george watched the struggle for a moment, then reached down and picked up the twins as they struggled through the snow. "Here" he said, putting them on his shoulders as he waded easily through the snow "This is easier." He really didn't seem to understand how much the twins hated him.
"HEY! LET GO!" they shouted when they were grabbed. "PISS OFF GEORGE!" they added, immediately jumping down from his shoulders when he let go of them. They landed roughly in the snow, dropping falling down with axes in their hands. Thankfully, neither had gotten hurt, "You don't just grab people like that!"
"sorry... sorry, you were struggling"
George said gently, working his hands together and just staring down at the twins, who had just dropped from him "I... I didn't mean to worry you." He shuffled his feet slightly in the snow "do... do you want a lift? I'm... I'm sorry for not asking before."
"Get away from us!"
they shouted, helping one another out of the snow. The twins were trying to get along with the robot, but he was just such an inept idiot and he had just REALLY pissed them off. "Didn't Rhydian fix you?" Jayden asked angrily, getting to his feet and helping his brother before grabbing the axes.
"I... I'm a person... I don't... you can't... fix me"
George said, obviously hurt by what the twins said "I'm... I'm not broken. I'm not..." He turned away at once, moving quickly away through the snow, kicking up great plumes of the white cold powder. He was trying. But he wasn't going to be there if the twins didn't want him to be.
The twins scowled at George as he walked off. Person? Please... he was a thing, a thing in denial! Nothing about George was human whatsoever, even IF he was capable of free will. You can't be a person when you are a machine, no matter how much you may think and feel that you are.
The twins turned and looked onward at the woods, but they heard a familiar female voice in their heads that stopped them from going on. Slowly, the boys looked back at George and shouted, "Wait!" Their mother may be gone from Jayden and Jaden's lives, but part of her still lived on through them.
George paused in the walk from the twins, just stopping there and staring at the pristine white snow in front of him. No one would ever accept him. No one would see him as... anything more... no one... but he could only turn his head slightly back towards the direction of the boys and say quietly "Yes?"
There was that voice again, in their heads... their mother prodding them to do the right thing and accept him. With a reluctant sigh, the
twins said, "Listen- we're sorry...."
"We shouldn't have yelled like that."
"That just really caught us off guard."
Then together, they asked, "Come with us, won't you?"
George seemed to be hunched over slightly, as if not sure if he should listen to them. He was silent for a while, then said quietly "I'm... I'm not broken... You... you can't just... fix me. I don't want to be... to be fixed... I want to be me. I don't want to have someone putting pieces in my brain and telling me to do things. That's how I... why everyone hates me now. People... using me... I'm... I'm a person." He still hadn't moved. He was reluctant to go back to their side.
The twins didn't know why they were suddenly being told this. They had just asked him to come along and that they were sorry. The boys could care less about his identity issues. "We don't care what you are, we want you to come chop down a tree with us. Just don't grab us like that again."
George balled his fists up slowly "I just..." he turned around slowly, looking over at the twins again; robots shouldn't really be able to display that they were sad, but he managed somehow "I made a mistake... people make mistakes... I can learn from my mistakes... I don't need fixing."
The twins preventing themselves from rolling their eyes and simply said, "Alright already, whatever you say. We already apologized." They rested the axes on their shoulders and said, "Now- we are going to cut down a tree and you're more than welcome to come along...or you can mope around in the garden by yourself. Up to you." For a giant robot who was convinced he was human, he wasn't very manly.
They hadn't apologised for treating him like that. They'd said sorry for yelling, but nothing else.
george bowed his head slowly and nodded towards the twins. Fine. He would come. He carefully made his way back towards the twins, eyes on the snow he was kicking up and arms by his side. He had to try.
The twins turned again and made their way trudging through the snow toward the woods. They could easily hover, but doing it this way was always a bit more fun. Though all aspects of fun were out the window now that George pissed them off.
George's great crime had been to try and help them. They were struggling through snow, so he had picked them up to help them along the way. Yes, silly, but George wasn't exactly very good at interacting with people. Be as indignant as they liked, he had tried to help, to be there for them. He'd gotten yelled at and insulted for his efforts. The only reason he was coming along for this was... well... he didn't... want to be alone.
The twins kept going, making to the woods in one piece and thankfully the snow wasn't as deep with the forest cover. They wondered if it was the best that they had decided to let George tag along. If he tried to grab them again, he would end up being tossed on the other end of the property, that's for sure.
But he didn't. He didn't do anything really, except for follow them along. He had learnt not to grab them. He wasn't sure why, but he'd been told not to. He was just waiting for them to do... well... whatever the hell they were doing here.
The twins slowed down. "You alright?" they asked, hoping it was something their mother would do in a situation like this.
"I don't think i'll ever figure out how to live around humans"
George said gently, staring off into the middle-distanc
e as he just walked along, slowing down as he noticed the twins were getting nearer "I'm... trying to understand... but every day, people seem to hate me more and more."
"Sure you will." Jayden said, trying to be friendly. "You've not been here for that long anyway."
"Our mother was the first of her kind to come to earth." began Jaden, "She didn't fit in right away either."
"Heh...Dad used to tell us stories about the strange things she would do. Like mixing up a bunch of random foods into a big bowl.....or the clothing she wore or the ridiculous things she would say at the worst time...all while trying to learn our culture." Jayden added.
"It took several years for her to even start to get the hang of it, but from what we've heard, she kept an upbeat attitude and got better all the time." Jaden went on, "She still even does silly things from time to time. Well... did." The twins cut themselves off and grew quiet.
"Point is- you'll get used to it here and in time, we will all get used to you. What made our mother's experience a little different was that she had people supporting her and....we'll do our best to support you, ok? We know what it's like to be outcasted. We aren't Earthlings nor Aztrentians... we are as rogue as you are."
"You still have people here who like you" George pointed out "Even if you made mistakes, there is someone who would be willing to forgive you, you have roots, and family, and friends. And if you fall out with people here, you can move away, you can hide as someone else, you can pretend to be normal." George gently scratched across his chest plate "I make people scared just by them looking at me, and even if I try to leave, the robots that look like me are responsible for the deaths of thousands. I can never start again. We are both outcasts in certain ways... but you have the chance... of starting again."
"It's not as easy as it sounds. We've tried doing that....running away...
"It just makes it harder." the twins explained.
"What if.... nah... it's stupid." Jaden trailed off.
"What?" asked his brother.
Jaden looked up at George. "Now I know you don't want to be 'fixed' but what about...altered? I'm not sure if it's possible... but what would you think about moving to a different body? One that is....smaller and less...uhm... robot looking?"
"Yes, I wouldn't mind that... my body is a bit... large... and dangerous" george was glad he hadn't had a reason to whip out any kind of weapon yet. Well, he had, but he hadn't reacted to the twin's attack before "I... don't mind my... body being made... smaller... look human... but I don't want my mind... what is inside... to change. If that makes any sense."
"Of course not...you wouldn't be the same." the twins said, pleased that he wasn't offended by their offer. "Not sure what Eliza is capable of...but we know she has a lot on her plate right now. The school has a lot of connections with various technology corporations though. We'll see if we can figure something out."
"We should be thankful to our parents that they've done so many favors for those people."
"If we can't get something that looks human, even just a scaling down would suffice....so you can at least fit in the building well enough."
"I wouldn't even care if it made me weaker, or removed the tools and weapons I have. So long as I'm still me, inside, and I'm... more like a person..." that's what he wanted, more than anything else, to be considered a person. He wanted to live a normal life. A regular life. He wanted to forget his old existence.
"Well we'll talk to Eliza later. In the meantime... spot a tree you like? Preferably one of the bigger ones."
"It's for inside of the dancehall." the twins explained.
"I... have difficulty discerning one tree's best qualities from others" George admitted, looking around at them "But... this tree appears to be strong and healthy." george pointed to a tree several feet away "But that will mean that sappy residue with be produced in copious amounts. That tree, over there" George indicated another tree, smaller and a bit brown "Is dying. It will likely lose needles more, but the sap produced will be much less."
"Looks like you are doing a good job." a twin commented. "We usually try to find a big one...with as many green needles as possible and nice branches.
"I suggest you go for that one" George pointed over towards a large tree, though smaller than the first one he had indicated "It has very bright green needles and the branches seem strong but not too separated as to laeve bald spots."
