salamimike
Hyperdrive
Lord Zee
Frettzo
mickilennialOrb
The interior of the cottage was dim, collecting the darkness of night. What little light Orb could find was used to their full advantage, rapidly patting the surfaces around them with their hands in the hopes of finding a container of some sort. A sniff sucked against the back of their mask in an attempt to scout with a different sense. A tiny hidden frown formed, all Orb had managed to do was make plenty of unnecessary noise. They slinked their hands back into their cloak and sighed, anxiously waiting for their eyes to adjust instead.
There suddenly was a loud, scraping noise coming from somewhere further in, followed by hushed whispers. Orb blinked twice, their eyes about halfways adjusted. With careful, strategically placed steps, they made their way closer to the noise.
THUD
Orb winced, their shin smashing off of a chair’s ridiculously thick leg. They closed their eyes as the shock of pain ran up their own leg. Orb’s raspy effeminate voice turned into a squeak, “Why do they have to be so tall?” they pleaded.
The whispers stopped at the noise before continuing on again, this time louder.
“I told you this was a bad idea!”
“Relax, it was probably just… Something falling.”
“No!” the small voice hissed, “That was someone! What if it’s mom! If she catches us, we’re dead, Lily!”
“Relax Ava! It was nothing, nothing! Now, hurry up and get the fruit!”
This was followed by grumbling that was hard to make out.
Orb squinted at the foriegn tongue, not quite understanding the words. Suddenly sinking into a crouch, their long cloak sliding behind them as they snuck forward. Going clean under the very tall table, Orb reached the boundary of the room they were in, eyes now fully adjusted and staring at the two perpetrators themselves.
A chair was propped up against the counter, one of the girls was standing on it, while the other one was reaching for something up in a shelf. Both of the small humans looked identical, and they were still bickering in their foreign language.
With sudden recognition, Orb let out a resounding runic, “Hello!” Eyes twinkling -- Orb didn’t remember much about their time as an orb, but they remembered which blueprints Orvus had put so much time and emotion into. The ‘hello’ had a tone of pride in it, which Orb couldn’t help, feeling a bit responsible for their very existence. Following their greeting, Orb quickly approached the chair, nearly wobbling it as one of their gloved hands grabbed it with excitement.
At the sudden noise, both of the girls snapped their heads to look at what made it, going wide eyed. They looked at each other, then back at the faceless mask of Orb, and then they screamed. The one the chair, quickly clambered up on the counter, getting in between Orb and the other sister, holding her hands out as if to protect her.
The scream caused Orb to throw their hands to either side of their cloaked head and shut their eyes, stamping the sound into a muffle. Peeling one eye back open, Orb peeped out from behind the mask, flicking an eye up at the sisters before opening the other. Orb slowly let their hands fall back to their sides, slipping back into the cloak. A silence hung between the two groups and then with a cough, Orb spoke first in their funny runic language, “Do you know where food to eat is? I require it.”
Upon closer inspection, both girls were identical except for one key difference. The one shielding her sister had freckles all over her face, and the one who looked sheepishly through her protector’s hair, did not have freckles. She whispered something to her sister and then the one in the front spoke, “W-Who are you?”
A mash of gurgles was all Orb heard and then it finally hit them. In their staggered runic, Orb tried to explain the situation, “I can’t understand you. Can you understand me?” As if to mime the words, Orb pointed one gloved hand at them when they pounded out the rune for ‘you’ and at themselves for ‘me’.
Both of the girls looked confused by this and then the one in the back hissed, “Lily, I don’t think it can understand us! We should get dad!”
“I-I don’t know what to do, Ava. Why is it pointing?”
“Maybe… Maybe it’s trying to communicate?” Ava whispered loudly.
“Well what should we do?” Lily said.
“I don’t know, communicate back? Point at you and say your name.”
“Why do I have to?” Lily complained.
“Because you’re in front!”
Lily sighed in annoyance then slowly pointed a finger at herself before saying, “Lily.” Then she pointed at Orb.
“Me,” Orb pounded the runic word out, then pointed at Lily and then Ava, “You,” the runic was dropped, “Lily.” Orb swallowed, this was actually working, at least they think. Tucking their hand back into the cloak Orb cleared their throat, “Food.”
Ava began to say “me” in runic, very badly, while Lily scratched her head.
“I certainly hope not,” Orb laughed to themselves, content with their joke. The laughter was cut short when Orb found themselves to be the only one who was. Frowning slightly behind the mask, Orb flicked a hand out of their cloak and patted the mossy fabric that covered their belly. Orb loudly mimicked the rumbling sounds of their stomach while patting it.
“I think it’s hungry.” Ava murmured.
