Chapter Text
Beeping.
A lot of constant beeping.
Mob opened his eyes.
White walls, white floor, in a room all on his own. At first, he tried to scream, tried to make some sort of sound but nothing would come out. He could barely even move, one hand slowly raising before collapsing straight into his own thigh once more. His brain went into overdrive trying to figure out what had happened to him, what Verity had done to him in an attempt to keep him alive. All he could hear was beeping and noises outside, but he was so distraught with worry that he’d have to spend the rest of his life spending time with Verity he didn’t comprehend the fact there were voices outside he didn’t recognise. Voices of actual, real people. He looked down at his hand, at the flesh and gentleness he’d lost in the Minecraft world, and was briefly confused at the sudden change.
Next, he looked over at the small telly at the end of the bed playing some show he couldn’t recognise anymore. Faintly familiar, yes, but he couldn’t put his finger on it yet. Especially when he was still so exhausted- just being awake and trying to move had sucked all of the energy out of him, even though that made no sense whatsoever. There were some flowers beside him, purple and red (although they were so dark they looked black) roses sat in a vase, freshly watered. Who would bring him flowers? Mob was pretty sure roses never looked like that.
What was happening?
“The food out there was fucking trash.” Finally, a voice he recognised on the other side of the closed door. Absolutely exhausted and tired as if he’d been awake for days on end, so worried even as he bashed the hospital cafeteria’s food. “Tasted so fucking bland. We’ve been here for how long and they can’t even give us good food?”
Twixxel. Fuck, Mob was so glad he was alive. He’d been completely convinced he was dead, but his voice was right out there. Unless this was some kind of sick alternate roleplay map he’d been taken to where it was as realistic as possible, trying to fool Mob into security and the thing actually out there was a robot or just something mimicking his voice.
Mob’s overthinking was in overdrive as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Dreams blurred with reality until he could no longer see the perfectly created line, not even considering what he went through might’ve not been as clear as it seemed.
“You barely ate. Not feeling like plain pasta?”
So he was talking to someone. Based on the tone of his voice and the familiarity in it, it was someone he knew well and was close friends with. Maybe Mob knew them too, or maybe they were coming to help him during his own recovery. Mob had absolutely no idea, and the uncertainty was killing him when he just wanted to understand so badly. He hoped it wasn’t Grox. He wasn’t sure he could deal with him right now.
“Not hungry.”
It came out quiet, barely audible, but Mob knew that voice anywhere. He could’ve recognised him anywhere and he knew exactly what it was. That exact same voice that had been taunting him for weeks, the same voice that had led to this. The beeping got louder and louder as his heart began to race, breath coming in as short, desperate gasps as he tried to pull in air, even though he was still in an oxygen mask. It wasn’t that he was actually breathing, it was an intense panic attack he’d never gone through before. One shaking hand tried to clutch his own chest, but he couldn’t move anymore. All of his energy was gone.
The beeping was angry and loud, too much for his senses, and he tried to tilt his head away from the noise, but once more couldn’t move far. Nobody came rushing in to save him- he assumed whatever he was going through now was something that had happened over and over again, and they couldn’t do anymore to help him. Either that or they thought it was a sign of him dying. Mob didn’t know what.
“Wait. You know what they say about going in when he’s like that.” Twixxel said, his voice breaking, “Let’s wait. Maybe shower. I- I know I reek, so don’t worry…”
The door creaked open, and in the doorway was…
Hm.
He wasn’t supposed to look like that.
“Mob.” Verity whispered, “You're awake.” He said it like he never actually expected him to wake up, but it was all from worry instead of anything malicious like Mob had expected.
Instead of some monstrous creature or a yellow ball like Mob had become so familiar with, Verity looked like a perfectly normal human, albeit pretty greasy. Unwashed blond hair that was slicked back permanently from how many times he’d run his hand through it, bright blue eyes that narrowed with something that made Mob feel sick and lips bitten into agony. As he got close to him Mob felt himself tensing, but there wasn’t anything mean about his gaze. All it was- it was worry. Just worry.
There was a chair next to the beside table with the flowers on, angled directly next to the bed as if someone had been sitting and sleeping there for days. On the other side of the room was a sofa with two pillows, as if they’d been sharing it when one of them wasn’t on the chair. While Mob didn’t want to assume they’d been here the entire time, the look on Verity’s face told him that it was true. Verity’s shirt had these gross splatters of blood that were dried and probably weeks old. Had he not changed the entire time?
“We’ve been worried sick.” He slumped in the chair with such familiarity, “I’ve been- I… Oh, Mob, how could you not talk to us? If something was wrong we could’ve helped you. We’re always here for you. You know that.”
Mob looked at him with distance and confusion.
“U-u-uu…”
He hadn’t meant to say it, but it slipped out naturally as if still talking to the AI. The look of hurt on Verity’s face as he leaned back in his chair, gasping in shock. Almost like it was unlike him entirely. Like he didn’t understand. He looked both horrified and hurt, his hand reaching out to grab Mob’s before deciding that wasn’t right.
“What?” He looked like he was about to sob, “What did I do?”
It was only then Mob realised he was slurring and snapped his mouth shut in shame. He looked confused at Verity’s confusion, eyebrows knitting tightly together as he stared into the eyes that looked so much more familiar now.
“I’d never.” Verity insisted, leaning in to plead his case. “Mob, I- I’m so sorry.”
