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NOM’s tower wasn’t very furnished, but it had all the basic necessities. A furnace, a smoker, a crafting table, a chest (that Magic totally didn’t steal a cold baked potato from), lights, and a ginormous window that circled the entire room. The place didn’t look very lived in, and the two chairs placed by the glass looked awkward with nothing around it. But, Magic figured that androids didn’t need much to be happy.
The only thing missing was a bed. But, well, NOM and Jade were taking care of that for her.
“Are you sure you want to stay over?” Jade asked her, while NOM worked in the background to craft her a bed.
Magic nodded.
“I do.” Her eyes found the floor and she grumbled. “Besides, even if I did go back home, Josh wouldn’t be there. So there’s no point.”
Jade tilted their head to the side. Since their face was always void of emotion, their body language was super helpful with figuring out what they were thinking.
“Why would he not be home?”
Magic clenched her fists and scrunched her face up in poorly hidden anger.
“‘Cause he’s at a sleepover with his new friends. Even though he already hung out with them last night.”
Jade was silent for a few moments, then asked, “Do you need someone with you to fall asleep?”
Magic crossed her arms.
“He didn’t read me my bedtime story.” Her face saddened and her arms fell. “I can’t sleep without my bedtime story.”
Jade slowly nodded in understanding.
“Maybe if we ask nicely, NOM can read you one. Do you have a book on you?”
Her face grew more sad.
“No… I don’t…”
Jade nodded again.
“That’s okay. I’m sure NOM can make one up for you.”
Magic looked up at them with pleading eyes.
“Can it have dragons?”
“Sure it can.” NOM called out from where he finally finished making the bed.
It was a simple thing. A wooden bedframe with a white mattress, a white blanket, and a white pillow. He pushed the bed up against the wall and dusted off his hands.
“Hope it’s good enough, ‘cause I’m not wasting anymore time on it.”
Magic padded over to the bed and climbed onto it. Everything was soft to the touch and the pillow felt extra fluffy and plush. Magic brushed her hands across the wooly surface.
“It’s good. Really good.”
She tried bouncing on it, but quickly realized that the mattress had no springs. Her bed at home had springs. Her disappointment over the lack of springs must’ve shown on her face because Jade giggled at her.
“I think she wishes it could bounce.”
NOM groaned.
“But I can’t do that. I don’t have the time, and I don’t have the patience for it.”
Magic shook her head and took off her backpack. “No, it’s okay. This is good.”
She dropped her bag beside the bed. Putting it right beside her pillow so it would always be in her sight. NOM pulled one of the chairs over and sat down while Jade tucked her in.
“Okay. So, bedtime story. With dragons.” NOM mumbled out before going silent.
After a few seconds, NOM spoke again.
“Right. So, once upon a time, there was a guy.”
Magic giggled. NOM continued on.
“This guy was a knight. And he had a little sister that he loved a lot. He loved and cherished and adored his sister. He’d done so much for her, and was willing to do more, if she asked.”
“One day, while the knight’s sister was on a walk, she was suddenly found by a group of dragons. The dragons, wanting to add her to their hoard of treasures, took her far away from her home, and far away from her brother.”
Magic gasped.
“Oh no! That’s terrible!”
NOM huffed.
“Yes. It is. Don’t interrupt me again.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyways. The knight, upon hearing his sister had been taken, confronted the dragons and asked them to give her back. The dragons agreed, but only if the knight did a few things for them.”
She had to stop herself from asking outloud, “like what?”
“He said not to interrupt him!” She scolded herself. “Be patient!”
“The knight accepted their offer, and did all of the things the dragons asked him to do. Everytime the knight finished a task, he slowly transformed more and more into a monster. Until one day, he no longer looked like himself.”
“When the knight finally completed all of his tasks, the dragons gave him back his sister. But he had changed so much that she no longer recognized him.The knight was struck down by his sister, and his death was celebrated. And the sister never knew of her brother’s death, because she was never told that the monster she killed was her brother. The end.”