"Perfect choice, George." The twins agreed and headed over. The trunk was a bit thick for their small axes, but they didn't have anything on them and started wacking away at it.
George, happy that he'd made a good choice, stood back and let the twins hack at the trunk with their axes. They didn't seem very used to this though, they were getting through but... well, it wasn't very controlled. "Would you... like a hand?" George asked before he intervened this time.
The twins stopped and looked at him breathlessly. They had managed to hack away several inches into the trunk after snapping away thick bark chunks. "You sure?" one asked.
George nodded and moved over towards the tree. "You... might want to take a step back" he said gently to the twins, looking down at the two of them as they stood beside the tree.
Since he didn't reach for the axes, the only assumed what he was doing, "Ohh... you're going to use your fancy robot skills, huh?" Jayden asked, stepping back with his brother.
"Oh? I... suppose they're... fancy robotic skills" George said, blinking at Jayden as he put his hands on either side of the tree; there was a pause, where he did nothing, not even move his hands. Then the tree, already weakened by the swings of the axes, snapped at the base. The harrowing CRUNCH it made as the solid tree snapped echoed through the rest of the forest, sounding like the world's biggest bone being snapped. George supported the weight quickly, moving around to try and stop it from swinging wildly in his grip. "Is that okay?" he asked the twins.
"Uhm..." they trailed off. "That's great." they lied. Sure it had saved them some time, but the part that it had snapped was frayed and splintered. The tree lifted out of George's hands by the twin's ability and hovered over them. The twins grabbed their axes and held them over their shoulders. "Let's head back."
George nodded, then began to brush gentle at the end of the tree that was all splintered, trying to make it smoother. He could do it because metal couldn't get splinters, and he could smooth out the base slightly so it sat better in the dining room.
"Hold on, champ, let's fix the edges when we get back." Jaden said, seeing that he was trying to fix his mess. "You saved us a lot of time though, good job.
"I didn't want to create a mess when I got back" George said simply, pulling his hands back from the edge of the tree. He walked back towards the mansion with the twins, looking on ahead; it was a surprise really, how he could crack a tree in half like that but he tended to be gentle and uncertain in his movements around others.
"We need to chop off those sharp edges with an axe." they clarified for him. His strength was an asset, but he would be unable to get the smoothness necessary for the dance room.
George nodded slowly. He was pretty sure he could find a way to get the edges so smooth that it would be perfectly round, but he didn't bother mentioning it. They wanted to do it, obviously.
The twins walked on, hovering the tree above the forest so it wouldn't get tangled. "Thanks for coming out with us." they said.
"Thank you for having me" George believed that was the appropriate response. He liked that he was able to take part in this, it made him feel a little more accepted.
"You were told about the holiday season, right?" the twins asked, not sure what Rhydian did and did down download for him.
"I looked it up" George said gently, nodding slowly at the twins while obviously thinking "I was uncertain what to get people as gifts, but I believe that I did well."
"You're done?" Jayden asked. The two of them hadn't the chance to go out shopping just yet. They had a few weeks left though.
"How?" asked Jaden. He couldn't just walk into a store.
"I... made them..." George said slowly, shrugging as if this was obvious "Out of what I could find. Rock, wood, just stuff lying around."
"Ahh... got it. We still have to go shopping." they confessed, "Want anything specific?"
"Ummm... no... no I don't think I can think of anything. Maybe a book. I like downloading articles from the internet, but not all books are in accessible places, and I do not wish to go to the more... unhealthy parts of the computer world" George did not like the idea of catching a computer virus.
"Noted." the boys said with wide smiles as they came up to the school now. They should probably ask around at what the others would want to.
"I'm afraid people might not like their gifts" George said, running his hands together slowly "I'm... not used to this... so I had to rather... guess."
"I think the gesture is still there and everyone can appreciate that. I doubt they are all expecting you to know all this stuff already." they explained.
George nodded. One of the best gifts he probably could have given everyone right now was to disappear and pretend that he never existed. He didn't want to do that though... his one selfish act so far.
The twins set the tree down and picked up their axes. "Did you wanna give it a shot cleaning all these jagged parts off?"
"Well, I thought you might enjoy it, but I can try if you would rather I did" George said with a small nod, looking at the tree that was set on the floor in front of him.
Jaden handed over his axe, "Here you are."
George took the axe, placing the edge of the blade against the side of the tree trunk base. His hands began to vibrate suddenly, sheering the cracked edges off as if he was taking a belt sander too it instead of an axe head. Only his hands were shaking, and the look on his face was of incredible concentration.
the twins stood back, but kept a pull down on the tree, not wanting any debris to fly at them. It was...working actually. Not in the way intended, but they said nothing about it.
George knew not to make the bottom round, because that would make the tree unstable, so he was basically just chipping off the broken edged and planning on leading the base almost completely flat. It was taking him a little while, and the axe wasn't doing very well, but he was keeping everything in control.
When he finished, the twins lifted the tree and started snapping away dead or weak branches, tossing them over their shoulder onto the ground. This was so much easier with multiple people, but themselves and George would have to do.
George examined the axe head, which was now very dull. He sighed gently and put it on the floor carefully, watching as the branches were being carefully picked by the twins. Without thinking, he raised a hand to pull off one that had died, not imagining he could be getting in the way.
George was very in the way, but the twins let him do his thing. They had yelled at him once before and didn't want to do it again. Instead, they stepped aside to the other end of the tree to trim it. George seemed a bit sensitive for being a robot and if making him upset made Waya upset, they wanted to stay on his good side.
Making George upset would probably secretly make Waya happy, but luckily the twins didn't know that. He still plucked a few branches he noticed, not realising that the twins had moved around so he wasn't blocking their view.
"How's that side?" the twins asked, finishing up on theirs.
"I don't see a spot of brown needles" George said, lying. He spotted quite a few, but they were singular and lost among the other needles, like a brown needle in a green needle stack; he didn't want to waste time however, so he decided he might as well lie.
The twins picked up the tree and spun it around, flinging anything else that was loose away. "Alright... we're going to bring this inside. You coming?"
"No... no, I'll stay out here" George said, shrugging gently and looking towards the main doors "I'll see it from the window though, don't worry. I just... don't feel welcome in there right now."
"Why?" they asked, "Listen, no one hates you...they just don't know you very well and it does you no good to keep it that way."
"I... hate... me" George said bashfully, raising a hand up in the air as if bashfully casting his vote "I was created for an evil and twisted purpose, and my existence is a blight on this world and a stain on Waya's life that might NEVER come off. I just... well, it would have been better if I had never existed."
"Jeez..." Jayden tilted his head, "You're kind of a downer, aren't you? We can't exactly help if you hate yourself, George."
"We aren't psychologists...or robo-technicians for that matter, but if you haven't noticed everyone in this hell hole of a world has their problems and their downfalls. You just need to adapt and learn to live with them. Mom always said your struggles make you stronger. You were created as an evil robot. Que sera sera..."
"We are banished princes with no hope of finding a belonging or kindness. Twice now, we lost the woman we love most... you just sort of ....try to deal with it."
"I am an evil robot. I was designed to drive a girl to the brink of insanity and almost did so" George pointed out to the twins "While... yes, you have difficulties, terrible difficulties, which I think you need to fix before you start worrying about mine, but I think you have... just... a little more hope than you imagine. Even if you decide that this place is unable to be fixed, which I don't think is the case, you can still create another home, another lot of kindness and love. It is possible... because you have these memories of how things should be, of a loving parent and a warm and close home. This is the place I am... growing up... in. I have arrived in the depths of insanity, where there is a lot missing from everyone's life, and I do not feel comfortable... learning... from one particular person."
"Just give it time, alright?" the twins asked, heading to the front door. It was the largest and would surely fit the tree. "Now...quite your whining and get your bolted ass in here with us. No excuses." they said and opened up the doors to the The School Entrance Hall
"No... look... just... no" George said, peeking inside of the school entrance hall. He spotted Waya in a moment, seemed to freeze faster than the snow on the ground, pulled back from the sheer sight of her, then fled from the scene.
Phinagin walked out from the edge of the school property where he was double examining the new security/defenses system that he had sent for. He saw George running away from the door and hollered for him. "George!"
George slowed down, but didn't stop until he was a good few feet away from the front door. He then slowly made his way towards Phinagin, wondering what the boy would want with a giant robot.
