Kai and Cinder One-Shots

Parenting

Parenting can be a pain.
Prompted by @LectoraFever

--

The day was hot and humid. It felt like the sun was pressing a hot hand on Cinder's back. She trudged through the junkyard, not necessarily searching for parts, she just wanted to get away. Just for a little while, she told herself, Kai could manage by himself for an hour or so.

"What are you doing," a voice suddenly asked to her right. She jumped so bad she fell backwards.

Up on one of the junk piles, sat a familiar android. She had burned chestnut skin and braided blue hair. Her amber eyes locked accusingly with Cinder's. Iko.

Cinder shrugged off the stare and stood, brushing her palms on her cargo pants. "Just looking for parts." Iko's gaze narrowed.

"Shouldn't you be at the palace?" she asked.

Cinder turned away. "I'll be back, I just need to --"

Iko popped up next to her, like she'd teleported from the junk pile to Cinder's side. Cinder's heart leapt into her throat. "Shouldn't you be looking after you know who," Iko asked, like nothing had happened.

"Don't do that!" Cinder seethed through clenched teeth.

Iko pursed her lips. "I think my stealth mode is on."

"You think?" Cinder usually liked to hang out with Iko, but what she didn't like was when the android gave advice.

Iko gave her a withering look. Lately, she'd gotten really good at expressions, which didn't help when Cinder tried to ignore her.

"Don't look at me like that!" Cinder complained. "If you had to wake up at three in the morning every day, having to feed a whiny and annoying ..." She trailed off, scowling at Iko.

Iko shrugged. "Well, I guess I shouldn't judge you. You are the responsible one."

"Thank you," Cinder said, but Iko wasn't done yet.

"Yeah, so responsible leaving Kai in charge. So responsible for leaving your two-year-old child alone --"

"She's not alone!" Cinder shouted, glaring at Iko. "I just need a break, okay? Can't I have that?"

Iko shrugged again. "Alright." Then she smiled, flashing her pearly whites. "So what kind of parts do you need?"

Cinder looked relived to change the subject. She shouldered her bag. "Well, I'd like to look for some tungsten carbide, anything would ..." Iko went whizzing off, and in three seconds flat, arrived in front of Cinder, a various array of nuts and bolts in her arms. " ... work."

Iko grinned and poured the parts into Cinder's bag. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Uhh ..." Cinder looked wary. "I'm missing a timing wire for my welder --" Again, Iko dashed off and was back within a couple of seconds with a bundle of red wires.

Iko dumped them all into Cinder's bag. "Okay, are we done? Good, let's go." She took Cinder by the wrist and started dragging her to the junkyard exit.

"Wha-what?" Cinder protested. She yanked her hand from Iko's grip. "Iko! What's the matter with you?"

Iko gave Cinder one of those looks, like "mmmmhmm". "What's the matter with me? I think we should turn this question around." Cinder still looked completely bewildered. "Ok, think of it like this. Humans are not machines --"

"What?" Cinder glared at her. "I know perfectly well that humans aren't --" Iko stopped her with a hand.

"No, you don't understand. With a machine, you can work on it as long as you want, and you can drop it, come back to it later. It's not a very touchy process. Now, that's all fine and dandy, but you're mistaking a machine for a human baby."

"What are you talking about?" Cinder looked livid, but Iko pushed on.

"As I said, you can take as long as you want with a machine. But a living, breathing child needs someone to look at them, someone like it's mother." Cinder was silent. She looked away. Iko placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not saying Kai is a terrible father, but your daughter needs you, Cinder. That's what I'm talking about."

Cinder looked up at Iko. She'd probably be crying right now, but of course, she couldn't.

So instead, she sighed and sat  down on a discarded refrigerator. "You're right. I'm horrible at this."

"Hey, hey." Iko sat down next to her. "Don't say that. You're wonderful, you just need a little practice." She grabbed Cinder's hand and pulled her up. "Maybe you need a song." She cleared her throat. "Wheeeeen yooooou --"

"Stop!" Cinder yelled, clamping a hand over Iko's mouth. "I get it, thanks."