Inside the main room, the smaller toys lay inside their tents, fast asleep. As Michelle slept, she heard metal-like noises, which made her wince a bit before slowly opening her eyes.
When Michelle sat up and looked up, she saw Doey sleeping with his neck retracted, which made her quietly giggle. That's cute... she thought.
As Michelle examined Doey, she noticed his left side had no orange dough, which surprised her. Matthew isn't with them... she thought.
Michelle heard more metal-like noises, which surprised her and made her look around; soon after, she spotted light coming from the generator room. Michelle looked at the ground and saw Suzy lying next to Doey on her side, and Bunzo Bunny lying on top of her.
Michelle undid the blanket before quietly standing up; she looked at Doey and laid the blanket over him before quietly limping toward her crutch.
After Michelle quietly picked up the crutch, she crutched toward the generator room. As Michelle entered the generator room, she saw Matthew kneeling before the generator and examining it. "Matthew?" she asked.
Matthew flinched a bit before turning his head to the opening. "Oh... hello there, Misha," he said. "Did I disturb your slumber?"
Michelle shook her head as she crutched toward Matthew. "You're fine... how long was I out?" she asked.
Matthew smiled a bit. "You were asleep for about a day or two," he said.
Michelle stared at Matthew, shocked. "Seriously?" she asked.
Matthew nodded. "Poppy wanted to speak with you, but Kevin kept her away in his style," he said before looking at the generator. "Normally I don't condone that kind of behavior, but I think he did the right thing in this case..."
Michelle hummed. "I'm guessing a lot of the toys in Safe Haven aren't fans of her, huh?" she asked.
Matthew sighed as he placed his hand on the generator's handle before closing it. "That's... one way to put it..." he said before sitting on the ground and laying his back against it.
When Michelle was close to Matthew, she carefully sat down with the crutch's help next to him and laid it against her lap before looking at him. "Even though Doey and Suzy were the ones to find the place, Poppy acted like a leader when she was around," he continued.
Matthew looked at the opening. "Any task she asked us to do, we did it... and it actually made sense..." he said.
Matthew frowned a bit and looked down. "When Poppy disappeared on Safe Haven, the smaller toys and some of the larger Smiling Critters came to Doey to figure out what to do next," he continued.
Matthew looked at his hands. "There was one moment when we were outside the Prison and thought 'There's the exit... we could leave this place,'... but..." he said, lowly.
Michelle looked at Matthew. "You chose to stay back here instead," she said. "Because you knew deep down that the other toys weren't like Doey; plus, Kevin wouldn't leave Katie behind either."
Matthew nodded. "Ever since that day... I did everything I could to keep everyone in my home safe," he said before looking down with a frown. "But..."
Michelle sighed a bit. "Sometimes you feel it's not good enough, right?" she asked rhetorically, which surprised Matthew and made him look at her.
Michelle looked forward. "I know that feeling very well... my group could've let one of the larger toys be the leader of the group... but they unanimously follow me instead..." she continued. "The pressure of being a leader is almost suffocating..."
Michelle turned her head to Matthew. "But you and I have one major difference," she said. "If I may ask, how old were you back then?"
Matthew remained silent before looking down. "Days after I was turned into Doey... I would have been sixteen," he said.
Michelle hummed a bit and nodded. "I figured as much," she said. "You were basically forced to grow up... you were forced to have these responsibilities; you were never given the chance to be a kid, or in this case, a teen."
Michelle grabbed her crutch and placed the tip of it on the ground before standing up with it and facing Matthew. "With you being the eldest of Kevin and Jack, you had the entire weight of the world on your shoulders..." she continued.
Michelle placed her free hand against her chest. "Life may not be fair, but you're not alone in this; you have other leaders like DogDay and myself with you..." she said. "If the weight on your shoulders is too much to bear... then allow us to help you..."
Matthew stared at Michelle, shocked, before dark teal dough tears pricked his eyes, which made him look away and quickly wipe them away. "Sorry..." he said, lowly.
Michelle gently smiled and kneeled next to Matthew with the crutch's help before wrapping her right arm around his neck. "There's nothing to apologize for, Matthew... you deserve to have a break as well..." she said.
Matthew looked at Michelle before chuckling a bit. "Now I know why Kevin admires you a lot," he said.
Michelle blushed and quickly let go of Matthew before looking at him. "He does?" she asked.
Matthew smiled a bit. "Kevin once told me your charisma could challenge my charisma and win... he was definitely right about that..." he said.
Michelle quickly stood up with the crutch's help and stepped back with it. "Ah... t-that's what he meant..." she said, lowly, as she grabbed the end of her braid before looking away and playing with it. "Yeah, I get that a lot..."
Matthew smiled. I could also tell her about his feelings, but that's not for me to say, he thought.
Michelle let go of her braid before clearing her throat. "A-Anyway... were you working on the generator?" she asked.
Matthew stood up. "I just about finished when you walked in," he said before looking down with a slight frown. "The smaller ones will probably wake up soon... most of them probably on an empty stomach..."
Michelle thought of something and looked at Matthew. "I might have a temporary solution for the empty stomachs..." she said, lowly.
Matthew looked at Michelle. "Is that so?" he asked.
Michelle nodded before turning toward the door with the crutch's help. "They're in my bag," she said before crutching forward, which made Matthew follow behind her.
Soon after, the duo stood before the tent with a sleeping Doey, sleeping Bunzo Bunny, and sleeping Suzy inside. "Next to my GrabPack..." Michelle whispered.
Matthew nodded as he stretched his arm toward Michelle's bag and grabbed one of the straps; he carefully lifted it before retracting his arm.
After Matthew held Michelle's backpack on his arm by the straps, he looked at it. "What kind of things do you have in here?" he asked.
Michelle looked at her bag. "Just some basic items..." she said.
Michelle held her right hand out and counted her fingers. "A first-aid kit, another change of clothes in case my current outfit gets torn, my toothbrush, and one of those small tubes of toothpaste my orphanage had when we stayed in a few hotels..." she continued.
Michelle placed her right hand on her chin. "I also have a couple of books the people in my orphanage didn't touch, things I bought at Playtime's Gift Shop, twelve and a half bags of mini peanut butter cookies, and a few water bottles," she said.
Matthew hummed. "Now I see what you mean by temporary solution; I think three and a half bags should be enough for now," he said before looking at Michelle. "May I?"
Michelle smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said.
Matthew nodded before carefully unzipping Michelle's bag; as he looked inside, he spotted something before putting his hand inside it. Soon after, Matthew pulled 'The Adventures of the Word Wizard' out of Michelle's bag before looking at it. "You... have this...?" he asked.
Michelle nodded. "If I'm blunt, I was the one to convince my orphanage to get that book," she said. "The other kids thought I was too childish because it's a kids' book, but I didn't care because it made me happy... especially since you read it to us back at Playcare..."
Matthew stared at Michelle before smiling. "Thank you for bringing it and the compliment," he said before holding the book out. "May I?"
Michelle smiled. "Once we distribute the cookies to the other toys, you can read it to your heart's content," she said.
Matthew nodded as a dough arm came out of his back and grabbed the book before he continued searching inside Michelle's bag.