Work Text:
Rabbit liked to think that she was pretty awesome at the whole 'courting' thing. She was hot as hell, confident, smooth-- smooth as, like, silk. Or whatever else is really smooth. So smooth. She could pick up any girl she wanted and that was the end of that.
Except that wasn't necessarily the truth.
In reality, she was a bit of a nervous little thing when it came to romantics. Sure, she puffs out her chest and says things like 'That girl's gonna be miiiiine, Th'Spine' on a regular basis, but that didn't mean anything if she couldn't walk the walk. Her clumsy nature and surprising shyness sometimes got in the way-- and, above all, she was just such a worrier.
What if they didn't like her dress, what if her hair wasn't done up right? What if she didn't get the right color flowers or tripped walking in the door? As much as she made fun of The Spine for being a hopeless, hapless romantic, she was just as much of a nerd as he was.
But some girls found it endearing. Some girls didn't even notice. And that helped her self-esteem, her confidence, immensely-- but it didn't mean she could go through the motions with complete calmness. Especially not when it came to her.
Walter Tech Carissa made her knee joints wobble. Made her Blue Matter core buzz at double speed. It was honestly pretty ridiculous at this point, with how often she interacted with the Tech-- Carissa was assigned to her almost exclusively, with Lockbot being her other specialty. So the fact that Rabbit was still sent reeling whenever she came near was really embarrassing-- at least, it was to her.
And Carissa wasn't stupid. She could see those heart eyes from a mile away-- well, heart optics. But she didn't want to entertain the idea that she and Rabbit could ever become more than they already were, because while Rabbit was obviously infatuated, the copper 'bot would never actually act on it, would she? She flirted with a lot of people, but flirtation didn't necessarily have to lead to something deeper.
Except it had-- last week. Rabbit had asked her out on a date, to Balboa Park, and Carissa had said yes, extremely surprised by it all but pleased with this new development. (And, though she's a bit ashamed to admit it, she giggled a little when Rabbit nearly fell over at that answer.)
Which leads us to the absolutely colossal meltdown Rabbit was having right now.
The Spine could hear the crashing noises from all the way across the Manor. He'd decided it would be best to investigate, of course, but hadn't expected to happen upon what looked almost like a warzone.
Rabbit had pretty much brought out every outfit in her closet, and they were all strewn about the room-- petticoats hanging onto various furniture pieces, leggings caught around table legs. Skirts in crumpled messes on the floor and jumpers spread out on her bed. And, in the middle of it all, one copper automaton, practically vibrating in obvious distress.
Sighing a cloud of steam, The Spine dragged the nearby wardrobe over the doorway, creating a makeshift 'door' since Rabbit's room didn't have one. She looked up at the sound, of course, and her expression went from anxious puddle to embarrassed puddle.
"I've got t-t-t-two hours," she began, answering the question she knew her brother was about to ask, "to get myself ready for this date, Th'Spine. An' I jus' don't know what to do."
The Spine's metallic brows bunched together in confusion. "All this fuss over Miss Carissa?"
"Don't patronize meeee," Rabbit whined, stomping her feet in a petulant manner. "I like 'er a lot!"
"I'm not trying to patronize you, Rabbit. I'm just trying to explain that--" A brief pause as he tried to find the words to express his thoughts properly, "well, to be frank, I think you could go down there in shorts and a t-shirt and she'd still find you stunning."
"I d-d-don't much care for the name Frank," came her reply, but softer this time, her face down-turned slightly with a tiny, flattered smile on her face. She tucked a strand of synthetic black hair behind her ear, "D'ya really think she likes me, Th'Spine?"
"Of course. What's not to like?"
Rabbit looked up at him fully once more, rolling her optics (in a playful manner, mind). "Plenty, y'dummins. Don't lie to me."
"We all have our quirks, Rabbit. It's nothing to be ashamed of." As he spoke, he began to gather up some of the misplaced clothing articles, draping them over one long arm carefully as not to rip or wrinkle them.
"But what if she d-d-d-doesn't like my quirkses?" Rabbit asked of him, chewing on her silicon bottom lip in a nervous manner-- a tic she'd picked up from Pappy.
"I don't think she could have put up with you for this long if she didn't like them," The Spine reasoned, laying what clothes he'd picked up on the bed. "Now, what about this one?" He held up a beautiful black dress with deep crimson embelishments, resembling the dress she wore on stage but with shorter sleeves; something more fit for everyday wear rather than prancing around on stage. "You can wear a jacket over it, too, if you want-- don't you have a black shrug somewhere in this mess?"
The fact that The Spine was helping her was honestly keeping Rabbit calm-- he was doing the thinking and she could just...do the doing? Whatever. "Right...right, okay, um." Stepping over a cluster of discarded bloomers, she moved over to her workbench, pulling the aforementioned shrug from where it had been lying on the desk chair. The sleeves were about three-quarter, stopping just below the elbow. "Here, thi-thi-this one?"
