Esper resurfaced just after breakfast time, and someone had changed her clothes to pyjamas, causing her to stumble into the main room in a t-shirt to large for her, with shorts underneath. When delicate fingers rubbed the sleep from her eyes, a frown cascaded across her lips, as the usual chatter that she had become accustomed to, didn't linger in the air. The game station lay silent, the kitchen remained quiet. Arching a brow, she stumbled down the steps gingerly.
Curiosity arched its fingers across her skin, prickling it when she heard the mechanical screech of electronics from somewhere in the tower. Her heart lurched into her throat at the sound, remembering the feeling of the same sound vibrate through crumbling walls into her fingers. Her fingers would shake, as if the sound had burnt through flesh and bone.
The memory sends an unwilling shudder across her spine, and she bites back the whimper that threatens to slip between her teeth. But her feet have a mind of their own, and the curiosity has won when she finds herself in a hallway, sparked light flashing against the wall down another curve of the labyrinth's that wind around the tower.
When she finds a metal door, with light leaking onto the floor in the hallway from beneath it, she feels another hand of fear constrict around her heart. But she can hear familiar grunts that don't sound like screams, and the door slides open, making her jump. The fear drips from around her chest.
Though the room is large and spacious, the whirring of machines deafening to the ear, the large engine in the middle of the room drew the most attention. Sparks shot from the twisted, metal body, oil slicked across the side. Beneath it, a large body tweaked and twisted metal with strong fingers grunts of strength filling the room. A loud cry broke free with the spray of oil, causing Esper to giggle.
He slides from beneath the engine after the oil spurt has been stopped, and crawls out, groaning at the oil across his body. "Man, this is gonna ruin my tech and everything..."
He pulled a rag from the table beside him, worn and stained from years of service as he rid himself of the oil around the metal that encircled his body when his eyes turned upwards. They widened in surprise, a buzz of thought crawling across his mind as to how he hadn't heard her. The girl blinked at him, hands clasped behind her back.
Dark hair twisted and turned to survey the room from her vantage point, and Cyborg almost laughed at the fact she was waiting for an invitation. Everyone knew that Cyborg didn't mind harmful intruders. Tossing the rag over his shoulder, the popped hood edge of the engine capturing the filthy object, he grinned. "You know, you can come in if you want too."
She didn't know why she seemed to be so comfortable in his presence, despite the lack of conversation between them. Maybe it was because, from the few times she'd surfaced after their encounter with the towering robot, she'd seen him working diligently over her scars and cuts and bruises. Subconsciously, her hand came to trail down the body of the white scar that started from the curve of her cheek below her right eye, and fell just over her jaw. But she also held another theory, and why she seemed to be so close to the shortest member of the rag-tailed group of heroes – they both seemed to smile with an ease she hadn't seen in years.
Sliding forwards, she gives a squeak when the door slides shut behind her, sending the taller man a wide-eyed gaze. Cyborg chuckled, running the rag down his shoulder to rid it of the oil stains that would be soon left on the metal.
Dipping forwards, the girl joined him at his side, peering into the engine with enquiring eyes, small fingers curling onto the metal mouth of the car, held up by cement bricks. Turning her head once more, she looked to Cyborg for answers.
"O-Oh, I'm, uh, working on the engine for the T-Car. She's getting a little heavy on the turnings since I took out the third gear. Hey, listen," he muttered, feeling a smile tug at his mouth as she pressed a part in with both hands forcefully, proceeding to lather her fingers with oil. Tossing the rag to her, he continued. "I'm sorry about yesterday, seriously. I didn't mean to frighten you at all, Robin and I were just wondering about–"
But suddenly, he feels fingers on his breastplate, tapping a few beats to turn his eyes downwards, as he had averted them from the sharp brown eyes that belonged to the short girl. When he does turn to look at her, a soft smile is on her cheeks. Her head shakes, as if to quieten his guilt and he takes the silence, which has become so familiar around the girl, as forgiveness. But he can't help but wonder, why she only seems to be held by spider webs and twigs instead of the rocks and cement that she has everyone believing she is. Sometimes, he thinks, it's a blessing to be silent.
As the subject dies down in the air between them, Cyborg nudges his head towards the car engine, prompting her eyes to turn to it. "If I asked nicely, would you grab that pulley from the shelf up there from my shoulders?"