Magic stared at him.
“That… that’s not a happy ending.”
NOM huffed.
“If you wanted a story with a happy ending then you should’ve been specific.”
Magic glared at him.
“I want a happy ending.”
NOM sighed.
“What’s the magic word?”
She groaned.
“Please…?”
“You can do better than that.”
“Pleeeeeease?”
He huffed again, but this time a smile spread across his face.
“Only because you asked so nicely.”
While NOM wove together a story about a small dragon hatchling stumbling into a found family scenario, she felt her eyelids grow heavy and her body relax into the soft wool of her bed. The blanket was tucked closer to her chin as NOM continued speaking. At some point, he stopped talking. But Magic was so far gone that she didn’t even notice.
The last thing she heard before falling asleep was Jade whispering, “...are we the dragons?”
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The smell of roasting potatoes stirred Magic awake. Having run out of food yesterday, her stomach loudly growled at the prospect of food. The last thing she ate were the two dumplings Jade gave her when she fell off NOM’s tower yesterday.
Opening her eyes, she found Jade standing before a smoker. A fire roared in the bottom compartment while lumps of golden brown roasted in the top one. Magic slowly sat up and pressed a hand to her grumbling stomach.
Jade turned their head at the movement and tilted their head.
“Good morning Magic. How did you sleep?”
She yawned and stretched her back and arms.
“Good. I slept good.”
Sliding out of bed, she glanced around the room before walking up to Jade.
“Where did NOM go?”
Jade had their back to Magic and pulled out some of the golden brown lumps from the smoker. Holding them out for Magic to take, she realized that they were potatoes. Cooked to perfection, with the skin crispy and the inside hot and fluffy.
“NOM had to go do something, so he left early. He will be back soon.”
Magic took the potatoes, but didn’t eat them yet.
“How soon is soon?”
Jade shrugged.
“NOM did not tell me. He just told me that he would be back soon.”
Magic grumbled. Then bit into one of the potatoes.
In an instant, her negative feelings were swept aside. Instead taken over by the sheer quality and taste of the cooked potato in her mouth. She gobbled up the rest of the potato in seconds, tearing into another after the first one didn’t satisfy her hunger.
“Don’t choke. NOM isn’t here to save you if you do.” Jade chided, but their tone sounded playful.
Pulling out more potatoes from the smoker, they passed them all over to Magic. She gratefully accepted them, storing some in her pocket and dumping the rest in her bag. In case they left her and wouldn’t feed her (like Josh did), she would have food in reserve.
It was only when she watched Jade take out the rest of the potatoes from the smoker did she realize something.
“You know how to cook?”
Jade looked at her and tilted their head.
“Of course. My creator taught me how to use microwaves, and the smokers and furnaces on this island work very similarly to microwaves.”
Magic gasped in awe.
“Woah…”
Jade looked back at the smoker and then turned to Magic again.
“Would you like me to teach you how to use a smoker?”
Her eyes sparkled and she squealed in delight.
“Yes please!”
Jade gestured to Magic to come closer, to which she immediately complied and ran over.
“This here,” they pointed at the top compartment, “is where you put food. Smokers can only cook potatoes and meats, but they cook very fast. Much faster than a furnace.”
Magic peeked inside the compartment. A large metal rack sat over a bunch of wooden planks.
“And this here,” they said, pointing to the bottom compartment, “is where you put fuel. I already put some wood inside, so you don’t need to worry about putting in more fuel.”
Magic nodded. Oo’ing and ah’ing at the smoker.
“When you put food on the metal rack, it will send a signal to the bottom compartment to begin using fuel to cook your food. When a piece of food is done, it will automatically be moved to another compartment to be safely picked up.”
When Magic tried to peek inside the bottom part of the smoker, Jade batted her away and stopped her.
“Do not burn yourself. NOM is not here to heal you if you get burned.”
Magic nodded.
“Right. Yeah. Sorry.”