“Nu-Nuh… I…” Mob had to avert his gaze, “Huh…?”
“Do you not remember?”
“O-oh-oh… N- ghh…”
“You shot yourself.” Verity whispered, “Three… About three weeks ago now. In our flat. They kept you in a coma as they did all these- these things to you. So many surgeries and- I’m just glad you're awake.”
“Fl…”
“In our flat.”
“N… O-oh?”
“Mhm.” Verity seemed to calm finally, as if understanding that Mob wasn’t entirely sure of what was happening nor did he remember much of the events. When he’d spoken to the doctor and nurses, they’d told him that Mob might’ve had memories of things that didn’t actually happen, which could’ve blurred the line between reality and real life. Any things said- not to take them to heart. “Did I upset you? Or…”
“U… Mnnn… M-mi- n- nuh…” Mob fell silent once more, shaking his head in frustration that he couldn’t get words out when his thoughts were going a mile a minute.
“I can’t believe you're awake.” Another voice for Mob to pay attention to. Twixxel this time, standing in the doorway and holding onto the door as if he was about to faint. The oddest thing about it all was that he didn’t even look injured. As he stood there Mob’s eyes searched for any signs of injury, but nothing. “Fuck, you gave me quite the shock. I was shitting myself.” He laughed dryly, the familiar one Mob felt like he hadn’t heard in years.
“I think he actually did.” An attempt at a joke, and it did draw a smile out of Mob, which made Verity smile briefly. “That’s why he’s only been wearing the same pants for the last three weeks and not the entire time.”
“At least I changed, unlike someone.” Twixxel huffed, then pulled up another chair to sit on the other side of Mob. This one was much less used, as they’d clearly been taking turns.
“I put on deodorant and changed my underwear and socks. That’s enough.” His attention flickered to Mob once more, and he put his hand on the edge of the bed, trying to tell him that he could touch him if he wanted to. He was still confused at the sudden hostility, but felt a little better remembering it was probably just a weird coma dream. “Do you want to listen to some music?”
Mob was confused, but nodded as best as he could.
“I’ll pick one of your favourites.” Verity tried to force a grin, turning away to shut the door and turn on a speaker he’d brought with him in what Mob assumed was their single trip back home. He faintly remembered them all living together, which made him feel worse as he briefly imagined what they’d walked into. “Minecraft OST?”
That got a strong reaction out of him. A sudden shake of the head with more energy than he actually had, not wanting to listen to any of that music he’d heard over and over again.
“That’s alright.” Verity whispered, “I’ll put on Beyonce instead. How about you relax, buddy?”
“Why are you insisting on putting music on?” Twixxel asked, trying to force some normal conversation.
“It can help.”
“Yeah, sorry, Mr. Neuroscientist over there knows everything, I forgot that.”
Mob blinked. He stared at the back of Verity’s head as he hunched over his phone, cursing about ‘stupid technology’ and then being unable to find the home button when his phone didn’t even have one. It made him think. This wasn’t the Verity Mob had gotten familiar with, but he still felt an odd connection with him, even now.
With all the energy he could muster, he put his hand on top of Verity’s. It took a disgusting amount of energy, and his eyes fluttered shut as he tried to fall asleep with the hopes he could speak a little more when he woke up.
Verity had never held him so gently before. How he squeezed his hand ever so softly, giving him this smile an AI would’ve never been able to recreate.
Once Mob was finally asleep to the soft music, Twixxel and Verity’s eyes met across the bed. Neither of them wanted to say anything and break the silence, praying that this wouldn’t be the sudden burst of energy before he died that they both had been so worried about. They hoped he’d wake up soon, sleeping enough that he’d feel better but waking quick enough the pair wouldn’t have to worry he was dead.
“You look upset.” Twixxel commented, “Did he say something?”
“He said it was my fault, basically.”
“What? No- he- we’re a trio, dude! If you did something to set him off I would’ve heard about it. He was going through shit- I- I- uhm- Verity…”
“I think it was one of those coma dreams we’ve been told about.”
“You think?”
“When have you ever heard Mob refuse to listen to Minecraft music? He listens to it when he sleeps.”
“Never.” He shook his head, “Good point. He seemed to recognise us, though, which was good! Maybe something in his dream happened between you two.”
“Seems like it. It doesn’t matter. Right now…”
“Go and shower.”
“What?”
“You reek dude. You smell like musk and dove deodorant. Go and shower. Or take a bath or something.”
“Rich coming from you. You’ll be fine looking after him?”
“Yes, dude. If anything happens I’ll call the nurses then you. But don’t expect me to start calling you if he wakes up or any stupid shit like that. You smell.” Twixxel waved him around with a snap of his wrist, shaking his head disapprovingly at the idea of Verity not putting new clothes on yet. “You’ve still got blood on your shirt. You did bring other clothes did you?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t want to change while I was still dirty and hadn’t showered.” Finally, he stood up from the chair, actually agreeing to shower. Twixxel couldn’t judge him though as he was pretty gross too, so it was all encouraging instead of his usual comments and jokes. “Did you bring shampoo?”
“Nah. I got my popcorn body wash. What else do I need?”
“No. No, no. Don’t use that on your hair. Fuck’s sake Twixxel, I literally bought you proper shampoo. Have you used it even once?”
“No…?”
