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The Spine sighed a long cloud of steam when he saw the piles and jars of dust in front of the doorway of his room. Was it that time already? It couldn’t be.
Leaning back into his room, the titanium bot checked the cowboy calendar hanging by his bed. Sure, he had an internal clock and calendar. And that would be faster, but what was the point of having a calendar and not using it?
There on the bottom corner was a circled date that made him frown. Every other day before it had been crossed out. The twenty seventh. Briefly, The Spine debated going back into stasis for the day, but that would be the first place the others look for him. And he didn’t want anyone in his room. It was hard enough trying to keep Zer0 from stealing his fire truck. Again. This was his least favourite day of the month. Why did everyone have to bring him calcium dust, of all things? He didn't have bones! He just used it to feed the Roombas that came into his room. They spent a lot of time in his room now.
At least there weren't any notes left with it. The Spine could just pretend he didn't notice it. Just brush past them and find somewhere to hide. If only it was that easy. Why was it never that easy?
A bot with bright pink hair bounced up to The Spine, shoving a crushed egg into his chest. The yolk smeared on his black vest, the white shell clinging to it.
“Here ya go, The Spine!” They chirped with a bright grin, still holding out the egg to him.
Taking the egg, or what was left of it, The Spine tried to wipe the egg off his vest. He'd have to ask Petes to take it to the cleaners again. He was one of the cleanest bots in the manor, and yet somehow it was always his clothes that got so dirty.
“Thank you? But why are you giving me a broken egg, Malware?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Someone said eggshells have lots of calcium! I tried to make it a dust, like you’re ‘sposed to, but it got kind of goopy. Can I still have a toy?” They asked, excitedly dancing from foot to foot, curls bouncing.
A long, thin wisp of steam curled from The Spine’s cheek vents while he stared at Malware in stunned silence for a moment. Of course. Not that he could actually be upset with anyone hopeful for a toy. At this point, not even The Spine knew how it had started. Everyone was just excited for something new. Or old.
“Right, I suppose, those are the rules, aren’t they?” Pulling out his pocket square, he internally winced. There would be no saving it after this, but he was a gentleman first and foremost. It would be wrong to let them walk around with eggy hands.
“But let’s not get egg all over your new toy, yeah?” He explained as he handed over the handkerchief to the other bot. Once they were done, The Spine would do the best he could to get the egg off of him. He could wash his hands when he went to get water.
“Right! Now the rules do say,” trailing off, The Spine reached into his pocket and pulled out a star-shaped jar filled with neon pink GAK. Looking at it curiously, he handed it off to its owner.
“Here we go! Happy Spinemas!”
Taking the jar, Malware jumped up and down as they all but ripped off the lid and threw it over their shoulder. So much for that lasting longer than a day.
“Oh, this looks like fun!” Sticking their fingers into the jar, they giggled when it squelched.
“Gross!” Laughed Malware as they pulled the slimy putty out of the plastic in a long stretchy stream.
“It’s like the egg! But without the crunchy bits. Pulling it apart and wrapping it around their hands, the bot was entranced by a new bright and shiny goo as it stretched and slumped closer to the ground. Stretching the GAK and squishing it between their hands again, they laughed brightly.
Which was the perfect time for The Spine to slip away and get some water to top off his boiler before he went hunting for a safe place to hide for the day. Tipping his hat, he made to step away until he heard some of the worst words you could hear in the manor.
“Uh oh. I broke my, me?” Questioned Malware, staring at their hands in confusion. The GAK had worked its way into the joints of their hands, making it almost impossible to flex their fingers as they stood there. Hands out in front of them, neon pink bulged from the joints in both of their hands while they tried to keep the remaining GAK from dripping onto the carpet. It was becoming a losing battle quickly.
The Spine blinked once, twice, and even a third time, trying to process what he was seeing. Putting his face in his hands, he groaned a cloud of steam. He had barely turned away! This wasn’t going to be an easy day. But the twenty seventh rarely was anymore.
