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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:04 pm
 It was rather large by their standards. Three bedrooms, one for a pantry, one that was supposed to be for D which had been converted to storage and one for York which after the first week had turned into "The Bedroom" instead of "York's Room". D had managed that one by showing up randomly on the bed in the middle of the night for a few days and refusing to leave. After that York had caved and his room turned into "Their Room."
D was currently curled on the bed that neither of them bothered to ever make with his armor off...or rather turned off. One of the benefits of being a computer program was being able to do things like that without all the hassles of changing. His had a short and slightly messy fall of dark green hair and his fur was marked with green patches that looked like computer circuits, on his muzzle was a rather tiny pair of glasses. D didn't actually need them to see, they just gave him something to do with his paws when he spoke. Which he did given the chance at length...
He yawned and listened to York in the other room. He smirked as he listened to his partner hum rather tunelessly. Tuneless humming almost always meant York was working...or cooking...but probably working in this case.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:18 pm
 It was perfect for the two of them; roomy without being ridiculous, cozy without being cramped. Everything they needed they had. One room for a pantry, one room that they had originally intended for D, and another that was meant to be York's. York grinned about that as he worked in the next room. A couple nights ago, not long after they had moved in, D had appeared in the middle of the night. York's reluctant protests caved in like thin paper in a gale. He had to admit, however, that he wasn't unhappy.
He could imagine D sitting the next room, curled on the bed with his tiny pair of glasses perched precariously on his muzzle. York had wondered when D was first implanted why he had the glasses; he had wondered many things about D in those first few days, but within a week he had learned a great deal about him. It was amazing that anti-social York could ever be that close to another being. If his family was still around, they would marvel at this change in personality.
Humming tunelessly, York got to work on his current project: a lock that only he or D could open. The last thing he wanted was to get tangled up in another person's problems--especially another old friend. He hadn't changed that much; he still shuddered at the memory of his last girlfriend. The last last one. He wouldn't go through the anguish and the guilt-tripping again. The only other person he needed was D.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:29 pm
D got up and stretched and decided to see what York was up too. Napping was fun but really only useful when he was trying to fun tests on his systems. D hopped off the bed and wandered into the main room. He saw York sitting at the low table they'd bought working on something.
D circled around to York's right and sat down next to him looking tiny. D was only about half the size of a normal adult fox. "What are you doing?" he asked pushing the small frames of his glasses up on his muzzle.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:34 pm
York held up a computer chip. "Making a lock," he explained. "This apartment doesn't have a very good one on the door; I could pick it in the dark with two toes. This will be a much better one; a hollographic lock. It'll take some work to get it attached to the door, but it'll be worth it to keep us safe." He glanced at the windows. "I might want to do something about those," he murmured.
He set down his work and stretched. He had been sitting in one position for too long, and his left eye was starting to twinge, a sure sign that it would start hurting if he continued to do any more close work.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:44 pm
D nodded. "We did chose this place for location not security." D stated rather unnecessarily. He looked over at the windows and thought for a moment. "Might I suggest we get small force field generators and wire them to another building's power grid. That way we can still have natural light and keep the electric bill low." he said looking at York.
D didn't need to be in his partner's head to know that York was getting tired and his eye was acting up. D let instinct kick in and he gently nuzzled York. "Go sit down away from everything for a bit. I'll get you something to eat." he said. Although D couldn't cook he could at least reheat things that York made. He wandered over to the fridge without seeing if York did as he suggested or not, he usually did in most cases.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:08 pm
"That sounds like a good idea," he murmured as he nuzzled D back. "I'll get to that after I take a nap." York padded into the bedroom, and, wrestling his armor off, he curled up on the bed. He usually followed D's suggestions; the most logical of the AIs, he never suggested anything unless he believed it was the right thing, unlike York who was often affected by pride or pure stubbornness.
I'm lucky to have him, he thought for the thousandth time as he listened to the sound of D in the other room. If it weren't for him, I'd be in serious trouble. I might even be dead by now. He often wondered at how he and D managed to work so well together in the light of such horror stories as Tex and Omega, Wash and Epsilon.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:36 pm
D flicked on the oven to let it preheat while he rummaged around in the fridge, he pulled out some cooked chicken and a potato. He'd make York a salad or something when he woke up. D wandered around the living room and straightened up a bit. They didn't have much out side of the table and two book shelves, the contents of which D had memorized so he could read to York.
D peeked in on York and watched him sleep. He let a small smile break across his face before going back into the living room. D had realized early on he wasn't like the other Freelancer AIs. In fact most of the others had gotten on his nerves. Gamma with his bad jokes, Epsilon had never been right be begin with, Omega with endless plots. Delta often wondered if he was the only one with a full set of programming. Of course he had his quirks, he talked to much and had his glasses. But unlike the others who seemed to never look out for there partners, that was D's primary concern. He wondered again where it had really started for them...D had always felt it revolved around when Texas/Omega had damaged York's eye... but he still wasn't sure.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:21 pm
Though physically he was tired, thoughts still shuttered back and forth in York's mind. With his eye starting to feel better, he began to wonder just what had happened after Omega!Tex had half-blinded him. It was that duel that had shown York that D wasn't like the others; Omega wouldn't let anything get in his way, Epsilon was too mad to realize what was happening around him, and Gamma...Gamma cared for his partner, but no one else. He couldn't count the number of times that Gamma's hideous knock-knock jokes had hidden the true meaning of his words. D though--he treated other freelancers and their AIs with respect and courtesy.
