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An arrow through the eye would panic most beings, but Sheriff Jimmy was only slightly miffed.
After all, it wasn't as if it couldn't be replaced. Jimmy had whole boxes of spare parts, in case pebbles got lodged in his gears or something overheated (which was annoyingly common in this mesa). He wasn't even able to experience or simulate physical pain, so it wasn't as if it even hurt.
But even still, a damaged eye is a damaged eye. Can't go very far without fixing it up.
Jimmy sat on his bed, face scrunched up in concentration as he gently pulled the arrow out, trying to take the shattered eye with it. He really didn't want broken glass to get everywhere, his poor cats might step on it. A few minutes of delicate twisting and tugging later, the eye came out with a pop. Jimmy sighed and placed it on a side table. He could throw it away after, when he had proper depth perception back.
Luckily for him, he kept his spare parts in his bedroom closet, so he didn't have to stumble around his house searching. Jimmy kept his right hand on the wall, even for the small walk to the other side of the room. His left eye could make up well enough for lost vision, but he never liked not being able to see.
After nearly tripping over poor Norman and rummaging through his crates (one of these days, he'll get it all proper organized, hopefully) he found a bag of spare eyes. They were all the same blue, ought to all be the same size. The shape and style of them was more for aesthetics than anything, just to make sure he actually looked humanoid. Maybe if they were just built to look like the cameras they were, people would be more careful with them. He plucked one out of the bag and sat back on his bed.
Actually getting it back in was the tricky part. The eye needed to be connected to the visual processor inside of his head, and as such needed to be inserted from behind his facial plate. The facial plate won't come off unless both eyes are disconnected, or the wires will pull something out of place or break altogether and that's a proper get-sent-back-to-the-engineers mess. Disconnecting both eyes would blind him entirely. Jimmy cannot accurately plug small wires into his eyes, put them back in place, and replace the facial plate while blinded.
Jimmy pursed his lips and exhaled sharply, tapping his foot on the floor. It wasn't a one-person job, but who could he ask to help? More importantly is who does he trust? Joel isn't even an option, Sausage is nice but he might break something, and Scott...well. Currently, he's being irritated at Scott after the tavern fiasco. Maybe when he's done with that, but who knows how long he'll keep it up for? And he hardly knows anyone else.
Well, one person remains an option. Clearly, the best one. Fwhip. Jimmy isn't sure how he didn't automatically think of him.
<SolidarityGaming>: Hey Deputy 2! Do you mind coming over to Tumble Town to help with some repairs?
<fWhip>: of course! be right there! :D
Jimmy smiled at the reply and shut his communicator off. The Goblands was quite a ways away from Tumble Town, so Fwhip would take a while, especially on foot (or Snort). So, he busied himself with cleaning up some until the goblin showed up.
Maybe an hour later Jimmy perked up from his book at the telltale sound of a horn blowing. That would be Fwhip arriving. He put his book down and went out to the porch to greet him.
Fwhip had shown up with Snort, and was tying him up to a nearby fence. "Howdy, Sheriff!" He smiled and waved. "What did you need my help with fixing?"
"Howdy, Fwhip." Jimmy grinned, tapping his empty right eye socket. "Well, uh. Me? Gotta get an eye back in, can't do it myself."
Fwhip grimaced at seeing the damage. "Eugh, that's creepy. Does it...hurt, or anything?" He clambered up the porch railing to examine it closer.
"Nah, I don't have nerves." Jimmy shrugged, leading them both inside. "Though if you think this is creepy wait 'till my face comes off."
"Eugh." Fwhip shuddered. "I am happy to help, it's just...weird. Seeing you like this."
"What, you think I never get broken? Happens all the time, usually I can fix it myself." Jimmy sits back on his bed and unclasps his facial plate, holding it in place. "I'll walk you through it. But I will be blind for most of it, so I'm gonna trust you to not break anything."
"Are you sure? I'm not, like...the most handy guy around. I think False is pretty good at fixing things up?" Fwhip sat next to him, giving the replacement eye on the side table a strange look.
Protective, Jimmy's computing system provided. Fondness. Worry.
Weird.
"'Course I'm sure. I trust you." Jimmy grins. "Anyway, it really isn't that difficult. It's just something I can't do."
"Because of the blind thing."
"Basically, yeah. I'm gonna get my face off now." Jimmy waited until Fwhip nodded before pulling his facial plate away, pausing a moment to dig around in the mess of wires and mechanics behind it to unplug his left eye. "I won't be able to see now." He gave the heads up to Fwhip before taking a deep breath and unplugging it.
Then, immediately, dark.
He placed his facial plate on the bed next to them, adjusting to the blackness and his inability to blink. He moved his head left to right, trying to do something while he adjusted. He could feel the heat of the sun and the dip in the mattress where Fwhip sat. Everything was fine.
"Are you good?" Fwhip asked, making Jimmy jump. "Uh...what should I do?"
Jimmy took another deep breath before turning to face where Fwhip should be. "Right. All set. You mind checking the mechanical bits here, make sure they aren't damaged? I don't think the arrow went too far, but I'd like to be sure."
"How do you talk like this?" Fwhip's voice came from closer, and from the slight shift of the mattress, Jimmy assumed he was really examining the mechanisms.
"Audio doesn't come from my mouth, just a speaker." Jimmy moved a hand to tap at the small speaker, sat right where his mouth usually was. His arm brushed against Fwhip's and something about that made his engine flare up.
