TW: Incest? Depressing, people die

Title: ~Smile~

Ever since first seeing the man, Lalna couldn’t stop thinking about him. His eyes had shone so darkly, his movements fluid and confident.

But the one thing Lalna could not forget was his smile. Well, he said smile. It was more of an insane grin from a man who’d long lost his grip on reality. 

Lalna could not helping thinking of the mirror image of himself, locked away behind steel and glass. The sheer, pure insanity of the other haunted him in every way imaginable, making him wake screaming from nightmares, night after night. 

Xephos told him it was like a strange addiction. The scientist had become useless in any happenings of Yoglabs; the only thing he could focus on was Lalnable. 

“Promise you won’t over think it?” Xephos had asked.

Lalna had grinned. “Come on, Xephos, how bad can it be?” He’d said jauntily. 

The spaceman had glanced away, and after a moment’s hesitation, pushed open the steel doors. Lalna’s world was flipped upside down as he came face to face with the menace that had been occupying Xephos’ busy schedule. 

“I can’t fix him,” Xephos had said, almost pleadingly. 

Ignoring the spaceman, the insane clone had risen to his feet and paced to the edge of the cage, his intense green gaze fixed upon the scientist. 

As the clone’s mouth opened, Lalna turned and fled the room. His feet carried him as far away as he could get, mindlessly leading him through the lab’s confusing hallways and sections and through countless doors. Away, that was all he’d thought. He had to get away. 

And that was how he’d ended up in the more homely side of the facility. It was nice here - probably the nicest place in the building. To top it off, it was far, far from Lalnable. 

Lalna sighed, running his hand through his rank, unwashed hair. Xephos had not returned since two days ago. Xephos had not told him to get off his ass and do something. Where was Xephos? 

I’m like a machine, Lalna thought with an inward chuckle. Just less useful. 

The scientist heaved himself off of the couch he’d sunk into over the past few days. He couldn’t remember how long he’d sat there, being haunted by a shadow that couldn’t even reach him. 

A knock sounded on the door, pulling Lalna from his scattered thoughts. He attempted to flatten his hair, knowing he must look a right mess. 

“Yes?” Lalna called out somewhat hesitantly. 

“It’s me,” Xephos said through the flimsy wood. Lalna really would’ve preferred a metal door, but these rooms were made for comfort, not practicality. 

“Oh, Xephos,” Lalna said with the faintest smile in his voice. “Come in.” 

The spaceman pushed open the door, blinking in surprise when he saw Lalna standing up instead of lying limp on the couch. “You’re up,” he said blatantly. 

“Yeah,” the scientist said with a sheepish chuckle. “I need something else to do.” 

“How about I let you work on the security?” Xephos offered. “You can do that from here, and it’s difficult enough for you.” 

“Sure,” said Lalna with vague wave of his hand. “Bring my laptop here, and all of the hard drives I have with it.” 

Xephos just nodded, leaving Lalna alone in the room once more. The scientist instantly went to the desk, which had a monitor without a CPU attached to it. He pushed the monitor to the side, so he could hook it up to his laptop later, and began clearing space. 

A few minutes later, Xephos shoved the door open with his shoulder, the heavy laptop cradled against his chest. He had several hard drives in his hands, or tucked in the pockets of his own lab coat. 

With a dull thud that made the scientist flinch, Xephos set the bulky laptop down on the desk. Flash drives clattered from his hands to land beside it, and then the spaceman was shoved out the door. 

“Lalna, wait-!” Xephos tried to say before the door slammed in his face, and footsteps told him Lalna had returned to the desk. 

Why would Xephos ask me to work on the security? Lalna wondered. I designed it, and it can run in its own without any problems. 

Instantly, dread settled in the pit of the scientist’s stomach. God, please no, he thought desperately. Please don’t tell me… 

He swiped a flash drive off the desk and hurriedly rammed it into the slot on the side of his laptop. After tense, panicked moments and hurried clicks, a network of videos opened on the screen. Lalna flashed through them, stopping on a new one. He hadn’t seen this security feed before, though he knew the room. It was Lalnable’s cage. 

And it was empty. 

Shit, shit, shit, this is bad, this is bad, Lalna thought, though it was more of a panic reaction than anything else. 

The door jolted under heavy, hurried knocks. Lalna fearfully spun to face the door, then swiftly typed a command into the computer. A security camera’s feed opened up on the hallway connecting to the room the scientist was currently in. A quick glance at the monitor revealed it to only be Xephos. 

“Thank God,” Lalna mumbled to himself, rising to open the door. 

No sooner had his hand touched the handle than the door flew open, a breathless spaceman tumbling in. 

Without any sort of warning, Xephos spun Lalna around, pinned him against the wall, and kissed him. The scientist’s eyes flew wide in shock, and he tried to scrabble away. This wasn’t a gentle kiss; it was clear that Xephos was using his greater strength to force Lalna against him. 

Lalna placed his hands on the spaceman’s fit chest and shoved as hard as he could, with no result. He could feel the spaceman’s form changing above him, his skin crackling and his hair growing. 

When Lalna finally managed to pull away and glance at his attacker, the triumphant green eyes he was met with terrified him. 

“Hello, Lalna,” Lalnable said with a grin. “Fancy meeting you like this.” 

The clone pressed their lips together again, trapping Lalna against the wall, but this time the scientist successfully pushed Lalnable away. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Lalna spat, glaring at Lalnable with hate-filled eyes. 

“Oh, everything,” Lalnable said with a laugh. “I just decided to stop by on my way out.” 

“Wha- Why?” Lalna was scared to ask, but it had to be said.

Lalnable laughed again. “To poison you,” he trilled, gripping Lalna’s arm and forcing it to straighten out. 

The thin needle mark was very clear, tucked away just in Lalna’s elbow. The blue vein Lalnable had hit was already turning a faint shade of electric green, and it was still spreading and growing more prominent. 

Lalna glanced up at him, shocked. “When?” He asked weakly. 

Lalnable smirked. “You’re too open when you’re in shock.” 

To Lalna’s surprise, something similar to sadness crossed the clone’s face. “Xephos told me you went really… odd after seeing me.” His expression returned to one of jaunty triumph, though his eyes seemed to still be pained. “I can’t have a weak opponent, now, can I? If this clone dies, all memories of me will be removed.” The faintest sorrowful undertone made his sharp remark die on Lalna’s tongue. 

“Anyway,” Lalnable continued, turning away from Lalna, “I’ll take my leave now.” 

He turned back, planting a kiss on the stunned Lalna’s cheek. “Take care, darling Lalna.” 

He left with a grin that brought back memories - nightmares - of that same insane grin.

Lalna glanced down at the inside of his elbow, which was turning numb. He knew that, no matter how many times he died, he would never forget that smile.