Yang crouched next to her bike, toned arms pulling against a rachet and then frustratingly throwing the tool down. She muttered, rubbing greased up hands over her face, and stood up with significant black smudges across her cheeks. Flames licked from her hair down to oily arms and the blonde cursed the sweltering sun above her; persperation beaded above her lips and brow, causing her to dirty her face up more with every swipe of her arm.
Penny stared on at her friend, watching her bang tools around and analyzing the foul language that dripped from her lips. This was anger and frustration, Penny realized, and she processed that perhaps she should come back another time when the girl before her wasn't about to literally explode. But her calculations showed that Penny would see Ruby in the next few hours between classes, and the android did not have the time to wait. Whirring her muscles into a combat-ready tense, she began to walk toward the blonde.
"Hello, Yang," she said in a hushed tone, standing a few feet back in case the girl became startled. Cause and effect showed that people tended to get startled when you greeted them. Sure enough, although it was almost impercievable, Yang's shoulders jerk in surprise before she turned her attention to Penny.
"Oh," she started, a smile lifting her lips, "Hey Pen,"
At the sight of her smile, the android relaxed her muscles and approached Yang completely. She stood next to her friend, observing the work that the blonde had done to her precious motorcycle. "I am very impressed with your talent towards machinery," She stated, when she saw the new attachments and accessories Yang had added to the motor. If Penny remembered correctly it was to "make it totally sick" and "cause ladies to pool at her feet"; Penny kept these phrases in mind when assessing Yang.
Yang's smile grew wider with the compliment and she seemed to push out her chest a bit in pride. "Why thank you," she said deeply, "I've been workin' on cars and bikes all my life."
Penny put aside the images of a infant Yang fixing cars for the questions she would have to ask Ruby later. "You seemed to be very skilled," Penny went on instead. "Could you help fix me?"
Yang stopped fidgeting with her tools and stared up at the android, one hand shading her eyes from the sun. Penny stared down at her, waiting for an answer. "Fix you?" the blonde clarified, standing up from her crouch. She pulled a rag from the seat of her bike and wiped her hands before slinging it over her shoulder.
"That is what I asked, yes." Penny repeated.
Yang bit her lip, which Ruby had once explained as a "thinking tick" or a thing that someone did while processing information. Finally, the blonde sighed and leaned against her bike. "Well I guess I could try. You're going to have to give me some symptoms, though." She crossed her arms and stared expectantly at the ginger.
"My cooler is malfunctioning," Penny explained. "At certain intervals in the day, I begin to overheat and short circuit. My gears begin to shake."
"A coolant problem, huh?" Yang bit her lip again. "You're going to have to show me your coolant system ok- ah wait!" The blonde pushed against Penny's hands as she attempted to undo her shirt. Yang looked frantically around the parking lot while hushing her tone. "Not out here, ok? That's- um- that's not appropriate human behavior, ok?" She rebuttoned the girl's blouse before crouching again to retrieve her tools. "Let's just go up to my room, alright? I'll take a look at it there."
Yang twitched at the uncomfortable silence that accompanied their walk to the dorm, although it seemed to have no effect on Penny who trailed wordlessly behind her. To a trained ear, or if you were simply listening for it, you could hear the whirring of Penny's organs as she moved. It was quite astonishing how no one in the school had pinned her down as a definite android, although there were many rumors about her peculiarity. Yang would never admit it to her younger sister, but Penny sometimes made her feel uneasy because of the cold, analytical way she spoke towards her. However, with Ruby it was a completely different story; Penny would become like a child, asking about everything in sight, and one could imagine a curious glint in her mechanical eyes.
Finally, Yang keyed them into her room and began unloading her materials onto the desk. She spun towards Penny (who was already beginning to undress) and scrambled to shut the door behind them. She gave a nervous laugh and shook her head lightly before facing the android once again. Penny was clad in only her bra and jeans, causing Yang to blush in spite of herself. The blonde didn't have much time for unninentional oggling before Penny rubbed her thumb across the skin on her stomach and lifting an invisible hatch there. Yang's blush instantly vanished at the sight of the complex machinery in front of' her.
"Holy shit," she muttered, eyes wide at wires and belts that elegantly fit inside of her friend. Penny stared at her for a second, analyzing whether or not the expletive was negative or not. "Penny, you look fucking hardcore!"
The opening was illuminated by what appeared to be a flowing bright blue substance that Yang guessed would be the coolant, or blood, depending on how you looked at it. It was incased in clear plastic tubes that ran parallel to Penny's body and alongside polished gears.
"Thank you, Yang. I'm glad that you think I look hardcore," The android stated, walking closer to the blonde. "The blue coolant you see sometimes begins to boil, which is definitely not good. It means that I'm overheating which can cause my motor to explode."
"So basically you get too hot you might have a heart attack," Yang clarified. Penny nodded.
"I suppose one could use that analogy. I just want you to fix it if you can."
Yang sighed through her nose, uncertain about her abilities with technology. Machinery was one thing; she could fix up anything from a bicycle to a bulldozer if you gave her enough time. But you put a computer in front of her and ask for it to be fixed, you'd probably just end up with a frazzled harddrive and lots of flashing numbers on the screen.