Holding out his hand to the other bot, he smiled. But no one else was going to fix it either. What kind of gentleman left someone in their time of need?
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Taking Malware’s hand after they looked at him in confusion, he guided them down to the kitchen to help wash out the offending goop. GAK was not a robot-friendly nineties toy.
Once all the bits were removed and put back in the jar with the remaining goo to maybe be mixed back in, Malware jumped up and down in excitement. Only stopping when they heard the dishes rattle. No one wanted to tell Wanda they broke her good plates. Again.
Drying his own hands, The Spine went to get a glass to fill his boiler. Finally. At least something would go right today, he thought to himself.
“Maybe get a pair of the Walter Worker safety gloves?” Those things could withstand just about anything. Surely, those could protect robotic hands from getting gunked up again. Probably. Maybe.
With another thanks, Malware grabbed their new toy and skipped out of the room and down the halls. Hopefully, to a supply closet to get gloves. And not raid it for something they shouldn’t have. They weren’t Rabbit, after all.
Now was Spine’s chance to hold up in a music room somewhere. Just fill up his water bottle and hide. It wasn’t a practice day for the band so Rabbit and Zer0 wouldn’t dare go near it. And most of the other bots in the manor didn’t bother with them unless someone convinced them to do another talent show. There was still glitter in the carpet from someone’s glitter cannon and stains from broken glow sticks. He wasn’t sure what kind of talent that was supposed to be, but he had long learned to be careful about asking questions.
Sipping from his bottle as he turned into the music room, The Spine nearly dropped it when he saw that he wasn’t alone. So much for being his safe haven for the day. Spine was starting to wonder if not being alone was a part of the holiday.
Juke was standing behind a few boxes of records, thumbing through them while he hummed an upbeat tune to himself. A rare time he didn’t opt to use the record player in his glass stomach to bop along to.v
While he was off in his own world, The Spine thought he could slip away. Maybe a workshop would be safer? No, then a Walter Worker would definitely find him. But before he could as much as take a step, Juke’s voice broke his train of thought.
“Hey, Spine-o! Six said he got some new sides for me to try! Wanna listen to some sounds with me?” Juke was watching him, a new record held up to show off with a bright grin on his face.
“This one looks like it’ll be a real bop.”
“Ah, that’s okay, Juke. I was just, uh, well,” he stammered. Trying to take a step back, he held up his hands. Normally, that would be a perfect way to spend a morning. On a day when people weren’t crawling out of the woodwork. The Spine didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to risk attracting anyone else. But as luck would have it.
“Oh yeah!” Putting down the record, Juke fished in his pockets a moment before pulling out a small jar. Holding it up, he grinned before tossing it to The Spine, who fumbled and dropped his water bottle to catch it.
Looking at the bottle, The Spine squinted his eyes in annoyance. Calcium powder supplement.
“Et tu?” He mumbled before looking up at Juke
“Supposed to give you this for some new aged thingamajig! Not real sure what they were goin’ on about,” explained Juke, shoving his hands in his pocket.
“Of course! It’s Spinemas after all,” chirped The Spine with fake excitement. Whoever had this bright idea should be locked in a vault. A small one. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a Talk Boy and held it up for Juke to see. Now that was a strange one. He wasn’t expecting a toy recorder. But then again, maybe it was perfect for someone like Juke.
Apparently, neither was Juke, who jumped when the other bot suddenly produced a not so tiny toy from behind his back like it’d been there all along. Walking over, He ducked his head to stare at it a moment, tapping his chin.
“Now where’d you get that, man?” He asked, tilting his head a little as if the answer would jump out at him if he looked at it from another angle.
The Spine shrugged and handed it over so Juke could turn it over in his hands to figure out what he was looking at.
“No idea. Someone hands me calcium dust and there’s a toy.” It was a bit unsettling at first, but now it was more annoying than anything scary. Nothing stayed strange long in Walter Manor after all. At least they weren’t alive. For now.
