DISREPAIR ERROR_422: Episode 5
Betrayal & Consequences: Chapter 3
“Itara eat your breakfast.”
A sigh drifted around the dining room but the pancakes remained untouched on their plate. Once RK finished packing the lunch and a separate container full of snacks, he turned back to the table, watching the despondent hedgehog poke at her food. She’d been like this since they returned home and nothing he did seemed to help. It only got worse once they realized Metal hadn’t returned yet, despite RK messaging him multiple times. Not that he didn’t understand – in both Itara and Metal’s cases – he wasn’t pleased with the outcome or the plan, either, but he didn’t want her moping the entire time. Even Zero’s taunts were going ignored.
“Itara.”
“He still hasn’t come back,” she finally muttered, her gaze distant.
RK remained silent a moment, reaching out to Metal via comms once again, but all he got was the ‘Message Delivered’ confirmation and nothing more. Metal was intentionally ignoring him. Sighing, he looked back to the hedgehog girl still poking holes in her food. “You know how Metal gets, he’s just running it off. I’ll go hunt him down and talk to him once I take you to school.”
She finally looked up, eyes wide and brows furrowed, pouting up at him, “I didn’t mean to upset him so much but if I don’t see him before the end of school, I don’t know when I’ll get to see him again! RK you have to go find him and tell him I’m sorry!”
“I know, I will. Just eat your breakfast, you’re going to be late,” he nodded, reaching down to pat her head, “I promise, as soon as I drop you off, I will go find him and make sure he comes to see you before the school day ends, alright?”
Itara stared up at him, hesitating, uncertain, but eventually sighed and nodded, looking back at her plate. Not that she was particularly hungry and school sounded even more dreadful than usual. She hoped Shadow confirmed she wasn’t lying quickly so she could at least see both of them during the weekends. Then again, RK was right, she doubted even Shadow could tell Metal what to do. If he wanted to come see her, he would. She just worried Shadow would get mad at her for it.
Once RK finally convinced her to eat her mostly destroyed breakfast, the rest of the morning went by much quicker. Quieter, as neither of them wanted to talk about the situation, but that meant less grumbling and arguing. X, Zero, and Axl were out early looking into Sigma and how best to deal with him, so it was just the two of them for the first time in years. Itara couldn’t help but glance around the uncomfortably empty house on their way out, “This house has never been this empty.”
RK looked back over the living room and connecting dining room. Even when they first moved in, Metal had been with them – broken and stored in a box, but present – and Kipper was still around. The ghost doll hardly ever showed up anymore, preferring to wreck havoc elsewhere most days.
“The last time it was just the two of us was the original timeline. When I first reactivated you.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
She looked up at him again, the melancholy switching to determination, “I don’t want it to be this empty ever again. Metal belongs here with us. And Kipper and Infinite now, too. Tell Metal I’m sorry,” she looked down in thought before looking up again, “And that I’ll let him beat me in video games for a year if he comes back and I promise not to complain.”
RK couldn’t help the snort at the final comment. Always with the video games with these two. Not that Metal needed help beating her in them, demi-god as she was, Metal Sonic was still a complex learning robot. She’d never beat him in any of their games and he knew well enough that the only reason their matches lasted as long as they did was because Metal just didn’t want to beat her too quickly. Not that he would tell her that. Instead, he just made a dramatic show of rolling his eyes and picking her and her backpack up, scolding, “You two somehow still play too many video games. You both have a problem. I’ll pass the other message along, though.”
Itara huffed as they headed out of the house but eventually agreed and got comfortable for the run to the school. The run was otherwise silent and once Itara was dropped off, RK went to inform Mira of the situation, explaining the conversation with Blaze as well as Metal’s current unknown whereabouts. He needed to go find him but wanted to let Mira know he’d be back as soon as he did.
Mira only nodded but Kelly, who was rarely more than a handful of steps away from her husband at any given point, gave a thoughtful hum and looked over at the bot with a not-so-subtle amount of pity. “You really can’t catch a break, can you?” RK gave a sarcastic laugh and a shrug but Kelly looked up in thought, her brows furrowing. “It’s like you’re in a never-ending custody battle for that girl. First the Sun God, then us, now the new Royals of Soleanna,” she clicked her tongue and looked down again, Mira eyeing her suspiciously but RK could only stare in confusion. “I have to hand it to you, always fighting so hard to keep your family together. I respect that. You’re not so bad for a badnik.”