Jade tilted her head at her.
“Did your brother never teach you how to use a smoker?”
She shook her head.
“No. He taught me how to use campfires. Not smokers.”
“What about a knife?” Jade asked.
She shook her head again.
“Nuh uh. Josh never let me use the knives. He didn’t even let me try!” She crossed her arms and glared at the floor. “Told me I’d hurt myself if I tried. How would he know? He’s never seen me use a knife!”
Jade was silent for a moment, then reached into a pocket and pulled out a flint knife.
“Knives are very handy for cooking, and other things. I think you should have one on you. Just in case.”
Magic took the knife and looked it over in her hands. It was small, felt light, and fit like a glove in her grasp. She looked at Jade after inspecting the knife and asked,
“Can you teach me how to use one?”
A bubbly giggle emitted from Jade.
“Of course I can, Magic. I’ll teach you everything.”
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Time flew by while Jade walked her through all the ways to use a knife. Cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing, skinning, peeling, and so many more things. Her first test was to cut off the peel of an apple in one go, and it only took her three tries to get it right! Holding the spiral of red peel in her hand, Jade giggled at her enthusiasm and applauded her skills.
“Good job, Magic. You’re a knife expert already.”
Magic cheered at the praise.
“Do you think NOM will be proud too?”
“What would I be proud of?”
Magic jumped at the sudden voice. Whipping around to see NOM standing at the top of the staircase, an expression of curiosity was on his face.
“Oh! NOM! Jade taught me how to use a knife!”
One of his eyebrows raised as he walked over.
“Did they now?”
Magic nodded.
“Yeah! Look!” She proudly presented her apple peel. “I did this!”
NOM plucked the red peel from her hands and held it up to inspect it better. He turned it around and flipped it upside down and seemed visibly impressed at the perfect spiral. Handing it back, he nodded at her beaming face.
“It’s very good. Soon, I could see you peeling other things like that.”
“Really!?” Magic squealed.
He nodded again.
“With a bit more practice, you could peel the skin off of anything. Did Jade teach you anything else?”
Magic grinned and ran over to the wooden cutting board Jade made her. Little mounds of chopped potatoes sat in a semicircle on the board. She held up the board for NOM to see.
“I learned chopping, and dicing, and slicing, and cutting, and julienne, and— oh! Wait! I also learned how to correctly hold a knife!”
NOM looked at Jade with a strange smile then looked back at her with a softer, kinder one.
“Well, go on then. Show me.”
With excitement bubbling through her body, Magic grabbed the knife off the chair (there were no tables anywhere, so they had to use the chair as a flat surface) and showed off all of the different ways Jade taught her how to hold the knife. At the end, when she ran out of ways to hold it, she then threw it at the wall. Because Jade also taught her how to do that, and taught her how to make it stick.
NOM stared at the knife wedged in between the seamlines of his wall for a couple moments, then burst into laughter. Magic instinctively backed away at the grating noise. Jade looked at NOM with their emotionless face and tilted their head.
“She’s perfect, right?”
His laughter quickly subsided as he nodded.
“Oh, 100% percent.” Then, he looked at her. And for a moment, an unreadable expression took over his face. But, as soon as it was there, it was gone. And the smile of pride was back. He walked over and ruffled her hair, getting Magic to forget about what happened and giggle and laugh at the action.
“You keep practicing that knife throwing trick, alright? And use it on everything. Wood, stone, dirt, grass, metal. Anything.”
Magic nodded.
“I will!”
NOM ruffled her hair one more time.
“Good.”
Without another word, he stepped away and went over to the large glass window. Jade followed suit, leaving Magic to hastily scramble behind. Magic already saw the awesome view when she first visited the tower (when NOM and Jade weren’t home but they didn’t need to know that), but it always took her breath away when she looked outside. Pressing her face against the glass, her eyes slowly swept the land from left to right. The city stretched far into the distance, splashes of colour and arrays of lights painting the world into the loveliest artwork.
