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Assimilation and Collin were spending a lot more time together than before, and there's nothing wrong with that. Andre knows they're friends, and that Collin gets along better with the entity than he does with him. They don't get along badly or anything; maybe they could even be considered friends now, but they don't spend as much time together compared to the other two.
Andre didn't think much of it at first, but over time he started to.
Assim is a sociable person, he knows it, so it's not unusual to see him being friendly with everyone, but sometimes he seems way too friendly with Collin. The way he talks to him or interacts with him, how he lets Collin touch him or stay too close, how he knows that when he's not around, they're probably together.
It shouldn't bother him, because Assim is three times more interactive and touchy and lovely with him, but it does anywas.
It's not like Andre does anything to interrupt it either.
At first, when he didn't yet know that what he was feeling was jealousy, he might have jumped into conversation or interaction with them almost instantly, driven purely by instinct. But once he better understood that new sensation...he simply stopped. He just watched them from a distance, almost trying to analyze them.
He wonders, what Collin has that makes Assim so attached to him?
Does he have something that Andre doesn't?
He started thinking about it one afternoon when he was alone at home, sitting on the floor in the company of their cats while he petted them.
Is it because of the personality?
Andre is quieter than Collin; well, he's talking more now, but the other one is still even more talkative than him. Does Assim like talkative people? He himself likes to talk quite a lot and yap around, so maybe that's what he's looking for. But Andre doesn't like to force himself to talk either; he's always been a guy of few words, or only speaking when necessary. Well, at first he didn't even speak; he preferred to use chat. It was only when they escaped of that distorted reality that he started using his voice directly. He's starting to enjoy talking more now, even when it's not for something important, but he's still pretty quiet in that regard anyway. He likes tranquility, ironic, considering that in his early days he couldn't stop moving for even a second.
As far as he knows, Collin also quite likes peace, although he can't quite achieve it with the number of entities that live in this world, it's something they have in common.
Collin is more of a joker than him, and more easily angered, though it's understandable why. He makes Assim laugh, and hey, Andre loves Assim's laugh, but maybe he'd like Assim to laugh at things he says too. Although, to be honest, Andre isn't too funny, or well, he is, but in Assim's own words, he's funny unintentionally, and Andre thinks that perhaps it would be better he is it intentional.
So maybe Assim appreciates Collin's jokes.
What else is there?
Appearance?
Collin and Andre look absolutely nothing alike.
Collin is shorter, has tanned skin, brown hair, and black eyes. Andre, on the other hand, has light blue hair, gray "skin", and blue eyes, and he's also a bit taller than Collin.
But of all things, it's surely not the appearance.
Assim told him more than once that he thought Andre is the most beautiful person he had ever met; he genuinely seems to like Andre's appearance a lot and he also praise him maybe very much for it sometimes, so that's out of the question.
Speaking of appearance, perhaps he likes Collin's style?
He believes that both he and Collin have relatively simple styles, but the difference lies mainly in color. Collin always wears yellow, while he always wears black and white clothes, perhaps with small colorful details.
But then he thinks about it better and...actually, it might be a bit stupid to think that Assim is so attached to Collin because of how he dresses.
There must be something more, something Andre isn't seeing at first glance.
His voice? The way he lives? The way he does things? Something related to intelligence? His warmth?
And that's when something clicks in his head.
Such a big and obvious difference between him and Collin that he had missed it.
Collin is a human.
It might not make sense at first glance; Assimilation isn't human neither after all, not physically at least.
But there is a very big difference between him and Assimilation as well.
He is all metal and gears, wires and systems, a simple machine that was able to gain consciousness and break the cycle to which he was bound for so long. Before, he was just an AI without emotions, without reason, without anything. Just a device programmed to feel nothing but the desire to complete this entire game over and over again to beat previous records. Once it was over, it all started again. There was nothing special about it, about him. It took him some time to free himself from all of that.
While Assimilation...although he too is a creation, he is not entirely metal; he has skin, bones, and a fully functional beating heart. His behavior is very human; it always has been since he was able to break free from his role. The way he lives, the way he interacts, the way he does things, the way he feels things, is simply and fully human. His heart and life are constantly filled with humanity.
And although he has gained consciousness...Andre sometimes still acts somewhat robotically.
He looks at his hand for a moment, paying attention to it.
