Chapter Text
It was a good day, an amazing one in fact. 1x woke up in joy and glee at the fact that they were going to see Taph in a bit, they fell asleep early last night after they got their medication, who knew code changing from a hacker could make you so tired? Anyways, they missed dinner, well 007n7 tired to wake them up but, well…
(flashback)
“1x… 1x…. 1x..!”
“ughhh… can this fly shut up…” they said, as they swatted something and went back to bed.
Who knew fly’s could scream?
(end of flashback)
Well anyways that doesn’t really matter, what matters now is that they are already 10 minutes late to where they were supposed to meet up, so they should probably get ready. Would you look at that, everything seemed to be conveniently placed and breakfast was already made, how lucky!
The family was no where to be seen, the kids are most likely still at their cousins, or maybe school? ‘Do they still go to school? When are they supposed to start?’ 1x couldn’t help but think, oh how much they wished to go to school. Sure, theyre most likely smarter than anyone their age due to living with admins, but they still want to experience the joy of making friends. At least they have Taph now, that’s something to look forward to.
1x’s wings still hurt, and their head feels like it got smashed into a brick wall. It’s also bandaged up? Wait a damn minute, when DID they even get to 007n7’s home and what exactly happened to make it feel as if they got crashed into by a double deckered bus. Anyways, they will just have to ask about that later. Right now, they’re checking if they have everything before leaving the house.
After going outside and making sure they locked the house for the family, they left the keys under the doormat and sent a quick message telling 007n7 where the key is located, they were on their way.
Oh how excited they were! Wait.
They halted in their tracks, why did they feel so excited? They’ve never felt this many emotions before.
Suddenly they felt sick, ‘what if Telamon found out?’ 1x was supposed to be emotionless, they aren’t supposed to have nor show any emotions, they’ve known that since they were a tiny pill baby. Telamon’s cruel looks whenever they cried would forever be embedded into 1x’s brain. It’s been so long since they felt so much all at once, ever since they met 007n7 on those swings they’ve felt… joy. It’s a nice feeling; warm, kind, loving, and-
Their thoughts were cut of by a sharp ring. They’ve always meant to change their ringtone, it hurts their ears to much especially with their mutation. Looking at their broken up first generation of rokia, they saw the caller ID was just Taph; thank the ADMINS, they could not deal with Telamon, especially not this early.
Wait…
What time was it…
OH SHOOT THEY’RE LATE.
Huffing and puffing, they made it. They have never ran that fast in their lives, well actually that’s a lie they can run pretty fast. They were trained to, but lord their pain is blaring up right now. That was a horrible idea, but hey at least they see Taph now!
Wait, why are they running towards them
Okay surely they’re going to stop and slow down soon... right?
OH DEAR THEY AREN’T STOPING.
“WAI-“ was all they managed to get out before the literal human embodiment of a pigeon rammed into them.
After a bit of a dizzy spell, and a bunch of fast signing from Taph and stammering from 1x, Taph finally seemed to calm down.
“😱🫵🧠🧐❓” (WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD?)
“it’s nothing, just bumped my head into a wall” oh my golly 1x is stupid, how in the world would Taph buy THAT excuse?
“🤨🏃💥🚂❌🩹🤕❓” (uh huh… walls don’t normally have you looking like a train wreck, and it especially does not leave you with THAT many bandages…)
“Shut up… I’m fine mama bird I promise” Taph huffed at that, they had to hold in a snicker because the other really looked like a pigeon now. “Where are we going to first?” That got Taph up again, and they grabbed onto 1x, pulling them up. It sparked a jolt of pain throughout their head, but they didn’t seem to mind as much as they normally would, it bought comfort to them knowing that there was at least something that stayed a constant in their life. Taph looked so cozy and warm as he pulled them along, his hand was also way warmer compared to theirs. 1x wonders how warm it would be just letting Taph hold them, they tried to think back to when they fell asleep next to each other in 007n7s guest room, but it felt to fuzzy. Life without Telamon felt good, sure it’s only been a singular morning since 007n7 said that he wouldn’t let them go home, but it’s also been the best morning they’ve had in a while.
