An Error's Doll

Chapter 34

You were lining up your shot to hit one of the higher up targets–you finally had the confidence to do so without embarrassing yourself in front of Cross. But just as you were about to squeeze the trigger the door was slammed open and you jumped, this time dropping your crossbow. You silently cursed, bending to pick it up with a bit of alarm.

You could not break it by dropping it once, right? You really hoped not, Error had put a lot of effort into it. Holding it tight, you examined it closely as rushed footsteps came toward you and Cross. You did not see anything wrong with it, but you still felt a bit frazzled imagining if there was.

When the steps stopped, you stiffened. It was not Killer, was it? You swore that if he did something to break your crossbow you were definitely telling Error and permitting a little violence–some threatening at the least.

Besides your bow, this crossbow was another one of the only things you had to remind yourself of Error and you would be damned if the idiot broke it. You already felt guilty enough about plenty of other things, you did not want to add this to the list.

When you actually paid attention to the sounds around you, fearing you would hear Killer's voice, you were instead relieved to hear something else. The telltale crackling of the glitches around Error meant it was definitely not Killer. You turned when he began to speak, "Move it, Doughboy, you're in the way," he scowled, glowering down at Cross.

Now that you were finally looking, you found he was frozen in front of the table you were on. Huh. You figured if anything he would have stood off to the side, or sat at the bench by the door. Maybe he actually trusted you not to shoot him or something? ...Nah. You thought that unlikely with his supposed trust issues, which every member of the gang seemed to have.

Maybe he just did not care. Although, if he knew Error was going to barge in, demanding he move quite rudely, you think he probably would have fled earlier. You were not the only one he appeared to fear, or was at least wary of. Hmm, you just realized how you notice the strangest things. You shook the stray thoughts off to focus on the present. Seeing Cross jolt, you snorted, before watching him slide to the side on autopilot.

"Geez, I'm moving," he mumbled, before a bonebrow began twitching as he registered the full sentence, "Wait a minute... I'm not a 'Doughboy!'" he complained, frowning with annoyance. Apparently, being annoyed was enough to make him temporarily forget his fear of Error.

You suddenly felt like you were watching one of those moments where a side character–usually cannon fodder–got the courage to face a boss seriously out of their league. Who knew where they got it, certainly not from common sense or out of some meager sense of self-preservation.

Error abruptly smirked at Cross, scowl vanishing as his eyelights glinted brightly... You knew that look. Well, he brought it upon himself to challenge Error, so there was nothing you could do to save him from this. Plus, you found the inevitable banter rather relaxing in how normal it was.

Err, perhaps "normal" was a stretch. But it certainly helped you to unwind after the small fright of a possibly broken crossbow and the awkwardness of training with someone you did not really know. Plus, you were feeling a tad irritable with lack of sleep. Again, you knew you did not need it, but you were too accustomed to the activity to go without.

"Oh yeah? You wear white, don't you?" Error asked, leaning toward Cross. His smirk widened when Cross leaned away, his frown twisting as he hesitantly answered.

"...yeah, so what?" he questioned, a tad more wary than before. At least he seemed to be coming back to his senses. Now that you thought about it, a playful Error probably threw him for a loop, so it would make sense if alarms were beginning to blare in his skull.