Chapter Text
Today was the day! An exciting day for Ogo, one he had marked down on his calendar obsessively for the past month.
Ogo was getting a roommate!
The news had shocked and bewildered pretty much every friend and random citizen he excitedly screamed it at. Ogo, the guy who never stopped talking about his stamp collection and dream journal entries, who could never take a hint when you tell him you’re too busy to hang out, who has tracking devices planted on his own two neighbors, SOMEHOW got someone to apply to his ad put out for a roommate.
But why was Ogo needing a roommate to begin with? Y’know, besides the fact he was painfully lonely? Well, it was mostly for rent reasons. No one was really sure where Ogo got the money to pay his rent in the first place, but after Mr. Wheelie caught him trying to build a connected room between his and Robot and Monster’s apartment, he raised his rent as punishment. Not for the creepiness of it, but simply because he didn’t get a permit from him first to do that. Now Ogo’s mystery income apparently wasn’t enough to sustain the new rent change.
Ogo rushed down the stairs of the apartment building and zoomed right out the front door, obviously elated as he stopped right by the sidewalk, waiting for his new roommate to arrive via taxi. His favorite people, and roommates, Robot and Monster followed out behind him. While Monster was just happy for them to get a new neighbor, Robot was visibly disappointed by the situation. He was so sure that not a single person would be insane enough to want to room with Ogo of all people, and had been eagerly waiting for the day the loon would be forced to move out. Of course, Robot’s luck never worked out, so someone moving in from another city managed to swipe that offer at the last minute. The small mechanical grumbled in annoyance, keeping his arms crossed.
“Ogo, are you really sure it's a good idea to approve of a roommate you haven’t even met yet? This person could be literally anyone, even a dangerous criminal using your apartment as a hideout!” he protested, still hoping Ogo will change his mind and just move out already. Mr. Wheelie roughly bumped into him as he rode past on his large dented wheels.
“As long as they’ve got money, they can do whatever they want. When’s that taxi supposed to get here? We’re burning daylight, and my wallet needs filling.” the old mechanical complained. Monster carefully adjusted the bacon muffins he had just baked in the gift basket he was holding, wanting to greet their new neighbor the nicest way he could.
“Should be any minute! Oh, I’m so excited to meet them! They’re from out of town, so they could teach us new things our own city doesn’t do! Maybe they’re even famous where they’re from, or at least really popular!” he gushed and hopped around, making Robot roll his eyes.
“Or they’re just as nuts as Ogo to explain why they even agreed to any of this.” he muttered, shuddering in horror at the thought. The lanky mechanical suddenly reached over and picked the smaller one up with his lanky arms, pulling him into a tight side hug as he pointed down the street.
“THEY’RE HERE! THEY’RE FINALLY HERE!” he exclaimed, shaking Robot around as a taxi pulled up to the curb. Robot quickly shoved Ogo off of him and tensed up where he stood, expecting to see an intimidating new nightmare he’d have to deal with once the car drove off… but that’s not exactly what he saw.
Standing on the curb was a very short and squat organic, around the same height as Robot. Her fur was a soft bubblegum pink, with long rabbit-like floppy ears reaching down to her shoulders, her head topped with a small tuft of brown fur. Her fluffy face was adorned with small round glasses, half-hiding bored looking eyes. Her dark gray clothes matched the sleepy and distant look in her beady eyes, blinking at the people in front of her as she tugged on her large suitcases. A squeak left her however, when Ogo suddenly rushed over and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her a few inches above the ground.
“HI, I’m Ogo!! We’re gonna be the best roommates EVER!!” he yelled, his face squished against the pink girl’s fluffy cheek. The others silently watched, anticipating the newcomer to get angry at the boundary invasion or even to slap him for it. But after getting over the surprise, the organic girl relaxed in Ogo’s arms and gently patted his other cheek.
“...Paz. Nice to meet you, Ogo.” Her voice was a bit monotone, but very soft and quiet. Ogo sat her back down as Monster skipped over, shoving the muffin basket in her hands.