They tried not to think back to their dream, that one where they dreamt someone holding a ban hammer, the person looked familiar, the place felt dark, so so dark. It felt lonely and cold, nothing compared to what they are feeling right now. 1x hopes It was just a dream, but it felt to real…
Snapping back to reality, a subtle blush crept up their face as they just realized that Taph has been poking and staring at them, trying to tell them that they’re here.
“Sorry” they breathed out, pausing to take a look around them before continuing. “where are we..?”
“👾🕹️‼️” (the arcade!) said Taph, pulling them once more into the building. 1x could feel their brain tearing apart as they went inside, this is NOT a good place to go when you are more than likely concussed. It was a nice place though, many claw machines. After putting in rocoins into their balance, they grinded dance dance revolution. 1x likes the character with the long blue pigtails, very cute. They didn’t even know this place existed, one day here and they already love it.
‘They should really thank Taph, maybe they should get a prize for him?’ they thought as they spotted a pink pigeon? Perfect, exactly what they needed. Who knew this place would have conveniently placed prizes? After a bit of raging and making sure Taph didn’t see them, they gave up and coded in a small opening where they can take the plushie out. ‘it’s not a crime if you’re not caught…’
While tryna find Taph, the lingering ache started getting worst. Their head felt like It was going to explode from the inside, they genuinely had to sit down and try to breathe through it as they felt a few tears starting to form. They were blinking in and out of consciousness as they felt something poking a gesturing at them. “is that Taph, he seems panicked? Huh.’ Was all they managed to think as they closed their eyes.
007n7 was trying not to freak out.
It was a completely normal day, he was at one of his jobs, the kids were at his cousins, and 1x should be in bed right now. Keyword; ‘should.’ Why on EARTH was he outside right now? 7n7s going to give him a piece of his mind when he finds them, Taph included because right now he is rushing home as if he is running out time, well he might aswell be. Imagine my surprise when I got a facetime call from 1x but it wasn’t him? Rather his friend signing that 1x passed out and he’s bringing them home right now? How the kid could pick up someone who was only an inch shorter than him, he’d never know.
Finally reaching his home, he bursted inside. 1x was on the couch knocked out cold, while Taph was combing his fingers through their hair. It would’ve been a cute sight if 007n7 wasn’t worried if 1x made their concussion worst before the code fixed it. According to Taph, they went to the arcade for some freaking reason. ‘Telamon, this kid is going to be the death of him.’
1x was in a dark place, it was cold yet warm. they could hear someone talking, and someone else combing their hair. It was nice, It made them feel tired. Not saying they weren’t already tired, but it was less than what it used to be. Currently they just felt empty, they let whatever that was holding them to keep going, they just embraced that feeling.
It was nice, warm.
They don’t want to go back.
But things dont go their way as they slowly faded back into consciousness, they realize they are laying on something soft; Weren’t they at the arcade? The lights turn on, causing 1x to close their eyes again with a wince. Looking through the tiny crack of their open eyes, a man in a burger was talking to them? Or is that a hat? The burger man handed them water, well at least tried to. 1x couldn’t move, they felt sluggish and the hand in their hair wasn’t making it any better.
Burger man helped them sit up a little putting his hand on their back to stabilize them as he poured a bit of water into their mouth. Their throat didn’t feel raspy anymore and they blinked the fogginess away, but they still felt sluggish.
“how are you 1x?” burger man spoke. Wait when did burger man get a bandage on their face? It took 1x a little while but they eventually noticed the person in a black robe behind them.
‘how had they not noticed?’ realizing that burger man is still waiting for a response, they spoke.
“f-fi-“ oh lord not this again. “fine.”
“are you sure? No headache?” nope, they just wanted to go to bed for an eternity.
“fine.”
“alright. Hey Taph, can you watch 1x for a bit? I think I may have to call Elliot to see if he can come over today, he’s way better at these things than I am” burger man chuckled nervously.
“😄👍⏱️🫵😎‼️” (okay! Take your time I got them!) the younger signed. At least that’s what 1x was able to make out, their head hurt to much for this.
“thank you” burger said as he left the room, probably to call this “Elliot.”
“🫵🛌💤” (1x, go back to sleep). hey, this dude looks like a pigeon, a soft one in fact. might Aswell go back to sleep; they probably have a lot of time to kill and they aren’t complaining.
Hey wait a second, when and HOW did they get here..?