“I think you’re right. Should we feed it though? You know what mom said about feeding strays.”
“Lily, does that look like a stray to you?”
“Well no… but you never know.”
“Just… Let me grab it a mango.” Ava said, turning her back to them as she searched the shelf again, finally grabbing a hand sized object, orange yellow. She turned back to them and held out her hand from behind Lily, towards orb.
“Oo!” Orb appraised the fruit before snatching it heartily, “Larger fruit, more efficient when replenishing the body.” One hand pinched the bottom of their mask while the other held the mango close -- Orb suddenly hesitated, twinkling eyes flickering over the huddled twins. A secret uneasy smile was flashed and Orb quickly turned away from the twins, hunched and hiding as they swiftly pushed the mask away to take a rine filled bite. Spinning back like it never happened, Orb chewed mirthfully behind their mask, letting out a tiny ‘bleh,’ the chewed rine falling out from behind the mask. Orb continued to chew the more edible bits from their bite. They held the fruit up in their palm, one hulking bite missing, “Other than the exterior, this fruit is full of good tasting energy. My body is likely to continue after its consumption.”
“Do you think it liked it?” Lily asked.
“Well… It ate it?” Ava questioned.
It was then that the sounding of the front door opened and both girls shared a look of horror with one another, saying “Dad” at the same time. Quickly they began to scramble down the chair, moving it back to the table but it as too late.
”Girls…” Orvus said rounding the corner, but stopped when he saw Orb and the twins.
”Oh, hello Orb.”
“Hello,” Orb said, holding out the fruit proudly, “I have pilfered your cleverly stored, ready to eat food from your dream children -- it’s for my body.”
”Well yes, food is for the body, Orb.” he mused.
The twins, in the meantime, were beginning to back away and out the other side of the kitchen when Orvus looked at them. ”And you young Ladies, what are you doing up?”
They both froze, before turning around to face Orvus, standing with their arms behind their backs and faces down.
“Well we… Got hungry again…” Lily started.
“So we went to get a snack and…” Ava continued.
“And then ‘Orb’ scared us.” Lily whimpered.
“So we gave him food, because he looked hungry.” Ava said, nodding.
“And now we’re going to bed.” Lily said looking up with a pleading smile.
Orvus crossed his arms before sighing. ”Alright, go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning about this little adventure.” The girls at once looked relieved before realizing that tomorrow would bring the punishment. Defeated, the two began walking away, Ava leaning on Lily in comfort.
Orvus chuckled then looked back at Orb. ”Hungry are you? Yeah I suppose that would happen. Should have mentioned it earlier. Are you still hungry?” he asked.
The cloaked figure pinched their mask with their free hand, “My blueprint was lacking a full stomach upon creation, it is paining me until I requisition the appropriate solution.” Holding the bitten fruit up, Orb nodded, “This should do.”
"Being mortal means you'll become hungry again you know. Just one of the many perks of life." Orvus replied.
“I know,” Orb insisted, “The instincts of this body have briefed my mind on my desires and needs as a being of flesh. I also require hydration, unconscious meditations, adequate and regular use of my muscles, appropriate (and timely) disposal of excrement, and a continuous intake and outtake of air.” The runic language twisted with enthusiasm, “It will be exciting to explore my limitations and requirements. The mind is equally wanting, requiring social health, emotional balance, and ease in processing stimuli.” A funny little laugh exited the faceless mask, “To think it does all of this at once, how efficient!”
Orvus nodded slowly. "That's one way to put it. Glad you're doing okay. Anything else you need tonight?"
"In addition to my survival requirements?” Orb wondered, a gloved finger scratching at their mask in thought.
"Well yeah, there's more to life than simply surviving." Orvus said, crossing the room and then sitting down.
“Of course,” Orb agreed quickly, “Improvements can always be made.” There was a nigh silent rumble and the cloaked figure spun to face away from Orvus briefly, punctuated by a juicy munch. Spinning back around, the mango was missing a second bite, but this time the inedible rine was already disposed of and on the floor.
“Do you have a collecting area for inedibles?” Orb asked almost meekly, their raspy voice a whisper.
"Outside in the back." Orvus said looking at the rine.
"But- but what about in here?" Orb asked, growing concerned, "A vessel for transporting the accumulating inedible bits from stored ready to eat foods to a proper disposing area?" They placed the mango on the chin high table and laced their fingers together almost pleadingly.
Orvus looked around, then shrugged. "Usually there's a pan we use but I don't see it. The girls must have left it outside again."