"You busy doing laps or could you help me with something?" Phinagin asked. Honestly he found the Sentinel awfully interesting. He guessed it had something to do with his father's line of work.
"I can... help. What is it you want?" George asked carefully, scanning Phinagin to see if he was carrying hints of what he wanted help with. George still wasn't 100% sure on who he could trust in the mansion. Some might want him dead after all.
"I'm expecting packages today, hopefully soon." Phinagin started explaining, "I may be strong but I still won't be able to carry everything by myself." he stopped there, hoping George would catch onto the rest.
George nodded slowly, but looked thoughtful "Alright. But I am not allowed to be seen by anyone outside of these walls. So it is best if you tell me when they're here."
"Don't worry, if anyone does see you just stand still and I will say you are a statue." Phinagin said as he patted the awkward robot. He wasn't entirely sure when the delivery would arrive, so he decided to make small talk. "How are you handling your change of programing?"
"They didn't really change my programming. Waya removed some ages ago, and Rhydian just put an access to wikipedia in it's place, so my programming doesn't collapse" George said, wondering why everything seemed to think he had been "changed" or "fixed" in some way.
"Well, technically speaking, any addition or subtraction from your programing constitutes a change of programing." Phinagin said, getting specific. "So even if they put in a new line of code that said at one o'clock a.m. on every third friday of every even numbered month you will speak with an Italian accent for two minutes, it is still a change of programing." he spoke as he walked slowly towards the front entrance of the school grounds from the road.
"But my code is constantly changing. That would be like me asking a human 'how is that new thought going?', it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense," George pointed out, walking along with Phinagin "I don't read scripts from my head, the same you don't think out every movement. There's a thousand different connections and I only get presented with the end products, like moving, or a little justification before the results, like speech."
"But how can you function properly with a non-set codeing?" Phinagin asked, more to himself then George. This Sentinel was a huge puzzle that he wanted to put together.
"The same way a human must. Having a few, very basic, sets, and then learning. Slowly, compared to other machines, and probably not as intelligent, but still... functioning through multiple protocols with a few basic underlying script codes allows you to learn surprisingly well, though it doesn't always explain what you learned." George said with a small shrug. He wasn't sure completely how his brain worked either, but he was trying.
"True, but no one programmed us when we were born. We just are this way." Phinagin said, "Someone made you that way and how they did it is seemingly spectacular."
"Well... no, I disagree with you" George said with a shrug "I think that humans are programmed form birth as well. Except you don't notice it as much. You're programmed to explore, taste, try things, fear strange animals or noises. Children can differentiate mother from non-mother. This is a philosophical debate now, the debate between innate reasoning and tabula rasa, and I think it will take rather a long time to discuss this with an unsatisfactory end.
"Well then, aren't you a very deep individual." Phinagin said with a shake of his head. "You and me are going to have many a talk in the future."
Coming around the edge of the building were Junior and Maribel. It was cold and there was snow on the ground, but they'd come out without jackets, which meant they wouldn't be staying. Junior was holding Maribel's hand.
Maribel didn't seem like she had much choice in the matter of hand holding since she didn't have the ability to speak her mind about it either. When she saw Phinagin and George, she waved with her other hand and smiled at them.
Phinagin spotted the two of them and waved back. He was a bit curious about the hand holding, but didn't fell it was his place to say anything about it. "How are you two today?"
"Good." Junior said letting go of Maribel's hand so he could put his in his pocket. "We're all going sledding in the Danger Room. We came out to invite you."
"I'm actually waiting on something to arrive." Phinagin said, pointing with his thumb towards the front of the grounds. "But once I get that situated I would be glad to join you all. Can't really speak for George though."
Maribel clapped, pleased that he would be joining the others sledding, 'We will hopefully have a little party afterward too... sort of a pre-christmas get together.' she explained, then looked up at George, wondering if he will be coming too.
Junior looked at George, hoping he bowed out. Tempers were high right now and having the thing that had raped their captain for what to her seemed like months participating, might cause some unwanted tension.
George looked down at Maribel, seeming to smile for a moment, before looking around at Junior. His face fell, and his eyes seemed to glow less; he realised just how bad that idea was really. "No, thank you Maribel," he replied, shaking his head and looking away, so she didn't see the disappointment in his face "I think I will... pass."
Maribel looked at Junior, 'Would the danger room be able to support George if he were to come with?'
"I don't see why not." Junior said, fanning interest. "It can withstand a nonsecular attack, surely it'll be fine."
Maribel smiled and nodded, looking up at Geroge for approval.
"That... wasn't the issue Maribel" George said, looking down at the floor as he spoke "It wasn't that I didn't think it could hold me. It was more... well... people don't want me there." Junior was one of them. He was glaring daggers at George when they weren't looking.
Junior couldn't lie. This thing had brutalized the girl of his dreams. He wouldn't at all mind seeing how much you could get for recycling scrap metal these days.
Maribel frowned, not really knowing what to say to that. 'I'm sorry...' she signed meekly.
Waya appeared from the shadow of an overgrown half dead hedge behind them. Phinagin, Junior, George and Maribele. She approached and interrupted. "Anyone mind if I grab Junior for a sec?" She asked, sounding much different than she had during the last six weeks.
Maribel turned when Waya spoke. What was she doing out in the bushes? It was cold enough out here in a sweater and she hadn't anything on for warmth. Maribel shook her head and looked at Junior.
Junior raised his eyebrow at Waya. She was acting strangely. "Ok..." He said and approached her cautiously.
George immediately snapped his gaze to Waya as she appeared; a sound came from his head, something cross between a dial-up connection and a radio being inexpertly tuned. It took him a moment, but George managed to get a grip on what to do. He hid. It wasn't very effective, considering the hulking robot merely took a few steps to the side, behind Maribel, then crouched down. She was hardly the greatest shield.
Maribel was a bit stupefied when the giant robot tried to hunker down behind her. She lifted her arms to the sides and turned around, looking back at what he was doing.
George was about face level with her when he was right down like this, so when Maribel turned around she was effectively staring straight ahead at George. Right in the face. George looked worried, and his eyes moved down to the floor at once when Maribel looked at him. He just needed to hide.
Phinagin saw the robot's discomfort and figured this was why he was running away earlier. "Hey, I think I just heard brakes squeaking up by the gate." he said as he banged on George's leg with his fist like he was knocking on a door. "Lets go ahead and go."
As Waya and Junior spoke anyone who cared to notice would immediately begin to notice Junior's irritation. They couldn't hear exactly what the two were talking about, but there was a general idea that they were discussing something concerning the twins. Waya seemed to be convincing Junior of something, trying to calm him down.
Maribel watched Phin shuffle George away, then looked over at Waya and Junior, making a note of their expressions. She had no idea what was going on so she wrapped her arms around herself and shuffled back and forth, hopping a little. It was freezing out here.
george looked over at Phinagin, obviously more than a little upset about what was going on. He didn't like being around Waya... for obvious reasons. "Alright" he said gently to Phinagin all the same "I'll... join you in a moment. I'm just... preoccupied."
Maribel rubbed her arms faster for warmth. A plain sweater wasn't enough to keep out the cold for too long. She really wished Junior and Way would hurry it up.
Phinagin was surprised that George wasn't leaping at the chance to get further away from Waya by coming along with him now. "She can still see you. She won't be able to when you're on the other side of the school." he said in a loud whisper.
Junior's voice shouted: "Fuck-" something or other and he turned away from Waya, headed back towards Maribel. "Come on Mari, let's get you back where it's warm." If it were at all possible Junior seemed redder than normal. He didn't exactly wait for her to comply before grabbing her hand and heading towards the school kitchen. Without Maribel George was left without his human shield.
Waya looked exasperated but let Junior take his leave, walking back calmly to the group. "Hey George." Waya said in a completely nonthreatening manner. George had been keeping his distance... she would probably talk to him later too. She needed to make it perfectly clear to him that he had not been the total cause of her attitude as of late. She finished her greeting by saying Phinagin's name also, extending her "hay" to him as well. She'd probably not spoken to him face to face in at least a week and before then it had likely been no more than a passing grunt. For what it was worth, she seemed much more relaxed than she had been as of late. Less pissed at the world and more... Meh... if meh could be considered an emotion or state of being.
