Welcome to Gaia! ::

Robert had missed some big stupid party. It hadn't sounded like a party, because no one in this God-forsaken place knew how to really party, anyway. From what he'd heard, he hadn't missed much - just a bunch of new kids waking up and being introduced into their new life as slaves to the man.

In fact, Robert had spent most of the day in his dorm. Brooding. Contemplating going out, and doing the one thing he was too scared to do.

Just .. just go check the pods, he told himself. She's probably still asleep. You're worrying over nothing. Just because some kids woke up doesn't mean she did.

He'd gone back and forth all day, trying to convince himself to stop being a chicken s**t. He'd failed, until his shift came. By then, it was late, and work had to get done whether he was scared or not.

So he trudged into the labs, trying not to look straightaway at the feeds, as if postponing the moment as long as possible.

It was the crash that had ripped Robert's attention from the monitors - oh yes, he'd given in and taken a look, only to feel his stomach churn when the one monitor he was used to looking at now held a different face.

Maybe she'd just been moved, he convinced himself. This didn't mean she was awake. This didn't mean-

And there was the crash.

He turned fluidly, a twirl that betrayed his dancer's background almost embarrassingly, and looked at the missing face. Eyes open, looking up at him in.. in what? Horror? Anger? Just plain disgust?

His lips parted, the breath was sucked in, and he looked ready to say something.

But the words just wouldn't come out.

So instead, Robert just stared at Roberta, his Roberta, flesh and blood right in front of him, with the following look on his face.

Roberta's voice made Robert's head swim. It was painful, and his eyes squinted as his brain tried to rationalize how he was hearing her now, and not in some torturous reminder of the past. Her, standing here, in front of him, walking away-

"WHAT."

He hadn't meant to scream it, but as soon as she tried to run everything had come into disturbing focus. There she was, running like always, and it kick-started Robert into motion just as it had every time she ran. He stumbled, crunching glass beneath his feet, and almost fell when he reached to grab her and stop her from leaving.

"You can't - I mean just don't - wait - please - you need - I need - just - uuuuughhh."

And then he did fall, his knees dropping down on the broken glass, and big arms wrapped around her little form.

"Goddamnit, kitten." He whimpered like a child. "God. Damnit."

It was hard to tell just what the emotion that shook his voice was, yet.

The sound of her voice growing cold was so familiar to her. The problem was that he wasn't familiar with hearing her like that - it had always been Petra whose voice had grown cold and distant. Not Roberta. Never Roberta.

The sound of her voice growing cold felt familiar, and foreign at the same time. It froze him to the bone, and it granted her the one thing she wanted - his arms fell limp to her sides.

But it didn't last long.

Roaring as he stood to his feet, he loomed over her in agonizing, burning anger.

"Damn ME? ME? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY ASLEEP! What are you THINKING, kitten? You have NO ******** IDEA how dangerous this place is. You should get back in that pod right now and-"

He stopped explaining it, and just plucked her up in his arms and carried her back to the pods.

Despite all the physical abuse Robert was retaining from the girl in his arms, he truly did not believe she would ever actually hurt him. Nevertheless, when the blade dropped down to his neck, he stopped walking towards the pods, and gently let her down to her feet. It was time to stop ignoring her, he supposed.

"Kitten. Roberta. Please, baby, I need you to stop spouting this nonsense and listen carefully." His hands rested on her shoulders, keeping her looking in his direction. "I don't know what exactly you think about this place, but it ain't as easy as you're making it sound. You don't let yourself get put here. And DON'T talk about your sister like she can't take care of herself. You DON'T know the s**t she can do now. You don't know how HARD she's been fighting. For us. FOR YOU!" He was shaking by now, angered far beyond reason. Every time he tried to calm down, the well of anger surged once more.

"Listen. Just. LISTEN." Was he screaming at her, or himself? "We need to calm down or something. Please. Kitten. I can't let this happen. I can't let this be the first time I've seen you since the last time I saw you. I CAN'T, OKAY?" Another deep breath. "Okay, please. I am begging you here."

Roberta's words were sharper than the blade she threatened him with. Every insinuation made him wince in pain. That's all she ever wanted to do, even before they were in this place. Run away. Leave him. Run away. Abandon the people who loved her. Run away. He'd been sick of it then, and he was sick of it now. Where once he'd thought if he could just kiss her, once, she would stay... now the idea made him sick to his stomach.

He couldn't listen to her spew this venom at him anymore, when all he was guilty for was loving her too much.

"OH. WOW. SORRY, KITTEN. DIDN'T REALIZE I WAS PISSING ON YOUR VACATION." He shrieked, finally letting her go. "What was I THINKIN', fighting my a** off to keep you and all the other people in the ********' world safe? How could I be so SELFISH? When OBVIOUSLY ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT?"

He didn't realize he was crying, but it didn't matter. He was too mad to care that his face was littered with tears.

He took a step forward and bent in close, ignoring the blade pointed at him and brushing it away to be nose to nose with the girl.

"I am with Petra." He hissed in cold blood. "I am very happily with her, Roberta. Or should I say, sister-in-law."

Why did she have to mention that night.

All of the anger that fueled Robert's rage drained out of him, along with the color in his face.

"How can you say that?" He whispered hoarsely. "How can you ******** say that? What the ******** has Petra ever done to deserve that s**t, Roberta? You wanna hate me? Fine, I get it. But are you seriously standing here tellin' me that when your sister finds out you're awake.." His arm reached out and took hers. "Your ********' twin sister, kitten. You're not gonna be happy to see her?"

He looked at the girl in front of him, and felt a cold stab of fear when he couldn't recognize the soul in her eyes.

And suddenly, it felt like everything that had been turned upside down suddenly came back into focus, again.

Roberta asked him if Petra would be happy to see her sister. And the truth was, it was clear Robert did think that she would. But why? After what he'd done, after what they'd done..?

Except, it wasn't exactly a very fresh memory anymore, was it?

At least.. not for Robert and Petra. Not for the two who'd hashed out their pain, their sorrows, and come to a clear, defined understanding. To them.. at least, as far as Robert assumed, it was a long, distant, still painful but not dominating, memory.

But to Roberta.. who'd been asleep all this time..

It was still fresh.

"You should ask her." Robert murmured quietly, letting her shake him off. "You can't run away anymore, kitten. I know that's what you want, I know that's what you're used to. But you're out of choices, now. We're all in this together, whether you like it or not. And personally, I think she does want to see you. Because she loves you. Just like I do."

He stepped away, out of her personal space. "She needs you, Roberta. I need you. And, uh, you should probably get used to it, because.."

He held his coat up, matching it with hers. "We kind of work together."