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Intimidating.
That was what it felt like to be standing in front of this building.
Lucas genuinely didn't know what he was supposed to do, leading to him just…awkwardly standing outside. Eventually he realized he should…maybe knock on the door? Odd, since he had never really done that before. With a small grimace, he managed to knock on the door, something that felt so much more overwhelming than it really needed to be. Awkward silence followed until he jumped slightly at the sight of the door handle moving.
When the door opened, he saw another Steve just like him standing inside who held a very odd aura…like someone who held a lot of authority. For a moment there was silence before the other spoke, voice soft, “Ah, hello there. You’re someone new here, hm?” With a blink, Lucas gazed at him in pure awe, only giving slight glances at his eyes, what had that other Steve just done with his mouth? I mean, yeah, he himself has made noises with his mouth before, but never...noises that sounded so clear and understandable. It was like the dialogue in his books! After a minute of silence, the other looked understandably awkward, “Uh...heh- well, how about I introduce myself, I’m the Red Leader, but you can call me that more so in public, I mainly go by M, a nickname that just kind of stuck,” M took a small breath before speaking again, “What’s your name?”
When more silence followed, M seemed to have a sudden realization. He brought a hand to his face before he sighed and looked apologetic, “Ah...you...can’t speak?” The nod that followed made M feel extra bad for just assuming he could, before an idea sparked up in his mind, “Oh, come in, come in, I have an idea.”
M stepped out of the way, allowing Lucas to walk inside and place his belongings down. Lucas looked back to M, wondering what he had in mind for…well, whatever he had an idea about. When he placed his belongings down, he followed M to what looked like...perhaps an office? He had one of those in his old home, mainly because it was the only room that really ended up sparking productivity. M sat at the desk, gesturing to one of the other seats, “Take a seat!” M smiled softly at him, watching as Lucas sat down. They sat face to face, Lucas looking very curious, still doing everything in his own power to avoid making eye contact with the man in front of him, only because the idea of making eye contact was intimidating and made him feel strange.
He watched as M rummaged through a few desk drawers, grabbing whatever was deemed useful, which turned out to be a notepad and a pencil. Okay, now Lucas seemed to get what exactly M was doing. A way to communicate! Sure it would probably be a bit slow as Lucas knew he had to slow his writing down to have legible handwriting, but at least he would be able to respond to people now. The objects were placed down in front of him, and so he gently grabbed them, opening the notepad to the very first page. Lucas then looked back to M, awaiting his questions, “Alright...not to seem too repetitive but, what’s your name?” M questioned, a slight tilt to his head. Lucas began to write, not too slow as it was just one word after all. He then presented the notepad to M, a small smile gracing his face.
“Your name is Lucas?” Lucas made an affirming noise at him, “Right, Lucas, I am glad to know your name. How should I refer to you, like, pronoun wise and such?” The pencil Lucas held began scribbling against the paper as Lucas wrote down his response, before once more, presenting the notepad, revealing how his pronouns were he/they, and he went by more masculine terms. M was glad he now knew how to refer to Lucas, as he opened his mouth to ask him more questions, there was a loud knocking from nearby and an eccentric sounding voice. M sighed, noting the look of alarm on Lucas’ face, “Don’t worry…that is just the Professor, who you are about to meet.” M got up and began to head for the door, not realizing Lucas just looked more alarmed from the idea there was about to be another person interacting with him too.
Lucas sat there, staring down at the desk, feeling himself begin to tremble slightly. He could hear two voices, before a third one chimed in. He froze. A third person…? That last voice sounded different in tone to the other two, more flat and…robotic. Nevermind, Lucas shook his head slightly from side to side without meaning to, trying to comprehend the fact that now there was a third person alongside that second person. His breathing kept hitching as he quickly set the items in his hands down, bringing them together rubbing them together to practise grounding as due to him being so used to being alone, any more than one person speaking to him would surely send him into a blind panic if he didn’t try and keep himself calm.
Three sets of footsteps quickly drew closer, and two of the three voices were heard getting louder the closer the three got to the office. Lucas knew this was the moment where they really had to remain calm and collected. They watched the three walk into the room, M and the Professor speaking still, while the robotic Steve by Professor’s side was looking forward, a mild look of curiosity in his eyes the very moment his eyes caught sight of someone he had never met before, causing a want for more knowledge on someone he had not met or seen before. Finally M and the Professor finally looked forward, and the sight of someone different made the Professor pause, but then grin, “Oh what do we have here?” “This is Lucas. Lucas, I mentioned that this is the Professor but he’s fully known as Professor Red.” Lucas held a look of sudden intrigue, before pointing to the unnamed individual, “And that is Assistant Steve” “And, Lucas, I may look like a Steve, but I am merely based on one.”
The look of pure excitement and interest on Lucas’ face was...genuinely nice to see. He looked a lot happier now than he had when he first arrived in the Red Kingdom. Lucas stood up, grabbing his notepad and pencil. He quickly walked over to Assistant Steve and inspected him, quite literally walking all around him. Assistant looked at him with confusion, meanwhile Professor Red and M found this quite humorous. Lucas began to write down more on the notepad, pencil scribbling furiously, before looking back at Assistant and showing it to him, “You want to know more about me? Well, if I got into it now it would be a long conversation. Maybe another time.”
With a look of understanding and a nod, Lucas looked over to the Professor with a look that said ‘you are going to tell me everything about how you created him later’ before looking to M, before quickly beginning to write more down on the notepad. He stepped towards M and showed him what he wrote, “You want to know where you are going to stay? Hm...well I suppose I can get some Orange Steve’s in to build you a home…how about you stay with me until then.” Lucas grinned, nodding, before taking in that M had said...Orange Steve’s. Huh…another coloured Steve? Well, it seemed like he would have to learn more about those later.
For now, well, he decided to explore M’s home while the other three had what he presumed to be a professional conversation that he knew he shouldn’t be a part of, as he was just your average Steve.