The room was cold; the fire wasn't lit. One could almost even see their breath if they looked closely.

Madras watched RGB from the corner of her eye as she put away vials and packages. He seemed to be gazing blankly in the direction of his much smaller companion, Hero, who was sprawled upside-down on the two-eyed armchair, snoring softly. In her peripheral vision, she saw him take off his blazer and spread it over her.

"You're becoming attached to her, aren't you?"

He jumped at the sudden sound and turned quickly to face Madras, who was now sitting on the counter. She fingered his cane, which he had propped there upon arrival, and smiled a knowing smile.

"Preposterous! I absolutely am not! What a despicable idea."

"You have always been a bad liar, RGB."

"I do not tell lies, Madras!"

She sighed and slid from the counter, taking the cane with her. RGB almost took a step back, but stopped himself.

He'd always thought Madras was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. Thin legs, slender stature, hair that fluttered and moved whenever she did ... and especially that ever-present smile. The smirk that told you that she knew something you didn't ...the grin that always left you guessing. That told you to expect anything.

His cane tapped his screen, snapping his attention back to the present. Madras being this close always made him tingly, and he could never figure out why.

She gestured to the chair, with its sleeping Hero under the blazer, and raised her eyebrow. Red and purple dripped from RGB's color bar in excess as he frowned.

"I-well-I can't have her going off and freezing, now can I? Then I'll have to start all over!"

"Hmm."

"Don't 'hmm' me, Madras. I told you, I never lie!"

Madras sighed again and shook her head. "Then what have you been doing in collecting you heroes?"

"I've been ...offering them a choice."

"And if they refused it?"

"Then I made it for them!"

Madras twirled the cane, frowning slightly.

"She's going to die, RGB."

At this, he looked over at Hero. She held his blazer tightly in her small hands, and a memory flashed; him waking up in the "cemetery", blearily looking down to find Hero asleep in his lap, with one of his arms over her like a blanket. Of course, he couldn't push her off of him fast enough, but still ... a strange and slightly unpleasant feeling had run through him. It was the same as when she'd tried to grab his hand before.

"Then I'll start again," he said quietly. "And again. There must be a way ...there is always a way."

"Not necessarily ..." Madras turned to set the cane against the counter again before facing him.

"Have you still not realized?"

"Pardon?"

"You have never lied to anyone else ...but you have always been lying to yourself."

RGB was silent, and the only discernible sounds were Hero's snoring and bubbling potions in various vials. He barely registered Madras pulling him down so she could look straight at him.

"It's a very bad habit to have, RGB."

She pressed her cheek to the glass of his screen, and a small electric spark jumped between them. At this, he jumped, stumbling away and nearly tripping over himself, the color bar on his screen dripping in embarrassment.

Madrasojo merely smiled at him before turning again to the shelves and hanging a vial.

"It's a shame, really. She seems like a nice girl."

Watching her, he said nothing.