Dead Set. || PURPLEPHONE

Duty of Care.

"A month?" Vincent's jaw dropped. "A month?!"

"Yeah," Scott walked past him, snatching up his keys and phone from the table and rubbing his temples with his free hand, "I had the same reaction. Oh and bonus, here's the good part, they're taking away the animatronics!" Scott spun on his heel to face Vincent, the hand that was on his forehead now resting on his hip. "They want to 'check the robots for faults'." 

As the words left his mouth, Scott watched something tremendously odd happening. Vincent visibly paled, any trace of a smile wiping off his face, replaced with something that just might have been... fear? "What?" he squeaked.

Scott looked him up and down for a moment, almost stunned into silence. It dawned on him that it was the very first time he'd ever seen Vincent look... uncomfortable. "W-Well," he said quickly, "I'm sure they'll be fine. We'll have them back in no time. Plus," Scott smiled, "We can find new ones. So don't worry. We'll deal with it. It's just... inconvenient. That's all."

Vincent got to his feet, "Why couldn't Fritz inspect them?" 

"Apparently he doesn't count, since he's involved with the business," Scott shrugged his shoulders, "It makes sense when you think about it. We could easily bribe him to keep his mouth shut over this kind of thing." 

"And... are they going to dismantle them?" Vincent asked, tilting his head in a nonchalantly curious way. Scott had never seen anything more unusual in his life. Vincent was acting totally out of character.

"Well... I assume so," Scott frowned slightly, "Are you alright, Vincent? Please don't worry about it... They've given us until the inspection to find new ones, so it's not like they're taking them away right now..." 

And there it went, like a switch. Scott wasn't quite sure what had changed. He was standing the same way, looking at Scott the same way, but all of a sudden the usual Vincent was back, "Oh, they're not? Well, thank goodness. I was worried you'd have to run around and find replacements. I don't want you under that kind of stress, especially not with the inspection happening, hon." 

Scott's frown didn't go away. He didn't like whatever had just happened. It was like some kind of split personality - like somebody else had just taken over Vincent for a second. Whatever - whoever - it was, Scott didn't like him. "Why were you so concerned about them being dismantled?"

Vincent blinked, "Well, we're hardly going to be able to find the time to put them back together again if they deliver them to us in bits, are we? They could damage them, and then where would we be? You and I both know those things haven't had so much as a bath in 20 years." 

"...Right," Scott turned away from Vincent again, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. "I mean, they are getting police-trusted professionals in, and they'd probably re-assemble them before delivering them back to us, but... sure. I'll pretend what you said makes sense." He started to walk off, intent on going back home and sleeping for the next few hours. He was exhausted from all the meds they'd put in him. 

 "Don't be like that," Vincent jogged to catch up to Scott, walking beside him. "It's been a stressful morning, alright? I'm still... in shock. You have to remember that I knew Boss too. I knew him very well. Without him, I never would have gone back and talked to you at your house in January. He's the reason we're together."

Scott looked at him skeptically for a second, and then let out a sigh. "I know..." He reached out, grabbing Vincent's hand. "I'm sorry, Vin. I should have thought about how you feel. Of course you're shaken up. I respect that. I guess I'm just a bit... lost, and I really need you now, more than ever. To have you changing would be like the only stable thing in my life leaving me, too." 

"Well, you did once tell me you were the most paranoid boyfriend ever..." Vincent leaned over, kissing Scott on the side of the head, "Just don't let it confuse you, alright? I'm not changing, hon. It's just paranoia."

Scott let the smallest of smiles show, "Yeah... that's all." And then the smile disappeared and he let go of Vincent's hand, stuffing his own in his pockets instead. "I'm so tired..." he muttered, suddenly feeling as though his legs were made of lead "I can't believe I just have to have a concussion over all this stress. My head is pounding..." He sighed, "You think I could hire somebody to carry me around, so I don't have to do any walking?" 

And the next thing Scott was aware of was the fact that his legs were no longer on the ground. He yelped in fright as the world swam and his feet kicked aimlessly, and he focused on Vincent's grinning face.

"Vincent!" he screeched, flailing in his boyfriend's arms in fright, "I wasn't being serious! Put me down!" 

"Hmmm... no. No, I don't think I will," Vincent adjusted so he was carrying him bridal-style. "You need to rest those legs."

"Vincent!" Scott hissed at him, glancing over his shoulder to find that everybody was staring at the two walking down the road. They must have heard him screaming. "Vincent, you're embarrassing me! Put me down right now or so help me, I will break up with you right here and now!" He writhed again, trying to roll out of Vincent's arms and onto the ground. Even landing on his face would be more dignified than this.

"No you won't~" Vincent hummed, not even phased by Scott's (not very convincing) threat. "You love me and you know it." 

"Please!" Scott relaxed in Vincent's arms, looking up at him, "Vincent, please. Put me down. I don't like this."

Vincent's grin disappeared, he blinked down at him, "Scott, I do believe you're misunderstanding the situation. I have to look after you. You said your legs were tired, I'm carrying you home." And then the smile returned, and Vincent looked back up.

Scott rolled his eyes, leaning back in Vincent's arms and groaning. And before he quite knew what he was doing, he smiled, and then grinned, and then laughed, "You're such an idiot, Vincent." He wrapped his arms around Vincent's neck, leaning up to kiss against his jawline, tracing a pattern to the corner of his mouth, "I love you." 

Vincent gave a satisfied smile, turning his face so that his lips met Scott's for a short kiss, "I knew you'd come around eventually."