the key to my heart (der)

[Freddy]

Classes were something Freddy both reviled and revered. Life as a sentient key in the mean streets of Manta Carlos never was the best environment for higher - level education beyond knowing where to dine or where to best pick up whatever was necessary for staying alive. As such, he never did fit the classroom scene, better suited for learning on the go about practical things. At the same time he appreciated and felt intense jealousy for those who could go about their days simply acquiring more and more knowledge that he never had the chance to acquire for himself.

Still, his interest was at an all - time low currently, which bothered him as well; The Box was normally an instructor he held the greatest respect for and only when he was intoxicated was he incapable of paying attention to it. Though even then Freddy still would find that his drunken thoughts stayed on track.

As always, Freddy turned his bow toward the window, wistfully looking at the outside world. He missed the rare nights out that painting the town was an option, when money wasn't as tight and he could afford to party hard. Long gone were the days of old, and while the comforts of Starlight were well appreciated, there was a certain je ne sais quoi to life outside that no amount of deep thought on the nature of life and the universe could ever provide. The craving for that organic feeling began to well up, and as the listless class went on, the more Freddy wanted to feel that again.

It struck him as he noticed The Box observing him - there was something that was dragging it down. It was locked as it lectured some more, as though trying to shut something inside. Doubt and uncertainty were evident in its words, and as the class ended and students one by one went on to pursue their next courses of action outside, Freddy made up his mind. Somehow, someway, he would feel that something again, and he would let this tired cardboard do so as well.

He could have floated over faster to The Box, though once he noticed the trepidation it had as it eyed him - with whatever it saw with - he chose to slow down, smiling internally. Within several excruciatingly moments they were in front of one another, Freddy's flat circular bow facing The Box. Grinning with a metallic smugness, he let the silence linger for a while longer before a slit spread on one face of his head.

"Closed your lock too tight to teach properly, Sir," he began, singsong, smug and almost mocking. With a light clank he dropped onto a table, slightly tilted up. "Lesson was boring crap today, Sir. Something inside you wrong? Maybe if you'd let me have a look..."

"Aw - no no no no - dammit! Shit, that wasn't what I was going for." Freddy cursed himself - he'd intended to jest, not to openly hurt. Somewhere in that dreary lesson he forgot that whatever could be said of The Box, taking its job without the utmost professionalism and sincerity was not one of them. That sad face on that green panel hurt him deeper than that time he was swallowed by a crow; there were few enough that he respected and to have one of those few be in such distress from his words was doubtless a terrible thing.

Had he any hands, he'd have put them around The Box shortly after slamming them into his own nonexistent face. Alas, lacking said hands, he instead opted to float closer, shaking and skittering as he did so. His voice was heavy with panic, trying to undo the damage he'd done as he hurriedly explained, "No no no - see, I was joking - not about the boring thing, this class was meh - ah, dammit, what the fuck are you saying, Freddy?"

With a deep airless breath he twisted himself upright in midair and began again. "What I was trying to say before I fucked up is, uh - dammit, let's just go ahead and say it - I noticed you were tense and tried to lighten the mood but being the idiot I am I made it worse. Clear enough? Oh, great, now I sound like some petty thug."

He inched closer until he was literal inches from The Box. "Anyway, sir, so I noticed you're, you know, all sorts of tense, and I just want to know what - what's wrong. You know. 'Cause that's a normal thing students do."

Under his breath, he mumbled to himself, "Yeah. Students. Students, Freddy. Not potential drinking buddies."

A broken heart was on top of the list of things Freddy did not expect to see from The Box, topped only by a homeless person. The Box was always after all so enthusiastic, so cheerful in his (usually) tireless quest for knowledge and learning. The lock, he noticed earlier, and it clawed at the very back of his head, triggering that part of the mind that tells one to jump with a voice when one stands at a high place, except that in this case it was urging him to enter that lock and spread The Box open.

He began to stare at the broken heart and the lock in mild confusion whilst ignoring that tiny voice trying to convince him it was time to go spelunking inside that lock. Freddy never was the sort of guy who was good at picking up hints, though of course that broken heart and that lock was much more than just a hint. The main concern he had was more along the lines of whether or not he was reading the hints wrong. Well, to hell with it, he thought. This was a box that needed something to get its mind off things.

"Broken heart. Didn't think you had one to break in the first place, but I'm a fucking key, the hell would I know? Anyway." For no reason Freddy faked clearing his nonexistent throat. The tip of his blade began to glow a faint red for dramatic flair, as though puffing himself up.

Upward he levitated, all the better for drama as he drifted himself closer and closer to the light above on the ceiling. As he floated upward he assumed a deeper voice and boomed down at The Box, his shadow cast on the floor. "Have no fear. I have seen thy suffering and - ow! Goddammit!"

Freddy dropped back down to the floor after bumping a lightbulb above and once again cleared his nonexistent throat. "Dammit, the one time I try and get a little bit highbrow... Bah. Well, point is, I want to go out and have some fun. You're broken - hearted. So, go out with me tonight - let's fucking hit the town. Come - 'come with me,' I mean."

Without waiting for a response so as to hide his unease from having slipped with his words, Freddy floated toward the open door and stopped mere inches away from the border. He began to flail about, and then he kept himself upright once more, asking slowly, "You are coming, right? 'Cause this day - night out's gonna suck solo."