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[psychokinesia]

[ netbook | dynamo | action ]

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[eidxiety]

[Knock knock it's clothes delivery, if Add is out then this will just be set at his door ig

Ain has been making spring fashion for a lot of people, and he figured he'd surprise Add, so here it is! One (1) outfit! Jacket and beanie optional but Ain thought it would be cute, okay.]

[psychokinesia]

[he's here because i said so, scowling down at this cute little clothes bundle like ?????????]

The hell is this for?

[eidxiety]

It's for you. [Obviously.] I made you something a little less... torn up to wear.

[Said while he looks Add up and down like... he knows you're edgy but please if you take one more attack that shirt is just going to fall off your body, also why are you wearing like six shirts anyway]

[psychokinesia]

It's distressed, moron. It's supposed to look like that. [honestly that toplayer shirt probably got torn up in battle but the tearing turned out kinda cool so he kept it as a fashion statement, he lived bitch look how badass he is (for almost dying)]

If I needed new clothes I'd get them myself. Do you even have the right measurements for this?

[eidxiety]

Watching you walk around with holes in your jeans makes me distressed.

[haha gottem

more insistently shoving the clothes at Add btw]

I eyeballed your measurements, haha. I'm pretty good at that. Plus, I spent a night laying on top of you, so I'm positive I know what your chest measurements are without looking. [WHY would you word it like that]

[psychokinesia]

[He's ready to keep arguing like normal until Ain loudly says I spent a night laying on top of you. He chokes on his own breath.]

Sh-shut up! Don't say it like that! [they're in PUBLIC Ain people can HEAR them] You could've just asked, didn't I leave a dynamo with you?

[eidxiety]

Yeah, but I don't know how your toys work! [He didn't think to ask. Now, however:] Dynamo, what are Mr. Ancient's measurements?

[Surely this could not possibly go wrong, surely Ain will be proven right about everything because he is uncannily perceptive—]

After the group chat movie travesty-

[ezellotry]

[ Ezell was pretty diligently watching the group chat, if just because he wanted to see the sorts of silly things Ain would talk about with his friends, but... it means he's immediately clocking the fucking horrible trainwreck that is Add. He doesn't want to step in, because he figures Ain can handle this himself. They're supposed to be friends, after all. Ain talks about how much he missed his friends back home, and often talks more about them than himself.

Which is honestly a big reason why Ezell decided he should step in, actually. He knows Ain won't talk to Add about this, because he often doesn't like to talk about how he's feeling. The only reason Ezell can ever pick up on anything is because of his empathic ability.

It doesn't take him too terribly long to find Add, considering where he's been hiding out. And, fortunately, since Ezell's taken up police force as a job himself, it's easy enough to get through the prison. Anyway, knock knock, Add. He's doing a courtesy by knocking, but he will just come in anyway if he must. ]

[psychokinesia]

[He's been pouring himself into his work since then, so the vibes aren't as rancid as they would've been right after that conversation... but he ignores the knocking, offering only a dismissive reply through to door.]

I'm busy. Whatever it is I'll get to it later, I don't see any emergency alerts going off.

[... assuming, of course, that Ezell is just another one of the robot cops. His back is to the door, an array of complicated diagrams and walls of code projected in front of him. There might be a new minotaur-bot design in there next to an even more elaborate labyrinth, complete with retractable heavy-grade anti-tank walls. You know, normal prison stuff.

When the visitor decides to let themselves in, he just sighs loudly and shifts his screens around, not even bothering to turn. He's channelled all his emotions into raw irritation, sorry Ezell alone has to deal with this from him.]

What part of I'm busy did you not understand? I'm in a bad mood, so make it quick. Or are you volunteering to be my next test subject?

[ezellotry]

I understood it perfectly, Add. But this isn't something you can just "get to later". It's about your conversation with Ain. And I'm here to talk to you about it, because I don't think you realize just how much you've hurt him.

[ It's not like he didn't expect the irritation, but for once Ezell isn't going to back down from it. He loves Ain so much and seeing him get repeatedly hurt because Add is being a jerk...! He refuses to let it keep going like this. ]

[psychokinesia]

[There's an immediate reaction to Ezell's voice—practically jumping out of his seat as he spins around, sparks flying off him. A wave of emotions that flash from surprise and embarrassment to anger to shame to a fearful wait he can read my fucking mind (that's not actually—) to ??????? he still doesn't know how to block empath powers, so he just focuses everything he has on being angry

It's only kind of working. It's probably giving them both a migraine, actually.

