Poly Fics

Cecilia heard the door opening behind her, but didn't bother to turn around to see who had stepped outside.

“Have trouble sleeping?” Elizabeth inquired, standing beside her.

She hummed, “You could say that.”

While such an exchange would make sense for everyone else, both were aware Cecilia could fall asleep at will, so whatever was keeping her awake had nothing to do with possible insomnia.

Elizabeth glanced at her, scanning her impassive face.

“Did you come outside just to stare at me?” she asked, without looking in her direction.

“No I-” she opened and closed her mouth, “Is everything alright, Cecilia?” She intended to reach for her hand, but the automaton moved her hands upfront, preventing her from doing so.

“Yes, I just wanted to take some fresh air. You should return to bed with the others, I will be there shortly.”

Despite the suggestion, Elizabeth doubted leaving. She knew Cecilia was troubled about something, but whatever it was, it was clear she didn't wish to discuss it. A part of her wanted to stay, in hopes she could perhaps get her to talk, but another part didn't want to cause any further discomfort.

In the end, she decided she would give Cecilia the space she needed.

She sighed, “Alright, don't stay outside much longer.”

“I won't.”

Returning to their room, she smiled upon seeing Raora and Gigi hadn't moved an inch, and were still sleeping in each other's arms.

Carefully getting into bed, she lay by Raora’s side, leaving enough space for Cecilia.

Although she had agreed to leave, Elizabeth didn't want to fall asleep just yet. She was tired but wanted to wait until Cecilia was back, unfortunately, sleep was stronger than her will to stay awake, so she fell asleep before the automaton joined them in bed.

When she woke up the next morning, Cecilia wasn't there. Judging by the state of the sheets, either she had woken up a while ago or hadn't slept with them at all.

Noticing this, Elizabeth knew she had to tell the others something.

“Raora, Gigi, wake up.” She gently shook them, until they began to stir.

“Good morning,” Raora spoke amidst a yawn, opening her eyes to look at her, while Gigi further buried her face in her chest.

“Five more minutes,”

“Sorry to wake you up sweetheart, but we need to talk,” She brushed Gigi's bangs away, who frowned once she heard that.

“What's wrong?” 

“It's Cecilia, I'm worried about her.”

Hearing their lover's name, both sat up, knowing that whatever Elizabeth was going to tell them was urgent.

The Scarlett queen relayed her worries, telling them about last night's encounter and her suspicion that Cecilia might not have slept with them.

“Have you seen her acting strange?”

Raora shook her head, “Nothing comes to mind. What about you, Gigi?”

“Same, I haven’t noticed anything suspicious.”

“Perhaps it's all in my head, but I can't shake the feeling that there is more than meets the eye.” 

Gigi and Raora exchanged glances, sharing the same thought.

“If your gut is telling you that, it is for a reason,” Gigi affirmed, reaching for her hand.

“Gigi is right, we should pay close attention to her,” Raora agreed, grabbing her hand too.

“Thank you, I needed your reassurance.”

“Don't mention it,” Gigi let go of her, “we should try to find Ceci. She should be in the kitchen since she is in charge of preparing breakfast today”

Assuming she had carried on with their itinerary, the three headed to the kitchen. Unfortunately, there were no signs of Cecilia anywhere, but it was evident she had indeed cooked, as there were three covered plates on the table.

“Where is she? And why are there only three plates, she couldn't have eaten already, could she?” Raora asked, looking at the setting.

“She did,” Elizabeth affirmed, reading a note she had left beside the plates.

“She has gone out but doesn't mention where. She only said she doesn't know when she will be back.”

She folded the paper and sighed, “This is not a good sign.”

“This is not the first time she has spent the whole day out running errands and whatnot, so perhaps this is just all a coincidence and nothing else,” Gigi intervened, not wanting to think the worst just yet.

Despite her intentions, a seed of worry had planted itself in their minds, which they couldn't shake off until they saw Cecilia again.

Fortunately, when the automaton returned at night, she was acting as usual, not showing any signs that something was wrong, so they were able to relax for the time being. Still, their guards weren't down just yet.

Nothing seemed to be different the following days, so they were almost convinced everything was fine. But that was until they noticed some changes in Cecilia's behavior.

