1/017: And if I lay her down to sleep; I look to science, her soul to keep.

[wheatdos]

[Wheatley is lounging about in GLaDOS's room, doing his best to try to keep the psychotic woman from murdering all of you her relaxed. As time consuming as a job like that is, he finds himself to be incredibly... well, lonely. Especially when your only company can barely keep a conversation with you because of the voices tormenting her mind. His voice sounds absolutely exhausted and out of breath. This guy hasn't slept in days...]

D-do you want to know what's really difficult?
Making friends.
And-and I don't mean those fair weather types you humans keep talking about. Wh-what are they called again? Acquaintances? Right right, that's it.

...I mean... well, actual friends. Don't know how you humans can have so many.

And...

[Give him a moment as he slowly inhales, to try to get a train of thought going. All he could think about was sleep...]

Would any of you know any... uh, suggestions... for helping people... wh-who might hear voices in their heads? Maybe? A friend of mine can't sleep and she's...she's... really, really having a hard time here.


GLaDOS:

/ACTION/

[He's sitting on the bed, raising his head to see her laying beside him. The man looks like death. His sunken eyes having a permanent purple tinted circle around them and he hadn't bothered to brush his hair in days. You're killing him, GLaDOS.]

I... I'm going to ask anyone... if maybe there's a way to help you.


Chell:

Uh... love? Love are you busy?
I could-could use your help here.
I-I don't suppose you've ever done any care taking?


CC:
Okay... I've thought about it! Long and hard! L-Let's make a deal.
You...stay away from me.

Comments

[silentrunning]

[You're in luck, GLaDOS! It's pork-flavoured Ramen! Yaaay! Perfect dietary supplement!

Chell reads the instructions on the bag carefully. Boiling water? How does one do this? She furrows her brows in concentration and goes digging around for a pot. Poor GLaDOS. She's never cooked anything in her life. Finally, though, her digging produces a pot.

Three cups of water? She has no clue how to use a measuring cup. So, she picks up the nearest tea mug, fills it and pours it into the pot three times. This looks like a lot of water... But she turns the heat on medium, since she's not sure how high to make it, and watches, keeping one eye on the pot and one eye on GLaDOS.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ The former AI had her eyes on Chell the entire time, hoping she had at least a faint clue of what she was doing.

Eventually, a bit anxious, she put the tea mug on the table before using the table to push her up to stand, taking a few drunken steps towards the stove. ]

Are you sure you're doing it right?

[silentrunning]

[As a matter of fact, she had no clue. She shot GLaDOS a questioning look and a shrug.

The water was just sitting innocently in the pot at the moment though, so everything was safe for now.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ That look worried her. So she would move to the ramen package, reading the back. ]

... Alright, it seems like you're doing it fine. For now. [ She puts the package back down, leaning against a counter, raising a hand to massage her temple. Getting up like that had made her dizzy... ]

[silentrunning]

[Chell has the biggest personal space bubble known to man, and GLaDOS is in it. So taking her eyes off the pot she turns to peer at GLaDOS with her normal direct gaze.

She's entirely not watching what's going on on the stove right now. But hey, the water wasn't boiling yet. GLaDOS really doesn't look very good right now. She looks like she's seriously about to fall over. At least to our intrepid Ramen cook.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS was feeling pretty faint, to be honest, but she attempted to hide it in the way she held an even gaze in response to Chell's stare. ]

What? I can stand just fine. [ she insisted stubbornly, her hand still massaging her temple, her other hand perched on the edge of the counter, keeping her even more balanced. ]

[silentrunning]

[Chell just shook her head. She didn't believe that for one minute. She just kept fixing GLaDOS with that steady gaze.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS ended up crossing her arms, staring at Chell defiantly, chin held high. ]

[silentrunning]

[And Chell, being stubborn, did not back down. She glanced at the pot, just long enough to see that the water was bubbling. Then looking back at GLaDOS, she tossed in the hard cake of dry noodles. Which of them would back down first?]