It's only when her toes are balancing on curved metal shoulders, by the time she is now dressed properly, her fingers are grasping along wooden, splintered edges, when the door opens, and a large shout of victory jerks them both from reality, causing Cyborg to turn swiftly, leaving the girl to grasp onto the shelf for dear life.
Behind them, Beast boy was grinning wildly, dressed only in sweat pants and a batman t-shirt and jogged up towards the robotic man. "Hey, you guys are late for breakfast, I'm cooking!" When the sour look twists across Cyborg's features, Beast boy sticks out a tongue, narrowly missing a tackle as he dives under a large arm. Confusion curls across his face, and he points a hand towards the girl grasping for purchase. "Uh, Cy? I think you gotta problem'o."
It takes a second for the man of muscle to turn, and his mouth forms an 'O' as he dives forwards, plucking the girl from the shelf by the scruff of her neck. When they turn, he shrugs at her as her eyes narrow in annoyance and her arms cross and her legs dangle high off the ground. "Sorry."
He receives a well-aimed slap of the rag and the curled pulley pressed into his palm when he lowers her, the girl gripping onto the engine for dear-life. In front of them, Beast Boy laughs and grasps the girl's hand, tugging her towards the door as she wipes off the oil from her fingers. "C'mon, I'm cooking tofu bacon."
"Don't eat it," Cyborg warns as the shorter is tugged by the boy, through the clockwork of the tower once more, words falling from his lips rapidly as she smiles at the joke. They fly through the door with Beast boy sitting the girl down, eager to show-off his cooking skills.
A soft growl emits from her stomach at the smell of food, and a chuckle causes her to jump, fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as she finds the boy with black hair and a mask to match sat back at the table, a newspaper held tightly between his fingers. He peers over the flapping paper, a soft smile on his features. "Someone's hungry."
Admitting he's not a threat, the girl nods and shuffles to sit on the edge of the seats around the two yellow tables, crossing her legs in a lotus position like a child. Robin raises a brow at this – she seems so much like a child with her innocence and her naivety to such things. A shiver runs down her spine as he wonders if, the reason she acts like this, with eyes so wide that only see the wonder in the world, if her childhood was ripped from her.
His thoughts are interrupted when a blur of red places a kiss on his cheek in greeting, and is suddenly pressed to the brunette's face, smile wide and green eyes blinking with joy. "Good morning, new friend! It is glorious to see you have awoken, but may I say, you do hold the scent of what Cyborg calls the oil. Why is that?"
Esper clawed backwards from the energetic girl, back into Cyborg's shoulder as her heart slammed against her ribs, unused to such excitement in large bursts. Starfire merely stared down at the girl, awaiting an answer when a gloved hand pulled her back.
Beast boy smiled over her shoulder and pulled Starfire back to the ground, patting her shoulder. "Whoa, Star, give her a bit of time to wake up. She's gotta try my tofu first – I've got enough for everybody!"
A half-hearted chuckle escaped Cyborg with a following of 'nope' from the man, Robin murmured something into his paper and Starfire nodded eagerly, situating herself beside Robin at the table, nimbly ignoring the frown that settled on Beast Boy's face. Behind him, Raven lifted a cup of steaming tea to her lips, murmuring her chant to lift a spoonful of sugar into the cup.
Leaning back, a plate of tofu bacon on toast was lifted under her nose gingerly, Beast boy smiling widely at her. "C'mon, Rae-Rae, you like it, right? Esp? Come on, someone likes it besides me."
"Don't call me Rae-Rae, and no-one does. Accept that," answered the emotionless girl as she curled up on the edge of the seat beside Starfire, taking small sips of her drink as a book hovered over the table before her.
Beast Boy sighed, and turned to Esper with a hopeful smile. The girl blinked and turned, watching the wary looks and shaking heads, minus Starfire who spooned the food delicately into her mouth, answering that it tasted like a 'home dish, mechquanflark.' But Beast Boy's bright eyes, at the chance to have a small victory over his friends made her lift her hands in welcome for the plate, which Beast Boy eagerly pressed into her hands. Astonished looks were sent her way as her fingers picked a brittle piece of tofu bacon from the plate, and slipped the food between her lips.
Whooping as she smiled at the green-skinned boy, and began to continue eating the food, Beast boy danced backwards in joy, leaving the other titan's in dumbfounded.
Then, the alarm began to blare.