She was suddenly too busy, which resulted in her being out of the house for hours, and when she wasn't out, she would just stay in her room from morning till night. 

There was nothing wrong with that, of course, as they were not strangers to not having too much free time. The problem was that she had started to spend less and less time with them, and every time they tried to do something with her, she excused herself saying there was something else she had to do.

She had also become colder with them, rejecting most of their affection. If they tried to hug her, she would free herself from their grasp almost instantly, the same happened with holding hands, and when they tried to kiss her or initiate any sort of intimacy, she would immediately cut it off.

At first, they tried not to mind her attitude, hoping she would eventually come to them and tell them what was wrong, but there was too much they could handle before they had enough.

“We can't go on like this anymore, we have to talk to her,” Gigi proclaimed, looking at her companions. 

“Everyone is miserable. Cecilia by constantly avoiding that there is indeed a problem, and us by facing her rejection time and time again.”

Raora whined, “I don't like seeing her like that, nor do I like seeing each other getting hurt, but what can we do if she does everything in her power to avoid being in our presence.”

Elizabeth sighed, running her hand through her hair, “We will have to corner her. I didn't want us to reach this point, but it's the only viable option.”

They could only agree with the proposal, knowing it was their best bet.

“How do we do this then?” Gigi asked.

Elizabeth didn't know what to answer, but luckily, Raora did.

“We will have to wait for a day when she doesn't go out, that way we will go to her room and make her talk.”

xxxx~~~~~xxxx

Cecilia stared at her naked form. The image that met her in the mirror didn’t use to cause her distress, but now, she could barely stand looking at herself. 

When did this disdain for her body start? She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment, but the more she looked at herself now, the more she just wanted to smash her mirror with her fist, not to have to see herself anymore.

A knock on her door prevented her from continuing entertaining such a thought. 

“What is it?”

“Can we come in?” She heard Elizabeth's voice, but the use of we implied she wasn't the only one outside.

Even if she had no confirmation yet, Cecilia assumed she was in the company of Raora and Gigi, which could only mean one thing. She knew they had noticed her avoidance, it was hard not to when she not so subtly put distance between them. 

Cecilia tried to ignore the hurt looks on their faces every time she rejected them, knowing there was nothing more she wanted to do than accept their affection, but she couldn't.

They were not responsible for her inner conflicts, and if it were up to her, she would have continued keeping her distance, but at last, she had reached a dead end.

She couldn't run away anymore, and now she was forced to face what she had been running away from.

Grabbing her discharged robe, she loosely put it on before walking towards the door.

She didn't open it fully, just enough to get a good look at the outside and just as she had predicted, Elizabeth, Raora, and Gigi were all there. A few moments passed, where she just looked at them before moving to the side, opening the door to the fullest and allowing them in.

They entered the room with caution and once everyone was inside, Cecilia closed the door, moving past them to sit on the edge of her bed while they stood in front of her.

“What did you need?” She asked, crossing her arms as she studied them.

They exchanged glances, unsure of who would speak first, before Elizabeth decided to take the floor.

“We wanted to talk to you, we have noticed you acting odd lately. We wanted to give you space while we hoped you would come to us when you felt ready, but since that moment never came, and we see no improvement, we were forced to come to you.”

She hummed, “what if I don't want to talk?”

“We can't oblige you to do anything, but you know you can confide in us.”

Cecilia looked away, her gaze falling on the mirror in her line of sight. A heavy silence settled between them, but Gigi spoke up before it could stretch long.

“Have we done something wrong?”

The automaton winced, hearing how small and broken Gigi's voice sounded.

“You haven't.”

Instead of offering any solace, her negative only agitated her more. “Then why are you avoiding us… Do you not want us anymore?”

She scoffed in disbelief, “Oh Gigi, of course I do,” she briefly glanced at them, “I never stopped wanting you and I never will.”

She stared at her reflection, feeling her troubled thoughts filling her mind again.

“I don't know what is wrong with me. Every time I see myself, I'm overcome by dread, hating myself, and the way I look.”

“Throughout the many years of my existence, my body has undergone different changes as I adapted to a more human appearance, but no matter how much I improve myself, I will never be fully human”

“I won't have a heartbeat, my skin won't ever be soft, and the lines of my joints will remain as a reminder of what I am.”