It cools off a bit as Dynamo starts to sink in the air from the stress of all this emoting. Right, he still has to fucking answer this asshole—]

Why don't you mind your own damn business, huh?! What do you want me to do, apologize? For what, exactly? Am I not allowed to reject your perfect little idiot boyfriend without your permission now? Tell him to get over it!

[... he's feeling a lot, but "anger" isn't entirely wrong. He's still really mad about this for some reason.]

[ezellotry]

[ Ezell's used to the empathy headaches at this point. He's engaged to perhaps the most volatile man in the Grove, after all. Well, maybe he has some competition with Add here now. He tightens the strap of his shotgun around his shoulder so he doesn't feel obligated to point it at Add (it's not loaded with real shells) and frowns at Add. ]

If you wanted me, or anyone else, to mind their own business, you would not have been cruel and hostile to Ain on a public chat with everyone to watch. And what exactly do you want me to tell him to get over? "Oh, that guy you care so deeply about and have been trying so very hard to reconnect with since seeing him again and were the most happy I've felt after seeing him? Yeah, just forget about him." Will that work? Do you think telling him to get over it will make him do that, or just make him feel worse? Is that what you want? For him to feel awful? If so, congratulations, Add! You've very successfully done so! Bravo!

I don't care if you apologize or not. I'm not here to make you do that. I'm just here to ask you if you really ever considered him - even disregarding Ain's romantic advances - even a friend at all. I think he deserves to know that much if you don't. And if so, then why would you ever treat someone you care about that way?

[ Ezell is... mad, too. He won't stick up for himself. He's pretty much a crybaby when it comes to that. But for those he loves? Yeah, no, he'd go to war for them. ]

[psychokinesia]

[Add has never been very good at controlling his emotions. It's easier to get angry over everything than actually address any of his problems. Even now, hearing this perspective on an Ain that still cares deeply for him, when every accusation thrown at him just makes him feel more and more vile for lashing out so carelessly...

but if he can't deny it, can't back down from it, what else is there for him to do? Fine, then. He can be vile.]

Bonds built on circumstance are so easily discarded once you take out the cause. "I never cared about him at all, I was just using him," is that what you want to hear?

He has plenty of friends around here, so what does it matter? I'm just some asshole he was stuck travelling with, we barely tolerated each other. He's delusional if he thought that was meant to be something deeper.

[He says it all with a confident sneer, as if daring Ezell to lay into him... but no matter how much effort he puts into posturing, it can't hide the undertones of shame and regret and self-loathing that are further soiling the vibes here. So yeah, he is daring Ezell to do that. Call him an asshole so he can play his stupid villain bit and sulk about this later in peace.]

After the fammeet disaster

[lupusxylem]

[When the family meeting ends, Wolfwood leaves to do much the same that Add does: wander the city alone in a vain attempt to cool off. Though, he wouldn’t even say he’s angry as much anymore as he is frustrated, anxious, and guilty. He knows he’s really fucked it this time, and as he says to Ezell later…he doesn’t know now if Ain will even want to be with him anymore, after this. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s fucked up this royally, unable to keep his emotions in check long enough to keep the peace.

He spends some hours ghosting around the city like this, not really feeling any better when all of the high-tech reminds him of Add, and the various food joints and clothing stores remind him of Ain. He smokes a whole pack, and he doesn’t feel better. Later, he will have that conversation about it all with Ezell. Does it make him feel better? Not…particularly, but it provides clarity through his cement block brain, which was needed nonetheless.

After all of this, he pulls out his phone and finds Add’s “contact” and sends him a message that he desperately hopes won’t just get flat-out ignored.]

We need to talk. Now.

[psychokinesia]

[Not to worry, Wolfwood! He pings Add and, within seconds, a reply comes through.]

Thank you for reaching out! Master Add is currently unavailable. Please leave a message and he will get back to you at his earliest convenience. If this is an urgent matter that requires immediate attention, please respond here for AI assistance. Thank you and have a nice day! :)

[...

Well, it's not exactly "ignoring", anyway...]

[lupusxylem]

Are you fucking kidding me? I’m being serious.

Add, I know you’re there. Meet me at this location- [He’s dropping a pin here you go.] -in ten or I’m going to come find you.

[psychokinesia]

Please hold as you are connected to a live AI assistant. [exactly 4.3 seconds later,] Hello, you are speaking with Dynamo! Master Add is not available. Dynamo will be handling all network communications until Master Add is feeling better.

If this inquiry is regarding "target shooting competition", Master Add is no longer interested. Please refrain from contacting Master Add about this topic moving forward. Thank you for your cooperation!

