expiationlogs | [open] and all watched over

Who: A2 and open + some closed prompts
Where: all over Aldrip!
What: February open log for depressed androids
Warnings: Nothing yet.

Good morning, A2.

[Pod's clipped and calm voice makes her squeeze her eyes more tightly shut before they reluctantly flutter open. Dawn is beginning to make patterns out of the shadows of the tree branches. The snow is starting to melt. Cold water drips, drips, down onto the top of her head, the shock of it waking her up properly. A2 stands up in slow and careful passes, checking herself for damage. Those dreams...

But there is no damage, nothing outside of the usual. No pain, save the tingle in limbs that had been sprawled at odd angles on the cold, hard ground as she'd slept. Androids did not dream. And yet she had.

(Evolution?)]

Morning, Pod.

[Her own voice is without inflection. She takes her sword from where it leans against the trunk of the tree she'd been sleeping under, and studies the cold, blue-gray sky. Something is budding on one of the branches, a tentative spot of green on a dark, gnarled branch. Weak early morning light begins to flow in from the west. She can hear the discordant chatter of crows, intermingled with softer cooing from songbirds.]

The season is changing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[At the realization of which set of animals they're approaching, a soft and surprised noise escapes A2. She knew what these elusive creatures were. The ambush predators with hidden weapons.

Cats.

They were smaller than she'd thought they'd be.

She watches them with a steep and unnerving focus. The cats, being cats, soon lose interest in this human that didn't smell like a human. When one stretches, A2's sharp eyes catch the glint of pointed claws. Ah. So that was how it worked.

One cat winds around her ankles and she starts in nervous surprise. The cat, being a cat, pays her awkwardness no mind.]

... What is it doing.

[She's not sure what to do with this.]

[ Minato watches as one of the cats winds itself around A2's ankles. It's an orange tabby, one of the less skittish and friendlier cats that called the farmhouse their home. ]

That's Stripey.

[ He didn't name her, okay. She'd have a much better name otherwise. ]

I think she likes you.

[ Minato crouches slowly to be at a more level height with the cat. Down here, he can hear the little creature purr a little better. ]

Maybe she'll let you pet her like Koromaru.

Ah...

[The cat (Stripey... the patterns of its fur, A2 realizes shortly thereafter) meows insistently at her. Slowly, she kneels, arms wrapped around her knees. She frowns at the little creature, who bunts against her with another meow.

Cautiously, she holds out her hand for the cat to sniff her. The animal takes this as invitation to be petted, in a way that was more forward than Koromaru's polite tolerance. A2's gaze softens. She pets the cat with the same gentle caution as she had with the sheep. Because cats are nosy, though, more come to gather around this not-human smelling but human-looking person. It helps (?) that she's very warm.

Soon enough, she is surrounded, and seems unsure on how to proceed.]

They're — resting on me...?

[She can't move...!]

[ It seems the cats have discovered A2 is a walking space heater. This is immediately evident to Minato as the cats all begin to lean against her, swarming the android to cuddle up nearby.

A2 should be honored, Minato thinks to himself. The farmhouse cats don't grace every visitor with such an enthusiastic welcome. The sight of A2 exasperated by the fluffy gathering leaves a smile on his face, a quiet breath from his lips about as close to a laugh as one might see out of him. ]

You're trapped now. Forever.

[ It seems the cats don't make any distinctions between human and android. Surely they could tell the difference with their senses of smell? And given the bonus heat, perhaps they might even prefer the company of an android over a person. ]

...you can come here whenever you like. It's open to everyone.

[ He's getting the sense she might like to see the cats again in the future. ]

[A2 scowls, making a displeased noise at the revelation that she is indeed trapped forever. But she doesn't move, either. The little creatures are content to curl up on her and around her, and they're... kind of cute. She's never had this many animals so close — the wolves were a much harder sell than this.]

They're all so pushy. [She grumbles, but she absently pets the cat in her lap anyway.

The invitation makes her expression close off, growing thoughtful.]

Oh yeah?

[...]

Maybe I'll stop by here and there. When I have the time.

[A cat bats at her hair and she pulls it out of reach with an offended look.]

[ "They're all so pushy," says A2, who hasn't yet learned this is merely average cat behavior. Little does she know, the farmhouse cats can be a finnicky bunch. It's always a toss-up on whether or not they'll immediately warm up to a complete stranger, someone who'd never fed them before.

Perhaps someday "here and there" might become every week or so, then every day or so. ]

This farmhouse... it used to belong to another Chosen.

[ Minato rises to his feet and looks towards the building that a man named Astralin had once called his home. While he hadn't been there at the time, Minato still recalls being new and uncertain about his whereabouts, but nevertheless ushered in from the winter cold by Kotone. This place -- perhaps it was always meant to be a spot for those who truly felt they had nowhere else to go. ]

I don't think he'd mind you staying here sometimes.

[ To help feed the cats, of course. ]

[As the cats use her as a jungle gym, A2 looks up at Minato, her brow crinkled. It's not the first time she's been invited to stay somewhere here, and yet it's still such an alien thing to hear.

She sighs, then stretches out, absentmindedly stroking a fat gray tomcat. Some of the cats have wandered off, but a few curl up nearby, seeking her warmth. A2 watches this and her expression clouds.]

Maybe. [...] But I shouldn't stay. [A wry smile.] I'm bad luck. Wouldn't want to bring it here. But I'll stick around today, for a little while.

[ That's good enough. "Shouldn't stay" doesn't necessarily mean A2 is walking back her idea of stopping by from time to time.

Sticking around for today is more than enough. It seems the cats approve of that decision as well considering how a few of them curl up nearby and start drifting off, lulled to sleep by her warmth. ]

I don't really mind.

[ Minato crouches near one of the cats. He holds his hand out in an invitation. The little one gets up to rub its face against his fingers, its whiskers tickling against his skin. ]

I think my luck's been pretty bad too.

[ In fact, one might even argue that his entire life had been a string of bad luck: between Moonlight Bridge, the way he'd been passed from relative to relative, recruited into a group that struggled to avert the destruction of their world.

But he shakes his head, dismissing all of that as mere facts of life. ]

...it's held up okay here though. So maybe yours will too.

[open] and all watched over

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