preview: midnight conversations 3
or 4, if i finish the other one first, but. nevermind that. it’s focused on antauri & otto bonding, and it has a scene at the beginning that i actually really, really like. & because it’s been a while since i talked about midconvo, here ya go!
Otto couldn’t tell you why he made the shrine, only that it existed. It was tucked in a dark corner of his workshop, nearly buried under half-finished projects and spare parts. But the shrine existed, whether he knew why he made it or not.
It wasn’t much of anything at all. Just an old bench, oil-stained and worn, strung with lights. Otto flicked them on. Mandarin’s helmet, recovered after the orange monkey’s return, dominated the space. It was accompanied by a few things taken from his room, and a cog.
It was empty. Barren, really. Mandarin probably would have wanted something grand. Statues in his honor, and the like. He was always complaining about not being appreciated enough.
He’d had a chronic need for attention, in Otto’s opinion, which made the fact that he sought Otto out all the more ridiculous. After all, Otto in his workshop was not the most attentive of monkeys. But then, it also meant that Mandarin could spew his mind without fear of being judged. So maybe it did make sense after all.
The joke was on him, though. Otto had started listening, there towards the end. That’s how they knew Mandarin had finally hit the brink. He’d spilled all of his own secrets—always venting and gloating in Otto’s workspace, unafraid of being listened to as Otto tinkered with his babies.
Otto sat in front of the shrine.
He supposed it was time he returned the favor, wasn’t it?
