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thepacifistrouter · 5 months ago

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Blue-Blue (A Shrimperini's human AU based one-shot)

Hello!

So, you read the title and here's the thing, watching some of @shrimperini 's Portal's Human AU (which I like a lot, is really good, by the way), I came up with this little story that… well, it involves Chelley (because I couldn't not involve that), but it's not the central point, as you'll can see.

Since this is not my AU, that means I don't know how things will go in the future or everything that is already planned for the story, maybe I'm not getting the personalities of the characters right, etc, etc, etc. So... I couldn't consider this a headcanon, just an idea I needed to get out of my head…

Still, I managed to sketch a couple of fanarts to illustrate a this a bit. I may do more in the future, since these only cover more or less the first half of the story, so... I don't know, we'll see… anyway, enough introduction, I hope you like it:

It was his break time while this experiment was being performed, after many other experiments and calculations, he was finally getting to something.

He always loved cakes, but not only for the taste and texture of a well-made cake or the beautiful appearance of a symmetrically decoration; no, there was also the whole process behind i! the fermentation of the cake so that it reaches the perfect point of sponginess, the texture of the cream, the shine and firmness of the chocolate, etc. All fascinating things, but, ever since he had tasted the Black Forest cake from THAT company-affiliated bakery, that damn perfect Black Forest cake, it had become more personal than ever, he needed to unlock its secrets, he needed to get something as go- NO- something better!! It had become a personal challenge.

The good thing was that, thanks to his intellect and his great ability for science, his bosses allowed him to do these types of experiments as long as it did not interfere with his work - child's play for him, sometimes he even did work at night just to be able to complete and test his formulas in peace, as was the case now, a formula to obtain the perfect maraschino cherries, so that the sweet would not overshadow the flavor of the fruit and so that it would balance well with the rest of the ingredients in flavor and texture, that it had a good duration, everything was noted and was tested thoroughly and-

EUREKA

He had done it! He finally had the formula he was looking for!!

He was so excited, he was over the moon with happiness and couldn't wait to try it that afternoon once work hours were over, when he could have the kitchen all to himself. For now, just to be sure, he needed to go there anyway to leave the sample there so he could be totally sure of his success once he returned and checked its properties were the exact same as when he left it.

He had to hurry, because he had to get back to work soon, but he knew he couldn't be too trusting in this place, so, once in the kitchen, he wrote a note "do not touch! specially YOU!! Arthur" to put it aside. He looked at the clock, he had to run, so, without wanting to crumple the paper, he left the notes with his formula on one side of the sample and left.

Unfortunately, his instinct was right, because once he came back… what he saw looked like a crime scene where the body had been taken away, but there were shards of glass.

There was cherry sauce on the table, and one red-stained paper, the warning note he had left, but the mathematical formula where all of his discovery was, that was gone.

He felt a small nuclear reaction beginning inside him and he could only contain it long enough to think, he knew he couldn't interrogate all the staff to find out who was responsible, so he rushed to the surveillance room, he knew he would find Rick there if he would hurry up and make him show him who had been in the kitchen, near his sample.

From the consistency of the spilled sauce, Arthur was able to roughly estimate how much time had passed since it was spilled (no more than 1 hour before he arrived), so they were able to check that time range, with Rick himself being the first to show, but he said that when he was there, that test tube was still intact and the tape proved that it had not been him.

They saw a few pass by, familiar faces, but the deduction was that the person responsible must be the last of them, precisely the one whom Arthur suspected the most, his brother. They saw him enter, leave the camera's view range, heard him read the warning note out loud and mutter (to which Rick laughed), shortly after they heard him called from outside by the CEO, which caused a sound of someone slipping and of breaking glass. Then, they saw him running, holding something that couldn't be seen on camera, but he had red stains on his shirt. It was all he needed to see.

Arthur felt like he wanted to explode, Rick was going to say something when they saw that on the screen that showed that same camera on live, the alleged person responsible for the crime entered along with his favorite test subject, they both were looking at the crime scene. He wasted no time and rushed back to the kitchen, followed by Rick who left Angus, who was passing by, covering him while he followed the blonde.

Without giving him time to do anything else, Arthur continued

"It had to be you, who else could've been!!? You and your bloody clumsiness!!"

Surprise and confusion debated in the gaze of the shorter of the two, while Rick's face and a couple of other curious appeared at the door.

"Artie?! wha- what are you talking about? what happened?! I… wait, you mean…" he said looking at the stains on the table "wait, that wasn't me…"

"Don't you dare deny it!! I saw it on the cameras, you were here, you slipped right next to this table didn't you??! You leaned on the table and threw it!"

"Well, yes… I mean no! I mean!!... yes I fell! but…b-but I didn't throw your experiment! I was very careful with that and!-"

"Don't tell me! And how do you explain this?!" He points out wet, pink spots on his shirt, clearly he had tried to wash it with little success.

"That's not… it's not what it looks like! I was holding a jar of jam when I tripped! I got nervous so I picked up everything as quickly as I could!! I admit, I didn't do the best job, to be honest... but-but I was in a hurry and-!!"

"SHUT UP!!" shouts the tallest of the two, making the other cringe "just shut up for once, I don't want to hear you!! Do you know how long it took me to get that formula?! All the effort and sweat, the calculations!!? What did I have to do?!! More than you could ever dream of and you had to ruin it!!! You always have to be the one who screws up only to be a coward later!! can't you just admit your guilt to your brother who always has to be dragging you along, even at work!!?"

Wheatley just looked at him in shock "But… but I didn't do it! I swear, I'm 100% sure I didn't… well, maybe a little less than 100, but…"

"And here it goes, seriously, can't you stop being a moron for just 5 minutes?" says Arthur with astonishment, "look, if you're not going to admit guilt, at least have the decency to apologize!! Can't you even understand something so simple?"

