#automaton au

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Have a late valentines gift from the automaton au guys♡ they love you

(I love you too)

[spookyuu]

So

I made designs for a Sun and Moon I Solis and Lunair. Their names are interchangeable, though. You can call them whatever and they'll respond :))

They're constructs, or automatons. Made with magic to help a mage with tasks they can't do themselves. They both have powerful cores in their chests that hold their magic. Sun's core is imbued with fire magic and Moon's is imbued with a kind of celestial, maybe astrological magic.

Solis is like the sun: keeper of fire

Lunair is like the moon: keeper of stars

That's all I have so far but I plan on doing more doodles of these guys soon!!

[kibbits]

Fanart of @betweenblackberrybranches 's automaton AU!!

My dnd character, Beeli the kid, giving Y/N and Sun a pumpkin –she just likes to give everyone she meets a veggie of her choosing (She has Bag of Holding (Veggies) hair, this is just how she greets people. A pumpkin is a good sign, though! She likes them)

Sun isn't so sure about accepting a gift from a fae (it's fiiiine, her twin is the one you want to watch out for!)

[wo3backup]

@automatonsintogas

Fast doot but this has sat rent free for a while soooo enjoy?

I seriously love this au. I'm proud of you @lets-zofifi-stuff

[dandelionwhisp]

Credit

An Automaton AU ft. Azul

Automaton Au by @jackplushie !!

I hope I’ve done some justice to all the amazing writers I’ve seen writing this au. Enjoy and thank you for reading! <3

—————————————————

“Oh wow- Your files are so well organized!” A fellow scavenger friend of yours came over to hang out and talk about your recent finds.

“Everything is in a specific place and labeled too! Blueprints, notes, maps and diagrams, even costs of machinery!”

You had shut down your automatons for the day so they wouldn’t cause a ruckus, after all yours were known to be a bit... unpredictable around other people.

“Hm? Oh- nah none of that was me. Azul, organized those stuff. Like all of it. He’s incredibly skilled.” You shrugged honestly, smiling to yourself as you remembered jolting awake at night, only to see Azul copying all your papers and placing them in neat folders despite you never asking for it. “He works pretty hard.”

“Azul?... Oh- oh your bot? You give credit to your bots..?”

“I mean- yeah? I didn’t do any of it after all.”

Your friend hummed. “I guess that makes sense. Sorry I’m just so used to people taking full credit of what their bot did.”

You shook your head irritably. “Credit should be given where credit is due.” You both made soft conversation as an onlooker gazed at you in shock. Not that it showed on his face. After all. He was supposed to be completely shut down.

Azul often scoffed at his masters, those who believed they had any power over him and took the credit for his hard work. Once information was handed over, Azul was the one in control now. Despite this, he is still just a bot. Humans had created many failsafes in case of malfunctions and to think with a mind of your own as an automaton made to serve, was definitely considered a malfunction.

Everything would be wiped and taken away from him and like trash, he was thrown aside. He would never feel that stability of power again.

Until you came along. Eyes shining, you were perfect for him. Easy to manipulate, naive and excited over every little thing you found rotting in abandonment within the dump outside your home. You were his savior, his client. His victim.

But he had learned his lesson. This time, he would be more cautious. He would do things for you without being asked to under the pretense of “repaying a debt” as he called it, he would let you become dependent and cocky like every human does. He would suck it up when you took the credit for his efforts in order to benefit him in the long run.

But you didn’t. No none of his past experiences could prepare him for the way you checked in on him as he worked, asking if he wasn’t burning himself out (literally) or the way you thanked him sincerely for his hard work. Azul was never worried over, never thanked.

He suffered to take revenge on those who wronged him. But how was he supposed to take revenge on someone who only did him right? For now, at least.

So as he waited, hidden behind a curtain, Azul trained his eyes on you and your friend conversing happily.

‘Credit should be given where credit is due.’ you had said.

It wasn’t the first time you exercised that belief. Even as you received strange looks from others who would’ve done differently, you always gave credit where it was due.

“Ruggie found those parts for me actually. He’s got a sharp eye!”

“No, no, I didn’t make that- Trey did. Pretty good right? Let me tell you about the time he made some brownies...”

“I didn’t put this together on my own. Jamil and Jade gave a lot of guidance too. They’re really helpful with repairs and stuff.”

“Kalim and Epel had a hand in cleaning the house with me the other day! There were some stumbles but it was probably the most fun I had cleaning my garage ever.”

“Isn’t my makeup amazing?? Vil is so good with it and I can’t believe how talented he is— yes I know he’s a bot it’s still cool though!”

To be praised. To be referred to as an equal. It is unheard of for automatons to receive that kind of treatment. Ever. Until they met you. And they would do anything to keep you.

“Thanks for having me over! Haha if you ever don’t need your Azul bot, then send him over to my house- I could use that hardworking efficiency.”

