When he thought everyone was busy, Skull donned his jacket and hat to make his way across town. Only, knocking on a nearby wall got his attention. How Scratch called out without using what voice he had left.

He lowered his brows and waggled a finger by his head before pointing away with both hands then signed an S, pressing it to his chin like he was in thought. “Where are you going, Skull?”

Wrapping one hand around the other, he lifted it. “Out,” he explained before trying to leave. Another knock. Scratch was obviously concerned. He didn’t have to look to know he was signing to try and ask again. 

Scratch put his thumb under his chin before moving both hands across his body to make fists. “It’s not safe.”

Without parts, they had been staying in, but they had to leave to get parts. They couldn’t just sit there and rot.

A heavy sigh and smoke curled around his face from his neck vents. He really didn’t want to talk about this, but he didn’t want Scratch to worry either. “I know a place where I might be able to get some parts. They helped me out before, I  might be able to get them to again. Just enough to get us working.”

Scratch looked worried, Skull wasn’t known for making the best friends. Useful, sure, but not the best people, but then again, he supposed Skull wasn’t either, but he had always been good to him. He pointed at himself before placing a fist on his palm and seemed to offer it to Skull. “Can I help?” At least if he was there, someone would be there to help him, or at least make him be careful.

The Skull stood still a moment. He wasn’t sure he wanted to put Scratch through Bip’s questions. But having someone else there might be helpful if nothing else another eye to find good parts and carry some home. Not much, of course, he knew the man was in a lot of pain. “Fine,” he said eventually. “But stay close and put on a hoodie at least.”

 A quick nod and Scratch was off to grab his stuff. California was a little warm for hoodies and jackets, but he had a light one just for such occasions. A light red one to try and help with the heat, and enough colour to block out his face with the hood up. 

Not wanting any more followers, Skull waited outside. So long as no one noticed them, things would be fine.

 If Bip didn’t want to help, at least he wouldn’t have to feel bad roughing them up a little. They’d be fine. So either way, they’d get their parts. 

Once Scratch stepped out, he started walking, no point in waiting too long. 

It was already late when they left, and after nightfall before they reached the scrapyard. Which worried Scratch. Looking at Skull, he put two fingers by his elbow and quickly ran them up to his lifted wrist. “Are we stealing?” He didn’t want to do that. But if they needed parts.

Skull shook his head and tapped his fore and middle fingers on his thumb. “Someone lives here. Going to try and get their help.” Walking up to the fence, he paused. It wasn’t like there was a front door to knock on. Well, he could try the front fence and see if they were there. 

By the time the duo made it around, the fence was left wide open, only there was no one there. “Weird.” Out of instinct, Skull reached into his jacket for his gun. Keeping Scratch behind him, he slowly made his way inside. He remembered them talking about the green skinned men.

The storage room they used was open. Waving for Scratch to hang back, he peered into the room to see Bip sitting on the futon, tapping away at their phone. His shoulders slumped, and he relaxed. Or at least as much as he’d let himself here. “Saw us coming, I take it?”

Bip grinned widely and looked up, tucking away their phone. “Yep! Well, Spider did and had a fit. Figured it would be easier to open the door for you so the alarm wouldn’t go off.” Looking him up and down, their head tilted slightly. “You’re in better shape this time!” They chirped. 

A long plume of smoke. “Yeah, had someone at home to fix me up.”

“Oh! Like Takoda! When I can’t do it myself, he helps me. He’s really nice,” they beamed. “I‘m glad you got home safe!” They chirped.

Before they could lay into him with more questions, he raised a hand. “Thanks, kid. But I’m afraid I’m here for another favour.”

They tilted their head the other way at that. Skull didn’t seem like the type. But they nodded a little. “I don’t know what I can do, but I can try?” They offered.

“Really, we just need you to turn a blind eye for a little while,” he explained. “We need parts.” 

“We? The person that fixed you up?”

A long sigh. It was hard to keep things short with the kid. “Kinda.” Turning his head, he called out. “Scratch, come in here, will ya?”

Seeing Scratch step into the room, Bip’s eyes lit up. They were a person and a robot! That something they didn’t know could even be a thing!

Jumping up, they hurried over and leaned up on their toes to get a closer look at his face. “Hi! I didn’t know a person could be a robot. Or are you a robot that’s a person? Are you going to be all person or all robot? Is it a lot of work? Does it feel weird?”

