Twenty-Seven: In Which Klaus Gets In the Spirit

[myblimpisbigger]

[Klaus is expecting shit to get real by the actual day of Christmas. Things are already weird: there are new, intelligent imposter drones wandering around (one of which is in his house, which is creepy), the power went all wonky and he doesn't trust it to stay fixed, and given last year? He's pretty sure this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of

Comments

okay I will break hiatus just this once because inku is my inku

[buildstherobots]

[Dist is the most wary. Still, he shows up, looking just about ready to bolt at a moment's notice.]

i love you too kexus ;u;

[myblimpisbigger]

[Klaus was expecting that from Dist. The two of them are still on uncertain ground with each other, after all. But he felt if he owed anyone a gift on Christmas, it would be Dist, oddly enough. Dist was the very first person to ever speak to him in Mayfield, after all, and Dist has consistently been there. Maybe not for him, but he's been there.]

Hello, Dist.

[Your gift is a box about six inches by six inches, Dist. That is, your gift is in a box about that big, Klaus wouldn't just give you a box, that would be a dick move.]

Go on, open it.

;3;

[buildstherobots]

...This had better not be a trick.

[He's peeling the paper back slowly; he has to admit to curiosity even when something might be dangerous. It's one of his weaknesses and his strengths.]

[myblimpisbigger]

[Inside the box, Dist will find a clockwork that looks very much like a rosebud. There's a key near the bottom which is meant to be wound. It was made from the very last of the opalescent white metal and gold scrap that Klaus had saved from the Hopistal Mech he regained over a year ago, and for a garage job it's quite beautiful.

Wat do, Dist?]

[buildstherobots]

[Why, turn the key, naturally! He's rather taken aback by how lovely it is, and logically a gift designed to hurt him wouldn't be crafted so beautifully only to be destroyed.]

[myblimpisbigger]

[When wound, the rosebud unfurls, not into a flower but into a white mechanical swan. It stretches its wings and ruffles what appear to be hundreds of tiny metallic feathers before settling into Dist's hand with its gold beak tucked against its breast.]

It isn't sentient, exactly. But it will respond appropriately to physical stimulus and is hard-wired to consider you its 'home'. You are free to make improvements or adjustments as you see fit; I thought of giving it the capability to make sounds or even of limited speech but decided that was really more your area of expertise.

[buildstherobots]

[The machine is gorgeous, and Dist runs his fingers lightly over the the mechanical feathers, completely entranced. It responds, fluffing up and seeming to enjoy the attention, provoking the first genuine smile Dist has managed in a long time.]

It's... it's perfect. But... why?