"Yes, that one." The Spine held out a hand to take it, and Rabbit gave it to him, both articles now over his arm. "I'm sure you have some stockings that would work with these?"
It took her a moment, but she produced a pair of deep red and black vertically-striped leggings, that shade of red matching the one of the dress closely. The Spine took those, as well, using the brief stretch of silence to give his sister a once over: she seemed to be calmed down a bit, no longer quite as wound-up, but he knew he wouldn't be able to fully relax her. Nothing he could do would. Ideally, Carissa would be able to help in that capacity.
"Now, er...what comes next? Shoes?"
"Shoes and gloves, yeah." Rabbit was already pawing through her drawer of gloves and armwarmers. "Maybe-- just some short black fingerless ones?"
"Mmhmm," The Spine hummed in reply, currently browsing her shoe collection, which she had spread out at the bottom of her closet. "Boots or no boots?"
"Um, there sh-shou-shou-should be an black ankle-high pair in there--?"
"Yes, there is."
What Rabbit had been panicking over, all laid out before her. What she'd needed was someone to keep her on track, and The Spine was always so good at that. Fashion was not his forte, not at all, yet he'd tried his damndest to assist her and done a pretty good job of it.
So she hugged him. Arms around his neck, dragging him down those extra few inches he had on her, with her arrowed nose pressed into his shoulder. His arms encircled her waist after a beat of hesitation, mostly stemming from shock-- because he hadn't expected to be embraced. "Rabbit?"
"Thank you, Th'Spine," she mumbled, squeezing him a bit tighter before withdrawing.
"You're- very welcome, Rabbit," he said through a small puff of steam. "I, er, should let you get dressed, though. And you've still gotta get a petticoat and bloomers and--"
"Those are the easy part," Rabbit assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "It's alright. And seriously, thanks for the help."
The Spine smiled a little and shoved her hand off playfully. "Don't thank me. You still have to woo Miss Carissa all on your own."
"Heh. I'll sweep her right off 'er feet!"
A good chunk of the anxiety returned by the time those two hours came to a close. Rabbit was dressed, hair all primped to the best of her ability, laces tightened for possibly the tenth time just to make sure she wouldn't trip over a loose strand. She kept making nervous little whirring noises, her core purring with activity as she smoothed her hands down her dress skirt yet again.
Downstairs, in the entryway, Carissa was a bit early-- they agreed to meet at three, it was two fifty-five. And if Rabbit thought she was the only nervous one, then she would be incorrect, judging by how the Walter Tech kept twisting her fingers into her shirt hem and looking around as if someone were to come save her from her own hesitance. Clearly, both parties were equally tentative, because both parties desperately wanted to impress the other; because both parties truly liked the other, and didn't want to muck this up somehow.
The Walter Tech was out of uniform, naturally, dressed in a black tee with a heather grey button-down pulled over it, sleeves rolled up to her elbows and secured there with a clasp. A pair of dark denim shorts accompanied these, cuffed at about mid-thigh. (No way she'd wear pants in the San Diego heat, especially during the summer! The robots had it easy.) A cute pair of black boots accompanied these, stopping about mid-calf, if not a little higher. Because she was a little sentimental about them, she had her goggles dangling around her neck, mismatched green and blue lenses paying homage to the robot she was about to spend the afternoon with.
Just before three, she heard the tell-tale thumps that indicated Rabbit's descent from the upstairs rooms. Carissa quickly glanced at herself in her phone camera, making sure her makeup looked alright, butterflies fluttering away behind her ribcage.
At the same moment, they saw each other-- and, at the same moment, they thought, She is absolutely stunning.
"Hi, Rabbit." Carissa was the first to speak as Rabbit stepped down from the last stair. Shit, she hoped she wasn't blushing as noticibly as she thought she was.
"Hiya, Miss Carissa."
"Just Carissa," she insisted with an eyeroll, poking Rabbit the shoulder with two fingers. "We're going out on a date, Rabbit, the least you can do is drop the formality."
Rabbit vented a small cloud of steam, ducking her head a bit. "Heh, yeah, s-so-so-sorry. Carissa."
"Good girl," Carissa teased, but she was still just as flustered as Rabbit was by this whole thing.
Rabbit rolled her optics right back, and after a brief moment of hesitance-- offered Carissa her arm, hoping it wasn't shaking too badly. "Shall we go, then?"
Carissa's blush worsened, but she pushed through those butterflies and curled her arms around Rabbit's offered one, both girls smiling like complete dorks at each other.
This is really happening.
