Guess who's back?
HELLOOOOOO BITCHES! I've gone through absolute HELL these past several years, but I can proudly say I've come out the other side as the goddamn QUEEN. I've somehow managed to simultaneously graduate high school and college with my associate's degree, am halfway through my bachelor's degree, bought/built a small home, which I've spent the last two years wallowing in depression in, somehow managed NOT to kill myself, and now I'm back at my bullshit again, writing for the first time in actual years, and I'm fucking THRILLED.
Anyway, sorry for being gone for actual YEARS with no response, updates, or proof of life. I'm, magically, not dead yet. Heads up, though, I'm not even going to pretend that this is going to be a consistent thing, the updates, as I'm still busy as fuck. Oh, and I swear a lot. Deal with it. I'll be trying to keep this particular story a little more on the clean side, just because I feel like the character's themselves wouldn't swear all that much, but there will be the occasional cuss word here and there. And all sorts of swearing in my notes, so just proceed with caution if that isn't your thing.
Last warning, for any of my readers who read on , I will be continuing to update this fic, and Monsters and Metas (no I have not abandoned that fic), but I will not be posting any of my new fics on ff's platform. I don't like how they are set up, I don't like their policies, and I don't like the ads. I just generally don't want to support them. If I decide to stop posting on entirely, I'll let you know.
On the note of fics! If any of you like my writing, keep your eyes open, I've got a handful of fics in progress that I'll be posting once I have a sufficient amount of content. I've got WIPs from a wide assortment of fandoms, so I'm sure you'll find at least one that you'll like. They'll all be posted on AO3 under the same name.
Anyway, Enjoy~.
Astro didn't even know he could laugh so hard. He rarely laughed in such a way when he was human. Or, well, Toby rarely laughed like this. His electronics were starting to have issues with the shaking through his body. He didn't think he had lungs, because he wasn't wheezing the same way Cora was, but his insides felt hot from overexertion on the intricate mechanics.
"That was…. That was INSANE." Cora panted out between chuckles, her face flushed red in the hot sunlight, sweat glistening on her forehead.
"Yeah, that was more thrilling than anything in metro city." He chuckled with her, leaning back against the pile of metal they had collapsed on. "That was the second time in less than 24 hours that I have been attacked by robots since getting here. Is it always like this?" Cora gave him an odd side eye, still panting, before sitting back against the hot metal hill as well. He couldn't think of what that look was for, which part of that sentence bothered her, so he made a mental note to watch her reactions till he could figure out what set her off.
"Eh, nah, it's actually really unusual that those rogue bots attacked us. I've never seen anything like it honestly." She said as her breathing calmed. She turned her head away from him and closed her eyes to the blazing sun. "Though, I guess a soft city kid like yourself would be pretty scared in a situation like that." She said it in a sassy tone, but Astro could see her lips twitch, trying not to smile. A playful smile spread across his face and he gently wacked her shoulder with his knee.
"Hey, I'm no soft city kid, thank you very much, and I distinctly remember you being the one screaming as I carried you to safety." He teased with a smirk. Cora fake gasped and sat up, placing a hand dramatically on her chest.
"You make me sound like some petite damsel in distress! I'll have you know, Wonder Boy, that I was perfectly capable of getting away all on my own, I was just slowing down to give you a fighting chance." She folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air, fighting off a smile.
"Riiight, I'll remember that for next time and let you run all on your own." Astro chuckled, closing his eyes against the sun too and placing his hands behind his head.
"Speaking of which…" Cora sounded much more serious now and Astro opened one eye to look at her cautiously. "How did you manage that? Carrying me and making that jump? That shouldn't have been possible on your own, let alone with someone on your back."
Astro felt himself bluescreen.
What was he supposed to say? Oh yeah, I can just jump really freaking far because I have springs in my legs instead of muscles? Yeah, no, that is a terrible idea. Absolutely horrendous actually, with his very recent experience of how easily Cora can and will leave him.
He doesn't want to be alone again.
He really is pathetic.
"Uh…" He was stalling. Why couldn't his brain work faster? You would think a super computer would come up with something faster than this. "My boots." He finally blurted out.
His boots?
"Your boots?" Cora asked skeptically, eyes traveling down to the red toes of his shiny, metallic boots sticking out of his jeans.
"Yeah, my boots," He said again, nothing actually lined up to come out of his mouth next, "They are this new design my dad came up with recently. They have a kinda springy technology in the soles and up the sides that make it so I can jump a lot further than average." Don't mind all the absolute bull spewing out of his mouth. "It also helps with running because it makes each step springier so my strides are longer."
Holy crap. He kinda forgot Toby was such a good liar. Should he be proud of that? Are the lying skills of someone else something you should be proud of? Well, either way, he is very grateful at the moment. Cora was still looking him over, expression of skepticism replaced with mild appraisal.
"That's actually pretty cool, but that still doesn't explain how you picked me up, without breaking stride, might I add, carried us both to and over the ravine and then somehow landed that without breaking any bones and not even breaking a sweat." She leaned back against the warm metal pile again, still looking at him but not as intensely. It didn't really help his nerves though. "Hell, I was wheezing just from clinging to you for dear life, and you're not even out of breath."
She said this in a way that was laid back, conversational, but there was a distinct look in her eye. Suspicion. He didn't know what to do about that. Was that why she gave him that weird look earlier? Because he wasn't breathing?