It was noticeable that the youngest of the two was upset, very upset by the anger, even when he seemed to have calmed down a little, it was only enough to stop screaming.

"It's late, so listen carefully, that sheet of paper that you took along with the rest of the tube was a very important formula with which I could recover what YOU ruined"

Wheatley was going to protest, but he wouldn't let him.

"I don't care if you have to go to the garbage incinerator to look for it, but I want that back, so maybe I could make up for at least some of your clumsiness," he said with a serious, almost defiant tone.

"But…"

"I want it back by tomorrow morning, I'll be waiting for you at my desk or, if not, at the very least, a VERY good apology or else...!" Arthur didn't finish the sentence, he didn't need to, he just walked. at a steady pace back to the door, where the small group of curious onlookers hid or pretended they hadn't been looking, with a few exceptions, including Craig and Rick.

"But… but Art-"

"Tomorrow morning at my desk," he repeated, interrupting, not shouting, but sharply.

There was silence, Wheatley was nervous, Arthur sounded so confident that it made him begin to doubt whether he had actually voted for that test tube and the sheet of paper along with the jar of jam. He knew how seriously his brother took these things, he was sure he had been careful not to get too close to the thing, but he preferred to be sure.

He glanced at Chell for a second, who he had brought over to show her something he had ordered that day and left in the refrigerator, but they both decided it was best to leave it for the day. He said goodbye to her and began to walk to the place where he had threw away the jar to see if he found anything.

"Maybe... I must remember it all wrong… maybe I did throw that and didn't notice it because of the hurry… he-he's the smart one after all… and he saw the camera record… yeah, I better go to make sure"

-----------------------o0o---------------------------

The very next day in the morning

Wheatley was walking to the offices, he was very nervous because he searched, he searched in different trash cans for that famous sheet covered with mathematical formulas and preserved cherry sauce, but he had no success, he did not find it, although he did find pieces of glass that looked like red test tubes with the smell of stale cherries and a broken jar of raspberry jam, just what he had no use for… still he looked for pieces of paper among them, again, without success, he only got a couple of small cuts on his hands from handling broken glass.

Defeated by the consequences of yesterday's crime, he only continued his way to the offices while playing with a pencil to manage his anxiety, after a walk through the medicine cabinet, he was ready to apologize, think of some way to make up for everything, he was still confused about what had happened the past day, but the tension managed to make him convince himself that he had mistakenly thrown his brother's work into the trash along with a jar of jam.

He reached the Arthur's sector offices door, took a deep breath before opening it, closing his eyes nervously (he knew he had to walk a bit before reaching his desk after all) and finally opened it and entered.

Arthur was clearly waiting for him with his best "I'm-still-as-angry-as-yesterday" expression, which made Wheatley quicken his pace a little, because of that and because he noticed several of the workers from other desks looking at him, the news (rumors) fly in the offices.

Arthur stood up from his chair once he was close enough to him.

"Well? Do you have it?" Arthur asks, still upset. It was clear that he didn't have what he wanted, maybe he didn't notice it or maybe he just wanted him to say it himself, whatever it was, Wheatley simply responded with his head down.

"No… sorry, I-I looked for it everywhere, honestly, I swear! Even in the big containers before they were incinerated! but… I didn't find it anywhere…" said while start to play with the pencil again.

Arthur sighs. "Of course, what else could I expect?" he said pointedly. "So?"

"So…" Wheatley looked at him, he looked askance around him, some pretended to continue doing their thing, but most had turned to look, especially those who were nearby, among them Craig and Calvin, who had gone to pick up some documents there that morning. They were all so distracted that they didn't notice the front door opening again.

Wheatley took another deep breath and just spoke "I… I'm really, really so…"

"I'm so very sorry!!" Suddenly he is interrupted by a childish and energetic voice that was approaching to them, they both turn towards the source of the voice, it was little Chris arriving, running towards them with a note board in one hand and a test tube in the other.

"Mr. Arthur!! I- Hello Wheatley! What are you doing here?" The girl asked happily, distracted by her own curiosity, but given the urgency of what she wanted to say, she didn't get too distracted this time. "Oh, wait, this is very important! Mr. Arthur." She turns to look at the youngest of the brothers. " I'm so sorry!! Yesterday I went to the kitchen to get my dessert and accidentally hit your test tube! I'm really very sorry!" she said nervously, the expression of those around her was priceless.

Before anyone could react to this new revelation, she continued, crestfallen with guilt, "I had to throw away the tube because it was broken, but, don't worry! here!" She hands him the tube she was carrying with her and her chart of notes. "I managed to transfer the formula to a new sheet, I just had to follow it to make a new sample!" said the little genius happy and excited.

Arthur quickly grabbed both things, giving them a quick look once over. Everything was correct, everything there and as good as new "It can't be!! Is all here!! thank you, thank you, thank you!! I thought I had lost everything! I…" He stopped when his gaze passed over Wheatley, who was standing there, as expressionless as never before.

"It was the least I could do! Angus says that, if you don't fix your mistakes, you deserve punishment!!" She says childishly quoting the words of her big brother "Well, I must go, I'm running late!! See you at lunch!" She walks briskly back to the door "Hi Chell! Hi Rick!! What are you doing here??… ouh, answer me later, I'm late!" The little girl passes by the two who had just entered and she leaves.

There was dead silence in that office sector for a couple of seconds.

"…Ehem" Rick was the first to break the silence, as he takes a couple of steps towards the brothers "Well… I think someone got ahead of me, but, after another someone convinced me..." says while looking at Chell for a second "I came to say that you can hear a second sound of breaking glass a little later in the tape, but you can't see who it was, so we figured it could have been little Chris, but… we were a little late… sorry, I lost my hat this morning and I don't work without him" he says with his normal pride that borders on arrogance while touching his hat.

