It should be better than this.

2.

Nolan wasn't much of a social doll. Not to say he didn't try, though. Upon creation, he had been talking to a few fellow dolls that were created among his batch, and they were kind to him, despite his 'imperfect' appearance (which he didn't know was a 'bad' thing at the time). His first interactions gave him the assumption that all the dolls were just as kind. And they were, up until he mentioned Lou's name. He remembered overhearing the name from the pink-pigtailed Kitty and it sparked some sort of curiosity within him of who this guy was. ...Nolan sometimes kicked himself for asking Lou's devoted henchmen about him, but how's he to know that they were? Nonetheless, their disgusted looks at him questioning them, as well as the blinding spotlight put upon him, was confirmation enough that he had doomed himself.

Ever since that moment, he had shut himself away socially, mainly listening to the many exchanges the dolls would have. He piped in now and again, and when he was with his closer friends, he could talk for hours, but a nagging thought always stopped him from being confident enough to spark a conversation, normally awaiting someone else to do it.

This time, however, was unalike himself. He saw Lou countlessly the past few months seeming honestly downright miserable, and it almost upset the brunet to see. He wanted to brush it off, since why would he be feeling pity for someone who caused him misery, but the blond almost reminded Nolan of himself, back when he started his training. He didn't know if he was putting on an act to drum up pity, but if he was, he was a darn convincing actor.

...

The sun was in full focus now, slowly dragging itself across deep cerulean. Thankfully the weather was more forgiving to Lou today, as the past few days he had been forced to clean during the never-ending showers. He hadn't wanted to go out those days, since the rain should've rinsed away any sort of dirt surely, but there was no way of escaping the chores whilst a metallic mut was breathing down his neck. He leaned against the wall for a moment with the mop leaning beside him, letting out a big sigh in exhaustion, closing his eyes. It was basically midday, the breeze still cold from the rain. Since the uglydolls had arrived, everything about the institute had changed, for better or for worse. That included the weather, somehow. The previous institute was always a fair temperature, always sunny and clouds always light and airy. Now it was a whole range of different climates: cold and snowy, grey and rainy, bright and boiling... All weathers which seemed to only bother Lou. He supposed it was just another thing that the sock puppets destroyed.

Turning his head, he felt his wavy fringe brush against his face, already knowing the dog was breathing close to his side.

"Can't you just give me a break already?" He groaned, shoving away the nose of the robot. "I've cleaned up the paint, y'see?" He spread his arms out to the down-going street, which was now practically spotless from the few hours he spent wiping it. The dog bowed her head slightly in agreement, seeming content with the perfectionist's work.

"Besides," he carried on, "I need to refresh the water." Lifting the bucket and mop up from the wall it leant on, he began to follow the machine back to the storage unit, before hearing a nervous voice behind him.

"Uhm... Lou?"

The blond didn't turn upon hearing his name but did stop in his tracks, and the dog, realising it had wondered off, paced back towards the doll, noticing the new company.

"What." He spat coldly, still refusing to give any eye contact to the other, who was squirming slightly at the dullness in his voice.

"Uh, I was just wondering how you're doing..." Nolan trailed off, unsure what else he could say. Lou's eyes flashed up through his bangs, narrowing as they inspected the doll.

"Oh, it's you." He said darkly, turning back around so that Nolan couldn't see anything of his face. Ah, so Lou still remembers him from the whole washing machine incident, of course. That hadn't come to mind when he first thought it up to try and talk to the other doll. But now that it'd been stated out loud, he was suddenly aware of the fact that... yeah, he did that. Nolan swallowed, before continuing.

"Yeah, uhm... I'm sorry about making you go in the washing machine..."

The blond scoffed. "You're sorry? Sorry for forcing me into that horrid contraption? For utterly destroying my appearance?!"

The raise of volume caught the faint attention of other dolls, causing Lou to silently scold himself for getting carried away by his emotions.

Nolan blinked, shocked by the bitterness laced into the prototype's voice. "W-Well, it was either that or-" he paused, remembering the situation: the crowds of dolls wanting, demanding Lou to be torn stitch by stitch, ignoring him as he begged for them to look into their hearts. "-being thrown in recycling." he finished, rather sheepishly. The robot seemed to also recall the scene of clenching onto Lou, as she drooped her ears and tail.

Nolan's heart sunk a little, seeing that the doll's expression had softened somewhat. It was weird; Lou was typically quite stoic, if not downright intimidating. Yet even though he'd just yelled at him, there seemed to be some sort of vulnerability in his features. His eyebrows were drawn together, and a slight frown formed.

"...Right. I better get going." He walked on, leaving the brunet to stare blankly after him. A new idea came to mind.

The canine turned its head as it walked now to the side of Lou, noticing the other, green-streaked doll scurry to his pace.

"...I thought maybe I could help with cleaning up." The taller doll suggested, "A-As a way of apologising." He added awkwardly, rubbing one arm under his sleeve. Lou didn't respond, his expression unchanged. The brunet shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot before uttering, "But only if you want me to,"

Lou looked at the ground as he said this, before hesitantly looking over to Nolan with a raised eyebrow. "What?" the blond asked himself; his tone too quiet for the brunet to hear.

Why would someone want to help him after so long of him being isolated?

And of all the dolls, why him?

He pondered for a moment, several moments, whilst readjusting his shrunken suit's sleeves.

"...Sure." This sudden response after a long silence caught Nolan off guard.

Lou cleared his throat, regaining his composure before he went on, "If it makes you feel better than I guess you can help..." Anything to speed up the job, he thought, "I need to refresh the water first, though."

With that, he turned again, ignoring Nolan's relieved smile and the dog excitedly wagging its tail at the new company.

They wandered over towards the storage unit, Lou not bothering to see if Nolan followed along, instead passing the walls that surrounded the building. The brunet trotted not too far behind, taking in the area. It hadn't changed at all since he last saw it; the bordering walls were still painted grey, the ground still flat and the storage unit still a sleek oak-wood colour. Unaware of his surroundings, the doll bumped into the back of the now stationary dog, observing the blond pouring out paint-dyed water and refilling it using the tap to the side of the building.

"Not much of a sight to behold." Lou finally piped up whilst blowing his wavy fringe out of his face, somehow knowing Nolan had been looking around the outskirts. It seemed he was surprised to hear Lou speaking again, having expected him to continue ignoring him.

"No, I suppose not." Nolan nodded, trying not to seem too impressed with how neat it was, especially compared to the rest of the institute. Turning off the taps, Lou stood and opened the door to the storage building. The brunet followed him inside carefully and took in all the boxes, empty containers and random things littering the place. It was surprisingly small, compared to the other buildings of the institute, the amount of room left was limited to just a couple of metres.

"Now where is it..." The blond silently mumbled to himself, scanning the numerous items piled upon each other, before taking out some soap and another mop. "This should do." He placed the mop next to the stack of boxes.

"By the way... I never got your name." Lou remarked flatly, whilst putting everything back in its place.

Wait, he didn't even introduce himself properly??

"Ah, I totally forgot to say, sorry... It's Nolan."

"Nolan," the doll repeated to himself, before placing a mop in the other's hands.

"Well, Nolan, let's get to work."