Wires and Fires (Willry/Helliam)

The Machine

That's new.

William walked up to it and reached out to grab the sheet. As soon as his hand made contact, he froze.

Why do I get a bad feeling about this?

William gulped and, with a shaky breath, pulled the cloth away. His eyes widened when he saw it. Beneath the sheet had been a large, twisted endoskeleton that wore a mask. It was obviously unfinished. William couldn't help but feel unsettled as he looked at it.

What the hell is this?

The Englishman looked at it a little more, noticing that there was something off putting about it. It wasn't that it was unfinished, but something else that William couldn't quite put his finger on.

Until he saw it.

Thing was holding some sort of blade in its hand, or perhaps the blade was its hand. Whatever it was, he didn't like it. William backed away, shaking a little.

What is this? What's going on?

William bumped into the table behind him, causing some things to fall off. Blueprints, tools, parts, etc.

"Ah fuck."

He kneeled down to grab some of the blueprints off the floor, but paused when he noticed one of them had rolled open. It was for the strange machine.

William picked it up and unrolled it the rest of the way. His previous assumption that the robot was unfinished had apparently been incorrect. In fact, according to Henry's sketches and blueprints, it seemed to be finished.

No... That's not possible... There's no way Henry would even consider that thing to be a finished product, especially with that...

But the more William studied the blueprints, the more "finished" this project really appeared to be. As he looked at the functions, he felt his face go pale.

This thing wasn't meant for kids.

This thing was a suicide machine.

No... He wouldn't... He-

Suddenly, the inside door to the garage opened. William looked up and saw him standing in the doorway.

Henry.

He looked so tired and worn down. Miserable.

"What are you doing here?" Henry asked, a bit of anger leaking from his voice.

William quickly stood up.

"H-Henry!"

There were very few things that scared William. One of them was an angry Henry. Especially when Henry was angry with him. The man didn't get angry often, but when he did, it could get bad.

Henry stepped into the garage and looked around. When he saw that his project had been uncovered, he growled and glared at William. "You fucking idiot...."

William opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't bring himself to say a single word.

"What the fuck are you doing? Why the fuck are you going through my shit?"

William cleared his throat and gathered his nerves before giving his answer. "I came to see what you were up to."

"What I'm up to isn't any of your damn business."

"I-It is my business, Henry." William said, his voice coming out weak. He must've sounded absolutely pitiful. "Y-You're my best friend."

Henry silently glared at him for a few moments, then took a deep breath.

"Go home, William. Go spend time with your family."

"You are my family, Henry." William replied.

"William..."

Before Henry could say anything more, William walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm not leaving you, no matter what you say or do. So just shut up."

Henry stood there silently, his arms hanging limply at his sides as William held him there against him. His body body shook, possibly out of anger.

No.

He's crying.

William began to gently stroke Henry's hair and whisper to him.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Hen..."

Henry's sobbing got louder as he clung to William's shirt. The Englishman could already feel a wetness soaking through his clothes.

"Just cry it out, Hen. Just cry it out." he mumbled.

As Henry continued to sob, William looked at the machine Henry had built, staring into its blank and soulless black eyes.