Chapter 29: Goose Snow Cone
"We're here! We made it! We finally made it," Didi declared, hopping up the concrete staircase to enter the doggie door Mr. Gardner tried to block, but Ms. Gardner had cleared. "Come in, Radio! The air-conditioning is sublime!"
She did not need to turn around to make sure he was coming. She could hear the taps from his own plastic feet. "Just follow me up the stairs, and I'll show you around our room!"
Her mechanical heart jumped with excitement. As a little girl, she would die for a chance to hold a sleepover and show a friend her bedroom. Isn't that what everyone does? A ritual of becoming a real teenager, perhaps. Of course, with how strict her mother was, how irritable her sister was, how fickle her friends turned out to be, and how nervous she was, that day never came. She supposed this would be close enough for now.
They sprinted through the kitchen and the otherwise shimmering floor stained with jam that never seemed to be cleaned, and up two flights of stairs padded by the cream colored carpet Didi knew all too well.
"Wow, these are a lot of flights!" exclaimed Radio. "Never in the Master's house have we-"
She snickered, already five steps ahead of him. "Are you… getting tired? Seems like your glory days are over, huh?"
He groaned, skipping a stair to catch up with her. "Now, I didn't mean that."
Didi grew more and more excited with each moment that passed. Muse was just behind the door Ms. Gardner had left open. She decided she would not call out his name. She would sneak in and give him a welcome surprise.
As Radio climbed up the last steps, she peaked around. She saw all the furniture she was used to. The scratchy green couch, the sleek coffee table made from dark wood, the desk and computer, and the TV stand that Muse sat atop.
The room was warmed by the sunlight and summer air coming through the open window. The windowsill was still battered in a couple of raindrops, but she was sure they would be evaporating soon.
And there he was, his antennae holding up her sketchbook and looking through it.
She could not help but grin. It was about time someone noticed her artistic talents. "Hey, buddy, enjoying the art show?"
He froze, dropping the book and pencil to the ground. His eyes moved to the right edge of his screen. "...Didi?"
"Well, who did you expect? Bob Ross?" She entered the room, pulling Radio along with her. "I even brought a friend you've just got to meet!"
The two of them hopped onto the coffee table so he could face them at an easier level. She looked him in the eyes, the only facial feature on his screen. They looked nothing like his real eyes. They were like something out of a cheap cartoon and black and white, a far cry from his old ocean blue irises and hilariously perpetual bags.
Still, these eyes teared up as he saw her. "Didi… I thought you had left me! I missed you so much! What took you so long? I was so worried!"
She did not have a chance to get away before she felt his antennae wrapped around her, and she was picked up from the coffee table. "Never mind all that… I thought I wasn't good enough for you… and I'm not! Why didn't you just stay with Radio? You would be free!"
Didi shook her head. "Muse, you are my best friend! Do you think I'd have the heart to leave you? No, we are in this thing together, and I'm not letting you go so easily. These past three years… the only thing keeping it from being a living hell here is that I have you!"
The both of them were unsure of what to say, scrambling for the right words. Finally, Muse spoke. "Then what took you so long?"
"The storm, you silly sausage! Like Mr. Gardner would spare us the dignity of being waterproof."
His eyes went blank. "Why… why didn't I think of that?" As soon as he muttered this, he held her even tighter. "Oh my God, Didi, I apologize! I honestly thought you had left me."
The two of them began to laugh, two friends reunited at last.
"Excuse me for bursting in on your moment," said Radio, tearing them away from their reunion, "but mind I introduce myself?"
Muse nodded. "Sure, I'm Muse. Get one thing clear, buster. If you lay a single slimy antenna on her, so help me, I will-"
"Woah, Muse, we decided just to be friends! Besides, he's a great guy." She gave a quick wink to Radio. "He helped me get back here. If it weren't for him, I'd still be-"
"If it weren't for me you would not have to leave in the first place," he sighed.
"No, it's not like that!" Muse lowered her back onto the table, and they were face to face once again. "I wanted to come. I wanted to get outside, feel the open air, and watch a movie without feeling guilty for putting Muse through the pain. It was a wonderful time, and… we can still talk online, right?"
"You bet the stars above I will keep messaging you," he laughed. "You are the most interesting enigma I've had the honor of befriending in a long time."
"Even more than Teddy Roosevelt?"
"Almost."
"So, your name is Radio, right?" Muse asked, him nodding in return. "Are all appliances named like that? I mean, Mr. Gardner gave us weird names; he tends to name his things-"
"-I told him." Didi's cheeks next to her speakers warmed the slightest bit. "I figured it was for the best."
He took a moment to process that. "Well then…"
"Besides, you kind of ruined any 'surprise' with your happy reunion there," Radio added.
"Again, well then…" the three of them proceeded to laugh at the ridiculous of the whole arrangement: a mansion in the middle of nowhere currently holding three sentient objects.
Didi knew that when she came back to the 'real' world, nobody would believe her, and she would be left with the 'delusion and paranoia' of thinking that all the house's appliances were watching her. Maybe she could convince said appliances she knew their secret, but she was safe. She could start a home for them in her basement, or something like that. But for now, the strangeness of it was a joke, hardly real in her mind, and that worry could be pushed aside.
"Hey, why don't we watch a movie," suggested Muse, rolling his eyes in a laugh.