“Oh no!” Orb’s voice cracked (or squeaked?),” That won’t work at all.” The blank mask stared at Orvus a moment before Orb suddenly sprung into action. Clambering a hand over all the countertops and flipping through clutter, Orb hummed in thought. Eventually finding some drying flowers and reeds, Orb cut off the pretty ends and appraised the stalks. There was a tentative hum as Orb continued to scan the contents of the room, collecting more rigid sticks, some twine, and thin peels of wood. Orvus said nothing but watched with interest.
Finally, after gathering armfuls of material (at the expense of some of the furniture) Orb found a corner to plop down by. Turning away so Orvus couldn’t see, they set to work. The cloak moved quickly, hiding swift and precise movements. There was a tiny runic swear here and a proud runic praise there, until finally Orb turned back around holding a woven basket.
At almost a scurry, Orb kicked over to the rine they left on the ground. With a pinch and flick, Orb disposed of it into the basket and then looked over at Orvus, dark twinkling eyes peeping from the blank mask.
"Ingenious Orb. I hadn't thought of a basket, it seems so simple in practice now that I think about it." Orvus said, getting up from where he sat to get a closer look at it.
With a single rap of happy claps, Orb nodded, “It is rudimentary but will work while we devise a proper system.” Content with their invention, Orb snagged the mango from the table and began to peel it over the basket. Doing their shoulder dance, Orb wondered out loud, “Maybe a vessel that can take itself to the disposal area.”
"Perhaps." the god said as he stroked his beard. "You should look into this if you are planning to stay."
“Oo!” Orb looked up from their fruit, “Maybe I will.” Orb happily went back to peeling their mango until it was a completely smooth orange lump save for two bites. Turning away from Orvus again, Orb began to loudly chew on the fruit-flesh, humming a gargled thought.
"Good to hear Orb. You will always be welcomed here on Nebulan." he said, crossing his arms.
“Always?” Orb swallowed and set their mask correctly before turning to look at Orvus.
"Of course. After all, your one of the ones whose lived here longest. This is more of your home then even the Nebulites." Orvus said with pride.
“Oh! I understand,” Orb flicked some of the mango’s sticky residue into the basket and patted their gloves together -- fruit gone, “So I’m always welcome, no parameters?”
"Yep, free to come and go whenever you like. We can even get you a home if you want." he said.
Orb shifted to their feet, cloak draping to the floor, “Yes, I want one.” Their eyes scanned Orvus, “What tools do you have?”
Orvus lifted up his hands. "These are my tools, but if you need something, we can make it."
“I need a cutting, a chopping, a chipping, a pounding, a smoothing, and a grabbing tool,” Orb pinched the end of their mask, an excited breath sneaking out the sides, “Maybe more, I don’t know yet!” They tossed a hand in the air and laughed, “Oh this will be fun, let’s go!”
"The world is dark yet. Shall we wait for the light of day?" Orvus asked.
“But- but- but!” Orb protested. The cloaked figure seemed to fidget, attempting to find a clever reasoning, “It’ll go quicker if we start right now!”
"Patience Orb. Normally I would be fine working at night, but now we must be considerate of others who are sleeping. Tomorrow we can start." Orvus said sternly.
Orb’s cloak shifted as if their arms were folding under its mossy curtain, “What if they were all awake, could we do it then?”
"Well yes but we aren't going to wake up the entire area just so we can work. That wouldn't be kind." he mused.
“I’m not saying we don’t invite them to help,” Orb defended with a puff of air behind the mask, “What a better way to wake up than with a big project?”
"No Orb. No." Orvus smiled.
“How do things even get done around here,” Orb huffed incredulously, the cloak shifting, “When two variables including the lack of light and the presence of sleeping beings can delay an important project.” Orb stabbed a finger into their palm as they talked, “What do you suppose we do, then?”
"You could try sleeping?"
“I still have plenty of my daily quota of energy to use,” Orb stood up straight and proud.
"Suit yourself then, I'm going to go make sure the girls made it to bed." Orvus began before saying to Orb, "Behave yourself."
“As opposed to behaving someone else?” Orb’s deadpan delivery made it difficult to tell if they were joking or not.
Orvus sighed before leaving the room. Out of sight, Orb lifted their mask slightly and stuck out a mocking blue tongue.
Letting the mask fall back into place, Orb sighed with frustration before clambering atop one of the oversized chairs. With another sigh they laid their hidden head on the surface, eyes flickering over the wall on the farside of the room.
Orb kicked their feet and hummed as they thought, fun new ideas painting themselves over the walls surface in their imagination. Orb rubbed their mask against the wood as they turned to look elsewhere, suddenly freezing at the scraping sound. Turning to look at the mark left by the movement, a curling smile grew on Orb's lips...
