"can i help you with something?" you ask sun in muffled amusement one day, eyes glued to the tablet in your hands. the last kid at the daycare had finally been picked up, leaving you to do your end-of-day inventory check in preparation for tomorrow.
"hm?" sun feigns ignorance, lanky body casting your own in his shadow as he hovers over you at your side. "with what?" a tone of innocence lines his voice, but you know he is anything but.
you look up to give him a deadpanned stare, metallic fingers pinching gently at your cheek and pulling slightly in a way that makes your mouth stretch. "oh, i don't know," you start in a lighthearted manner, "do you need your fingers oiled again?"
sun tugs at your cheek a bit harder and you swat at his arm, but he doesn't relent. "mmmmnope! joints are in tip-top shape!"
"well can you stop pinching my cheek?" you roll your eyes and are forced to lower your tablet when his other hand comes up to pinch and pull at your other cheek, too. it makes him crowd further into your space, his lithe form moving to cover your front as his head bends over your significantly smaller body.
sun only hums again and you're forced to adhere to his whims for the time being. you know you won't be able to pry him away, robot strength be damned. "i can't help it! you're so... squishy."
"well, yes." you snort to yourself and squint your eyes closed as he pulls at your skin as though it's made of playdough. spoiler alert, it's not. "human being, remember? not durable robot?" you emphasize the word in an attempt to get him to stop, but he ignores it. you huff, and when you feel your cheeks start to ache from his ministrations, you complain. "sun, c'mon, you're acting like my grandma at holidays. stop it."
sun lets out a little click that makes you peek up at him through your eyelashes. his head has tilted to the right, and a twitch of his smile is all the warning you get before he forces himself further into your personal space.
"ooh look how much you've grown!" sun coos down at you in an impression of someone elderly, thumbs rubbing into your cheeks. it makes you huff, but you resign yourself to his teasing. hopefully he just needs to get it out of his system. "my baby is so big now! adorable! gorgeous! they grow up so fast!" he releases one of your cheeks so he can pretend to wipe a tear from one of his white eyes. you internally celebrate at the relief and quickly lift your hand not holding your tablet to cover your aching cheek. his head tilts to the left at the loss, but he's still got his fingers pinching at the other side of your face. you're not sure how much of this you can take.
"sun, buddy, you're killing me over here," you manage to get out, ears tinged red at all his attention. his grin seems to widen.
"i remember when you were just a wee thing!" sun continues in a voice that's a pretty spot on imitation of someone in their later years. "dancing around, pretending to marry that little toy you had. tell me sweetie, do you have any special person in your life, hm? any lover? am i gonna have any grandbabies running around soon?"
a flush crawls up your neck at his words and you halfheartedly glower up at him. honestly, what the hell? where is this even coming from? sun only finds delight in your glare, however, if the way his rays spin around is any indication.
"dude," is all you manage to say. it makes his eyes upturn into crescents. "knock it off— ow! hey, that hurts!" he'd given your cheek a particularly rough tug and it makes something drop in the pit of your stomach. you watch with wide eyes as he lowers himself until his face is mere inches from yours, dark with the shadows from the fluorescent lighting above.
"well?" sun whispers to you, all the mirth and delight gone from his voice as though they had never been there in the first place. you swallow heavily and suddenly feel very, very uneasy. his smile stretches farther along his face, unnatural and thin. "do you?"
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you ever think about how gerome and fake pep are the only two guys who really only ever knew the tower as their home? i do
lots of fp text in this one so full un-ciphered script is going under cut below. [mostly just a bunch of headcanon nonsense about his whole Situation in the tower :p] [there is also a second bonus after because i am insufferable] anyway,
bonus:
hey! it's a series! fake peppino world tour: [noise] [noisette] [peppino] [gustavo] [gerome] <-u are here [noisette again]
gerome: i say there monstrosity! do you know the times?
fp: …?
gerome: haha! just an old joke, lad.
gerome: but seriously, i never saw you around the tower much. what's your deal?
fp: ...
fp: 👈 ??
gerome: yes you! you never struck me as just some hired goon like the rest.
fp: i… i don't really know.
gerome: oh come now, you needn't be modest.
fp: i'm not! i-
[fp takes a seat]
fp: they…. didn't tell me much. the…the lab. you know it?
gerome: i'd pass though, now and again.
fp: i was there for awhile, with lots of other copies
gerome: oh, you knew the other clones? what were they like?
fp: nutritious.
gerome: ah.
fp: they-the tall one- moved me to….「bruno's」 later.
gerome: tall one… you mean pizzahead?
fp: uh….right.「pizzahead」 …started changing it. kept changing it. i think i was waiting for something. waiting… to open? but he told me to keep-stay in there. to guard it. was there…longer than the labs but we never got to finish…. but i think we were close. But then「pep-
pep: woah. never seen him this chatty
gerome: just have to ask the right questions, i suppose
pep: I mean, sure but-- wait, you can understand him???
gerome: it's only natural, after all, he is at least in part- part of the tower; made from its power and resources, and so connected with my brother...and to some extent, myself. his speech resonates with the old echoes through its chambers, and while i may not be as omniscient, it has no secrets that would fully elude me.
pep: ...uh. ok, sure. what's he saying?
fp: ..!
fp: XXX!
gerome: ah…. seems he's a bit embarrassed.
pep: aw. er…look, it may not be my business, but whatever happened in the tower is behind us now, yeah? i know i sure try to forget it too
fp: 😬
fp: ...😓👍
[fp turns back to gerome]
fp: ............i wasn’t done
gerome: he wasn't done.
fp: yeah. then 「peppino」 came through. you probably know. hard to miss him.
gerome: heh, I'll say.
fp: We fought, I stayed…. didn't know anything else until 「pizzahead」grabbed me. fighting more on the roof...
fp: You know the rest? you ran out with us...
gerome: mhm
fp: And… now we’re here.
gerome: now we’re here…
fp: ...that's all i had. so..... i still don't really know. sorry...
gerome: ah, don't be. that's just how it goes, i guess. not much that can be done now...
gerome: i suppose we both left some things behind in that tower. i certainly know it can be daunting to leave the fold of familiarity.
gerome: but, for what it's worth...i think it’s for the better things worked out for us as they did.
fp: yeah…
bonus! 2!!
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