TW: Depiction of eating disorders

A horrific headache woke Thomas, followed by a gentle beep and the sight of Charlie sat on the floor with a kind smile, holding what appeared to be a plate with buttered toast on it.

"What are you doing?"

"I cooked you breakfast."

"What- Why did you make breakfast?"

"Healthy humans eat three meals in a day. One in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening. Am I incorrect?"

"No, no, you're right, but... I don't normally eat breakfast."

"Why not? Do you not wish to be healthy?"

"There's no point in making food and eating it while I could be working."

"That is not healthy for humans. Is it not worth the energy to function at your highest ability?"

"I didn't make you to question everything I do," he grumbled, rolling out of bed and pulling on a jumper.

Charlie's face looked concerned as Tom grabbed the toast and ripped off the corner before putting it back on the plate.

"Anyway, today I have to go to work, so you'll be alone all day," they continued walking outside to check the pavements weren't too slippery.

"Would you like me to make you a lunch?" Charlie asked as Tom got changed into work clothes, oddly making sure his arms were out of sight.

"Sure. Just shove some bread in a box and it'll be done."

Giving up on asking questions, Charlie shrugged and walked out, glancing back to see Tom leaning against the wall with their back to them. When Charlie handed him his lunch, he just nodded and walked out in a pair of thin black trousers and a weathered dress shirt.

Five hours later, Tom opened the door, clothes soaked through and eyes hollow. Taking in a deep breath, he staggered into his room and shoved his face into a pillow with a frustrated grunt.

"Are you okay?"

"NO! I just fucking lost my job cause I told my boss I'm bi!" he spat, gripping the pillow with both arms and sitting on his bed.

"Oh. That is very unfortunate. Would you like me to make you tea while you calm down?"

"You can make tea, but I don't intend to calm down. May as well use my rage to find a new job."

Two hours later, Charlie had cooked pasta in cheese sauce after some heavy consideration on what to make and also what to do about how Tom was doing. To their further concern, he hardly touched the food, only staring down at his phone and taking a sip of water every now and then. About ten minutes later, they got up and returned to his room. When Charlie strained their sensors to try and hear anything, all they could hear was muttered grumbling.

Days went by; then weeks. Finally, after a whole month, Thomas finally got a job at a place repairing cars. A far cry from building rockets and military equipment, but still a job. For once, Tom started to actually sleep, seeming more excited in the days leading up to the end of the company holiday. On the first day of work, Charlie made him a proper lunch and for once, the engineer smiled slightly. He came back holding a piece of paper and with his eyes fixed on his phone. Unfortunately, he didn't start eating more, as the robot had hoped, and his sleep schedule also seemed to fluctuate.

Tom rolled the pen around in his hands, fiddling with the back of the notepad as the customer rattled on and on about her rather fine seeming car. The phone at an uncomfortable angle, he felt a rush of relief as one of his co-workers walked over, followed by the relief dissipating into annoyance as they walked by. Finally, after what felt like millennia, the woman hung up and Thomas dropped the phone down with a sigh. Dealing with her in a few hours was going to be fun. A colleague he hadn't talked to before walked over with a smile.

"Hello! What's your name?" they asked, reached out a hand politely.

"Thomas. Yours?" he responded, shaking his hand.

"Will. I'm rather a new employee here, only been working a few days. You?"

"A few weeks. Spent a month unemployed cause I lost my last job for no reason."

"Sounds rough. This is my first job since leaving college, I've been living with my cousins for a couple of months."

"Seems we have a customer. I can already tell their headlights are broken, and that window is not going to stay intact much longer."

The old beetle rolled in with a screech and a young woman climbed out, waving at them. Today was going to be a fun afternoon.

It turned out to be not that bad. With Will by his side, it seemed more fun, and the two chatted as they assessed everything, before getting to work on what was wrong. As he walked home, a warmth sprung up in his heart only to immediately be crushed by his anxiety and trust issues. He was probably just being hopeful. He wasn't the kind of person anyone would want to be friends with.

Charlie was sat on the sofa, smiling out the window as rain began to trickle down gently. When he glanced at Tommy's face, expecting to see the usual neutral or even happy expression, then surprised by a cold gaze.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to make tea?"

"No need. I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat."

"No I don't. Leave me alone or I'll break your hull."

The surprising burst of hostility made Charlie fall into silence. Days went by like this, with Tom refusing to eat anything other than the occasional piece of bread and Charlie sat by, panicking over what to do.

Tom leant against the concrete wall. He felt like his stomach was about to rip open and consume his whole body, and his brain was going to forcefully put him to sleep, but he continued to chat to his co-workers as normal until he could hardly move his mouth. Will glanced at him in concern, but said nothing. After some time, Tom pushed off of the pillar and tried his best not to collapse onto the damp stone floor. A few steps out of sight of his colleagues, and everything went blurry. His ability to hear faded out and he caught glimpse of a human figure before it all went black.

Thomas woke up to find himself on the floor against a pillar with Will crouched in front of him, looking worried. His boss was running over, looking just as concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Tom barely managed to nod, exhaustion pinning his body in a hunched over position. Will helped him to struggle up and wrapped his arms around him, walking out the door. Luckily, Will knew where his house was and managed to get him home before he passed out a second time, now safely on a pile of cushions on the floor. Charlie stared at Will, tilting their head sideways.

"Who are you?"

"Tom's co-worker. I imagine you're Charlie, the robot he's talked about a bit?"

"Yes. Is he okay?"

"I think he's just tired and hungry."

A/N: Hello! I've made this longer than I originally expected, and I've lost motivation for no reason other than I have no ideas and I also keep wanting to do other things. Probably won't continue this unless y'all want it to continue.