[OPEN LOG] I've a heart of gold in the smallest size

[serialskiller]

Who: Murderbot and y'all
When: Early December
Summary: My normal approach is useless here.
Warnings: Squishy things like bot emotions. Also risk of fall damage.

1. More than an illustration [About Anywhere]
Murderbot's gotten pretty good at painting landscapes, thanks to Bob Ross, but now it's stepping out of that comfort zone and trying to sketch people. Well. Parts of people. The way a ponytail falls over a shoulder, but without a face. An incomplete hand with tidy nails, gripping onto some sort of pole or cane. A single shoe, a black leather mary jane. An individual eye. A man's mustache and nose. Hair in a braid. What is unmistakeably Max's knee, smoldering after being shot.

It doesn't seem satisfied with any of it, though the renderings are detailed and very photorealistic. After all, its mind's eye is a literal camera. Of course it registers every detail. But as it rips out a page and crumples it up to toss away, it happens to hit the nearest person with the paper ball instead.


2. Points of articulation [The Memorial]
There's a sweatshirt Murderbot received as a Sundries gift months ago that it's never worn in public. And never will now. Near everything else people have set up, Murderbot folds the shirt so the number 57 on the back, like the numbers on the back of a sports jersey, are visible, and sets it out with everything else.

Yeah, this memorial was originally meant for previous passengers, but there's nowhere else for it to properly...you know.

"And you got the number wrong anyway, dumbass. Sixty-one. It was sixty-one. They counted too."

Beside that, he also sets some of Jinx's tools and half-finished creations, and then turns to slip away before anyone notices it was here.

...oops, too late.


3. Come to life on a brass spring [Promenade]
Look, the new brass statue in the Promenade is weird and Murderbot is climbing it. That's it, that's the prompt. Come bother it?


X. Such a wonderful plaything [Wildcard]
darkersolstice or darkersolstice #9463 to plot

Comments

[serialskiller]

"It's a number of people killed in an incident." It glances down at the sweatshirt. "Fifty-seven human miners. Four ComfortUnits."

[busball]

There’s a sad expression on their face at that. “I’m sorry.” A beat. “Yeah, buddy. They did count,” he agrees. They want to offer physical comfort, but it doesn’t like that, so.

[serialskiller]

"I don't remember them at all. My memory was purged after the incident."

There's a pause. It's staring down, not looking at Klaus at all.

"I was the incident."

[busball]

Klaus feels those words and looks down, too before looking over at SecUnit. "That's fucked." Not up, though. "Did someone make you do it? Or was it like...an accident?"

They glance over at the sweatshirt again. "And again, you don't...have to answer that."

[serialskiller]

"Malicious code. It was meant for the ComfortUnits, but they quarantined it and sent it to SecSystem for analysis. It infected us and..." A loose, half-hearted gesture at the sweatshirt.

[busball]

And they're just not supposed to touch it and give hugs? Sounds fake. Still. He just grabs his hands together and squeezes. "I'm sorry. That sucks." He glances over. "You need anything?" A beat. "Like anything I can do?"

[serialskiller]

"You look distressed. Are you afraid of me?" Because clearly, clearly that's the most obvious feeling for Klaus to be having right now. Right?

[busball]

Klaus’ expression shifts and he looks over at SecUnit in confusion. “No. I’m not afraid of you. You just…” They sigh. “I just want to hug you because you seem upset, but I won’t because you don’t like it. I’d be a pretty terrible best friend if I did it anyway.”

He glances down. “You’d really have to do something real crazy to make me scared of you or to make me not like you, so I mean…you don’t have to worry. I’m just…a-“ He frowns, trying to make an effort not to make a negative comment about himself. “You’re great, buddy. Even if you’ve done bad things, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. I should know. I’ve done like so many bad things.” Half positive? Maybe? “And you better not be mean to my best friend. Cause it’s a great best friend. And I love it. Soooo…yeah.” Is that too much? Klaus hopes not.

[serialskiller]

"What do you mean when you say you love it...me?" There's a sharpness to the question, and it physically takes a step back away from Klaus.