“Use mine.”
“Nope! I love smelling like popcorn. Go, go!”
Verity rolled his eyes but took his things and shut the door very gently behind him, leaving the pair alone. Finally. Both of them had felt gross for ages, but they’d been too worried to spend the time actually looking after themself. It had taken them the entire three weeks to even leave the room and go to the cafeteria which was a five minute walk away, which was why they’d been so disappointed at how gross the food was. The showers were a longer walk away and were intended for patients, but they’d been allowed to use it as they literally hadn’t left.
It looked like Mob was still asleep, but his eyes were shut slightly too tight and he shuffled more than he usually did while sleeping. Not like Twixxel watched him or anything. Was that weird? It sounded weird, but Mob wasn’t very interesting when he was fast asleep. Either Twixxel and Verity spent the time sleeping, chatting or just staring at his face. Twixxel decided to just allow him to slip back into sleep, deciding he’d have to ask the nurses about the next step from here.
It would be hard. Both had been warned already. The fact he’d even woken up at all was a miracle in itself, but this was only the long step. He was glad they all lived together- having to go back and forth would be a pain.
Although, one of them was going to have to clean up the flat before they ever took Mob home.
“Sorry. I’ve come to do his medicine.” The nurse said softly, blinking in surprise at the change of position. “He’s awake? That’s good, but I’ll have to call the Doctor to come and check him out. Make sure there’s no problems. Did he recognise you both?”
“Sorta- it’s- it’s complicated.”
“That’s fine. Talk to the Doctor about it. Where’d your friend go?”
“Showers. He- uhm- the patient ones. Someone told us the code, so…”
“It’s fine, dear. Lay down for me, will ya? Wound up as tight as a spring- that won’t do anyone any good. I’ll wake you up if we need you, alright?”
Twixxel didn’t look convinced, but agreed anyway. Best to let them do their job while he could get some rest. He laid down on the sofa, stretching out for the first time since they got there and practically collapsing the second his head hit the pillow.
It had been exhausting for everyone.
Mob woke up feeling a little more energised. Not much, but he could move his hands more and could move his head. His legs he could feel, so he wasn’t worried about paralysis or anything, but he just didn’t have the energy to deal with that. Someone was in the chair beside him, someone who wasn’t Twixxel or Verity, and Mob scowled before realising they were sat on the sofa.
“He seems present.” The Doctor hummed with an annoying click of his teeth, “Now I’ll test his reactions. You said you spoke to him?”
“I c-caa-nn… h- h- ghh… ea-r uuu...”
“Ah. Apologies, Mob. I hadn’t noticed you’d woken up. Are you having trouble speaking?”
“Mhmm…”
“That’s expected. Based on what I can see, there’s nothing to worry about at the moment. I can’t say when we can discharge you, but it won’t be anytime soon. We need to continue monitoring you and then start therapy.” The Doctor pulled away and motioned for Verity to speak to him, making Mob cock his head in confusion.
“Verity’s making all your medical choices at the moment. He knows all about this mumbo jumbo.” Twixxel automatically jumped into the chair the second the pair left the room. “Why’d you look so sour? Do you not remember Verity?”
“I…” He settled on nodding softly. “Mmm…”
“Did he do something to upset you?” Twixxel’s lip quivered at the idea, “He said you… Look, Mob, if something happened between you two or if he hurt you I will fucking kill him. You can tell me anything. You know that. Right?”
Mob looked away. Everything pointed towards this not being some created reality and instead being real life. Faintly, he could remember the three being friends, but thinking too hard was making his head ache so he tried to avoid it. As much as he wanted to explain everything that had happened between him and Verity, it was far too difficult to talk. In the end, he squeezed his lips shut and shook his head, deciding to trust the genuine worry and confusion on Verity’s face. The AI was never ‘good’ at being human, so the sudden change had to stem from something.
“Nuh- oh…”
“You sure? If you don’t want him back in here…”
Hazy eyes flickered back towards the door when Verity walked in. The pair had obviously showered as he slept, but Mob was clearly surprised at Verity’s appearance. He looked much nicer when actually showered, nothing like Mob expected him to look. Curly hair (he did not expect Verity to actually have curls) and casual clothes. He’d always expected Verity to be the type to wear suits and fancy clothes, but he was realising that maybe his memories of the AI Verity had bled into the real one. This Verity was much gentler and understanding, albeit they seemed to share some traits.
As he moved, Mob decided not to be so harsh towards him. The way that Twixxel seemed so comfortable around him and they both moved so humanly… Mob put a little bit more trust into the idea this wasn’t all a trick.
Mob hadn’t realised a lot of things about himself until now. All of the feelings he was adjusted to had only slowly started coming back, and he looked down at his hands and was surprised at the violent shaking. He cursed internally, glaring miserable at his own hands and realising he wouldn’t be able to do a whole lot of things anymore. Not like he’d wanted to do things like becoming a neurosurgeon anyway, but the knowledge did make his stomach twist sadly.
“You're going to have to stay here for a while.” Verity said calmly, following Mob’s gaze. “You're still on a whole lot of drugs. It’s gonna- it’ll be hard. But just recover a little more to begin with, okay? Then I’ll tell you a little more about the next steps. Dude, just being able to talk like this is an absolute miracle. You should be proud of yourself.”