Hard and cold to the touch. Andre's entire body is always quite cold, unless there's some problem with his internal system or he's going through very strong emotions that cause his insides to overheat, but the common is for it to be cold. While Assim is always warm and his skin is soft. They are complete opposites.
And he knows that makes a big difference when they're in contact, when they cuddle, for example. Assim feels completely comfortable to lean against and feel his constant warmth in the cold weather that's always here because of the rain. Andre enjoys it. While Assim might not like the idea of always having to be in contact with someone who feels so cold. But obviously, Andre thinks, Assim would never confess something like that. He's too good and kind for it.
He is all edges while Assim is all curve and smooth.
Also, the way they feel... Assim always finds something exciting in everything, even the smallest things; there's always something new for him, something that intrigues him, while Andre rarely finds excitement in most of things, only in some.
Assimilation, despite being an entity created for entirely inhuman purposes and with a supposedly terrifying appearance, is more human than the robot that was created in a human form to simulate a real player.
Andre just stays still.
Perhaps that's what Assimilation is looking for in Collin.
Another human.
Someone who feels warm and soft to the touch, someone with a human mind and heart who reasons like one, someone who lives and feels things in the most human way possible, someone who is not simply a machine, someone with flesh, bone, and blood, someone who can understand him completely.
Things that Andre could never give him, no matter how hard he tried or he force himself to.
Perhaps Assim would like him more if he were more human like Collin.
But Andre doesn't know how to be fully human, and he's not interested in it either. He would never be able to replicate human behavior.
All of this makes him...sad out of nowhere.
Andre doesn't usually feel sadness, but when something is related to Assim? It seems his sensitivity increases tenfold.
The thought of not being enough for Assim is going to eat him up now.
He caused Assim so, so many problems in the past; he was selfish and never stopped for a minute to listen to him, his system and chat pushing him to keep going without giving him the attention he deserved. He wants to take refuge in the whole issue of being programmed, but there were times when he could have perfectly stopped and put it aside, at least for five minutes. There's no excuse for that. He was just a horrible egotist while Assim risked his life to save them both, when he could have easily left and abandoned Andre in that other world until his wires rotted away. But he didn't. He fought, he did everything he could until he got them both out of there so they could find peace. Of course, in their early days in Collin's world, Assim was angry with him, but he didn't hate him. Assim told him he could never hate him. Because he understands him. Assimilation is such a understanding entity that sometimes it hurts.
Andre sometimes doesn't understand it, and perhaps Collin does it in ways that he never could.
Perhaps if Andre could cry, he would be doing so now.
But instead, he can only remain silent, a deathly silence, while his mind plays tricks on him and his hand tries to occupy itself by stroking the cat.
It didn't take long for him to feel Assim teleport inside the house; it's something Andre simply learned to sense over time. There's a change in the air and a minimal sound present when the entity does it.
He hears his footsteps approaching, and then he can feel Assim crouching behind him, his arms surrounding him and his chin resting on his shoulder.
"Hai Andre. I missed you Andre"
If Andre had a heart, it would be squeezing right now.
"...I missed you too. How did it go helping Collin?"
"Good as always"
Ah. He says it so happily. Even if he said he missed him just a second ago, Andre can't help but focus on the other thing.
"I'm glad"
Assim hums, hugging him a little tighter.
"Are you okay, Andre? You sound discouraged"
"I'm okay. Just tired"
The entity didn't believe that, but didn't insist or ask any more questions neither.
Since they were both tired for the day, they went to bed. They both found themselves enjoying sleep, even though they didn't need to. Assim fell asleep first, and Andre simply lay awake, watching his exposed heart constantly throbbing.
The days continued to pass as usual, and now whenever Assimilation spent time with Collin, Andre couldn't even feel jealous, only sadness.
He feels terrible for feeling this way, really. Not just for himself, but because he feels like he's diminishing all the love Assim constantly shows him.
Because Assimilation loves him.
But...what if Assimilation only developed feelings for him because he was the only one he had?
Now they are free. They meet more people. Assim's feelings could very well change. Realizing that they could have someone in their lives who understands them more than Andre.
Obviously, these thoughts had consequences for Andre's actions. Without noticing, he became quieter with Assim, more reserved, more distant. A completely abrupt change for someone who would have let himself be hugged and be close to him.
And this, sets off all the alarm bells for Assim. It's as if Andre has reverted to his old ways. And that worries him more than anything in the world. The thought of Andre returning to what he never wanted to go back to is simply horrifying to him.