Another awkward silence, but a little shorter, this time broken by Arthur.

"Yes well, I… anyway… the important thing is that nothing important was lost in the end, and…"

Wheatley turned his head to look at him in such a way that he gave the impression that he could have turned his head 180° without problems. Still expressionless, he just said "and?" to his brother's surprise.

"And… and… well, in my defense, you can't blame me…" Arthur says, slowly regaining his confidence as he speaks. "Yeah, I mean, you do that sort of things all the time, don't you? A misunderstanding was waiting to happen!! So… let's better just forget all this happened and move on…"

They hear a small *crack!* sound in the older blonde's hand, the pencil he had been fiddling with earlier had broken under the pressure of his hand.

"…that's it?…that's all you're going to say?"

"Well… well I… what else could I say??" the younger one responds, trying to sound as confident as ever "There's work to do and we…"

"…You!-" Wheatley interrupts with a look that he didn't seem to be able to express everything he wanted to say, but he is interrupted by a loud voice from with the CEO's voice demanding that all workers return to work from the offices speakers.

"See?" Arthur said as if the speaker was agreeing with him, he knew that no one there could ignore that voice, specially not Wheatley, who was visibly upset, but still was going to just leave... but after a couple of steps, he turned to look at him, he simply had to say something "You… after- after all this, after everything that happened.... Really, that-that is all you have to say?? was this all just a joke for y- no! No, you're not one for jokes, right? No, this was more just a nuisance for you, right?!... like a.... like a fly that flies over an... an important something for you, ain't it?!! like one of your experiments… like the one you just did and is being interrupted by an annoying something, right?! well, you know what? you know what?? it's fine! is fine for me, you don't have to say anything!… morover, since you have nothing else to say, little less any important thing to say, you Mr Perfect! I will make us both happy, because I no longer want anything from you!!… from now on, as far as possible... I mean, we'll continue working in the same company …b-but the idea is still there!! I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to talk to you!!! starting… starting once I leave these offices! So yeah, congrats! you'll get what you wanted, no more nuisance for you!! so excuse me, but I have to go back to work, have a good day, sir!!" With that said, Wheatley stomps toward the entrance, passing Chell.

"Let's go Chell, before the tests start" he said serious, but trying to sound friendly to her at least "Thank you anyway" it was difficult to distinguish if he sounded truly grateful or bothered.

"Oh come on Wheatley, don't be childish acting like that, you know I'm right…" Arthur said taking a couple of steps after him "What do you want to hear so much? I mean, well, okay, I think I know what it is" he said almost casually and almost reaching him "…but… but you know I'm still right about everything here!… okay, okay, fine, here you go, I'm s…"

He sees his brother turn sharply one last time towards him, with an unusual anger in his gaze, he had not seen him like that since he himself was 5 years old

"I don't want!- to hear it!!... Arthur…"

Said that sharply, he walked out the door and slammed it, giving way to the last dead silence of the day, this time everyone else simply continued with their things when they saw that everything interesting had already finished, so this time, the person who broke the silence was even more unexpected, the Aperture's number one test subject, and only said one word just before leaving too, a word that fell like a bucket of cold water on the blonde "...Moron".

Rick, who was the only other one who heard, laughed as he followed her out of the offices.

Arthur walked, first with his mouth open and then annoyed and grumbling back to his stall "how dare her call ME an moron?! It's inconceivable, it's unacceptable, it's…"

"Artie" Interrupts his friend who was an expert in space stuff, but who could be surprisingly responsible and mature, hardly predictable from someone as enthusiastic as him, "I know you're upset right now, but I think a little talk for you would be good today at lunch, okay? you need to take it all out"

The man in question only looked at him for a second and responded "… talk about what?… I have nothing to talk about." He turned to his computer, leaving his experiment on his desk and got to work. His friends just looked at eachother and desided to just also come back to work for the moment.

---------------------o0o-------------------------

A couple of days passed

Wheatley seemed to have taken his own words quite seriously, from the first day he seemed to actively try to avoid his brother, he stopped sitting with him at lunch, avoided looking at him if they ran into each other in an aisle, hopefully taking another one if possible, although that meant taking longer to get to his destination, looking for someone else to give him the documents with test results that he had to give Arthur from time to time during the week, and last but not least, he avoided talking to him as much as possible, not even indirectly, he sought to remain silent, do or look at something else, talk to someone else, etc.

Of course, the latter was especially noticeable to those who knew them, Arthur was usually the one who got the most of the talk from him or the few he sat with. Arthur's friends… well, actually only Calvin tried to ask him about it again, but

"And why would I care about any of this? This is just a tantrum, he'll get over it, you'll see how in a couple of days he'll be the same as always, I have no reason to worry."

"Heh, yeah, now you could take advantage of the peace and quiet around you for a change. You would increase your efficiency for a fact." Craig pointed out, he was super good with data, but he wasn't a great expert at these things.

"Yeah, see? Someone who understands, there's nothing to worry about here, might as well enjoy this" he replies with a little triumph smirk.

"*Sigh* If you're so sure…" Calvin knew, or at least sensed that things weren't that simple, but he also knew that at that moment he wasn't going to achieve much with him.

"Of course I am. Actually, I'm sure that if not now, he'll soon start having problems keeping this whole circus going, you'll see."

Unfortunately or fortunately, Arthur was right. Wheatley at the moment managed to maintain his position, talking to Chell at lunch when he could (avoiding talking about the subject as much as possible, although it was noticeable that it was on his mind, he glanced askance at where his brother was from time to time) and sometimes with the few who could stand him... temporarily. Basically, looking for ways to distract himself even with his work, but… his resources were limited since his lunch times did not always coincide with hers; In addition to the fact that he was used to talking to his brother, almost never getting any response from him, but at least he let him talk, so avoiding him was starting to become more and more difficult.

