"Nos, there you are!" Two called, hovering onto a patio overlooking Axiom Lake. They were attending a celebration of the Axiom's return to Earth, and an especially lively one at that ‒ this year marked the 300th anniversary. The Earthclasses had gone all-out to host the most lavish party in the province, and it was exactly the kind of social gathering Nos-4-a2 usually avoided. However, as the number of Energy Vampires grew, it became harder and harder for him to make excuses.
He was sitting around a table with Four, Fletcher, Asteri, Darwin, and Toby.
"Eve!" he drawled at full volume, rolling his rs, "There's my radiant little rose blossom!"
Now that Two was close, she saw his undone bow tie, his half popped collar, and a couple of power cells drained in front of him.
"Thank God you're here, Mom!" Fletcher called, "He's gonna hurt himself if he has another one."
Two laughed, "Nos, are those relaxants? How many have you had?"
"I might've had a few," he shrugged, speaking now in a Scottish accent.
Toby wheezed with laughter, his head hitting the table.
"I haven't had any more than he has!" Nos nodded toward his grandson, now speaking in a perfect imitation of his voice. The whole table fell into laughter.
Two looked at Nos in disbelief.
"He's been doing voices," Four said when she salvaged enough of her composure to speak. She was the only sober one at the table, incapable of using the Energy Vampire relaxant.
"I never would never believed this if it weren't going on right in front of me! One more of those and he'd be singing show tunes."
Nos put out his finger, taking deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself, the others quieting down to hear him.
He stood up, staggered, grabbed Two's shoulders, and looked into her visor with hazy optics. The rest of the table leaned forward in anticipation. As soon as he opened his mouth, he dissolved back into hissing laughter, leaning on Two for support.
"Nos-4-a2, I've never seen you like this before!"
"Wait, wait, hol' on..." he looked back at Asteri, "What did you want me to say? I can't remember!"
She vigorously shook her head, still laughing, covering her mouth with both hands. "I was joking!"
"No! No, Eve, you have to hear this, it's ‒ it's so funny," he straightened up as much as he could, letting go of her shoulders to lean on the back of his chair.
"Umm... it's... Oh, oh I remember!"
He made a show of pretending to clear his throat and proceeded to quote Two in flawless pitch and timbre. "I hope he'll have a good time, but pig's'll fly before Nos-4-a2 learns to loosen up at a party!"