Fox and the Hound

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Music blared over the sounds of a whirring 3D printer and the rapid clacking of a keyboard. A stick of incense burned at the corner of the cluttered desk, ashes dropping down into the tray below. Silver eyes almost glowed green under the light of lengthy lines of code, flickering on the screen before him. Luke sighed and spun his chair away from the computer. The room was a scene of organized chaos. Drawers and shelves packed full of different parts and devices. In a sense, Luke had organized them as best he could, but it certainly didn't look like it. 

    The young man cracked a bottle of water, took a sip, and turned back to the lines of code. Just a little bit more. His thoughts were punctuated by various expectations. Most led to disappointment, but by the time he finally hit the enter key a wave of relief washed over him. Bangarang. Works to the best of it's ability and fits what the client needed.

    Closing the program, the young tech-head typed up an email and shipped it out, receiving a notice of payment a few moments later. Despite his appearance, Luke was a workaholic when he was on the clock. Even off-the clock he couldn't help but start further projects. The running 3D printer was proof of that. It chugged away diligently as the young man rose from his chair, checking over it's quality. "That's probably gonna take a few more hours..." Luke muttered to himself. "Huh... the fuck am I gonna do now?" 

    Luke returned to his seat and spun idly from side to side as he looked over the room. Worktable empty, waiting for the 3D print, job list completely finished for the day. He could work on his chess-set, or maybe he could fiddle with some smaller idea while he waited. But then again, if the techie started a new project, Luke would probably get distracted by it and forget the first one he had planned. 

    After a moments pause, he spun back around the the desk. Gloved hands idly reached towards a small music box he'd crafted some time ago, thumbs brushing against the little ornate carvings on its surface. He'd made it for Luna, but he hadn't had the courage to give it to her. The punk kept making excuses. Being busy, not having the right time, so on, so forth. But really that's all they were: excuses. The young man rocked back in his seat and let the box fall into his lap. 

    "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."

    That shimmering silver gaze stared up towards the ceiling, studying it as though doing so would unveil some great secret to him. Something that would bless him with a divine inspiration. But nothing came. In the end, he rocked back forwards and lifted the music box up with a sigh. "Luna's gonna be home soon." He muttered. The young man shifted the box from hand to hand, watching it as it passed back and forth. A huff escaped his lips. "Fuuuckin'-" A sigh. "I can't keep dodging it, might as well give it to her when she gets here." 

    Or maybe he could just sit in the room and wait for it to blow over? That was fine right? Right?

    Unfortunately, he was not right, and Luke surrendered that he was going to have to face the music one of these days. It was better to get it out of the way sooner, rather than later. The young punk flicked off the music and stood up with a stretch. He might as well spend the moment waiting for Luna where he would be able to see her, instead of holing away playing a guessing game or waiting for her to come see him. 
    

[Luna]

[Refs]

Seconds felt like minutes, which blended into hours. Every moment burned and engraved into the tech-head while he remained in his namely silent solitude with only the soft hum of electronics keeping him company. She was going to be home soon, but there was never any real prediction as to when. Only, soon.

On the flip, Luna's life was full of noise. The bustle of the bar, the families chattering amongst themselves at their tables, the dance floor above and the pulse of bass lines woven into the latest beats by the DJs. It was always lively here. It kept Luna from mulling on things. She got her flow going. Seat these people, wait those people, serve that table. Everything like a well oiled machine on clockwork. Her time spent at the Triangle made it so she had a decent flow with Izzy, making it practically look like a dance which seemed to leave some entertained and others impressed with how the two could function so well with so much to do. 

If they passed by each other, they made swift motion around, going around each other with their backs facing the other's and a clean and tight rotation around to avoid clattering dishes and running into each other. The motion was swift and seamless, a sign that it was well practiced. 

Just a few more minutes.  Her shift was almost over. She could go home and unwind a bit. Well, unwind as best she could with a fellow memer keeping things lively. Hopefully, though, she could be a bit lazy when she got home. Weekend rush was always wild. 

Her day was busy and it felt short, but that's what came with a bustling business. She was in the back room, gathering her stuff out of a locker. Luna stopped in front of a mirror, something placed for the workers if they cared about their image, which something told her they mostly should at least to keep some kind of standard. She brushed her hands through her hair, pressing down stray strands and regathering it so that it was less all over the place. 