“Crazy! I’m gonna listen to these new sounds and figure this thing out. Thanks, Spine-o!” Still looking his new toy over, he went to grab the record and have a very good day once he figured out how to use the Talk Boy. No one would be safe.
And before he could be stopped again, The Spine waved and rushed down the hall while he was distracted. There had to be somewhere on the Walter manor grounds where he could avoid people.
The grounds! The Spine grinned widely to himself as he walked a bit faster down the halls. A genius, he thought himself. An absolute genius! Why not hide from the manor on the grounds themselves! He could find a nice place in the garden where no one could find him. And he could have some peace!
And he did.
For about five minutes before, he heard someone screaming his name. Standing by the greenhouse, The Spine barely had a chance to turn around before a brightly coloured bot crashed into him with a puff of smoke.
Wait, that wouldn’t be right. Neither of them should be smoking. Were they overheating? Maybe someone needed help!
Grabbing her shoulders, he saw Idol’s face as she beamed brightly from ear to ear. Now that was absolutely not right! If she was in trouble, she shouldn’t be smiling. She must have been pretty damaged to be smiling like that with all the smoke around them.
“Ima sugu pea o Onegai shite mo īdesu ka? Onegaishimasu??? Hoshī Moonshoes ™️ !!!”
The smoke was starting to settle in Idol’s hair. But that wasn’t right either. Smoke doesn’t settle. Was she burning that badly? What would burn like that? His sensors weren’t detecting smoke either.
“Idol. Idol what is this white dust? Idol, what is this? Where did you get it? How did you make the trademark sound with your mouth? Idol. Idol.” The Spine was starting to panic, debating on carrying her down to the labs to get her looked at. At least until he started to process what she was saying. He didn’t normally translate from Japanese. Just switched to it when he was watching his shows. He knew what was settling.
The Spine steeled his nerves before looking down again between them. They were both covered in calcium dust. His suit was grey! Groaning, his shoulders slumped. Between them, Idol was holding a now empty bowl.
Well, at least, she was alright. He hated being bothered on Spinemas, but even this was better than one of the bots being damaged. Even just a little.
“Hai, hai,” he waved an arm before pulling out the Moonshoes. Honestly, he was surprised Idol got what she wanted.
But before he could tell her anything, she snatched them away from him with a quick thanks. Jumping around the yard a little, Idol quickly shoved her metal feet into the straps. Stumbling, she had to lean on the taller bot to get them on properly.
“Domo!” Giggling brightly, she started to bounce around the yard. Despite being made of metal, she was getting quite a bit of air while she hopped, ran, and skipped around.
Well, at least she was happy with them. But The Spine was losing hope that he was going to find peace anytime soon. Maybe he should just find the most comfortable spot so he could relax between people. Maybe he could make it so boring no one ever gave him calcium dust ever again.
A sudden crash jolted him from his thoughts. Whipping his head around, The Spine found Idol lying on the ground, halfway through the greenhouse. He winced. Was that his fault? He didn’t make her fall, but he did give her the Moon Shoes. Seriously, how did she make the ™️ a noise?
Looking around nervously, The Spine stepped over to make sure she was okay. That was a pretty big crash, after all. Leaning over, he reached out to lift her up. Only to fall back when she suddenly sat up and looked around.
Her pigtails were ruined, leaves and sticks sticking out from them and the wig was starting to fall.
“That was AWESOME!” Yelled Idle, quickly jumping back to her feet, stumbling as she tried to right herself in the Moon Shoes.
Before The Spine could process what happened, she had bounced away and straight into the manor.
That wasn’t going to end well. But now it wasn’t his problem. Turning around, he made to hightail it away from the greenhouse before someone tried to blame that on him. Whatever happened, he was absolutely not involved.
In the manor, everyone enjoyed their new toys. Malware had their new gloves on and had learned how to make GAK bubbles. Juke had GG chasing people around the manor for saying she wasn’t cute. And Idle was showing off some sick bounce tricks. Until.
CRASH
“NO MOON SHOES IN THE HOUSE!”