The sound of rain patting against the driveway of Miss Kindergrubber's bed and breakfast made itself rather apparent as the rain beat down against the ground below. The angry sky blackened by clouds, drowning out the white light of the moon as they sailed across the sky, almost peacefully. Occasionally, the storm would accompany the rain with an outburst of crackling and roaring as the sound of thunder echoed throughout the night. The rain knocked on the glass windows of the building, splattering against it and then slowly running down the side as each drop of water dragged as many others as it could down with it. Inside the building, safe from the fury of the storm, was Hoodude

He sat in the lobby, holding a book in his hand, staring out the window into the enraged sky. He listened carefully to the noise the rain made as it patted against the window, sometimes watching the light flash a bright white for a split second, then counting how many second it took for the sky to yell out in response. He diverted his gaze, looking down at the cover of his book, a frown befalling his face. He had already prepared himself for bed, with a plain, black t-shirt placed on above a pair of gray pants. Yet, he simply sat in the front room, watching the rain through the window, showing no signs of actually wanting sleep, or needing it. The silence in the room was broken when he heard a few footsteps behind him. However, he didn't turn to look, remaining glued to the armchair. It was only when the footsteps returned a second time that he looked over at the door.

"Hoodude? Dear?" Miss Kindergrubber asked, adjusting her glasses. "What are you doing up so late? It's almost twelve o'clock!"

Hoodude didn't answer, but let out a sigh through his nose, glancing away for a few seconds. He looked down at his book. He'd meant to read it, but found the sound of the storm to be much more thought-provoking and, in a strange way, soothing. He slipped it into his pocket, then hopped out of the chair.

"...Nothing, Miss Kindergrubber" He said with a frown as he walked past her. She placed a hand on his shoulder as he guided him to his room. He knew she was talking. He could hear it. But his mind was elsewhere. Perhaps at one with the storm? Something else? He wasn't sure. But certainly not here. Not content with listening to his carer.

"The storm will pass soon, I hope. It's a big one. Perhaps school might be cancelled tomorrow. Then you can stay at home" She said, provoking a glance from Hoodude as they finally reached his door. "Maybe you could help me out with a few chores? Do some studying? I could help you, if you wanted, Hoodude"
"It sounds nice" Hoodude said, faking a smile as he entered his room.
"Goodnight, dear" Kindergrubber said, turning off his room's main light and closing the door.

Hoodude slid onto his bed, his stitched surface fitting under the covers snugly, as he took out his book once more, turning on the lamp on his desk, placed by the side of his bed. At first, he took a glance, or perhaps a stare, at the title. 'Romeo and Ghouliett'. He skimmed through the book, flipping through the pages and staring at the words. Despite the fact his mind was occupied with them, he seemed incapable of concentrating on anything but the sound of the rain assaulting his window, as the storm let out a frustrated growl now and again. With a sigh, he finally put the book down and took a final glance out of the window, before tossing the covers over himself and slowly drifting off to sleep, the sound of the storm ever present as his vision slowly faded...

Miss Kindergrubber's words weren't just rambling. Indeed, by the time his button eyes slid open the next morning, the storm had passed. He stared out the window, which still had drops of rain on it, with small puddles of water on the ledge outside it. Instead of crackling and roaring, the sound of Birds chirping their morning chorus and wind blowing through the leaves on the trees filled the air, provoking a small smile from Hoodude as he watched the sun peek out from behind a cloud. He checked his alarm clock. 9:26 AM. The bus left for school at 9:00, but Hoodude was smart enough to know that Miss Kindergrubber would have woken him up if she feared he was about to miss the bus.

Once downstairs, he was greeted with the sight of Kindergrubber in the kitchen, making breakfast for herself. One advantage of being a voodoo dummy was that he didn't have to eat. He always wondered whether or not he actually could, but hadn't tried. His first instinct was to just wander into the sitting room and sit down to read, or watch TV. But he decided to at least greet his elderly mentor.

"Good morning Miss Kindergrubber" He said, waving with a slight smile on his face. She turned, returning his smile. "Morning, dear" She said. "You hungry?"
"No. But thanks..." He said, rubbing one of his eyes as he yawned. "Did I miss the bus?" He asked, pretending not to understand what had happened.
"No, of course not" She said. "I would've woke you up. I got a call from the school around 8:30, telling me that it had been closed for a couple of days due to damage caused by the storm."
Hoodude's eyes widened slightly. Although he wasn't fond of school at all, he hoped everything was alright and no one had gotten hurt. Unlikely, but still possible. He looked around the kitchen. "So...what is it you wanted help with?" He asked, his gaze returning to her.
"Oh, I wanted some help moving some things from one room to another"
"Which room?"
"105, dear. It's upstairs"

Hoodude hadn't bothered asking any more questions. Instead, he'd simply shrugged and went upstairs to check out what he'd be moving. Once he reached the room, he was somewhat surprised to see that it was fully furnished. Posters on the wall, stuff on the bed and desks, clothes in the closet, everything. He raised an eyebrow, confused. He'd never known of any other Monsters living here apart from him. He wanted to go inside the room and further investigate, but a pile of boxes and other items had been left by the doorway, with a sticky note on the pile labelled 'Room 105'. Hoodude simply shrugged, letting out a quick huff as he bent down and hauled one of the boxes upwards, then turned to walk down the hallway. But, then...