She grinned and tossed him a thumbs up but RK wasn’t sure how to respond. He could only stare as Mira sighed at her final pun, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “First off, your jokes are terrible as always. Second off, what do you mean us?” He looked up at his wife again as she shrugged. “There was no ‘custody battle’ with us. We offered to let him stay with us.”
“Ah, I suppose that’s true,” Kelly laughed, putting a hand to her chin as a realization suddenly struck her and she turned back to RK, wide-eyed, gasping, “The reason you turned us down was Metal Sonic, wasn’t it?!”
Once again, Mira could only sigh in exasperation, burying his hands in his face. As if it were obvious.
Finally, RK found his voice again and nodded, “It was. He wasn’t functional yet, I was still trying to get him back online, but I didn’t want to leave him alone for so long, either. And obviously I wasn’t going to bring him with me.” Not only would that have been awkward, just being Metal Sonic, but there was also the fact that Metal had been responsible for their daughter going missing in the first place. They still didn’t much like him being around now.
“In any case,” Mira growled, waving the conversation away, “that bot’s whereabouts is obviously important to you and… Mara. So. Feel free to go search for him. I’ll just have Kelly take over security until you’re back.” He turned back towards the building and continued inside, throwing out a final, “I’d say I hope you find him, but that would be lying so I’ll simply wish you luck, instead. Let Kelly know when you’re back.”
RK and Kelly both watched him, Kelly snorting at the blatant disregard while RK’s mouth pulled to the side. She turned back to him and grinned again, “Don’t mind him. But really, our issues with Metal Sonic aside, I know he’s important to you guys so I do hope you find him soon. Don’t worry about the kids, I’ll keep an eye out until you’re back.” RK nodded, looking out at the school once more before taking off to track Metal down. He had his last known location before he went out of the comm’s range. He hoped to pick Metal’s signal back up when he reached it.
On the run, he had time to process and consider not only what Kelly said but also what Lynda said the other day and many times before that. Not to mention what Metal and even Kipper and Zero accused him of constantly. He’d gotten so used to being called Mama Bear, it barely registered anymore but now that he was considering it more thoroughly, he had to wonder: Just what did Itara mean to him? And more importantly, how? He knew their AI was advanced, even for Robotnik, but had it advanced so much that he was capable of viewing Itara and Metal as actual family? Or was it just a weird bit of programming that made him so protective of them? He’d always assumed it was a side effect of glitched programming.
Metal had Sonic’s sass somehow.
He figured Knuckles’ status as a Guardian of the Master Emerald played into his own defensiveness, just… a bit different due to his glitched systems. Or maybe that was how it was meant to function. Having a warbot with a protective streak would likely benefit its creator. If the creator had kept control. He figured when his systems were damaged and Itara was the one to repair them, that protectiveness just attached to her. He would never know for sure, though.
Then again, there was also Itara’s comment yesterday about their loyalty programming. She’d never mentioned changes to their AI from the direct interaction with the timelines before, that was news to everyone but her apparently, but he had to wonder just how extensive that was. He meant to ask her about it when they got home last night but she was so distraught, he didn’t have a good opportunity to bring it up. Clearly that was something to look into when they got home. Maybe Metal would have a better understanding of it, considering how advanced his AI had become even before the timeline resets.
But the ultimate question returned to his mind: Did he actually see himself as a parent to Itara? Did he view her as a child, like everyone insinuated? What did that even mean to a robot?
What about Itara? Did she view him as a parent, despite her relationship with Mephiles? He knew he was more than just a robot to her. Him, Metal, Kipper, she’d said on more than one occasion she views them as family. But to what degree? He’d never brought it up because of what she went through with Mephiles but the conversation with Kelly had him questioning it again. She obviously considered Mephiles her ‘real’ father. But what if this was just a weird, complicated custody battle with a God?
In a way, Mephiles and Metal were her ‘real’ parents, by that logic. She came from a piece of Mephiles’ power but technically Metal was the one who actually created her. As he liked to remind them whenever the Sun God got brought up. So where did that put him? A step-dad? Is that what he was? Or trying to be?
He didn’t hate the title.
But a blip on his radar pulled him from the mental rabbit hole as he finally picked Metal’s signal up again and audibly sighed in relief.
‘Where have you been?’
‘Don’t Mother Hen me.’