She made her way out, giving goodbyes for the night to the staff and slipping out the back door of the facility so that she wasn't in the way of incoming guests. The faunus walked through the alley into a busy street lined with stalls and stores. It was a market street that was always so full of life regardless of if it was day or night. The energy around here was always refreshing and never dull, especially compared to Blackmarsh.

Her walk home was fairly tame, minding her own business, glancing through a few windows of some shops to see what their stock was with brief curiosity. Nothing really piqued her interest though, it was more just passively keeping up with what's hot in the area. Within a couple minutes, she arrived to the place she called "The Den". Now, she called it that for a number of things. One was Luke's "organisation" throughout the place. The other had no relation to her being a faunus and I don't want to fucking hear you calling me out on that because it's not true, YOU.

She stopped at the door and took in a deep breath. A smile crept on her lips as she placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it. With a sudden swing, and as loud as she could, she shouted out, "WHAT'S UP FUCKER?!", to announce her arrival home.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Against the backdrop of a ticking clock, Luke decided to crack open a book. Yes, I know, haha funny a dumb punk like that knows how to read, but jokes on you; he does, and he does it frequently so nyeh. Unlike the young man's work room, the rest of the apartment was pristine. A soft, cream colored carpet underfoot, with slightly darker walls. A nice hardwood coffee table infront of a velvet colored couch. Even after Luna had moved in, Luke still kept the place tidy. Most of the furniture were of darker colors to contrast the lights of the flooring and walls, but it was organized far better than the room Luke had come out of. 

    Perhaps there was something to be said about it mirroring his mental state?

    Not like he would broach that topic, though. 

    Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours. Eventually when the sun began to set on the horizon, Luke surrendered that maybe today wasn't the day to give Luna the music box. Maybe this was life's funny way of giving him an out, making an excuse for him? Not even a moment passed after those thoughts set in when Luna suddenly came barging in through the door, as if to announce "Hey Fuckass, we're not making ANY excuses here for your dumb punk brain."

    "MyeAAHUGH!?" Luke fumbled a bit as the sudden entry gave him a heart attack, dropping the book as he floundered on the couch. Death was coming and it was adorable with a fluffy white tail. "Gods, Luna, no need to give me a damn heart attack! You want the neighbors to complain about me?" The young man said with a drawn out wheeze. The poor punk's place in his novel was certainly long gone, but at the very least the music box hadn't fallen down and broken or anything. It was at that moment however that Luke realized he'd left the damn thing in full view. 

    Quickly hurrying it behind his back, the young man did his best to recover as quickly as he could. "I can see work must have gone well for you?" He stated after sucking in a deep breath, letting the fright wash out with his exhale. Far be it from me to expect a calmer entrance from her. The thought was tinged with slight bemusement, slowly pushing away the traces of her ill-timed-well-timed-jumpscare. 

    Smoothing out his hair a bit, Luke bent down to collect the fallen book. A science fiction novel, unsurprisingly. One where technomancy had created mechanical life almost indistinguishable from it's creators. There was a bit of romance in there and it played with the ideas of what it really meant to be alive. Good read. The boy hoped he could remember his place. 

    Ah well, he'll figure it out later.

    "C'mon fuck-o, pop a squat. Take a load off. I'm sure you're exhausted from hurrying around and dealing with all the customers. Tell me how your day went and I'll throw on a movie for us to watch while you do so." While he genuinely did care, and this was far, far, far from out of the norm for Luke to do for Luna, he hoped it served as a much needed distraction from her potentially having seen the music box. He wanted to present that to her himself, not have her pinching and prodding at him until he surrendered it to her. 

    Luke flicked on the TV and scrolled through a movie rental service, scouring through Luna's favorite genre's to see if he could find one she liked. Admittedly, Luna was into some of those really cheesy teen flicks (which also just really oddly fit her?) so after a moment of browsing, the young man pulled up one simply titled Teen Beach Movie, and set it to play. While he did consider making popcorn, One; He had to hide the music box with his fat ass, and two; he really just put it on for background noise for her. Something to maybe tune in and out of as they talked, and hopefully something that could calm her down enough so that when he gave her the gift she wouldn't laugh too hard at him.

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luna walked in and closed the door behind her. She didn't slam it shut, she wasn't that big of a heathen. "Hey, the more they complain about you, is the more they get to compliment me.", she said with a huff and flicking her hair behind her back. Luna logic.