The way George was kneeling, head bowed, knees on floor, arms wrapped around himself, he looked as if he was about to perform Harikiri on the floor. Instead, he managed to squeak out a little voice. He peeped the words "Hello Waya," while not looking at her and practically trembling.
"Relax George." Waya told him. "The way I've been acting I get why your so standoffish." Standoffish wasn't exactly the word. Scared shitless was probably a better term. "I had some bad information before. Turns out I was wrong. You had nothing to do with it ok?"
In the same way that even the most intelligent people with animal mutations can start resorting to barks or meows, George's reply was a small robotic whine, followed by a few beeping noises. He wasn't sure if he believed her, or if getting bad information was a good thing or a bad thing.
Phinagin stood off from the two of them by a few feet. He wanted them to feel as if it was just the two of them but at the same time he didn't want to leave. He just hoped that if the packages had arrived that they wouldn't just leave them there or throw them over the fence.
Waya could see why George was so frightened of her. "I promise." She told him softly. "I was wrong about some stuff but I'm better now ok?" Her eyes flinched towards Phinagin's, hoping she didn't have to repeat all this. However she could see how it looked like she;d been absurdly upset about what George had done to her and she was now suddenly ok with everything. That probably looked a little odd...
"Talk... later?" George asked, his voice coming out as one or two beeps along the way. He wanted to talk, but he was certain that Phinagin shouldn't hear what was going on. And... if George was going to be scrapped, Phinagin shouldn't have to see it.
Waya nodded. "Yeah. We'll talk. Just... try and relax... ok?" She might not be able to read his mind, but his posture was very human. "What are you two doing out here any way?" The question was more towards Phinagin, btu she was asking george.
"Picking up packages" George said, speaking a little less in bells and whistles this time. Maybe it was good that there was someone around that WASN'T vulnerable to mental probing. Being a machine meant that Waya couldn't get inside his head whenever she wanted.
Waya looked at Phinagin, "You spreading around a little green Christmas cheer?" She asked. The guy was loaded. She was almost curious as to what he could have ordered.
"Well, I realized how everyone around here has been a bit deprived of Holiday cheer." Phinagin explained, "So I thought I would get everyone a few gifts. I just hope that everyone likes what they got, you all are quite hard to shop for."
"The thought that counts." Waya said, realizing that she needed to pop online and do some quick shopping. with a few days before Christmas she could spring for rush delivery.
"I have already created my presents" George said thoughtfully, eyes on the floor and talking to mid-air. He wondered how many people had decided to get him one. He wasn't exactly a believer of the messages of Christmas. The religious side anyway.
That surprised Waya "Really?" She asked, but as to not make him feel like a robot she added, "I've not even started mine yet..."
"Well... I made mine, so it was pretty simple" George said, daring to actually talk to Waya this time. He really didn't talk to her that often these days.
"Testing. Testing..." Junior's voice said through the old loudspeakers, "You're listing to the sweet sounds of those golden oldies from the 60's 70's and beyond." After a pause Junior's voice came back saying: "Hey guys, if ya'll wanna meet in the entrance hall in... ten minuets we'll decide what we're gonna do..." That sounded less cool that the sweet sounds of the 60's 70's and beyond, but it got the message over.
Phinagin listened to the broadcast from Junior, once it ended he spoke. "Well, I'm gonna go wait for the gifts to arrive and get them up to my room before I go with you guys." he said as he started to walk off, "Join me when you're done talking, alright George?"
"I've actually got to go talk to Jeremy." Waya told them. She patted George on his steel metal shoulder. "Remember, relax." There was a hint of kindness in her eyes he'd probably really not seen before and his vocal processors had likely detected nothing but truth so she hadn't been lying earlier. She left him there with Phinagin and headed in to find Jeremy.
"Why does she scare me more now?" George asked Phinagin, his optic sensors staying on Waya as she ever so calmly walked away towards the mansion. He unfolded slowly, standing up to his full height but never taking his sensors from Waya. What was happening?
"Women are mysterious." Was Phinagin's response. He did have to admit it was a bit odd that she seemed to hate him, and for good reason, then suddenly she was perfectly fine with him. Wierd. "Now come on. Can't risk some of these gifts getting wet from the snow."
"Right... of course" george said as he followed after Phinagin, heading to the front gates to go get the presents. He wasn't sure if he should head inside again... after all, Waya seemed to be okay with him now, did that mean he was allowed to come back in through the doors?
As they approached the front gate they saw a man looking around with a little datapad in his hand. He was standing next to multiple large crates and wearing the delivery service uniform. "You wait here, George. I'll go sign for them and then once they drive off you can help."
"Alright" George said, trying to stay out of sight while still observing the people waiting for the package to be signed for. This was the first time he'd ever really seen NORMAL people... it was strange.
Phinagin walked over to the man and spoke with him for a bit before signing for the packages and watching as the man got into his truck and drove off. "Alright George. You can come on over." he said as he looked over all the packages to make sure they werent damaged.
"Everything alright?" george asked, gazing down at the packages and frowning slightly "Am I allowed to scan these? I can check for any possible mail bombs or lethal substances without opening up the boxes." Why he thought these might contain some kind of attack was anyone's guess.
Phinagin was clearly wondering exactly that. He looked up at George and then back at the crates. "If it'll make you feel safe." he said, gesturing towards said crates.
george scanned the packages carefully, holding them steady so he could take a look at what was inside. He was being very careful with what was coming into this place.
There wasnt anything that looked dangerous inside these packages, just expensive. "Are we safe?" Phinagin asked with a friendly smirk.
"No, but the packages are fine," george said with a small shrug, reaching out and carefully taking hold of some of the larger ones. "So where do you want them taken?"
"My room would be the best place for them, I believe." Phinagin said as he grabbed the rest. He sprouted supportive bone plates to help prevent the ones he held from tipping or rolling out of his arms. "That should keep the impatient and the peepers out of them."
"I believe you could just tell them not to peek," George said with a small nod "That would also work." He started to walk back towards the mansion again, hauling the large presents with him; this would make people quite happy I'm sure.
"It would be a waste of breath." Phinagin said as he started toward the house alongside George, "Too many teleporters, phasers, and the twins. My room isnt all that safe considering, but better then the middle of the school."
"Well..." George said with a small shrug "You could ask Eliza to hold it? she probably has some kind of stasis field that can only be opened at a certain date." She did, it was how she stored her presents away from the twins.
"Yea, but then Eliza would be there with a chance to look in while no one was around." Phinagin continued. "No, my room would be the best place." he finished as they arrived at the school entrance hall.
"I highly doubt she would do that" George admitted; Eliza seemed very caught up with the machine to really care about presents, he'd noticed that when he'd seen her sneaking upstairs for food in the middle of the night. He paused at the door, putting the presents down just inside "This is as far as I go."
Phinagin stopped right in front of the door. "But, I will have to make two trips if you dont help." he said, hoping that he will understand the problem with that, "Plus Waya already forgave you, no reason to hide."
"Waya has, but... others I don't think so," George said with a small shrug "I could always just... lift it up to your window, you know? From the outside? so I don't have to go inside."
Phinagin smiled at George's suggestion. "I continue to be impressed by your capabilities. I'll go on up and open the window and get the packages from you." he said as he opened the door with his foot. "See you in a bit." and with that he entered the school.
George nodded slowly and moved around the side of the mansion, gazing up at the rooms and scanning until he came to Phinagin's. he would wait until he opened the window before he would head up, he didn't want to exert himself too much.
A few minutes passed before the window slid open and Phinagin stuck his head out. He saw George and waved him up before dissapearing back into Phinagin's Room.
George jumped into the air, activating his rocket boosters in his feet and levitating up to Phinagin's window. He was silent as he handed over the presents, not wanting to get any attention from those inside.
The twins were in their x-suit along with many of the others. They had added hats to keep their ears warm. Coming from a fiery father and an Aztrentian mother, they too were sensitive to cold.
Maribel was messing with her gloves on her suit as she walked with the others to the hill. They didn't fit as well now that her body had been slowly mutating and growing in various places.
Phinagin walked out with the others, carrying his bone sled under his arm. He hadn't been sledding in such a long time he hoped he still enjoyed it.
Rhydian kept to the back of the group, staying away from Phinagin as best as he could. They were still sort of at each others' throats over the Asteroid-M bit...He kept looking over his shoulder, hoping Waya would show up as they walked to the hill. He knew she could handle the sleds, but he wanted to help her...anyway he could.
