Of Ponies and Puppies

Return

The pod landed at the spire, the group looking at J in confusion. "What?", she asked, "what's the problem?".

"We don't live here anymore", V said.

J groaned, "yeah, forgot".

V directed her over to the entrance of the colony. The ship sailed over to the outskirts of the city as Door 1 came into view.

"Home, sweet home, huh?", Thad said.

N nodded, "yep. Great to be back".

The ship landed beside the entrance, puffs of snow wafting up from the impact. N took Uzi's hand to walk out with her. Lizzy grabbed her railgun and headed out with V. J grabbed Drip and Thad followed the group out as they regrouped at the door. Smiles were shared as they enjoyed being back on home turf.

"I'll get the door!", N chirped as he practically skipped over to it. J took the opportunity to lock the ship as N knocked on the door.

The door cracked and a Worker appeared behind it. The Worker waved at him, "oh hey N! Been wondering where you've been lately".

V wandered over at the sound of the voice, "Darek from a few doors over?".

"Oh V's here too!", Darek said, "me and Maddie got a little worried when we didn't see you guys around. Are Lizzy and Chloe out there too?".

"Nah, just Lizzy. Chloe's with Uzi's dad. Would've asked you guys, but we kind of forgot in the hurry".

By now the rest of the group wandered over. Lizzy waved, "hi. Yeah. We got busy with something, but we're back".

Darek opened Door 1 for them. "Welcome in!", he said, hands motioning for them to come in. His eyes caught on J and Drip, "new friends?".

"You could say that", Lizzy said.

Darek approached them in curiosity, "aren't you the third Murder Drone from that one break in?".

"And?", J asked, irritation on her face.

"Just thought you looked familiar", Darek explained.

N walked over to pet Drip, who wasn't really interested in being pet. "Look", N said, "it's a real dog!".

"Dude, that's a dog?", Darek exclaimed, "I've never seen a real one before".

J's tail made a side-to-side motion, "he is named Drip and he is a great canine companion. He's the greatest asset I have". Drip barked in reply.

"That's cool that you have a real dog! I was built pretty close to the core collapse, so I didn't get to see many living things before they all went poof !", Darek said.

Lizzy cut in, "ok, I'd love to keep catching up, but like, we kinda wanna see our kids too".

Darek's hands flew up in alarm, "oh right! Sorry! We'll catch up later".

V nodded, "see you later". She led them off as Darek stood back and waved them off.

"Kind of a chatterbox, that guy", J commented.

V shrugged, "once you get to know him, he gets that way".

"I still can't believe you patched things up with him and his family", Uzi said, "I remember you saying that you'd kill his kids because they were being little shits".

"Character development", V said, "also some good advice from my loving wife".

Lizzy smirked, "I have my moments".

Uzi shuddered, "I almost fear to know what you're raising".

"Could say the same of you", V said, "Colt's gonna be so sappy by the time he's ready to date".