Verity had certainly never said dude before. Mob stared at his face, memorising all the lines and slopes which should’ve been instantly recognisable for him. In the back of his mind he could remember it all, and he hoped it would come back to him eventually. One shaking hand, one hat took an insane amount of energy to even lift like he was, came up to rest on Verity’s hair. Very curly.
“Oh Mob.” Verity hummed, “Aren’t you sweet?”
Mob tilted his head a little, letting his hand rest there so he could regain a little more energy. None of this was fair. He didn’t remember anything from before he tried to- to kill himself. He would’ve said he couldn’t believe he’d tried to kill himself but this was the second attempt now. If he had known it would’ve led to this, he certainly wouldn’t have even tried. Yet his thoughts on the matter were useless now, as he lived with the consequences of what he’d done. He wondered if Verity and Twixxel were mad at him, before quickly reminding himself they’d sat at his side for three weeks.
“Now you're awake I’ll have to start going back to work again.” Verity said, frowning at him miserably, “I’ve been working from here. Glad I haven’t had to see any patients. They would’ve judged me and found me a gross piece of shit.”
“He’s been looking at brain scans from his laptop while rotting on the sofa.” Twixxel jumped in, “Someone’s gotta work otherwise we’d be homeless.”
“Luckily Twixxel doesn’t have an actual job. I bet that’s the first time anyone has ever said that to him his entire life.”
Twixxel huffed but laughed a little anyway.
“But that doesn’t even matter. Sitting here with you has led to me hearing so much drama. Do you wanna hear?” Verity shuffled along the floor with excitement, reaching up to hold Mob’s hand- even if he moved it very slowly away from his hair. “All these fuckin’ nurses dude.”
Mob nodded excitedly.
“You can always wake Mob up with the promise of drama.” Twixxel hummed, “I’ve already heard about this. Don’t frown, he was telling you too! You were just asleep and probably couldn’t remember anything. Y’know, when you're feeling better you’ll have to tell us about what happened while you were out!”
That did not get a good reaction out of Mob. He didn’t want to talk about everything he’d gone through, especially when Verity was literally right there. How was he supposed to tell him he’d practically dreamed of him being an emotionally abusive asshole who’d ruined everything he loved and made him kill himself? Especially after how Verity had almost started sobbing when he even suggested it might’ve been his fault in the slightest.
“You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Verity added on, “It’s fine. It might be painful to think about if it was something negative.”
“Nuh- oh…” That was one of the easiest words to pronounce at the moment, which was why he’d repeated it over and over again. “Mnn…” He waved his other hand only slightly, so Verity would finally start waffling on about the workdrama.
“You're gonna love this. So there’s an entire affair going on- yeah I knew you’d be excited- so..”
Twixxel had already heard this story before, but he smiled and nodded along like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever heard. The way Mob’s face lit up and his eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement at hearing drama, no matter how mundane. He was pretty confident he’d never understand why Mob was being off with Verity, but he was glad to just see him doing better and smiling again.
Day three since Mob had woken up. Laying there in that bed and either speaking or watching the telly or sleeping was incredibly boring, so they decided they’d let him see some other sights. It had taken three nurses, Verity, Twixxel and a doctor on standby, but they’d managed to get him in a wheelchair, comfortable to the point he wouldn’t have to move around much. Although he was told over and over again to rest, Mob was so determined to keep moving he wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was some kind of grace that he was so ready to recover, because the duo wouldn’t have been able to watch him waste away again.
Twixxel was in charge of wheeling Mob along while Verity looked after the IV. Being able to move down the hallways was a nice change of pace, and Mob looked curiously around at everything there like he’d never seen it before. Everything was so realistic, and his eyes were forced to get used to the sight of things no longer being blocky and a little washed out. It was as if the world had suddenly gotten brighter.
“Where we heading?”
“Back to the cafeteria. I know it was shit, dude, but who the fuck can fail cheesy chips? Just throw some cheese on. As long as it’s actually melted…”
“It won’t be. Your hopes are too high.”
Mob laughed, and his mouth watered at the idea of eating some cheesy chips, but he wasn’t allowed to have solid food at the moment. Just to reduce the risk of choking if he’d somehow forgotten how to chew and swallow. While Mob thought that was ridiculous, Verity was very strict on obeying the doctor’s orders, determined to make Mob’s recovery as smooth as possible.
At the moment, he’d been put on an IV. Fluids and medication and painkillers so he was on such a huge concoction of drugs, but luckily it meant he wasn’t in absolute agony like he would’ve been.
“What are you gonna get, Verity?”
“Dunno. Maybe that pasta again. It wasn’t too bad.”
“Your so fucking lame. At least get a sauce with it?”
“Nah. Plain pasta all the way.” He looked down at Mob with a mock frown, “What? Why are you looking at me like that, Mister? I can enjoy plain pasta if I want to.”
Mob rolled his eyes. There was some playful judgement in his eyes. Verity wasn’t the one from his dream. That loser wouldn’t have eaten plain pasta. Would he? Maybe. Okay, Mob really wasn’t sure but he was willing to let himself melt into the daydream that everything was going to be okay. The stupid jeans and baggy shirt Verity was wearing were way too ugly for the AI to pick something like that, and he was surprisingly short. If this was all a perfectly curated alternate world, Verity certainly would’ve made himself taller, but somehow, Mob was the tallest out of them all. He knew he was taller than Twixxel and Verity also showed off small-man vibes.
