ourheartsarecompatible | Excuse me while I dodge your captcha...

[Spotting the pacing figure is easy enough from a high vantage point, where Simon tends to lurk up out of the way when he wasn't needed down in New Jericho proper. He sends out a brief mental ping, LED flashing yellow then evening back out to blue in the time it takes him to cross the open space.]

Hello, Ralph.

[His voice is fairly quiet, for having called the words out. He's good at quiet, and lowkey. He lifts a hand as he approaches.]

Where are we going?

[ The recognition hits frayed senses before he catches sight of the android and registers his presence. The whirring of blue into yellow signals his receipt and lingers as awareness splits to the gash that pits the left of his face.]

H-Hello, Simon.

[ He immediately wipes it against his shoulder, as if that will mend the plastic. The smile falters as he focuses on this, but returns, lips curling inward. ]

Have you been to Camden Avenue? It is there. Come, Ralph will show you. We will walk along the highway, it is the quickest route.

[There's a twinge of concern, watching how fast Ralph goes from pleased to anxious, wiping off something from his cheek. Though on a scan, Simon gets a surface accounting of the damage, and the slow thirium leak that makes it constantly look like an open wound.

Best not to react just yet.]

Camden Avenue. Not in a long time, but I know where it is.

[He gestures for Ralph to lead the way, subtly scanning him for other injuries.Ralph has definitely seen some hard times...]

[ Hard times that make it hard to compare between then and now - between cages and centers and recycling. Ralph sways, hesitating, because it is quiet. Simon is quiet. It is a new experience, outside of automation and synthetic nerves and panic. ]

It will be a quick trip. Ralph's friend is small and does not speak much. He will not give us trouble.

[ He speaks quietly, lips moving a moment after he stops talking. The smile returns, a tick of the jaw, and he springs into a moderate stride, arms swinging while elbows remain simultaneously protective of his sides. Simon's scan compiles a report of heat damage and a minor compromise to the WR600's structural integrity. Anything more is hidden beneath layers of human clothing. ]

[Simon immediately reaches a hand out to try and steady Ralph when he sways, though he doesn't touch, unsure of what kind of reaction that would bring. He's curious to know who, or what, Ralph's friend might be as well.

He keeps quiet as they go, occasionally having to jog to keep up with Ralph's seemingly random bursts of energy.]

Were you living alone before all this? [It feels prudent to ask, given all that's happened, as well as the state of Ralph's clothes.]

No, well, yes, Ralph was. He found a place to hide that became a home, and he rarely has visitors. Had. Had.

[ He repeats the word to himself because he understands that he no longer lives there. Home is now New Jericho, without humans. It is a strange dream. ]

You? What about you? Did you live alone?

[ He manages to ask because that is the courteous thing to do, yes? That is how friends are made. Every few minutes Ralph spares Simon a look to make sure he's still there, right hand lifting to signal shift in their route. ]

[He should have expected the question turned on him. Ralph doesn't seem to be the most socially adept of them. No surprise give what Simon can tell right off the bat.]

No, I always had others around me. I lived in Jericho for a long time.

[Simon catches him looking back every now and then, and manages a half-smile back as he picks over some debris on the highway. He's not used to being out in the open like this after how long he's been in hiding. It's strange, and a little frightening. But having someone else to walk with is good, even if it's just on an errand.

He turns to follow Ralph when he starts down another path, anticipating what might be waiting at the end of this little adventure.]

How long have you been with us, Ralph?

[ With us. He pauses, rocking back on his heels; it is an abrupt motion, uneasy, as he cycles through possible responses. What is us? What is this quiet without the fear? Blue slips into an uneasy yellow, and he finally shakes his head. They ascend a tumultuous slope that rises into an alley. ]

Ralph is unsure. He knows it has been days -

[ Weeks, really. ]

- since he remembers standing with everyone. Watch your step here. Ralph always has a hard time here.

[ There is a fence that has seen better days, its links punched inward from a motorbike collision months ago. He is careful to dig his hands into the earth and pull the exposed base up to create a path for his companion. ]

Simon first. Ralph will go next.