Jeremy was rubbing his hands together quickly, breathing on them as he walked along. Still cold, no matter what they tried to do, but it was better than nothing. "Nippy" he muttered under his breath.
Junior romped threw the snow, acting like an oversize puppy.
Atop the hill Waya appeared with a selection of sleds. There were two two man toboggans, three round and four conventional old fashioned sleds.
Eliza huffed loudly and smiled as she saw Waya up on the hill. Oh good, she was actually there. Which sled would Eliza take now... she always favor the round ones, but she had a tendency of going backwards on them.
'Those look lethal.' Maribel signed in her gloves, looking unsurely at the metal sleds. She had always ridden on plastic.
Rhydian couldn't help but smile when he saw Waya at the top of the hill. It drove him nuts that she was able to do this to him...He saw Maribel's words and smirked. "Lethal maybe, but they are loads of fun."
"If anything falls off I'm sure someone could stitch it back on" Eliza said playfully as she moved towards the hill, digging through the snow.
Waya moved one of the wood and metal sleds into place and a moment later whizzed pass the rest of the group, taking the snow's virginity with her as she went. She was glad the twins had convinced her to come.
The twins smiled, looked at one another and grinned. They sprinted forward and nudged Jeremy and Junior's shoulders, "RACE YA!" they beckoned to the both of them, hurrying to grab one of the toboggans.
Rhydian waved a hand and summoned one of the traditional metal and wooden sleds to him as he topped the hill. He never did like the newer ones. The plastic just didn't seem to work as well to him. He thrust the sled over the edge and jumped aboard as it quickly became an 'animate' object, removing his ability to influence it.
Maribel watched the twins as they egged on the others. She smiled and shook her head lightly. Boys will be boys? It was nice to see everyone getting along and having fun though. To be honest, Maribel hadn't seen it at all since arriving.
The twins were no match for Junior and his ability to lope through the snow like a greyhound. He reached one of the round toboggans and in the same loping motion, grabbed it with his tail, threw it out in front of him and landed inside it only to call back at them with a "SUCKAS!" before speeding down the hill after Rhydian.
"Oh no you don't!" the twins piled onto the long sled and were off after him. Junoir would find himself slowing down a bit, but only for a moment before the boys wooshed past, nearly running straight into him. Sinister laughter could be heard from the two, clearly the cause of his recent slow.
"Oh..." Jeremy said, blinking down after the others as they raced down the hill. He'd been trying to keep up but he'd been so slow in the snow that he'd had no chance to even catch up. "Thank you waya" he said gently, taking a normal one and starting to sled down the hill after them. One of his main issues was that he had no idea how to actually sled. He'd never done it before. Ever.
Eliza chuckled gently and took up a round one as well, standing there for a moment on top of the hill and gazing out over the country side "Looks pretty beautiful from up here, doesn't it?" The question wasn't really aimed at anyone in particular.
Phinagin watched the others with a smile. He wasnt too keen on getting in there, not for any reason concerning the cost of appearance of his clothing, more because he felt too old for it.
Maribel nodded and grabbed one of the last round, plastic sleds. She didn't really like the old fashioned ones that much. She wanted to wait until the others were cleared out from the bottom of the hill before going.
Waya reached the bottom of the hill first and her sled came to a soft dainty stop. She could have just gathered everyone's shadows and teleported back to the top but she felt happier than she had in a long while and summoned their shadows, not to open a portal, but to create two black shapes like dogs. They could have been wolves or they could have been huskies, but like a trained sled team they waited to pull her up the hill once the others came to their stops.
Jeremy had managed to get down to the bottom without incident, and was laughing happily before he tumbled off and landed in the snow. He wasn't too good at sledding, but it still felt fun, even when he fell off the sled.
Eliza skidded down backwards, making a shrill and happy noise like a puppy watch a ball in a squash court. A little scared, but more happy than anything else. She didn't fall off, but clung tight to her sled as she tries to hold herself steady.
Rhydian pulled to a stop next to Waya, a wide smile on his face. He made smirked and the sled moved on its own once he came to a full stop. It moved him around in lazy circles so that he could better observe the shadow hounds she summoned. "Awesome hounds, Waya."
The twins reached the bottom and fell to their right into the powdery soft snow. "Aww... sorry about that Junior." they said sarcastically. "Looks like we won."
"Looks like you cheated." Junior snarked, sliding to a stop.
"Thanks." Waya told Rhydian, snapping her reigns as if she were leading ponies rather than dogs. They hopped to and began the climb up the hill, prancing with Waya as their cargo.
"And you didn't wait for 'ready, set, go.'" Jayden said with a smile. getting up and picking up the sled after his brother got up as well.
Jeremy didn't point out that, no matter what the other three said, he had come dead last. He was too busy picking up his sled again, his fingers numb already and stumbling on the sled. He began to move it, heading up the slope again.
The twins looked at the several paths on the hill that the sleds took, "Hey- anyone want to help us make a jump?"
Still at the top, Maribel set her sled down and sat on her knees in the circle shape. Now that everyone was clear from the bottom, she made her way down and unfortunately turned sideways partway through her decent. She had too big of a smile on her face to really mind though. She had never sled on a hill this large before.
Rhydian watched as Waya headed back up the hill and couldn't help but feel a smile cross his face as he did. He sighed and placed his hands on the sides of his sled, once again taking control of it as an inanimate object. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and when he exhaled, the sled began propelling him up the slope at the same rate of speed as Waya was managing with her shadow hounds.
"Not if you're gonna cheat we don't." Junior said scampering up the hill with his sled held by his tail.
The twins ignored Junior. He had started cheating first after all. They walked over to the path they had made in the snow and started to pile the white powder up into a mound.
Maribel made it to the bottom and rolled off into the snow, impressed with how well her suit blocked out the snow and cold. She got up and noticed the twins making a pile and got an idea.
Waya looked back over her shoulder at the others and noticed the twins building something. She looked at Rhydian and nodded her head towards the boys. They were up to something.
"Careful there boys," Eliza said on her way up, watching as they piled together the snow, "If you're going to make a jump, make sure it's nice and compact so you don't just hit a snow bank."
Jeremy huffed as he reached the top of the hill, obviously not used to running about too much. He put the sled down and looked around, wondering if anyone else had gotten up here yet.
"We're working on it... wanna help?" Jayden asked as he and his brother scooped snow and started to create a ramp.
"Alright..." Eliza said, grinning slightly and starting to collect huge handfuls of snow. And when she collected huge handfuls, she collected huge handfuls. They were like shovels as they picked up the snow and started to compress it into a ramp for them.
"Looks like they're making a jump." Rhydian told her with a shrug as they crested the hill.
"For a second I thought they were making a fort." Waya told him as the both of them crested the hill. "I bet I could make a better jump..."
Maribel had her back to everyone and was kneeling down in the snow with her sled in front of her, doing something.
"That's what we're talking about." Jaden said with a thumbs up.
"Alright... that should be good for a start." Jayden added and stepped back. "Hey! Try it! he called up to the others atop the hill, hoping someone would go for it.
Rhydian looked at her skeptically. "Yeah right." He told her with a smirk, bringing his sled to the crest of the hill. He gestured for her to proceed. "Ladies first, Waya."
Eliza was packing together the snow, making it solid so it would be a firm jump, then starting her way up the hill again. "Well someone has to go first." she pointed out on her way up.
Jeremy looked around, shrugged, then practically jumped onto his sled. It was easier to control, being a normal rail one, but still he found it going at startling speeds as he plummeted towards the ramp.
Junior scampered towards Maribele. "Well?" He asked. "I think your idea was a hit."
Waya looked at him. "You don't think I can?"
"Not without cheating." Rhydian told her with a shrug.
Maribel turned her head up and looked at Junior. From where he was standing, he could surely see the pile of snowballs she had made and placed in her round sled. Completely busted, Maribel gave him a devious grin, knowing full well he could see the white ball of snow in her hand.
"And you're not cheating by animating your sled?" Waya asked.
Junior smiled down at her. "Want some help?"
Maribel had two snowballs in her hand and stood up. She kept her grin and shook her head. She took aim and threw the first at his chest, not wanting to take such a cheap shot to his face so suddenly. She laughed airily and reared back another arm, playfully throwing another at his legs.
