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Droid was still getting used to... Everything. He had gotten a job, finally, under his parents insistence, and today was his first day. He went to pull on his shirt, something in-between formal and casual, but froze as he caught his reflection in the mirror.
Placed on his side, only noticable from how it caught the light, was a piece of metal imbedded in his skin. Droid picked at it, wincing when he pulled too harshly.
Droid shrugged, pulling his shirt on over his head and leaving his room, heading downstairs to get something to eat. He dug around in the fridge, pulling out some leftovers and throwing them in the microwave.
As it worked, he felt a strange tickling in the back of his mind, almost like that feeling when you know you're forgetting something but don't know what, or when you're having immense deja vu for something from your childhood. But not exactly. It was hard to describe.
Maybe it was more like feeling your heartbeat, or suddenly focusing on your breathing. Which he was now focusing on his breathing. Fuck.
Droid rolled his eyes at himself, opening the microwave as it beeped and taking out his leftovers, feeling the heat on his hands and expecting the cold center. If only he hadn't been so caught up in his thoughts, then maybe he would have remembered to mix it mid warm up.
Droid settled himself at his table--or, well, his parents table, but specifics didn't matter--mixing his food with a fork he had grabbed and digging in.
-----
Droid did a small spin in front of the bathroom mirror, a deep frown on his face. The metal had only grown, now taking up a substantial section of the side of his belly, another small patch blooming on his chest directly below his armpit.
He shook his head, pulling his shirt on over his head. He was just imagining things. Nothing was wrong. He would be fine.
-----
This was not fine! Droid peered close at his reflection, pulling at the skin under where a small slit of metal sat on his cheek, glinting in the bathroom light.
He could probably put a bandaid over it or something, claiming he had scratched himself or something, but what about when it grew? The patch on his belly had stunted in its growth, the bit on his chest slowing to a halt, but another couple of clusters had started developing on his legs and arms, leaving his joints feeling achy and tired.
Luckily, he didn't have to worry about his job, today being a day he had off, but what would his parents say if they found out?
He needed some fresh air.
-----
Droid kicked a rock through the soft layers of snow, watching as it scuttled away before vanishing in a collection of weeds. He scoffed, quickly abandoning it as he journeyed further into the dense woods, devoid of any greenery, rather replaced with a soft blanket of white over every surface it could comfortably cover.
Droid huffed out a breath, watching it cloud in front of his face before dissipating into the air as if it were never there. He kicked at the snow, his hands, one with an encroaching bud of metal, jammed deep in his pockets.
He looked up from where his gaze had been locked on the ground, squinting into the distance at a slight flash of movement. Something bright and colorful, so different from the plain white surrounding him currently.
He carefully inched closer, trying to be as quiet as possible in hopes of getting to see a glance of whatever creature was currently traipsing about.
Droid peered around a tree, and froze. Standing there, running a hand along a tall, frost covered tree, was a man with fluffy brown hair, wearing a thick, bright white winter coat.
That wasn't what caught Droid's attention, though. No, it was the tail. Trailing behind the man was a bright pink tail, almost like a rat's, only a bright, almost hot pink.
"What the fuck?" Droid let slip. The man immediately whirled around, looking like a deer in headlights.
His eyes shifted between pink, purple, yellow, orange, and some other color Droid couldn't hope to give a word to. His ears were pointed, turning the same shade of pink as his tail at the ends. The rest of him looked too human, immediately setting off a sense of uncanny valley in Droid.
Before the man-thing-whatever-he-was could get his bearings, Droid blurted out, "are you an elf?"
The being let out a shocked laugh, bringing a clawed hand up to their chest. "No, I'm not," they said, a strange echo at the back of their voice. Droid wasn't very inclined to believe them.
"Okay... What... Are you?" Droid asked, tilting his head. The elf hesitated, refusing to look Droid in the eyes. Droid really wished they would, their eyes were really interesting, they almost completely drew him in.
"I'm something called a... Xandrian," they said, wringing their hands together and still keeping their gaze locked on the ground, "that means I'm not human... Anymore."
"Anymore? You used to be?" Droid questioned, tilting his head like a dog.
"Yeah," the man? He was a man, right? answered. Droid nodded, taking in the information.
"And what are you doing out here?" Droid asked, signaling to the woods.
"I live here. Well, not here exactly, but nearby," they said, crossing their arms uncomfortably.
"I'm Droid," Droid introduced, holding his hand out for a handshake. After a few painstaking moments, the man reached their arm out, carefully wrapping their own clawed hand around Droid's.