Babbling away, Bip was too engrossed in their million questions to notice how uncomfortable Scratch was getting and how he started to recoil at the barrage.

Skull did notice. The patchwork bot was as excitable as last time. How anyone could talk that much was beyond him. Even Hare wasn’t that chatty. At least they weren’t malicious. Just annoying. Stepping up behind them, Skull put a hand over their mouth, and the other pressed down on Bip’s shoulder to try and keep them still. “Slow down, kid. You’re too fast for Scratch. Besides, that ain’t none of your business,” he reminded them.

Bip’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry,” they tried to mumble from behind Skull’s hand. He hadn’t let them go yet.

With a chance to breathe, Scratch relaxed. A little. He still needed a moment.

Opening his hand, Scratched tapped his thumb against his chest. “It’s okay,” he signed to Skull, trying to look at least a little chipper with what was left of his face.

Skull huffed when Bip started to excitedly wiggle again in his grip. They were asking questions again, not that anyone could understand them with his hand over their mouth. Of course, the kid would need a translator. This was going to be a long night.

Scratch’s shoulders shook. Figures he’d find it funny, thought Skull while he kept a hand tightly clamped over Bip’s mouth, trying to get them to calm down. Once the wiggling died down, he slowly let go.

“Do you need special parts for being part person? Or something for your voice box? I know there’s some old radios that came in today. Would something like work? Or is it your mouth that doesn’t work? It looks okay, but I-”

And Skull put the hand back over their mouth. “Kid, be quiet. Please.” More mumbling, and he huffed. Which finally made them stop. “Thank you.”

This time when he moved his hands away, Bip stayed silent. They looked between the two, waiting for an explanation. It looked like it took all of their willpower to keep their mouth shut.

Something Skull didn’t take for granted. And was quick to fill the silence to keep them from talking again. As much as he hated it.

“We don’t have what we need to keep us all running. There’s a few of us. We can’t afford what we need, and without it, we can’t work, got it?”

A sharp nod. “You guys need to take stuff from the yard without the humans finding out, right?” They asked, and beamed when Scratch nodded and signed the affirmative. They mimicked him. “That means yes, right? Like nodding your head.” When he did it again, they cheered.

At least Scratch seemed to be able to deal with them, if anything he was amused by the chatterbox, but he was better with people than Skull. 

“Yeah. Was hopin’ you’d turn a blind eye and let us get some spare parts.”

Another nod. “Sure! Come on, I’ll help you look!” Picking up their friend, Bip grabbed Skull’s sleeve and tugged him along.

Skull stumbled a little as he was dragged along. Behind him, he could hear the electronic breaths from Scratch as he laughed. With a long sigh of smoke, Skull followed Bip into the yard. Not what he wanted, but he supposed the extra help would be good. Surely, they knew the yard better than anyone else.

And he was right! Bip knew every inch of the yard. They even knew how to find certain parts. “New cars cut down on a lot of things, but the older ones are great for parts. Joshua says it’s cuz they were built to last.” They pulled out some of the inner workings. “But they all still end up here in the end.”

While the lot of them were digging around, Scratch kept watching Spider on Bip’s shoulder. Eventually, he tapped Bip’s other shoulder. Putting one hand over the other, he mimed them crawling away before pointing away from his body with both hands. 

Of course, Bip was clueless and looked to Skull for help.

“He’s asking where you found that Spider,” he explained, not seeming to even look at them.

“Oh! He came on a lead crate, I think,” they chirped, picking up said Spider to show him off. “He had a broken green light back then though. Like Skull! But his made him sick so I fixed him,” they explained.

Scratch looked worriedly at Skull, but the robot just shook his head not to say anything. They both knew what that meant. He could ask later. The last thing they needed was Becile Industries to find them now.

After a little more time and a lot more digging, they had enough parts to last them a little while. At least long enough for Skull to get some work in.

“Thanks, kid, you really saved us here.”

Bip beamed as they helped pack up the last of their load. It wasn't enough that anyone would notice, so they didn’t care. “Of course! It just sits around or gets melted down, may as well put it to good use! I can’t do it all the time, but if you need help, I can try,” they excitedly chirped.

Scratch’s shoulders shook. Looking at Skull he brought a hand to his mouth before moving it to lay palm up on his other hand then linked his two pointers together. “Bip’s a good friend,” he told him, eyes closing happily.