“You were a lot easier to get along with when you were in a coma.”
The room went silent, and Twixxel gave Verity an odd look to take it back, but Mob found it absolutely hilarious. Throwing his head back gently and laughing, which sounded like a wheeze and then he started coughing.
“Forgot you're just so funny.” Twixxel quipped, “He always laughs at your jokes. Me thinks there’s something Mob isn’t telling us.”
That didn’t get a laugh.
Verity and Twixxel quickly settled back into normal conversation, but Mob was staring at the ground, deep in thought. Upon hearing that, something in his stomach had swirled so nastily it didn’t make any sense. He didn’t have feelings for Verity. Or, perhaps, he didn’t remember the feelings he had for Verity after everything that had happened. But his memories were slowly coming back to him- glimpses of happier times when he felt empty inside.
It was temporary amnesia as Verity called it, and Mob wasn’t sure how it was supposed to come back to him, but he was content with the drips of misery instead of feeling it at once. One thing he certainly wasn’t excited to recall was the feeling. Not the feeling of the shot or the agony after, in those brief moments he was still conscious and he felt warm hands on him, because he already remembered that. It was why he did it. Why did he even buy the gun in the first place when he had two people by his side? He had a lot of questions to answer, but he couldn’t even answer them himself yet.
None of that mattered now, though. The journey before him would be long, and he knew that was his priority instead of wondering all sorts of endless questions. Physical therapy, speech therapy and talking therapy when he could speak full sentences again. An entire regime Veritty had spent the previous day creating when he didn’t step out of the room to actually do his job.
Right now, Verity was on break.
Mob was parked at one of the tables, sat in the corner as per the pleading request from his eyes. He tried not to speak when he didn’t need to, constantly ignoring Verity’s encouragement to make sounds. He also liked to be able to avoid people’s eyes. He didn’t know what he looked like anymore, but he knew it couldn’t have been pretty with how the bullet went through his jaw. Verity had once alluded to him having to undergo jaw reconstruction, so Mob didn’t mind when some of the younger kids stared at him.
“I’ll need to make the flat wheelchair-friendly. Pick all the shit up off the floor.” He constantly kept talking. Verity was constantly trying to engage him in conversation, and Mob didn’t mind, even if he totally should’ve. “But I’m going to be totally honest with you. Your room is off-limits for now. Neither of us have been in there.”
“Guh- g-guh…” Mob did still try, even if it didn’t come out right. “Ruh- oh-” A couple of letters were difficult for him.
“Gross?”
“Mm…”
“Yeah. I’m not going to give you graphics, but it’s gross. Not much splatter, but it’s in your carpet. Either me or Twixxel will have to sleep on the sofa. Or share a bed.”
“Hmmm…” He looked down at the shirt Verity was wearing now. The last one- he was pretty sure that was his blood. Disgusting. “S-su-suh…”
“Whatever you're about to say, shut it. I don’t want to hear it.”
That made Mob frown and tilt his head, almost expecting the normal Verity to jump through there at how rough his voice came out. As if suddenly the facade would be revealed and they’d be back in Minecraft once more, but that didn’t end up happening. Ever so gently, Verity raised his hand to cup Mob’s cheek, rubbing ever so softly, smiling at him softly, a thing Mob would’ve never wanted to forget.
“You don’t need to apologise. Never. Just let me help you.”
What Mob seriously would’ve given in that moment to call him a sap. And he opened his mouth in the attempt to say it, before deciding not to when Verity was looking at him with such genuine eyes. Stroking his cheek with a small smile, making such constant eye contact. Was this normal between them? Jeez, did he always act this gay? It came so naturally to Verity, so that made Mob wonder if they were like this all the time.
“Gay.” Twixxel smirked at them as he walked back over, “I got your food.”
“It’s not even melted.” Verity scowled at what was placed in front of him, pulling away to stare at the miserable chips. The cheese was just plonked on there miserable, barely even melted. How the hell was that fair? Really, he’d always wondered why patients were so miserable, but with food like this he would’ve been miserable every day too. “Stupid shit. What did you get?”
“Burger.”
“Mmm… Looks really nice… You know I’d really like some of that…”
Twixxel huffed, cutting off about a third of the burger and throwing it into Verity’s chips, then taking some for himself and chucking them onto his plate. Sharing- how kind! Mob was briefly surprised at how much they got along. He really wished he could have some. His mouth was watering a little as he stared at it, hoping he’d be able to eat soon too. Consuming through the IV was pretty good at keeping him healthy, but he really liked eating.
“But seriously, what was that gay shit? I’ve never seen you guys do that before.”
So it wasn’t normal.
“I can feel sentimental.” Verity glared at him a little, “He doesn’t mind. You know- haha- you know that meme with the- you know the ‘I do not consent thing’? That’s you.”
“You are so fucking cringe. Can’t even make proper references. We’ve been spending far too much time together.”
“You can stop complaining, as I need to get back on shift in ten minutes.”
“No don’t go…”
“You confuse me, Twixxel.”
“If you don’t get back in time can I finish your chips?”
“Have at ‘em. I don’t care. I’ll take Mob back when I’m done. I don’t trust you to not knock his IV back. That alright with you, Mob?”