"Pezzy," the man said, giving Droid a small smile. Droid nodded, immediately slotting that into place rather than 'the strange elf dude'. "You're very calm about all of this," Pezzy said, pulling his hand away.
Droid shrugged, quickly shoving his hand in his pocket once he realized he had held out the one with a bit of metal poking out of his sleeve. "Kinda used to weird shit."
"Weird shit... Like what?" Pezzy asked, tilting his head. The cold was starting to get to Droid, but he ignored it, too enthralled with Pezzy to pay it any mind.
"Well... I recently have been experiencing," Droid hesitated, looking down at his hand, before deciding fuck it and holding his arm out, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the metal coating almost half of his arm.
"What the fuck?" Pezzy whispered, staring at his arm with wide eyes.
"That's not everything, there's more... Everywhere," Droid hesitantly said, pulling his sleeve back down.
"I- I need to take you to Kryoz," Pezzy said, grabbing Droid's arm and starting to pull him along as he rambled. Droid went willingly, trusting Pezzy's judgement, despite having only met him ten minutes ago.
"He'll know what to do. How long has this been going on? Cause I think you're a Xandrian, but I honestly don't know enough about it to really say. All of us three had our triggers, so what about you? Did anything start this? Why would you start developing metal along your skin!?"
"I can't think of anything that could have triggered it," Droid answered once Pezzy went silent for a moment. The man nodded, quickly going back to rambling. Droid found he didn't mind.
"Maybe something did and we just don't know what. I was triggered by getting hurt, Puffer from swimming, and Kryoz from the cold, so there's a wide variety of options. Can you think of anything?"
"I just woke up one day and there was a bit of metal on my stomach. It grew and other patches developed, and now I'm here."
"And it doesn't... Hurt?" Pezzy asked, slowing his fast pace slightly.
"No? My joints are a little achy where there's metal, but other than that, nothing has hurt."
"And I thought I was lucky," Pezzy said, picking back up the pace, "come on, we're almost there."
They fell into a lull of silence as Droid focused on keeping up, Pezzy's hand still wrapped around his wrist; the same wrist with metal coating it.
They finally came to a stop at a small clearing, a large lake spreading out before them, a decrepit house being the only barrier.
"Kryoz!" Pezzy called out, leading Droid around the house and to the backyard, where a man in a t-shirt (a fucking t-shirt, in the middle of winter) and shorts (once again, winter) sat on a bench facing the water. He turned, freezing at the sight of Droid standing next to Pezzy.
"Pezzy, who is that?" Kryoz questioned, immediately on the defensive.
"Hi, I'm Droid," Droid said, stepping forward with a wave, "and Pezzy brought me here cause he said I might be a... What was the word?" Droid asked, turning to look at Pezzy.
"Kryoz, I'm quite sure he's a Xandrian like us," Pezzy chimed in, stepping into line at Droid's side. "Droid, show him!"
Kryoz stood and came closer, revealing he was also barefoot (this man and his strange ass winter attire). Droid rolled his sleeve up, once more showing off the metal casing stretching from around his wrist to a jagged point reaching to his inner elbow.
Kryoz gently grabbed the arm, his fingers as cold as ice, twisting it this way and that as he inspected it. Droid let him do as he wished, whatever it took for this strange man to trust him.
Kryoz ran a finger along the surface, sending shocks through Droid's body and making him involuntarily flinch, pulling his arm back in Kryoz's grip.
"Sorry," Kryoz said, though he sounded very distracted as he continued his scrutinizing. He gently ran a finger along the line where skin met metal, and Droid tried his best not to react to the odd, almost ticklish sensation.
Finally, Kryoz pulled away, though he kept his eyes trained on Droid's arm, a sense of almost curiosity brimming underneath the surface. Droid looked up at the sky, sucking in a breath between his teeth as he realized how low in the sky the sun had gotten.
"I should probably head back-"
"You can't," Kryoz interrupted, glare turning hard. "You can't go back. Not now that you've seen us."
"But... What about my job? My family!? My friends!?" Droid exclaimed, looking back the way he had come.
"I can't risk it. I'm sorry," Kryoz said, shaking his head. His face was blank, hidden of any emotion. Any remorse, any hatred, any guilt. Nothing to give away his true feelings on the subject. Just stone hard neutrality.
"I... No, but," Droid stuttered out, giving Pezzy a glance full of pure desperation. Pezzy couldn't meet his eyes.
"Do you have your phone on you?" Kryoz asked, holding his hand out as if he knew the answer already.
"Yes? Why?- No! No, you can't fucking cut me off!?" Droid exclaimed, taking a small step back, half prepared to flee.