“It’s so great to have a new face here, you’re gonna love our town! I’m Monster, and this is my best pal, Robot. We’re your new neighbors!” Monster yanked Robot closer to their newcomer, the inventor yelping in surprise. Robot’s face scrunched nervously, still expecting the worst considering how bad he was with first impressions. To his shock though, Paz took hold of his claw and shook it.
“Hello. It’s good to finally meet the other Default brother. Excuse me.” She walked over to Ogo, who was struggling to pick up her heavy luggage with his spindly arms, and heaved the suitcases onto her shoulders with ease. Ogo flinched in surprise seeing how strong she was, but just smiled and followed her up to the building’s staircase. Monster leaned on his still dumbfounded buddy with an optimistic grin.
“Well, she seems nice! And here you were worried that she was going to be weird and scary. You gotta have a little more faith in people, Robot.” he stated, patting Robot’s flat head. The mechanical was pleasantly surprised. As mundane as it was, that was still one of the top best first interactions he’s ever had with a person. The pleasantness of it was suddenly interrupted by a horrific implication, though.
“What do you mean… the other Default brother? I never told you my last name.” he questioned in a suspicious tone, making Paz turn around from giving Mr. Wheelie her first rent check.
“Oh, sorry, I figured he already let you know. Your brother is Gart Default, correct? I’ve transferred to this town to work as his new assistant at the Blinking Lights Factory.” she explained. Robot’s face turned pale immediately, but it went unnoticed by Paz. “I only guessed you were related due to how similar you look. Your letter was a bit of a give-away. Oh, and Monster, thank you for the muffins.”
Before Robot could react, Paz was already up the steps with Ogo obediently following behind, talking her ear off.
Robot couldn’t believe it.
-
“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT.”
Robot was already back in his and Monster’s apartment, the purple beast sitting on the couch as he watched his best friend pace back and forth in front of him. Robot was tugging at his antenna in frustration, before wheeling up to Monster incredibly fast, making him jump.
“Just when I think we’ll actually have a normal neighbor, I immediately find out she’s working for GART. Great, just great! She’s probably going to take right after him, and now I’ll have someone channeling all his torment right at home! On top of having to deal with Ogo too!” he ranted, slumping down on the couch next to his best friend. Monster tilted his head in thought over this.
“Don’t you think that’s a little… presumptuous? We just met her, Robot. Plus, just because she took a job with Gart doesn’t mean she’s anything like him.” he tried to reassure, placing a paw on his pal’s shoulder. Robot grumbled quietly to himself, but sighed. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions a bit too soon. Still, it was par for the course for things to get worse as soon as he expected it to be alright. They wouldn’t really know for sure until they got to know Paz better, which Robot was still half-reluctant about due to his fears. Monster, picking up on his feelings, pulled him into a friendly hug to cheer him up.
“How about we go over to Ogo’s and offer to help her unpack? We can figure out what she’s like that way. Then you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about!” Monster’s hug tightened as he smiled down at his buddy, Robot finally conceding and nodding back in agreement. The inventor hopped off the couch and made his way to the front door.
“Maybe you’re right, buddy. Heck, if she was this chilled out when she said hi, maybe she’ll influence Ogo to be the same.” he laughed, reaching for the door handle. But before Monster could react, his orange friend was suddenly swung against the wall with a loud crash as the door was shoved open.
“HEY, GUYS! Sorry to barge in, but could you come over real quick and help me put some of Paz’s things up?” Ogo asked, poking out from behind the door. Robot’s pained groan caught his attention. “Oh, hi Robot!”
“Sure, Ogo! Robot and I were just about to visit you anyway.” Monster helped Robot to his wheels, following Ogo down the hall while leading his still winded pal by the hand. Ogo quickly zoomed back down the hall to the open door of his apartment. Inside, random bits of Paz’s belongings were already placed around, including photos of her family and small figurines on most of the tables. Ogo walked over to the dining table and picked up a few CD cases, holding them up to the two guests.