He guessed that after he had gotten used to the idea that he could no longer use his left eye to its maximum capacity he had opened up more to D. Before, Delta was there to serve and assist, but after the duel...he was there for York. His quirks had long since stopped bothering him, but he had begun to actually appreciate them after he had lost faith in his fellow agents.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:46 pm
D sat at the table and waited for the oven to click. He thought back to the beginning, or rather the first time York had stopped talking to him like a program and as a individual...granted a small artificial one. He thought it had started after the fight. York had lost his capacity to see quickly and although D wasn't sure he thought that York's somewhat strained relationships with the other Freelancers had become even worse. York was a liability now in combat.
D had altered some of the settings in York's helmet without being asked. Putting what he could on the right and reporting minor things that you really didn't need to see to know, and it gave him more opportunity to talk to York. And although he hadn't understood it at the time D wanted to talk to York. Wanted York to talk to him. And it had come, slowly. And for D it was if the world had opened up. He started offering to do things like watch the left side in training and on missions, and much later D still remembered the way York had looked at him the first time he'd offered to read to him. D sighed as he called up the image in his memory. He liked the way York looked at him.
D's ear twitched as the oven clicked. He got up and slid the tray in.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:20 pm
It had been hard at first. Training had been hard with his depth perception badly impaired, not to mention the shock he still felt when another came up on his left side without warning. It had been jarring until he learned to trust D and treat him like a friend instead of a program. He had needed a friend as other agents avoided him more and more often. He was repeatedly denied assignments unless it required his special abilities. No one wanted a half-blind partner who would be less useful than troublesome. He privately believed that that was why he and Carolina had been paired together; both were incapacitated.
However, while Carolina's AIs fought each other for her mind, D rose to the occassion, offering to help York in combat. He appeared almost exclusively on York's right, warned him of things even when it was unnecessary. York still happily remembered the expression on D's face when York finally started referring to him by his nickname instead of his full name, like he was a person and not a unit.
He heard the distant sounds of the oven pinging and the sound of food being slipped in as he drifted off to sleep.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:41 pm
D went and sat back down. He'd left the oven on its lowest setting so it would take longer. he pushed his glasses up and then crossed his paws on the table and put his head down on them. D sighed and thought about things that had happened later.
D had never truly understood why York had kept him. Most of the other Freelancers had jumped at the chance to rid themselves of their AI. York though...he'd wanted D. D hadn't identified the emotion at the time but he knew now that he was grateful. Of course along with that emotion others had slowly come into play for him. D was still amused with himself the first time he'd ever been jealous, of course he didn't like to think about it...the events surrounding that had been hard on York. They'd been hard on him too but for different reasons. It was hard to accept parts of your programing that you didn't find logically possible.
D sat for several more moments before he checked his internal clock. 15 minutes had passed. He got up and opened the oven and pulled out the tray. It was hot and could sit for a few more minutes. He went into the bedroom and looked in on York. D stood for several seconds he had full intentions of letting York sleep some more but before he knew what he was doing he was on the bed with York gently nudging him. "York?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:07 pm
They had all heard the news, first in rumors, then in the limited, narrow words of command that sought to quench those rumors even as they encouraged them. Rumor had it that Epsilon had gone mad--madder than he already was. So mad that Agent Washington's mind had begun to fray at the edges as their melded thoughts brought him down, leaving the agency with no other choice but to remove Epsilon from Wash's mind. Not that much was left of Epsilon, from what they said...It had badly frightened the department. From then on, Freelancers were rounded up, led to the same laboratory in which their AIs had been implanted, and lost their mechanical parasites.
At first, York had been worried. They had all known that Epsilon was far more unstable than the rest, but no one had expected him to completely fall to pieces. York had rather prudently decided to keep his brief fear in a deeper part of the mind so that D wouldn't feel hurt. But the fear for his sanity was soon replaced by a newer fear: a fear of losing his dearest friend and closest companion. He had escaped; no locked door was enough for the former locksmith, and the guards had been easy to bypass. After that ordeal, he still couldn't believe that he had been so stupid to fall for someone who wanted him to give up D. As if he was some bad habit, a disgusting addiction...
York was dimly aware of another body settling itself on the bed. He lazily opened one eye to see dim light flash off a pair of small glasses. He lifted his head. "Yes, D?" he asked softly.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:26 pm
D wasn't exactly sure what to say. 'Dinner's ready' seemed such a lousy excuse to wake someone. "I..." he paused, "You should eat something." he finished lamely, but then to his own surprise he settled next to York and began nuzzling him gently. He liked the feel of York's fur against his face.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:31 pm
Startled, York made no move towards the door. Instead he snuggled against D. He felt comfortably warm against D. He didn't really mind being woken up; he felt rested anyway. "Yes, I should," he murmured, still not moving towards the door. He didn't feel like getting up, he was far too comfortable here with D.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:40 pm
D turned his unnaturally bright green eyes up on York. "Are you feeling better?" he asked. His glasses were askew but he didn't care. It would probably amuse York and in D's opinion York didn't laugh enough anyway. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked hoping York would tell him to stay.
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