[OOC: I always make my Ramen in a microwave, so any inaccuracies in my account are not intended.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS certainly wasn't about to, keeping an even gaze on the mute lunatic as she continued making her food. Her head was pounding, a feeling she was growing accustomed to- and her vision would go dark at times, but she stared still, trying not to let her eyes unfocus. ]

Will you stop staring at me as if I'm going to suddenly fall over and die? [ she says a little irritatedly. ]

[ ooc: that's okay! I usually don't cook my ramen on a stove either. ]

[silentrunning]

[Chell just shakes her head, and goes back to stirring noodles. The thought does cross her mind that it's probably making GLaDOS extremely uncomfortable that SHE of all people is making her food. After all, would she want GLaDOS making her food, if the roles were reversed? Probably not.

And she's never cooked these noodle things before. What are they even? What's a noodle? She has not a single clue. But the package said stir them, so she is... But she still keeps her eyes trained on GLaDOS.

*Sighing, she sets down the fork she'd been stirring with and walks to the table for her journal. Flipping it open, she writes a message to GLaDOS, and then carries it across the room to hand it to the former AI. The message reads:]

But you look as if you are about to fall over. And I would not want you hurting yourself.

[Gods bless her. She didn't mean any harm by what she said...]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS took the journal, her words making her glare at Chell. The concern made her considerably angry- it was difficult to believe that the woman actually cared about her.

She probably wanted GLaDOS to keel over and die. Understandably so, considering she was her captor for so long.

The former AI huffed and slammed her journal onto the counter, crossing her arms again. ]

You don't actually care. [ she said stubbornly, childishly. ]

[silentrunning]

[GLaDOS's words struck a nerve, hard. Maybe it wasn't even the words. Maybe it was the tone. Later, Chell wouldn't be able to tell. But it was bad enough that she was putting herself out there on the line to care for someone who obviously hated her so much. But having it flung back in her face like that? Well, this was unacceptible.

Chell's concerned face paled considerably. She was shaking just a little. But she still was standing her ground. even though her knees were probably knocking together, she stepped a few steps closer. With trembling hands, she picked up the journal that GLaDOS had slammed down, smoothed out the ruffled pages, as if it were a sacred object to her, and continued to glare. With a flourish she wrote again, so hard this time that the page almost tore.]

You don't want me to care. Because if I care, it will mean that I'm something more than a test subject, because if you allowed yourself to believe I cared, it will mean that maybe I'm something other than just your lab rat.

[She held her journal up for GLaDOS to see. But as soon as GLaDOS would look, if she looked, Chell would close her journal carefully, and stand, head held high, eyes full of nothing more than pure stubbornness, waiting for GLaDOS's next move. Never mind that the logic in what she said is a bit circular.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ Chell's reaction was honestly a bit startling- it had been awhile since someone had so openly defied her. Wheatley loved her, sure, but he was also still intimidated by her- thus he wouldn't react in such a manner.

GLaDOS read the words quickly, frowning still, pushing off of the counter to stand straight. Of course, her balance was failing her, what with her dizziness, and she stumbled awkwardly once.

Those words were true- she didn't want Chell to care. She didn't want to open up to anyone more than she already had- it scared her. ]

I don't think I would understand you caring in the first place. [ she said lowly, moving away from Chell, out of the kitchen area, none too gracefully. She felt her legs nearly give out from under her, grabbing for the edge of the counter, her vision blurring and darkening. ]

... Nngh...

[silentrunning]

[Chell could not have moved faster if a turret were on her tail. She lunged across the room, in an attempt to catch GLaDOS if she fell. She wasn't sorry for her defiance. Heck no. But she did care, somehow. Even after all of that.

All her thoughts were a blur of confusion and anger and more than a little fear as she lunged. Just hopefully it was a quick enough movement.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ No worries- Chell was more than quick enough, and GLaDOS crumpled easily in her arms, letting out a pained whimper. Her hands moved to find balance on the woman's shoulders, her head tilted forward, blinking madly, trying to will the black dots away from her field of vision. ]

... ugh... gh... [ she groaned out. She looked rather pale, even considerably more compared to before. ]

[silentrunning]

[Old habits die hard. Chell's entire body tensed under that touch, but she didn't step away. After all, she knew deep down that if she did, GLaDOS would fall. And she'd taken the trouble to dart over and catch her.