RK’s irritation skyrocketed as he finally pinned Metal’s location down. He was far from Soleanna or any known town at this point, halfway through the Spagonia desert. But at least he remained in place to allow him to catch up and the blur of blue finally appeared over the waving dunes. Metal made no acknowledgment of his presence, only continued to stare out at the endless sand and sun. RK briefly considered decking him for the trouble but only mentally sighed and stood beside him. The silence drifted for several minutes, both watching the wind dance over the distant hills, dragging sand along its path, glittering and glistening in the hot desert sun.
“She thinks you’re mad at her,” RK stated, breaking the silence.
“Perhaps she’s right.”
RK’s mouth tightened into a line as he faced the other bot, “Come on, Metal-”
“No. No ‘come on’,” Metal snapped, the fury seemed to reignite all over again as he scowled back, “In fact, maybe you’re the one who needs the ‘come on’ this time, Metal Knuckles.” RK’s eye narrowed at the full name. Metal never used that anymore. “Not only am I pissed, but you should be as well. She lied to you and yet you just let it go. As you always have.” He scoffed and looked out towards the desert again.
“Would you have done anything different in her situation? It’s not like it would have changed anything, either way.”
Metal went silent. After several seconds of consideration, he loosened his shoulders and hissed a quiet, furious, “’Wouldn’t have changed anything’. Sure. Just like freeing you changed nothing, either. Instead of going back to Robotnik, you just ended up in the hands of a child.” RK barely had time to react before Metal took off again, gone in seconds and leaving behind nothing but a whirlwind of sand, the force of his speed shifting even the heavy warbot back a few inches in the unsecured footing of the dunes. By the time RK recovered and brushed the sand off, Metal Sonic was once again outside the range of his comms.
His brow furrowed, the final comment sparking his own fury. That was a dirty, low blow and if there were any heavy objects nearby, they would have been tossed after the speedster out of pure rage. Metal was lucky they were in an empty desert. Strategic asshole. The hell did he even mean by that? He wasn’t in the hands of anyone. He never had been. Just because he wasn’t determined to push everyone away like Metal didn’t mean he was in the hands of anyone. He huffed and scowled out in the direction Metal went, knowing he was well and gone by this point but yelled out after him anyway, “Go run your bullshit off and come back when you’re done being an asshole! Sparking pile of bolts.” He turned the opposite direction and headed back towards Soleanna, deciding to make a slight stop at some ruins to punch a pillar or two on the way through.
By the time he was within a few miles of the school again, having maybe spent a bit longer than he intended decimating some ruins on the outskirts of the city, it was nearly the end of the school day. Some parents were already waiting near the gate to pick their kids up by the time he reached it, missing the looks of horror on their faces as he passed by, one glowing green eye set on the door. When someone tapped him on the back of the shoulder, he immediately swung around, claws up, ready to fight.
“Whoa! Chill!” the startled burgundy hedgehog woman jumped back, her own fists going up in response, “Not that I’m not always up for a spare but you look like shit.”
It took RK several seconds to finally process Kelly’s presence, shaking his head and putting his claws back down immediately, “Sorry. Sorry. Just-”
Kelly watched him a moment before relaxing, herself, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head, her brows knitting together as she questioned, concerned, “Did you not find him?”
“No, I found him,” RK growled, looking down and finally noticing the shredded jacket, giving himself a quick look-over. His jacket and tank top were beyond repair and there were a couple rips in the bottom of his pants but they looked fixable. He apparently also still had sand everywhere. Sighing, he pulled what remained of the jacket off and threw it over his shoulder before going about dusting himself off as he explained, “He’s still being an angry asshole. Took off on me again. Sorry I’m late getting back.”
“Looks like you got into it a bit,” she mused, placing a hand on her chin and holding her elbow, shifting her weight to one side.
“Not with Metal. We got into an argument. I may have taken it out on some destroyed buildings outside the city.” Once he was satisfied, he stood back up and sighed again, crossing his arms, “Itara’s not going to be happy he didn’t come see her. I don’t know when she’ll next get the chance to.”
Kelly’s hand went up before she realized and put it back down, “Right. Your Itara. Yes.”
RK snorted a bit as the bell rang out from the building behind him. The immediate thunder of feet echoed out as both of them moved away from the doors to not get slammed as the children escaped to freedom. They stood off to the side, watching quietly as kids poured out the door, Mira exiting with them. When he caught sight of the two of them, he gave RK an odd look before crossing over, eyeing the robot as he approached.