"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Kryoz begged, making a motion with his hand for Droid to just hand the device over already.
"Kryoz," Pezzy spoke up, putting a hand on Droid's shoulder. "I didn't have anything to lose. I didn't have any close friends, I wasn't in contact with my family. I worked minimum wage at a place I hated. I almost got fucking murdered.
"Puffer didn't have a choice. You still get to go out and see the world, to meet people, to do things. We don't. I get why we don't, but you need to give him a moment to process." Pezzy turned to him, and he almost melted, his nerves both lighting on fire and relaxing at the same time. Please, not Pezzy. But at least it was Pezzy.
"Can I have your phone, Droid?" Pezzy asked, his hand still on Droid's shoulder. Droid slowly turned, being met with that uncanny face and those ever-changing eyes. And he couldn't find it in himself to say no.
He nodded, pulling it out of his pocket and handing it off to Pezzy, who tossed it to Kryoz to deal with however he saw fit. It felt like tearing a piece of himself away, in more ways than one. It almost broke him, the only thing holding him together being Pezzy's hold.
Pezzy shifted to let go, but Droid shot his hand up, shakily holding the man in place. Pezzy immediately understood, running his thumb in small circles on his shoulder.
Droid couldn't look away from the ground, only hearing the crunch of Kryoz's steps as he left, wandering into the woods to dispose of the phone however he saw fit.
Pezzy gently led him to the water's edge, silently instructing him to sit down. He did so, his hands shaking. It felt like he just lost a part of himself. Not just his life, but himself. He felt lost, drifting, unable to latch back onto anything.
Pezzy ran a hand along the surface of the freezing cold lake, pushing away a layer of frost. Droid was surprised it wasn't completely frozen.
A literal merman popped up a moment later, drifting back in shock at Droid. Droid couldn't find it in himself to care. He was too... Lost. Numb. Sure, he was just cut off from everything he knew, everything he loved, but this felt... Different.
"Pezzy? Who's this?" the fish man asked, drifting closer and wrapping clawed hands around the jut of land hovering just over the water, looking moments away from collapse.
"This is... Droid," Pezzy said, his frown only growing as he looked at Droid. Droid just stared distantly into the water, trying to find the source of this feeling. Sure, he felt horrible about loosing any chance at seeing his family or friends again, but this feeling more so stemmed from losing his phone. It felt like he lost his spark, his motivation, his energy, his reason to move and act.
"Is he alright?" the merman asked, poking a clawed finger at Droid's snow pants. Pezzy pursed his lips, dragging his hand up and down Droid's still exposed arm. Unlike earlier where he had given at least a bit of a response to Kryoz, now he gave nothing. He barely felt the touch, and that would have scared him if he had the energy to feel such a strong emotion.
No, instead it cut deep, feeling like bugs crawling deep under his skin, only adding to the overarching feeling of wrong. All wrong. Voices were speaking to him, but he couldn't hear them over his ears ringing, a faint humming that was the only thing that cut through the wrong.
He blinked, and he was inside, a concerned Pezzy leading him through the house. He was placed against a wall in what was clearly a kitchen, the fridge humming to his side. He curled into himself, trying to get his mind back under control.
If he was being honest, despite still living with family, he was fine with staying here. He liked Pezzy. It felt like they clicked. He wished he could say goodbye, but he understood. He would miss his friends, but recently it felt as if they were growing distant, only talking once a week at most to try to make plans that never happened.
So, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't mind staying here. He actually kind of liked it. Being cut off from the world, just surrounded by people that were going through the same weird ass shit as you.
Yet there remained that lack of energy, still. It had faded slightly, and his right hand kept twitching as if to expel some sudden energy, hitting against the fridge. He leaned against the appliance, his side giving off a strange, pleasant, tingly feeling.
Pezzy was pacing, clearly able to tell something more was wrong with him than just being cut off from his life, but not knowing what. Droid closed his eyes, focusing on the sense of the floor under him, the wall to his back, and the fridge to his side.
He opened his eyes at someone tapping his shoulder, letting out a curious hum. Kryoz was crouched in front of him, looking deep into his eyes.
"You comfortable there, Droid?" Kryoz asked, pulling his hand away. Droid found himself nodding, despite not knowing why. He really didn't want to move. Out there consisted only of a strange, numb feeling. At least here he was slightly more lucid.
"Is... Is he okay? He just shut down once you left and he wouldn't respond to anything until I took him inside!" Pezzy rambled, nervously wringing his hands together.
"Droid?" Kryoz asked.
"Hmm?" Droid hummed, trying to shuffle closer to the fridge.