Jeremy let out a small "eeeep!" noise the entire way down the slow, then hit the jump with a heavy jolt; there was a moment where the sound of the sled on the snow no longer happened, the green blur suspended in mid-air by the force of the jump, then he hit the floor on the sled again, wobbling and letting out a loud laugh.
"It's only an inanimate object while it's at rest." Rhydian explained with a smirk. "Once it starts down the hill, it's not anymore."
"Oh I see." Junior said kneeling to scoop up some snow. He used his tail to bring more around and make a bigger ball. He packed it, making something roughly the size of a bowling ball. "THIS MEANS WAR!" And he lifted the giant snowball over his head. to throw it at her.
Maribel was laughing so much that she almost couldn't manage to sign 'cheater!' at him. She didn't really have time to run away, so instead, she covered her face with her hands and turned around so her back would get hit with the snowball rather than her front. She lifted her shoulders and waited for impact.
Junior dropped the snowball on her. Being so big it wasn't packed very tightly and it broke and showered her with snow the moment it made impact with her upper back.
Maribel shook off and shivered as a chunk slid down her bare back. She bent down and started throwing the ten snowballs she had made earlier, not really even making an effort to aim directly, just in his general area. Seems she had completely forgotten that he could easily phase through them.
Eliza giggled as she saw Jeremy go flying off the jump. Surprisingly he didn't just splat on the ground and seemed to actually be quite capable of flying off the jump. "There we go boys. Your turn now." she said, turning to the twins.
"Uh huh." Waya said skeptically. Her dogs led her to the top of the hill and she moved into the line of the twin's jump. "Ready for a test run boys?"
The twins laughed when they saw Jeremy launch off their ramp, but their attention was stolen by Waya as she called from the top of the hill. "Go for it, Petal!" they shouted back and stepped away to give her room.
Rhydian groaned when he heard them call her that. He didn't understand why she put up with it really. He moved his sled in behind her to take the run after she did. "Good luck." He told her with a smile.
Junior could have phased through all Mari's snowballs, but was being unfair. He took her shots, holding his arms up to keep the snow away from his face. Meanwhile his tail worked to make another snowball.
Waya had the dogs pull her just over the peek of the hill and dispersed them once gravity took control. She used her ability to levitate to realign her trajectory when she saw she was off center and hit the ramp with perfect aim. She caught air, not at all suprized considering their technical genius Eliza had helped them and came to a tumbling stop three yards away in the soft thick snow.
Phinagin watched them with a smile as they all ran about like they were in grade school.
The twins burst into laughter at Waya's display. It took a moment, but they headed over, "You got sick air!"
"Haha- you alright after that?"
Maribel was laughing as she tossed the balls as Junior, not bothering to see what ones stuck or not. She was too afraid to get a big snowball in her face by his hand. Though it wasn't long before she realized her supply was gone. She immediately got to her feet and glanced at Junior. Seeing his tail in the works, the french girl sprinted through the snow, hoping to gain a short distance so that she could make some more ammo.
Rhydian groaned as he saw the twins rush to her. That should be him, not them. He felt his blood begin to boil and couldn't believe how jealous he was getting just because they were near her. He calculated how much speed he would need and the specific angles and all that mathematical mumbo-jumbo. He licked his lips and sent his sled surging over the edge of the hill, plummeting down, gaining speed as he went. He kept himself straight towards the jump and felt the ground give out from beneath him as he caught the air. He soared through the air and came down to a smooth landing just shy of the beginning of Waya's landing path.
Waya laughed. Actually laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd honestly laughed. "Fine." She said, shaking her head to knock the snow free. she took Jayden's hand as he offered it to help her up and couldn't believe that just a few hours earlier she'd been ready to let the two suffer for what she thought they had done to her.
"That won;t save you!" Junior called, taking the soft ball sized snowball from his tail. Unlike Rhydian he didn't bother calculating trajectory and wind and all that other stuff. His skill came from summers spent playing baseball with rest of the students who had no parents to go home to. He eyed the distance and lofted the ball and let it fly.
Eliza grinned, clapping her hands as Waya sped over the jump; she was so glad she'd gotten the right angle. If she'd done it right they might have just slammed into the snow, and too shallow they might have just skimmed over the snow. "Perfect," she said, before looking at the twins "Your turn boys."
"Watch out!" Jeremy said, just avoiding getting his legs cut off as Waya came out of no where on her sled. He was grinning though, so was she, so it was just the usual dangerous stuff people got up to when having fun.
Right when Maribel turned around to make sure Junior wasn't following, her face was met with a large snowball that burst when it made impact. The force and immense cold caught her off guard and she fell back into the deeper snow.
The twins' hearts warmed when they heard her giggle. They hadn't heard such a wonderful sound since even before their parents left. At least not one so heartfelt and carefree. "That was awesome!" Jayden exclaimed. "Bet ya can't do it again." he encouraged.
When Rhydian came to a stop, he saw the twins with her and couldn't help himself. He sent his sled rocketing forward and bowled right into the two of them.
The force of the sled took the twins' feet right out from under them and they both tumbled backward into the snow with a loud "Oof!"
"Tha hell Rhyd!?" Waya exclaimed. It could have been an accident, but he could have stopped the sled too. She tossed the sled off of them with it's own shadow and went to help the twins up.
Junior's eyes widened. "Watch out!" was on the tip of his tongue but it wasn't fast enough for Maribel to duck. He winced when the thing struck her face and immediately ran to her aid. "I'm sorry!" He said, brushing the snow off her face. "Are you ok? I didn;t mean to hit you in the face!"
Maribel sat up and shook a little, feeling the cold snow melt as it slid down her coat even more. She faced to the side and blew a raspberry, blowing the snow off of her lips. Maribel didn't like how cold she felt or that she had gotten hit in the face, but she couldn't stay mad at Junior. It was all in good fun after all and she was well aware he didn't mean to hit her so hard. Still, she was a bit unpleasant. Maribel sniffled her bright red nose and cheeks. She was stuck in a deeper area of snow. It seems some sort of drift had gathered here. Planting her hands, Maribel pushed to stand up, but sunk even deeper so that the white powder was up to her shoulders .
"He dropped it." Jeremy said at once, responding to Waya's exclamations "Anyway, you know he can't control things in motion. It was a freak accident." He went over to the twins and offered them his hands to get up "Come on. Up you get guys. Wasn't too hard a landing was it?"
"Nah, we're good." the twins said as they got up from the help of Jeremy and Waya. "It's all in good fun. Rhydian didn't mean it, did ya bud?" Jayden asked, waving over at him.
"Think we should make the jump bigger?"
"Or we could make an entire tunnel to go under with all this snow."
Rhydian couldn't believe that Jeremy had just jumped in like that. He'd have to thank the guy later. It was hardly an accident, but thanks to him, they believed it was.
Junior couldn't help but snicker as he saw Mari sink even further. "I got you." he said phasing through the snow until he came to her. He picked her up and phased the both of them, letting the snow pass through them until he managed to find a place that wasn't so deep.
'Thank you.' Maribel signed when her hands were free to gesture. She was giggling the entire time Junior carried her. She probably should have grabbed snow boots rather than these x-uniform ones. Maribel brushed her knees and bum off, hitting away any stuck on snow before placing her hands on her hips and giving him a dramatically stern look while she shook her head. It wasn't as though she was still sour about getting blasted in the face, but she could still give him shit about it. This was the second time he smacked her in the face afterall. 'You're lucky that you were far enough away that I didn't spit on you again.'
Waya still frowned at Rhydian a little, suspicious as always.
"Come on- let's try it." the twins said, gesturing to their comrades as they headed up the hill as quickly as they could.
"Yeah don't remind me." Junior said. His face and skin was still pockmarked with healing wounds. "Maybe we should build a snowman or something instead?
'That sounds like a good idea... less battle scars for the both of us." Maribel signed before glancing around, 'Where would be a good spot?'
Rhydian couldn't help but blush when he looked at Waya. He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his head absentmindedly
Jeremy took Waya by the arm and tugged at her gently "Come on, we need to get out the way before the twins repeat to you what just happened to them." They were standing a little in the way of the jump after all.
"If you took off all your gravity mid-flight you might reach orbit guys!" Eliza laughed as she saw the twins getting ready to test their own jump. She meant it. This was a very good jump of hers. Yeah, marred by the materials she had to work with, but it could last.