"Work was fine. Busy as usual, you know how it is on weekends." She didn't seem to notice. Luke's majestic flailing hid the music box pretty well. "So what are you up to big nerd? Having fun being the hackerman you always dreamed of being?", Luna asked while plopping down on the couch. Audio of the movie's start played in the background. She loved these cheesy ass teen flick movies. She didn't care if others would judge her for that. Slashers were cool too, but she liked the summer time vacation vibe the teen flicks had. Just people living a life she didn't necessarily have.

There was an odd comfort about seeing others not suffering, you know? It was kind of therapeutic to just not see people get a new face because of the element they naturally aligned to or for being poor. She seemed to be fixated on finding a more comfortable position on the couch. It wasn't easy having a tail sometimes, positioning without pressing on the spine and stuff like that. 

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Luke shifted to allow Luna a bit more space, allowing the young woman to get comfortable. "You say that but you're the one rocking up in here slamming the door open. I may blast my music but at least I put up sound proofing to muffle the noise as much as possible." The young man lifted a finger and gave Luna a playful flick of her forehead. Bullseye. The young punk very obviously wasn't as into Teen Spirit movies as she was, but the guy genuinely made an effort with it. It was probably one of the better things about him. As jokey and sarcastic as he could be, he didn't make fun of anyone's interests or hobbies. Well, within reason and as long as they didn't piss him off. 

    Then it was free game.

    Even if he didn't enjoy them, the punk didn't tune them out like some other people tended to do. If someone showed him something, Luke was along for the ride until the end. Cringe and all. At the very least, though, he didn't have to try too hard tonight. The movie was mostly just background noise for them to talk to, and the young man was more intent on listening to Luna than the movie.

    It totally wasn't because he was super into the girl and cared about her having a good day. Most certainly not. No sir. How could you even suggest such a thing? Take your totally, one-hundred-percent inaccurate assumptions out of his home right now. It was absolutely impossible for Luke to be into Luna, who would be crazy enough to believe that?

    The music box thing wasn't really helping his case, though...

    ...Huh...

    "Well, I'm glad you had a good day. Busy or not, everyday you don't come home miserable is a good one to me." And thankfully, there weren't many of those. Bartender and Izzy definitely looked after the faunus. Some sorta music scene had started in the movie, but Luke had it tuned out. Not his jam. It made sense why Luna loved them though. Seeing people happy and not suffering and struggling was a good breath of air, even if it wasn't entirely relatable. "My day's been..." he wiggled his hand side to side "...got a project brewing, finished up a bunch of code. Nothin super interesting."
    
    It really wasn't the type of stuff he imagined Luna wanted to hear. A few moments of relative silence passed, punctuated by the movie as the tech-head reoriented himself. Luke gave the young woman a gentle nudge of his elbow. "So, whaddya want for dinner? We can order somethin' or head out and grab a bite? Heard a new place opened up nearby that has pretty bangarang pizza." 

    Totally not a date, totally not a date, totally not a date, totally not a date. It's just two good friends hanging out and grabbing a slice, it's completely normal and everyone does it. Just because Luna was super pretty and had a really nice voice didn't mean that he wanted to take her out on a date. 

    CALM DOWN LUKE. A tiny inside voice shouted. The techie was stressed out because of the music box, and it was making his mind go haywire on every single train of thought. Wondering and probing what each thing he said could possibly insinuate, how it could backfire on him. And it was true, he did need to take a mental chill pill. Otherwise, he was just going to chicken out again. I gotta hand this thing over before I lose my mind. 
    
    Luke waited until once the white-haired faunus had finally found a comfortable sitting position and shifted slightly. "So, hey. Don't freak out on me or anything but I've been working on a thing for a hot minute an'... well... don't laugh but..." There was a pause, and the young man reached back behind himself. No going back now... he thought. Silver eyes studied Luna as the techie slowly presented the project he'd made exclusively for her. The music box was made of dark wood, gilded with ornate silver and gold inlays. The surface itself had been carved down slightly to give it more depth and definition, while a pretty, shimmering amethyst was set at the top.
    
    "It took a lot of work to figure out how to get it to actually work..." He started, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with a gloved hand. "...but I remembered one of our favorite songs growing up, and thought somethin' like this would make a... y'know... heartfelt gift? To celebrate us meeting up again and shit. New jobs, new beginnings, escaping The City..." He was rambling again and quickly stopped himself. "...So here. I hope it's good. Just don't judge it too harshly until you open it up, yeah?"

