#;hatchworth

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He writes every single day.

Words he can’t say, addressed to people he would never see again. and when he falls asleep, Hatchworth sneaks a peek. Mostly out of curiosity, but also out of pity-- there had to be something someone like him could do, so when he finds a letter addressed to someone who had been around until very recently, he tapes it up, he addresses it, and sends it off through his portal.

It would find PJ Murdock somewhere in the middle of a moonless night, slapping him right upside the head when he least expects it.

“Dear Mister PJ. Nemo wrote you a letter so I mailed it for you! please reply ASAP if possible :D” is written on the outside, and it is signed Hatchworth.

Hatchworth has drawn a picture of a three headed bear with only one eye rearing and shooting flames at the moon, which also only has one eye and is depicted with horrifying realism.

I don’t know what I did wrong.

I miss you, every single day I miss you, I worry, I fret and fear. You’re still alive, and if you’re still alive and that fearful, this avoidant, he must be alive as well. So I worry, and I fear, and I want you to come back, even though you’ve hurt me.

I thought you’d made me a better man, I thought that loving you, loving her, it would have changed me in some way. Perhaps you’re right, perhaps I’m not meant to be with you, but I can’t help but ache. Have I been cruel? Have I been unkind? Perhaps. 

Whatever it is, it’s made Gallant leave as well. 

How can I still be so fond for people who have removed themselves from me? Am I a cancer to you both?

This letter will never reach you, but it might help me let you go. But I know I won’t. I have known you too fondly, too intimately to let go of that warmth you brought to me. 

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“Wait... so-- so it’s true, then?”

The Spine shifts, his hand having been crushed in his hands as he sits back on the ruined couch, the others sitting on the floor in front of him. It had probably been one of the hardest days he’s had out here, and it’s beginning to show on him, the wear and tear of an emotional burden finally being let go. He nods, all he can do is nod as he drops his aht and hides his face in his hands. 

There’s silence from them, from the inhabitants of the Sink, and from the floor below, where Nemo had isolated himself. 

They know now. After months of being together, finally they knew, and it was a painful, hurtful truth, but that pain was nothing compared to what damage they had caused between themselves, and between the man who had cared so much to keep them safe, and the woman who had walked away from him.

Rabbit’s insides churn with guilt. 

“...but that means we really are siblings” Hatchworth said, his mustache twitching. “We were before, but in the mammalian sense of family, we are...”

“Yeah, Hatchy, we are”

“And Pappy, he’s...”

“Not the horse, no”

“...Spine, was Pappy nice?”

Rabbit has to leave, the Spine continues to retell everything he can remember about the Walter family, but she can’t stand it. She’d let jealous feelings and a damaged pride get in the way of something more important, and she needs to make it right. 

“I said go away, Rabbit”

“Neems-- Neems I-- I gotta talk to ya, I don’t-- I’m not leavin’ until you open the door!”

The door opens quickly, enough for Rabbit to get a glimpse of the cyborg’s gaunt face before it’s slammed shut again, the locks clicking into place. She’s taken aback-- did he just nonverbally sass her?

“Nemo, I--- I gotta apologize! Just lemme do it to your face instead of a door!”

There’s more clicking from the locks, and Nemo does in fact open the door again without closing it on her, and it’s right then that she realizes how much she does not want to do this-- it’s a bomb waiting to go off in her face, and she’s not good with explosives. She puffs out her chest, she balls her fists. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I was jealous an’ mean a-a-an’ gross about Gal bein’ back, I’m sorry I ever told her ‘bout what happened, I’m-- I didn’t want it to turn out like this! I jus’-- I thought you’d start payin’ attention more but I was wrong, I was wrong ‘bout everythin’, a-a-an’ now the Spine’s told us everythin’ about what we are, and who we were, an’--...”

“...Neems, I ruined everything. And ya doin’t hafta forgive me for it, but I’m gonna make it right. I put them doubts in Gal’s head, she... she was fine up until I got ta her. I was mad, I was angry ‘bout bein’ ignored, I....”

She can’t even look at him, she can’t bear to face the man she’s wrong so badly, whose life she’s all but ruined now, and she starts to back away. 

“...Thank you, Rabbit” he finally says, closing the door. But she knows she’s not off the hook yet. 

She’s gotta go bring home Gal.

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                   " but i don't know how to do anything else "

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♞runs

More often than not, when Nemo runs it's for urgent matters, not because he can (though with recent story additions this may not be the case in the future). At a steady pace, his hands are balled into fists, his arms swing close to and across his chest. The Spine runs in much the same way, but with a broader arc to his arms,  and in longer strides, as he is mostly legs. Rabbit's hands are open, usually swinging straight out in front of her, much link a professional sprinter. She's a little more upright than the others. Hatchworth doesn't run, he putters, often his hands are up at his chest and his running is a brisk power walk, Which is why HATCH-E goes out on missions instead of his actual self, as the modified eyebot can hover much faster than he can move.

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☻hugs

The hugs Nemo gives are few, though it seems to be that his ability to trust someone that close is getting better. HIs hugs are gentle and reassuring, but never long, never lingering. He doesn't like not seeing anyone's face for too long.

Rabbit's hugs are a bit more frantic. She loves contact, and will latch onto anyone immediately and squeeze hard, and as such she's broken a few ribs in her lifetime. 

Hatchworth's hugs are long and uncomfortable, especially since the pulsing blue matter in his core is unpredictable, leaving the recipient vulnerable to whatever mayhem lurks behind a single pane of glass.

The Spine doesn't do hugs (yet).

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♫ dances

Nemo doesn't dance. He'd rather not actually, so when he's forced into intimate dance quarters with others, his shoulders sump forward and he tends to avoid eye contact. However, he can be brought into a better mood, his back will straighten considerably.

The robots, in stark comparison, always have the perfect posture for dancing, though none of them really know how, except for the given, programmed dance move that swept nations in the 80's.

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here's the thing about the bots doing the thing when nemo isn't home

opening and slamming shut Hatchworth's hatch too many times could possibly cause temporal shifts two miles in diameter from the epicenter. Which means bad things for all that work they've done in Big Mountain already...