But he didn't want to thirst

This was something he really didn't want to give in to, or at least, not so easily, for once he knew it wasn't just a matter of pride, but he needed to make a functional strategy soon or everything would fall apart and he I didn't want that.

It had passed 5 days now

He was walking back to his room that afternoon, muttering to himself to relieve some of the anxiety of talking much less than usual. He wished he could last at least one more week (since he was having no results yet) so that it could be seen that he was serious, but the only way he could think of was to somehow change or extend his work hours, so that he would have a real, solid excuse not to see him or talk to him, but there was no way at that time, the schedules were fixed and no one would let him take someone else's because of his infamy.

He was beginning to seriously consider giving in when, suddenly, down the hall behind him, he heard a pair of youthful voices talking about tests. He turned to look and thus got the answer he was looking for. He looked at the clock in the hallway, if he hurried, he might still make it, so he ran back in his footsteps.

-------------------------o0o-------------------------

"Voluntary Evaluation of Volunteer Test Subjects?"

Calvin asked, repeating what Wheatley had just said.

They had found each other in the drinks machine.

"Yes, and it was all an idea from your server, being your server me, of course, computers joke there, it was my idea, and I start from today" the short one responded, taking a Blueberry soda can from the machine.

"So, you're going to be evaluating single and also double test subjects??"

"Yep... well, no, not exactly, to be honest, it's just those 2 who do tests voluntarily, just for fun, aparently and, you know, since they do tests at a different time than the rest, there was no one doing the comparative evaluation, so I offered my self and they gave me the pass! so now I'll just have a couple of extra hours of work, and is brilliant! the perfect excuse for-... uh, I mean, is not-is not an excuse! Pfff why would it be? I mean, this has absolutely nothing to do with Ar... rogance! Yeah! Arrogance, this is purely for scientific purposes..."

"Aalright, If that's the only reason, why you never showed any interest in cooperatives test before?" Said Calvin, taking an orange juice can from the machine.

"Uh!! Well... because... because... okay, heheheh, you cathed me there, there is one other reason... but is not what you think!! Is it because, well... those two are said to be as good as Chell when it comes to do tests, you know? I mean, can you imagine?? Uuh And, as you might guess, Chell is my favorite test subject, I mean, how couldn't? she is so... so..." he starts to blush while saying that, but he noticed that the guy with the orange juice noticed it "Ah! I mean, ehem she is so... my friend. Yes, she is a great friend!! and, to be honest I... I just wanted to check if what is said about them is true myself, that's all".

He takes a sip from his can

"Uhu.. sure... anyway, even that being true, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, the calculations for the cooperatives test evaluation are a little more complicated than the normal ones, not to mention the comparatives... are you sure you are not going too much out of your orbit?"

"Oh yeah, I considered that! I considered it and I'll be fine! Because I'll only be in this for 10 days" the blue-eyed man says with a shrug of his shoulder and a 'what-could-possibly-go-wrong' gaze.

"Trust me, I've got this under control, It'll just be a piece of cake".

"Okay, okay... but what about the things with-".

Wheatley sigh, interrupting him, he knew Calvin enough to know it, they were not super close, much less than that; actually he thought the space expert could be a little annoying some times, but, also noticed he could also be a mate (plus, they both were some of the few in Aperture who could handle a Chris's questions rant) and that, sometimes, like this very time, it would mean that he would not let the topic go, so the blonde decided to say something before leaving (deep down he appreciated the concern).

"Listen... I was serious that day, you were there and I just could bet, since uuh you are kinda friends with him and with Rick, aren't ya? yeah, then I could bet you already know what happened, so, as you might guess, I'm not steping back, I'm still not talking to him, I still don't want anything from him, except for one only thing and Mr. Perfect should know what it is, and if he is not coming to me with that only thing... then I have no reason to talk to him OR about him at all... got to go, see ya".

Wheatley takes another sip from his can and proceeds to walk away to his new temporary job.

---------------------o0o-------------------------

At first it wasn't so bad.

Wheatley's normal job involved doing different types of calculations and equations, evaluating the results of some specific Test Subjects and comparing the results of different days of those same Test Subjects. It could be difficult for him to deal with them, especially on heavy days (or weeks), but normally, he managed to solve them correctly and on time, with some errors, but easily fixed (why did you think they haven't fired him yet?), he was far, very far from be the best at his job, but at least he was good enough to stay there.

This new parallel position involved doing something similar, but with calculations and equations that were a little different and more complicated as it involved evaluating 2 people completing tests at the same time instead of just one. Luckily, they weren't something Wheatley didn't understand or that needed more than a quick refresher, but he did need a little more time to finish them.

So the first two days, things seemed to be going well enough in that sense, plus, the plan was working, since his schedules changed a little, he and Arthur practically did not see each other in any physical space and the only exception was easily avoidable. Unfortunately this also meant less time to spend with Chell, but at least they could still meet each other a little, always Wheatley's favorite part of the day.

On Arthur's side, well… he didn't seem to be having a particularly bad time, in fact, at first, when he wasn't asked about the subject, he seemed to enjoy this new absence. He always wished he could have a vacation from his brother's constant chatter, especially since he found out they would be working at the same place. He was always the kind of person who enjoyed silence the most, so he could concentrate on his work or his hobbies. This was just another good reason to let things continue as they were without trying anything. "I could get used to this" he thought.

From time to time he would look out of the corner of his eye in the direction where Wheatley was in the dining room, convincing himself that he wanted to see if his tantrum had passed, then he would quickly look ahead to continue doing his thing, to see and listen to people who had more intelligent things to say - or that might interest him - more often.

Still, he couldn't help but notice the first two days in which he was not in sight all day, especially since it was strictly prohibited to eating in the work spaces. He even thought that perhaps he might be sick, but the answer came on the third day in the morning, along with Angus and Calvin, who brought the subject up in conversation. Basically, he could know about this extension of working hours.