[Simon's brow furrows at the answer. Ralph really isn't used to being around other people at all, is he? The flicker from blue to yellow tells Simon he should maybe pursue the question a little later.

The ground is a little slick going up to the fence but it's easy enough to get up. He's able to climb up to the fence without slipping more than once, and he glances between Ralph and the fence before ducking through quickly then taking it to hold open and let Ralph through after.]

You were there with us at the camps...?

[ Simon's question merits a furrow of brows and a slow adjustment of his jaw, and shoulders rise to the android's ears as he ducks through the opening Simon holds open. Fiber snags on the exposed chain link and he tugs them free and continues forward, at a crawl now in comparison to his earlier hustle. ]

In the camps, camp, center. After they left, the humans knew that Ralph was hiding in his house. You were in the camp too?

[ The raids are almost as horrifying as the drip of gasoline and the sound of a match against the striker. An involuntary rub of his face against his arm abates the hitch in his system, forces the memory back down. ]

It is up here. Do you see it? It is the big house on the corner.

Outside it. Trying to make the military listen to us. [His voice is quiet, thoughtful. He hasn't had much opportunity to speak to those androids liberated from the camps themselves. He shudders to think what they must have seen.

What Ralph must have seen.]

I see it.

[It's dilapidated, and a scan reveals it as a high risk given how long it's been abandoned. Structural integrity, possible other squatters, animals sheltering out of the weather... It's still cold out after all, and an abandoned house is as good a shelter as any.

No, not abandoned. It's Ralph's. Which makes it all the more worrying. You live like this?]

Is there anything else you want to bring out of here? Or just your friend? I can help you carry things, if you've got a bag.

Outside.

[ Ralph mouths the word sparse above a whisper. Outside. He only recalls the electric hum, the impulses of panic that traced the web that bound them all together. The moment the voices carried on the wind, a song embodied by the longing of a people, the look on masked humans' faces, death receding. It is because of the ones outside that he is able to be here now, retrieving a friend that must be on the verge of death.

He offers Simon a smile that lingers longer than a moment - then he thinks on what else there is to take from his house. Ralph turns his head to look up as they push through a gaping hole in the fence big enough for them to walk through. ]

No. Just Ralph's friend.

[ His pace picks up and he beckons Simon to follow to the door, weathered and bleak and broken at the hinges. Excitement runs and thirium fuels the small skip to his step as he pushes through the half-open door and buzzes toward the kitchen. ]

Ralph will be quick. He will not make you wait long.

[ The remnants of the raid are clear: there is a table overturned, chairs against the wall, signs of a struggle. The air is stale and pungent with refuse, and shadows scatter along the perimeter of the main room. Rats a plenty, among the silhouettes of animal heads mounted on the walls.

Not his doing, no, no. The walls remember a past before Ralph, and will remember beyond him. ]

Take your time.

[He calls it after Ralph as he stops just inside the door, a couple of warnings flashing in his periphery. Damage and dangers, risks that really should be cleared away if this place is supposed to be livable. But those are by human standards, an old standby of having been a domestic caretaker. He dismisses them and moves slowly, instinctively righting a few chairs and the table, gathering up some of the detritus into more orderly piles here and there until he could figure out what to do with them.

When he finds his way into the side room he stares up at the scratched RA9 on the wall, dragging his fingertips across the deep grooves in the plaster where the characters had been dug in with a knife. How long had Ralph been in here after he'd become deviant, just trying to work out what was happening to him?

He wonders if it had anything to do with the damage to Ralph's face and hands.]

[ The WR600 unit registers the movements and ministrations behind him in the main room, the table steadied, chairs returned to an upright stance - but it is after this, when his gaze falls on his friend, that his attention drifts. There is a croon to his lips, a sparse noise as he extends a hand to the tired dracaena plant on the counter. It limps, the cold doing it no justice, soil stiff and dry. Without Ralph, it has been alone much too long.