NOM softly sighed.
“It never gets old.”
Magic looked up at him.
“The view?” She asked.
“The world.”
She looked back out the window.
“The world does look nice.” She agreed.
Looking out the window reminded her of a conversation she had with Josh. Her mood quickly soured.
“The house I picked out for me and Josh had a cool view too. But Josh didn’t like it. Said it had too many windows and stuff.”
Jade tilted her head.
“Does he not like windows?”
Magic huffed.
“He said that dragons could look through them. And he hates dragons.”
“Dragons?” Jade asked.
Magic nodded.
“Yeah, dragons! The flying things in the city. They fly around and sometimes follow people.”
NOM and Jade shared a look. Magic, who was none the wiser, grumbled at the air.
“They’re just dragons… I don’t understand how he could hate them so much…”
NOM smiled at her.
“Well, lucky for you, my tower has a massive window. One that you can look out of from every side. And I love my tower, so you won’t have to worry about me getting rid of it.”
Magic looked at him.
“You don’t care about the dragons?”
“Oh, trust me. I love them.”
Magic couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“You do?”
His smile widened.
“Why would I lie?”
Magic turned her eyes back to the window.
“Can we go outside then? I want to see the dragons again!”
NOM went silent for a moment.
“We won’t be able to go far.” He eventually said. “How about we just go to the beach? I’m sure one of the dragons will show up eventually.” He offered instead.
Magic squealed. “Okay! Let’s go!”
Racing down the stairs, she wasn’t able to see NOM and Jade exchange glances again. A wide grin split his face in half while Jade slightly tilted their head in amusement.
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“Hey Magic! Why don’t you go pick some flowers and collect some seashells? Jade and I have some things we need to discuss.”
The beach was void of life and empty of dragons. Only the rundown beach stalls and vacant houses occupied the sand. Waves crashed against the shore and water roared from the sea beyond. Magic, who had run off as soon as they arrived, quickly stopped herself and spun around at the suggestion.
“Why? What are you gonna talk about?”
“Android stuff.” Jade replied.
Magic started making her way back to them.
“Like what?”
NOM huffed.
“About… wires and stuff. How to… uh… onomatopoeia them. And, uh, interdisciplinary panels. Them. And stuff.”
Magic stopped and wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyes.
“You guys are using really big words.”
Jade nodded.
“Yes. Very big words. Very important android stuff. You would not be able to understand.”
Magic slowly nodded.
“Oh… okay.”
Then ran off again. Back towards the shore, where seashells of all shapes and colours covered the sand. She picked up as many as she could, storing some in her backpack when she ran out of space. When she got bored of the sea, she went back to NOM and Jade. They pointed her towards the nearby hills and mountains that caged the beach in. Flowers decorated the grass and dirt, so Magic picked those up and brought them to NOM after her bag got full.
Sometimes, he’d ask her to find a specific flower, or a specific colour of flower. It was fun searching for them. It felt like she was doing a scavenger hunt. Every time she came back to him with what he requested, he’d pat her on the head and then give her a new quest.
Eventually, a dragon came over to see them. NOM told her to go play with it, so that’s exactly what she did. She chased it around the beach, laughing and giggling while trying to touch it in a fierce game of tag. When she got tired, she decided to show off her flower and seashell collection to it. Dumping out her bag and pointing at each of them and talking about what she liked most about them.
She was so engrossed with hanging out with the dragon that she didn’t notice NOM walk over to them.
“Hey Magic. You ready to go home?”
Magic looked up at him.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah! Just— lemme get all of my shells and flowers and—”
Before she could put any of her things back, NOM snatched all of her flowers away.
“Wait, those were mine!” Magic exclaimed.
She tried to get them back, but NOM just held them up out of reach.
“Nope. I need these for something.”
“But they’re mine!” She whined.
His eyes softened, but he didn’t give them back.
“It’s for a surprise.”
Magic glared.
“For me?”
“Yeah. For you.”