"…Fact, he won't last" said his friend with the violet tie at his side.

"If you say it because of the extra work, I think that idiot could use it, a little hard work from time to time doesn't hurt anyone, I tell you, that builds character and endurance!" Says Angus, who had met them for breakfast.

"Heh, you haven't seen how he gets when his usual job gets tough. And I said it because evaluating that type of test involves more complicated variables, I'm sure he won't be able to take it and will end up giving up, so, it's better for you to take advantage of the little time of peace that's left for you, Arthur" says Craig, nudging Arthur friendly.

"Heh, yeah, you're right…" responds the man in question with some indifference "I doubt he'll make it until the week… Maybe then he'll stop acting like a child..."

"Yeah, some people just doesn't know how to react to things" Said the red headman, causing giggles from the others around (except Arthur) while they start walking out the kitchen "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing, Mr. Walking Supernova" Calvin responded, smiling a little mockingly.

"What do you mean with-!" before Angus finished his sentence, Craig speaks up.

"Fact, you would go crazy if something like that happened with your little sister."

"Uh! but-but that's different! Chris is adorable and would never be like that, and I'll tear you to pieces if you even suggest at it again!!… Besides, if through some crazy thing in life something like that happened, it would be because I did something bad enough for her to get mad at me like that in the first place."

"Of course, because you couldn't be mad at her, the big angry fluffy bear" Craig says mockingly.

"But I can get mad at you, so shut up!!"

Arthur, for his part, seemed to be paying little or no attention to the discussion, he was just walking, Calvin saw him thoughtful, he had noticed it, and although the others had not said it, he was sure that he was not the only one. Lately he had been acting more …cold, even for him, evem although at first he seemed to enjoy the whole thing a little, what he called "having less annoying noises around", he also seemed to be a little bored, but if you asked him, he would say he was just concentrated on his projects.

They continued walking until they each reached his work area.

---------------------o0o------------------------

About 3 more days passed and the consequences of Wheatley's new responsibilities began to become noticeable. The complexity of the new calculations effectively made him take longer times to finish them and, therefore, gave him even less time to make comparisons, so he began to need to stay more and more time at his desk to be able to finish the daily reports. Of course, that meant having less and less free time and, therefore, starting to spend more time alone.

Luckily Chell came to see him at his desk sometimes, which was a great little relief, when it could, cause she sometimes found him too concentrate, murmuring, trying to complete the notes and calculations. And when she managed to find him after having managed to finish, it was noticeable that he was increasingly tired.

((This drawing made by Shrimperini was part of the inspiration to make this idea, so I leave it here, since I think it fits the context))

She found him nodding off the night of the third day, so she asked him about it, if maybe it wasn't better to stop there, he said that he was fine, that he could handle this and that they wouldn't let him stop there even if he asked anyway, orders from the CEO, who agreed to let him do that job, but he wasn't stop until the 10 days were complete or else. Something told Chell that he wasn't lying about that, knowing that woman, it was possible that she did it on purpose, just because this would be something he could (or more like would) fail at within that time frame.

She knew, she knew well why he had agreed to this deal, even tho had originally been his idea, she knew that this motivation was still in his head, because the times they managed to spend together, he tried to ask indirectly (being so good with indirects as always) about his brother. They were questions that she didn't like to answer, because they always involved him pretending, annoyed, that he didn't care, so they quickly diverted the topic, usually something about the cooperative tests and how those brothers were really good, but he still thought Chell was the best.

On the fourth day, he found him asleep on his desk, with his notes half written. This had to stop.

But, something told Chell that she couldn't just force them to talk to each other…or force them to stop this. Well, maybe with Wheatley she could, but that wasn't the idea either.

Arthur, on his side, did not seem to show much change in his attitude, or at least not to anyone who did not know him. To begin with, it was undoubtedly strange so much silence around him for so much time in a row, which at first seemed like a blessing, in fact he still thought it was, but in addition, it began to be… perhaps too silent once a week pass, he even started to feel a little uncomfortable. Listening to Calvin's rants about space never felt so relieving, even when he usually preferred to ignore them and think about something else, after all, space related science never caught his attention much; for him, the moon was just a big empty rock.

Plus, even though he was able to make progress faster and more often, almost no one asked him questions or commented on non-work related stuff, and if they did… they weren't bad comments at all, but… they felt so short.

They were all details, he thought, that he would forget, after all, there was no logical reason for this to happen. When his orange friend tried to make one last attempt to ask him about it, if he wasn't at least aware about not knowing anything about his brother in 4 days, he simply responded that he should be more concerned that, for the last few days (about 5) the formulas for his cake projects were not working as well as he expected or as they should when it came time to try them, something was always not good enough, the texture was not soft enough or the flavor was not sweet enough. That was, he said, without a doubt, a major concern. "Besides, if he has any problem with this new job… well, it was his decision to get into it, he should be able to solve it on his own, there's no reason for me to get involved. They're just a couple more little formulas, they're things I do in my free time, jee!". It was also strange to hear such long sentences from him.

Calvin finally gave up on trying to ask about it, he knew there would be no point. But this had to stop.

Luckily, as he walked back to his sector, he ran into the perfect person in the hallway to helpt him figure out how, especially since he suspected she might be looking for the same thing.

---------------------o0o------------------------

2 days left until the deadline

Luckily, Wheatley was free that day, the bad news were that he still had work to do, so he would use a lot of that time trying to get some of that work done and organize the paperwork. At least he was able to sleep a little better the last night and, best of all, he was able to spend that afternoon having dinner with Chell, it was an hour later than normal for most, so the place would be empty (friendly dinner yet, don't get excited… okay, do it, but not too much), he was happy about this, especially since she was the one who invited him, they even walked to the dining room together, but he couldn't express it as much as he normally would, he was still very tired for the work. They saw Calvin at the drink machine on their way, who seemed to have something important to do, cause leaved almost as soon as they passed by. Wheatley didn't give it much importance, he was a little distracted looking at gray eyes that were looking at him.