Carefully, she put her hands on GLaDOS's shoulders, both supporting and steering her back to the table, and back to her seat.

And then the smell hit her nose. What was that smell? She raised her head and sniffed the air. Something somewhere smelled like...burning?

And then. Then she remembered the noodles. Tearing back to the kitchen she jerked the pot off the stove and started poking at the noodles with the fork, trying to remove the brown, scorched bits. Thanks to her surplus of water though, about half the package would still be edible. She stirred the seasoning packet in, and carried the steaming bowl to the table, plopping it down in front of GLaDOS. Then she flopped down next to Wheatley again and sat, waiting to see what would happen. Yup. She's totally viewing GLaDOS like a ticking bomb now.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS begrudgingly let Chell lead her back to the chair, slumping a little when she also caught a whiff of the burning.

She let out a groan when the lunatic ran towards the stove, trying to get over her sudden dizzy spell- this was terrible... By the time Chell had returned and served her the bowl of noodles, she just gave her a little frown, picking up the fork and poking at the noodles, herself.

It... seemed edible. She looked it over suspiciously, glancing at Chell before she would take some of the noodles in her fork. ]

... this is edible, right?

[ No matter how thankful she was for food, she was still grouchy- and also, she couldn't hold back the snarky comments. It was what made her GLaDOS, after all. ]

[silentrunning]

[Fortunately for GLaDOS, Chell barely even noticed the snark anymore, and hadn't for years. She answered with a nod before flopping down next to Wheatley, hands pressed flat on the table in front of her. Things burning really kind of bothered her, or at least things that smelled like hot metal burning did, anyhow.

Slowly, she picked up her journal, and wrote...]

I think they're edible. I picked out the brown gross bits.

Mmm. Bet that makes those noodles so much more appetizing.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS let out a little sigh. ]

Well, I guess this is the best I'm going to get. [ Not like the moron knew how to make much else other than eggs and sandwiches, but she found herself almost wanting to wake him up to ask for food... that actually was possibly edible.

Out of the kindness of her heart (more like her laziness to reach over and shake him), she didn't, instead blowing gently on the noodles before slurping them up.

Well, it wasn't too terrible... ]

I guess it'll have to do.

[silentrunning]

[Chell nodded at GLaDOS's last words and then rose from her chair, clomping back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned with the forlorn half of the package of noodles in a bowl of her own, the scorched, mooshy, nasty, half-burned part.

Flopping down at the table, she started choking them down, slurping them up out of her fingers. Who needs forks?

They were pretty abysmal, some being absolutely crunchy. But Chell didn't care. Someone had to eat them. She couldn't let food go to waste. GLaDOS might not realize it, but Chell had given her all the best noodles, on purpose, because she could eat anything at all.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ She was a bit surprised by Chell taking the terrible part of the food, to be honest, but she wouldn't comment, slurping up her own noodles hungrily.

They ate in silence for awhile until GLaDOS spoke up again: ]

So what are you doing here, now? Since you're not testing.

Written 4evar!

[silentrunning]

[Chell stopped eating for a minute when GLaDOS asked her question. She wiped her noodley fingers on the leg of the leg of her jumpsuit. She sat perfectly still for a long moment considering. To tell the truth she wasn't sure what to do without testing.]

I'm not sure what to do... But I did stamp on a bag of feces I found burning in my hall. that was fun!

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS raises an eyebrow, clearly not very impressed by this. ]

A bag of burning feces. Very impressive. [ She sounds so sarcastic. ]

Ashamed to admit it but I'd pay to hear GLaDOS say feces.

[silentrunning]

[Chell just shrugs her shoulders. GLaDOS had asked, hadn't she? Her next words are in a bit smaller writing.]

Well, you did ask. And that's what I did. That and stomping bubble wrap. How do they get the air into that? And I looked for music.

[Chell'd been busy. Maybe not in GLaDOS-approved activities. But hey, she's used to the sarcasm. But she is a little surprised GLaDOS tried to make conversation with her and she, as always voices it.]

Are you lonely? You're talking to me... Even though you think I'm a monster. And you're being civil?