Chapter Text
A warm breeze blew past in the mild rain as a scarred man crossed the quiet street and to the city park, trying to drown out the obnoxious voices of those around him. From little brats who wanted to keep playing in this weather to some godawful singing from what he could only assume were crossed teens trying to have a memorable evening. If the storm picks up, it's bound to be memorable, alright.
Otto wasn't a huge umbrella person. He was surprised he had one lying around at all, but it helped to keep his head low. Can't wait for some kid to loudly ask what happened to his face and totally blow his cover. A brief, sudden wonder flashed in his mind for a moment; where did he even get this, actually? It had such a unique shape compared to umbrellas in stores, and an upper tip in the visage of a flower. It was more decorative than actually useful, but not quite a parasol. Now that he thought about it, this umbrella stood out quite a lot. Didn't matter anymore. He had just recalled where it came from, and he couldn't stop a small, snide smirk from showing itself.
After hardly any time of walking, he stepped off of the planned concrete path and shuddered from the mud that he wasn't expecting to sink so hard. He probably should have chosen to wear better shoes for once... but it's too late now. Otto's eye shifted around, watching for any sudden movement. He hasn't really seen anybody enter this part of the park in all the years he's lived in the area, and he better not anytime soon. It's the perfect spot for all sorts of whatever, and they'd never be bothered by any pesky brats giggling at the lives of strangers those kids would never see again.
...What the hell is he talking about? Otto grumbled to himself and shook the thought out of his head. The sloshing of the mud beneath him took him out of that pesky idea and more into remembering he didn't like the rain to begin with. The reasons for being out here when the storm shows no sign of stopping was lost on him. Just needed fresh air after months of being holed up, he supposed? Sheesh, has it really been that long since he last left the lab? Didn't matter. As long as it meant nobody bothered him.
Strangely, a foreign sound permeated the area. Despite the fact that it was relatively quiet, Otto's face and body language quickly shifted to that of both anger and abject horror. He glanced around briefly, ready to do anything to keep who-knows-what from ever showing their face around here again, before coming to his bearings and realizing it was just up ahead. Really? Where he was going? He ran forward, closing the umbrella and trying his best to ignore the mud.
It didn't take long to find the source of the noise. The sound akin to a kettle, not quite fluctuating but certainly going loud and quiet by small, hardly noticeable increments. Otto entered the small, secluded, forested area he'd been to time and time again and saw a large, metal figure lying on the ground facing his way. Their short-sleeved jacket was fit with lots of lace, as was with their jabot and the bottoms of its pants. Otto couldn't help but notice flower accents on the pants as well. He found a spot of surprise in how the fact that this was a mechanical marvel was overshadowed by those flower accents.
In the corner of Otto's eye was the figure's hat, strewn away from her entirely. He went and grabbed it, immediately noting the small veil attached to it. He tensed up briefly, the familiar smell of daisies coming from said veil, before noticing a device even smaller attached inside. He took out his personal phone and took a photo, before turning around to face the figure once more and taking a photo of it as well.
So, like, was it sleeping or what? Otto walked right up to it and knelt by her side, nudging rather roughly, but hardly enough to hurt. In fact, it was rather tiresome on him to push around this heavy metal so much. Could it even feel his movements at all? Didn't matter, whatever got the job done.
Eventually, it did awaken, but on its own time. Otto wasn't paying attention to how long this took, but kept nudging it anyway. And as it slowly came to its senses and saw Otto looming right on top of it with its hat, it tensed up and the kettle flared to life.
"NONONO- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Otto didn't flinch at the sudden movement or the shouting. He just smiled, which sent the figure into a further panic, backing away and stumbling even more.
"You... dropped something," He remarked. "Just wanted to pick it up for you."
Its mouth hung open, seemingly wanting to speak, but nothing was coming out of it anytime soon. It wasn't moving anymore either, aside from the stress-boiling of the steam powered mechanisms causing it to shake. Despite the obnoxious noise and steam beginning to quickly trickle out of it, Otto stood up and approached it. Slowly. Reveling in the terror in the eyes the veil was intended to hide.
He knelt once more and ran his fingers down its cheek until his gloved hand was on her chin and pushed upward, closing her mouth. It then placed the hat back where it belonged, positioning it so the veil was completely behind its head. At this rate, he'll hardly be able to see its face at all anyways with how much horrified steam was flying out of it.
"It's disappointing that the cat's got your tongue," Otto mocked. "That new voice you gave yourself isn't horrible... couldn't finish it before you left me?"
He wasn't waiting for a particular response or anything, but he seemed to quickly see that it wasn't even listening. Just... staring forward, eyes not even focused on him despite looking his way. Did his presence really stress her out to the point of delirium? He didn't know he was capable of doing that... but he's never felt so satisfied. Maybe more people should rebuild themselves with this outdated machinery. Maybe he'll rebuild those people. The robots back at the lab were nowhere near as fun to tinker with as she was.
Otto's attention was almost instantly diverted by sounds of footsteps and incredibly heavy panting. A kind of exhaustion that even he had never gone the lengths to put himself through. Is this seriously the company she chooses to surround herself with nowadays? Well, he supposed literally anything was better than him at this rate. Whatever, he had his fun. He had his proof. Otto stumbled to his feet and ran off as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast at all, but with the amount of steam fogging up the area, they wouldn't have seen him anyway.
The only evidence anyone was there with it was the umbrella he left behind, but considering the aesthetic tastes of its previous owner, it's like they had never reunited.