16 set down the handle to his sled. He scratched his head, not out of any real need to ease an itch but more out of instinct left over from when he was human. It was about noon, and after trapping such a beast as the giant bird beast he'd just caught, he felt quite tuckered out. He'd get to dismantling it after he'd rested. But right now, sleep was second on his list of priorities. Up first was making sure -13 was okay.

Despite how well he'd been doing lately, 16 was still very reluctant when it came to leaving him alone at the shelter, even if it was only to trap whatever beast strayed into their territory. -13 was still a child; he couldn't have even reached adolescence from his behavior. He was impulsive and curious. That was a dangerous combination.

The image of the innocent boy when he first found him popped into his mind. He shuddered at the thought. 16 had given him all of the skills he needed to care for himself. He'd taught him how to check himself over for injuries, how to avoid beasts, how to make repairs, all the essentials. But even then, he could still do something on a whim or out of curiosity that got him hurt. And this time, 16 wouldn't be around to save him.

He pushed the thoughts to the side as he stepped through the threshold of the shelter. "Hey, Nega!" he called out. There was no response. 16 hummed and kept walking. "Brought back the beast. We can dismantle it together later if you want!" But still, nothing.

His optics rotated so that they formed flat lines. "-13?" he called again. A soft clink resonated through the room as he stepped on a spare screw on the ground. He glanced down at it, and used his foot to nudge it to the side.

He covered his head with a hand to shield himself from flying tools, and peeked inside of the workshop area. No -13. He moved on to parts storage, but the boy wasn't there either. Bedroom, nope. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find the child. "Sheesh, kid," he muttered as he walked back into the main room. "Cmon, no hiding! If you're hurt worse than you can work with it's no big deal," he said, checking behind a shelf, "I just needa know where you are."

He checked the area over a few more times just to be sure. Then finally, he stopped his search and moved to the middle of the room. With his hands on his hips, he swept a downward tilted gaze across the room. Okay, so he wasn't there. This was... not good. Really, really not good. One might even say it was bad. His earlier anxieties began to resurface, but he shoved them down again. No. He wasn't going to panic just yet. Maybe -13 had just gotten bored and gone outside. Yeah, that was probably it. He exited the shelter with fresh confidence that the smaller stitchpunk was going to be alright.

"So... Where to check first?" he asked himself. A list of options ran through his mind; the nearby junkyard, the neighborhood they'd found not too long ago, what was once a forest... He quickly backtracked though. -13 had been absolutely enthralled the junkyard when he first saw it. 16 chuckled, remembering how much he tried to carry on his own. "What a kid..." If he was anywhere, he was probably there.

The yard was, at the most, a five minute walk away. -13 would probably have taken a bit longer since he tended to shuffle everywhere. Not that it really mattered, if he was there he was there. 16 gave a gander to the fence surrounding the area as he passed through the gate. "Ever imposing," he mused, but then fell silent when he heard a squeal. A child's squeal. A wonderfully familiar child's squeal. So he was right. The boy was here, somewhere. He just hoped that that squeal didn't mean bad news.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Nega! Hey!" He could hear the dirt crunching under his feet, and the echoing of -13's voice.

"Go go go go go! You're almost here!"

"It sounded almost like he was talking to someone. 16's optics rotated. Huh, odd. He'd thought that they were the only stitchpunks in the area.

"Watch out!"

He heard a clank, then a clatter, and saw some things fall down from on top of a tower of metal scraps.

"Oh, uh, oops."

Oops? Oops wasn't good. Then again, -13 did tend to say it a lot. And with good reason too, 16 couldn't remember a day where he hadn't had some sort of accident. It was almost a verbal tick at this point.

He turned around a tower and came to a clearing where the boy in question was hopping around with a needle in his hand. He thrust it forward with a "Hyah!" and then stepped back. He parried some invisible swing of a sword. "Thought you could, uh- I mean, you..." He lowered the needle for a moment, then swung it upward. "You could best me, you thought!" He laughed. "You were, yknow, you were wrong!" He sidestepped. "Don't trip, uh, yknow, over what fell down, Halfpint!" he shouted, turning his head to the side and looking down.

16's optics rotated in confusion. "What is he doing...?" he mumbled. There was nothing there for him to be fighting, no one for him to be... It struck him. Like a bolt of lightning, it struck him.

-13 was playing pretend.

He smiled and laughed. The boy was playing pretend out in the junkyard. He wasn't in danger at all. He'd just gotten bored of waiting for 16 and decided to go out and play pretend. He casually leaned against a pile of junk with his arms and legs crossed and watched the scene.

