In todays episode of “my brain hates me and refuses to dispense the good chemicals”, I did a crossover doodle of the fairies and the Stardusts from @ayyy-imma-ninja ‘s fairy AU and my Free Runner AU
And some more sketches of the lil ones doing baby things because I need it
On an unrelated note, I started reading GITM
The brainrot is currently buffering as it downloads in the background of my brain. If it finishes, you’ll know
"I think this is the record for longest repair I've ever had--assuming I count the waiting time for them to trust me enough to do it. But... it was completely worth it. Yeah, it was a bit annoying at first, but... I couldn't blame them for being afraid.
"Initially I had only done the major repairs and let them charge, whatever it took to get them functional and online so I could run a proper diagnostic... But, unsurprisingly, as soon as they were up and about, they scattered. The pink one--I've named her Twii--watched the entire time I repaired the other--who I dubbed Laa because I'm just so creative--just out of easy reach but never out of sight; once Laa was online and charged, they were both happy to see each other. They chirped and chittered right until I made a sound and Laa noticed me in the room.
"She took off and startled Twii, who also bolted into the clutter somewhere. For a while, I thought maybe they'd ran off entirely because I didn't see them while looking around--but after a little bit I started noticing little pink and purple blurs in corners or in the corner of my eye. I think it started as genuine fear and mistrust, but it slowly started to feel like a game almost. If I thought I saw them, I would go look, only for them to be gone; sometimes the patter of tiny feet in the ceiling, or a thump of bumping into something in the next room, would tell me they were around. I left the charging dock plugged in for them and stayed out of that room for a while.
"Weeks of this, and I finally got a goof look at them. They stayed visible once caught before scurrying--though Laa would give me a dirty look when she did. Unsurprisingly, it was Twii who made first contact, about a month into this bizarre trust exercise. I have my routine, and they undoubtedly knew it well by then, knowing when I was working and when I had to eat or where I relaxed. Twii came out while I was reading and tugged on my hair.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't startled, but the little giggle as I saw a pink blur zip onto my bookshelf let me know it wasn't anything to worry about. I saw her peeking out at me from the books, probably seeing if I would come after her. I didn't. Laa was there as well, behind her, and gave her a swat like she wasn't supposed to to that.
"But then Laa started staying out more. She wouldn't make contact, but I saw her sitting on my desk, watching. They really like the loft, probably because it's calm and full of hiding places--I like it too, especially when it rains and the roof makes that nice sound and there's not leaks to worry about. If I looked at her, she'd glare at me, and any motion at all that made her think I was going to touch her made her jump or run off for the day. I absolutely believe she's afraid of contact due to how she was broken.
"Thinking back on it is odd now; I never considered that I was lonely before now. For all their worth, it's not like Rukbat and Aquila are very good at conversation. They aren't made to be, but I'd be remiss to not grasp my lack of interaction as a possible deficit in my well-being. I know they understand me to the degree their system was designed to, but seeing now that they are, for all intents and purposes, animals, while the twins, despite being animal-like in their behaviors, display obvious levels of intelligence that make them very different from Ruk and Quila. Watching them interact and even slowly respond to me when I said something felt... good but also painful.
"I mean, it's been.... years now.
"The house has gotten much... warmer with the little ones running around, hiding things, chirping and reminding me someone is there. They've become a schedule keeper of sorts, peeping or running around at the same time to remind me to eat or check something.
"Even so, it didn't prepare me for the first time they let me touch them. Twii first approached me at my desk, crawling right over my notes to rub into my hand; she curled up and took a nap right there while I was reading, using my hand as a bed. Honestly, I think I almost cried--had to stop myself from making noise while losing my damn mind. Definitely didn't get any work done.
"After that, Twii stayed near me more often, and had been for a few days; Laa kept watching from a distance, sometimes chirping at her sister, other times leaving the room after confirming I wasn't doing anything wrong. It was a time Twii wasn't with me that Laa finally took that step; I was watching something or other--don't ask me what, the signal out here is trash--when I saw movement on the seat. I'd thought Twii had come over and tapped my lap for her, but the one who crawled up was Laa. She nestled onto my thigh like she'd always done that and fell right to sleep.
"I actually did cry that time; it was short-lived though. I touched her with my finger and she woke up, grabbed me and whacked my hand like she was fighting for her life and took off, giving me a dirty look from the end table. I apologized, but she didn't come back that night; I did, however, see her more and more as she seemed to be reading over my shoulder or waiting for me at my seat in the relaxing room.
"All of this leading up to nearly three months of them getting comfortable with me enough that when I offered to give them a proper fix, as they were still scratched and worn out in places, they agreed to it. I'd gathered the parts and material ages ago and had it all ready, and with how small and simple Stardusts were, it wouldn't take long at all to actually do. Four hours later, they were squeaky clean and like new, fully patched into my signal tower and renamed in their personal systems; whoever their original owner was had already been wiped from them, so it was easy to add my information to them without needing to reset them.
"Once they were online... Genuinely, I wasn't prepared. They jumped at me and rubbed my face like they trying to push through me. I haven't felt that happy in... a long time.
"If I find out whoever dumped them, I'm going to have some words for them. After I wrench them in the head."