"How do you feel?" Droid squinted as he thought, working his tongue in his mouth to try to find his voice again.
"Drained," he pushed out, "tired. Numb. Kinda floaty but... In a bad way."
"Drained," Kryoz repeated to himself, looking around the room. He stood, pulling open a drawer and taking something out before returning to Droid, holding the items out. A pair of batteries, fizzling in his palm. "Take these, I wanna test something."
Droid nodded, taking the offered items and feeling as energy rushed through his body. The effect was almost immediate, dragging him out of his half asleep state.
He sat up, rolling the batteries around in his palm, feeling as sparks flowed through his skin, powering his mind. Kryoz nodded in satisfaction as if he had come to some conclusion, which Droid was very much looking forward to hearing, as he was still in the dark about what was going on.
"Is he better? What did you do?" Pezzy asked, stepping closer and crouching down to sit against the wall at Droid's side.
"He runs off electricity," Kryoz explained, pointing to the batteries, "he was draining it from his phone battery, then when he lost that, he started stealing from my fridge. Just gave him a better outlet."
"Really?" Droid muttered, looking down at the batteries.
"Current running theory, and it's proving itself so far," Kryoz said, shrugging. He stood, turning to leave the room. "I'll leave you two be, let me know when you start feeling sluggish again. Tomorrow, if you haven't progressed too much, we can head back to get some of your stuff."
Droid excitedly nodded, a bright smile on his face. Pezzy leaned into him, looking into his hand. "You run on fucking double A? Weak, I run on spite," the man joked.
Droid shoved him away, flicking him in the forehead. "Is that why you're a literal twig?"
Pezzy let out a mock offended gasp, pushing Droid back, who got pressed into the fridge as he laughed. Droid shoved the batteries in his pocket as he stuck his tongue out at Pezzy, who replicated the action.
"You're so childish-"
"You literally did it first!"
-----
Droid led Kryoz into his house, giving a half-kinda tour as they passed each room on the way to his bedroom, giving a useless fun fact about each: that's the kitchen, I've made a bowl of cereal in there at least once; there's the living room where I've never had a sleepover; bathroom, you do not wanna know what can go on in there, or you do, I dunno you that well yet.
Eventually they reached his bedroom, where he started scouring his closet for any clothes he needed, while Kryoz looked around the room, admiring all the little trinkets scattered about. After a bit, Kryoz picked up a bag and began delicately placing items inside, taking great care not to damage anything.
Droid stopped after a while, just watching the man quietly work. Kryoz turned to him, squinting as he tried to figure out Droid's inner thoughts.
"What?" he eventually asked, going back to treating a plastic figurine as if it were literal china.
"You're being so careful, it's sweet," Droid admitted, not even trying to hide his cooing. Kryoz froze, his shoulders tense and his face hidden from Droid's sight.
"Would you rather I carelessly throw it all in and break everything? Cause I can do that," Kryoz grumbled out, holding something that was actually fragile in his hand, teasingly swaying it back and forth over the wood floor.
"No! I was kidding! I just think it's sweet!" Droid exclaimed, reaching out for the item. Kryoz pulled it back, gently placing it in the bag and going back to work. Droid rolled his eyes, bringing his focus back to his closet.
Once they finished, Droid left a note on the kitchen counter, talking about how a friend had offered to let him move in, and how their place was closer to his job. It felt bad lying to them, but at least it wasn't to their faces. And it was for a good reason.
Kryoz led them back to his house, helping Droid up to his own room. Droid had stayed in Pezzy's the night before, the man refusing to allow Droid to stay in a place covered in such a thick layer of dust it was practically a hazard.
The room now was clean, every speck of dust missing from every flat surface it previously had rested on. There were new sheets on the bed, smelling of fresh laundry, along with the blankets, except for one. He recognized it from Pezzy's room, a soft, thin blanket that he had honestly hogged all of last night.
There was a simple, old fashioned wardrobe in the corner, and bedside tables on either side of the large bed. The room severely lacked decor, other than the handful of batteries on one of the tables, clearly placed there by Pezzy.
"I was planning on cleaning this up, but looks like Pezzy beat me to it," Kryoz commented, leaning the bag he had been carrying against the wall. Droid nodded, resting his own bag next to the other.
It was honestly sweet, and filled his heart with a strange warmth. Pezzy had cleaned this up for him. Pezzy had refused to allow him to sleep here last night, stubborn as a mule as he complained about the stupidity of sleeping in such a dusty environment (despite having done so himself his first night there). Pezzy had put a bunch of batteries on the nightstand for him in case he woke up lacking the energy he needed.
