Cook and Care
“Now to pop this into the oven!” Bocoe proclaimed proudly to his partner, Decoe.
“It's just macaroni and cheese.” commented Decoe.
“It's my recipe I thought up for it!” The shorter, silver colored robot defended himself. “Not the stuff in the box where you just simply throw into a pot.”
The thin, taller gold colored robot still wasn't that impressed. “Mixing together some spices and melted cheese isn't that hard of a task, though. Even I can do it.”
Bocoe narrowed his eyes at Decoe, determined to win the argument. “Well it wasn't only spices and melted cheese. It was also butter, milk, and a teaspoon of salt. Figuring out the right ratio isn't as easy as clicking a mouse, either.”
“There's these things called cookbooks, Bocoe. No wonder it took you so many tries until our child didn't go and gag in disgust when trying out your food.”
“Well it doesn't matter anymore because I'm far better than I was before, and Chris loves my food now and that's all I care about!” The silver robot spat. “You will be proven wrong, again, once our little schnookums wakes up from his nap and has a taste of it!”
Arguments over trivial subjects weren't that uncommon between Decoe and Bocoe- or between the rest of the usual henchmen robots who were created by, served under, Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik. It didn't happen nearly as frequently, or severely between the gold and silver robots, though. Scratch and Ground, however, normally went at each other like the worst of sibling's with a rival. Those two were considered the 'babies' out of all of Eggman's henchmen mecha, after all- despite being the very first ones being built with the intention of serving as direct cronies.
The bickering between the pair of robots continued. Even while they were putting away ingredients, washing mixing bowls and utensils and placing them in the coverts.
“Aaagh! Gross! Disgusting!!!” The high pitched screaming came from a nearby room- loud enough to be heard in the kitchen. Not like Decoe and Bocoe weren't used to hearing Bokkun's cries and shrieks through the walls of the base.
The two only began actually caring about the Bokkun's yells when they realized it was coming from Chris' room. If that little monster was trying to start something with the boy again, they swore they would push the off switch on him. The dishes and everything were already put away, and it would be awhile until dinner was ready in the oven, so they didn't have to worry about dropping and leaving something, and made their way straight to the room they heard Bokkun yelling in. It was only down a short hallway. It wasn't much of a surprise, when they discovered where the all the noise was coming from.
Bokkun's face twisted in disgust. The rocket pack attached to his back allowed him to float next to a bed, where a redhead boy sat in. The dark cyborg was frantically trying to wipe himself off- while the toddler in bed looked away, with a guilty expression on his face.
“He sweat all over me!” Bokkun cried out and pointed in the boy's direction.
“You shouldn't have tried hogging up the bed then.” Decoe replied condescendingly to the dark cyborg.
Bocoe walked over to the bed and saw exactly what was going on with the child. “He's just sweating out his fever.” the silver robot informed.
“I don't care!” The cyborg whined. “Now I'm soaked in it!”
Bocoe looked up and glared at Bokkun. “So is Chris! Now quit it, or you're not getting any dinner tonight!”
“Not like it really matters to me! I can just sneak into the fridge later, anyway!” Bokkun spat before hovering out of the bedroom.
That bratty cyborg leaving was a relief for both Decoe and Bocoe. Putting up with him was a handful by itself.
The two robots directed their attention back to the boy laying in the bed... trying not to focus on the machine and IV he was hooked up to. He was sick. Very sick. Chris looked weak and tired. His skin was pale. He was now underweight to the point where his four robotic caretakers were afraid of crushing his thin body from giving him even something as simple as a hug. Even while they were using their android bodies they still used caution when handling the toddler.
Decoe, Bocoe, Orbot, Cubot- they were all assigned to watch over and care for Robotnik's son, Ovi- though they mostly called him, Chris, a shortened version of his middle name. They mostly watched and cared for the boy in pairs. It depended on whenever their boss decided on which pair of robots would be assisting him on his latest scheme.