Mob hesitated, looking away. Really, he still felt a little awkward around him and wanted to spend more time with Twixxel. Not only because he wanted to double check he was okay and to try and monitor if anything had actually happened, but also because they hadn’t really spent much time together. Of course Mob missed him. That was only natural. Verity saw the look on Mob’s face, the hesitation, and he smiled.
“Dude, it’s fine, you can stay here. I’ll just get a nurse to keep an eye on you guys for when you want to get back to the room. It’s no big deal.”
“Mnnh…” The ‘th’ noise was especially hard for him at the moment, so he didn’t even care to try. The smile was enough. “Mnnghh…”
“No worries, I’ll come and see you after my shift. Twixxel’s gonna pop home and try and get everything sorted. Eventually.”
Verity stood from the table, pushing what was left of his chips across the small space and right beside Twixxel’s plate- a little less than half, and all the cheese was melted now, so it was perfect. They shared a grin which had become even more normal recently, and Verity ruffled Mob’s hair.
“Gah, dude we gotta get you washed soon. You reek.” Twixxel waved the air playfully
“Don’t bully him. He can’t even put deodorant on! I- yes- I can put it on for you tomorrow. It doesn’t bother me.”
“Wow, Verity, didn’t know you were into that stuff.”
“I’m not. Sorry to disappoint.”
“No! No, I’m- go away.”
Mob was very glad he had people willing to help. What would he have done if he was on his own? His hands were shaking so hard he wouldn’t be able to hold anything yet, not properly, and he could barely bend his arms too. That was the first step according to Verity, and as he showed amazing progress in moving his fingers and making noises it would make the next bits a lot easier. Mob wasn’t sure what ‘easier’ meant.
Verity leaned in and pressed a kiss to Mob’s forehead, and then turned to look at Twixxel like nothing was wrong. That had to be normal as Twixxel was continuing to eat his chips as if nothing had happened, and then Verity kissed him on the forehead too, and walked away. Weird. Obviously they had a bit of an odd friendship going on here. All of them lived together without girlfriends- Mob was pretty sure they weren’t a throuple but now he couldn’t say for certain.
“Looks like you’ve warmed up to him.” Twixxel said with chips filling his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Not many manners, but Mob didn’t even look at it twice. “You looked a little hesitant to see him when you first woke up. How’d you feel now?”
“N-nuh- i-i…”
“Nice?”
“Mhmm…”
“So you had one of those coma dreams?”
Mob wasn’t sure anymore. Was it a dream? It must’ve been a dream, because nothing else made sense. He didn’t have complete confirmation that he had been dreaming the entire time so he couldn’t believe with 100% either way. Now, he just nodded, but was determined to wait until he could get home and explore his room to say for certain.
And there was no way in hell he’d ever tell either of them what he saw and went through.
Not just because it was understandable that it would upset them, but because he didn’t want to think about why his brain might’ve thought of something like that. If it were truly all a dream, how could he have made up something about Verity being a gross, manipulative bastard who killed Twixxel and did everything else? The Verity that Mob was seeing wasn’t like that at all. Kind, caring, going out of his way- like the good parts of the AI. It had just felt so real. Mob was utterly lost in his own thoughts, before deciding he wouldn’t let it weigh on him anymore.
“Did Verity already mention the sleeping situation? We ain’t shared a bed since we were kids, man! You can share a bed with him too but I think he squirms…”
Mob cracked a smile.
“Or we can all share one big bed! Who cares. Sort that out when we get to it. I gotta ask the Doctor when you can eat again, you're staring at my food like you’d fight me for it!”
Embarrassed, Mob looked away, a small blush rising onto his cheeks.
“Hah, you're cute when you blush! Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I would share if I could, promise!”
“Shh.” Mob hushed, frowning.
“You’ll be able to eat soon. I think.”
“Mhm…”
“I’ll cook you something when you can eat again.”
“N-nuh… oh.”
“Verity will cook you something.”
“B-beh… eh… teh… teh…”
“Better? Fuck off, you are so rude!”
It felt like old times. When things were better. Twixxel wasn’t any different compared to in the dream, and it was exactly what he needed at that moment.
Mob hadn’t bathed since he woke up. While he didn’t say he felt gross, he kept scowling at himself and obviously thinking deeply about how gross he felt. He was pretty sure he smelt a little too.
“I can bathe you. It’s no big deal.” Verity jumped in.
Mob looked over at him curiously, tilting his head. Would he really do that? No way, right? Mob continued to stare at him, almost expecting him to take it back and reveal he was obviously lying but he continued to smile at him brightly like nothing was wrong with the idea. His cheeks were slightly rosy and he sat in the chair once more, holding his hand gently.
“It doesn’t bother me. I’ve done this stuff before, you know. What do you think?”
Mob looked down at the bed, almost hoping it would swallow him whole as he feared what would happen, but he nodded and smiled anyway. He grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it beside the bed, waiting for Mob to get himself ready mentally for what would come.
Twixxel watched them with a small smile, slipping out of the room while Mob was distracted. He was probably going to clean up a little to prepare for when Mob went back. That would be coming up soon with the incredible progress he was making, and they were determined to give him a nice home to go back to, even if none of them would step into his room in ages.
“S-sh… uu-reehh?”
“Of course I’m sure. As I said, that stuff doesn’t bother me. Why would it?” He hummed, “I’ll tell you that over and over again.”
Mob smiled at him, and let himself be lifted into the wheelchair.
