30 Years and Counting

Year 20 [2004]

Glitchtrap stared at the man in front of him sleeping, his head fallen onto his own shoulder with his eyes closed, forehead furrowed deeply as if a nightmare was attacking him. He stepped forward slightly, a little hesitant as he raised his hand to push the bangs of hair that fell over his forehead behind his ear, then slipped his fingers between the brown strands, combing them lightly and slowly repositioning them. He seemed uncomfortable, sitting cross-legged and dozing off. To be honest, this was the first time he found the Afton slept soundly.

He crossed his legs, then laid William in front of him, his head now resting in his lap, his hands still stroking William's brown hair. Suddenly he remembered the past, every time William fell asleep at work, he would quietly hold him on his lap and let him settle into his arms. Looking back further, William would often sleep in his embrace after he cried.

For a few moments their position was like this, his hands frequently stroking Afton's hair, the frowns on his forehead slowly disappearing. For the last past week William had been waking up more often, he never told him why but he knew that it was related to nightmares about past events.

Would William stay like this forever? Or was there another way to end his story?

He had to find out.

He will always look for ways to change his life for the better.

Glitchtrap looked down, his pair of glowing purple eyes completely indecipherable, lost in his own thoughts, thinking of all the possible ways to do it. His hand stopped caressing, he had to start immediately. He was about to carefully push William's head in his lap to the floor, but William squirmed, making him stop. The man's eyelids opened slowly.

"Good morning, Wool-wool," he said, his casual, annoying demeanor returning, he had expected William to quickly move away from him or even push him away realizing their current position.

In fact, William closed his eyes again and slightly adjusted his position to make it more comfortable. "Morning."

This is surprising.

William didn't react anything other than that, his eyes were closed but he knew William wasn't asleep. Maybe, just maybe he could use this opportunity ... his hand moved tentatively to the man's head, he watched William's shoulders twitch slightly for a moment as he stroked his hair one more time. William accepted the caress consciously, or maybe he hadn't regained full consciousness after falling asleep? Maybe, but this was enough to make him feel happy, knowing William let him touch him like this.

He continued to run his fingers through the strands of William's hair. "You like it?"

"I hate it."

"Good to know."

Chuckling with laughter, Glitchtrap bent his body slightly, bringing his face closer to William's as soon as William opened his eyes. That made William startled, never expecting that Glitchtrap closed their distance until they were only a few inches from each other, Glitchtrap's hand stopped stroking his hair, moving to the side of his face and held it firmly.

"It'll be fine, William," Glitchtrap said, a voice that brought a strange atmosphere to the recesses of his chest. "I'll put you back together."