“What happened?”
“Got into a bit of a spat.”
“It’s okay,” Kelly shrugged, “Every married couple has their arguments,” she grinned and Mira eyed her suspiciously in anticipation, “That’s what make-up se-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” Mira jumped, throwing his hand over her mouth, scowling, “There are children!”
RK looked off in any other direction away from them. It was not the first time. It would not be the last. Yet it never failed to take him by surprise. Every single time. Somehow, even after spending eight years in close proximity and hearing many a fight between her and Lynda over it, Kelly’s complete lack of verbal filter was frankly something to be studied.
“Nothing changes with you, does it?”
Speak of the devil.
All three of them turned as the utterly disgusted strawberry blonde approached, eyeing the hedgehog woman with her usual distaste. Unfortunately, Mira made the mistake of removing his hand as Kelly only grinned back at her. “You’re just jealous you never get any.”
“Kelly! Time and place!”
Lynda gasped, standing on the other side of RK, who wanted nothing more than to exit the conversation immediately. Navigating the tense air between Lynda and Susan was always a minefield back in the day, one he’d eventually grown accustomed to. But the pure static electricity between Lynda and Kelly felt like a nuclear bomb in comparison. Lynda and Susan kept their arguments cordial, often speaking with hidden meanings. It was hard to parse at the beginning, but he learned. Kelly threw all that out the window. She was blunt and shameless, she said exactly what she meant and gave no second thought to perceived reputation. She was always a wildcard, never malicious but didn’t take being talked down to, either. A complete contrast to the other women and even Mira.
In a way, he respected her bluntness, though. He never had to guess what she was saying. Or thinking. She’d just say it. It made talking with her easy, there was no invisible trap to walk through with her. Even if she did sometimes make conversations extremely awkward for everyone involved because of it.
“Wait,” he suddenly interrupted, processing what she’d even said, stopping the argument in its tracks and pulling all eyes to him as he eyed the hedgehog woman back, his eyebrow rose, “Did you say married couple?”
Kelly stared up at him before laughing, her hands going back to her hips, “Well yeah, obviously. The fuck else you call it?”
“Language,” both Mira and Lynda hissed, though she only laughed and ignored them.
“Metal and I?”
“Duh,” Kelly waved, “look, I know you’re a robot and all but you’ve been living amongst us mortals long enough at this point you can’t be completely oblivious to this at this point. You two are the most old married couple I have ever seen. The only people who argue as much as you do are Mira and I.”
“Just because people argue doesn’t mean they’re married,” Lynda countered, looking between RK and Kelly, “they’re just coworkers. RK’s said as much.”
“Sure. And they were just roommates,” Kelly rolled her eyes, pointing at Lynda and leaning forward, grinning, “you’re just mad ‘cuz you just wanna fuck the robot-”
“EXCUSE YOU!” Lynda choked, her entire face burning.
“Oh look, Itara’s here and I need to go. Goodbye,” RK interrupted, now staunchly ignoring the escalating argument behind him as he power-walked over to the time traveler finally exiting the building. She barely had time to notice him before he was scooping her up and onto his shoulders to make their escape, startling her.
“A-! RK! Wha-!”
“Running late, gotta go,” he snapped, wasting not a single moment making for the gates as he heard Mira having to physically restrain Kelly behind them.
Itara looked back at the noise, watching before looking down at RK again, “What… was that all about?”
“Lynda and Kelly again. Don’t worry about it.”
“Ah.”
Once they were a decent enough distance away, RK finally slowed his pace and came to a stop to sigh and relax a bit. Nevermind. He did not appreciate Kelly’s bluntness sometimes. After a moment to breath, he started walking again, but at a more comfortable pace and broke the awkward silence, “How was school?”
“Ugh,” Itara whined, leaning against his head, “Awful. Camilla was impossible to avoid and she refuses to listen. As soon as she sees me, she’s trying to pummel me.”
“Did you ever figure out why?”
“No, she won’t talk to me. I may have to get Sceira and Simon to get it out of her. Not that I really care, mind you.” RK hummed and the conversation tapered off again until Itara broke it, “So… is… is Metal still mad?”