While Simon moves toward the scratches of a mind lost to the pulse of something greater than them, Ralph gently edges his fingers in to cup the plant, lift its leaves, and wipe the dust away. The fact his friend is still alive is a markedly good sign of things to come, and he scoops the pot and pulls it into his chest. ]

Ralph thought they were going to find him when he ran. They followed for a long time.

[ He bobs his head, agreeing to the sentiment as he cradles the plant. He knows the itch, but does not recognize the symbols for what they are. Lingering near Simon, Ralph stares at the carving pleas to rA9, thumb raking against the chipped terracotta. ]

[Simon's fingers trace along the largest R then fall away as he turns to see Ralph holding...a plant?

Of course.

He smiles, warm and honest, at how strangely sweet the image is. He tilts his head as he observes the plant and the way it's wilted but hasn't succumbed to the cold and neglect.]

I'm glad they left him for you to come back and find.

[For as much as he's aware that the situation is a little absurd, it's endearing, and it just makes sense considering WR models' functions.

Simon nods back at the door, figuring if there really was nothing else that Ralph wanted here, that they should get back to New Jericho. Ralph would be able to tend his plant there, prune away the dead leaves and give it somewhere in the sun to grow.]

Come on, let's go home.

[ Ralph releases an exaggerated breath that he's been holding in, if not in his chest, then in wire and nerve and impulse - the dracaena has been a stalwart friend, a point of comfort in chaos, and it has heard all his fears. The smile on the android's face is wide, teeth exposed as he nods. Simon understands, and it's a kindness Ralph will remember. ]

Ralph is glad as well, because he made a promise that he would come back.

[ But even promises are lost in panic. It is a heaviness, the what-ifs of the recycling center, the terrifying abyss on the other side of those machines. He is happy to be intact. He is happy to have held a promise to the plant.

He affirms the motion of going home with a small hum of glee and an affectionate stroke of an especially droopy leaf. Ralph is ready now more than ever to leave behind his abandoned house for something more. ]

It would have been very lonely to come home, and Ralph thinks he would have stayed if you did not come with him.

[ A thoughtful pause. ]

Thank you, Simon.

[Simon holds the door open for Ralph to pass, taking a last glance around the squat then just following Ralph back toward the slope. It would be tough navigating it with a potted plant in tow, but the way he saw it, this was worth taking time out of his day for.

He looks up at the thanks, blinking once then smiling again.]

Of course.

[Back outside, Simon takes the lead to help Ralph over obstacles and under or between fences. He holds out a hand to help steady him a time or two, then just walks at his side with that same soft smile in place.]

When we get back, I could show you to the garden space the other WR models have set up.

[ Of course. Simon says of course, as if it is a default mode, kindness. The return of his smile draws Ralph to watch Simon for longer than what is necessary. Eyes drop down to the ground then back up they go, fixing to the android, processes reeling.

The humans will not be kind to Simon. They hide and wait and lunge for the opportunity to shatter that kindness. The sensation rises like a distant buzz, and his hands move, unsure of how to hold the plant. A vibration ripples and knuckles squeeze, straining the rips in his synthetic skin.

The mention of the garden hits him and his head immediately wavers from side to side several times. No. He knows what happened the last time he was in a garden, in Chandler Park. Ralph knows, and he remembers. And they remember too, the humans. They hide. They wait. He stops before they cross the threshold of the fence, before they go down toward the freeway. ]

The freeway is too close to the park, too close. Ralph thinks we should go the long way around, avoid the park, avoid the garden.

[The sudden change in Ralph's demeanor and the spike of his anxiety make Simon stop, and he reaches a hand to briefly steady the plant pot, in case it was dropped or possibly damaged by the grip being put on it. He doesn't know enough about Ralph to say he knows what this is about, but the way he says it, and the immediate anxiety, give him a pretty good idea. Especially given the nature of the visible damage to his face and hands.

So Simon rests his hand against the back of Ralph's arm and guides him around to follow the fence instead, already plotting a more roundabout route back to New Jericho.]

