FIRST CONTACT“Are you really a Doll”

In front of Daybit, the newly-activated Doll stares and blinks slowly at him. His blue eyes scan the little boy, prompting his built-in search engine to run through his memory bank. It takes him seconds to pull out the profile that matches the little boy’s.

[Name: “Daybit”]
[Age : 10]
[Father: Deceased]
[Mother: Deceased]
[Status: Under legal guardian’s supervision]

The Doll tilts his head on hearing the boy’s question. “Funny that you asked,” he answers. “Can a human survive being kept in a box for the rest of their life”

The boy shakes his head.

“Then, you do realize that I am a real Doll,” he added.

The Doll notices the boy’s purple eyes widen despite his facial expression remains flat. Satisfied with his reaction, the humanoid robot stands up slowly and walks out of the box. He lets his long, blonde hair falls on his shoulders, framing his cat-like eyes and the sharp angle of his chin. An intentional move. A good first impression will last for a lifetime. “Let me introduce myself.”

Daybit stands up and lifts his head so his eyes meet the Doll’s gaze.

The Doll places the palm of his right hand on his chest and bows. “Fashion Doll series 001-TZPCA,” he announces. “Created by Ometeotl Company, Ltd. Series type: Yayauhqui. You can call me ‘Tezcatlipoca’.”

“Tezca—.” Daybit tries to say his name.

The Doll named Tezcatlipoca smirks at his new owner. “You’ll get used to saying my name,” he says. “Now, how will you dress me up today, Daybit”


***

HEELS


On the little boy’s palms stood a pair of bright red heels.

Today was another day of playing dress-up. Tezcatlipoca had promised Daybit his playtime when he was done with his math homework. In a display of enthusiasm that surprised the doll, even more than ever now compared to a few weeks since his first arrival at the house, Daybit immediately rushed to his study desk and finished it in less than an hour. Now, he was rummaging the cabinet of his late mother and happened to stumble upon a box with a red high heels inside it.

The little boy with the violet eyes presented the shoes to Tezcatlipoca. “I want you to wear these,” he said.

The doll with the silky blonde hair observed the shoes, calculating their sizes then compared them to his feet’s size. “These are two sizes smaller than my feet. Sure you want me to wear’em” he asked.

Daybit looked at Tezcatlipoca, then to the shoes again. “I guess...Mom wouldn’t mind,” he hesitantly replied.

“They look kinda expensive, too.”

“Yeah…but I think you’ll look pretty in them.”

Pretty. It was the first time Tezcatlipoca heard Daybit called him that. He also wouldn’t expect anyone to call him ‘pretty’, at least not blatantly. But, hearing it from the little boy made something inside him ticked, prompting him to finally accept the shoes. Daybit, on receiving the doll’s consent, immediately kneeled in front of the sitting doll and pushed the right shoe to the doll’s foot.

“Um…it won’t fit,” he mumbled.

Dolls obviously didn’t feel pain. They could, however, felt discomfort. Tezcatlipoca sighed at how his toes didn’t even align properly inside the shoe. He bowed and touched Daybit’s hands to stop him from pushing further. He guided the little boy to fit the front side of the shoe so his toes could fit in. Then, still lightly touching the other’s hands, he shifted the shoe’s position so the rest of his foot could finally slip inside.

Tezcatlipoca took a good look on the shoe once again. “Not bad,” he hummed, realizing that the bright red color complimented him well.

He looked back at Daybit and saw the boy was blushing. His pupils dilated and he was lost for words, but the doll didn’t detect any distress or confusion from him. Daybit quickly averted his gaze and went on to put on the other shoe, all while keeping his head down to hide his rosy cheeks.

Unbeknownst to Tezcatlipoca, the boy tasted the feeling of having a crush for the first time.