In Every World, Names Are A Mystery

"Oh... my- my shoes?" The youth scratched his messy hair and looked down, his head finally rising from the table. His unbelievably dark eyes peeked out from under his thick upper lashes, shadows prominently lining his lower ones. He had several patches and bandages on his arms, his shirt smeared with black oil and handprints.

He evidently didn't have a very good rug beside him at all times.

His eyes lit up as he saw that his shoes were indeed on himself, and his head whipped up to look at En as if he knew he deserved a gold star. En could almost see a tail wagging behind him.

"Yeah, I do!" His smile was so bright it seemed as if all the dirt and grime on him were but an illusion. This, though, was not enough to save his disastrous work methods and self-destructive projects.

"I'd pat your head if you took a bath." En said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Isn't that a little rude, Enny?" Roane sat himself beside Hyde, whilst Blanche took the spot on En's right side. "You could have chosen any other remark." His kind smile was a cover for his anticipation of a reaction from anyone else.

"Aren't you a little horrific, using fake morals, capitalizing on our dear friend Hyde's pain, in order to release another stupid pun? You're like this every day, it's so repetitive it's not even funny anymore." The dark haired scientist huffed as he took another bite.

"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, did we, sunshine? Well, I totally get you. They were never funny from the start." Blanche ate out of her salad bowl.

Hyde looked between the four of them, on his face a confused expression. He was, as usual, clueless as to what was going on, yet he could never determine the difference between banter and fighting. He put his hands out in front of him and began to break it up.

"Um, it's- it's true my head is dirty, but I guess that hurts me a little when you say it like that. And, uh, yes, Ro, I don't think you're funny either. Sorry..." He looked down as he apologized. En sneered. Honest as always. It was pretty refreshing when everyone else was a bunch of clowns, not excluding himself.

The older man simply smiled, stretching out his hand to ruffle the other's hair.

"It's alright. I bought you lunch." He removed from his tray a small plate of potatoes cut in circles and fried, then placed it in front of Hyde, who, in turn, had his downcast expression morph back to his earlier smile.

"Thank you, Ro!"

He was about to dig in with his soot-covered fingers, and Roane stopped him by pulling the plate away. Hyde looked betrayed, his head turning towards the person beside him.

"Go wash your hands and tell me what messed up this time after we eat, yes?"

"Okay!"

As the youngster went off to wash his hands, his earlier fatigue all but forgotten, Blanche let out a small chuckle.

"It's like you own a pet."

Roane's eyes trailed after Hyde's figure as he disappeared into the door that led to the washroom and his fingers interlocked under his chin, supporting it.

"Well," he started. "I guess I've always wanted one, but he's not a pet. I see potential in him, and I simply wish to encourage that."

"Potential? Which part?" En stated casually. It was a genuine question without any poison behind his words, and although it could be misunderstood by people who didn't know him, Blanche and Roane were already very well-acquainted with his sharp tongue and apathetic way of dealing with things.

Considering how he was at the beginning, it was already a miracle how they managed to reel him in to have lunch with them sometimes.

"That makes it sound like you're giving up on him very early, huh? He has a lot of basic mistakes, but his ideas are brilliant. Certainly not as efficient as you, but he has contributed a lot to the construction team." Roane held out a glass, and a small robot with a box head and two appendages that worked as arms came to his side.

He tapped on an option on its box head which doubled as a screen, and the robot began to dispense a drink from the nozzle that went into its stomach.

"It's thanks to him we have these." He raised the glass as he nodded at the machine, which then whirred away to serve another person.

"Someone would have thought of them sooner or later."

"Indeed, but he took the opportunity before anyone else could. His first steps were absolutely messy, but he managed to pull it off in the end."

En tilted his head, genuinely quizzical about the other's glorification of something he'd taken part in as if he was utterly detached from it. "Not without your help."

Roane's eyebrows creased, a sigh coming out of his nose. "En..."

"What he meant," Blanche took over as she put a slice of egg in her mouth. "Was that Hyde is brilliant in his initiative and sincerity. He can't get things right on the first try, and he always needs someone to point out his mistakes, but he doesn't let it destroy his passion for creating."

The person in question was spotted from the corner of everyone's eyes, and they decided to conclude their talk wordlessly.

"You definitely have a lot to learn from him, En." The blonde woman winked at En, her elbow making its way to assault his arm once again. Having nearly dropped his sandwich, he cursed at Blanche.

"What? You'll definitely get more credits the moment you let the world see Glenn. No need to be so aggressive over a sandwich."

Hyde was humming a small tune as he took his seat once more, waving his wet hands around. Droplets of water reached the foreheads of everyone on the table, and he happily began to eat, as did Roane. The conversation continued on the other side of the table.

Blanche pointed her fork at the dark-haired male, her cheek resting on her free hand.

"Why'd you name him that anyways?" She gasped with the same exaggeration and drama as she had injected her earlier encounter with Aria. "It couldn't be... Could it be perhaps the name of a dead lover?"

That left a bitter taste in En's mouth. He didn't even know why, yet the small sense of irritation that had now slumbered in his chest after he shook off the last vestiges of sleep woke up and gnawed on his insides once again. He took his eyes off the woman beside him, his fingers clenching the sandwich tighter.

"No. His project name is 67344. And that's not even possible." He added, something compelling him to take a defensive stance. "None of my records show me ever getting involved with a Glenn. You know that."

"... That's sort of a cruel way to name such a handsome man." Blanche chided after she put the pieces together in her mind for a few seconds, internally shaking her head at En's reference to the database regarding her joke. Knowing En's naming sense, she wasn't exactly surprised, but it was a disappointment to know someone who was going to live as a human and had all the qualifications to be one, continued to be bound by the numbers he'd been branded when he was still on paper.

"Do you have any plans on changing it?"

En shook his head.

"Can I name him instead?"

En swallowed. "He's already been baptized. And I'm his owner."

"Baptized?" Blanche snorted. "I didn't know you were a cultist, Penny."

The stupid nickname seemed to have pulled the last straw for his short tolerance. En stood up wordlessly, and a cleaning robot whirred past to take his trash. He threw the remaining portion of his meal into its mouth, handing it the glass he'd emptied of its contents in one quick chug. Roane looked up, yet he went back to his meal after momentarily closing his eyes.

It wasn't the first time this happened. Perhaps there was always a defect to a person with talent. In En's case, it was his inability to get along well with people due to a number of things including his temper. Though one had to admit it was extra short today, and he seemed on edge since the beginning of the day. Blanche felt bad, yet she knew an apology would only fall on deaf ears. She sighed, proceeding to finish the rest of her meal with the others.

Crossing the hallway, riding the elevator, and retreating back to his comfortable darkness, En reopened the shutters he'd closed earlier and stared at the homunculus incubating inside the capsule. His fingers wandered along the ring that had the details regarding this project, his eyes never leaving the false human's peaceful expression.

"Names, huh..."

His dark eyes shifted over to a lock of silver hair halting at the presence of a bubble in its spot. The soft greenish glow reflected on En's eyes, giving them a sort of mystical appearance, like a lake's still surface that glistened in the soft morning light.

"I don't know much about them, but I hope you like yours."