“Pfft alright I’ll ask him about it.” Your friend rolled their eyes with a laugh and waved goodbye.

You picked up the food remnants of your friend’s visit and put everything away in the rare silence of your home. There was usually always some machinery whirring or clicking coming from your bots- if not the endless chatter from the more talkative ones.

Making your way over to the translucent curtain draped over the bots you thought so fondly of, you dusted Azul off and fixed his glasses with a gentle smile. The same one you wore when he was nothing but broken scraps with nothing to offer.

“Azul, you could probably be assigned to someone really rich and powerful with better living conditions than a scavenger like me.” You touched his face gently. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with me for now.”

Just as you powered him on, his hand shot out to grab your wrist. Yelping in surprise, your eyes met with his periwinkle ones glimmering with something unknown.

“A-Azul?”

You wince as his grip becomes tighter and more unforgiving, sure to leave a mark. Just as he wants.

He brings your hand up, pressing your palm to his lips in a manner too intimate for an automaton to be capable of. Tears welled up in your eyes at the sensation of pain and tenderness from him as he whispers against your skin.

“I will never serve any one else but you. No one. Not even you can tear me away from being yours. Or you mine.”

You gave this poor little octobot a chance to experience something he had never even dreamed was possible before, and you can’t possibly think about letting him go anytime soon because you were different. So he would treat you differently.

The day you took him in, you made a deal. A deal that enabled equal and opposite care between the two of you.

Credit should be given where credit is due, and Azul feels as though he hasn’t given enough credit for all the kindness you’ve shown him.

The automaton intertwines his fingers with your own, sending shivers down your spine, and flashes a smile similar to that of a businessman who scored a good deal.

Hitched breathing and heart thumping, he brings you to his chest. Somehow cold yet burning against your skin.

“You’re mine.” he repeated, commandingly. desperately.

You signed the contract marked upon his manmade heart, so won’t you let him stick around? Don’t worry, it’s just until the contract ends.

And as for how long it stays active?

Indefinitely.

[theminiartblog]

A lil sunny boi from @betweenblackberrybranches Automaton AU because I love it sm 🥰

[spamlets]

i am NAWT RENDERING THIS

enjoy an automatarrator au ft. my baby boy mothrrator!!

fun facts about him that i may or may not have already written on the sheet:

he has extra flesh on his tummy and ASS. to insulate and protect important machinery from damage (and also because Who’s Gonna Stop Me)

he peels himself. like an orange :) to get out of the artificial skin

he proportions are weird because he was designed to use the uncanny valley as an intimidation factor (and definitely NOT because i didn’t feel like fixing it once i noticed it)

[springfallendeer]

Rehabilitation - 1

Set in a Fairy and Automaton AU I've got going on. This is a discord drabble that relies heavily upon my OC Ayala and @twistedviper's OC Jho, who I am in love with :3

Part 1: Jho meets Ayala

||The woman carefully ducks beneath the various wooden beams that zig-zag across the entrance of the hidden structure. All the while she keeps a hand up over her shoulder to protect her fairy companion from any debris that might potentially fall and harm them.||

||Guided by a string of magic lights, she travels the long forgotten path of this once astounding castle. All the while she does her best to ignore the stagnant stench of the rotten air that has filled this desolate place.||

||The remains of the old world. A castle whose inhabitants are long, long dead. Home only to any Remnant Spirits who have yet to make their way into the great beyond, and to any inhuman entity which might have otherwise taken refuge within the crumbling structure.||

||The path she follows inevitably leads her to her intended destination. A mostly empty room stained with the evidence of the sins of the past. Black, moldy stains line every noticeable surface. From the walls, to the ceiling, to the floor; everything has been painted by the evidence of long rotten corpses.||

||The woman gags at the stench which permeates this place. As does the fairy which sits upon her shoulder.||

||The fairy retreats down into the confines of the woman's clothes in a desperate attempt at escaping the unpleasant smell. The relief she finds is minor. But it is still relief. Better the scent of the dust and sweat that clings to the humans body than the scent of long rotten flesh and bone.||

||"You shouldn't be here, Miss." The quiet, almost broken voice of the ancient entity barely manages to cut through the unpleasant sounds of the woman's gagging.|| ||"This is a cursed place. Full of rot and disease. The air has grown putrid. Toxic, even. You'll catch your death if you stay here much longer." They add.||

||She struggles to steady her breathing as her eyes scan the desolate room. Disgusting as it is, the space has been relatively well maintained. There are no cobwebs to be found. No overgrown masses of roots or vines to impede her view. Only the support beams and the rotting structure of the old animation table.||

||Sit putredo currat tenuis et aer clarescat. Qui spirant, spirant." (May the rot run thin and the air grow clear. Let those who breathe, breathe.)||