RK stopped again. He’d gotten so distracted by Kelly’s nonsense, he’d completely forgotten about the argument with Metal. Sighing, he started walking again, explaining, “Unfortunately,” he heard her whine and continued, “I finally managed to track him down out by Spagonia, but we argued and he took off again.”
“Is that why your clothes are all torn?”
“Mm,” he nodded, “We didn’t fight, but he pissed me off so I had to deal with that before I came back to the school.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“If I could go back that far, I would have told the truth.”
“What happened, happened, Itara. There’s no point dwelling on it. I know that’s a foreign concept to a time traveler but sometimes you just have to let things be and move on. I know I’ve told you this dozens of times now. Metal needs to realize that, too. He’s hung up on a past that doesn’t even exist anymore.”
“But our memories of it still do.”
“Barely.” Itara took a deep breath and melted into him, going silent again. RK looked up in thought, huffing a bit dramatically and raising his fist, “Next time I catch him, I’m punching him, though.”
“What?”
“He deserves it. And if he’s so desperately looking for a fight, I’ll give it to him.” He put his arm back down again, “and he’s clearly looking for a fight right now.”
“What in the world was the argument about?”
“A past that no longer exists.”
The rest of the walk to Soleanna was relatively quiet and by the time they reached the castle, RK had fully calmed back down. At least as much as he was going to, given the situation. One of the outside guards went to inform Blaze they were there, leaving them to wait by the door again. “Did you manage to get a hold of that jackal to let him know?” RK questioned, glancing up at Itara.
“Yeah, he knows,” she sighed, “I don’t know when or if he’ll actually show up, but he knows where I’ll be and about the training.”
RK nodded as the guard returned, ushering them to follow, and leading them down to the office again where Blaze was already waiting on the couch. Unfortunately, Shadow was also already there, leaning up against the wall, arms crossed and watching. Itara sighed loudly and dramatically at his presence while RK reached up to pull her off his shoulders but kept her locked tight in his arms, moving her backpack to the nook of his arm.
“Thank you for agreeing to this,” Blaze welcomed, motioning to the other couch again, “I’m sure we’d all like to put this entire situation behind us for good.”
“It’s behind us already,” RK snapped. Maybe he was still a bit testy after all.
“And you were the ones responsible for it all to begin with,” Shadow countered.
“Enough,” Blaze commanded, “we’re not here to argue again, we’re here to solve a problem. Itara, thank you for agreeing to do this.” Itara just hummed quietly and nodded, not wanting to say much else. Blaze then turned her attention to RK, “then let’s discuss the specifics so we can get this taken care of.” RK nodded and sat back for the conversation.
It wasn’t a long one, it wasn’t necessary. They agreed on a schedule, Itara would stay at the castle during the week and go back home to the base during the weekends until both Blaze and Silver were confident she would no longer be a threat. She would then be free to go back home and the past would be forgotten between them. Shadow reluctantly agreed to the plan but once again reiterated his rules regarding Metal, which caused Itara’s mood to drop again. But with the discussions done with, Blaze stood to show Itara the room they’d prepared for her, leading the group back down the main hall.
“You said Infinite would be joining you, correct?”
“I told him about it, I don’t know if he’ll show up,” Itara sighed, “He kinda does what he wants for the most part, but we usually meet on specific days of the week so I can train his powers.”
“Well, we prepared a room for both of you just in case then,” Blaze explained, opening the first door down the left hallway, revealing a moderately sized and conservatively furnished bedroom. Much like Blaze’s office, it had the essentials: a bed, nightstand, desk, chairs, wardrobe, even a small round table. But sparsely decorated. “Feel free to make the bedroom your own and let us know if there’s anything else you need.”
“I don’t need much,” Itara shrugged, walking into the room to inspect it, dropping her backpack near the door.
While she explored, however, RK turned to Blaze and Silver with a much more stern expression, “If she’s going to be staying here the full school week then you should probably know a few things.” They turned to him, curious, but nodded. “She’ll try anything to get out of homework, I’m sure you’re both aware of how clever and conniving she can be, don’t let her. Also, I brought an extra container of her favorite snacks,” he walked over to the backpack and opened it up, pulling the container out but stopped and shook it a bit before standing back up and glaring over his shoulder. “Itara.”
The hedgehog glanced back at him, noticed the snack container, and immediately turned back around, looking out the window, “WOW! Look at this window! It sure goes outside!”
