14287/Friends in all Forms

Friends in all Forms
Date of Scene:	08 April 2022
Location:	Abandoned Church, New York
Synopsis:	Nikki pays Askante a visit, and makes an offer that Askante might not refuse.
Cast of Characters:	Nikki Hawkins, Askante

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Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki is back from a short stint in Gotham and another minor side trail in Metropolis. Currently, she is without her robot companion because she's been working on a few small upgrades and Squishy isn't quite ready to come off the work station just yet. Alone and wandering, walking down streets that are freshly wet and covered in puddles from a recent rain storm, she has fun splashing in a few of the stand alone puddles before making her way into the abandoned church. She's come here a couple of times now, and like last time, she comes with a few treats kept in a plastic bag hanging from her arm. "Askante! Nikki's come to visit! Is it here?"

Askante has posed:
This is not Askante's usual nesting spot, but sounds of industry can be heard at the back of the church, where things are not open to the sky, but rather are enclosed. This used to be the church's meagre kitchen and the cupboards still have some of their doors. When junk is available readily though and people will sell garbage that has some worth, if you can trade for it you can do a fair bit with not a lot. It appears to be attempting to fix some of the cupboard doors at the moment, doing a spot of carpentry. When one has four arms that makes things quicker - one is one's own helping hand! Its tools are mixed though, likely also bought at garbage collection or traded for other bits of garbage that someone might have had a use for.

"I am here!" it calls with a ratchetting of screws. "I am being useful. Useful is good, yes? Nikki has been gone a while! I have a soup kettle."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Useful is very good, yes!" Nikki calls, following the voice to find it fixing those cupboard doors. "Askante needs help?" She asks, not even seeming phased by the fact that it has four arms coming out of it right now while it's working on carpentry. "Also, Nikki brought more stuff for it!" She says this, in the most cheerful way, and then *plonks* the bag on one of the free counters so that she doesn't get into Askante's way.

"There's some beans and chili, and some hot dogs and buns... and drinks. Does the fridge work? Nikki needs to put some of these things in the fridge.." Asking even as she goes to open the fridge door.

Askante has posed:
"Ummmm..." Askante looks over at the fridge, rubbing under its nose with a hand wielding the ratchetting screwdriver. "Maybe? I crawled underneath and hung upside down yesterday in the new york underneath new york and looked at all the wires. I remember electricity when they showed it to us, but I did not learn much. I think I threw a switch that might be the right switch." It looks as the door is opened. The fridge only has one shelf and the door doohickies, there's only the middle one that used to hold pickles and such. But the light turns on and it's cool in there! "Apparently, I did the right one. Yay?" it waves two of its hands with that. "What an amazing thing it is to have a larder that stays cold wherever it is."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki smiles and begins to put some of the things in the fridge. The hot dogs and cheese especially, plus the drinks. "Nikki thinks that Askante will like chili cheese dogs. She doesn't know if it's had them just yet, but she makes something that her parents called a Coney. It's a hot dog topped with chili and cheese, mustard and chopped onions..." She explains this and then looks back over to Askante. "It's nice and cold, so this is good. Nikki is happy with this. Oh! She also brought Askante a sub sandwich... hoping Asktante likes it." Pulling a wrapped sub from some homely sub shop out of the bag and sets it on the counter.

Askante has posed:
"Why is it called a coney?" It has to be asked, but supposition strikes. "Is it named after the island with all the fun things and entertainment?" A couple of plates are taken from a not-so-filthy cupboard draw. Only a couple of chips in sight and mismatched cutlery, but it seems as if the creature has been turning this place into a secondary nest. A cave is all you need, right? Warmth and dryness. A cardboard box is also taken from inside one of the cubpoards where a nest of blankets has been built -- if Tokyo can build vertical hotels where they stack people in cubby holes, there has to be something in the 'sleep in a cupboard' theory, right? -- It taps the box a couple of times. "Dinner, Rat. She was sleeping," it informs, though nothing yet emerges.

"What have you been doing? I still have your necklace charm of machinery that thinks."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Nikki thinks so... she thinks they were first made there so they called them Coney Dogs and the name just stuck." There's a grin on her face as it begins to brings down plates and things so they can eat. "Does Nikki need to cut the sandwich or will the rat just eat what it does not?" Inquiring minds wonder and then she tilts her head one way and then the other. "Nikki went to Gotham to do a robot war. It's where people who built small robots can have them fight and the one who's last left wins. She also went to Metropolis for some stuff and then came back home." Offering this explanation with a grin. "Oh! Yay! She's glad to hear this! She is glad it liked the necklace enough to keep it."

Askante has posed:
"It is the things that are made for no other reason than to create, that sets men apart from others. The things that you make speak a thousand words without anything being voiced, about who you are. Of course I kept it. It has value." Out of junk, comes a masterpiece of circuitboard repurposed. Askante grins, considers the sub and the rat in a box that is now poking her nose out. SHe's just a common brown rat, but she's tame and she is healthy, given where she comes from. "I think we can cut the end off and she will enjoy..." it offers, rather reverently unwrapping the sub and spreading the paper gently and firmly, looking all the way along from one end to the other. "People eat so well now. The poor have such good food that they can consume!" It's an odd perspective to have, but one often doesn't know what one has, until things are thrown into perspective. "It is strange how so often the poor have eaten better than the rich. I never understood why that was, other than foolish prestige." It shrugs, smiles, looks at her again, as it gestures along the sub with one hand, silently inviting her to cut the mighty thing in twain.