But the astrophysicist did not address anything related to his work or space this time. No, this time his destination was the kitchen, where he knew he would find Arthur looking for a couple of ingredients for his next experiment. He wasn't wrong. He wanted to convince him to accompany him because he needed to show him something very important; At first he received a refusal "Right now, if it's not something related to cakes, then I'm not interested", he managed to convince him by telling him that, in fact, it was related to cakes. Carrying him by the arm, almost dragging him, also helped.

His destination was the camera room, where Rick was supposed to be, but they saw him leaving to let them in (it wasn't difficult for Chell to convince him to collaborate). He also closed the door once they entered.

"Wot- what the heck is going on here, why did you bring me here??!"

Calvin manipulated a couple of monitors so that one of them showed a specific camera.

"Oh nothing, we just wanted you to watch something you might needed to watch"

Once he achieved what he was looking for, he made the blonde sit down. They heard a female voice coming from the monitor at first "come on, tell me, you can trust me" she said, but Arthur wasn't looking at it.

"I have no time for this, you kn-!" he refuted, but was interrupted

"And we are not leaving until you watch this" said Calvin, he was smiling, but Arthur knew he was serious, so he looked at the monitor reluctantly "it better be really important or...". He heard a familiar sigh come out of the monitor, followed by a voice that, miraculously, he had not heard for a week. It must have been because of that, or at least that's what he wanted to believe, that he abruptly interrupted himself to pay more attention to what the screen was showing.

"Well, I guess... I think you're right... and is true, I'm not really that mad at him anymore, I mean, I still am, at least a bit, you know, because of what happened and everything, but.... I think... Yeah, I think I'm more sad than mad at him."

Said Wheatley, looking down, he looked so tired, with dark circles in the eyes.

"Sad?" Said the girl in front of him.

"Yeah... uh I-I mean, I know I'm not exactly Arthur's favorite person in the world, to be honest, I do know that, but still! I don't think I'm asking for too much! Am I? And is not like he struggles to say other kind of things - like he doesn't mind calling me m... like must of the people here call me... or-or point out when I make a mistake, either with words or with glance or... well, you get the general idea" he takes a bite from a sandwich he was eating.

"But, you know? those are nothing! Nothing I can't handle, really, I can! Even that last one! For real!... or... at least I could... you know, before knowing the truth... I know how important those cake stuff are for him, it's been like that since ever! Is just something that makes him happy and... plus-plus he looked so sure about what happened and... a-anyway, I'm digressing - point is, I could have take that one too!! but, when it comes the time, the one time when he makes a mistake, the one time he was wrong with something , and by something I mean me! he is just... unable to actually apologies with me!" He takes a sip from a juice glass he was drinking with the sandwich, Chell was eating a salad, listening all he was saying and just, staring at him, as she use to.

"And yeah, I know he was about to say sorry, but that didn't count! you heard him there, the way he was talking, all self-confident, and arrogant and all treating-me-like-a-child! he didn't was actually sorry, that wasn't going to be a real apology! but that's all I want! because is not like he is too nervous or ashamed to talk to me because of what happened or anything, I know him, he is not like that!!... I just wanted one honest apology... or... at least... I don't know, something from him that make me see that he cares" He clinks his glass on the table, anyone would be wondering if there was something more than juice in that glass, but the truth was it was just juice, luckily it didn't spill much. At that point, Arthur was just whatching, without trying to get out of the room anymore or anything.

"...Is all I honestly wanted, not even asking for us to become the bloody Mario Brothers! or be like Angus and the little Chris or the test-for-fun sibblings!... uh, Atlas and Paige, I meant Atlas and Paige, a little local reference there. Back to the idea I was trying to say, I'm not looking for us to become best friends or super united or stuff like that, that'd be... uuh... just... it'd be weird, yeah, that's the word I was looking for; cause, we are so different, like, I don't think we have anything in common... uuh, besides the bad eyesight and being blonde, of course, you know... genetics" He says while lowering the pace and tone of his voice, he gives a small yawn, then continues one more time.

"No... I don't look for that, I'm not asking for that, but yet... now, I have starting wondering... after all these days, that maybe... just maybe... I am, indeed, asking for too much..." His voice begins to take on a sad, almost sobbing tone "be-because, I mean, after all this week that pass... after everything, I bet... I bet... he hadn't even ask for me, hadn't he? he didn't miss having me around or anything... right? probably being happier than ever and I just made him a favor by doing this while I'm all... all tired and doing this bloody jobs for nothing and- no, you know what? Not for nothing, all was for a bloody misunderstanding with cakes!" A small awkward silence passed as they both finished their plate, silent broken by Wheatley himself, who continued speaking one last time in the same, but sadder tone.

"Yeah… I always knew- I've always known that I'm not my brother's favorite person, probably not even in the top 5 of important people in his life… but" he clenches his fist a little, seeming to be trying to hold back a tear "but I never ever thought he hate… no, no hate, hate is perhaps a too strong word, too much of a term for our context, I don't want to thi… I-I mean, I don't think he hates me, but! Uuh, I do can say that …I never... not even considered… that cakes would be more important to my brother than... me…"

Wheatley stops talking, takes off his glasses so he can rub his eyes a little with his arm, and then yawn once more. Chell holds his hand comfortingly, she knew that he needed.

"Sorry, I just… I just got crumbs in my eye."

