#a good doll is hygienic after all! teehee

[patchworkcuddlebug]

One's Compared Dollhood

A Tea Dolls story.

Honey stood just barely against the wall, patient and courteous. Beside it, Lemon shuffled from foot to food, its hands pressing against its uniform where pockets would be. Ginger sits on the floor, knees to its chest, staring in no particular direction as it fidgets with the cross-shaped charm on its necklace. They have all been silent, but not still.

Sugar steps out of the witch's workshop, gently closing the door behind it. "It's going to be okay. Its core just faltered after overexertion, it just needs some rest and a routine tune-up."

Ginger finally exhaled, letting its head fall against the wall. "...god, alright. It's okay."

"Yeah, that's great! This one was so worried after it just collapsed like that." Lemon said with a relieved smile. "It guesses that one'll just need to take it easier from now on, huh?"

Ginger glares into the other doll. "It's fine. Today was an accident, that one can take care of itself." Its hand was getting twitchier, the porcelain imprint mimicking a thumbnail flicking against the left arm of the cross. It keeps hitting against its chest, making a dull clink.

Lemon sulks away, grabbing at its own shoulder. Sugar, meanwhile, finds itself focusing more on Ginger's necklace. "This one still doesn't-"

"Don't." Ginger growled, eyes fierce and voice strained. "Not today."

Honey looks to Lemon, who looks just as awkward. It begins to shuffle out of the hallway, Honey following as it takes the hint. Like a good doll.

The two dolls follow each other down the stairs, further from the witch's quarters. They wind up in the dining room, where Miss goes to eat. Honey scans the room, the table long enough to seat twelve.

"This one can set the table." Honey says, setting off into action. "What is Miss having for supper?"

"...leftovers. There's still too much stroganoff. The container is reheatable, so we only have to worry about pouring her drink and cleaning after."

"Sorry. Then, this one can..." The tablecloth was even, all the chairs are pushed in, the candle ornaments are still fresh enough to last weeks of lightings. The windows are cleaned and the floors are swept and mopped and the fireplace is stocked.

"It'll replace the candles." Honey began, collecting the center-most candelabra and-

Lemon places a hand on Honey's shoulder. "This one knows that that one is worried, but... those are still fresh. They should really be left-"

Honey winces and places the candelabra back. "Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's fine! What doll doesn't want to work?" Lemon smiles, just a little forced, as honey tries to straighten the candelabra's placement. "That's the whole reason Cinnamon, uh, is currently out of commission. Temporarily."

Honey brought its hands together, trying to steady itself. "If... this one wouldn't be out of place to ask, could that one explain why..."

Ginger and Cinnamon are so close? That might be too intimate, and good dolls need to be respectful. Sugar can be so... no, it can't even think of a word that can't be misconstrued as disrespectful. Why... the others...

"Oh, it's... complicated." Lemon answered, before Honey could ask. "Does that one want to sit? This is-"

Honey pulls out a chair and sits down. Lemon nods and does the same just beside it.

"Sugar was Miss's first doll, then this one, then..." Lemon tilted its head. "Well, it was pretty much at the same time for those two. This one tries not it ask for too many details, since they both seem a little... sensitive about their becommings. From what it was told, it thinks... Cinnamon, and then Ginger? But that sounds wrong now that it's saying that out loud...." It looks away for a moment as it trails off, before shrugging and turning back to Honey.

"Sugar and Ginger have some…" Lemon hesitates, recalling the exact words used. "…Ideological differences when it comes to dollhood." It gestures off to the side, miming as if someone was there. "Ginger mostly became for Cinnamon's sake, so it doesn't really have any bad memories of humanity. At least, uh, not in the grand scheme of things."

"And uh... well, Sugar was, um..." Lemon blushed as it turned its face away. "Sugar... had such a terrible life. So many awful things happened to it, and so many people mistreated it..."

Lemon... hesitates. It seems caught on something.

"Is that one okay?" Asks Honey, as it supposed a good doll would. "Yes! Yes, sorry." Lemon says, seeming shaken awake. "Um, are... is that one okay? This one's never heard about that one's becoming."

"Ah, yes. Honestly, this one never really dwelt on it." Honey kept itself polite and docile as it answered, trying to move on as the other doll wanted. "It was rather unremarkable. It just kind of... happened, without much note. This one drank tea."

"Yes, yes, this one was there," Lemon nodded as it spoke, hurrying Honey along, "but what about that one's feelings?"