Which just made Skull huff. This was twice now Bip had bailed him out. He owed a debt and he wasn’t sure how he was going to pay this one off. They didn’t seem real eager for something in return, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be something. 

While Scratch taught them 'thank you' and 'your welcome', Skull shouldered the heaviest of the load. “Come on, Scratch. We got a long walk to get home.”

Waving Bip off, the two stepped out to head back to the manor. Riker would have a lot to do come morning.

Scratch curled a finger and pointed it down, then he flipped it palm up and brought it to his chest before wiggling his fingers in front of his mouth. “Should invite Bip.”

A burst of coal smoke. “To what? Sit around and listen to Jack laugh at himself? Or let Locksmith get his grubby little claws on them?”

And while everyone was busy with the fire, Pretend saw a golden opportunity! Sneaking out while most the Workers were down in the labs, she dropped her veil as soon as she stepped off manor ground. No one would suspect a thing, and to Teller, that was all that mattered.

Walking down the street, she passed by humans and nodded where polite, quickly walking to a nearby shop. Butterfly had mentioned that she needed more felt for some hats she was making for Equinox. Which was a little odd after the events at prom, but who was she to judge? And Rabbit had been begging everyone for chocolate moonpies for weeks now. Just a little shopping couldn’t hurt.

Moonpies were easy to find and she grabbed a couple boxes. However, felt was another matter. She’d have to go to a special story for that. But she had been. Butterfly had taken her with to pick some tulle for a new veil.

Taking the bag from the cashier, Teller politely waved and went on her way. The craft store was a much longer walk, but at least she didn’t get tired like a human so it wasn’t so bad and there were lots of shops along the way for her to peek into and see if there was anything interesting for the other robots at Walter Manor.

There was a man on the corner selling kitchen tools and she thought Koutali might like that. There was a jar you slapped to chop what was inside, that might save him some time when he’s cooking!

The craft store was huge! And she couldn’t remember where anything was. It wasn’t long at all she realized she might be a little lost. There was no felt with beads, or at least not the kind you sew with.

Nor were they with the paint, or with baking. Which seemed like a weird thing to have in the store in the first place, but who was she to judge? Isle after isle and eventually she found the fabric! And felt a little silly when she realized it was the whole other half of the store.

A little more looking and she found the felt. Not sure what to get, she got as many colours as she could carry. Which was more than a human could, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Back at the manor, she was quick to drop off the felt first so Butterfly could put it with the others without getting found out.

She didn’t have to go far to find Rabbit since she was getting fitted for a new stage dress and the stuttering automaton cheered when she saw the moonpies. “Y-y-you’re the best!”

Ripping open a box, she was quick to try one, pushing it into her vents. “Th-these are the best! H-here, t-t-t-t-try one!” She stuttered, already starting to overheat a little as she gave each bot one.

For Pretend, it was fine, she could stomach food, even if she couldn’t taste it. Butterfly however couldn’t and held it awkwardly in her hands. “We can’t eat,” she softly reminded Rabbit.

Who, of course, didn’t seem to mind or care at all. “It-it’s okay! I do it all the time and nothing b-b-bad ever happens to me! See?” She explained and shoved another into her vents. She was starting to steam a lot more.

Nervously, Butterfly bit into the moonpie and tried to eat it. She’d never tried before she she wasn’t quiet sure how to chew and chocolate dribbled on her face and onto her skirt. “Mooo,” she muttered, mouth still full as she tried to swallow. It was a lot harder than water.

Pretend was quick to grab some scrap fabric and try and clean up the dress. Only it wasn’t scrap but a shirt Butterfly had made for Soliel to keep her panels open for sunlight and she cried a little louder.

More steam filled the room as Rabbit and Butterfly’s vent clogged. While the trio tried to clean the mess even Butterfly started to stutter and stall. 

Rabbit’s moonpies flew over the floor while she tried to find fabric they could use, opting for her own dress since she wouldn’t mind the chocolate. She knocked over a mannequin as she tried to clean up the shirt.

Butterfly was in a panic and struggling to get to the scrap pile that was suddenly much further away when her movements were halted. She tripped on Rabbit’s dress and stumbled across the floor. Each step was worse than the last as every footfall was onto another fallen moonpie. Chocolate covered the floor, and most of her work. Butterfly’s feet went out from under her when they trapped over the fallen mannequin and she fell onto the unopened box, more chocolate covering her dress and work.