[Luna]

[Refs]

"Huh? Oh yeah pizza's fine." She wasn't a picky eater after all. Then again, when you say shit like pizza, who could really argue with that? "What's the project?", she asked. Eyes were locked on him now. She knew that people that got invested in project after project gushed about them. Sometimes Luke was super secretive about it, others, he would gush to his heart's content about the fascination he had for something. So which was it?

It was neither of those things. He seemed more nervous than excited when he gave his grand reveal. "A.. A music box?" This was easily the softest thing Luke has ever done. She looked at him quizzically but took the music box to look at its details a bit closer. Though that was sure to send Luke into one of his stupid fucking anxiety spirals, Luna seemed to have her focus on the object more than him. What drove him to make a music box reminiscent of their childhoods?

Her look was less quizzical when studying the object though. Anyone could read it was made with care but Luna knew enough that Luke wasn't likely to buy a case of a music box or commission someone else to do it. If he was gifting someone something he tinkered with, it was likely everything was made with his own two hands. Her fingertips traced the etched details in the wood, the engraved bevels were perfectly put in place, not too deep that it felt awkward, and not too shallow that she could feel the entire etching. There was just that perfect small gap in the middle that she couldn't touch, it was weirdly satisfying to feel. She hooked a nail under the lid, it was enough to separate the lid from the rest of its shell.

To Luke, Luna was eerily quiet. The silence was broken by the music box itself. Luna was still as ever, the notes drowning into her thoughts. The music seemed to play without interruption, every note struck its chord with a beautiful ring. If Luke ever bothered to look at Luna's face at any time during this, he'd see her face was drawn with a tearful expression. It wasn't sad, it wasn't upset either. It was an expression that only one knew as being struck to the core hard by a trigger but there was no one expression to really describe how she felt.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Past the gold filigree and ornate carvings, Luke had done his best to emulate the petals of a lotus flower in the centers of each side. The most prominent showing was atop the box itself. Each wooden petal lined with gold, all hugging that sparkling amethyst gemstone. The young man watched her trace her fingertips along the box with baited breath. There were no jokes. Nothing to mock his nerves. Seeing the care the woman took in studying the gift made the tech-heads heart flutter ever so slightly. It genuinely meant a lot to the faunus, he could tell. And that was... 

    ...Honestly what mattered most to him. 

    When the box opened, Luke turned away, a light pink tinge barely visible on his cheeks. Inside, it was a mass of ornately decorated silver wire, woven into the shape of a lotus. Smaller bits of amethyst decorated its petals as the flower delicately spun with the sweet melody. Inside, two similarly crafted shapes were captured in motion, propped atop two metal posts that shifted up and down as they rotated around a glowing central light. One was a fox. The other, some kind of hound. The fox's forehead had the now ever-familiar purple gemstone placed upon it's brow, while the hound had a turquoise gemstone shimmering upon it's own forehead. Their eyes were glittering white, likely quartz.   

    Each little piece took dozens upon dozens of painstaking hours. Likely endless all-nighters, all while balancing work. All while being kept secret from the ever-present Luna. The amount of effort that it must have taken brought into question the many mornings the young punk had sauntered out with bags under his eyes, only to grab an energy drink before vanishing back within his lair. This was a gift Luke poured his heart and soul into creating for Luna. 
    
    From the way the young woman's eye's sparkled, the way they mirrored the gemstones, he could tell he succeeded. 

    "Growing up, you were always there for me..." He began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The young man didn't want to ruin the moment for her, but he felt as though he had to say... something. The movie continued to play in the background but it felt so distant. So far removed from this moment. "...I'm... not great with showing my feelings, but I wanted to figure out a way to show you how much you mean to me. I still remember the first day I arrived in the Lost Boys' hide out. You were relentless with me. And, I dunno, eventually it got to a point where it would have been weird not to see you hanging around my desk. Pestering me about my projects..."

    "I still remember the day you showed this song to me. I remember how we listened to it over and over. I never really... listened to music like this, but it struck a cord and it always stuck with me." Once more the young man hesitated. Braver or bolder men would take the opportunity to make a move. To touch a hand, to pull the other close. Look into their eyes. Move for a kiss. Luke... was not one of those men. The fear leftover from The City ran deep, and no matter how much he cared about Luna, the tech-head never knew if she actually felt the same. The young man couldn't take that risk. They had a good thing going, and Luke couldn't destroy their friendship.