“Paz is busy putting up her clothes, and I offered to organize her music and books for her! There was just a lot of it, I thought it’d go faster if all three of us helped.” he grinned eagerly. It was pretty transparent Ogo mainly asked for help as an excuse to hang out, but luckily for him the activity would help the two learn more about their neighbor. Monster picked up some CDs and started to carefully put them together alphabetically on the shelf, but the covers caught Robot’s eye. He frowned in confusion.
“What kind of music is this?...” He picked up one in his claws and his eyes widened a bit at the album design. It was an oil painting of a horned organic’s skull, a venomous shark snaking its way through the eyeholes as its teeth clamped down on one side. The skull was held up by chains from each corner against a red background, and the title of the album read “Clawing the Wound” in a spiky black logo. Was this girl summoning demons with these CDs or something?
“It’s death metal.” Paz’s blunt voice made the mechanical jump in surprise, whirling around quickly to see her standing right next to him. How’d she do that without making any noise? Paz took the album from Robot’s claws and looked it over. “I can play it for you if you’re curious. This is a good album.”
“Uh… sure, why not?” he shrugged, though he knew he probably wasn’t prepared for what he was about to hear. Robot tried to re-busy himself by putting more CDs on the shelf as she walked off to grab her boombox. Monster had already finished his pile of CDs and had moved onto Paz’s books, but soon it was his turn to look bewildered.
“She sure has, uh… interesting taste in history books!” he tried to compliment, looking down at the book in his hands that read “Ancient Organics and Mechanicals: an Anthropological Study”. Maybe they were old college textbooks? Monster flipped to a random page, scrunching his face up in more confusion. His eyes were skimming through a chapter on the apparent ancient hunting habits of organics. Gee, these guys sure do have a lot of sharp scary teeth… Ogo peered over Monster’s shoulder curiously.
“Ooh! This is interesting. I didn’t know my new roomie was so educated!” he chirped obliviously, earning a nervous smile from Monster. Before Robot could ask what they were reading, the loud blaring of an electric guitar made him scream, jumping three feet in the air and into Monster’s arms. Paz had once again snuck up behind him, as she sat politely on the floor next to a small pink boombox while it played aggressively loud metal music. Despite the incredibly fast drums, and the angry growling of the lead singer, Paz kept her usual calm demeanor. She almost looked as if she was in deep thought and picking up on every lyric. Soon she noticed the surprised faces on the boys’ faces, and slowly turned the dial down on the volume.
“It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but it’s soothing for me to listen to. Especially when I have a bad day.” she laughed a bit, and even her laugh was monotone sounding. Robot still looked slightly scared at what he was hearing, Ogo just smiled supportively, but Monster actually seemed… curious. He slowly set Robot on the ground and cupped his ear to hear the music better.
“This song’s so angry and violent sounding, the singer sounds like he’s going to jump out at any moment and try to fight me… but something about it speaks to me at the same time…” Monster finally smiled and grabbed a CD off the shelf. “I like it! Can I borrow one to listen to later?”
“Sure, man. Least I could do since you got me those tasty muffins. Thanks for making them fakin’ bacon too, I was able to share with Ogo.” Paz gestured to Ogo, who had half a muffin stuffed into his mouth as she spoke. Giggling softly, Paz switched the boombox off and set it on the table. “His first rule of the house the minute I walked in was no bacon. It’s fine, I prefer fakin’ anyway.”
Ogo smiled and tried to reply, only to spit out crumbs all over his shirt as his words were muffled underneath all the snack bits, making both Monster and Paz laugh. The whole scenario still left Robot wary, though. There was obviously more to this girl than meets the eye, but every bit of new information just made more questions. He picked up the history book off the table and held it up to her.
“Are these just for a light read after a hard day too?” he asked, trying his best to tone down the passive aggressiveness in his tone. Once again, Paz’s expression didn’t even flinch. She took the book from the mechanical and flipped it open.
“Actually, these are for a research project I’ve been working on in my spare time. I can’t tell you what it is just yet, but it might be of interest to you once it’s out of its concept stage. You’re a scientist, right?” she asked casually, turning Robot’s look of suspicion into a startled one. He grinned proudly and set his claws on his hips.
