Bring The Heat

77. Nobody Ever Gets Hurt Again Pt 2

"My name is Wren Harley. I am six- sixteen years old, uh... I think... and, and my favourite colour is red! I can create explosions from my hands, and sometimes some weird pink ones that can get super weird. I'm friends with Tenson, and Dominic, and Rebound. And..." Wren trailed off into a whisper, "I don't know what we are. But I kissed Robin! I think that makes us girlfriends..."

"Focus, Wren. Daily routine!"

Wren apologized, and BM just smiled. As much as he cared for everyone who cane under his protection, there was a certain whimsy to Wren that none of the others had. She was weird, and more fun for it.

BM had decided to take a more hands-on approach with Wren ever since his right mind had been restored, and he was lucky to have people like Ben and Nick helping him keep on top of all of the other threads he had to keep hold of. Mint was offering help too, but she didn't want to stay at the compound, and BM was helping her find accommodation elsewhere for now.

Still, in his full senses, BM could handle all of this at once. The concerning message from Ingrid, the ordeal with Nathaniel Robotics, keeping everyone collected after the breach - he was plotting them all in his head whilst working with Wren.

Recently, he'd been having her compose a short speech about who she was, to help with her sense of identity. It was being recorded, but mainly so that Wren might someday look back on moments like these fondly - BM had identified Wren as a hands-on learner, so naturally she could only fully absorb what the speech meant to her by actually saying it.

"...and then, I hang out with someone for a bit, whoever's up, and go to bed!" she continued, ending her speech.

"Wait- you aren't brushing your teeth before bed?"

"Why? I do it in the morning."

BM sighed.

"You should do it at the start and end of the day, Wren."

"Oh..." she muttered, "then how come they make toothpaste taste so bad?"

Getting a laugh from BM, Wren smiled, and took a mental note. This speech thing was really working - she felt so much more organized, and she was learning so much! But whilst she was getting better...

"What's wrong?" BM asked, noticing the slightest shift in emotion.

"Wow, you really can always tell now, huh? It's scary." Wren commented, before continuing, "It's... Tenson. The other day I asked if he wanted to go hang out in town, and he refused. But like, he's just seemed so off lately..."

"Hm. I did notice that... I asked Dominic to talk to him about it, but their relationship seems a lot less based in honesty and emotion than you two. Maybe he'd open up to you?"

"You think... I could talk to him?" Wren asked, perplexed. The thought had never really occurred to her that SHE could solve problems too. "Yeah... yeah! I can talk to him."

With that, Wren hopped to her feet, and headed out of BM's office.

"Bye, Wren."

"Bye!"

-(TENSON)-

Tenson sat in his room, head in his hands, spiraling. How had he let his guard down like this? Why had he expected life to let up at all? It never had before. Not even once. Why would it now?

Outside the room, Wren attempts to knock on the door, but it slides open before she can, with Tenson right on the other side, having heard her footsteps approaching.

"Hey, Tennie. Got time?" she asks, a sympathetic tone in her voice. After a moment of consideration, he grunts and nods, signaling for her to enter.

Tenson's room was pretty empty - he didn't have much because he didn't want much. It had a feeling of walking into a bedroom when touring an open house, right down to the natural scent of the room remaining. He never did leave his presence anywhere unnecessarily...