All the baws with The Spein and Jonbut (And a non-formatting laaaazy Kiwi)

[not_doing_puns]

For once, the manor was quiet. They'd finished a rather long round of performances, and by the time they got back even Rabbit was ready for some rest, and so The Spine saw no problem in bringing a book out of the Hall of Wires where he usually hid. Instead he took it outside, figuring he could enjoy some of the sunshine while things were peaceful.

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[tortillatrotter]

As usual, The Spine's basic instinct was spot on.

The sleek and silver automaton was only situated comfortably with his book for a mere five minutes before he'd notice a soft, all-too familiar giggling coming from a nearby tree, a flash of shiny brass peeking out between shaking leaves and branches.

He was never left alone for very long, was he?

[not_doing_puns]

Of course. The Jon had seemed the most bouncy, so it surprised him not one little bit that it was his giggling that he heard first. The Spine simply turned the page in his book, though he arched a bold browplate as he wondered just what the youngest robot was up to.

And he wasn't making trouble yet, so The Spine figured he would let him play a bit longer.

[tortillatrotter]

[1/2]

Success!

Or so the mysterious tree-ninja assumed as the giggle that accidentally slipped out of his mouth went supposedly unnoticed by the older robot. The thick branches of the tree sagged in discomfort as the metal man crawled carefully across them, closer and closer to his unsuspecting prey, a wicked grin stretching wide across his face.

The distance between The Spine and his unknown assailant continued to dwindle as the minutes passed on by, inch by inch by inch he pressed on closer, before the rustling of the autumn leaves in the Walter's finest tree finally halted altogether.

He was right there, right within his evily evil grasp. The Spine wouldn't be able to escape now. This time their battle would be to the death!

And that was when the figure bunched up like a cat and sprang from the tree branch-

[tortillatrotter]

[2/2]

-And that was precisely when The Jon fell with a startling CLANK onto his older brother, giggling his entire way down from the tree.

"I've got you this time, Spine!" He scrambled to his feet as best as he could, tripping a little over his own limbs before straightening. The Jon's best feigned villainous smile was still far too bright and cheerful to be taken at all seriously, but he was sure trying!

"Time to finish this once and for all! Now we fight!"

[tortillatrotter]

Months passed by without incident and, as far as The Jon was concerned, there was no incident even to keep in mind. As the days pushed on forward, further and further away from The Spine's horrific malfunction, the youngest of the trio found that the memory began to fade, to become buried deep down along with the other unpleasant experiences in his life that he so rarely pondered on.

So life returned to normal. The closeness stayed between them stayed, to a point, but everything was forgotten for The Jon and time moved on.

Currently, the golden automaton of Walter's Steam Man Band was sitting crossed legged in front of his well kept stash of Crystal Pepsi, his mouth twisted into a partially serious, partially confused line. And he was thinking.

Thinking very hard.

That was never a good sign.

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine was lucky he was somewhat of a rarity. It meant that he could set his terms fairly well for the exchanges he was using to obtain more of the soda his brother needed to function. It wasn't that concerning at first; there were plenty of stores that had lots of stock they were happy to get off their hands; they figured with as much as they were able to get, they could find a way to revert The Jon to another fuel type before they ran out

[tortillatrotter]

The comforting, heavy footfalls of his middle-older brother were enough to draw The Jon out of his deep, swirling thoughts. His neck twisted to the side with a soft click, his mouth curving into a smile immediately at the sight before him.

"Hiya, Spine!" He didn't budge from his spot on the floor. "Whatcha up to? Oh! You found some more? Where at this time?"

[not_doing_puns]

"Sure did!" He replied, setting the cases easily on one of the shelves, noting how there still wasn't as much as he would have liked there... but he was getting more offers, so there was indeed more out there.. it just was out of reach of the Walter family through other means. As it was, he smiled back at The Jon. "Someone found a couple cases in their basement and remembered hearing about what you run on."