“Don’t ignore me, young lady!” RK snapped, turning around fully, holding the container out at her while Blaze and Silver just watched on in baffled confusion. “What did I tell you about this container specifically?”
“I sure do love windows and outside and the sun,” Itara continued, her ears pinned tight against her head as she kept her back to them, “And not knowing anything about any snacks other than the ones in my lunch!”
RK breathed in, held it for several seconds, before sighing heavily and reaching up to pinch his nose. Dropping his arm again, he turned back towards the other two and grumbled, “Well, I WAS going to say I packed a few extra snacks but don’t let her have more than one a night, no matter what she tries. But apparently she already got into them.” Opening the container, he counted the remaining brownies and cookies before closing it tight again and handing it to Blaze, “One every other night now.”
“AW! RK!” Itara immediately whined, turning back around and suddenly remembering they were there again.
“No ‘aw RK’ from you,” RK scolded, facing her, “I told you those were for while you were here. I packed just enough so now you only get them every other night.” He watched, fighting to keep the smirk off his face as she pouted and whined, before turning back to study Silver, sizing him up before turning to Blaze, “You should probably keep track of them. She’ll swindle him into giving her more.”
“What?!”
Blaze couldn’t resist the smirk as Silver balked and stammered at the read, nodding after a moment, “Very well, I will keep them out of both of their hands.”
“What?! C’mon Blaze, I can be trusted!” Silver insisted, frowning.
Blaze only shook her head, reaching over to pat his cheek, “I’m sorry, but… that was a very accurate read.” Silver’s face flushed up as he sputtered while Blaze turned back to RK, “Is there anything else we need to know?”
RK looked up as he started counting, “Bed by eight, school starts at seven, she will spend as much of the morning moaning and dragging her feet as you let her. She likes specifically the syrup for breakfast so if you make pancakes or waffles, don’t give her too much and make sure there’s some kind of fruit with it. Her and Metal both have a gaming problem so don’t let her sit around playing them too long, same with the TV. Two hours, Tops. Oh and she’s been having issues with a girl at school. Obviously, I’ll be there during school hours but she has a tendency to ruminate at night so if she starts getting quiet, the best way to get her talking is to ask about her favorite snacks or plants. It’s especially important to get her out of her head if she starts thinking about Mephiles in any capacity, she’s still struggling with… well, everything that happened and there’s a high likelihood she’ll spiral if left alone too long.”
He crossed his arms, running through a list and rocking his head to the side, “I already covered snacks. She likes the brownies with the candy and almost any kind of cookie but don’t spoil her too much. Also, probably best to keep her away from that new pizzeria for now. With everything that happened with it, I don’t need her zipping off to another world again.” Running over his lists one more time, he stood up straight and looked back at them again, “I think that covers it but I’ll give you a direct line to my comms just in case anything else comes up.”
Silver and Blaze both stood there taken aback for a moment before Blaze shook her head, blinking, “Right. Of course. Yes, a communication line would be good, I think. And we’ll do our best to take care of her while she’s here.”
RK nodded, looking back over to Itara, who was staring up at him suspiciously, her head tilted. He walked over and crouched in front of her, reaching over to rest a hand on her head, “If you ever feel in danger at any point, you run alright? You come right home and get me. Keep track of your journal.”
Itara sighed, trying to keep the concern off her face, “I’ll be fine, RK, don’t worry. But I promise I will come back if anything feels off.”
“Alright. Good. And I will… try to deal with Metal in the meantime. Get him and Shadow sorted by the weekend so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Right. Yeah. Okay.”
He stared down at her a moment before pulling her into a hug, resting his head on hers, before sighing and releasing her again, standing back up. “Okay, then I’ll… see you tomorrow at school, alright?” She nodded and he turned to the other two again, pointing, “You take care of her.”
“We will. We promise,” Blaze nodded.
Once RK was satisfied, the four of them walked back to the entrance and RK stepped outside, looking back as Itara stood just inside the door, watching him. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and looked down, instead.
“RK?” He looked up again, and Itara put one hand on her hips and pointed with the other, commanding, “Go find Metal. He’s being stupid.”
RK smirked and nodded, “Will do.”
She nodded and turned back around to go inside, “I expect to see him this weekend because we’re going to have some gaming to do!” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, exchanging a look with Blaze before nodding to them and turning around to head back home. Once the doors closed behind him, he took a deep breath before taking off running. He still had some steam to blow off apparently.
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