She sighed, looking down at her hands before clenching her fists. “I have started to resent this body of mine, leading to my avoidance. The mere thought of your touch disgusts me, but not because of you but because of me.”

“I don't think an automaton like me is deserving of the love and affection that…”

Cecilia wasn't able to finish talking, as a body suddenly collided against hers, making her fall back. If the strands of pink hair weren't enough to recognize who had tackled her, the soft purring against her neck confirmed it was Raora.

Her purring was accompanied by quiet sobs, as she held onto her with an almost crushing strength. 

Cecilia just laid there, motionless, as the cries and purring continued in an odd combination of wanting to offer comfort but also expressing sadness. 

Her hands twitched as she felt the need to embrace the artist. Although her head screamed at her not to touch her, she ended up listening to her metallic heart, which only wanted to hold her and never let go.

Her circling her arms around her seemed to cause Elizabeth and Gigi to act, as they joined them on the bed, wrapping their arms around them to form a cocoon.

The combined weight of their bodies, and natural heat, caused Raora’s cries to slowly die out, until no more tears escaped her eyes.

“You are heavy,” she giggled, causing Elizabeth and Gigi to move back just enough to give them some room to breathe.

Now that they weren't draped over her anymore, Raora sat up on Cecilia's stomach. Looking down at her, she offered her a kind smile and that smile was the thing that finally made the automaton break, as her vision blurred before tears began falling.

Strong sobs cursed through her body as she covered her face with her hands.

“I'm…sorry,” She spoke between sobs.

“It's alright sweetheart, just let it out,” Elizabeth caressed her head, which only caused more tears to come.

Cecilia didn't realize how much she had been bottling up till now, that her cries didn't seem to want to slow down. It would be uncertain to say how much time had passed before her sobs and tears subsided, and only hiccups remained.

Only when those stopped too did she lower her hands.

The looks she encountered were of love and patience and not of hurt or disappointment, which only caused her heart to ache at knowing what she made them go through.

Sitting up, she expected Raora to leave her lap, but she didn't.

“How do you feel?” She asked, as Gigi and Elizabeth scurried closer to them.

“A bit better I guess,” Cecilia looked down.

“I'm sorry for making you worry and for avoiding you, I didn't handle this right.”

Gigi shook her head, carefully reaching for her hand in case Cecilia would reject the contact, which she didn't. “I think we are the only ones that should apologize.”

“What for?”

“For allowing you to wallow in your feelings for so long. We noticed something was wrong a while back, and instead of coming to you, we just waited for you to mention something. We thought we were doing the right thing, but we made a mistake,” Elizabeth intervened, grabbing her free hand.

“You were just being considerate, there is nothing wrong about that.”

Raora puffed her cheeks, “Regardless, we should have done better, but I think there is a way to fix our mistakes.”

“There is nothing to fix, but what do you have in mind?”

She didn't answer, instead, she gently pushed Cecilia down, a motion the automaton gladly followed till she was lying on her back again. 

“I think that perhaps we need to remind you how wanted and loved you are, to make you stop thinking so lowly of yourself,” Raora leaned over her, cradling her face with her hand.

“Would you let us do that?”

Cecilia gulped, glancing between all of them.

Whatever she told them, she knew they would respect it, and although she still felt some glimmer of self-doubt and loathe, she couldn't find it in herself to continue denying them anymore.

“Yes,” she softly whispered, loud enough for them all to hear.

They made good on what they promised as they mapped every corner of her being. There wasn't a single part of her that hadn't been kissed, touched and dotted on with the utmost love.

They whispered praises, telling her over and over again how much they loved her, how perfect they thought she was.

By the end of it all she was a sobbing mess, but this time she felt lighter, happier. The guilt and self-loathing had disappeared, being replaced with contempt.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, waking up in the same manner.

Cecilia was the first one to arise. 

She was trapped in the middle, with Elizabeth pressed against her back, firmly holding her, as Raora had her face buried in the crook of her neck. 

Her tail was wrapped around her leg, and she was letting out the cutest sleepy purrs. Gigi was the one farthest from her, hugging Raora from behind, but she was still touching her, as her tail was protectively draped over their bodies.

She had missed waking up like this, and after last night, she promised herself that she would never let her feelings pull her apart from them again.