Getting down there was fine. Talking awkwardly between them, which was almost entirely Verity speaking and Mob making odd noises which sounded vaguely of agreement, or just sitting in silence as Verity focused on pushing him along (he’d taken out the IV just for now).
The embarrassing part was getting naked.
“I’ve got one too. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Verity hummed in the bright room as he undid the back of Mob’s gown. Warm hands scraped across his bare skin, trying to reassure in a quiet way. “I once had to bathe my own nan ‘coz I was the only one there with any medical knowledge. Trust me, no matter how small your dick is, it can't be worse than that.”
Mob turned his head to shoot him a glare. The movement made him question if Verity was just saying that to continue getting him more active, but he’d never know with him. Everything he did, absolutely everything, was for Mob’s benefit. Maybe Twixxel would’ve done it too, but with Verity it felt so intimate. Mob wasn’t sure how he felt about intimacy. Especially with Verity.
“Y- uu…”
“Same sorta size. Yours is a little thicker. That is what you were asking, right?”
“Hah… haha… mhmm…”
“Good. That would've been so humiliating otherwise. Why’d you wanna know, ey?”
“Hm…” Mob’s hand came up to rub against Verity's top. “Uuu…”
“I ain’t stripping for you here.”
“Yyy?”
“Imagine if someone walks in and thinks we’re fucking in the bath. That is so humiliating. But when we get back to the flat we can bathe together, if you want.”
Mob had no idea why he was interested in that. Something had to be fucking with his head. Perhaps when he shot himself he’d shot out the thing that made him rational and not make utterly stupid decisions.
“It doesn’t gross me out.” Verity continued, stroking Mob’s hair. “None of this stuff does. You look worried- is something bothering you? You can tell me you know. I used to work on the wards before I specialised. I’ve dealt with way, way worse.”
With a small frown, Mob looked down at the toilet he was sitting on. Ah.
“I’d wipe your ass for you.”
“Hmmn-!” Mob almost choked on his own saliva hearing that, blinking a little, looking back at him once more. “Uuu? R-r-ruh- e-e- a-ah…”
“Really, you mean?”
“Mmm…”
“Of course, dude. Doesn’t bother me! I’d rather that than you festering in that shit- literally- and getting an infection or something. You don’t need to look so worried. It won’t make me think any differently of you.”
While Mob wasn’t sure that was true, he nodded anyway. What was the point of even having friends if they couldn’t do incredibly intimate things with each other? Like bathing and stuff. Mob was quite confident the AI Verity would never do anything like that. Such sweetness earned him a small, cheeky smile, with rosier cheeks and a brightness in his eyes. Could he ever ask Twixxel to do something like that? He could, and he was pretty sure Twixxel would say yes and wouldn’t ever mention it again, but it just felt different with him.
Mob laid his head on Verity’s shoulder. A small hum came from him, and he rubbed Mob’s back softly, then picked him up to get him in the bath.
“You know, I never realised how tall you are.” Verity said with a laugh, gently placing him in the hot bath. “There’s a lot of things I’ve never realised about you until now.”
Mob tilted his head back to rest against the bath. The bubbles concealed his bare body almost entirely, not like Verity hadn’t seen it about two seconds ago and held his ass to put him in. It was a reminder that he could drown pretty easily in the water as he didn’t have enough energy to push himself back up if needed, but Verity was there for that exact reason.
“You don’t need to tell me about it.” He continued, “Ever. If you wanna talk about it, that’s cool and stuff, but I can live the rest of my life not knowing and I’d be fine with it. I know Twixxel’s curious.”
“Uuu?”
“Hah, a little, maybe. But I won’t ask. If you ever want to tell me, then tell me. If you don’t, don’t. Hey, maybe you’ve forgotten it all by now and are trying to tell us but we keep cutting in. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. We can talk when you're ready.”
Words could not describe how much Mob appreciated it. Lowering his head and smiling a little, looking at the splashing water. He could feel his feet now, able to wiggle his toes a little, and he could control his hands more, but his grip was terrible due to the tremors. One of the things he’d already had to accept was that he wouldn’t be able to walk for a little while. Being under for that many days and the shot itself had messed up all his nerves and things. If physical therapy went well, he’d be on crutches and then hopefully walking short distances alone, but that would take months and months.
Yet, strangely, Mob found himself ready for it. The prospect of getting back to normal clawed at the back of his mind, almost teasing in how frequent it was.
“Twixxel’s gone back to the flat. Tidying up. But your room- we’ll go in to get your things but you won’t be staying in there. Gross, frankly.” He looked away. “Can I ask you something? You might not want to answer, but…”
Mob looked at him hazily. Laying in the warm water was so soothing on his stressed mind, to the point he feared he was about to fall asleep, before deciding not to.
“Do you remember…” He trailed off a couple of times, stuttering through his words anxiously before deciding to just spit them out. “If you wrote anything?”
Brief memories flashed through Mob’s mind, almost like a trigger. Reflecting on the shaking of his hands and the tears streaming down his face and all the sadness that came with it felt more somber than depressing. He nodded a little in admission, but he couldn’t say exactly where he’d put them.
“If I find them.” He mumbled, “Do you want me to get rid of them?”