Pretend tried to catch her, only managing to reach too far and fall herself with a loud thud into the trail of chocolate.

As the panic grew, a curious Six knocked on the door before cautiously peeking his head in. He didn’t want to intrude if there was a changing bot, screen or not. “Butterfly? Is everything okay?” Seeing the mess both hands went to his mask. “Science! What’s happened in here?” Chocolate was everywhere and the bots that couldn’t eat were steaming up a storm from clogged vents and stress. Even Pretend was running hot. Clothes were strewn about and torn. It was a right mess!

“Rabbit, how did you get moonpies? You know you can’t have those!”

More steam and she looked away. “I just had them,” she lied.

Pretend pulled herself to her feet and timidly fiddled with her veil, which was answer enough for Six.

Before Michael could try and defend himself and say he was alright to go on, he bent over in a coughing fit. Looking up as he tried to catch his breath, he narrowed his eyes at Spine when he gave him a particularly smug look.

Sighing, he sat up straight again. “Yeah, I know. But we were really getting somewhere,” he whined. “Spine, would you do me a favour? I left my bag down in the labs. I have a bottle in there that should help a little.”

With a nod, Spine stood from the stool. “Of course, Mister Reed. Just a moment.” With that, he made his way down to the labs humming ‘Me and My Baby’ to himself.

The labs were busy this time of day and he had to move carefully around the Walter Workers as not to bump into them, or knock something over with his spines. It didn’t look like anything particularly volatile. Nothing had exploded at any rate.

Finding Michael’s bag was a bit of a chore as he weaved through the workers hunting for a worn gym bag. Tucked away and half-forgotten, Spine found it under a table.

Luckily for Spine, the bottle was sitting on top, he was never comfortable going through people’s things. Turning it this way and that, he thought briefly, how amusing it was green before going back to Michael to hand him the bottle.

Seeing Spine return, he perked up when he saw the bottle. “Oh good!” Reaching for the bottle he quickly twisted off the cap, or least he tried to. Sighing, he looked up to Spine apologetically and offered him the bottle again. “One more favour?”

“You really must be sick, Mister Reed,” he laughed as he took the bottle. Pressing the safety locks he quickly opened the bottle and handed it back to Michael, who took it gratefully took it and poured out a dose.

“You’re a life saver, Spine.” Tilting his head back, he tried to drink it without letting it touch his tongue. He never was good at that and pulled a face at the horrid taste.

“Man! That stuff never goes down easy!” He laughed as he put the bottle under the chair and picked up his guitar again. “Shall we try again?”

Taking up his own, Spine nodded and took a seat. “Of course, Mister Reed. Now, where were we?”

The break had done Michael some good and he had was doing well. At least until he suddenly dropped his guitar, the sound startling them both.

“Whoa!” Michael’s head snapped up and he looked around, almost as if he had forgotten where he was before he clocked where his instrument had gone. Reaching down to grab it, he toppled his chair.

Spine was quick on his feet and grabbed his friend, thankful he wore his guitar strap. “Mister Reed, are you alright?” Keeping a hand out to keep his friend balanced, he picked up the fallen chair with the other.

“Uh?” Blinking his eyes, Michael sighed. “Sourry,” he drawled as Spine helped him sit back down. “Mus be worn ou still.”

Spine had to stop to process what he was saying, he was slurring his words. Which was strange, he had never heard him do that before. Only when someone had had too much to drink. “Are you feeling alright? It’s hard to understand you.”

Looking up at the automaton he blinked once, then twice before it seemed he understood. Pressing his face against his hand, he heaved a sigh. “I don’ think it helped ‘nough,” he said as he staggered to his feet.

Reaching out to help steady him, Spine helps him to a nearby lounge. “Just lay down for a bit. If that doesn’t help, I’ll talk to Peter about getting a cab to take you home.” When Michael didn’t respond he laughed quietly and stepped out to try and get some work done while he let him nap.

Sometime later, Spine came back to check on the human. “Mister Reed? I hope you’re feeling a little better. I was thinking about the cords and-” he paused when he saw Michael was right where he had left him. “Mister Reed?”

Stepping over he gently shook his shoulder. When that didn’t work, he poked and prodded at his side.