Honey looked aside just long enough to consider it's answer. "Well, this one was already rather doll-like as a person. As a maid, it didn't spend as much time on one individual as with Miss, but the duties are comparable. It also already had a lot of experience with destructive self-critique, so the doll thoughts are not as overwhelming as they could be."

Lemon looked at it with concern. Bad doll, it said something wrong.

"...what does that one mean?"

Honey... winces. It worries that it misspoke, making another concerned for itself when it shouldn't be. Bad doll.

"The doll thoughts. How to be a good doll and why. Like, when it... sorry, when this one cannot be a good doll, or it makes a mistake, it cannot stop thinking about how it is a bad doll. It is like... a buzzing in this one's mind, the thoughts grabbing it by the hair and pulling at its roots until it can be good."

Lemon hides its mouth behind its hand, eyes wide. "No, no... god, no. That's not... It's just an intuition, not... that. Like, sure, it can't disobey, but... feeling polite feels nice, not forced like that. Oh god, Honey, has it been like that the whole time?"

Lemon seems on the verge of tears. "Lemon, please don't worry, it's not..." It's not that bad. Just say it's not that bad. Good dolls take care of each other, a good doll is polite and reassuring. Just say that this one has been managing alright.

Good dolls don't lie. They shouldn't even consider it. The truth should be an automatic reflex, the doll's perfect stillness stop it from having such deceitful considerations. Bad doll.

Honey flinches away. "Sorry."

Lemon stands, grabbing Honey's hand. "C'mon, we need to talk to Miss, that one can't keep going-"

"No!" Honey yelled too loud, pulling too hard against the other. "No, y-you-" Honey lurched as it tried to pull it's hand away, wincing at itself. "Fuck, sorry, it... n-no, no, good dolls don't swear, sorry..."

"Honey..."

It hardens it's posture, standing like a brick. "Good dolls take care of themselves, and... i-itself? A-and, and Cinnamon... this one can't interrupt Miss's work, it..."

Honey lowers itself back onto its chair. Arms tight, legs together, head down. "This one just... needs to be a good doll. It needs to. Sorry."

Lemon looked at the doll with pity and horror. After a moment too long of consideration, it left into the kitchen through the connected door, quickly returning with a glass of sweet tea.

"It's just some cheap instant mix. This one picked some up last time it was in town." Lemon says shyly as it hands off the glass. "This one... doesn't know much about what you're going through, or how to help. But... it knows you like iced tea."

Honey tried to think of how to respond. Reassuring it that it didn't have to do such a thing would make it sound less entitled, but it may sound ungrateful. Simply thanking it would be too impersonal, and-

"Please, just... drink. It would make this one feel happier for that one's sake."

Honey sipped what was poured for it. It was great, especially since it was just water and syrup. That one is such a good doll.

Lemon stopped in consideration as Honey set its drink down. Then it looked around for a coaster, and picked its cup back up, letting the chill spread through its hand.

"After this one became, tea is the biggest thing that helped it adapt to being a doll." Lemon reminisces. "At first, it was so worried about its whole life changing, but the tea helped it focus on all the good parts of being..." Lemon's heart sank. "Wait, is that why that one's first tea made it... react so awfully? If it makes doll thoughts stronger, then... oh god, no wonder it freaked out."

Honey is frozen. Freak out? It hated thinking of itself like that, as something that freaks out.

"Sorry, that was the wrong way to say that, uh... there's nothing wrong with what happened, y'know? Nothing to be ashamed of!" Lemon laughed nervously, unsure of how to hold its hands.

Honey finishes the last of its drink, and begins to stand. "Thank you again for the drink, but this one should busy itself."

"Wait!" Lemon called out, standing to match the other doll. "Before that one leaves, this one just wanted to say... that one's the best doll in the manor." It begins to smile, despite itself. "It always sees that one doing something, or desperate to do more. It cares so much for the others, and... it should be proud of itself."

Honey hesitated, only for a moment. It doesn't doubt the sincerity of that one's words, a good doll would never do such a thing. But it feels guilty for saying so much, oversharing the remnants of its humanity, placing the burden onto another and manipulating them into this pitying reassurance. Bad doll.

Honey bowed. "Thank you very much for the kind words."

And so it left to busy itself. It held the impression that there was more Lemon wanted to say. Of course, that made it feel like a bad doll. All it could to was keep moving, hoping the next task could be done well enough to not deserve to be a bad doll.