Truthfully- if anyone were to ask them- the four were not all happy about being assigned as caretakers for their boss' offspring. Their creator didn't inform them about it at all ahead of time, and just hit them with news without any warning the moment they learned of the child's birth. Taking care of a human baby wasn't all joyful as those human movies made it look, either. But after awhile, once Chris began showing them gratitude and affection- something their boss never gave them- they started to enjoy caring for him, despite the troubles that still came. Eventually, if it was possible for robots, they grew something of a relationship with Chris. Something similar to the love of a parent would feel towards their child- or whatever would be close enough for them to feel as artificial beings.
But then Chris fell ill...
It had been five months since the redhead's health took a turn for the worse. There was no clear cause of what was causing his bad health, yet, but their boss feared that it was very likely to be NIDS. But even with the all of the reassurance, the boy's caretakers couldn't help but feel that it was there fault. Fell as they weren't doing a good enough job at taking care of Chris, and ended up 'breaking' at some point, leading to this. Chris was only going to be three years old, next week. They... they wanted to think they might have messed up somewhere- instead of the cause for him to suffer at such a young age being due to a possible flaw in his genetics.
Bocoe placed his hand on the boy's small forehead and checked his current body temperature. The human shuddered once the robot's hand made contact with his sweaty skin. It was such a sudden contrast sensation for Chris to feel- a cold, metal hand against his hot, feverish skin. Bocoe couldn't blame the toddler, when his temperature sensors picked that his fever was still going strong.
Decoe walked over to the bed as his counterpart pulled back the covers. They both saw just how bad of the sweats the kid was having. Not only was his air, and his hospital like gown and shorts, were soaked- the blanket and sheets were also getting it bad. Seeing all of this made the two robots immediately start checking the boy for any signs of dehydration.
“Does your mouth feel dry at all?” asked Decoe.
“Do you feel dizzy?” followed by Bocoe.
Chris slowly shook his head and replied with a simple, “No.”
The gold robot left the room and returned fast with a glass of water. IV providing the boy fluids or not, he wanted to make sure the child had enough strength to even drink. Decoe gave the glass to the boy and made sure he drank every last drop.
After unhooking him from the machinery and the IV tube, Bocoe gently picked up the young redhead, and then let him rest his head on his metal shoulder. Despite being made of metal, the child still found comfort in his robotic caretaker's embrace. Chris had grown so attached to his guardians that they felt like they were his parents- even if he was fully aware that his only living biological parent was his father, Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
“I-I'm sorry...” Chris whimpered, his young blue eyes complimenting the silver metal his skin pressed against. “Bokkun doesn't want to be around me, anymore, does he?”
Decoe slowly ran his hand over the toddler's hair, caressing him. “It's not your fault.” the thin robot reassured. “Bokkun's just being a brat, like always.”
“Yes. You didn't do anything wrong, Chris.” the silver robot helped in giving the child reassurance. “You're a really good kid.”
“We're very lucky to have you.” Decoe nodded.
“C'mon...” Bocoe began speaking more gentle to the boy and rubbed his back. “Time for a bath.”
“O-Okay.” Chris muttered, exhausted from the fever. “Dinner?”
“It's almost done.” Decoe replied, “Creme caramel for dessert, too. Bocoe was the one who cooked for tonight, so you'll love it.”
Chris smiled, his face starting to transform from the gloomy expression he was wearing. “I can't wait! Bo and Or make the best food.” As a sign of affection towards Bocoe, the redhead rested his cheek against the robot's shoulder. “I love you... and Dee, and Cu and Or.”
“We do, too, Chris.” Bocoe sighed.
Very gentle, but still heartfelt, the two robots hugged the boy, and then he was taken out of the room for a bath. Decoe stayed behind to change out the bedsheets, blanket, and the pillows that were now soaked- not before he took dinner out of the oven and placed it out to cool. Any longer and it would have burned. As he was heading backing to the bedroom, an exchange of shouts were heard in the bathing room.
“Get out of the tub, Bokkun!”
“No! That runt was the one who caused this, so I should have it first!”