“Actually, I am! I’ve been an aspiring inventor my whole life.” he boasted. He soon squinted back at her. “Wait… did Gart tell you that?”
“Something like that. He didn’t have the nicest things to say about it, but I wanted to see for myself before I passed judgment.” Paz explained. She flipped to another page in the book, pointing to a diagram drawing of an ancient mechanical. The creature looked much bulkier and more detailed than the usual mechanical, its face blank and expressionless. “Either way, you can come back and ask about it once I get settled in. It’ll be a great history lesson once I get all my notes together.”
Robot smiled genuinely, happy that someone actually had taken interest in his opinion on their own scientific work. He met Paz’s gaze with an approving nod, but quickly flinched when he saw her expression. She had flashed him a toothy grin, with her eyes still half-lidded and distant. Her grin… was lined with thick, razor sharp teeth.
“WELL, it’s getting close to dinner time, me and Monster better get going!!” Robot stuttered out, grabbing Monster by the wrist and tugging him towards the door. “We gotta get to the Makin’ Bacon before it closes!”
“But Robot, the Makin’ Bacon doesn’t close for another 5 hours-MMPH!” The organic’s mouth was quickly clamped shut by his friend, and the shorter man dragged him right out of the room. Ogo pouted, crossing his arms as he watched their two neighbors flee the room.
“Well, that was rude… they didn’t even finish putting your stuff away!” The lanky bot sat back down at the table, continuing to organize stacks of books. Paz simply shrugged, walking over and sitting next to her roommate.
“It’s fine, hon. I’ll keep you company instead.” she offered, grabbing a stack of CDs from the pile. Ogo immediately perked up, leaning over and pulling her into a tight hug.
“You’ve been SO nice to me since you got here! It’s such a relief, I was afraid you’d run out after the first minute!” Ogo’s eyes widened realizing what he said, and he broke out into a sweat. “N-Not that that happens a lot! I just don’t make friends this easily. But that’s not because I’m like a creep or something, I just uh-!”
Ogo continued to flounder and give clumsy explanations, before Paz finally shoved her paw onto his mouth to shut him up.
“Hey, don’t freak out. It’s fine, really, I’m not the most sociable person either. But you’re a nice guy, and we’re going to be living together now, so I might as well try to treat you like a friend.” she stated bluntly, her voice remaining monotone but still genuine. The minute the word “friend” left Paz’s mouth, Ogo’s eyes practically sparkled as he stared at her in awe.
“We’re… we’re friends ? REALLY?” The pink organic nodded, and Ogo nearly yelled in happiness as he once again pulled her into a tight hug. Despite how skinny his arms were, Paz felt like she was being held in a death grip. I wonder how long it’s been since anyone hugged this guy… , she thought.
“I don’t regret a single minute of putting out a roommate ad, this is the best day EVER! I promise, Paz, I’ll be the best friend you’ve ever had in your life!” he declared, nuzzling his face into her soft fur. Paz continued to stay calm, not bothered at all by the intense affection. Finally after a minute, Ogo sat her back down on her chair. Paz’s ear twitched curiously. Something felt… off. Without hesitating, she reached around and pulled a device off her back to examine it. It looked like a small severed Ogo head with a working antenna.
“What’s this?” Her roommate tried to stay cheery, but the beads of sweat were already forming on his head again. He was hoping this hadn’t been a little too impulsive.
“Uh… a tracking device? Just so if anything bad happens, I’ll ALWAYS know where to find you! Some parts of this city are kinda dangerous, so I can fly you off to safety if someone’s bothering you. What are friends for, right??” he laughed, his voice still cracking nervously. To his shock, Paz just shrugged and even placed the device back onto herself.
“Makes sense. Thanks, hon.” She reached up and pet his head gently with a smile, standing up to carry her stack of CDs to the shelf. Ogo just sat there dumbfounded, but soon a large grin stretched across his face. He leaned against the table with his head in his hands as he watched Paz set up her music, sighing to himself happily.
He definitely found the perfect roommate.