“Mister Reed, are you alright?” He tried again. When Michael stayed still, he panicked. This wasn’t happening.

Scooping up the unconscious human, Spine rushed back down to the labs. Most of the Walter Workers had left to enjoy a night off, but he knew there was someone down here.

“Petes! Six!” He yelled, skidding into an open door near the end of the hall. In the lab he found Peter.

Said man was standing up from his desk, ready to make a run when he heard the screaming, but Spine was much faster. Seeing him cradling Michael made him worry, not that his mask could show it.

“What’s going on, Spine?” He demanded and cleared a place to lay Michael down. The possibilities ran through his head. He had been in the labs today when he normally wasn’t, that alone gave him cause for concern.

“I-I think I killed Mister Reed,” Spine tried to clarify. Sitting the one-man band down on the table he fretted before being swatted away by Six.

Doing a quick check for vitals, he was relieved at least that he was still breathing. Once the initial panic faded he looked to the still panicking robot. “And why, exactly do you think you killed him, Spine?”

“He wasn’t feeling well, so I gave him some green liquid from down in the maintenance lab.”

Okay, now Peter was panicking again. Did Spine give him antifreeze? No, Spine would know better, wouldn’t he? But what else would be down there? If it was a stash of green matter, there would have been no doubt, and there was no way Spine would make that mistake. “When did you give it to him?”

“A few hours ago. He wasn’t feeling well, but after he took it he started to slur when he talked. He even dropped his guitar and topple the chair trying to get it. He looked like he was in pain and couldn’t focus on anything.”

Pulling at his hair,  he groaned. “Okay, Spine-o. What exactly did you give Michael?”

“I’m not sure, Six. With everyone busy down here I just grabbed it from his bag and hurried out. I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

Sighing, Peter pressed his covered face into his hands. “Spine, go get that bottle, please. I need to figure out what you gave him before something happens.”

That was all the prompting he needed to rush out, leaving Peter behind to figure this out. Pulling out his phone he searched for the symptoms and drinking antifreeze and was very uncomfortable about how many of them Spine had mentioned.

As he heard the heavy footfalls of Spine as he came running he did the most logical thing he could think of and dialed poison control. Hopefully, they hadn’t blocked his number yet.

Skidding into the room, Spine had to grab the door frame to stop himself from charging into Peter. “I found it!” Handing it to him, he watched as he looked it over.

Six immediately recognized the bottle when offered to him. Sitting it down on the table, he let out a suffering sigh. He couldn’t decide if he was more annoyed or relieved to see that it was just heavy duty flu medicine. “Yes hello? Please forgive me. False alarm, there was just a misunderstanding. Yes, I know I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.” When the line went dead he looked at his phone, his mask somehow expressing annoyance at being hung up like that. “Rude.”

“Anyway, Spine? Did you read the bottle on the way down?” He asked as said robot still looked nervous and shook his head.

“Sorry, I was in a hurry to get back down here. Before something bad happened. What is it?” He asked, leaning over to try and see the label.

“It’s just flu medicine, Spine. He’s just sleeping. The nighttime stuff,” he picked up the bottle and shook it slightly, “normally puts you in a deep sleep because it helps get better faster, and it can be hard to sleep when you’re sick.”

Spine blinked his optics in confusion. He knew about medicine, been around for some of the weirder things as well, but he’d never seen them totally unresponsive if they weren’t in serious condition.

“Than,” he hesitated, “Mister Reed’s going to be alright?” He asked and relaxed a little when Six nodded.

Said Mister Reed groaned and slowly sat up from the table. Pressing a hand to his forehead he looked around confused. Once he clocked Peter and Spine he smiled meekly. “I’m sorry, did I sleepwalk again?”

WHile Spine cheered, Six laughed. “See? Told you he’d be alright.” Turning to face Michael he shook his head. “How are you feeling?”

“A little stiff, but a bit better at least. I’m kinda sensitive to medicine, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. Guess if I made it this fair I better not take it again, huh? I hope I didn’t cause any trouble.”

“I’m so sorry, Mister Reed.” Taking off his famed fedora, he worried over the brim. “I came to check on you and ask a question about the song we were writing earlier. When you didn’t respond at all, I was afraid I had given you something I shouldn’t have. I panicked and brought you to Six, hoping he could fix my mistake.”