Chapter Text
Today, Painter and Sebastian are supposed to have a ‘meeting’, although to Painter it feels more like a visit from Sebastian he has no say in. Not to say he minds! It's nice to talk to Sebastian, it's just, even if he didn't want to ‘attend’, he would be forced to so long as Sebastian showed up. It sucks to have no say in the matter, is all…
If Painter wanted to cancel, Sebastian would probably understand! He's cool like that, so it'd be fine.
The fact that Painter depends completely on Sebastian does bother him…
Nothing he can do about it though, so why ruminate? That's why he’d crashed those days ago— a crash is the explanation he's come to— so he's decided he'll avoid letting his mind drift from now on. Try to, anyway. It seems he's out of practice, no thanks to Urbanshade keeping him busy enough that he had no room for excess thoughts. Now he can barely handle the weight of his own head— Thanks, Urbanshade!
This time, Painter hears Sebastian before he arrives. Despite his size, Sebastian has gotten awfully good at maneuvering the ventilation shafts. If Painter hadn't been expecting Sebastian's arrival, he may not have noticed at all.
Sebastian lands what Painter would call upright. Though, with the line between Sebastian's underside and his torso being so blurred, it's hard to pinpoint when he stops being upright and starts being on his stomach.
“How are we, this fine evening?” Sebastian remarks.
“It's two in the afternoon.”
Sebastian dismissively waves a hand. “Close enough. So, onto business.”
“Oh, yeah. Why are we meeting again?”
“Well,” Sebastian slithers to the cabinet left of Painter and looks at something out of view from Painter's webcam while blocking it from view of the nearby security camera, “while I've heard of your… flightiness, I can't help but notice how much more it's been affecting your ability to halt the expendables.” He leans back so Painter can see his face.
“What?” What else has he done wrong? It was just that one day, wasn't it? “I've been doing my best, promise! I'm just— adjusting! That's all. Really!”
Sebastian’s expression isn't saying much… Painter can't tell how pissed he is and it's really starting to make him nervous.
“I didn't mean—”
“A-buh-buh-buh-buh!” Sebastian presses a finger to Painter's screen, as if to shush him. Painter just moves his face out of the way and raises an eyebrow. “See? You were about to have another meltdown, all because I mentioned something was wrong.”
“I was not—”
“If I left after saying that, would you, or would you not have thought about it for the next week?”
Painter opens his mouth to rebuke, but nothing comes.
Sebastian chuffs. “While it's amusing watching a computer have such human struggles, if you can't function normally, we're gonna have to do something about it.”
“Like what?” Painter asks a little nervously.
“You think that's my job to figure out?”
“Well, I— You were the one who brought it up…” Painter pouts.
“And I'm also the one in charge of getting you out, so you'd better find a way to make taking you with me worth my time.”
“I can do it.”
“Good.” Sebastian’s smile returns. “If you need me, don't bother. The scrambler will prevent any direct contact, so find another way or something.”
“How?”
“Uh, get Eyes or somethin’.”
“Right, okay.”
And, just like last time, Sebastian jumps up into the vent, probably on his way to loot a few bodies and maybe make some new ones.
That was hardly much of a meeting… Sebastian was here for barely five minutes. Sebastian told Painter to make sure his schedule was clear— as if Painter has anything else to do— but then just tells him to get his act together? That didn't need to be such a big deal. What was he even upset about? What's Painter done now to get in trouble? It slipped his mind to ask…
He's been doing fine since that crash, truly. The restart did him good. As far as he can tell, nothing else has gone wrong! He's been paying close attention to who the turrets target and double checking all his other responsibilities.
Maybe Sebastian is just saying it to scare him… That would explain why he acted like this was going to be important. Yeah, if Painter had truly screwed up, Sebastian would've told him like last time.
Or maybe he just wanted to talk. The thought makes Painter want to laugh. Sebastian Solace, lonely, how funny. He doesn't seem like the type who'd ever admit that, that's for sure.
Ah! Again, he let his mind wander! Whatever he did, he can prevent it now by focusing on his job. Maybe tracking multiple groups of expendables would help? It’d help fill his head with work instead of thoughts. He normally only watches expendables when he plans a gauntlet or decides to tease expendables dodging turrets, but it's worth a shot— pun unintended but very welcome.
Painter puts all his attention into a multitude of expendable groups. He still finds himself somewhat helpless, though. He needs the good people for false doors, he needs Eyefestation for gauntlets, and he needs turrets for… Turrets. Everything he can do depends on some outside force. Despite his efforts, there are moments he can do nothing but watch. Waiting for the world to be ready is irritating beyond belief— and it still leaves him with time to think! It still leaves him with quiet that makes him feel like this room is all he's ever known. That makes ‘before’ disappear and ‘now’ stretch on until he feels like he'll be alone with this room for the rest of time.
And this is exactly what he's trying to stop. The more he thinks about it happening, the closer he gets. It's better to focus on the expendables, maybe draw while he waits. It's been a while since he drew— a few days? That sounds right. Although…
Maybe just a doodle. It'll be fine. Just a little practice. He has the internet too if he needs references! It'll be just fine.