The sun had barely risen, casting a hazy golden light upon the dolls who began their morning routines. Some dolls had returned through the portal, blabbering on about all the fun they had with their child, and some dolls were just preparing to join their child again. Lou however, as per usual, reluctantly trudged alongside the large robotic dog to collect his chores, clearly disconnected from reality and more in touch with his thoughts. However, with the metallic mutt clanking loudly with every step, it made it impossible for Lou to think.
"You got a silent mode or something?" Lou sighed, stopping to readjust his shrunken suit against his figure. The dog only snorted in response. "Just that, I'm trying to think right now."
A questioning look was returned at the doll.
"What? You want to know?" A nod from the robot.
"...Fine, but let's go somewhere quieter, yeah?"
The two found themselves in a garden on the side of the Institute, where the fabric bushes and lush shrubs created a comfortable enclosure. Lou leaned back against the carved wooden bench, looking up at the sky, while the dog observed him, ears perked up in intrigue.
"Well... How do I put this..." The doll began, running a hand over his face. "I've been thinking about how to talk to Ox."
The hound tilted her head - half stunned and half perplexed.
"Yeah... I don't know how to approach this. Mandy said that I treated Ox similarly to her, and that hit me hard, so I want to apologise to him too. ...But it was difficult enough to apologise to Mandy, and I was only able to do so thanks to Nolan... This time though, I don't think he can help. And I don't even know what I should say to a doll such as Ox. He hates my guts now..."
He paused for a moment, recollecting what Nolan said previously. "...But whether he hates me shouldn't matter, should it? An apology is still needed. But still, I said some really stupid things last time I properly spoke to him."
The robot could recall it; the back and forth between the two ex-friends. In those fleeting moments before his downfall, she could've sworn Lou was blinded by rage. Or sorrow, she couldn't tell. Either way, it ended with Lou breaking the portal.
...
Lou felt his face press hard against the concrete, the large needle scraping against the floor before rolling to his side. He was panting, his heart was racing, and a pain pulsed through his body. Still, he clutched his head and forced it up with a grunt, noticing the cracked portal with a twisted smile plastered across his face. He staggered to his feet, supporting himself with the needle, quickly dragging himself to finish the job.
Ox tried to get up, only to collapse to the ground weakly, with his ears falling over his face. All he could do is watch. Watch as his old friend - the one he always trusted and admired - ruthlessly crush his and everyone else's dream of venturing out into the Big World. With desperation in his eye, he extended his arm hoping to pull Lou back to his senses, but the distance between them was too great. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, Ox yelled out: "Lou, no! Don't do this!"
...
Perhaps he should've listened to his old friend. But he didn't.
Lou slumped even further back into the bench, as if the waves of the past were crashing against him. "What was I even thinking..." He mumbled with a dry laugh, which faded into a melancholic silence.
Amid the quiet, the dog bowed her head, surveying her surroundings. She watched as the dolls go about their day, particularly observing a short-blue-haired doll running around with a bunch of posters in hand, pinning them down wherever she could. Eventually though, her attention was captivated by a familiar green Uglydoll. Slowly, Ox opened the wooden window shutters and peered out at the institute. The dog and doll locked eyes, exchanging a smile towards one another.
And without a second thought, the dog sprang into action, dashing towards his house.
"Hey! Where are you going?" The doll watched as the robot scampered, tail wagging, away from the gardens. "Damnit mutt, you're meant to be keeping an eye on me, remember?!"
The blond found the robot at Ox's misshapen door, before leaning against her to get his breath back. He basically ran from one side the Institute to another in the span of a minute.
"I swear on Factory's name, if you do that again..." Lou began, glaring at the robot before turning his gaze to the door. Ohh...
"Ah, I get it... You want me to just go in and talk? Like it's that simple?"
The robot wagged her tail as a response.
"Nolan thought the exact same thing. What's with you guys and thinking it's so easy to apologise to someone who hates you? You really don't know what it's like." He muttered darkly.
Despite his words, however, he lightly knocked on the door. "Here goes nothing..."
...
The docks were unusually peaceful and quiet that morning, allowing Nolan to draw in his sketchbook in solitude. He settled on one of the many crates along the waterfront, a spot he often chose when it was quiet, to be lost in his thoughts and drawings. He watched as the variously shaped boats bobbed and splashed in the water, their soft creaks and groans harmonising with the gentle lapping of the waves.