It wasn't a lie. If there was one thing he couldn't do, it was lie to his little brother. He could barely lie to other people, but something about lying to The Jon just seemed that much worse.

"So what're you doing lurking around down here?" He asked in a slightly teasing tone.

[not_doing_puns]

The mood on the way home changed instantly when the three automatons got the news. Laughter ceased, smiles slipped to stunned disbelief as they all lapsed into uncertain silence.

We're awful sorry boys, but your Pappy passed on. Didn't you get the letter?

They hadn't. The Spine couldn't say why, maybe it had gotten lost, or maybe the military hadn't thought it was important enough to tell them. But it still hurt. No one believed it though. They all held the nervous hope that the driver was misinformed, that Pappy would be there when they got home and everything would be just like it had been before. The truth of the matter was revealed when the three trudged into the Manor, dusty and travel worn, and there was no one there to welcome them, other than one of the help, who took their things aside for them, everything in his expression reading sympathy. Needless to say, neither Rabbit or The Jon reacted well, and the middle brother had to force himself not to break down with them, to keep himself together. His brothers needed him to

[tortillatrotter]

Powering on for the first time after their return home from war felt like The Jon was waking up inside of a dream.

Granted, all of reality was distorted and odd to The Jon regularly, but now more than ever his head felt it was collapsing in upon itself, his usually swirling and tumbling and colorful thoughts all distorted and monotone and frightening. Moving to his feet made his head spin in an uncomfortable way (not at all like the fun he felt when spinning around himself), the koi in his chest suddenly sluggish and lethargic as the hum of his power core vibrated almost violently through his brass structure, somehow feeling much stronger than it ever had been before

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine choked on the sob he was trying to stifle when he heard his name called, optics opening, casting dim light over his tear-streaked face.

"O-of course he missed us..." He murmured, trying to keep his tone soothing. "He... he had to go though... it... was his t-..." He almost couldn't bring himself to say it. "-Time."

[tortillatrotter]

His time. His time. What did that even mean?

Reaching a hand forward tentatively to make certain he could cross into the room, The Jon appeared before his older brother near the bed after softly padding across the floor, peering down at him with a sad glint in his optics.

"..." Not even an inch closer to understanding. But The Spine's distress was enough to keep his attention. "Can I sit with you?"

[tortillatrotter]

It had started off as a semi-average day

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine was not in a good mood. He hadn't even let Michael pick the guitar string out of his finger joints, instead snatching up a pair of tweezers and pliers with a low irritated grumble before heading back to the Hall, where he knew at least he would be left in peace and quiet, at least after he'd convinced QWERTY to go back to his nap. The quiet hum of electronics was almost soothing as he sat cross-legged, using the tweezers to carefully unwind the broken guitar string from under plating and around delicate joints. He was so absorbed in the task that he didn't realize he had a visitor until The Jon called out. He started at the sudden noise, optics brightening as he peered out from the mess of wires he was using as an impromptu hammock.

"Somethin' you needed?" He knew The Jon rarely came in here; he was good about giving him space when he wasn't too excited that is.

[tortillatrotter]

Oh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea anyway.

The Jon shuffled shyly a little further into the room, peeking up at his older brother with a soft, hopeful smile. "I was wondering if you wanted to go play some games or something with me. Everyone else is busy or grouchy, but I thought some good times might be just the thing to cheer everyone up again. Being mad is no fun at all."

[not_doing_puns]

He almost said no. He almost waved The Jon off with some excuse or another. But... he remembered how hard the brassy bot had tried to get everyone in a better mood when things started going downhill, the lost look of his face as people started stalking out at the end of practice. It wasn't fair to take his bad mood out on The Jon when he was only trying to cheer him up.

"...Sure, why not?" He replied, finally pulling the string free, tucking it and the tweezers in his pocket as he slid out of his little 'hammock' to stand. "Got anything in mind?"