Timeline: Couple Days after 1/7 Instance: Mole-Men
<Broo> Broo sat in front of his desk in his workshop. Since the day he first got there, it was a clean room with more than enough storage space. Now it was cluttered to up to the ceiling with bits and pieces, parts of pretty much anything that had been invented, or will be.
<Broo> Currently the insect boy was perched on his high chair, hunched over desk, goggles strapped to his face while sparks flashed on the the circuit board.
<Hisako> It was there Hisako was sure she'd find him. Dressed in her usual skirt-and-shirt attire, golden ribbon in her hair, she slowed to a halt in the doorway.
<Hisako> He looked busy, crooked form perched in his seat, working away at some thing or other the Japanese girl was sure she wouldn't understand. She clutched the fabric in her arms tightly, clearing her throat for attention.
<Broo> Her announcement of her presence fell on deaf ears. Broo was too absord in his project, half sleep deprived, but all a buzz with the energy drinks he had to keep going.
<Hisako> Hisako had started timid, her mood suddenly becoming inflamed as she realised she'd not been heard, "Ooi! Bakkano!!", she exclaimed.
<Broo> Again, no reaction from Broo, he just say and worked, only pausing for a second to snatch another piece that got to be attached to the board.
<Hisako> Growling a little to herself Hisako stepped inside, approaching Broo from behind and raising her hand. She closed her fist a little and knocked the back of her hand against the chitin on his head, "When your senpai talks you listen!! Ok!?"[/quote]
<Broo> Broo's attention finally came back to the real world. The lightshow on his bench quickly died out as he sat up, seeming very confused and looking around as to what had just happened. He then stared at Hisako and cocked his head to the side, taking a second to register in his head. "Miss Hisako, hello!" he said with grin, pulling his goggles on to his head.
<Hisako> Hisako took a step back, clutching the folded garment in her arms to her chest, "S-e-n-p-a-i! Hisako-senpai! Or Ichiki-senpai! Not 'Miss Hisako'!", she tutted, glancing off to one side, "Tch, you make me sound forty old years old!"
<Broo> "Watashi no shazai wa, Hisako senpai, watashi wa tokidoki jibun no manā o wasurete iru." Broo replied. "Nanika watashinidekirukoto wa arimasu ka?"
<Broo> ((My apologies, Hisako-senpai, I sometimes forget my manners. Is there anything I can do for you?))
<Hisako> "Nameru ja nai, kaibutsu...", Hisako warned in a stern tone, her eye narrowing, "I came to... talk. Do not being cheeky..."
<Broo> "Gomen'nasai!" Broo said holding up his hands, "I did not mean to sound cheeky."
<Hisako> "Good...", Hisako nodded tartly, a begrudging smile playing at the corner of her mouth, "...you actually sounded very good. Learned quickly?", she was, truthfully, awfully impressed.
<Hisako> Naturally she assumed the praise would go to his head. With men - and in that she included insectivoran humanoids - it was natural, or so she'd discovered.
<Broo> And she was half correct. Broo did feel good that she praised him for his use of the language, but he was more after the approval than feeling smug about his accomplishments. "Arigatōgozaimashita!" he beamed with a huge grin.
<Hisako> "T-that wasn't a perfect praise!", Hisako quickly added, "Your accent is so bad with that buggy-growl and American sound...", she put her hands on her hips, "You have a looooong way to go, kaibutsu-kun..."
<Broo> "Yes, I know, I only had a couple days to learn." Broo confessed as if he forgot about a test and only studied the night before. "I will keep practicing and studying though." he added, and then took a moment to also say. "And I hope you would help me with it as well... it is a very intricate language with a lot of nuances that I can't seem to grasp with just those." he pointed to the stack of books and audio tapes.
<Hisako> Hisako's skeptical side-glance turned into a face of blinking awe for just a moment. She swallowed, fighting down her blush and frowning again, "Those books are useless anyway.", she insisted, "Speaking to a person with the language is better."
<Hisako> She glanced the books again. How was he so interested in learning? Was it because of her? She blushed and snorted derivatively, what a ridiculous thought...
<Broo> "Exactly," Broo said, perking up as he agreed with her, "I thought the best way for us to communicate easier would be is if I learned Japanese. That way your compliments... or... um... insults, would be much more understandable." he said. "And I thought you might have liked to speak with someone in your native language. But as you have said, I will need to speak with you to learn it better."
<Hisako> "Good, you are not completely useless.", Hisako smiled, looking down at the garment in her hand and taking it into both, "About that...how you are not useless...", she took a deep breath,
<Hisako> "I started thinking about what I said to Dee-chan, about how she was not just a piece of the furnishing. That she was a person and...an X-Man...X-Machine-person...y-you know what I mean.", she cleared her throat, "Anyway, I...would not want to risk being a hypocriate or something."
<Hisako> She sighed, holding the garment before her and pushing it into Broo's personal space, "You wanted this so bad but it was broken and filthy. I cleaned it and...the silver X was broken so I...put the gold X from my suit on."
<Hisako> "Beside! I think black and red looks better with gold, so really you should be thankful!", she blurted at the end, "So...will you just take it or what?"
