ɢʟᴀᴍᴏʀᴏᴜꜱ ᴇʏᴇꜱ

18 : The Fear of Death

Slowly, the two children dragged themselves through the bordering floor that encircled the large daycare. They passed under fake palm trees with lights, and neon plasters, their rays shining against the trail of bright red blood that followed the children in their path.

But every light in this dark world seemed to be dim since the daycare. And it would forever remain in such a way, till the end.

______________

It was a long walk to get to the previous corridor. After every step, Gregory seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. He was slumping forward, his weight was heavier. The blood never stopped flowing from the violent and unattended wound on his shoulder.

The girl avoided looking at the blood as much as possible, or else she would vomit. But it was hard, because the crimson liquid seemed to trail whenever they went, and it was slowly dripping onto her like warm summer rain, but it was not pleasant in the slightest.

Whence they finally set foot into the carpeted corridor, there were STAFF bots everywhere. They droned noisily in and out in a patterned formation. The girl stared fearfully ahead. Gregory was completely slumped on her, and he didn't bat an eyelash at the entire AI unit in front of them.

It was almost like the whole building was looking for them, hunting them down.

They couldn't do this, Gregory needed to be patched up, but every time she brings it up, he denies her each time. She ushered him to a metal door to the side that she spotted. It opened with a creak, but once it closed behind them, all sound seemed to be vacuumed out.

Gregory shuffled away from her and sat down at a metal bench table to the front, staring expectingly around with searching eyes. Any argument that could have arised from him bled out like dye to bleach. The small room they were in was some mechanic repair closet, there were robotic parts and wires everywhere that were strewn about onto the floors and walls.

They needed to stop, but to the girl, this place didn't look like any potential help. There were no bandaids to put on Gregory's wound. The boy seemed to have an idea though, but (y/n) wondered what possibly could help him in a state like this.

With a twitch of his fingers, he pointed to a small work cloth covered in dried oil that was on the floor. The girl understood his request and retrieved it for him. He took it from her hand, mumbling a sound of gratitude as he skillfully wrapped the cloth on his arm and shoulder.

The rag immediately became a shade darker as crimson bled through, but Gregory seemed to be much better already. As he was tying his wound up tightly, the girl sat by his side on the cool bench.

She fiddled with her blood-stained hands. Her lip trembled. She was thinking bad thoughts, she didn't want to think about it at all, but with Gregory in a state like this...

"...Are you scared?"

The boy glanced at her slightly before flicking his eyes back to his handiwork.

"Of what?"

"...dying?"

Bright golden eyes stared at her in a small moment of shock, before blinking calmy. Death was a taboo for the little girl, and she seldom thought about it. But when she did, bad thoughts appeared in her little head. When you die... you're gone forever. And she imagined what it'd be like if one of her loved ones died, and what she would do. What could she do?

A hoarse chuckle broke her out of her sad thoughts. Gregory laughed like she told a joke to him, and she wondered what was funny to him about the concept of death.

"Oh, (y/n), why think such dark thoughts?"

"I'm sorry, I-" the girl shuddered, holding back a sob. "I just don't want you to go."

Metallic eyes softened at her statement. Bloodied fingers brushed a couple strands of her hair back, lightly scraping her ear, before it ruffled her hair gently and affectionately.

"How many times do I have to remind you to stop worrying about me, eh?"

The tense mood softly lifted like the precipitation of rain. The girl smiled shakily at him, her fingers finding their way to the boy's hair. Gregory paused in his actions, staring at her, puzzled. But he didn't show any signs of discomfort and anger. His hair was soft, like teddy bear fur. She brushed her fingers through it and Gregory seemed to shiver slightly at the contact.

Slowly, the girl pulled herself to him and hugged him gently, her face burying into his cool chest. She was doing her best to avoid poking his wound.

Gregory inhaled sharply at her warm touch, but he found himself leaning hungrily towards her soft embrace like a flame placed on kindling charcoal, it was igniting something in his chest. He gripped her back with twitching hands. He let out a trembling laugh at the shakiness in his fingers. So close, she is so close. Too close. Don't let go of me, don't ever let go of me.

"I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here," the little girl whispered into his chest like she was telling a secret. She felt the cold hands on her back tighten at her statement. There was a chuckle that reverberated through her, but there were also strange sounds coming from his chest. It was like a deep clicking sound, and it was rapidly beating against her ear.

"I know, it's because you need me. Without me, you wouldn't have made it this far."

I'm all you need. The only one you'll ever need.

Why did it sound almost... condescending? It sounded like he was babying her. There was something laced in his tone that didn't sound right to her. It was like darkness. The girl frowned at this as the grip on her back was almost painful, he was digging his fingers into her spine.

Isn't she such a silly little thing.

"Gregory? You can let go now, I don't want you to get hurt more-"

What makes you think I can die?

I came 🤓
ALSO THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SEXUAL IN ANY WAY, READER IS LIKE 8, 👹

THIS SCENE WAS STRANGELY GOOFY BUT GREGORY ISN'T ROMANTICALLY IN LOVE WIRH HER IN ANY WAY 🤓🤓

I also have some art from yours truly of Gregory 🤠🫵

He's a little emo 😂