    Not again.

    "I know things have changed, and you're, you know, a lot more serious now. I get that, and even though I miss when we were able to joke around and goof on each other like we used to- I'm still here for you, and I still support you. Even if I'm shitty at showing it." Lifting a gloved hand, the young techie worked the fingers, trying to decide what he was going to do. Slowly, almost shakily, the boy reached out and tapped his knuckles against the white-haired faunus's shoulder. Silver eyes were locked on his feet, barely able to flick up towards the girl. "The biggest mistake I made was leaving you behind without saying goodbye. I guess... this is my promise to you, that I'll never let that happen- that I'll never do that to you again..."

    "And... thank you, for still sticking by my side." 

[Luna]

[Refs]

If Ty were here, he'd make some joke to ruin the moment, though in turn both of them would probably hang that boy by his underwear on a flagstaff in a collaborative effort to tell him how wrong he was. But he wasn't there, so there was no need.

The notes were a sweet nectar that Luna's ears drank in. An old melody at this point but one that brought a comfort during their hardest times because in the City. It kept a bittersweet nostalgia within its honeyed notes. Luna was speechless. Luke remembered it note for note, layers of undertones and overtones and their hamronics. More so, there were details so intricate, she didn't think he really did this but she knew him well enough to know that he did make this. 

Her eyes trailed from the lotus to the fox and the dog. Amethyst at its forehead and the companion with turquoise. She knew enough of their tones to tell that this was symbolic of the two. But why did he go this far to make something like this? Mere friends didn't do this. Even best friends doing something this far was a bit questionable in her mind. 

Wait... was her making a move on her? A flush appeared on her cheeks, dying her face a soft red. N-n-n-no way he would do something like that. He never had romantic interest in her, right? I mean, she suplexed the living shit out of him and back. He'd never fall for someone that did shit like that right? RIGHT?!

Luna's mind was too full of noise to tune into much else at this time. She heard Luke's words but the blue screen of death was apparent in her eyes. She was overthinking something stupid again, and by stupid I mean Luke. Well, more specifically her thought process behind Luke doing this. 

His words hit, she could hear him struggle. The movie was a muffled noise at this point. The notes echoed in her head, the echo itself reverberating in the back of her mind. A soft monotone played, a flatline sound, but it steadily grew louder along with the sound of white noise as thoughts bounced around her brains. 

The noise kept growing and drowning everything out until Luke's knuckles bumped her arm and snapped her out of wherever that train of thought was going. She looked over at Luke, whatever remaining piece of that spiral was expressed on her face. A relax in tension showed that whatever lingered faded out. 

That's when she noticed. It took a few moments, but her eyes fixated on his bandaged hand and when it clicked is when she finally broke out of her awkward silence. "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Many things went through Luke's head. At first, he was worried that she really did hate it. That she was going to suddenly burst into laughter. Do something to finally break the emotional tension that filled the air. Even if she made fun of him, even if she took the music box right this fucking instant and spiked it into the floor, at least it would be something. Something to finally ease the anxiety. Something to know whether or not what he made was good or not. 

    But that something never came. 

    Finally, it was the gentle act of his rapping his knuckles against her arm that seemed to finally pull Luna free of her thoughts. A sigh of relief escaped the young techie's lips as the woman's mind seemed to catch up at long last. Luke was hopeful that Luna would say something about the gift. He wanted to know that the work he put in was appreciated or that he wasn't some overly emotional fool that made something stupid for no reason. It was then that the young punk noticed her amethyst gaze lock on to something. His blood went cold. Before she'd even said the words, he knew what Luna was going to say. The question she was going to ask.

    Her voice was like a bombshell. 

    Luke was many things. But the words 'anxious' or 'easily frightened' were as far removed from him as they possibly could. In that moment, however, the boy fell through every single stage of grief. He looked confused. Wounded. Frightened. Like he was about to cry. Like he was about to laugh. To scream. So many different emotions hit him all at once. The room spun. He felt like he was going to collapse. No, he was going to be sick. The young man fought for a breath and finally managed to suck in a deep, steadying gulp of air. 

    The techie's unbound arm held onto the back of the couch, and everything fell back to normal. With a smile, he waved off the question. "Don't go changing the subject on me now. I gave you a present an' I wanna know what you think of it. Don't try and weasel out of it on me now." The laugh that came next was forced, and only silence followed it. So much was going on in Luke's mind now, and it made the boy feel as though he was left fighting for air. He reached out, paused, then continued, giving Luna's arm a gentle pat. "I'll tell you some other time. Not tonight. Tonight's your night." 

