Metal and Bone | A Rainbow Quest AU

The Night (One-Off)

Orange had learned at this point not to question human systems too much, but he was surprised at how Sabre wasn't waking up right then and there.

It was the middle of the night, and Orange needed to fix the pig pen. However, after the Rainbow Red incident he was scared to let Sabre out of his sight. He had an idea. An admittedly dumb idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Lining the inside of the backpack with blankets and carefully placing his little friend inside was surprisingly effective. Orange fully expected for Sabre to wake up while he was moving him, but nope. The human was out like a light.

Orange thought that it was understandable, given the events of the day. The Orange Village watched over Sabre while Orange went out to gather building materials, and apparently Gerald had somehow followed the two through the portal. No one knew when he got there, but as soon as Orange teleported away, he began running all around the village.

The other Orange Steves tried in vain to catch him, but he was too fast for them. Sabre, however, was more than happy to chase Gerald around and sometimes grab onto him in an effort to catch him.

However, in steel vs organic, steel pretty much always won. So, Sabre just ended up either being dragged by or climbing up onto Gerald. Sabre would eventually fall off, and he would start chasing again. All of this was told to Orange by a very exasperated Orange Leader while he held both Gerald (who was very upset about being caught) and Sabre (who was just generally angry that he was being picked up like a misbehaving cat).

Orange laughed to himself a little, remembering the Leader's expression. It took all his composure not to burst out laughing right then and there. The rest of the Orange Steves clearly weren't as disciplined, as Orange could see them giggling amongst each other and failing to hold their laughter. Especially Funny; He got quite the glare when the Leader heard him.

Orange finally finished repairing the last fence post, and looked proudly at his work. He was about to stand up when he noticed Gerald behind him, about to poke the backpack with his snout.

"Gerald!" He whispered harshly.

Gerald immediately stopped what he was doing, stepped back, and tried to act like he wasn't doing anything.

"Don't you dare, you'll wake him up." Orange continued. "I swear, if you actually wake him up I'll take away your golden carrots for two days."

Gerald looked offended.

"Now go back in your pen and don't break it this time." Orange sighs, getting up and pointing at the open gate. "Don't think I didn't notice the hoof marks on the broken fence."

Gerald pouts and trots back into the pen, closing the gate behind him.

"I swear, you've been grumpier lately." Orange mumbles.

Orange then calms down and walks out into the Hub, going to get a better look at the night sky.

He had always liked looking at the stars, using his database to research all of the stories connected to the constellations. He found the stories interesting, and the stars very pretty; he can see why the humans liked them so much so long ago.

It was another thing that made him a little odd; Normal robots never really admire 'beauty' in things, just see material use or value. They know the definition and qualities of 'beauty', of course, but never seek it out. Orange, however, found shiny things to decorate his various homes over the years or observed natural beauty in organic plants and animals. Even the metal flora and fauna would grab his attention sometimes, something unique making them stand out from every other part of the mechanized landscape. He had even grown a flower garden in one of his old homes once, gathering different kind of both natural and metal plants to pattern the yard.

He knew it was weird to others, but he didn't feel weird doing it. So he looked for the beautiful things of the world.

Although, looking at the stars has been harder since he put up those lights in the Hub so Sabre could see in the dark. Orange didn't want Sabre injuring himself because he couldn't see, so he put those up as a precaution. Sabre had told him about something called 'fairy lights' that were often used as yard decoration, and were apparently much prettier, but until he could find some he was stuck with basic bulbs on a wire. He didn't mind all that much, though.

Orange looked back to the sleeping human in the backpack, looking peaceful and even smiling.

In his opinion, the most beautiful thing Orange had ever found came into his life on his own, just a little over a month ago.