A new addition [pt.2]

Peter VI stalked through the corridor, stomach growling like a kitten-badger and hair like a bird’s nest. It had been a good few days, perhaps weeks, since he’d surfaced from the lab he’d holed up in. And perhaps just as long a time period had passed since he’d had any form of human contact …or non-human for that matter. He paused just past one of the sitting rooms and back pedalled to the doorway.

‘What in the name of mitosis… is that laughter? And moreover KID’S laughter!?’ he thought to himself.

His view of the scene was blocked by the tall back of the armchair silhouetted by the glow of the television screen. He cautiously stepped in, puzzled further by the giggles and ‘Yeehaws’ and an unmistakeable baritone chuckle. He peered round the side of the armchair, unsure of what to expect.

“Sp…Spine?”

Spine and Junior both looked up at Six. The young robot beamed brightly at the masked human with a wide smile.

“Hullo, Peter.”

“Hi, Mister Peter sir!”

Peter blinked slowly. Just how long had he been down in that lab?

“The Spine, could you… possibly explain this?” he gestured vaguely at the two robots.

Spine and Junior exchanged puzzled looks and returned their gaze to Peter.

“To be perfectly honest, Six, I don’t think I could explain this…” Spine shrugged,

“Right. Office. Now. And bring… sorry does he have name? You are a ‘he’ right?”

Junior giggled, “I’m a boy, and my name’s N.2.S, but Big calls me Junior! You can too if you like!”

“Big…? I-” Peter shook his head, he was going to need a lot of coffee for this, “Never mind. Just follow me.”

The Spine scooped Junior up in his arms and carefully cradled the tot as he strode after Six. A good few hours passed as The Spine desperately tried to make sense of the situation in a discussion with the young master. Not that he was quite certain of how it had happened himself at any rate.

“So… the kid suddenly appeared at your side.”

“After a particularly painful sneeze, yes.”

“Define painful…”

“Well, it had disturbed my power core in its casing slightly and-”

“By Jove, that might be it you know!”

The Spine blinked slowly, not quite catching on to what Peter was getting at, “What?”

“Of course, why didn’t I think of this before!” he eagerly stood up and bounced over to a nearby flipchart, grabbing various pens to scrawl complex equations on the paper, “You see, when your power core was disturbed, it caused a sort of rift in the fabric of reality…”

“Like when Hatchworth gets hiccups…”

“Correct! Of course there’s never any guarantee what could manifest. It could be various cakes filled with shoe-cream, a terror from the land of Horroria or…” he circled his hand at the small robot, “These.”

Junior wriggled out of Spine’s grasp as Peter continued in his scientific ramblings about blue matter rifts and tears in reality as The Spine strained to listen, either bored or confused. Or both. The toddler excitedly nabbed a few pens from the floor and started drawing on the flip chart. Six didn’t even notice until The Spine started chuckling.

“What are you laughing at? I… hey!”

Peter glared down at the scrawls and the offending robotic child smiling to himself as he drew little stick figures on horses around Six’s equations. He snatched the pens out of the child’s hands.

“Nobody writes on my flip charts except me, ya hear! This is for sciencey stuff! Not doodling!”

Junior gazed up at him wide eyed and tearful. His bottom lip trembled.

“S-sorry!” Junior pulled his shirt up to his face and shrank to the floor, crying quietly.

“Now, Peter, that was just unnecessary…” Spine stooped down and scooped the trembling child up into his arms and rubbed his back with a gentle hand, “He wasn’t doing any harm.”

“But- I…” Peter withdrew slightly as Spine glared at him fiercely, “Geez... I’m real sorry. I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“He’s only a child. You were one once too, remember,” he planted a kiss on Junior’s cheek and gently bounced him in his embrace in an effort to soothe the poor boy.

“Yes, yes. And I’m constantly reminded by you and mother of how much of a handful I was.”

“We never really did find that dinosaur skeleton you ‘acquired’ and then reanimated, you know” Spine sniggered, earning a soft laugh from Junior as he buried his face in Spine’s vest.

“Hey! That was purely for scientific reasons!” Peter huffed and crossed his arms indignantly.

“Same goes for the animatronic wings and flamethrower you installed in it too, huh?”

“I wanted a dragon mount… Rabbit said it was a good idea at the time anyways.”

“Well, you know how Rabbit’s ‘ideas’ usually pan out. Usually quite badly and something or someone gets set on fire. At any rate, Junior is going to need somewhere to sleep for the time being,” the point was emphasised as the child’s eyelids drooped, followed by a lazy yawn.

“As long as it’s not anywhere near my room, I really don’t care. Weirder things have happened around here. Just… try and keep him out of trouble? Emphasis on try.”

Spine smiled widely and winked at Peter as he headed out the door, leaving the master to ponder what in the name of Science had just happened. Sure, weirder things had indeed happened in the manor, but this was certainly one of the weirdest. He slumped down into the armchair and breathed a heavy sigh.

“I hope Spine remembers blue matter manifestations aren’t always permanent… and that he doesn’t get too attached if this is the case…”

~*~

The Spine selected one of the chambers close to his own near the Hall of Wires. He paced into the room and set Junior down on the floor.

“This can be your room, champ. I know it’s not… too homely… but it’ll do for now right?” he inspected the cupboards and wardrobes for anything untoward as Junior gazed around wide eyed at the bookcases and crates, “My chamber and workplace isn’t too far from here so you can come find me if you need anything.”

He placed both hands on his hips and cocked his head at the curious child, “Whatcha think?”

“Hmm? Oh! I think it’s great! Thanks!” Junior beamed happily. Spine couldn’t help but smile. At least he was polite in spite of his short attention span.

“Alright, well I’m gonna find you some bedclothes. Then you can settle in for the night. There should be one or two things in these crates hopefully.”

He pulled down a few boxes and pried them open. Junior watched in wonderment. It was certainly a stroke of luck. The crates contained Peter’s old toys and clothes from when he was a child. Annie must have put the boxes in here in case Peter ever ‘met someone’, in spite of how improbable he would claim it to be due to his adamant belief that ‘girl cooties’ was indeed a real medical condition. A certain item of clothing caught Junior’s eye.

“I like that one!” he pointed excitedly at a folded set of pyjamas, yellow with soft brown patches.

“Ah! Peter’s giraffe onesie. He never wore it come to think of it, never could understand why… You like this one then?”

“Uh huh! Could I… could I have it? Please?”

Spine really couldn’t say no to those big green eyes. He was an awful softie when it came to children in the manor.

“Sure you can, sport.”

Junior practically squealed with delight and hurriedly donned the onesie, wiggling to make the tail flap from side to side. Spine grinned widely. Kid was cute, he had to admit.

“Alright, playtime’s over,” he chuckled and ruffled Junior’s hair, “Time for bed.”

The little bot nodded eagerly and scrambled into his bed, struggling slightly with the sheets.

“Here, let me tuck you in, pardner.”

“Could I have a bedtime story too?” Junior pleaded as he held out a book he’d picked from the shelves.

“Peter Pan huh?”

Junior nodded keenly, “Pleeeease?”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” Spine smiled as Junior wiggled in his bed excitedly.

He set himself down next to the little bot and let Junior nuzzle up to his side. He gazed down and smiled at the child and turned to the first page of the book.

Time ticked by and Junior was fast asleep in Spine’s embrace. He smirked lovingly and eased himself carefully out of the bed to tuck Junior into the covers. He planted a gentle kiss on the child’s forehead, and turned to leave the room. He gazed back from the doorframe and sighed softly before turning out the lights.

“G’night, Junior.”