Arthur stands up from his seat, he didn't need to see anymore. He also realized that Calvin was no longer there, but he was fine, after all, what he was looking for had already happened. He opens the door to leave, Rick was waiting for him outside, so he can re-enter the room to his work, and he puts a hand on Arthur's shoulder and says in an imposing tone "Use the information you just received wisely, boy…" the young blonde stared at him for a second, then Rick smiles with exciting

"Omg! I always wanted to say that!!" The guard with the hat said excitedly, releasing Arthur and re-entering the room, leaving the blue-eyed man irritated, but at least now free to continue his way. He wanted to continue what he was doing, so he tried to motivate himself to go back to the kitchen where he was interrupted, but, mean while, he was still thinking about what he had just seen, he couldn't just not do it, especially because of that last part.

"Is that really the impression I gave him?" He thought "The impression I give him right now? That's absurd! He's not… I'm not…" he couldn't even finish the sentences in his thoughts because memories of what happened came to him. Of that day and that last week that happened.

He reached the kitchen, started picking up the things he had gone to get automatically, mostly out of habit, but something didn't feel right, something didn't feel right at all, so he stopped as he opened one of the tall furnitures.

It was a complex situation for him, on the one hand, he didn't want Wheatley to think that, this time he couldn't convince himself that it was something he didn't care about, there were things that needed to be repaired, but, it was also true that this words, and even less apologies, weren't his thing at all. He was someone who hardly made mistakes, for him, praises from authority figures was the normal; for him, receiving apologies from others less successful and intelligent than him, those who did make mistakes was the normal. The simple idea of him being the one to apologize was difficult enough, but for it to be with someone like his brother, who was capable of tripping over his own feet two or three times in a day or more, was… it was almost unthinkable, unbearable! Not to mention that he never had the gift of words, especially for such… emotional situations… but… it was fair, right? Independent of everything else or what he thought of his older brother, trying to be as objective as he liked to be, didn't he deserve it? After everything, didn't Wheatley deserve to at least to try? Was he willing? It was a decision that could involve everything returning to the way it was or staying as it is, or maybe there are just changes that are not visible to the naked eye.

He looked at the cabinet for a few seconds, it was full of different ingredients that he was allowed to use and store there, half of that cabinet were things that he kept there to have on hand for his pastry projects.

There were things that needed to be repaired, and he had made a decision; he knew that he did not have the conventional resources to accomplish the task, but, at least he could try with his own resources. It would take some time, so he just hoped he wasn't too late. He took some things from the cabinet and left

---------------------o0o------------------------

Afternoon of the last day, time and deadline.

Wheatley was walking down the hallway towards his boss's office, he was carrying a folder with several documents, all of them had to be delivered at that very moment and he was trying to finish filling out one of the sheets on the way. He should be feeling relieved that all that extra work was finally over, but he couldn't yet.

First because he knew that they had given him a kind of indirect ultimatum, he needed to deliver everything without errors or else… he didn't even want to think about what they would do to him, especially HER. He therefore had to go over each of the equations several times, finding errors and correcting them, which made him fall further behind with the other documents. At that moment he only needed to finish filling out the most important one, which came on a pink sheet of paper. He couldn't afford to stop, since they had given him a specific time to deliver, so he was going in such a hurry that he did not pay the slightest attention to what was happening or to those who passed around him in the hallways.

He was already close to it, so he put the document in the folder at his side and quickened his pace even more. After this, all that was left was to show the results to the siblings, but luckily, that was always the easiest part and it could be the next day, by then everything would be calmer.

But now he was anxious (and stressed) to finally finish this, he hadn't even had breakfast that morning. Not to mention that he hadn't been able to think too much about what he would do once it was finished, he didn't seem to have accomplished anything with this idea, but he didn't want to have to think about that right at that moment or he would get distracted.

Finally he arrives at the office of the CEO, Ms. Gladys, a truly brilliant, but terrifying woman who clearly didn't liked him much and made little effort to hide it, so he was very nervous. He stood as firm as he could, took a breath, and was about to knock on the door when it opened just before.

There she was, waiting for him. She didn't even let him in, she just asked him to give her the main file to review right there and, apart from it, the folder with the others.

"And I know I don't have to remind you… oh, wait, someone like you definitely needs to be reminded, so I will, if I find a single mistake in that file, I assure you there will be consequences, big bad consequences for you. I hope I made myself clear, because if not, I'll make sure of it by making the consequences bigger. Now give them to me."

Wheatley, who managed to be more nervous than before by those encouraging words, grabbed the file to take out the document, hoping, he really hoped he hadn't made any miscalculations, he finished it so hastily that it was more than possible that he had. But it was worst, because he realize that there was no pink sheet of paper between them. It must have fallen in the hallway in his haste to get there. The malicious smile his boss gave when she noticed that he was taking a while to find what he was looking for only made things even worst.

But before either of them could say anything about it.

"I think this is yours," said a familiar voice behind Wheatley, who turned quickly to see who it was because of the fright, "I told you to be more careful… here."

Wheatley was surprised to see his brother or to have his speak to him and even more of see the pink file in his hand. Gladys took the sheet of paper, which was undoubtedly his (it was crumpled) before he could and looked it over right there, very thoroughly. They both watched as her expression changed slightly to becoming more and more annoyed, she even gave them both a suspicious look, which especially scared one of them, while the other seemed more or less as calm as ever, anyway. Their boss's response was unexpected. "It's all right…*sigh*, fine, just give me the rest of the folder and go, now".

Wheatley, still in shock, managed to give her the rest of the documents while the CEO closed the door to her office in his face. At least that served to wake him up. Both brothers remained silent for a few seconds looking at the door, then they looked at each other, Wheatley noticed that he was carrying a small, neat cardboard box with handles. Surprisingly, it wasn't the short one who broke the silence this time.

"Oi…it's a little late…shall we get a cup of tea?" It was undoubtedly a question that caught Wheatley off guard, he was not expecting it at all, in fact he expected him to just walk away and that's it. Maybe that's why he didn't even try to question it and just nodded and walked to the dining room (Arthur used Low Guard, it was super effective!).

