8. video.

[fiduspear]

[ crash crash bang crash. The graceful sounds of a troll literally tripping over his malfunctioning, robotic feet. It turns out that being a native is not exactly great when dealing with increasingly busted technology. Or stairs.

Careful as Tavros usually is, the world conspires against him.

But Tavros has finally relocated his bracelet! There's a flash of a grin before there's a sudden solid THUMP as his left knee gives out and he has to catch himself on his desk. ]

Uhh... [ He grins a little, clearly more pleased with being back and himself than anything else. ] Is there anyone, who is good with machines, who would't mind uh, working... I can pay, I think, unless, that money is gone.

I'm also, uh, back, obviously. Hi.

Comments

[fiduspear]

Hi, Jade. [ he braces a hand against the table and stands up slowly. There's a clicking sound coming from his left leg that sounds pretty far from good. ] Yes, they seem to be, uh, malfunctioning. But, other than that, I'm okay. [ He rubs the base of his horn and backs towards his bed. ]

[nukeoleptic]

I fixed AR's legs. I'm coming down right now to look at yours, okay?

[ Oh noooo she is actually a little worried. That doesn't sound good at all, and the tech here is kind of.. subpar. ]

Just sit down and try not to use them! I need to get my tools and then I'll be there.

[fiduspear]

Okay. The door is unlocked. [ He'll just be sitting down heavily on the bed and rubbing a hand where the metal meets skin. ]

[nukeoleptic]

[ It's a good fifteen minutes before Jade shows up. She knocks briefly, just to be polite, and then steps inside, a heavy bag of tools slung over her shoulder. ]

Hey. Mind if I take a look?

[fiduspear]

[ It sounds like a bad idea. Tavros doesn't want to be speciesist! But from what he's seen of humanity and their technology really makes him dubious about how much Jade would know about fixing his legs.

But Jade is Jade! ]

Go ahead.

[nukeoleptic]

[ You know, if Jade had the proper tools or even a little more experience, this probably wouldn't even be a big deal. She's a clever girl, and she's tinkered with robotics before.

This is kind of different, though.

So she sets her goggles over her eyes and starts working, studying the wires, joints, cabling. ]

Can you feel any of this? You don't have any nerves connected, do you?

[fiduspear]

No, uhh, I don't. [ Which kind of sucks, given that literally half of his body is metal and prone to damage. ]

[nukeoleptic]

Okay. Good.

[ She starts tugging on wire then, before tugging a hammer from her bag, trying to straighten out some of the metal. ]

I don't want to hurt you. But this might take a while.

[fiduspear]

That's okay. I probably should have gotten these repaired, a while ago. When Equius, was still here.

[nukeoleptic]

You were gone for a while, weren't you? It's good to see you back.

[ She's chipper, just trying to make conversation. Sort of like a dentist, except she's not working on Tavros's teeth. ]

[fiduspear]

It's good to be back. I don't really, actually, remember being gone very well...

[nukeoleptic]

[ She smiles a little at that, nodding as she gets to work. ]

This is.. actually really complicated. Equius must really know what he's doing.

[fiduspear]

He's strange, but really talented. I think that he might even be, a nice guy, deep down. He made these for me, even if, my blood color meant I could never afford them, or, due to hemoclassist views, uh, deserve them.

[nukeoleptic]

You deserve working legs, Tavros. [ There's a little bit of sharpness to her voice, and she gently taps her wrench against the side of his metal knee. ]

But I think I found the problem with the hydrolics. I'm going to adjust something here, and then I want you to try flexing your leg, okay?

[fiduspear]

Sorry. [ He promised he'd stop doing that. ] Okay.

[nukeoleptic]

[ She rests her temple against one of his knees, fiddling with something, screwing something else. Her face is screwed up in concentration. ]

And don't apologize, either! I want you to feel better about yourself, Tavros, but bullying you into it isn't gonna work.

[fiduspear]

[ She's so close. He can't help the awkward flush as he looks away. ] I think that, maybe, I'm okay the way I am. As, people seem to like me better, when I am not confident, or, aggressive.

[nukeoleptic]

Being confident is really good. [ But she considers what he said for a moment, before putting her wrench down and looking up at him. ] But maybe it's also really important to be the way you want to be. So don't listen to me at all, okay?

[ She flashes him a smile, standing up and backing away. ]

Go ahead and try it out. See if you can stand?

[ It's going to be disaster. ]

[fiduspear]

[ He gives a tiny smile. ] Okay. But, I value your input, so I'll listen to you too, if, that's okay.

[ And then he's carefully standing. For the first step, it's good! And then suddenly there's a sound and a snap and Tavros is trying very hard not to fall on Jade and there's a thin stream of what can only be brown blood sliding down the surface. ]

Oh, fuck-! [ And back he falls. ]

[nukeoleptic]

-- what?

[ And that look of utter confidence on Jade's face melts away into something like horror because- oh no, oh no, that's definitely blood. That's blood. He's bleeding!!

Jade lunges forward, attempting to stem the small stream, hastily trying to figure out what went wrong. ]

Oh no, no no no! Hold still, I'll fix it!

[fiduspear]

[ Oh wow, that's definitely not oil. He swallows hard and nervously nods his head. ]

Uhhh...

[nukeoleptic]

I can just-- shit!

[ Shit shit shit shit shit. She has just succeeded in making the bleeding worse, and with a little yelp of alarm she lunges forward, tying off some of the artificial arteries. ]

Oh- Tavros, I'm so sorry, I think I messed up.

[ Jade is panicking visibly now. ]

[fiduspear]

Oh no, please, don't say that. [ Tavros' voice raises a pitch, yellow eyes wide and fearful.

Attempting to move his legs is met with a pathetic sort of clicking noise and nothing else. ]

[nukeoleptic]

[ She is trying so, so hard to swallow her panic right now. The bleeding has stopped, at least, but there's no sort of electricity, no signal passing through the mechanical legs at all. ]

-- they're broken. I can't get them to respond.

[ It comes in a rush. Jade would press her hands to her mouth, but she's got a tiny bit of his blood smudged on her fingers. ]

I'll need to --

[ No. No, no. ]

-- find someone else.

[fiduspear]

[ Oh no. Oh no, no, no. ]

Oh, God. [ Oh fuck. ] Oh fuck.