-13 scampered to the side and thrust his play sword forward again. He swung it left, then right then left again, but then he stopped. "Oh, you've got, uh..." He shook his head quickly. "What's up next? Some sort of big monster?" He flinched as if he'd just heard a loud sound, and slowly turned, looking up over the horizon.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, I see it, uh, Halfpint!" he shouted. He whipped his head around and looked where he had been before. His head slowly tilted back. "Shoot, she's gone! And, yknow, she's left us with this monster! We're gonna- I mean, it's gonna get us!" He grabbed onto something about the size of an arm and started running. "Cmon Halfpint! We gotta get to the..." As soon as he spotted 16, he trailed off.

16 waved to him. -13 waved back. Unfortunately, neither saw the rock in the path of the tiny punk. He tripped with a squeal and caught a few seconds of air before he landed face first in the dirt. "Oh, jeez!" 16 exclaimed with a jolt. He dashed forward to -13, who had just pushed himself up.

The younger reached to pull it out, but this time 16 shook his head. "Here, lemme do it," he said as he sat down across from him. He carefully examined the arm. "That was quite a trip you took."

"Yeah..." -13 said softly. He grunted as 16 plucked the sharp metal after confirming there was no serious harm in removing it. "I'm all fine though! Real good!"

"I'm glad." There were a few moments of silence. "You had me worried there for a second."

"I've falled farther before." He tilted his head.

"I meant more about not being at the shelter when I got back." 16 stood up and helped -13 do the same. The dwarf kicked at the dirt. "Gave me quite a scare."

"Sorry..." he sheepishly mumbled.

"Eh, 'sfine. I'm not mad about it. Just don't do it again, please."

"Okie!" He grinned, the fabric patch on his cheek moving with the motion. "Do you wanna go back to the shelter?"

"If that's alright with you."

"It sure is!"

They began to walk. 16 opted to carry the needle, and -13 did not complain. "So, what were you doing back there?" 16 asked.

"Yknow. Playin'," -13 answered. He clutched his right arm in his left hand.

"Playing what?"

"A game!"

"And what's this game about, if I may ask?"

"Uh, well, I'm an adv- av- av-den-turer an' I found another stitchpunk named, uh... 0.5, I, yknow, call her Halfpint though! She's real nice, I mean, quiet but nice. She's even smaller than me! And she's the, uh, kid of this big mean witch lady named... named Golden. And Golden's got a bunch of beasts that are trying to get Halfpint so I'm helping her fight the beasts!" As -13 explained, he waved his arms around and jumped up and down.

16 laughed heartily. "Sounds like quite the story."

"Yeah, there's a lot that I think is gonna happen, but shhhhh." He put a hand up to block his mouth, so his next words came out muffled. "It's all a secret."

"Gotcha," 16 whispered.

-13 giggled and eventually fell into stride beside him. "Uh... OH!" he shouted, then looked up so that he could see the burly stitchpunk's face. "Did you, uh- I mean, could you, yknow, uh..."

"Catch the beast?"

He nodded enthusiastically, his hood bouncing up and down. "Yeah, yeah!"

"Yep. It's ready and waiting to be scrapped." He tucked his hands behind his head. "I wanted to make sure you were fine before I did anything else."

"Can I help you? Uh, please?"

"Now hold on, I do needa rest first. It's been a while since I've been trapping after all."

-13 wilted. His optics landed on the ground and the tiniest frown made itself present on his face. "Oh..."

"Buuuut, once I've had a nap, I guess there's no harm in showing you the ropes," he said. The child lifted his face up. There was hope and excitement visible in his optics, and his wide smile had returned. 16 playfully ruffled his hood, and -13 patted at his hands and giggled.

"Hey hey hey!"

The shelter was now in view, as was the dead beast. "Woah..."

"Impressive, huh? Wonder where one this big came from." 16 walked over and patted it on the side. He turned to the small punk. "Don't start on it without me, okay? I know it's tempting, but you could get really hurt. I know from experience. I'm lucky to have such thick fabric. You, however, don't, and I don't wanna see anything bad happen to you, okay lil guy?"

"I'll be okay, things hurt a lot worse before!" -13 approached the beast and reached out to touch its beak. He found a hand in between his own and the metal. "16..."

"You have had worse injuries, I'll admit that. Don't wanna add onto the list." Both lowered their hands simultaneously.

"Yeah... yeah."

As 16 headed inside, -13 only lingered to examine the beast for a few moments, then scampered after him. He banged his arm on the doorframe, but it didn't hurt too badly. "I'm gonna, yknow, work on something in the- I mean, I'm gonna try an' make something, yknow, while you sleep."

"Sounds good," 16 replied. He stretched and walked into the bedroom. "Don't lose an optic," he called over his shoulder before he disappeared.

And so, -13 waited.