The Mechanical, Musical Miss !

[ peaceandharmony ] -> nobody wished me a happy birthday.

[ missrabbit ] → OPEN UP YOUR DOOR MY HANDS ARE FULL

Peaking through the door with the smugest grin on her face. Hands full of bags.

[ peaceandharmony ] -> nobody wished me a happy birthday.

[ missrabbit ] → OPEN UP YOUR DOOR MY HANDS ARE FULL

" B-B-Better than nothin' ! "

Rabbit sputtered as sand got into her mouth and angled her head down, locking her sight onto her brother's footsteps. It got to the point where the automaton had started to count each of her steps, and then his, and then hers again. A repetitive task. Keep her processors focused, stay on track. She clicked and creaked quietly, not wanting to speak and swallow more sand. Now seemed like a good time to see if their internal communication still worked away from the manor..

THE REQUEST TOOK HIM BY SURPRISE. He had been away from the Manor , from his siblings , for so long that he had forgotten that was a functionality he had. It wasn't a half bad idea, either. Keeps the sand from getting into their mouths (and thus into all of their internal mechanisms) , and they don't have to worry about shouting over the howling wind.

[To: "WA-001" {Request}: "conversation.txt": {Luckily we shouldn't have to worry about that. I can see the saloon up ahead. It shouldn't take us much longer, now.}]

[To: "WA-002" {Request}: "conversation.txt": {1.2.3.4 Repeat. 1.2.3.4. Repeat.}]

She didn't mean to send him that. The counting that kept her from going on the fritz snuck its way into her actual stream of thoughts. Force of habit really ! Rabbit let out a puff of steam just as they actually made it to the ramshackle saloon door. They weren't kidding when they said Cotterpin was mostly traders and junk!

" My copper's going to be sooo oxidized by the t-time all this clears ! "

The bot kicked at the ground, steam billowing out from her cheeks as she pouted. Her copper was hard enough to keep in okay shape for the Walter Workers ! She can't even begin to think of what's going to happen here ! She can only hope The Spine was okay. That he was somehow miraculously okay in this like she was..

Or, y'know, at least - in theory that sounds like something they can fix up easy. There's gotta be copper lying around here somewhere, though Feldspar's not sure if she's made of heavier-duty stuff than what they might be used to... well, hey, improvisation is their specialty and they'll work something out. Feldspar tries not to let these things worry them. Feldspar tries not to let anything worry them.

"We-ell..." the word is drawn out as they twist and turn in the water, rolling onto their back, flipping over and swimming around her. They have never been one for keeping still, and the underwater environment has only made that worse. "You don't got a jetpack built into you, do you? Now, that'd make this easier." Feldspar has never sunk so rapidly as she seems to have, even with a suit and full gear on and in the heavy gravity of Giant's Deep. Realistically, they're not sure how much help they can offer: but Feldspar is not a particularly realistic individual on the best of days.

" Mmmmmnope- ! N-N-No jetpack ! Gee, that'd be somethin' though ! Then maybe I'd finally beat The Spine in a race ! "

Rabbit let out a puff of steam from her cheeks once Feldspar swam back to face her, fascinated by the way they just effortlessly moved about. If she wasn't so focused on feeling of water running through places outside of her boiler, she'd probably even try to copy them!

They matched her enthusiasm, which in turn made her all the invested in this conversation. The automaton idly twirled her hair around her finger as they said a bunch of words she didn't even begin to recognize, but she nodded along like she did anyhow...

And then Feldspar mentioned that they played the harmonica, and it was her turn to light up ( more than her actual lights allowed for ) with an assortment of whirs and clicks as she got a bit too excited. In her head, she was now looking at a possible busking partner.

" Gosh !! They took my melodica when I got here ! And my keytar... and my kazoo. " Rabbit slumped her shoulders forward and frowned , twitching her nose a few times, just for emphasis.

Melodica and keytars are lost on them, but... a kazoo! Now, they can rock with a kazoo. A few of the hatchlings way back home would futz around with them ( Feldspar, of course, was always quite taken with the harmonica - their very first love ). Aspiring astronauts on Timber Hearth all pick up an instrument. It's both tradition and something that's absolutely pounded into their heads by Gneiss the second anybody gets so much as an inkling of that good old, Outer Wilds Ventures-patented adventurer's twinkle in their eyes.

" Aweee, you'd help out little ole' me ? Gee Felds, I'm f-flattered ! "

Rabbit held her cheek in her palm and beamed at the hearthian, swishing her skirt with her free hand. She was naturally dramatic, but her siblings weren't here to play off of ( or stop her ), so it was all amped up to 11.

Not the strangest adjustment, by any means - that dubious honor goes to being left without any connection to the Force - but nonetheless difficult to wrap his head around is the sheer existence of Anakin Skywalker. In Obi-Wan's recent memory, the boy hardly comes up to his elbow, earnest and uncertain with sun-bleached hair and so many worries.

The young man that exists here is taller than Obi-Wan himself, confident and skilled, his hair grown dark and wavy with age. Though he still exudes those same worries - it is still Anakin, despite it all - Obi-Wan is left reeling in the face of the reality that Anakin will, in fact, grow up one day, his braid severed and his head full of lessons that Obi-Wan doesn't remember teaching him.