Mob opened his mouth, but wasn’t sure how he even felt about it. Getting rid of them? Did he really want that? Sure, he had no idea what could be in those letters, confessions of hatred or perhaps undying love, really Mob couldn’t say what it was at the moment. So he merely shook his head. If he wanted to get rid of them, he’d do it himself.
“M-mmm… eee…”
“I’ll give them to you?”
“Mhmm…”
“Okay. I can live with that.” He squirted some shampoo on his hand, “You better be grateful, this is the good shit I’m giving you.”
Mob gave him a smirk.
“Don’t get used to it, dude. It’s only because I can’t bear the idea of you smelling like 4-in-1 while you're in my bed.”
“Hm?”
“No way are you sharing every night with Twixxel. How’s that even fair?”
“Haha…”
“Stop laughing at me. I’m a little jealous.”
Jealous? Hearing that wasn’t good. Somehow, Verity seemed to read his face all over again (either he was great at social cues or knew both Mob and Twixxel disgustingly well) and started cupping the water to rub it through his hair. Mob tilted his head up gently, eyes fluttering shut once more in the warmth.
“I’m kidding. I know he’s good at cuddling. We shared a sofa for far too long.”
Mob didn’t want to look jealous but he screwed up his nose a little when he imagined them cuddling without them.
“Gay.”
“Mghh….”
“Okay, I’m doing it, jeez. You're going to smell just like me after this. You don’t think I smell bad do you?”
“N-Nu-nuh…”
“Cute. Okay, here we go. If I pull your hair, tell me. I know you're not into that.”
Back at home.
Mob sat on his own bed for the first time in over a month. Silently, staring at the splatter of blood on the floor and the wall and the physical outline from where Verity must have been kneeling. Seeing it made him feel a little weird, his stomach twisting, but he didn’t say it out loud. He knew Verity must’ve felt the exact same way, probably even worse, but he was so incredibly good at hiding his face Mob couldn’t properly tell. Now he was able to sit up on his own and bend his arms, but he was still confined to the wheelchair until he started making progress in physical therapy.
“I’ll just take all of these out.” Verity said flatly, digging through Mob’s wardrobe and pulling all kinds of boxers out like it was no big deal. “Laced? That’s kinda gay.”
“Fu- c-k- ck- o-oh- ef…”
“You can say that easily.” Verity snorted, “But I’m not too surprised. Bet it’s one of the first phrases you insisted on learning?”
“M-muh…o-oh… t.. Ti…”
“Motivation, yeah, I get it. Oooh, look at these! Knee-high socks? Didn’t take you for a femboy.”
Mob was pretty confident it was a joke gift from Twixxel he’d kept in his wardrobe refusing to get rid of it because they were super soft. He’d worn them a few times when he was alone in the house, but had then never touched them again after he decided it was a little too embarrassing.
“Hey, you can wear ‘em. They look nice. Old?”
“Y-uh- ea…”
“I’ll put them on you?”
“O-oh… kay!”
“Wow you agreed fast! I was gonna say it’s because it’ll cover your knees to prevent any scrapes in case ya fall over, but if you like them that’s fine too.”
Mob smiled and glanced at the bed again. He stared at his pillow, confused, then narrowing his eyes as he thought deeply about something. Another memory suddenly popped into his head- every time he needed to hide something, he put it in the same place. Under the pillow. Old diaries, money he didn’t want anyone else to see, things like that.
This time, when he stuck his hand under there, he felt something different.
“Did you find something?”
Briefly, Mob didn’t want to pull his hand out. Just holding it there and feeling the paper beneath his hand, stroking his thumb against the surface as if testing it was real and he wasn’t imagining everything. No, he certainly wasn’t. Two pieces of paper, soggy on the edges, smudged ink still somehow coming off on his fingers.
Verity stared at him with wide eyes. “What? Is that… Is that what I think it is?”
“Mhm.”
“What do you wanna do with it?”
Mob pulled both pieces of paper out. Only two, no more. It seemed to ignite his mind, setting it aflame with sick memories of what had happened that night.
“We can shred and burn it, if you want.” Verity whispered, standing up suddenly to sit beside him, not caring when he stepped in dry blood on the carpet. Their knees bumped against each other as he sat close to him, looking down at both of the pieces of paper but not trying to read the words inside. “Never look at it. Whatever you want.”
Mob put one of the pieces down, Twixxel’s, and opened the other.
Verity averted his eyes.
Mob sat there and read the entire thing silently, as Verity fought the urge to look and read what was sprawled all over the page. He wanted to give him that privacy, but he really wanted to know what his final confession would be.
Mob then put the paper on his knees, folded up again.
“Do you remember much?”
“L-lih.. T-tuh.. Le…”
Mob looked down at it.
“Can I read it?”
“N-nuh… ot…ot…ye-yet…”
“Okay. Do you want me to put them away?”
Mob motioned towards the drawer, and Verity put them away. He didn’t read them. Didn’t even look twice.
Now, Mob remembered a little more about why he felt that way towards Verity.
Coma dreams could be weird sometimes.
Sure, Mob wasn’t completely convinced, but the paranoia was something he would have to live with until he eventually forgot. He still wished he didn’t feel so worried about him.
And he really wished he could close his eyes around him feeling the same sort of comfort he felt around the AI. But he’d have to deal with that later.
“Do you want to sleep with Twixxel tonight for your first night home?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s alright.” Verity helped him stand up, “I don’t mind.”
Mob smiled at him weakly.
Things were better.