Susumu was the first to duck into the strange room. “Susumu, wait!”
Beep tried to stop her. Bowyetta bounced in excitedly, Quartz was
looking around, and Bonk stepped in without much worry at all.

“Wow, this all really belongs to you?” Susumu asked. “I never thought you could fit so much stuff in here!”

“What kind of music you got in here?” Bonk asked. “Anything we can dance to?”

Susumu nodded. “You know, I’m pretty good at dancing,” she said, and
began stumbling around awkwardly in an attempt to dance. The other girls
simply stared, deciding it was best not to say anything. “…What?”

Cat Slime stretched out his tiny nubs, proudly showing off the room. He gestured towards the disco ball, the shelf full of regular-sized CDs (meaning they were well over two-thirds of Cat Slime’s height), and the mini-bar of fruit smoothies over at the side.

“Mi mi mi mi mi!” he said, gesturing to the CDs. There was a certain corner in the shelf for softer music, with a slower tempo. Then Denpa-Susumu started shuffling.

Cat Slime blinked. The music hadn’t even started yet, and already she was trying to move like it just got going.

“…Mi?”

[[ @monokuro-adventures from here]]

Martcha was even more surprised at that. “Oh! I’ve never seen living
ink and paint before!” she exclaimed. “Let alone such an adorable-”

And then she let out a yelp as something was suddenly shoved into
her. “W-what is…” she started to say. “Wait… You think I’m going to-?!”

Well, what else could Martcha say at this point? She looked at the
tray in front of her, and then the blob of ink and slime watching. “Um…
T-thank you… For this, but…” she began. “I… Really can’t accept this.
I’m not THAT kind of god, you know?”

Marie looked up, sheepishly, and stopped shaking.

“O-oh…”

She sighed, picking herself up. Looking back at a Cat Slime who was gawking, confused, and a Repairman who was barely holding back sympathetic snickers, she realized just how dumb she made herself look.

Her eyes turned to the tray she was still holding.

“…Erm,” she asked, trying to save face, “…sorry about that…heh…In any case, you want a bit of fruit…? It’s not much, but…”

Bowyetta was smiling brightly at Mr. Sir. “Is much being okay, Mr.
Sir,” she said. “We are always being here for you if you are needing!”

Beep nodded. “It’s a terrible thing that happened, but… Bowyetta’s
right. If you want, we’ll be happy to take you and Cat Slime in, even if
it’s just for a while.”

The inkblot sighed, looking at the floor for a moment. He gave his trenchcoat a hitch as he looked back up, smiling at them tearfully.

“…Th-thank you,” he finally managed, running over to hug the nearest misfit. “I th-think I m-might need that.”

And with that, he sunk his head into the girl’s shoulder, gently sobbing gratefully. Cat Slime moved over to nuzzle his owner reassuringly. Whatever was happening, it was going to be a process.

Beep didn’t understand the squeaking, but she nodded anyway. “Right.
Thank you very much,” she said, hoping she was saying the right thing.
Hey, this guy had just saved their lives. The least she could do was be
polite.

Susumu looked in the room, and her eyes immediately started sparkling. “Oh wow!” she exclaimed. “What’s all this?”

Beep frowned slightly. “Susumu. You know what those things are,” she scolded. “Human noise boxes. Too loud for my liking.”

Susumu
continued looking in the room anyway. “Aww, come on!” she said, looking
at Cat Slime hopefully. “Can’t we go inside for a bit?”

Cat Slime smiled.

“Mi mi mi mi MI mi!” he squeaked, proud of his self-perceived prowess at running the turntable.

His ears sagged somewhat as Beep said it would be too loud. Ah well, maybe he could come back later if they wanted…Oh, Susumu wanted to go in now?

His ears perked up again and he nodded, bounding over to the turntable with the intent of playing something a little softer.

Bowyetta was staring at Mr. Sir, her large square eyes sparkling.
“Oh, Mr. Sir! That was much wonderful being!” she declared. “Bowyetta
was not knowing that you could be singing!”

Beep nodded. “You were great, both of you!” she exclaimed. “Better than Starla herself, I’d say!”

Bowyetta was still looking at Mr. Sir, hope filling her eyes. “And now you are feeling much better, Mr. Sir?” she asked.

“…”

The inkblot was still a little embarrassed by his burst of singing. He really couldn’t help it; the song was just right for him to sing backup to.

Cat Slime hopped up into his hands, squeaking encouragingly.

Finally, the inkblot looked around, and realized that it wasn’t half bad. It had distracted from his current predicament, at the very least. After a moment or two, and another slight blush, he nodded, smiling more genuinely at the two girls.

Beep gave her head a slight shake. “Oh no, I could never do Mr. Sir’s job for him,” she said. “Although, I am pretty good at fixing things. And hey, you’re always welcome to stop by our place if you need advice or just want to talk.”

“Hey, that sounds like fun, though,” Quartz spoke up. “Not only are you two brother and sister, but you’re co-workers now too!” she leaned back in her seat. “Kinda wish I had a sister too…”

The girls sat eating in silence for a minute, until Bowyetta noticed something: Barrette was starting to look tired, and was drooping her tiny metal head over the table. Bowyetta picked up her daughter. “Um… Bowyetta is sorry to be interrupting, but… She is thinking Barrette is needing of a nap.”

“Hey, thanks!” Marie smiled. “But, um, where do you come from…?”

“Don’t worry,” the Repairman assured her, “I’ll show you sometime.”