---------------------o0o------------------------

There was almost no one around in the place, so there were only the two of them at the table, with a cup of tea each, at first neither of them said anything because, strangely enough, neither of them knew what to say.

Arthur sighed and decided to break the silence a second time "Listen Wheatley, I'm going to tell you something and I want you to listen to it well, because I'm not going to repeat it, undertand?! This is not easy…okay, ehem... Wheatley I… I… for what happened that time… I'm sorry... I'm really sorry." It was something that clearly was difficult for him to say, so Wheatley did not interrupt him, but the surprise on his face was noticeable, it even seemed that he thought perhaps Arthur was sick, which made the matter more awkward, but he still continued.

"I was very unfair to you and… well I… at first I really thought it was fine because I thought it was you, okay?! Everything seemed so… and you… and...- aaagh! this is not working! this apologizing thing It's not my thing! I'm not the one who should be apologizing for making such a stupid mistake! I'm not one who does that kind of things!!… but..." for a moment he began to despair as he said all that, it was something he also needed to get off his chest "… but I did… this time I did...I was unfair to you, in several ways; you didn't deserve to be treated like that, not even for cakes, even less for pride and, well… I know that maybe it doesn't make up for much… or I don't know, the truth is I don't know much about these things, but… ehem... here… just don't get used to it!... and again... I'm sorry"

He puts the box that he had brought with him for a while between them, it was one of those boxes for moving rectangular cakes, and opens it. To Wheatley's surprise, it was not a square Black Forest Cake, it was a Chocolate Battenberg Cake, his favorite.

He looked at the cake, then looked at Arthur who had looked away, as if he was running out of words and he didn't know what to say and didn't want to try either. Luckily it wasn't necessary, it was a gesture that spoke for itself. To begin with, Wheatley knew that although it was not his favorite cake, his brother was much more into making his own cakes than buying them, it was a matter of personal pride, the only ones he bought were always from his favorite bakery and that store did not sell this cake.

Arthur managed to say one only thing more "…well?"

Wheatley's look was a curious mix of surprise, excitement, and disbelief, it was as if he didn't know whether to smile or not as he tried to process everything. Finally, he sobbed a little and smiled at him "I… I really don't know what to say, to be honest, I didn't expect something like this at all! I even thought that… well… a lot of things... nasty things, actually. I really thought that you… uh, well, you know what? you know what? Never mind, never mind now! I was wrong about those things and… god, I never thought it could feel so good to be wrong! There should be some kind of achievement for that in life!! hehe, I-I can't believe it! I... just.... thank you... Artie... is really- it was really all I wanted to hear... plus a surprise!" He wanted to hug him, but neither of them were big on hugs, especially not between them, so he stayed where he was. He knew that this wouldn't make them suddenly friends by any means, things wouldn't change much, they would probably stay more or less the same as before, but at least this made clear some things that were needed to be known between them.

"Now let's see, we have to try this before the tea gets cold, that would be a shame as well as rude for the tea and the cake!" The eldest says excitedly, taking a bite without wasting any more time, it was funny how someone could managed to be gangly and have manners at the same time, a fascinating phenomenon to some extent. Wheatley seemed surprised once he took that bite, in a good way.

"…You…you used nan's recipe! omg! so fluffy and soft <3 <3 <3"

His smile while eating was priceless

"Uh… yeah" his little brother responds with some surprise "… it's the only recipe I had on hand, I didn't have time to do a comparative research of recipes as normal… but how did you know??"

"Huh, no one else could achieve this texture, it's one of nans's super powers, like they all always know what to do when something hurts without having any medical studies, as if they have a… kind of… pre-integrated medicine chip or something! or how they always manage to make the coats so warm, but they still always itch as hell!! is like, you know, one of those… uh, mysteries of life and science" He says taking another bite "I can't believe you managed to replicate it so well, Mr Perfect, this is tremendous! you must be very proud, you should!… and don't look at me with that face"

Arthur had that 'you're a child' look, but he almost looked like he wanted to smile this time.

"Come on, if you don't believe me, try it"

"No, no, I'm fine, is yours and-"

"It can't be, Artie, I'm so disappointed! don't you know? It's a very important rule, a chef must always taste his creations!! And! And- in this case, you would be the chef and the cake is your creation anyway, so it's your responsibility! So, unless you put something like... uh like poison in this thing or you don't think you actuallt did a good job, it's your responsibility, so come on!"

He brings the cake a little closer to him. Arthur gives up because he was curious to try the results of this cake anyway, considering the circumstances in which he made it, he was afraid to find something disappointing again compared to his previous creations, as it had been happening that week and he was a perfectionist. He took a bite and, to his surprise, it was good, without a doubt he had measured up. It wasn't perfect, tho, but there was something with it, he couldn't explain what or why, but there it was.

"Heh, see? It's good right? You're not fooling me. I told you! you should be proud, you absolutely should!" He says taking a sip of his tea "now, come on and help me finish it"

None of them noticed that there were 2 persons looking at them from the entrance door, a woman and a man, who just smile at the scene and, knowing that thing would probably go back to normal soon, they decided to leave them alone, their job there was done.

Arthur just sighed and toke another bite, he did want to keep eating it anyway so maybe he could be able to descipher that something he cound't understand. For now, he would just allow himself to enjoy that unperfect something for this one time, that unperfect something that, somehow, made the cake this cake sweeter than ever.

Aaand that was it, thanks for those who did read it till the end, it was longer than I was expecting o.ou

Hope you also liked it, specially Shrimps, if she read this. I don't know if I got the characterizations well, I hope I did at least well enough, I'm accepting any correction.

Thanks again to everyone who read this, but now, I have to do a few stuff before my next plushing, so.... well, see you next time

Bye!!

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