okay?"

"of course," you said happily.

"ah, now that i remember. since i'm closing down the akasha terminal, i might have to request your assistance. if you could, an expert like you could make things a lot easier."

"just say the word and i'll come as soon as i can," you assured her. "i'm happy to serve under you, nahida. please get sumeru back on the right course."

"i will."

it's been a month since then, and seemingly everything has returned to normal. you decided to not attend the dinner held by nilou, despite cyno and al haitham's wishes for you to go, and decided to make yourself a little more comfortable in your office so you could watch over scaramouche. in a way, you didn't feel like intruding (despite even the traveler thanking you for your help) on the feast considering you were only the technical support. you decided to spend the day eating your own food in the comfort of your office while you fidgeted with some spare parts to make some upgrades to {robot name}'s current design. you were contemplating on powering down {robot name} since you wanted to leave it at home, however it decided to come with you and gave you attitude when you tried to shut it down.

now, it's by scaramouche's side at all times, keeping a watch over him.

"you sure like him, don't you," you chuckled to your robot.

it beeped back a response, almost as if it was saying "yes".

"haha, i thought you were so scared of him." angry beeping. "jeez, alright. i get it. just watch over him a little more for me."

scaramouche was still in a coma, nahida telling you that he fell trying to reach after the gnosis that she took from him. you still felt guilty, "maybe i should have made some type of foam so it could have cushioned his fall."

your robot gave you a questioning look, then beeped again.

"you think he wouldn't have used it? right..." more beeps. "hey! what do you mean he deserved it?"

you walked over, patting it on the head and you laughed when it made noises of protest. "let's be more quiet, i don't want to disturb him."

a few days later, you woke up in your little sectioned off area and went to check on scaramouche. you pulled back the curtain that closed off his bed, seeing that {robot name} was still asleep, curled up into its box form and just stayed next to his bed. you pulled a chair and sat next to scaramouche, playing with his hair and watching him rest peacefully. if you had known any less, you would have assumed he was dead, but at least he was breathing and his heart rate was pretty stable.

"scaramouche," you said quietly. "you've missed so much. are you ever going to wake up?"

you sighed, no response as usual.

"let me fill you in," you continued, gently smiling. "nahida is now ruling sumeru, and they got rid of the akasha terminal. but, i'm sure you already know. i've told you everyday now for the past month. aren't you excited? i made an invention that's now being created in fontaine, so i might have to go pick it up. maybe i'll be able to formally release it and sell it to everyone. it's a new and invented kamera that has multiple lenses. oh! that reminds me, i probably have to go to fontaine again soon. they offered me another internship, so i think you might be under nahida's care."

you sighed, he still was quiet and lying down quietly. he hadn't moved or stirred since the day you saw him. "alright. i'm sure you're done listening to me talk. i have some more work to do, so i'll go do that. see you, scaramouche."

after moving the chair, you re-adjusted the covers and started to walk to open the curtain. suddenly, you were suddenly pulled into an embrace.

"and who said you can go running around without me?"

you opened your eyes, shocked at the voice, and you looked up to see scaramouche, eyes groggy with sleep and his lips slightly upturned into a smile. it looked so genuine, so gentle, and yet his touch was clingy and possessive – in a good way.

"scaramouche?"

he scoffed, releasing you from his hug but still having his fingers linger a little higher than your hips. "who else would it be?"

"you're awake," you said wondrously. you couldn't believe it. "scaramouche! you're awake!"

then some tears began to leak out from your eyes, quiet sobs raking your body as you pulled him into a hug. scaramouche faltered for a bit, then slowly moved his hands to pat your back as you made his clothing wet with your salty tears. it was awkward, but nonetheless more comforting.

"of course i'm awake," he said. "i can't die, idiot."

"sure you could have," you said. "just because you're not a human doesn't mean you can't die!"

"i'll be more careful," he responded curtly, breaking the hug and looking you up and down. "and what about you? are you hurt?"

"why are you asking about me when you just woke up after being in a coma for a month!"

"it's because i could hear you," he said, the tint of redness on his cheeks. "the whole time i was asleep, i could hear you yapping all the time."

"i'm glad," you smiled. "i'm so glad you could hear me."

"is it because you don't want to tell me everything in one go?"

"n-no it's not that," you said. "it's just that, i'm glad you could hear my words."

"but, i was also able to hear you talking to the dendro archon and that scribe," he tsked. "you sure have a lot of explaining to do."

you gulped, suddenly nervous, "alright, what did you want me to explain?"

—-

"i can't believe you," he said in disbelief. "how could you do that? and how did i not realize it?!"

"i said i'm sorry," you said. "it's not like i wanted to do that."

"i feel so lied to," he said, mocking you.

"{name}, don't worry, he'll wake up."

"but what if he doesn't," you cried to nahida. "i feel so at blame, how could i have let this happen?"

"you're human," she comforted you. "completely human. you fell for him, didn't you?"

"what," you said breathlessly. "n-no i can't-"

"{name}, face the truth. you love him now. you're in denial. i may not be as experienced with humans and their feelings, but i know it when i see it. your care for him, the way you look at him and check on him every hour to see if he's alright. sometimes twice-"

"a-alright! i get it," you sighed. "i'm just... struggling. i'm not supposed to, am i?"

"i never said it was wrong of you," nahida said. "he's been abandoned countless times, and if i were to abandon him as well, he'd be a threat to all of sumeru once more. but if you abandon him, i don't think he would recover from that."

"how so?"