Droid smiled, running a hand over the bed, feeling the soft blanket Pezzy had gifted him under his fingertips. "This was nice of him," was all Droid said, his voice sickly sweet.
"I'll let you get settled in, then. I'll be outside if you need me," Kryoz said, swiftly leaving the room. Droid watched him go, looking around the room, which held almost the same layout as Pezzy's, mentally planning where all his belongings should fall.
-----
Droid rubbed his eyes as he woke up, feeling exhausted. He reached for a couple of the batteries on his nightstand, finding they lacked the usual spark they carried. Were they dead? Maybe he should ask Kryoz to recharge his collection again.
He slid out of bed, grabbing the batteries as he made his way downstairs, dismissing his bed head. He was tired. It could go ignored until he had the energy to care about his looks.
He jumped at a touch on his shoulder, spinning around to find Pezzy with a very perplexed look on his face. Droid tilted his head, too tired to care about answering vocally. Pezzy's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Now that Droid was focusing on it, everything was quiet. Deathly quiet.
He had originally chalked it up to morning drowsiness, but as he looked out the window, he noticed the sun already high in the sky, looking to be almost noon already. Droid focused back on Pezzy, who was still speaking, his expression only growing more and more concerned.
Droid brought his hands to his ears, still finding them there. What was he expecting? His ears to suddenly be missing? That his lack of hearing was from a lack of ears!?
He gave Pezzy a look that probably showed off just how terrified and confused he was, but he was too exhausted to try to hide it. Pezzy's frown only grew, and he kept talking, his voice falling on deaf (literally) ears.
Droid shook his head, pointing to his ears to try to signal that he couldn't fucking hear! Pezzy finally stopped talking, reaching out for Droid's hands and taking them in his own. He said something slowly, clearly enunciated, and Droid focused to try to read his lips.
What's wrong? Droid frowned, not trusting his voice when he couldn't hear it himself to try to explain. He turned, dragging Pezzy along by the hold he kept on one of his hands, leading him to the kitchen.
He let go of Pezzy's hand to scour the drawers filled with miscellaneous items, dropping his handful of batteries on the counter, growing increasingly annoyed as he didn't find what he wanted. Pezzy tapped him on the shoulder, and he whirled around, meeting the man's worried but soft, patient face.
Pezzy pointed to Kryoz, who had come into the kitchen at some point, standing in the entryway, watching the scene unfold. Droid turned to the man, who said something that Droid decided to ignore.
Droid moved his hand about in the air, trying to mime writing with a pen, and Kryoz nodded, leaving the room. He came back a moment later with a pen and a notepad, handing it to Droid.
Droid took it, scribbling something out before handing it off to Pezzy, who showed it to Kryoz with a distraught look.
I cant hear anything
Kryoz squinted at the paper, before saying something to Pezzy, who started dragging Droid along with them as Kryoz led them throughout the house. They filed into one of the bathrooms, where Pezzy led Droid to stand in front of the mirror. Droid looked at his reflection, and jumped.
Placed atop his head were two fluffy ears, something between a dog, a cat, a fox, and probably something else he wasn't thinking of at the moment. He leaned forward, the ears pinning flat against his head as he turned this way and that, trying to see them better.
He whirled around to look at Pezzy, Kryoz once more lingering in the doorway. Pezzy reached out, taking Droid's hand in his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Droid took a deep breath, looking to Kryoz, who had started writing something out on the notepad he had carried with him. He turned it to Droid, and despite the one word spiking his anxiety, the message reassured him slightly.
this should be temporary. think ur brain is rerouting ur hearing. should be good soon
Droid gave Kryoz a small smile, and Kryoz passed the notepad back to him, letting him have control over what he wanted to say. Droid wrote something down, showing it to Pezzy and getting a silent chuckle from the man.
tired
drained
Pezzy said something, probably something along the lines of "let's get you to bed," before dragging Droid to his room, silently instructing Droid to lay down before leaving the room.
Droid waited for a few minutes before Pezzy came back, holding a few batteries. He handed them to Droid before grabbing the notepad Droid had set on the nightstand, writing something and showing it to Droid.
K said ur probs drained from the ears. youll feel better once ur body adapts
Droid just underlined the word adapts in a way of mocking the man, letting out an involuntary squeak that he had no clue what it sounded like but sent Pezzy to be doubled over in laughter when the man pushed him, almost knocking him off the side of the bed.
Droid huffed as Pezzy climbed into bed, curling against the man's side and finally allowing his exhaustion to pull him into a deep, dreamless sleep.