    Of course, he'd no clue what that last part meant. In some sense, Luke wanted the priority to be switched off of him. In another, the guy just wanted Luna to be able to relax and enjoy herself. The young techie didn't want to bring down the mood. Not anymore than he already had, at least.

    "What kinda pizza do you want?" He asked as he rose to his feet. Even with the background noise of the movie, it felt quieter now. It was a feeling that Luke hated more than anything else. To avoid it, he turned his attention away from Luna. For now. Just gotta ignore it, Luke. But as his fingers dialed the number to the restaurant, he couldn't stop his mind from drifting. Not the full picture, just brief flashes. That night. The gunshot. The red hot brand. The white flash of pain. Io's death. Don't. Just don't think about it. It's fine. You're fine. 

    Tonight is Luna's night. 

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luke was hiding something. Why was he always hiding something? She grumbled something under her breath. He said he'd tell later but she doubted that would be any time soon. Then he said the words "Tonight was your night." What did that mean exactly? It wasn't her birthday. She was pretty sure it wasn't really close to any kind of anniversary for anything. Luke, what the fuck?

She closed the music box with a huff, though there was nothing more that delicate with how she handled it. "I don't understand you.", she said. With a deep inhale and a loud exhale through her nose, Luna decided to can it for now. Luke was making some kind of effort for some reason, she was just as oblivious about what it was though. She was faced away from him, gaze dropping back to the box and tracing a particular bevel on it. "It's really pretty.", she mumbled. "Of all the stuff you've made and restored, I know you could do something like this but for some reason it just never crossed my mind that you'd actually, you know, do something like this." She sank into the couch with a slouch, music box now on her stomach. 

When he tried to change off the subject of his arm, and asked her her favourite pizza, she stared at him. Did he forget or something. "Supreme-Meat Lovers. Did you forget?" He lived with her and of all things to forget, it was her favourite pizza toppings? Seriously Luke? 

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Luke paused at Luna's words. Though he didn't show it, what she said tugged at his heart. He wanted to respond to it, to say something. In the end, the young techie kept it to himself. That's the point. He thought. Out of all the things he wanted in life, the last thing he wanted was to be understood. To be known. That concept had scared him ever since he was a child. Io had come close, had almost completely broken through and allowed Luke to break down his walls. He'd let in people like Luna, like Ty... Like Aila. And look at how that all turned out. He thought bitterly. 

    Io was dead. Aila stabbed him in the back in tandem with one of their old friends. And then Ty, Luna, and he all separated for years. Sure, they were back together now. But would it ever be the same? The damage had been done. Scars lingered. Ty had been smart, got out with Callahan when they had to. But Luke left Luna behind. He betrayed her and left her back in The City. Had she even forgiven him for that? Would she ever? 

    Did Luke even deserve to be forgiven?

    Then she continued, cooing over the music box Luke had made for her. It didn't reach the boy's face, but it made Luke's heart sing with each compliment. Each gentle note that told him he'd given the girl the right thing, and that the effort he put in wasn't wasted. Behind the placid, casual expression, silver eyes shimmered like diamonds. The techie, however, remained quiet.

    The young man dialed up the phone number and listened to it ring. "Yeah, yeah, whatevuh Luna. I was just checking to make sure you weren't on some sorta diet or somethin." The other end of the line clicked and a voice picked up. Though the white-haired girl wouldn't hear the other end, she'd certainly hear Luke's end. "Hey, yeah, I was looking to place an order?...Delivery... uh yeah Three-fifteen Meadow Street, apartment thirty-two... yeah... mhm." Luke tossed a glance towards Luna. "Yeah, a uh- Fourteen-inch Supreme Meatlovers with a bottle of Orange-Creamsicle soda..." Luke stuck his tongue out towards the faunus as he clearly remembered her favorite type of soda. As if to say "No, no I did not forget."

    "...cool, alright can I also get a ten-inch jalapeno and bacon pizza with the garlic bread crust? Yeah, and a side order of poppers please. Small... root beer for a drink. Yup, mhm. Thanks. Yeah that price is fine. Cool, thanks. Have a good night." Click. Luke turned towards Luna and set the phone back on the hook. The young man walked back to where she was sat and vaulted over the back of the couch, settling down beside her again. "Food should be here in, like, half an hour. Give or take. How's the movie so far?" 