That snapped her out of her rage. Magic blinked at him.
“Really?”
NOM nodded.
“Why would I lie?”
Magic stared at him. Then narrowed her eyes.
“Will I like it?”
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t.”
“What’s the surprise?”
“If I told you that wouldn’t make it a surprise anymore, now would it?”
Magic grumbled.
“Fine. Take my stupid flowers.”
NOM chuckled at her.
“If it means anything, you can keep all of your seashells. I won’t be needing those.”
Magic shoveled them all into her bag. Snapping the clasp shut, she slung the bag over her shoulder and held her head up high.
“Good, because they’re mine. No one else's."
NOM laughed again.
“Yeah. All yours.”
The walk home was uneventful, and by the time they made it back to the tower all of the day’s activities crashed into her at once. Tired to the bone and exhausted out of her mind, Magic flopped onto her bed and buried herself underneath the covers.
Jade read her a bedtime story while NOM worked in the background. The sound of Jade’s voice telling her a story about a pack of wolves adopting a little sheep lured her to sleep.
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“Good morning Magic. Would you like to learn how to make paper?”
That was how she started her day. After eating another breakfast of freshly baked potatoes, Jade sat her down in one of the chairs and told Magic how to make paper. Using a bit of sugarcane they found in NOM’s chest (how it got there, she will never know), Jade guided her through the process. By noon, Magic had managed to make three whole sheets of paper by herself.
With the paper, Jade then taught her how to make origami with them. Folding the paper and cutting it just right to make various animals. The first animal she made was a crane. Then she made a wolf. And then she made two more wolves because Jade said, “NOM would be very happy if you made more.” So, one wolf for each of them.
They made origami until they ran out of paper, to which they went back to the crafting table to make more. Right when she made a second batch, NOM returned.
“Hey Magic! Do you trust me?”
Magic stared at him.
“Uh, yeah? Duh.”
NOM smiled.
“Great. Close your eyes for a bit.”
She did as he asked without hesitation.
“Don’t open them until I tell you too, okay? And hold out your hands. I’m gonna give you something.”
Doing as he said, she felt a bunch of thin cylinders be gently placed in her cupped palms. After eight little cylinders were in her hands, NOM spoke again.
“Alright, now open them.”
She couldn’t contain the delighted scream she let out as the eight cylinders turned out to be crayons. Sticks of dyed wax sat in the palm of her hands.
“Perfect to use on the paper Jade taught you to make.”
Magic jumped and skipped around the tower. Hardly able to control her joy as she hugged NOM and Jade a dozen times each. Thanking them for being her friends and letting her stay with them and giving her gifts and reading her stories.
When she finally calmed down, she immediately got to work. Using her new crayons to make a piece of art for her new friends. A drawing of the three of them together. On a beach with yellow sand, by a sea with blue water, and underneath a tree with orange leaves. NOM was coloured red and light gray, Jade with pink, and Magic with light blue. She used her last crayon, the purple one, to write at the bottom,
“My New Friends! :D”
The moment it got in NOM’s hands, he scanned it, copied it, and then pinned it above her bed.
“So you’ll always be reminded of who your real friends are.” NOM explained to her when she asked.
After a few more drawings, she realized that her crayons were slowly starting to run out. When she went to NOM about it, he simply answered,
“If you want me to make more, then keep practicing your knife throwing, alright?”
So she did. And as promised, NOM made her more crayons.
One day, when she was working on a drawing of Josh, Jade came over and asked her to draw something for them. While she worked on their drawing, NOM subtly snatched the page away and tossed it into the ocean. Letting the half-finished drawing of Josh sink beneath the waves.
When Magic asked where the drawing went, they distracted her again with more tasks and requests. Destroying any drawing she made of Josh until she finally stopped making them.
“Are we best friends, Magic?” NOM asked.
Magic looked up from the crayon drawing of him she was working on.
“Uh, yeah? Duh.”
He smiled and ruffled her hair.
“Good.”