[lupusxylem]

I am NOT talking about that, and I am NOT talking about this here.

I need. To talk. To Add. Tell me where he is and I’ll go find him if he won’t answer me.

[psychokinesia]

[There is a delay as they calculate the associated risks. Wolfwood and Master Add do not get along... however, Wolfwood and Master Add also share blame for the current situation. And Dynamo understands Add's feelings on this situation better than anyone else.

...]

Further attempts at conflict will not be tolerated.

Will you speak to Master Add?

After Neo Eden, before May Event

[lupusxylem]

[God, what a fucking rollercoaster April was. Wolfwood is…tired.

When the Neo Eden trip ends and they’re inevitably dumped back into the Grove, all Wolfwood wants to do is deflate for a while. He goes home and literally lays on the couch for a couple hours, drifting in and out of sleep, until eventually he’s reached that point of napping too long and has given himself a headache. Also, Angelina licking his face wakes him up fully, so it’s time to get up. He should find something to eat…

And somehow, while he’s milling about the house, he happens to pat his side and check his vial holster, and this is when he comes to the realization he’s completely out. Which…shouldn’t be, because he only used one vial in Neo Eden, didn’t he? He had three left.

…didn’t he?

So yeah, this is why Wolfwood is entering the lab this afternoon, hands in his pockets as he looks this way and that once he’s pushed his head and shoulders through the door.]

Oi. Add, you in here?

[psychokinesia]

In the back.

[Unlike Wolfwood, Add came back and started working on something pretty much immediately. His cool new robot isn't working and that's just not acceptable. He has to source new parts, check the fit, make modifications, run more tests...

When Wolfwood makes his way to the back corner where Add's workbench is, he'll find the man grease-stained and elbow-deep in the mechanical minotaur's ass. Technically it's the whole back that's been opened up, but if he has to angle his arm just right to get the screwdriver in position, so be it.

Just in case that wasn't weird enough, there's also what appears to be a dead butler sitting in the chair. Normal shit.]

Give me a minute to finish this. If I'd known this worthless excuse for a power source would die the minute I brought it over, I would've just taken it out from the start, tch...

[lupusxylem]

[…

Wolfwood just kindof stands there, trying to piece together what it is he’s even looking at, between the minotaur and the corpse (????) in the corner, like. He’s seen a lot of weird shit, but even his brows raise past his hairline at the sight.]

Uhh. I can…come back later, if I need to-

[psychokinesia]

No, it's fine. I just need to disconnect this, it won't take long. Don't go anywhere. [weirdly insistent for a guy who is usually so abrasive... but maybe it's because they're friends now? Add is trying to make up for his bad behaviour over the past two months, clearly.

He finishes whatever he was doing in there, the machine shuddering for a moment as the mystery part is disconnected. Add sighs, extracting himself from the internals. A dynamo floats over with a cloth to wipe his hands while another trio start moving the "corpse" out of the chair. Dumping that on the floor for now—]

Alright. Sit down. [yknow, in the corpse chair.]

[lupusxylem]

[So unlike most people, Wolfwood doesn’t have any sort of squeamish tendencies around corpses. Or, what he thinks is a corpse. Like, that’s a whole ass guy right there, isn’t it? Who even is that? Is Add not going to explain??? He should probably assume first it’s some kind of robot given the Minotaur’s ass he was just halfway inside, but the thing about Nasods is they look like…weirdly human. The human ones aren’t something Wolfwood would be able to tell apart, honestly.

He just stands there for another long moment before slowly making his way inside…sits in the corpse chair…]

You ain’t gonna explain what that’s doin’ here?

[Pointing at the guy he just threw on the ground]

[psychokinesia]

[Add frowns, glancing over at Nell before looking back to Wolfwood like he asked the stupidest question in the world.]

Nasod parts don't grow from trees, you know. Manufacturing is too resource-intensive for a backwater place like this, so you better get used to hand-me-downs.

Now, hold still.

[This is the only warning Wolfwood gets before Add's drones converge on him—two propping up his prosthetic leg, one poised over where the stump connects to it (sharp!), one at the very end of his foot, one scanning over the whole thing with some sci-fi-looking holoscreens... and, of course, the sixth drone stays at Add's side to display a nice detailed map of Wolfwood's leg to him. It's gonna take a few passes to cut through to the internals, though.]

Oho, so that's how it connects... still capable of interpreting brain signals for movement... ah, the metal's not bad, but lacks mana-resistance...