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“Oh, no...”
The rain had rolled in without any warning, fat droplets of water pattering against the canopy above Pearl, sliding down the oak leaves to pelt her before she could even recognize the sound of rain for what it was. She fumbled for her umbrella as soon as she felt the moisture against her metallic skin, sliding in between the plates of copper. She knew that was going to hurt, if it started to rust, in there. But she couldn’t get her umbrella to open, even as she threw down the sword she’d been carrying to fumble with it with both her hands. She could feel the rain seeping into her joints.
This was not good. Not good at all.
Her most important components were stored away in a waterproof box in the center of her body, but that didn’t mean nothing could go wrong. Nor that it didn’t really, really hurt. The tremble in her arms as she gradually lost her strength made opening the damned umbrella all the more difficult, until eventually, it just dropped into the mud. Pearl threw herself against the trunk of the nearest tree, hoping it'd give her just that little bit more protection. She tried to call out for help, to lift her communicator up and send out a desperate message. Her body didn't let her.
She could do nothing but let out pained beeps, too soft to get far, lost in the pounding of the rain around her. Her eyepiece closed up, her limbs tucked closed to her cold and awfully wet body, and she awaited certain death. She knew she wouldn't last much longer in the rain. But at least it would mean the end of the terrible pain.
She slipped into the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness.
* * *
Pearl was so so hot when she awoke. Her system was overheating as it tried to reboot all her functions, and all around her was even more blazing heat. But she was dry she realized, with a start. And still herself, copper parts and all. She hadn’t died. The relief was so overwhelmingly strong, it overpowered any hint of confusion she might have had as to how she had survived.
But soon, too soon, her eyepiece whizzed to life, assaulting her mind with a whole new load of information. There was fire, just above her. She tried to scramble away in a panic, her joints clicking as she shoved at the foliage underneath her. She didn’t get far before burning hot hands reached out for her, making her freeze in place.
“No, no, no, Pearl! Stay! Stay here, I’m trying to help you!”
Pearl let her eyes refocus on the figure towering above her, wings engulfed in fire, deep red hair cascading down around a familiar face. So she’d heard correctly, even as strained as his voice had been.
“Sausage?”
“You’ve been out for a while, Pearl, wh–” His voice tapered out into a pained hiss, his wings flinching with a telltale sizzle.
“Sausage!” Pearl gasped, “You’re hurting yourself!”
“I’m fine, I’m not gonna die from this, unlike–” he was interrupted by another sizzle and grunt, “Unlike some of us!”
“Sausage, you need to get out of the rain!” Pearl’s panic was expanding in her chest.
“I can’t! I can’t leave you!”
Pearl looked around, trying to remember how far from her home she’d been, when the rain had struck, but in the panic of the moment, all thought of trivial things such as distance had left her head. And it wasn’t like simple oak forests like the one they were standing in right then were uncommon.
“Are we near any kind of structure?”
“Oh, no, no, no! Don’t even think about running off in this – ah! – rain!”
“Believe me, I don’t want to do that.” She shivered at the phantom feeling of water running through her circuitry. “But couldn’t you shield me like that while we walk? It’ll probably be faster than waiting the storm out.”
Sausage regarded her with worry still sitting on his face. “Are you sure you’re good enough to do that?”
“Eh,” Pearl’s joints creaked as she tried stretching her arms and legs, but there wasn’t anything more than a slight twinge of pain, accompanying the noises, however bad they sounded, “I’ll manage.”
”Pearl!”
“I’ll be fine, Sausage!”
She let out a noise of relief as he started to get up, though he had to lean heavily on the tree trunk and her extended hands as he tried to find his balance with his wings stretched out as awkwardly as they were.
“Come on!”
* * *
The sounds of the storm were a lot nicer from inside, muted by the protective wood and stone around them. They had been just a few minutes’ walk away from Sausage’s house, where they now sat, cuddled up under heavy yellow blankets in the alcove that served as Sausage’s bedroom. Pearl smoothed a gloved hand over his blazing feathers.
“So how’d you find me, anyway?” They were long past the initial frenzy of thank-yous that Sausage had waved away as soon as they’d made it into the safety of his home. They had curled up around each other under the guise that Sausage’s body heat would quicken the pace of Pearl’s recovery. And while that wasn’t a lie, Pearl’s component’s already complaining a lot less with her pressed up against his back, but if she was being honest, the gentle, repetitive movements of grooming his feathers was doing wonders for soothing her mind, the panic from before gradually fading away.
“Oh, I was just flying home, trying to get out of the rain, when I saw you.” He hummed pleasedly as Pearl nudged another stray feather back in its place. “My new ears are a lot more sensitive to those sweet beep-boops you make, now, and when I looked down I saw a poor little copper golem friend soaking in the rain. And you know how the rest of that went!”
“Yeah…” She couldn’t help the soft smile that spread across her face, even as she continued to run gentle fingers through his ruffled feathers. “Thanks fo–”
Even from behind him Pearl could tell when Sausage rolled his eyes, interrupting her with a shush. “Oh, stop it, you’ve done enough of that already. What else was I meant to do?” She huffed as he twisted around, pulling his wings out of her grasp. “Couldn’t have just left you there! Poor, soggy little Pearl.” She couldn’t hide her grin behind pretend annoyance anymore. Not that she was complaining, when it made Sausage’s eyes light up, if possible, even brighter. “Would you have done any differently?”
He pulled her closer, arms wrapping tight around each other, his wings tucked away behind his back, careful not to hurt her. She buried her head in his shirt, stray strands of hair tickling at her cheeks. She listened to his heartbeat, thumping against her ears, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath, her own trying to match the peaceful rhythm.
“Yeah, yeah. Of course I would have.” Her eyes slid closed as the rumble of Sausage’s giggle shook through her. He slid further back into the sheets pulling her down with him to lie comfortably in their warmth.
“I know, Pearl. I know you would.” She could just feel the slightest touch of his lips against her forehead as she slipped into the welcoming arms of sleep.