Henley drapes his arms over the banister of the second floor, leaning hard against the black metal coils and peering down at the ‘droid presently sitting on the plush cream sofa.
He’s tall and soft, with curling brown hair. The kind of ‘droid that’s obvious to spot, with the exposed blue running along the side of his face, and inhumanly clear eyes. “Henley Moni?”
“The one and only. Buuut you already know that.” Henley drums his fingers against the metal. “What model are you, huh?”
“Watcher model, system A-PAX-871,” the ‘droid rattles off. He has a soft voice, too. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it is.”
“...Should I come up?”
“Ugh, no.” Henley heaves out a sigh, pulling away from the railing and finally stomping down the stairs, towards the ‘droid. He didn’t actually think his mother was serious when she went off on him last week; at twenty eight, you would think that he would finally get a little more freedom with things.
But – his mother liked to keep up her images. Head of West Moni, one of the biggest tech companies on the east coast. Can’t have her son out getting into trouble with the cops or it might affect the shareholders.
Henley’s neon blue lit boots thunk against the metal steps; the spiral staircase easier to get down when he’s not already half wasted. “You have an actual name?”
“I have a model name, and a serial,” says the ‘droid.
“So, no. There’s no way I’m just calling you numbers. I guess, fuck, Pax?”
“Pax,” he repeats, with a little nod of the head.
“So, what? You’re here to make sure I listen to my house arrest orders?” Henley asks. He hits the bottom of the steps. “Because that’s not going to happen.”
“My prerogative is to make sure you’re safe,” Pax responds. “No one said anything about having to stay indoors?”
“Yeah? Gonna count that as a loophole in my favor then. If that’s the case, how about you hop up, and we’ll - “ Henley makes a whistling sound, jerking a thumb towards the front door. “ - get out of here for a while.”
“I don’t think it’s a loop hole,” Pax says, standing up. He’s wearing the plain white jumper that all the ‘droids are sent out with; thin blue running along the hems of it. He’s a head and a half taller than Henley is, though he stands with his shoulders slouched and his hands shoved in the deep pockets of his jumper.
“Trust me, it’s a loop hole.” The Modi house is on the far end of the south side of the city; a split tower building with a pent house suite that’s only Henley’s in name. It’s the top floor of the second tallest high rise in Belruse City, barring the sky-side garden up top. “If they thought you would let me out of the house, they wouldn’t have bought you.”
Does your world have something cool going on with their sky? Is it starkly different than IRL? Is daytime or nighttime more beautiful in your opinion? And, speaking of night, are there stars? Planets/moons? Any really neat constellations? Or lore that goes with your world?
Come tell me about the sky/heavens/cosmos in your world!
the main city that the story is set in has a false sky box over the city that turns on at night! the copious amounts of LED and brigh lights used through out the newer buildings caused way too much light pollution, and rather than alter building plans and permits, they opted to create an LED screen that comes on at night to show off the stars!
I'm so excited about this wip! Love it so far! I'm curious about Nico, I see in your art there's some neon blue like at the chest and looks like left foot area? Is this like tattoos or something like cyberpunk mods? Very curious! (I love Ezra and Nico already btw)
Oh!!! Thank you!!! That makes me super happy to see! The blue lines on Ezra's chest are tattoos, made to look like the 'droid lines that show up on cheaper models of androids. It's highly illegal for androids to do anything outside of their original task, which means they have to be disconnected from their main programming (Nico's backdoor job!) in order to run in races, or else they can easily be traced down.
But because a lot of 'droids are easily spotted through visual tells (either through the blue circuit lines, or through visible mechanics) a lot of the racers who aren't associated with a main team, like Ezra, will get tattoos meant to replicate those gives. That way it's harder for someone to spot a real 'droid milling about at the shops or races!
“You’ve got grease on you,” Noah says, leaning over the ledge of the counter to scrub a thumb over the sharp of Eza’s cheek.