    With the gift giving and the avoiding the arm, combined with ordering pizza, Luke completely lost track of what was going on with the movie. He knew there were some songs, and that was the extent of his knowledge. 

    "By the by, Ty got ahold of me and said you ruined the surprise he was setting up for you." Luke began with a chuckle. "He was so excited to hear you were in Avalon and that he was going to surprise you at The ∇ri∆ngle. And then I heard you knocked him out over something. You really gotta' work on not doing that in public, y'know." Luke's expression said that the young man found it infinitely funny, though. Completely contradicting what he was saying. The young man pulled a small device out of his pockets and thumbed over them slightly. "So hey, have I shown you all the projects I've made recently?"

[Luna]

[Refs]

"Excuse me? My figure is the jealousy of many, I'll have you know.", she said with a huff. Was he calling her fat? Did he want to die? She glared him down while he made the order, but it was more a glare of bemusement rather than murder.

She crossed her arms. To be honest, he was asking stupid questions. He gifted her a music box, HAND CRAFTED mind you. Luke almost never did that out of courtesy. As if that wasn't a big enough distraction, there was also his bandaged arm. When did that happen? What happened? Regardless, being bombarded like that made watching a movie hard to do. "I haven't really been paying attention to it...", she mumbled.

She leaned back and let out a sigh, the music box was nestled in her lap safely and wouldn't fall and break unless she forgot it was on her lap. "Fucking asshole deserved it for opening his big mouth.", she said to justify snap, crackle, and popping the boy into a nap time. Speaking of distractions, it was like clockwork. The faunus rolled her eyes, the boy was doing literally anything to distract her from his arm it seemed.

"Can't say you have as of late. What have you been up to?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Well, Luna could say that again. Though he would never actually tell her, the young techie found her to be exceptionally beautiful. Her snow white hair, her beautiful crystal eyes... wait shit why was he thinking about this stuff? It's not like he liked Luna. Well ok Luke totally did, but only as a friend! Just as a friend... FUCK.

    Pulled from his thoughts, Luke laughed as Luna adamantly declared Ty deserved to be embarrassed in public. "Gods, what did he even say that was bad enough for you to do something like that to him?" He asked, gently nudging her side with a playful elbow. Luna had been... could be... was pretty violent. There were many times when Luke had made a joke only for the girl beating him over the head with her overreactions. More than a few times, he found himself upside down in a dumpster. 

    If anyone else had done something like that to Luke, they'd be dead. No if's, and's, or but's about it. The punk would beat their asses within an inch of their lives with whatever he could get his hands on, and failing that, with his own two fists. The faunus beside him, however, was a special case for some reason. Maybe it was because she was the first person to really break through his personal bubble? Maybe it was because she was cute? Maybe it was because he had severe attachment problems and having a friend was a way bigger deal than he ever admitted to? 

    It took a lot more introspection than Luke was willing to give. 

    Truth was, though, he wasn't trying to dodge around the question of his arm when he brought up his newest inventions. The punk techie remembered how Luna always looked over the boy's shoulder, watching him tinker and mess with different devices. It was a safe assumption that the white-haired faunus might want to see what he'd been up to as well. Luke brushed a small bit of black hair out of his eyes, hand slowly going down to rest upon his forearm. Some nights, it still stung. It'd been there since Io died, of course. But even back then, Luke covered it up. At first, because of normal medical reasons. And then, because he just didn't want anyone to see what'd happened to him. What was now etched into the young man's skin. 

    More than anything, it was a mark of shame. A repugnant reminder of many... unpleasant things. Even if he trusted Luna with his life, the black-haired techie didn't want her to see what was underneath the cloth wrappings.

    When Luna said she wanted to see what he'd made, Luke visibly brightened up. It was the same childlike excitement he'd had back in the day. Giddy and bubbly, ready to display his pride and joy. The techie took hold of Luna's hand, losing himself in his eagerness. "Bangarang! C'mon then! You're gonna love some of these, trust me!"

    Luke, of course, let her stand up at her own pace, but once Luna was on her feet the young man was unstoppable. He guided the faunus down the hall to his work room, and opened it into the utter warzone of mechanical and electrical parts. One of the 3D printers was still working away, slaving to print whatever contraption Luke had plotted out next. The first thing Luke went for was a massive model battleship, which he set down onto a "clear" table with a hefty thud. It was easily a meter long, complete with painted on battle-scars and shell markings. "This is the LRN Orca. Fully kitted out with functioning turrets, able to fire plastic BB's, with electric motors and steam effects. This was one of my longest projects and I'm so immensely proud of it." 