"Sorry, didn't know if I should..."
"Oh, no, you can poke around some. I won't feel it." His engine wasn't cooling down, which was...troublesome? He'd have to put more coal chips in, that's for sure. For some reason, the idea of Fwhip getting up close with his inner workings made him feel....something.
For all he was good at identifying others' emotions on external cues, his own were confusing if they got too much. Maybe he was just nervous, which didn't explain why he kind of liked the idea, but it was the closest he had.
"Ok, uh. Ok." Fwhip was silent for a minute, as he presumably poked around some. Jimmy couldn't tell, except for the occasional sound of Fwhip tapping something metallic or wires shifting. "Nothing seems broken. It probably just stopped inside the eye."
Jimmy nodded and sighed in relief. "Thank the moon, would've had to go off to my engineers to get that all fixed."
"And we can't be missing our Sheriff."
"Exactly." Jimmy tried to put a smile into his tone. "Next step. Take the new eye and just pop it into the empty socket. It has to go in through the back side. But it should go in easy."
"Alright." Fwhip was quiet again for a while. Jimmy assumed he was focusing on putting the eye in. "It's in. It's weird holding your face. Like, detached from your body."
"Would it be less weird if it was attached?" Jimmy chuckled. "But yeah, I get you. I imagine I'd think it's weird seeing you holding it."
Fwhip went quiet again and Jimmy worried if he'd said something bad. It's hard to tell. He wished so badly to have his visual processors right now, to be able to scan and compute what Fwhip could be feeling, but no. It's all speculation now, and Jimmy never liked uncertainty and guesses. It was one of the pitfalls of being mechanical, he supposes. Jimmy has never had to deal with things being unsure to him before, it was all rational, computed, and neatly sectioned. But really, a lot of it depended on being able to see and process visual information. So, while he's not sure what he could've said to hurt Fwhip, all he knew was that that was the last thing he wanted to do, and he wasn't even sure if he had. How people dealt with this constantly, he didn't know.
"Sorry, zoned out for a second." Fwhip spoke up after what felt like too long. He sounded cheerful enough, so all was most likely well. "What now?"
Jimmy resisted the urge to shake his head and got himself back into focus. Right. Repairs. "Well, now I can hold onto my face. I'll need you to make sure I'm holding it in line and then plug my eyes back in. Then I can reattach it, and good as new." He held out his hands and felt the cold metal of his facial plate press into them. He held it up a few inches away from where he assumed the proper positioning was. After everything was plugged in, he could adjust if needed, but it had to be in line.
"Right, it's just a bit off. Let me..." Fwhip trailed off, shuffling over and grabbing hold of Jimmy's wrists. And just him doing that...
It must be an engine malfunction. It happened. Jimmy could give it a good whack and clear out the vents after this. There was no reason for it to be burning this hot, especially not when he was just sitting around. He only hoped Fwhip didn't feel the heat radiating out as he repositioned Jimmy's arms.
"Ok, it's fine now." Fwhip said, releasing his wrists, which Jimmy inexplicably felt near sad at for some reason. "Should I just....?"
Jimmy nodded, just barely, trying to not get too misaligned. "Yeah, just plug my eyes in. It's the blue wires, there's a circular port to plug it into. You'll see."
He felt Fwhip press up close to his side, which was normal in order to get the wires in. Definitely not something that should stir up weird emotions.
Maybe he ought to get it checked out.
One click, click later, and Jimmy's vision turned back on. He blinked rapidly, glancing around the room. It hadn't been long, but he'd adjusted to the dark. Slowly, he reattached the facial plate, giving it a light tap to make sure it had clasped on nice and tight.
He turned to smile at Fwhip, who'd sat back down in his own space. "Good as new! Thanks for the help, man. Sorry for freaking you out."
"Any time! And no worries, I'm just glad to help." Fwhip smiled, a soft look spreading across his face.
Fondness. Admiration. Trust.
Where was all this coming from? Moon above, even knowing emotions is useless if Jimmy didn't know where they came from. But he supposes it's better to know than to guess.
"Well, I'm real happy you were able to. Would've been a nightmare to do on my own." Jimmy stood up and stretched, his stiff joints groaning. "Here, let me get you some gunpowder to repay you."
"No, no, I don't need anything. It was ten minutes of my time, I don't need any repaying."
Jimmy frowned. It was nice to be able to visually express things again. "Are you sure? I've got plenty, and I know with your mining-"
"I said it's fine!" Fwhip grinned and hopped off the bed. "Geez, can't a goblin just help out his favorite sheriff for free? It's called being nice."
"Fwhip, I'm the only sheriff."
"Anyway, I don't need anything. It's good just to spend time with you." Fwhip froze a moment before heading outside. "You can repay me with a new eye when I get mine stabbed out."
"That sounds a lot more complicated and messy." Jimmy followed Fwhip to the porch, watching him untie Snort. He grinned as Fwhip attempted to pull the boar away from some carrots he'd been eating.
"Same thing, basically." Fwhip finally got Snort away from his snacking and hopped on his back. "Well, see you 'round, Sheriff! Let me know if you ever need any more help!"
"See you 'round! And same to you." Jimmy leaned against the porch railing as Fwhip rode away. He almost called out to ask if he wanted to stay for dinner, somehow not quite ready to be rid of the goblin's company.
But he didn't. Jimmy wasn't sure what part of him was acting up when Fwhip was around, but he would have to figure it out. Hopefully soon. Jimmy didn't do complications and uncertainty.