They said nothing as Quartz expressed fascination at their new working conditions, though the Repairman let out a small sigh. She wouldn’t want someone made to take her job, would she?

Marie, meanwhile, simply ate, taking in the Repairman’s friends. She enjoyed their food, and they were happy to see her, it seems. Maybe she could ask for some culinary advice sometime.

“Oh, all right,” the Repairman said cheerfully, looking at his siren light. “I should get going too…”

Marie coughed.

“…We should get going too,” the Repairman corrected himself. “Thanks for coming!”

Martcha hovered over to the group of blobs, tilting her head curiously. “Oh, hello!” she greeted cheerfully. “I… Don’t think I’ve met anyone like you before. Um… Who are you?”

monokuro-adventures:

siblings-a-fixin:

“…Aww, hello there! I’m Marie!” she smiled, turning to see the source of the squeaky voice. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw the source was a tiny floating dog.

“…H-how are you floating like that…?”

“Marie, this is another world of magic,” the Repairman shook his head, before turning to Martcha. “Sorry about that, she’s kind of new to these kinds of places. Anyway, I’m the Repairman, and this is Cat Slime!“

He held his pet up, who began squeaking curiously.

“Anyway, who are you? I hope we weren’t intruding or anything…”

Martcha smiled at the two. “Oh no, you’re not intruding at all!” she answered. “What c- C-Cute!” Martcha’s eyes suddenly widened at the sight of Cat Slime. “Oh, so cute! I’ve never seen Jellies that already had faces before, let alone ones that can talk!”

And then she realized she hadn’t introduced herself yet. “Um, yes. My name is Martcha,” she finally explained. “I’m a bit surprised you don’t know me, though. I AM a god after all? But, um, what brings you to my corner of Miitopia? Jellies don’t usually come to Neksdor…”

“Oh, we’re not jellies,” the Repairman chuckled. “Ink, paint, and a little slime, that’s all! Anyway, we’re just here to–”

“A god?!” Marie flinched back, wide-eyed. “Oh, forgive me, I had no idea! Let me just…”

She then began to root around her hammerspace, trying to find something, anything, that would serve as…aha!

“…Please accept this offering, and do not smite us, o Mighty One,” Marie intoned, thinking off the top of her head. She kneeled down, extending her arms to reveal a plate with coins and assorted fruit on it.

The Repairman and Cat Slime could only watch in shock as the paint spatter made a fool of herself.

Bowyetta smiled at Cat Slime, bobbing her head along with him.

The rest of the group sat down on the couch and relaxed. “Do you have any more food?” Bonk asked.

Beep glared at her, but Susumu shook her head. “We can get more food later,” she said.

“How about you show us around your house a little instead?” Beep asked.

Cat Slime thought about it. He did probably have some excess fruits and pastries, as shown by his creaking, barely closed refrigerator. He squeaked that should they need snacks, he could offer some of them.

In any case, he beckoned the Denpas to follow him, and turned to the first room on the right.

“!” he beamed, showing his club room, complete with a light-up floor, a turntable, and massive speakers. Thankfully, all of these were off at the moment.

Susumu tilted her head as though she heard something, but brushed it off. Medical, meanwhile, came over to her, squeaking for a sandwich of her own. “Alright, little lady, here’s one for you too,” Susumu said, handing Medical a sandwich.

As the girls put the rest of the food on the table, Medical plopped down next to Cat Slime and started eating. “Well, the thing is…” Quartz began. “Bowyetta and I don’t exactly have jobs.”

“Bonkakira used to work in retail, but she doesn’t anymore,” Bonkakira replied.

Beep, however, seemed more than proud to talk about her work. “Well, I’m an Engineer, and that means I solve problems. Not problems like- Er… Never mind that.” Her pixel eyes darted around in embarrassment. “Now, Susumu… I don’t know what she does up there all day. Aside from going to school and writing, I mean.”

“What about you, Marie?” Susumu asked. “Do you have a job too?”

“Oh?” Marie flinched when Beep suddenly stopped her spiel. “Y-you might have to teach me a thing or two, then!”

She caught her brother’s eye.

“…Well, outside my main mentor, of course…” she chuckled, patting his back.

The Repairman shook his head in what he hoped was a good-natured manner.

“Oh! I do have a job! My creators told me to help Repairman out, and…that’s about it, really.”

She shrugged, taking a bite out of a sandwich.

“…Yeah, that’s pretty much all they said, so I guess that’s my job…”

“They didn’t tell you either?” the Repairman asked, incredulously. At least her creators were nice enough to leave a note!

Marie could only gawk. She thought for sure her older brother would know better than she did why they were doing all this…

Bowyetta looked over at Mr. Sir, frowning when she saw he was still
looking unhappy. Well, the song wasn’t quite over yet. She still had one
more idea…

Though the song was almost over, Bowyetta began
singing along with Starla’s words. And what was more, she began copying
Starla’s moves exactly as they were shown on screen.

Beep simple clapped for Bowyetta, but she kept looking at Mr. Sir. Was Bowyetta… Trying to make him smile?

“…”

Under his breath, the inkblot began to say the words the backup singers were. Soon, though, it picked up, and he began to sing along enthusiastically, even mimicking the characters popping in and out to sing the words.

When the song ended, however, he realized what he just did, covering where his mouth would be and blushing a greyish-pink.

Cat Slime, however, was applauding the performance the two gave, even giving a couple of high-pitched squeaks.