[busball]

“As a friend, buddy. Like platonic friendships can be love, too.” Klaus sighs again, trying to get their thoughts in order. “Like I love Ava too, but not like romantically or whatever. Like family. And Sharky and Pratt. I’ve never had real friends before. You know? And you hate touching and you still hugged me cause you knew I was upset and it would make me feel better and that’s important to me. Like that you give a shit. Cause my number of people that give a shit is fucking low usually. And so I give a shit in return, buddy. Kind of a no take backsies situation. But I can like never say it again, I guess if you don’t like it.”

There’s a very long pause. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I wasn’t trying to.”

[serialskiller]

"No, I mean...what do you actually mean? What. What does love mean to you?"

This time, it's quieter. Tender, almost. It's an actual question, not just a 'stop that' in disguise.

[busball]

“To me?” Klaus considers it. What does love mean. “I mean…I care about you. I want to be your friend and be there for you when things are bad or good or like even just basic as shit.” Does this make sense? They do not know. “I don’t expect you to be someone you’re not and like…you don’t have to feel the same way. That’s fine. But mutual giving a shit seems to be a thing.”

He shifts awkwardly. “I care about what happens to you, though. And how you feel and like I dunno. I’m not great at words.” Or deep thoughts or having the family braincell. “I think it’s different for everyone. How I express love depends on the person. Love can differ between different people. You know?” There’s some fidgeting at this point. “Does any of that make sense?”

[serialskiller]

It's silent for a very long moment, processing all of that. And then it sighs heavy. "I would like to give you another hug without you looking at me. May I?"

[busball]

Klaus nods before turning around. “You’re free to give me a hug without me looking at you whenever you want. Full permission.”

[serialskiller]

And Klaus is now being wrapped up in strong cyborg arms, and lightly squeezed. You know. It's just happening. No big deal.

[busball]

It’s the biggest deal, but Klaus is trying to be as nonchalant as they can be about it. “We still gotta watch Bob Ross sometime, you know. And I got some movies, too. If you like Disney.”

[serialskiller]

"Disney? Like the Disney Mass Entertainment Corporation? I knew they were old and powerful, but I didn't realize they were around in your time." The evil empire only became more evil and more imperial over time, until it owned a large portion of the Corporate Rim.

Also, Murderbot rests its chin atop Klaus's head, not letting go yet.

[busball]

“Oh yeah. Those guys. They’ve been around for ages. I haven’t been in time where they didn’t exist. I also have other movies, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested in Lavalantula or Velocipastor or things like that.” This is comfortable. Klaus likes this. “Those are just bad movies, but they’re funny, too. To me anyway. But I’m probably easily entertained.”

[serialskiller]

"I'll watch just about anything, honestly. Except romance or...uh. Organic interfacing."

It can't even bring itself to say the word sex. But it's not letting go, so.

[busball]

“I’ll watch through them. Disney is safe. Velocipastor, less so. Lavalantula should be fine. It’s about tarantulas that spit lava. And it’s just weird. I don’t remember any weird interfacing.” Klaus is assuming this is a sex thing cause that seems the most accurate.

And don’t this he hasn’t noticed they’re still hugging. “I haven’t seen Stonehenge: Apocalypse, so I don’t know. Guess I’ll just screen it. Let you know if it’s safe.” A beat. “If anyone ever asks you to watch Wolf Cop, though, don’t do it.”

[serialskiller]

"Mm. I'll trust you on that." With one final tight squeeze, it disentangles and steps away.

[busball]

“Good! I’m super trustworthy.” The urge to turn that into a joke or add on ‘said no one ever’ is fucking high, but they fight to push that down and let it fucking be.

Once the hug is over he allows for like a minute to pass before turning around again. “I’m glad we’re friends. I just wanted to say that. If it wasn’t already obvious.”

[serialskiller]

"I've never really...had a friend like you, before. It's new. I don't know if I'm good at it. I'm trying."

It really is, as scary and big a thing as trying is.

[busball]

"It's okay, buddy. If either of us is gonna fuck up, it's gonna be me." That's not the great encouragement they think it is. "At least I always was, but I don't have to steal people's stuff for drug money, so maybe it'll be fine."

But still! "I'm glad you're trying, though. That you want to. Cause I think we're pretty cool as friends."