"Did Squishy win? And did you get good things to make him better? He is magic."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Oh Squishy didn't fight. Squishy wasn't made for fighting. Nikki made another robot that could fight. Nikki did not win... but she made a new friend!" Cause Tim offered something that was so much better than a win at the robot wars. Being able to source quality computer bits is a good thing sometimes. "Poor people can eat well because they know how to make feasts out of simple foods. The rich are just snobs, like it said. They snub noses at some of the things a poor person would be glad to find." She offers this as she finds one of the few random knives in the kitchen and then cuts an end bit off for the rat before then cutting the sandwich in two. She puts the whole half on Askante's plate. The half missing the end bit on her own plate and offers the end bit to the rat. "Is it hungry? Does it have a name?"

Askante has posed:
"Yes. She finally told me what her name is. It's Buttons. She likes them, so she now has a name. Buttons, this is Nikki. Nikki, this is buttons." For a streetrat, she takes the offering of food rather politely, setting it down infront of her to nibble on, enjoying of all the things that go into a sub, not just the bread. "And she is good company. I thought it was time I had a furry friend again, it has been a while." It bows its head at the offering of the half of a sub and gestures at a few bottle crates it's gatherered to act as seats. "I have been thinking that I should find a place that is more permanent to live in. It is a curious thing though, as I've always just followed people to where I needed to be. But... I have no idea where to even start and I think men with houses require things that I do not think I have."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki nods her head and then smiles to the rat. "It's a pleasure to meet Buttons. Buttons is a good name." This said and then she watches as the rat politely takes the food and begins to enjoy all the bits of it. There's ham, cheese, lettuce, pickles, red onion, salami, ranch dressing... Nikki didn't know what Askante might like so she got what she normally orders and hoped for the best.

As Askante motions to the bottle crates, Nikki moves to sit down and takes a bite of her food. "Is it going to stay for a while? Does it mean it does not have money to pay for a house?" She starts. "Askante could always come and live with Nikki! Nikki has a spare room, and is already paying for things so Askante wouldn't need money. Then there's a bed, and a place for Buttons, and all of Askante's things can be displayed!"

Askante has posed:
Askante eats just about anything, so everything tends to be good. It's never been picky in that regard. It sits in the lotus position atop the crate... /somehow/... with its tail curled around like a serpentine extender cable out of the tails of its coat, the end curled around in a curlique of contentment, almost feline. "I genuinely don't know," it has to admit. "I don't think money is really an issue. Well, I say this but it never has been before, but I've never been awake in a world quite like this one. I feel lost when I think about these things and I never had to in the past." It thinks on this as it contemplates the flavours of the sub, mixed and varigated as they are. It gets about half way through before it lowers the sandwich and slowly stops chewing, gazing off into space.

"I have a lot of things. Many trinkets. But they all fit into my pockets. The coat is magic, you see. The pockets are bigger on the inside than the out and contain everything I've ever put into them. I took it from a Huxter who lost his final dead man's hand in Deadwood. He did not need it and would not listen to the danger."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Well then it can display things in cycles. Or maybe just it's favorite things." Nikki says. "Nikki has the room, and thinks it would be nice to have another to share things with. Like watching movies and playing video games." This much more as she bites into her sandwich again and chews for a moment. "It was just a thought Nikki had. If Askante didn't want to keep moving place to place. Fixing places up. It could have a room and everything it might ever want or need." She shrugs then.

Askante has posed:
"What would Nikki want Askante to do for her in return?" The creature asks. It isn't with suspicion that it speaks, but as if it is used to making bargains and is cautious about such transactions coming with their own hidden clauses. It might have a very good reason for that, overall. "I do not know if I make a good living partner either, I have never lived with anyone."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki thinks on this. Actually thinking instead of just jumping into speech first. "Can keep Nikki's home safe... can help Nikki build robots. Nikki doesn't know what else... maybe go with Nikki to find stuff for building robots?" Honestly, there's not a bone in Nikki's body that would cause her to be a double crosser, and she's sincere in what she offers. A room for a bit of help here and there.

Askante has posed:
Oh, that home would be the safest place to be in a five block radius! So what if crime goes remarkably down in the neighborhood and the kids actually get home in a reasonable time from school. Don't get into trouble. Don't screw around with the gangs and the drugs and the hoodlums! "Hmm," thinkthinkythinkthink. "Don't know how to build robots, but I am good at learning. I will watch. If you show me what are good parts and what are not, I can find those." It nods. "Room for Buttons and room for me and my precious things." Of course, not that it knows this, but if it sold some of its trinkets it would be quite stupidly rich.

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Oh that's fine! Nikki can show it everything and it can surely help!" The woman gets excited the more she sits there. "But it doesn't have to answer now if Askante wants to think about it. Talk it over with Buttons." She says this and beams a smile. "You should see what Buttons wants. It might have to live in a cage sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes. But it'll be a nice cage. Nikki promises!" She pauses. "Nikki can come back later...after she gets some things set up in case it's what Askante and Buttons want?"

Askante has posed:
Askante nods to that. "Should be a group decision," it agrees with that it seems. Does it actually speak Rat? Who knows. Maybe. The critters are intelligent enough to communicate after all. But it might be a thing that is never knooooooooooown. "And I will in that time, learn how to make coney island dogs, when I do not have anything to heat it with. I think a fire would be bad in here. But maybe out there it would be ok." Nodding to the more ruined part of the church. "This is a very kind offer, it will have a big, lengthy talk with Buttons over it."

Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Oh. Right. Yes! Then Nikki will love to see how it learned and taste the creations!" Nikki wiggles then and offers a smile. She finishes her sandwich and then stands up. "So...Nikki will come back soon, yes?"

Askante has posed:
"Yes," Askante affirms. "I am not one to procrastinate. It is not in my nature, I think." For some very fundamental reasons, but it doesn't get into that. In the meantime, Buttons appears to have finished her eats and crawled back into her box. The same cannot be said of Askante, but it does appear to be looking around the gutted kitchen with a new eye. Fresh intervals of interaction and food do service the motivation well.