Nolan savoured moments of serenity like this. Although he was fond of the hustle and bustle at the Institute, there was something particularly charming about simply taking in their little world without a sound.
As he continued to sketch the boats, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to find a small pink-ish red doll grinning her usual teethy grin.
"Good morning, Nolan!" She hummed. "Beautiful sketches you got there."
"O-Oh! Moxy uhm. Hi! I didn't know you got back so soon..."
Supposedly, she had gone away on holiday for a few weeks with her child. Or so he heard. "How're you doing?"
"Not bad, not bad... A bit tired though, I must admit." she grinned again, and for some reason, he got the feeling that there was more behind that smile than just her usual cheeriness. "Anyways... I hear you've been talking to Lou."
And he was right.
"How did--?"
"Kitty, Lydia and Tuesday told me basically as soon as I got back through the portal."
Nolan felt his heart sink. He had enjoyed the companionship he shared with Lou, but it was clear to him that the other dolls didn't approve. Mandy's discovery of his relationship especially opened Nolan's eyes to the scrutiny. But despite all this, he couldn't bring himself to break away.
"I know what you're going to say... I know I shouldn't be talking to him; I know what he's done, I--"
"Come along, Nolan..." she gestured her hand to follow as she hobbled along, "Come along!"
The tall doll and small doll wandered into her home through a roundish fabric door, the house still in its usual chaotic yet homely state. Moxy made herself comfortable on the quilted couch while Nolan sat in an armchair, fidgeting nervously. She looked at him expectantly, her large black eyes staring right through him.
"So, Nolan..." She tried her best to look serious. Nolan instinctively slouched in his chair.
"Um, yes?"
"I..." He steeled himself for the inevitable barrage of questions. "I just wanted to thank you for contacting Lou."
...What?
...
Lou lifted his hand from the door as it opened, being met with the green doll, who gave his usual forced smile. Lou supposed it was just to be polite, but it didn't stop him from feeling some sort of sadness every time Ox did it.
"Mornin' Lou," Ox greeted as always, "Got some places that need cleanin' and organisin' today." He followed the uglydoll inside into the front room. It was an office of sorts, though it was hard to tell with how unconventional it looked. Ox scrambled through the numerous piles of sheets spread across an orange painted desk, before finding a small sheet with a few notes scribbled on with a pink glittery gel pen. Lou could already tell who wrote it.
"Let's see... first off the equipment needed for the boat racin' needs to be moved from Ice Bat's house to the docks, as there's a race going on this afternoon..."
By this point Lou wasn't paying attention, trying to push himself to say something. He was so lost in his thoughts that when Ox turned around his expression suddenly became one of confusion.
"Somethin' wrong?"
Yes, everything. Lou mentally retorted.
"Ox, I... I need to talk to you about something." He blurted out instead.
It was barely obvious that Ox's expression turned to that of surprise, as he crossed his arms.
"...Alright, Lou," the green doll sighed, taking a seat at the desk, Lou sitting opposite. "Let's hear it."
"I... I wanted to apologise for... well, everything really. For lying to you, for trying to recycle you, and for trapping you here, despite knowing that you wanted to leave. It was wrong of me, terribly wrong of me. I know that now. But you were a good friend – my first actual friend, and I never personally wanted to recycle you. In fact, I tried my hardest to keep you from being recycled, Ox. But as a prototype, I had to keep up with my orders... otherwise I'd be the one being recycled." He paused, "It shouldn't be an excuse though, I know."
"Orders?" Ox's eye widened.
Lou nodded with a grim expression. "My hand was forced. But I hoped by just... taking you to the pipes, you'd... I don't know... find somewhere else to go. I didn't know where, but just somewhere. ...I stated that I recycled you to not arouse suspicion, but I did always hope that you'd someday return, even with the consequences it would have on the both of us."
An awkward silence followed his words, making Lou squirm a little in his seat. Finally, Ox broke the silence.
"You know, Lou. I'm honestly quite glad you brought this up." The blonde blinked at the doll in surprise. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, about what happened and all, and I realised something. If ya hadn't sent me to the recyclin' machine, I wouldn't have stopped it from disposin' dolls such as myself. Uglyville wouldn't have existed if it weren't for you."
