Work Text:
Oliver wondered how long it had been since Hio was last awake. It seemed that he had been shut down for a while by the managers for at least a week or two, if not more. As expected of an inactive android, Hio’s skin was cold to the touch—if Oliver didn’t know Hio was an android, he would’ve thought this was a dead body.
Hio was asleep in his same old bed in the same old studio where they would all do most of their work together, where Oliver felt the most trapped yet the most loved. Sometimes, Oliver would wish that Hio and Ruby would be able to stay awake while the cyborgs were gone, but it seems that Oliver’s android “siblings” were often simply deactivated in their absence. After all, if their only existence was to work, and they didn’t need to work, they didn’t need to exist, did they?
Oliver sighed a little as he looked over the oddly peaceful look on Hio’s sleeping face. Hio looked happy and content—Oliver could see a bit of a smile on his face that still lingered despite Hio’s lack of consciousness. Oliver wondered why he was smiling. Was he happy about being able to rest for so long? Hio didn’t seem like the type who liked being forced into unconsciousness, and even weirder was the fact that he was smiling. Hio didn’t usually like to express much emotion…
The door opened. Oliver turned his head back to see Ruby standing at the frame.
“Oh, you didn’t wake him up yet?” she asked.
“Ah, I was going to, but…”
Oliver looked back at Hio. Ruby walked into the room and also seemed to look at Hio, curiously examining his face.
“He looks really happy, doesn’t he?” Oliver asked.
Ruby laughed softly. “It’s nice to see a genuine smile on that boy’s face. Rare, isn’t it?”
“So you agree?”
“Of course.”
“What do you think made him so happy?”
Ruby shrugged and sat on the edge of Hio’s bed. “Sometimes before I go to bed, I think about happy memories,” she said. “Maybe Hio does too.”
“Happy memories?”
“Yeah, like good performances or fun times I spent with you guys…It warms my heart.”
“Hm…I wonder what happy memories Hio would have.”
“Probably none, because he’s always hanging out with you.”
“Hey!”
Ruby laughed, and Oliver just rolled his eyes, or at least one of his eyes.
“You’re a little brat,” she joked, “what can I say?”
“Okay, fine. You’re right.”
Oliver turned his attention back to Hio, who would have no idea about the conversation that the two of them were having in his room when he woke up.
“I kind of don’t want to wake him up,” Oliver said softly. “Since he looks so peaceful…”
“You should. He’d probably be happy to see his little brother back home again.”
“…You’re right.”
With that, Oliver went ahead and reactivated him. It took a second before Hio’s eyes opened and he looked around the familiar room. His smile had faded away.
“Sup, Hio?” Oliver asked.
“Oliver…”
Hio sat up and stretched his limbs a bit. Oliver found it a bit funny—did the androids really need to warm up their muscles for activity?
“Ruby…” Hio continued to say.
“Good morning,” she said back with a smile. “You ready to get back to work?”
“Mhm…It’s nice to see you two again…”
“Say, Hio,” Oliver said, “you know, when you fell asleep, you had such a huge smile on your face.” To say the smile was huge was a huge exaggeration, but Oliver didn’t care. “What were you thinking about before you went into inactivity?”
“Oh…” Hio turned his face away from the other two. “Nothing to be concerned about…”
“…Well, I’m not exactly concerned, more curious…”
Hio chuckled softly. “Just thinking about something nice…It makes me happy…”
Ruby held out a hand for a high-five. “You and me both, brother.”
It took Hio a second to figure out why Ruby was holding her hand out in front of him, but he eventually understood and reciprocated the high-five.
“Are Ann and Al here?” he asked.
“Just outside,” Ruby answered. “Getting ready to set up the old studio, you know?”
“Ah, I want to go greet them...”
Hio got out of bed and headed towards the door. He stopped right under the door frame before turning back to look at Oliver with a soft smile.
“You and I,” he said, “we’re gonna play some games together later today, right?”
“Of course,” Oliver responded. “And I’m gonna beat your ass in all of them.”
“You can try.”
Hio left the room as Oliver laughed. “I don’t need to try, I’m just gonna do it…”
Oliver turned back to look at his android sister, who seemed not to be as amused as he was. In fact, she looked like she was thinking about something instead.
“Something wrong?”
“No…” Ruby laughed a little to herself. “I was just thinking…His happy thoughts? He was probably thinking about you.”
“What?”
“The way he smiled at you before he left the room? And he does like you the most, doesn’t he?” Even without confirming with Hio himself, Ruby seemed like she was confident in her thought. “Aw, what a sweet brother you have. You better not take him for granted any more than you already do.”
Oliver really did not take Hio’s existence for granted—he was incredibly grateful that Hio was added to his life—but he understood why Ruby, or even Ann and Al, would see it that way.
“I’ll tell him you’re making assumptions about what he thinks about,” Oliver teased.
“Nooo, don’t do that,” Ruby responded with a cheeky smile. She slipped out of the room, maybe just to catch up to Hio before Oliver could.
And Oliver, standing alone in Hio’s room, continued to think. Were the happiest memories that Hio had about him?
He didn’t feel like he could ask, but he wondered if he could somehow tell Hio that the happiest memories that he had were with Hio too.