ticciwork (Being Rewritten)

66

"Bucket," clockwork yelled as she pulled out a scrap of metal.

Toby looked at her, he chuckled as he saw her pale face light up with joy. Her cheeks were a light pink, she looked healthier than the first time they met. She use to be skinny, with a skinny face the showed her bone structure well. But now she had cheeks for days, it made her look friendly. He walked to her as she inspect the object, her face still holding that smile. He stopped beside her and smiled, it was a bucket and was in good condition. Slightly rusty but he could easily get rid of that, she handed it to him and went to find more buckets. He checked and set it down next to his axe, he watched as she dug through the metal tossing scraps that were useless. She quickly ran back as she carried something that had a thin metal that made some kind of object, Toby looked at her as she dropped it at his feet.

" I know you said we only needed buckets right now, but a shoe rack will keep the wood cleaner and dry. And the wood would last longer," she said as she stumbled on her words.

Toby sighed, she was a thinker a good one at best. He hoped he wouldn't have to carry it all home, he looked at her to see a frightened look.

" I'm sorry if I did something wrong, I'll put it back," she said as she bent down to pick it up.

His heart sank at her frightened behavior.

" Hey it's alright, I liked your idea just going to be a pain in the ass to get it to the house," he said.

She looked at him and stood upright as she held the metal, her expression held confusion.

" Your not mad," she said as she looked down.

" why would I, you did nothing wrong. You're just trying to help, nothing wrong with that," he said with a smile.

She nodded and smiled slightly.

" Are you alright," he asked.

" Yeah, sorry. Just had a dream last night that fucked with me," she said as she held her arm.

He hummed and she looked at him, her eyes slowly looking away.

" I had a dream I was back with my parents, that this was a dream and when I told them about it they were horrified. My mother cried as my father stood up, he dragged me to my room and locked me there. He called the cops and sent me away as my brother laughed, I was sent into a dark room where only my father and brother came to visit, and," she paused as tears began to spill from her eyes.

Toby pulled her into a hug, he knew what she was going to say. She quickly pulled away, he sighed.

" Sorry didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Toby said.

" It's alright, I just don't want to be touched right now," he nodded understanding the reason.

" do you want to head back, we can install the rack next to the door," he said as she looked at him and nodded.

He grabbed the two buckets and axe and began to walk away, clockwork followed him with the shoe rack in hand. Her head slightly hurt as loud static-filled her mind, she shook her head as she reached for Toby.

" Toby my head hurts," Toby turned around his eyes scanned her before spotting the problem behind her.

It stood nine feet tall and in front of the scrapyard, Toby grabbed her arm and bolted. She stumbled behind him as she tried to stay awake, his pace quickened as he got on the show they had been walking on for weeks. He ran to the door kicking it open and throwing her inside, he quickly shut the door and locked it. He backed up and slowly looked at clockwork who had her hand on her head, completely disregarding her bleed nose. He walked to her and pulled her into a hug, his breaths holding panic.

" Thank God you are safe, I don't know what is do without you," he said in a shaky voice.

She looked at him and her eyes were dull and shaky, he didn't blame her as that thing present have a different effect on people.

" you wanna lie down," he asked.

She nodded and he help her to her feet, walking her to the corner and slumped down with her in his arms. She curled in a ball in his lap as she took in a breath, he smiled and rubbed her shoulder.

" I'm proud of you, you did well today," he said hoping this would make her feel better.

She nodded and smiled as she closed her eyes, she felt safe in his arms. The dream she had was long gone from her mind, all she could think of was the smell of burning wood that was imprinted into Toby's sweater.