"I honestly don't know if I can help you with this, Penny, it's kind of out of my-"
A door clicked open behind them, causing Yang to jump and shield Penny's barely-clothed torso. However a look over her shoulder and a puzzled red head allowed her to relax.
"Yang? Penny?" Ruby asked, voice lilting in joy. However, when she saw Penny naked from the waist up, her smile froze and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt!" The young girl squeaked, throwing her hands over her face. "Sorry sorry sorry, go back to whatever you were doing!"
As Ruby tried to blindly find the doorknob behind her, Yang flushed. "Ruby, it's not what you think," she sighed, stepping out of the way. The red head peaked through her fingers to see the revealed innards of her robotic friend.
"Oh, whoa, cool!" She squealed in awe, almost knocking Yang out of the way to get a better look at Penny's abdomen. "Penny, you're so pretty on the inside!"
Ruby ended up eye level with the open compartment while observing the glowing blue coolant, her face inches away from Penny's skin. Click.
"Hello, Ruby, it is nice to see you," Penny said, smiling widely down at her best friend. "Is being pretty on the inside a good thing?" Click.
"Oh my, yes it is!" Ruby exclaimed, standing at full height again. "The blue of your coolant really is gorgeous, I love the color." Click. Click.
Yang tilted her head to the side, eyebrows together in concentration. "Do you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" The red heads asked.
Click. Click. Click.
"That," Yang whispered, trying to identify the sound. She zeroed in on Penny and her gaze fell to the still open area on her stomach. Her breath caught in her throat.
The once shiny gears were red with heat, turning so fast that they were just a blurry circle. The bright blue in her stomach began to form tiny bubbles in response before flaring up into rapid boiling. Her innards had turned from the epitome of elegant machinery to a chaotic melt down.
"Oh fuck!" Yang yelled, grabbing Penny by the arm and hauling her to the bathroom. While the girl was still clothed, Yang shoved her into the shower and turned the cold water on full blast. Steam quickly filled the room, and the older sister went about opening the few windows they had and turning the fans on.
"What the hell was that?" Yang asked, returning the the water-clogged room.
Penny stood still in the shower as the water dampened her hair and clothes, seeming to be unfazed by what had happened. "That was what I was telling you about. I overheat at random times."
Ruby peaked into the bathroom, a small blush crawling over her face at the sight of Penny in the shower. "Are you ok?"
"Yes, I am fine. You just caused me to overheat, that is all. Do not worry, Ruby." Her smile was countered by Ruby's confusion.
"Why did you overheat?"
"I do not know, that is why I am here with your sister, the mechanic. I was hoping that she would be able to fix me so that I did not overheat every time that I am with you."
"Oh god," Yang groaned, running a hand through her hair. "That has to be the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."
"What?" Ruby asked, while Yang stalked out of the room.
"Stay here," she muttered as she passed, putting her helmet under her arm and grabbing her bag.
"Where are you going, what's going on?" Ruby followed her to the door.
"Just stay here with Penny and keep her under the water, ok? Don't get to close to her," under her breath, Yang added, "I don't want our room to explode."
"What? Yang!"
The door was slammed in her face as the blonde exitted the room.
The next few hours brought Yang back into her room to find the two red heads stuck in an intense discussion about Penny's inner workings.
"It's really quite interesting," Penny said as Yang shut the door behind her. "The person who created me used cooling techniques similar to those of rockets because I work at such fast and powerful rates. Without it, I would either combust entirely or melt."
"So you're basically a rocket? That is so cool!"
Yang sighed at her sisters squeal and emptied her arms of the large plastic bags with a small smile on her face. She unloaded the bags, pulling out the various contraptions she had created throughout the day. A quick glance in the bathroom showed her that Ruby had climbed into the shower with Penny while sitting cross legged away from her. The water still beat firmly on their heads, and Yang cringed in pity for whoever had to pay that water bill. But the smile that the android brought to her sisters face caused Yang's to smile warmly at the pair before going back to her desk.
Various classes at their old school taught them advanced engineering methods so that they could build their own weapons. It was no wonder, then, when Yang finally called out the two girls and fit Penny with her handmade contraption. Penny looked down as Yang clipped on her vest.
"I'm sorry it doesn't look prettier, I only had about three hours to make it."
The bulky gray brace was made of a black metal that Penny immediately identified as titanium. Woven throughout the brace was plastic tubing that spiralled around Penny's body a few times.
"The inside of the vest is made of graphite so that it doesn't melt as easily. I put a few amateur pumps throughout the tubing to help keep water flowing quickly, and there are holes around for steam to get out. I tried to find a quick way to keep it all recycled inside but I couldn't, so you'll have to refill it every once in a while." Yang studied her handiwork with her lip between her teeth. "I can try to make another one for you as a side project. You won't be able to fight in this one now, of course, but that's ok because you only have to wear it when you're around Ruby."
"What, why?" Ruby asked quickly, staring at the awkward garment that Penny was clad in. Yang rolled here eyes before burying her fingers into Ruby's hair and shaking it, causing the other girl to yelp in protest.
"You're so oblivious, I love you."