The walk to Balboa Park was mostly filled with idle chatter, discussing whatever came to mind just to keep from lapsing into silence. It was a contented chatter, though, filled with giggles and jokes about how The Spine's legs really do go on forever, don't they? Or plans of a prank against some of the new recruits, which Carissa pretended to dislike but would eventually go along with when the time came.
The park wasn't too crowded, it being a Tuesday afternoon. A few people recognized Rabbit, and she waved to them as they waved at her, but her main focus was on Carissa, who she thought looked absolutely adorable today. Not that she didn't look adorable every day-- but it was just something about how she'd gotten dressed up for Rabbit, not for work or for a show or whatever, that made this so special.
"Hey, Rabbit, look!" The copper automaton was yanked from her thoughts when Carissa spoke, and she looked down, following Carissa's gaze (and pointing finger) to what appeared to be an ice cream truck across the way.
"The Walta' Workers who gotta w-wo-wo-work on me next will kill us both if I have any ice cream, you know that," Rabbit told her, but contrary to her statement, she didn't seem to be too against the idea. However, she was right to the extent that the Walter Workers hated cleaning up the robots' boilers when they decided to sneak something in that wasn't water.
"I'm at least getting you a popsicle," Carissa insisted, "because I want an ice cream cone and I would just feel weird, being the only one eating."
"But robots aren't supposed'ta eat anywa--"
"Popsicle!" And then they were off, Carissa dragging her (as much as a human can drag a heavy metal chassis) towards the truck. Rabbit gave in quickly, because to hell with the Walter Workers, and they quickly procured a rocket pop and an ice cream cone.
They enjoyed these sugary treats as they continued around through the park. Rabbit, of course, couldn't actually taste the popsicle, but it was cool and nice and she appreciated it very much.
Eventually, the playground came into view-- fairly empty, with the swings being moved by the breeze. Rabbit stopped walking for a moment, staring at said swings for a few seconds before she tugged a little on Carissa's hand, which she'd been holding since they got their icecream, "I wanna push y-y-y-you on the swing."
"What?" Carissa asked through a startled laugh.
"S'what they do in movies, right?" Rabbit seemed a tinge confused by Carissa's surprise. "They-They-They-They go to a park and one of the humans pushes the other human on the swingset. And there's always really sappy music playin' in the background."
Carissa laughed again, blush back at full force, but Rabbit seemed wholly serious-- and she couldn't say no, not to something that sounded like it could genuinely be fun. So she agreed, after getting Rabbit to promise that she wouldn't push too hard, because the Walter Tech rather liked her spine. They ditched their nearly-finished confections in a nearby trashcan before walking over into the woodchips with soft crunches.
The copper 'bot started up slow, building height with firm but careful pushes. She had to step back a bit to keep from being slammed into, which wouldn't have been pleasant for either person-- but Carissa was laughing and saying she hadn't felt like this in years, and that warmed Rabbit's metaphorical heart.
"Whaddya mean, though?" She asked after a moment. "When ya say yo-yo-yo-you haven't felt like this'n years."
"When you're little, you always pretend like you could just-- jump right off of a swing and take off into the sky, y'know? Like you could fly. And it's so much fun, Rabbit, it makes me feel like I'm a kid again. And I haven't felt like that since I was a kid, naturally."
Rabbit liked the way Carissa talked. It sounded like put all of herself into every word, especially when she was excited, and it made Rabbit want to hang onto every syllable.
Gently, she caught the chains, stopping Carissa on the downswing. The Walter Tech's feet were barely touching the ground, even with legs fully extended, and when she tipped her head back, she found Rabbit's faceplate just a few inches away.
"I'm glad I c-c-c-could make ya feel that way again, Carissa," Rabbit told her, voice softer now.
Seconds felt like minutes as they shared that moment-- bright mismatched photoreceptors locked with pale grey eyes. The Walter Tech could scarcely breathe, and Rabbit felt like she could short-circuit.
It was Carissa that went in for the kiss. She had to tip her head back even further, creating a bit of an awkward angle, but once Rabbit realized her intent, she moved forward a bit to put less strain on the Walter Tech's neck. Regardless, it was still a bit sloppy, being an upside-down kiss and all, but it wasn't unenjoyable by any means. As far as first kisses went, it definitely wasn't the worst.
Rabbit was the one to pull away, because she didn't want to keep Carissa in that weird position for too long. And they stared at each other for a few beats longer before both women similtaneously burst into laughter. Months of puppy love, all amounting to this practically storybook moment. It felt almost too cheesy to be possible, yet here they were-- both wholly pleased with the outcome.
"That just happened," Carissa said eventually, cheeks flushed blue, giggles still clinging to her voice and making it sound all light.
Rabbit kissed one of those cheeks with a playful little "Yup!", causing Carissa to whack her in the ear. But that didn't matter. Because she had Carissa, and Carissa had her, and that made Rabbit happier than she'd been in a while.
And Carissa certainly shared the feeling.