Lou was taken aback. He hadn't considered it like that. He supposed, then, that he was responsible for his own downfall. If he didn't show mercy to Ox, Ox never would've blocked up recycling. If Ox didn't block up recycling, Uglyville wouldn't have existed. If Uglyville didn't exist, then there would be no doll to overturn him. He had played himself for a fool... But he supposed it was for the best.
"Doesn't excuse what happened, you're still at fault for what ya did. But..." Ox trailed off, rubbing a paw against his X-shaped eye. "Maybe we were a bit too harsh on ya. I've been meanin' to talk to you about this for a while now, but I haven't been able to find the right moment to bring it up."
Lou couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had Ox just forgiven him? He had expected anger, but this... this was different.
"I... thank you, Ox. I don't know what to say," Lou managed to stammer out. "I never expected forgiveness."
"Well, I don't know about forgivin', Lou. But I do believe in second chances. And I think we all deserve them. Besides, we've been through a lot together. And the Lou I saw at the gauntlet was not the Lou I knew."
...
"Uhm.. Come again? Y-You're not mad?" Nolan queried.
The doll let out a huff of laughter. "No. No, it's nothing like that! If anything, I'm glad that Lou is actually talking to someone." She paused briefly, "You don't know how many times I've tried."
Nolan raised his eyebrows. "Wait... You tried talking to Lou?"
"Yup! This may come as a surprise, but I actually forgave him quite quickly, after I got past my anger towards him. There's a saying from a wise ol' mayor that I always believed in, 'hurt dolls hurt dolls'. ...I think Lou is the hurt doll here, you know? He did seem very hurt about being a prototype... So! After things had settled down and the whole portal fiasco was peachy keen, I tried to talk to him."
...
Lou slouched onto a bench in the shade, away from the other dolls. He reminisced about the week before, when he decided to run the Gauntlet. He always knew his chances of winning were slim, and that even if he threw every obstacle at the other dolls, they would still win.
He supposed in those moments he was idiotic. He would be told that he was idiotic for trying to run the gauntlet... And what a idiotic doll he is for trying anyways. Now everyone knows how idiotic he is.
He hadn't cried for a long time, as he would tell himself to suck it up, but now, sitting here in the institute where no one could judge him, his emotions overwhelmed him.
"You idiot..." he mumbled to himself as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Lou?" asked a familiar voice.
The doll jerked his head up in surprise, only to see Moxy. "What in factory's name do you want, sock puppet?" He wiped his tears on his shrunken blazer sleeve.
"I want to know how you're doing." Moxy said as she approached him.
Lou sneered at the remark. "Why would you care?"
"Because I want to help," she replied.
"Don't lie to me, Moxy. I'm not having it," Lou snapped back bitterly. "Go bother someone else. I don't need anyone's help. I don't need anyone's pity."
"Lou," Moxy began again.
"Get lost!"
...
"And that was just one attempt, out of like... I lost count. He just wouldn't let me talk. And then, when I had just returned through the portal, I hear that you were talking to him! Honestly, you were the last doll I was expecting to talk to him. But I'm really glad you did."
Nolan pondered for a moment, recalling when he first spoke to the blond. To be truthful, he was surprised Lou even allowed him to stick around. Perhaps Moxy pestered him so much that he was too tired to deny him? Regardless, he smiled fondly.
Moxy chuckled at Nolan's expression, "Yeah, I get that some dolls will never forgive him, and that's totally their choice. But things have moved on now- it seems like everyone has forgotten the times when us uglies were considered freaks and outcasts. Lou is no longer in power, and I'm not sure if he's fully adjusted to that yet. Ox said he had been around for a long time, so I really wouldn't be surprised if he is still in his 'prototype-need-to-train-the-dolls-and-destroy-imperfection' mindset. I wish he realised, though, that he isn't just a prototype, but a doll, just like the rest of us. He made stupid decisions, but if he's willing to change, I don't see why we wouldn't allow him to, especially since we allowed every other doll to change."
She sighed with a grin, "Wooh! I didn't expect to get all serious on ya like that. Anyways, I haven't hanged out with you for a while, so let's focus on having fun. How 'bout we go see what's going on around town?"
Nolan nodded, standing up to stretch his limbs.
"Lead the way, Moxy."