<Broo> "I... I do not know what to say." Broo stared at the suit in his hands. He lifted it up, letting it drape down the edge of the highchair to look at it fully. "Thank you so much, Hisako-senpai." he said still a little mesmerized by the moment.
<Hisako> Folding her arms Hisako flushed again, looking a little embarrased, "It isn't even that much...but sure, you should be happy.", she smirked kindly at him, "But you have to keep earning it, ok? That X is not given to people so lightly."
<Broo> "Oh naturally. And I am hard at work trying to hold up to that name." Broo said, gently folding the precious suit to be held close to him on his lap, before you pointed at the electronic board he was busy with. "For Miss Danger, an upgraded version of the original severs.
<Hisako> Hisako couldn't force the same enthusiasm for the mess of soldered motherboards and chips that were the 'upgraded server', "It is...looks complicated.", she smiled with unease, "It isn't as nice and clean as the big ones before..."
<Broo> "What? Oh! No, goodness no, I am far from that point unfortunately. This is just a prototype that I am working on. The final board itself will be scaled down a hundred times."
<Hisako> "Oh, good!", Hisako sighed, "It looks too messy, I would be really 'OED', haha!", she shrugged, "So how long before we make Dee-chan back into her robot body?"
<Broo> Broo inhaled and lifted a clawed finger, then looked up and thought for a moment. "Four months, two week, three days. If I do not stop to sleep. Which... I probably should." Broo answered.
<Hisako> "What?! So long?", Hisako pouted, "It was so easy for the others! Can't you just....put some metal together and put the small Dee-chan inside?"
<Broo> "I...could... but that... that would be a box." Broo answered. His little clawed hands were now clenching the suit to his chest, just in case she decides he wasn't worthy of it in the end.
<Hisako> Hisako sighed, waving her hand dismisively, "Naah, not like I am some 'Doctor Robotnik' and I can build Exia Gundam...", she admitted, raising an eyebrow to Broo's aost fearful posture, "Oh, don't freak out! Jeez, you know you are a useful person in the team. Relax more, kaibutsu-kun..."
<Broo> Broo took a deep breath and relaxed after she said that. "I guess I could try and find someone to help me with this."
<Hisako> "Like who? Cassie-chan is a airhead, Jean is made of makeup, most of the man here are meatheads...", Hisako folded her arms in thought, "Oh, and I am useless with computer things.", she hummed to herself, "If only we had May-chan or Lehrsner-sama..."
<Hisako> Her musings continued as she turned away, giggling to herself, "Maybe Fionn..."
<Broo> "I... was hoping maybe for someone who knew more about science, preferably robotics and computers." Broo said, feeling uneasy when Hisako actually giggled.
<Hisako> Hisako turned, her cheeks flushed, "H-he might! You don't know, do you?", she huffed, "Obviously! Even I don't! You should ask him first at least!"
<Broo> "..very well. I think I shall... just to make sure that he might be able to help." Broo answered, still a little clueless about her giggling and sudden defense of the boy.
<Hisako> "Good! You shouldn't jump to conclusions about people.", she nodded promptly, "That is....why I should say...", Hisako took a breath, "I am sorry for being harsh at you first."
<Broo> "Oh, well it was understandable." Broo replied, his little clawed fingers lightly stroking over the X-badge. "At least you got to learn more about me, and I learn more about you... or at least your language... which you still need to help me with later on."
<Hisako> With a smile Hisako nodded, "And I will.", she replied, even patting him on the head, "Because you are a friend now, kaibutsu-kun.
<Broo> "Umm... May I request one more thing from you, Hisako-senpai." he asked, shifting a little in his seat. "Can we.. embrace... eachother.. chest to chest... a hug?"
<Hisako> Hisako blinked at him - made all the more awkward since she only had one eye - and swallowed, "....never talk about this...", she demanded cooly, slowly opening her arms in a cautions motion, "...only because...I owe you one apology..."
<Broo> Broo's face contorted into the biggest smile he ever had. The little guy stood climbed off the high chair to stand on the little stool next to it. Perfect height for hugging. He opened his arms in anticipation and glee.
<Hisako> The Japanese girl couldn't think he wasn't somehow endearing. He was. The way he seemed to light up was....pretty cute. She sighed, just stepping foward and embracing his carapace-covered, rigid body.
<Broo> Broo hugged her tightly... but not too tight! Just the perfect squeeze, getting just the right amount of body pressure, and body warmth transference.
<Hisako> It was....oddly comforting. Hisako did her best not to shivver, eventually patting his back and pushing away, "Ok, ok, enough!", she tutted, "I do not like touching. And if you tell anyone, I will squish you like a cockroach.", she twisted a heel into the floor just to give her words some edge, "Understand me?"
<Broo> "Yes, Hisako-senpai!" Broo said rather very happily, his grin still plastered on his face.
<Hisako> With a tart nod Hisako smiled wryly back. Even with the pairs of mandibles on his face, the large, waxy eyes, his almost skeletally formed face and those devlish fangs he managed to look somehow sweet. She liked that, though she was loathe to say it. Instead she took a breath and nodded again, "Then I will leave you to work. It is getting late so maybe I will sleep. Ouyasumi yo, kaibutsu-kun."
<Broo> "Oyasumi, Hisako-senpai!," Broo waved as she left.