[TheSpatialWeeg]

In the dead of night, at Ciel’s house…

---

Ah yes! His blood flows in your veins too!

The man who made Model W!

Aile jolted awake from the bed she currently slept in, her breath erratic for a moment before she calmed down. Right. That memory again. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, before trying to sleep again…

...Five minutes later, and her eyes failed to close.

“ ...*sigh* I need a drink. ”

Keeping the volume down to a whisper as to not wake up the others, Aile slowly made her way to the kitchen. Once there, she gathered up some ingredients and set off to work on a hot cocoa...as silently as she could, of course. After she had the drink in her hands, she sat down on a chair and stared at the window outside, peeking at the other buildings and a bit of the semi-empty streets.

Was Serpent telling the truth back then? Was she really related to the man who made Model W? This question plagued her mind for a long time, no matter how hard she tried to get over it. Would she even get answers to those questions? Probably not…

“ Mom...I wonder if that's why you didn't say much about Dad... ”

A weak chuckle escapes her.

“ ...if that man really is my father... ”

She hoped not.

Aile took a sip from the mug and kept staring outside. From the looks of things, she wasn’t going to sleep soundly tonight...

[DLN-002-02 Roll Light]

The chairs in the common areas were all rather luxurious synthetic cloth recliners made large to accommodate people much bigger than Aile, leaving her plenty of room. There was even a matching couch she could easily lay down on if she so chose. A toad cop riding a segway can be seen out on patrol as he passed below the street lights, briefly illuminating his form. It was otherwise a very lonely night. Quiet, dim, with little activity as you'd more or less expect at such an unholy hour.

...

Roll stepped out of her room, brushing herself down for a moment. She wasn't sure why, since she was distinctly intending to not be seen. It was far too late to be out and about, and she knew Ciel wouldn't be pleased with her if she knew she wasn't sleeping. However, it was too late for that. She was fully awake, and in just a moment she'd practice sneaking around in her own home. It felt odd, but she reframed it in her mind as being courteous to those still sleeping and set off.

Before she got far though, the soft sound of a class clicking against the counter reached her ears. ...Huh? Roll held still as she processed what she'd just heard. That sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. But did that mean there was an intruder in the house?! ...Roll took a moment to silently admire the frenzied beating of her synthetic heart. It was kind of cool how she could feel it when she got frightened, actually. Slightly cooler than the noise was scary.

Slipping downstairs, Roll decided not to activate her floodlight eyes, a legacy feature Ciel had kept around in the interests of changing as little as possible during her upgrade that would have lit up the room. It rendered her partially blind much like a human, but she didn't want to announce her presence. As she approached from behind Aile's view, she did recognize the person there. Not only that, she recognized the distress in Aile's body language.

“...Aile?” Roll softly asked.

The gynoid slowly walked the rest of the way over and eyed the seat Aile was in. It was big enough to comfortably seat both of them. She was making a point to speak quietly, so as not to wake anyone. “...I heard someone in the kitchen and thought we might be getting burglarized~ What're you doing up so late?” she remarked with a tiny giggle. “Can I get you anything..? A snack or a pillow or a blanket... Anything at all?” she asked. Though she'd been given free will, the drive to serve others was still a strongly trained habit. “And... would it be okay if I sit with you for a little bit?” Roll went on to request. “Sorry if that's a little forward. I just felt a little emotional pain when I saw you looking out the window like that and I feel a little better now that I'm over here talking to you... I tink that's called loneliness? I'm still learning about feelings and emotions.” Roll timidly explained in a slightly apologetic tone, mildly embarassed by her own lack of knowledge. She knew most people understood these things without even trying. “--Plus, it looks like you might need a friend.” she softly added, holding out her hand to Aile in offering. She was offering to sit down next to her and hold her hand, if she so desired. Though Roll wasn't a mind reader, she was very sensitive to other people's emotions, and seemed to recognize that something was really bothering Aile.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

“ Huh--? Oh, it's you, Roll... ”

Aile greets the blonde as silently as she could. She has a small apologetic smile on her face as Roll says she thought there was a burglar in the house. "...Sorry about that, I just...couldn't sleep today." she admitted, keeping her voice down. "No need to get me anything. I got what I need right here." she replied before taking a sip of her hot cocoa. While she did that, she pulled a seat for Roll, silently telling her that yeah, she could sit down.

She listened in silence as Roll kept talking, though she didn't take her tired eyes off of the other. "Mm...that does sound kinda like being lonely..." Aile muses for a bit. After a bit of hesitation, she takes Roll up on the offer and holds her hand. After a sigh, she begins to open up.

“ ...So...I dunno much about my parents. I grew up with just my Mom by my side, and even then...she... ”

There's a small pause. She's trying to consider how Roll would react to what she was gonna say for a second.

“ ...she died in a Maverick raid when I was still very young. I was taken in by a man who saved me after that. As for Dad, I haven't heard anything from him for a long time. And then, the one thing I finally hear about him is...is that... ”

Her empty hand closes into a fist as she clenches it.

“ Is that he made a Biometal that feeds on people's fear and hate to rule the world. ”

There's some silence as Aile takes yet another sip from the hot cocoa in her other hand.

“ ...This has been nagging me for a while. I try to ignore this, but I just...can't help but wonder...who's my dad, and why did he do this... ”

[DLN-002-02 Roll Light]

Roll pressed her dress down to prevent it from bunching up as she sat, sitting down next to Aile. She cheered up slightly when Aile took her hand, brushing her thumb lightly over the back of Aile's hand in a lightly reassuring manner. She does politely listen as Aile speaks, pointedly remaining quiet and giving Aile her attention until she was finished. She does make a point to cup Aile's hand in both of hers in a comforting manner as she goes on though, holding it in her lap.

“...I know exactly how you feel.” Roll softly replied. It was perhaps a curiously redundant statement, coming from the hyper-empathetic reploid. “About... hearing things about your dad that aren't very nice. ...And losing your parents.” Roll continued on to clarify in that same gentle tone. “It's like you want to finally see him again so you can ask him yourself. And not being able to leaves you feeling conflicted. Like you don't know how you're supposed to feel.” Roll began. She then quickly tensed a little as a realization occurred to her. “...Or that might just be me. I spend a lot of time wondering how I'm supposed to feel. You know, because I'm still getting used to emotions.” Roll meekly apologized. She wasn't entirely secure in her humanity.