She shook her head. "No no no, I wouldn't want to bother you with that-"
Radio jumped onto the couch, with the remote control in his antenna. "-I'd be happy to. Why don't we watch something robust and exciting! Maybe there's a fine matinee on at this hour."
"Look, if Muse would do that for us, we could at least be polite and let him choose."
He nodded. "It was a joke, but yeah. Besides, I bet you'd love Speed, Radio. It has plenty of action! It's my favorite!"
"Just last week you told me your favorite movie was Ratatouille."
Muse blushed, visible on his screen below his eyes. "Yeah… I was hoping you would have forgetten about that."
The three continued to talk for a while. Radio and Muse discussed movie titles, though Didi began to lose interest. As much as she wanted to join in and give her opinion on the state of Pixar, her mind wandered to other things, like carrots and Katamaris and spoon collections.
She backed away from the two guys, who did not seem to notice her. She was glad to have a chance to get away. Even the most extroverted people, or radios, need a moment alone after a big event. Most of what she wanted was to grab her blankets and take a long nap on the couch. Of course, that would not happen. She would lie awake turning until she gave up, but just a quiet time would be nice as well.
Maybe once Radio leaves I'll finally start reading that one webcomic Muse keeps recommending… or perhaps I'll go steal all of Mr. Gardner's spoons! Yeah! That'd be hilarious.
In the middle of her silent laugh, she let out a sigh. It would be revenge, certainly, but not nearly enough revenge… at the same time, did he really know what he was doing wrong? This could just be how they deal with prisoners in the Fairy World. If I don't leave a mess, maybe he'll have some sympathy for us and let us go…
She knew that no amount of politeness or cleaning up while he was gone or any gift would get him on their side. And yet, Didi knew she could not force herself to give up hope. Not yet. Muse seemed to be so hurt because I was gone for only a day… without me, he would be so far gone… I have to keep going for him.
As Didi stepped back, her right back foot pushed up against a book. Turning around, she saw the familiar blue cover of her sketchbook. The pages were uneven and stained with the familiar strawberry and raspberry jam magenta that showed up around the whole house, but otherwise, it was picturesque. It was hers, the only thing in the house that was hers and only hers.
Ms. Gardner had bought it for her the first time she had left the house since their 'guests' arrival. Didi cherished the gift, even if her drawings had become much, much worse since she had lost her hands and any form of solid grip.
The pages were filled with various scribbles, hardly worthy of the name 'drawings' or even 'doodles.' At first, they were images of her farm, her sister, human Muse, and all the human things she loved and remembered. At first, the images were fresh in her mind.
Later on, they grew less frequent, and more 'caged in.' Turning the pages, she saw how she no longer drew herself and Muse as humans, but as the objects they had become. This was a progression, a trend she had not realized. Geez, I guess maybe I need a little help too.
The last page she had drawn over, though far from the last in the book, held her latest masterpiece. Truly, it could rival Picasso. It depicted her and Muse on their latest adventure. On their magic flying carpet, they were fighting cowboys, and pirates, and the worst of all: cowboy pirates!
Of course, it had been nothing but a restless dream, and when she woke up, the memories were scribbles both on paper and in her head.
But something had been changed. She could not place an antenna on it at first until she saw the box that was supposed to be Muse. A smiling face had been added. Certainly inaccurate, but a nice touch that pulled the whole piece together.
Still, that was not it. A color shone through the page. He must have drawn something on the other side. She turned it and was faced with some of the most beautiful drawings she had seen in a long, long time.
The next few pages had been covered with crayon drawings of faces. Realistic, human faces. She recognized a couple. Jon Lovitz, Michael York, the critic guy from Ratatouille, and so many she did not recognize but assumed he had seen on TV.
The final page had a picture of her and Muse. They were hugging, his long bangs brushing up against hers, both with wider smiles than ever before.
She looked around the room and noticed the two Olive Garden crayons that had been left out for Muse now dropped below him, their ends dulled to flat surfaces.
"Muse, you drew this?" she muttered, though the others heard, turning to face her. "I had no idea you could draw so well."
He was at a loss for words for a moment. "Well… I know I'm not as good as you, the true artist of the operation, but-"
"No, this is incredible! Thank you!" She could just imagine the tears pouring from her eyes. "These drawings are so beautiful! They deserve to be framed on the wall, not in my sketchbook. Why don't you draw more often?"
"There simply isn't much around here to draw," he shrugged.
Didi showed the drawings to Radio, all of which he fawned over in his usual manner. Muse's blush grew stronger and stronger, but she could tell he was enjoying it all the same.
"Radio, I hate to be rude, but I think you need to be heading back," she sighed. "Pascal will be coming to the bus stop very soon."
"Pascal?"
"As much as I would love to stay, you raise a good point." Radio stood up from the back of the couch, standing up on his four feet once again. "I do not want to worry the others back home."
"Certainly," Muse added. "Tell them we said goodbye, and thank you, alright?"
Just as he was about to head down the stairs, Didi called out to him one last time. "And tell Kirby I'm sorry for disrupting everything!"
...
Thank you to everyone who wished me a 'get well soon!' I am doing much better now.
So, about the title for this chapter… it is the name of a song by Aimee Mann, the voice actress of Opal in Steven Universe that I feel fits this chapter so well I could not choose just once lyric to use.
Also, this fanfiction has reached 50,000 words! I am so, so excited, as I never believed I'd write a fanfiction with more than 10,000. The former holder of my longest fic only reached 8,000, so this is just incredible!