The weight is heavy. He both itches to know more and fears what he might learn. It's an anxiety he should dismiss, and he knows it, but every time he looks at Anakin he just wonders what he's been through. The dangers he's faced - that scar that stretches over his face - and the ways Obi-Wan may have let him down. It makes it difficult to speak to the boy - man, rather - when they are coming from such very different places, neither one quite like how the other remembers him. But it would be a much more impossible task to ignore Anakin. This is the only tie to the life he remembers, the one he wants to return to, and besides that he is just as stubborn as Obi-Wan remembers (and then some). Within a day of his arrival the two have swapped addresses; years spent living in the same small quarters are not chipped away so easily, though Obi-Wan does warn him sternly that he has a roommate now, Anakin, these apartments aren't designed for three people.

Anakin does not provide him with the same advice. He chimes at the door just once or twice before finding it unlocked and stepping inside the dimly lit living space. "Anakin—"

—Ah.

However, now there was some guy in the room, staring at her with a similar face that she must be giving him. Let's just hope Harmony can forgive her if she's a bit late.

" R2 took him on a w-walk. " Was it probably the other way around ? No.

[To: "R2-D2" {Request}: "conversation.txt": {You wouldn't happen to know how to fix some victorian era pistons, would'ya ? }]

She didn't really expect much from a bot with no arms, but it was worth a shot... Though, her doom spiral was interrupted by the arrival of who she can only assume is her housemate.. " I'm n-not sure how you could help me, b-b-b-ut I appreciate the offer ! "

Said housemate shows little hesitance in staring as the steam rises from her, clearly keeping a mental note of each piston and gear he could hear to mentally piece her together. He isn't doing a very job good with first introductions either. He's clearly aware of everything she's saying at least, nodding his head along as she explains. Well, maybe not explain what's wrong, but talks - he'd rather skip to the part where he could properly help rather than hearing about how he couldn't.

Well, it was starting to look like she'd have to put on her big girl hat and take a few risks. The automaton could at the very least, move her head and her arms with only mild difficulty. " Why I- D-d-droid ?! I've got m-more class than that ! "

Now was not the time to be stubborn... He was no Chelsea or Camille, but he'd have to do right now. Besides, the other bot in the room seemed to trust him, which made her feel a bit more okay with the concept. Rabbit vented steam from her cheeks, though it was a lot less than usual.

He takes to the bounty boards quickly. If you've got to earn money, it's a damn effective way to do it, and besides, it's something he's familiar with. Most tasks are painfully easy: delivery runs or scavenging or hunting. It takes a while for one to roll in that really catches his eye - some news outlet looking for definitive photographic evidence of a werewolf out in Luctenmire.

It's a wild goose chase, he thinks, but then the notion of hunting a monster down in the middle of the night is the sort of excitement that doesn't land itself on your plate every day. He's not stupid enough to go it alone - trying to photograph with one hand and potentially fend off a werewolf with the other would all but ensure that neither task is completed effectively - so he sits himself down across from one of the only other faces hanging around the Skyline Saloon (another one of those metal folks) and sets the sheet of paper he'd taken off the bounty board down in the middle of the table, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded.

And then there was the case of the guy suddenly across from her, and the paper on the table that ripped her other thoughts forward. " W-What now ? "

Curiosity killed the cat so they say ! But Rabbit's a robot, so that rule obviously doesn't apply to her. Copper fingers about crinkled the paper as she scanned it over, her face going from confusion to devious excitement before she even finished reading.

[ peaceandharmony ] -> i don't know whose cunty grandpa this is but i'm adopting him. he's my best friend.

[ peaceandharmony has uploaded an image ]

[ missrabbit ] → GIIIIRL I think that's my roommate's grandpa !

Water wasn't usually the biggest problem in the world for Rabbit. She stood outside during light rain, trudged through muddy trenches, even performed on a few boats ! But she was still metal and complex machinery. Being completely submerged was the fastest way to fry every micro-machine and circuit behind all that copper casing.

At least. That's what she originally thought. So when she opened her optics under the water again instead of powering off, she froze, afraid to move. " What the h-hell ? "

She couldn't stay in one place forever though, so the automaton swiveled on her feet trying to reorient herself, and lo and behold ! Her brother's roommate quickly fell into her range of sight. Rabbit took a few experimental steps, and was actually thankful for weighing a ton at the moment.

Obviously, this sight blows them all out of the water. So to speak.

" My copper's going to be sooo oxidized by the t-time all this clears ! "

The bot kicked at the ground, steam billowing out from her cheeks as she pouted. Her copper was hard enough to keep in okay shape for the Walter Workers ! She can't even begin to think of what's going to happen here ! She can only hope The Spine was okay. That he was somehow miraculously okay in this like she was..

It's an odd feeling, having a proper house - Jedi have living spaces provided for them - even those are just dorms, not houses - but they're just that. Nowhere you should get horribly attached too, just a place to refocus, rest, and live, content to do the same things just about anywhere else. All this to say, being told he gets a house, one he's supposed to stay and settle in makes him feel off balance whenever he's there.

At least not living alone was a familiar experience.

The sound of steam, an exclamation, followed by a few loud clicking noises however isn't standard. With a few chirps from R2, Anakin is summoned from the room he'd been investigating - and he can't quite hide the way his eyes widen. A droid. One that looks simultaneously very dated and very advanced. Enough so that he knows something is clearly wrong with her - somewhere in the leg joints - but not enough to pinpoint it beyond that. He'll need a closer look.

[To: "R2-D2" {Request}: "conversation.txt": {You wouldn't happen to know how to fix some victorian era pistons, would'ya ? }]

She didn't really expect much from a bot with no arms, but it was worth a shot... Though, her doom spiral was interrupted by the arrival of who she can only assume is her housemate.. " I'm n-not sure how you could help me, b-b-b-ut I appreciate the offer ! "