Perhaps you can show me where you'd like to go instead. [The suggestion is gentle, accompanied by that same encouraging little smile hiding the spike of worry that's throwing up additional little warnings about Ralph's stress level.]

[ It lies just south of the freeway, Chandler Park, a golf course years ago, now a flushed and budding recreational area. Had it not been for the pressure of Simon's palm at his arm, he may have tread through the mud and brush of memories that holds a match to his interface.

But there is grounding, there is a pause to words that make his mouth move, doubts fading before they reach his lips. ]

Yes, Ralph will show Simon. It is a longer way, but we will make it home. Home.

[ He practices the word, muttering it, rolling it through his voice component, tasting it. Home. Not the squat. Not the sound of sirens. No. New Jericho. Home.

Fingers drum the clay pot before he tentatively reaches to touch Simon's forearm, tug at him to follow. ]

Ralph just doesn't, doesn't want to the see the humans again. All, that's all.

[Simon nods in understanding; a lot of the androids that they'd taken in had similar stories, though few were as obviously hurt by what the humans did to them. But scars are scars, and they all bore a few. It doesn't do to force out those painful memories before someone is ready to let them out.

Letting his arm remain in Ralph's grip, Simon follows along and keeps an eye out in case Ralph's panic spikes and makes him do something irrational.]

Do you have somewhere to stay, once we get back? I've heard the Jerrys that joined us from Pirate's Cove have started scouting around for places to house everyone in the annexed neighborhood. I think they could probably find you a place of your own. Far away from any humans, even.

No, Ralph does not.

[ Between his hold of Simon and the plant tucked against his chest plate, Ralph feels at ease, and he seems to stabilize. His stride is slow, careful, quiet - his grip more a loose affiliation of synthetic nerves and cloth than an outright latch to the android's limb. It's a matter of safety, of comfort. It solidifies a kindness Ralph associates with Simon and the possibility of losing that kindness outweighs the spark of fear. ]

Ralph will see them, will see if there is a small space. He doesn't need much space, no, just enough for his friend to grow and a place to collect his things.

Does, does Simon collect things? Ralph used to have a bird once. It crashed into the window during a storm and Ralph was unable to help it.

[As they walk, Simon eventually pulls his arm out of Ralph's hand, only to take the other's hand himself, feeling a little more secure about that instead of Ralph possibly losing contact.

The question makes his smile fade a touch.]

I used to feed stray cats. Before I went to Jericho, I stayed in a place not so different from your squat. The cats stayed in there out of the rain. I made sure they were fed when they cleared out the rodents.

[He quiets some after that. He doesn't want to think about a group from animal control coming in and taking his little collection of alley cats. He'd hidden until they'd gone, then set out from the little apartment to find somewhere better.

Jericho wasn't what he'd call better, but at least it wasn't subject to small raids. And there were other androids there. Runaways, he supposed at the time. Just like him.]

We'll see if they've found any little studio spaces. I'm sure you could make it a very nice place for you and your friend.

[ It is certainly easier to walk with hands together, but the gesture is a strange one. Fingers splay before relaxing, wrist twisting in a way that allows him to map out Simon's palm. Ralph then settles, content with this arrangement.

The draw into Simon's world, albeit small and minute, leaves Ralph with a want he cannot decipher. That smile, it is an echo of what it was a minute ago. ]

Ralph is your friend, and if you want alley cats to be your friends, Ralph will help however he can.

[ Because that's what friends do. ]

He would like that. Do you have a place to stay, Simon?

Maybe when things are a little quieter...

[He doesn't want to have an animal rely on him if he can't keep it safe. But...he'd like a cat or two, one day. It'd just stay in his secondary priorities for now.

When Ralph's hand fits a little more comfortably into his, it's easier to pull back out of the sad memories.]

Thank you, Ralph.

[The question is met with a small shrug.]

I stay with the others. The cathedral is as good a place as any until things settle down.

Excuse me while I dodge your captcha...

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10/10 now need pictures of simon with cats

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