*CRASH*

He held his head, having hit it against the doorway during his fall. He opened his eyes slightly, revealing a brown, black and blue blur. He opened his eyes properly, allowing them to adjust. As they did, he found himself looking at a Girl, barely shorter than himself, with a copper-brown, metal body. Her eyes were a bright brown, and in the shape of a couple of cogwheels. How quaint. She had long, flowing , black hair, with dark blue streaks dyed into them. She was quite clearly some form of robot, as her 'skin' was lined with metal bolts and screws. Plus, he could hear a faint ticking sound coming from her, like the sound of a grandfather clock. She shook her head around, trying to resettle the clockwork mechanism inside, then opened her eyes and looked at him with a confused expression on her face. She was met with his button eyes staring directly back at her, at least for a few seconds.
Hoodude managed to snap himself out of it, blinking a couple of times as he slowly stood up.
"Oh...sh-shoot, I'm sorry" He said as he looked down at her, rising to his feet.
"Oh...it's fine" She said. He let out a small small. She had a petite, polite British accent. He couldn't help but notice that she was attempting to pick up all of her things at the same time. He decided, since it was pretty much his fault, that he should help. But, when he bent down and went to take hold of a book that she had dropped, she went for it as well. Their hands met each other, his hand landing on top of hers. The two stared at each other momentarily, their eyes meeting each other. Hoodude scratched the back of his head and chuckled as he stood up.
"Here. Let me help you with that" He said, picking up the book. She continued to stare at him for a few moments, before smiling and standing up straight with her box of possessions.

Miss Kindergrubber, who witnessed the accident, walked over to the two. "Are you two alright?" She asked. "Yes Miss Kindergrubber" The two replied in unison. "What happened?" Hoodude scratched the back of his head. "I, uh...kinda walked into her, Miss Kindergrubber" He said. "No. It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going" The Girl said said. "Well...it sounds to me like you're both to blame" Miss Kindergrubber said. "Both of you need to apologize" She said. "Hoodude, you first" Hoodude scratched his head. "I'm sorry...um...sorry, I forgot your name again..." The Girl giggled. "That's very rude, Hoodude" Kindergrubber said. "No, it's fine. My name is Robecca" She said. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, Robecca" He said. "That's quite alright. I apologize too" Robecca said, smiling at him sweetly. "I accept yours" He gave her a smile, scratching the back of his head. Miss Kindergrubber smiled at them , then walked back to the kitchen. Hoodude stared at Robecca, which he must have done about seven times already. He then looked back at Robecca.

"Sorry about that..." He said.
"No, it's okay. I can be a bit clumsy sometimes"
"Right...so, what are you doing?"
She looked at him. "Me?"
"Yeah"
"I'm moving some of my things to my new room"
"New room? Where was your old one?"
"Oh. It was at the end of the upstairs corridor. Room 202"
"Oh...where's your new one?"
"Room 105"
"That's right next to my room, room 103"
"Oh, really? I thought you slept downstairs?"
"No, heh. I'm...not really a fan of couches..." He said, scratching the back of his head smiling. "I'm Hoodude, by the way" He said, giving her a rather tiny wave. "Um, do you want help with that?" He asked.
She looked up at him. "That would be very nice, thank you" She said.
He smiled as he took hold of a large pile of books from the top of her box, only for them to swiftly weigh him down, causing him to fall downwards. He yelped loudly, causing Robecca to jolt in shock. "Are you okay?!" She exclaimed, bending down to look at him.
He shook his head, causing some peices of paper and loose pages to flop off his head.
"Yeah. I'm fine" He said, baring a goofy smile that provoked a giggle from Robecca. A nice giggle. The kind of giggle that made him want to lauch in resonse"So, we may as well get to know each other" Robecca said, smiling.
"Well, uhhh...well, there's not much stuff about me that's interesting..." He said, scratching his head.
"Oh, don't say that. There has to be something about you that others find interesting"

He tilted his head, trying to think of something.
"Uuuhhh...well, I took an online course in engineering" He said, in an unenthusiastic tone.
"You taught yourself engineering through the Internet?" She asked him.
"Well...yeah, it wasn't really that hard...the Internet part, I mean..." She giggled at his comment, causing him to let out a small smile. "I'm no good with all this modern technology. I mean, I'm...rather old"
"How old?" Hoodude asked, raising an eyebrow as he smiled.
"A hundred and sixteen, to be exact!" Robecca said with a smile.
"Oh. Wow..." Hoodude said, his smile disappearing as a genuine look of surprise came over him.
"And you?"
"Uhm...one year, four months, six days..." He said, smirking nervously.
"Reeally?...You were born a year ago?"
"Ye-Weeeeell...built...y'know, for argument's sake, let's just say I'm 17..."

"Right...so, uh. What do you usually do around here?" She asked. "I mostly just read or draw, but I tend to invite people over, sometimes"
"Does...Miss Kindergrubber allow that sorta thing?"
"Well...I suppose so. She doesn't seem to have any problem with it"
"Well...have you asked her?"
"Yes, of course. I ask her every time I invite anyone over." Hoodude scratched his head and ran his fingers through his long, blue hair. "So, uhh...how long have you been living here?" He asked, nervously. "Probably about a Month now"
"Really? Me too..."
"Wow. How come we haven't noticed each other?"
"I was gonna ask you the same..." Hoodude looked around the corridor as they finally reached room three. "Please, allow me" He said, going to open the door, which of course resulted in him almost dropping her books on his way in. He landed on the bed and rolled off of it clumsily. "Are you okay?!" She asked, rushing inside and plopping her things down on the bed. She ran over to him, seeing him sprawled out across the floor. "Yeah...yeah I'm fine" She smiled, placing her hand over her mouth and trying not to giggle. "Home sweet home" He said, spreading his arms. She reached down to him, holding out an arm. He took hold of it and she helped him onto his feet. He smiled at her. He looked around the room. "Well, uh...I guess I'll leave you to settle in, I guess..."
"I suppose" He gave her a smile for about the seventh time that day. "See you at school, I guess" He turned to leave. Robecca watched him exit the room. "Yeah...at school"