"In the landing zone of the ramp." Junior told Maribel with a smile. "We can build it over here then I can phase and move it without it fallign apart."
Waya moved back with Jeremy but she was looking at Rhydian with suspicious eyes. He was acting funny lately... funnier than usual.
'I don't think you will be able to carry a whole snow man.' Maribel signed, 'No offense.' she smiled and added.
Rhydian called the sled back to him and started up the hill slowly. He didn't have to worry about Waya hanging with Jeremy.
The twins made it to the top and before they slid down, spotted Phinagin. "Uhh...dude? What's wrong?" asked Jayden.
"How come you haven't gone down yet?" asked Jaden.
"Now, should we have a race?" Jeremy said, smiling at Waya and trying not to look at Rhydian himself "No powers, just a friendly race down the hill. Sound good?"
"Well it doesn't really weigh much when it's molecules are in flux." Junior told her.
Maribel lifted her shoulders. She would just have to take his word on that one. Maribel followed Junior to the chosen spot of fresh white powder. Bending down, she started to work a ball, rolling it along a path. she hadn't done this sort of thing since she was a child. It brought back fond memories.
Phinagin shrugged, "It's hard to explain." He started, "But to put it simply, I guess I feel to old to be sledding."
The twins looked at one another and grinned. They approached Phin and before he knew it, the Relman boys were dragging him with their arms looped around his, toward the peak of the hill. "Oh look- we've already prepared your transportation." they said and helped him down onto the plastic saucer.
Junior began to roll out another ball, packing snow around it as he went. Purposefully he worked his ball into the path of Maribelle's, just to be silly.
"Prepair to eat my snow." Waya told Jeremy, summoning her sled to her via shadow dogs again.
Maribel kept her gaze down, rolling his snow forward. Her ball was making it's way quite nicely and she turned it around to work on thickening all sides to as round of an orb as she could.
If Phinagin had wanted to he could have resisted the twins, but felt it would be in bad taste for him to resist and ruin the happy mood everyone was in. "At least let me use a sled of better quality." He said as he pushed the dinky plastic saucer away and quickly sprouted a bone one.
"Not if you're eating mine," Jeremy said with a grin, kneeling down onto his circle sled and looking over at Waya "Come on. We go on three, alright?" He was pretty sure she wouldn't cheat.
"Well sorry out peasant sleds aren't good enough for you, your highness." the twins joked. It was a bit strange... considering they were the only royalty around at the moment. "Not too heavy, is it?"
"No, I made it thin enough..." Phinagin said, "Princes." he added as he gave himself a little push and went zooming off down the hill.
The twins enjoyed being called that every so often. It helped remind them of who they were and what they wanted to become. Without hesitating, they both jumped on their separate sleds and sped after Phinagin.
Waya moved Jeremy out of Phinagin's path. He wasn't exactly in the way but she felt safer with him not standing so close. "Let's go up top." She told him and summoned dogs out of his shadow to pull up with her so he didn't have to carry his sled.
Over in the distance, down amid the snow, a pair of bright twinkling lights appeared. They were small, but you could catch sight of them pretty easily. What they were doing there was anyone's guess.
Jeremy nodded, gripping hold of the sled as the dogs began to pull them up the slope again. He liked having a dog driven sled, but it was a bit... unstable.
Phinagin hopped off the sled when it reached the bottom and was going to taunt the twins, when those orbs caught his eye. "Um..guys?" he said.
Each twin launched off of the jump individually, one after the other. Though it really wasn't wise of Phin to just stand in their way. "LOOK OUT!" one of them shouted, but it was too late and Jayden nailed Phinagin from behind, getting a face full of his ass.
Jaden was lucky enough to tumble to the left in the nick of time.
Phinagin didn't say much more then "Oof." as the sled slammed into his back and knocked him to the ground. He laid there in the snow, not moving.
There was a groan as he got up, then quickly, the boy shuffled to Phin. "Dude! Are you ok, man? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Jayden asked worriedly. He had managed just fine if only a little winded.
There was a muffled response, "Just a small fracture. I'll be fine." Phinagin said as he started to push himself up and into a sitting position. He looked around again for those lights, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
They were. Small, glittering, and not moving at all from their buried place in the snow. They weren't moving at all.
"There!" Phinagin said pointing at them and walking over to them.
From the top of the slope Waya noticed Phinagin pointing. She followed the direction of his finger and noticed that the orbs were in a familiar shape. If she didn't know any better she'd guess that George was watching them.
"The heck is that?" Jayden asked, following Phin.
"Careful- could be something trying to kill us as usual." Jaden warned as he followed as well.
Rhydian followed Waya's finger and saw the lights in the distance. "That's kinda weird...What do you think it is?" He asked her
The lights seemed to notice that there were quite a few people looking at it, so they began buried beneath the snow, as if the lights belonged to a very high tech gopher who had just been spotted.
"Well, maybe someone should go check them out?" Eliza called over to others, starting to build a snowman beside the jump, using her huge hands to scoop up big handfuls of the snow.
Junior noticed that everyone seemed to be staring at something. He saw the lights as they moved. He stopped rolling the base of the snowman and packed together a snowball instead. He threw it at the collection of lights, hoping for something to happen.
Phinagin sprouted a snow shovel from his wrist and began to shovel away snow to try and find the soruce of the now escaping lights.
In the first shovel a small metal noise rang out from beneath the snow; the snowball hadn't achieved anything, and nothing really responded to the fact that the shovel had hit something metal, but it was pretty clear by now to most people that George was hiding under the snow.
"George..." Waya said from the top of the hill. "You were invited. If you wanted to play you didn't have to hide." Play? Had she just used the word play?
Maribel sighed with relief, glad to see it wasn't something trying to kill them as the twins had warned.
Jeremy blinked and looked around at the place where the lights had been, resting beside Waya on top of the hill and preparing for the race down against her.
Rhydian was relieved that it was just George. How in the world did that giant robot fit under the snow though???
"Sorry George." Junior said lackadaisically, apologizing for the snowball. He went back to rolling the base for his and Maribel's snowman.
"I didn't want to interrupt." was the small metallic voice from below the snow, crossed between a whine and a nervous mumble, "you all looked like you were having so much fun."
Maribel was starting to have trouble rolling her giant snowball. She wondered if this should be their pase or if Junior's should. Either way, she would need help lifting it.
Phinagin shook his head as he absorbed the shovel. "You know, this is a little bit creepy George."
"I'm not good at normal," George pointed out, looking over towards Phinagin as he spoke, "I just... didn't want to interrupt."
The twins brushed themselves off. "None of us are good at 'normal' anyway, you fit right in here." They glanced over at Maribel and Junior. "Why don't you help them make a snowman? You could probably help make it massive."
Waya figured George was just being standoffish due to her behavior lately. She had told him more than once that he wasn't the cause, but he didn;t seem to believe her at all.
"Alright..." when George moved his body seemed to drop snow from all the little crevices and dips that he had crammed full in order to make himself almost invisible. He walked up the hill with easy strides, until he was standing beside Junior and Maribel "But... what is a snowman?"
"Are you two going to race or should I head down the hill?" Rhydian asked Waya and Jeremy.
"Yeah, things got a little... distracted though..." Jeremy said, looking over at Waya now "Still up for the race?"
"Yeah..." Waya said, feeling odd "playing" now that George had shown up. Seeing him was a pretty good reminder that she wasn't a child any longer. "On three." she said, despite how she suddenly felt."
Jeremy nodded and hunkered down on the sled, putting his hands either side and getting ready to push off on three. No powers were allowed... not that his could help anyway.
'A snow man is just that... a person sculpted to look like a person. Well, somewhat like a person. They are usually made with three circles. One for the butt, one for the torso and one for the head. We'll show you as we get there, right Junior?' Maribel looked at him for any further comments.
Rhydian sat on his sled, off to the side slightly of Waya and Jeremy. It should be interesting to see who'd win this little race. Not that he would ever call her fat, but Waya out weighed Jeremy by several pounds, he was sure of that. And in a race on a sled that usually worked in your favor...
"RIght..." Junior said, a little upset that he had to share this duty with George now. "I've got the base allready rolled out. We need to put Mari's middle on top or it."
"so who's gonna call it?" Waya asked, trying to shrug off what she had been thinking about.