He wasn't breathing.
The intrusive thought practically pranced across his mind. Servos? Leaving sticky, dark feelings in its wake. He quickly shoved it, and the rising panic that was rushing in behind it, to the darkest corner of his mind to be dealt with at a later date. Preferably when he wasn't being interrogated.
"I exercise a lot back home." He said smoothly, hoping to hide his inner turmoil. "I also really like parkour. I'm pretty used to running around dangerous places and jumping scary gaps." He wasn't, but he did have a couple of hours flying around before and after his dad sent him away, and that was a blast.
For the most part. Nearly falling to his death from his window wasn't great.
"Little city kid looking for a thrill?" Cora chuckled, finally seeming to accept the answer and laying her head back, eyes closed to the midday sun.
Was it really almost noon?
A little clock immediately popped up in the corner of his vision at the mere thought, proudly announcing that it was 11:48 A.M.
He tried not to think too much about how his digital systems worked without him telling them to.
He chuckled softly, too, turning to look off into the distance ahead of them. They were actually on another hill, it seemed, so even though they were at the base of a garbage mound, he could see over a majority of the piles around them. The horizon glittered and waved like a mirage in the intense heat rising from the metal. "Yeah, you could say that."
Could he even feel thrilled anymore?
He shoved that thought away as well, making a huffing sound in his throat, voice box vibrating without actually needing air like it should have. He rolled himself to his feet, metal boots actually clanging softly on the metal below them. He heard Cora give a small groan beside him, and turned to see her throw her arm over her face dramatically. He chuckled and leaned over her, body shading her from the blazing sun. He poked her in the cheek till she opened an annoyed blue eye up at him.
Her eyes were really pretty.
"We should get moving. If for nothing else, if we stay here we are gonna get fried." He gestured up at the sun and cloudless sky. "And while I look fabulous in red, I doubt you wanna be walking around for the next week looking like a lobster." Nevermind the fact that his skin was fake and couldn't burn. He laughed and hopped away as Cora swung her foot out to kick him in the shins.
"Fine, fine, I'm moving." He gave her his hand, and with only a moment of hesitation, she grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet.
Only for her to gasp and nearly fall over all over again.
"What's wrong?!" He asked, a little frantic as he grabbed her by the shoulders and kept her from collapsing.
"I think I hurt my leg more while running." She grunted, straightening up with a scowl. "It's fine."
It was not fine.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her up yet again as she took a step onto her bad leg and nearly buckled again. "Yeah, no." He did a fast scan while she wasn't looking, sight turning blue with pop-up diagrams and vital stats as he quickly looked her up and down. She didn't seem to have any infections, a blessing really, and the worst of it seemed to be that the cut's scab had just reopened and the area around it had bruised badly. There was a new trickle of blood trailing down her shin, soaking her pant leg and staining her already dingy sock.
They should really change the pathetic rag that was acting as a bandage, but they didn't have the materials to do so. Best he could think to do was just to get her to her destination, where there were other people and resources, as quickly as possible. Hopefully before actual infection set in.
He looked up at the horizon again, blue grid lines laying themselves over the land without a thought, calculating distance and time. He didn't really know where exactly they were going, but given the fact he couldn't see civilization yet, he figured it was pretty far. At the rate they were going with Cora injured like this, it could take them up to weeks to get where they were going.
That wasn't an option now.
"Get on my back." He said.
"What?" Cora turned back to look at him incredulously from the two steps ahead she had hobbled.
"Get on my back." He repeated. "You're hurt, hungry and dehydrated. If I carry you, it'll let your leg heal and we can move faster. We don't have infinite daylight, and I'd rather get as far away from that horde of robots as possible." He really hoped that playing it like he was afraid would make her loosen up on her pride and let him take care of her.
Geez, when had he gotten so manipulative? Was Toby like this? Why had he never noticed? Why was he noticing now?
"Yeah, no." Cora repeated back at him with a huff, shuffling several shaky steps forward. He barely had enough time to lunge forward to catch her as she inevitably slipped on a piece of sheet metal and nearly tumbled down the hill. He simply raised an eyebrow at her when she turned to scold him. She sighed with a resigned nod. "Yeah ok, we do it your way."
"Thank you." He said, crouching in front of her so she could climb on without needing to jump. He grabbed her thighs again as they squeezed his waist and tried not to grab too hard and hurt her.
When did he realize how fragile humans are? Is it programmed?
"Where to, Captain?" He jokingly teased, shoving the thoughts away. Cora huffed, but threw an arm out dramatically to point at the horizon slightly off to the right of where they were facing. South south-west his navigation system so helpfully chimed.
"Onward mighty steed! We ride at dawn bitches!" She crowed in an overly dramatic voice, gently kicking his thighs with her heels like he had seen cowboys spur their horses from those really old western movies Toby liked watching when he was little. He simply rolled his eyes and started trudging in the direction she had gestured.
He pointedly did not comment on the fact that it was long past dawn.
A little note about this story in particular. I haven't seen Astro Boy the movie or the anime in years, and honestly I don't have time to watch them again. I'm just gonna wing it with what I remember and let my imagination fill in the blanks. This does mean that the character's might become a little ooc, but I'll try my best to stick to their original core values.
And as always, feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments, I always want to get better!