He rolls his eyes and snorts. “I was half under a car. What’d you want on me, glitter?”
“Tempting,” Nico tells him, thumb smoothing out and giving way to his palm, which he presses against the side of his boyfriend’s face. “Very tempting. I think I’d way to see that, actually.”
“You’d be paying a lot for it,” Ezra grumbles, holding out his hand. “Help me up.”
Nico takes it after a moment and tugs, Ezra easily uncurling. The creeper rolls partway back under the lifted car. “Is it going to take a lot to get it back up and running?”
“Dunno.”
“Let me reword that,” says Nico, teasingly. “Are you going to come and get lunch with me, or should I just get it on my own?”
“Fuck, is it that late?” Ezra glances at the neon lit clock hanging on the far side of the wall, rakes a hand through the part of his tangled brown hair hanging against his neck. “Shit. No, s’alright. I’ll come get lunch with you.”
Nico smiles with his teeth. “Exactly what I was hoping you would tell me.”
@make-a-desert-call-it-peace left ‘quiet’ - thank you! also what a lovely url!
_-_-_-_
“Isn’t this place ever quiet?” Lonnie asks, rocking back in his chair, head tilted back so he can squint up at the ceiling with his one working eye.
Maz lets out a creaking sort of laugh, slaps a hand down on the top of the work table. A slew of screws go rolling off the edge and onto the floor. “If you want quiet, you should have stayed in the dumpster.”
A car backfires out behind the ‘shop. Someone cranks up their stereo, the low bass tones of Wind Up spilling through the air - again. Always the same damn song.
Lonnie rubs at the side of his face. “It’s giving me a headache.”
“I think that’s probably the fact that half your face is missing, actually,” Maz points out. “Not the music.”
Maz slaps his hand down on the counter again. Even more screws go skidding onto the floor. “Gues we’re at a stalemate then. Once I get your leg fixed up, you can go for a walk or something.”
“You want my cherry?” Nico asks, holding up the little red fruit by the stem. There’s strawberry ice cream clinging to the side of it.
Ezra makes a face. “You had to’ve done that one on purpose. No way you didn’t.”
“Should I take that as a no?” Nico tilts his head to the side and smiles with his teeth, one strand of orange dyed hair hanging down between his eyes where the gel’s come loose. He shakes the fruit again.
Ezra reaches across the little neon yellow light wrapped table and plucks the cherry out of his boyfriend’s hand. “Didn’t say that.”
“You should ask for extra next time you get a sundae. We’re celebrating anyway,” Nico gestures at the little retro themed diner they’ve set up camp in for the evening. It’s one of their usual haunts on the weekends. “Might as well get a real treat out of it.”
“That’s what the vodka’s for when we get home.”
“Sure, but I can’t share that with you. I *could* steal your extra cherries.”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Ezra grins crooked, braces an arm against the top of the table and leans onto it. “This fancy sundae’s for you after all, isn’t it?”
Nico hums. “Perhaps.”
“Perhaps,” mimics Ezra with a snort. “Alright, alright, I’ll get extra cherries next time.”
Nice just smiles at him again, blows the strand of hair out of his face with a huff. “See? That’s the celebrating spirit.”
“Ow, ow, ow - shit!” Henley tries to pull his hand away from the stream of water but Pax tightens the grip that he’s got on his wrist, holding it steady. “It’s fine!”
“It’s bleeding. And it’s dirty.” Pax uses the pad of his thumb to rub at some of the grease smeared over Henley’s palm. “You could have lost a finger.”
“It didn’t come anywhere close to me losing a finger.”
“It did.”
“Pax, relax. It’s not that bad.” Henley wiggles his hand again and this time the ‘droid releases it, though he’s still leaning over Henley, front to back, and half curled against the basin of the sink. “Trust me.”
There’s a long, long pause. And then Pax takes a shuffling step back and tells him, “okay. I do.”
theartofmadeline
gamechangershow
pixelskylines
titsay
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