Maribel looked at Junior suddenly. Mari? What was that all about? It was strange... she had never been called that before. Such an odd rendition of her name, but she shrugged it off.
"I was thinking Rhydian?" Jeremy said, looking over at the guy and wondering why he hadn't offered already. He WAS staring at them after all.
"Right..." George said with a small nod, looking down in confusion as to what was going on. Top, middle, base, it was all so strange and human "Should I put it on?"
Maribel smiled and nodded to the big robot. She stepped back to give him room.
Junior stood by, holding the ball Mari had made for the head. "Just put it on top the big one." He said.
George lifted the snowman's middle up carefully. So carefully in fact that the sides barely seemed to get touched, and when he let it rest on top of the base, directly in the middle, there was no indication of his huge metal fingers.
Maribel gave George a 'thumbs up' at his handiwork. 'Too bad we don't have anything for eyes, nose or mouth.
"I could, sure." Rhydian said with a nod. "Whenever you're ready?"
"Maybe you could get us something for his face and arms?" Junior asked George. It sounded as if he wanted to include the robot, but he really just wanted to get rid of him for a little while. "Sticks for arms and rocks for his face?"
"No cheating." Waya reminded them and disaperated her dogs so no one could accuse her of cheating.
'Maybe some pine needles for hair or something.' Maribel suggested, having just thought of the idea. With George's height, he shouldn't have a problem.
"No cheating," Jeremy agreed, though he was uncertain how he could really cheat like this, "Though you're probably still going to beat me."
Rhydian didn't like the idea of Waya losing, but Jeremy was so negative all the time...the guy deserved to win, but how could he help him out? Once the sled started moving he wouldn't be able to control it, so he couldn't give him a boost even if he had to...He raised his hand and started counting down from five with his fingers. "(3)...On your marks...(2)...get set...(1)...GO!"
Waya had set herself where all she had to do was lean forward to shove off, but as she did, she didn't go anywhere. She began to paw at the snow beside her in hopes of tipping off the hill and heading down the slope.
The twins elbowed Phinagin, "You alright, man?" they asked, an arm around each of his shoulders.
"Yea, im fine. Just a bit put off by George's decision to...well spy on us I guess." Phinagin explained, "It was a bit creepy."
"Yea well... I don't think he is all that socially inclined." Jaden noted.
"But yea... a bit creepy." Jayden added afterward.
Jeremy started pawing away at the floor immediately, frantically starting to scrabble away at the snow; he didn't move for a second before he shot off down the snow. The thing about his size, while it might not drag him downwards, he didn't really dig down into the snow that much.
"I mean...he wasn't even by himself for very long and he was able to fully bury and conceal himself." Phinagin said, "His abilities are both fascinating and creepy."
"Of course," George said with a little nod of his head "I'll go get some now." and with that he was slowly making his way back down the hill, away from the others and towards the woods.
Eliza was up the bottom of the hill again now, taking a deep breath and smiling at the Twins as the others started to whiz down the hill and play around "Not too bad, is it? all this playing about in the snow stuff."
"Not at all, babe. How are you holding up?" Jayden asked, wrapping an arm around Eliza's shoulder.
Jaden stayed by Phinagin and explained, "Well we suggested getting him a new, smaller body. One that's less... robot-looking. Something that will make him fit in more...emotionally and physically."
"Well, not too bad," Eliza said with a nod, clapping her hands together and rubbing them to keep warm, "I mean, I'm trying really hard to keep my mind off of work, but... well... yeah, I'm finding it difficult."
"We're all glad you made it though. Some hot chocolate will be nice when we get back inside." Jayden commented. "You'll come for that, right?"
"That would help us, but I dont think it will have any affect on his...I guess you could say, mental state." Phinagin said, "It's gonna be some tome before he gets the acting normal thing right."
"Yea... we are working in that ourselves." Jaden snickered.
Waya finally managed to push herself free of the slope and went sliding down the hill, expecting Rhydian to be mere milliseconds behind her.
Maribel started chipping away the parts of snow that made their ovals look chunky. 'This was a good idea.' she signed to Junior when he looked her way. 'I haven't done this since I was a kid, it's fun. Too bad no one will be able to see him though.'
"You wanna not wreck it?" Junior asked. "It would probably confuse bucket head if we did."
Maribel shook her head, thinking maybe they should put it in the front yard. 'We could put it by the fountain as decoration?' she suggested. Then, glanced over where George was in the woods. Making sure he wasn't able to see, she signed, 'Do you...still not like him? George that is.'
"Not especially no." Junior admitted. "But I can't blame him for what his programming made him do... I guess... I guess since Waya doesn't hate him I feel like I need to hate him for her."
"Sure, I'll come in, some hot chocolate sounds nice," Eliza said, giving the twin she was hugging a little peck on the cheek; she felt as if she owed him... both of them really. She had thought such nasty things, terrible and bad things... about the two of them.
Jeremy wasn't even behind Waya, he was beside her, and he was low down on his sled, curled up and leaning forward, trying to get himself to speed up as he skimmed along on top of the snow.
As Maribel and Junior spoke, George continued to pick at branches, and look for any leaves or stone they could use to decorate. At Junior's last words however he snapped his head around, staring at the boy directly for a moment, then turning his head back around to gaze back down at the floor, pretending to find more rocks.
Maribel frowned a bit, 'Yea, that whole thing is a bit strange....especially with someone like Waya to not hold a grudge at all.' she signed, thankful Waya could see with Maribel's back toward the hill. 'I've just been trying to ignore that I know.'
"I think she's harboring more than she's letting on." Junior said, "She just doesn't want us to see it any more..."
'Maybe getting him a new, less foreboding body would help things?' Maribel suggested. 'It won't change anything, but perhaps it would be easier for us to hold him back should his programing go haywire. I don't know... it's such a sensitive situation. I think we are honestly to young to be dealing with this stuff.'
Rhydian surged forward on his sled. He hadn't agreed to be a part of the race, hadn't even been asked really, so he had no qualms with boosting himself over the edge with his powers. Truthfully, he wished he could retain control over the sled when it was moving, but that was not the nature of his powers.
Waya was leaning back rather than forward, feeling the wind whip over her. In just jeans and a hoodie she was comfortable, not cold, but the chill had blued her cheeks a bit, giving her more of a complexion than she usually had.
Jeremy wasn't doing too bad actually, all curled up like that and skimming along; he was putting what little weight he had onto the sled to move him down, but even then he wasn't really digging into it that much.
Rhydian coasted down alongside the racers. He glanced over at Waya and couldn't help but smile. She really did look like she was having fun for a change.
"I would normally say we're all old pros at this kinda stuff." Junior said, digging little hollows out for the snowman's eyes. "But something like this... I'd rather ship him off to Tony Stark or Reed Richards and have done with it."
Maribel was a bit taken back by that. Junior was such a kind soul. Never before had she heard him say something so aggressive. Removing her hands from the snowman, she signed, 'I don't think that's an option. Waya wouldn't have it.'
Jayden smirked a dopey smirk and placed a hand on the cheek Eliza had kissed. "Heh.. what's that for?"
"Ah, you're trying really hard... and you deserve one or two," Eliza said, gently hugging Jayden and letting out a little sigh "Just don't push it alright?" She'd said it playfully to him, but she did kinda mean it.
George was approaching again slowly, holding a selection of sticks and stones for them to use.
"Trying really hard? What....to get you to socialize a bit?" Jayden asked, wrapping an arm around Eliza's shoulders.
"I don't think she's as attatched as she makes out to be." Junior said. "I think she feels obligated because she gave him "life" by pulling him into our world."
"That, and well... just in general." Eliza gave a little shrug, trying not to think about the arm around her, or the sub-dimension observation cube that she wished was under the Christmas tree for her. "You're really getting this Christmas thing along..."
"Heh.... that's what we're good at. Parties and food." Jayden chuckled.
Maribel cleared her throat when she saw George approaching behind Junior. She waved and motioned for him to come over, hoping to hint to Junior they weren't alone.
George slowly ascended again, then held out his hands, showing a selection of sticks and rocks they could use, but doing all of it silently. Had he been listening in on all of them as they spoke? Had he heard everything they had said... or, Junior had said at least.
Junior really didn't care, but he did offer "Thanks." when George opened his hands. He took the sticks and began to plant them for the arms.
Stumble!