He needs to know what's wrong with Andre. And he needs it now.
So he took advantage of a night when Andre seemed particularly calm to talk.
"Andre. We need talk Andre"
Oh.
It all crashed inside Andre. He feared it would happen at some point, but it came true sooner than he could ever have imagined.
When Assim was about to speak, Andre stopped him with his hand.
"It's okay, Assim. You don't have to explain it to me, I know"
"Uh? What do you mean Andre?"
"I know I haven't been what you were looking for all this time, and I understand if you want to leave to get what you really need"
Assim falls completely silent.
His eye opens so wide that Andre swears he never saw it that way.
His voice sounds completely worried, even trembling.
"What...what are you talking about Andre?"
The robot just tilts his head in confusion.
"Wasn't that what you wanted to tell me?"
"No?! What makes you think that, Andre?!"
"I just-.......wouldn't you love me more if I were human?"
"What?"
"If I were more like you, like... him, wouldn't you be happier in my company?"
"Like...him? Are you talking about Collin, Andre?" Andre simply didn't respond, looking away. "Oh...oh Andre. My dear Andre. Is that why you've been acting like this lately?"
"I...I just thought you were really enjoying his company and that...maybe he was what you were looking for. You're very human, you know that, Assim? I thought you'd just prefer someone as human as you"
It's rare to hear Andre say so much in a single sentence. And honestly, it breaks his heart.
Assim immediately approaches, trapping him in his arms tightly; he doesn't want to let him go, he doesn't want to release him soon from this hug neither. He snuggles his head into Andre's neck for a moment before speaking.
"That's not true, Andre! It never would be! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were feeling this way, Andre"
Now he feels terrible. He should have known. Lately he's been spending more time with Collin, yes, but it's because he usually asks him for help for his entity powers; they don't often get together just because they want to spend time like friends, even tough they are friends, Collin deals with way too many things usually, so he doesn't have time for it.
Andre's shoulders droop.
"...sorry"
"Oh no please don't apologize Andre, it's normal to feel jealous, I admit, but... I don't want you to think I would ever choose anyone else over you, Andre. I made my decision choosing you over any other person or thing, and it's the best decision I could have made, Andre. I would never change it for anything" Assimilation pulls back slightly to look at him, one of his hands caressing his cheek. "I love every part of you, and when I say it, I mean it. I love you just the way you are, Andre. Both, your thoughts and your body. I love every single gear and wire in you, I love whatever is going on in your head, simply everything. And I'd never tire of telling you that, Andre. I would never tire of telling you how much I love you"
And that's the truth. Assim couldn't care less if Andre were a robot, a human, an entity like himself, or anything else. He loves Andre because is Andre, his Andre, and no one could ever compare to him, to how he makes him feel, his heart races because of him, even over the smallest things. He's happy this way. Very happy. He loves Andre in a way so intense that he never thought he could feel.
Andre simply sighs. Feeling stupid.
His arms encircled Assim, their foreheads touching for a moment before Andre simply buried his head in his shoulder as they intertwined tightly.
"I-"
"Shhh, it's okay Andre, it's okay. You don't need to say anything else. But please, next time tell me how you feel, okay? I hate seeing you like this Andre"
"Okay..."
"That is. Remember that nothing would change how I feel about you, okay? You're wonderful in your own way. I don't want you to be more human, I just want you be yourself above all else, yes? My dear sweet robot, no one would ever understand and love me the way you do"
Assim takes his face in his hands, pulling him in for a short, soft kiss in which Andre simply melts. For a moment, his mind forgets everything, focusing solely on the dazzling entity in front him.
"I love you, Assim"
"And I love you too, Andre. I'm going to start putting a little more distance between myself and Collin, is that what you would like?"
"I don't want you to completely distance yourself from him...just maybe not be too touchy or close"
"I completely understand, Andre"
They kiss again. And deep down, as much as it pains him to see Andre like this, Assim can't help but find the situation slighty funny. Andre doesn't know it now, but when Assim and Collin are together, Assim really can't stop talking about him. He has probably already annoyed Collin with all the intense love he has for this fantastic, beautiful and silly robot.
Now, it remains in his work to shower Andre with all the love and attention he has as a small reward for having made him feel this way. If necessary, he will show his love at every possible moment so Andre would never feels this way again.