    The young man ran his fingers along the painted surface, silver eyes shooting up to Luna to see her expression. They sparkled hopefully. The boy was clearly waiting to see her reaction. He wanted to gauge what she thought before he went on to really bombard the girl with everything else he'd created. 

[Luna]

[Refs]

"Oh you know, the things he always said towards me." He knew the ones right? He'd remember the constant torment about the two of them settling down for a dinner date and then fucking like the wild animals they were, right? She gave him a look like that was a stupid question to ask. In all fairness, it absolutely was considering the history they had together. Anyone made a kind of joke towards her that flushed her cheeks red got hit really fast. That’s just how she dealt with that, at least within that group.

She let out a soft sigh, picking up the music box with her hands and getting up. She really wanted to put it away first so it was in safe keeping, but Luke went full speed ahead and she followed to prevent the boy from waiting. She was polite with his interests, not that she wasn’t interested in them herself. Guy was smart to figure this shit out on his own and came up with things like this. Some of them were stupid gimmick items that could give great entertainment like the DAB Bot.

It amazed her in a few ways he could navigate this chaos, but she figured everyone had their methods. “A battleship? Do they have some kind of battleship tournament or something here for that?” Or did he build that to terrorise some poor nymph? She looked around. How many printers did he have. Better question. “...How many projects are you even working on?”, she asked out loud. She opened the floodgates and was prepared for it.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A small pause as Luke thought about the sorts of things everyone teased one another about. Ty in particular. When it clicked, the young techie rolled his eyes and shook his head. A subtle movement that said Fair enough. Ty hadn't been the only one to tease and heckle Luke and Luna of course, not by a long shot. But he was the one who got closest to the blast zone all the time just by virtue of how often he hung out with them. Luke always assumed that part of what made him such an easy target simply came down to how casually he said his shit. A special brand of snark that warranted an extra helping of Luna's home-made knuckle sandwiches. 
    
    Luke gave Ty a few good knocks back in the day himself. 

    "Battleship tournament? Hmm, no, but that does give me a really cool idea." The punk seemed giddy for a moment, and quickly jotted down a note for himself. He thought of what an entire lake of these ships would be like. A bunch of active models duking it out. Shit would be so fucking bangarang... Luke mused. "Honestly, I just made it to see if I could. Woke up one morning at my desk and thought. 'Hey, I have everything I need for something like that, I wonder if I could get that to work.' And I did." 

    There was pride beaming off of the young man as he stated that. Pride that lasted for only a few minutes before Luna said the magic words. The techy's silver eyes sparkled, filled with stars as he became giddy and excited. The young woman opened up the flood gates, and Luke immediately took advantage of it. 

    Luke inhaled. "I got a bunch of different projects lined up. Right now with the 3D printer I'm fucking with an idea I had for a lil, like, spider-bot thing. I'm going to make a base for it, make sure the mechanisms work, and then start adding shit onto it and finetune as I go along. I also have a bunch of segmented parts for this cool mask-thing I'm making. Going to have a bunch of variable lights on it. Mouth will light up when I talk and shit." He smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "Gonna get a head start on my costume for this years Autumnal Hauntfest."

    The boy turned away from his friend and started pulled out different boxes, laying them out on the table. That was one way to keep project parts organized. "I have more shit lined up as well. Just prototyping some ideas. Got an idea for an air-powered gun that can launch out dicks. I want to try and smack Ty in the face when he least expects it. Next, I have a bit of an idea for a modified gasmask. I'm fucking with different ideas on that one. Toying with lights, different filters, different seals. Etcetera. Hmmm, what else I got here? Fancy Music player. Restoration on an old gun stabilizer I found. Still need to do work on that chess set I was fiddling with..." 
    
    After that, it was just ideas. Concepts he had in mind. Things like a tabletop game with modular tiles. Another remote controlled boat. A pair of prank binoculars that zapped a person when they put it to their face. Smoke bombs that exploded on contact with the ground. Glitter bombs that exploded on contact with a person's face. Stink bombs. A stuffed children's toy that swore like a sailor. Luke rambled on, new ideas popping into his head as he went along. 

    Luna really had gotten him going.