||Through struggled breaths, the woman manages to utter the words of a spell.||

||A ripple of embers rolls through the air surrounding her, burning away the putrid stench that threatened to smother her lungs and suffocate her.||

||The Automaton steps out from behind a support beam as the air is cleared. Their sad, tired eyes settle upon the woman's frame as she takes in long, deep breaths for the sake of filling her lungs with clean air.||

||"… I see." The Automaton utters, moving so that he can stand in clear view of the Mage.|| ||"… Forgive me, my lady. I was unaware that I was in the presence of nobility." They utter, offering a polite bow. All the while their eyes remain forlorn. All the while their voice remains tired and distant.||

||The voice of a being long abandoned and burdened by the knowledge of their own creation. Burdened by the knowledge of all the horrors that they had been used to create.||

||"The days of the nobility are long gone, Automaton." The woman replies, a note of bitterness evident in her voice.|| ||"Do not bow to me. There is no need of it. I rule you no more than the grass rules the trees." She adds.||

||The Automaton responds to her with a look of mild confusion, before he turns away to glance in the direction of the rotting animation table.||

||"For what purpose do you visit me, my Lady." The Automaton inquires. He continues to address her with the same level of respect that he would have given the old nobility that created him. Though now he refrains from looking in her direction at all as he speaks.||

||"To save you from this tomb." She calmly replies, helping her little fairy companion to climb out of her shirt as she speaks.||

||The Automaton responds with a tired, empty laugh.||

||"I am without purpose, then?" He states, keeping his eyes locked upon the animation table.||

||The table in which he and others of his kind were built upon. The table on which the bodies of the dead were used to create vessels of aimless destruction and bloodshed.||

||His former worktable. Long without use and long without maintenance, as he had not been brought corpses to work with for a long, long time. Centuries at this point.||

||The woman offers something of a tired sigh as the fairy settles down upon her shoulder.||

||"No more without purpose as you let yourself be." She states.|| ||The war is long over. The nobility are long dead, and their bloodlines have been virtually wiped out. The Automatons live as humans do. In vast cities. Where they are free to make of themselves whatever they will, just as any other free minded people can." She explains.||

||The Automaton keeps his eyes locked upon the structure. He remains dead silent. All the while he refuses to move or to even look at the woman. She lets out another sigh.||

||"I am here to bring you from this place. If you wish to hide away, I will not stop you. But you cannot remain here." She states.||

||The Automaton reluctantly turns to look at her.||

||"This is my home. I was built with a purpose. You mean to strip me of both in one fell swoop, my Lady?" He mutters.||

||There's an audible sadness to his voice. The sadness of an entity which has waited eons to be given instruction after having been abandoned. The sadness of a creature which has spent hundreds of years knowing that the very purpose of their creation was to bring about destruction of life.||

||He has known nothing outside of this. His whole existence has been to create destruction, and to wait to be told to continue with his work.||

||And now he is being told that the very foundation has long since crumbled.||

||It is only natural that he would be reluctant to engage in such… Self destructive thoughts.||

||He would rather remain here. Alone and waiting. Clinging to the belief that he would be given purpose once more, as opposed to facing the reality of the fact that he no longer had a purpose to be given.||

||He did not know how to pick his own purpose. The concept was alien to him. Completely and utterly alien. And he was in no way mentally ready to attempt to grasp that purpose.||

||The woman tiredly sighs as she studied him. She leans her head ever so slightly to one side as the fairy on her shoulder whispers into her ear.||

||"… Do you know me?" The woman suddenly asks.||

||The Automaton turns to her. At which point he gives her a distant, but respectful once over.||

||"… Aye, my Lady. I would be blind not to know you." He replies, speaking to her in a quiet, formal tone.|| ||"You are or noble blood. The very essence of your magic tells me as much." He states.||

||She nods.||

||"If you will not accept your freedom, then you will force my hand." She states, reluctantly leaning in to her false status of authority over the Automaton.||

||If he refused to accept his loss of assigned purpose, then she would have to rely upon his attachment to the old ways in order to rescue him from this decrepit place.||

||She would have to play the part of a master in order to coerce him into compliance. Though she was not happy to be forced to do so.||

||"My Lady?…" The Automaton quietly replies, giving her a distant, curious look.||

||"As the last known inheritor of noble right, I command you accompany me out of this place. I will assign you a purpose, and you will fulfil it diligently. Understood?" She ordered.||

||The Automaton gave her a more curious look in response, before he briefly turned his attention back to the crumbling structure that he had remained beside throughout these past centuries.||

||Hard as it would be for him to move away from this place, he was not yet able to resist the command of a noble.||

||Even understanding that it was a manipulative ploy, he could not resist the call of his own design. Not right now. It would take years of effort to instill into him the will to disobey the authority that no longer existed.||

||"… As you wish, my Lady." The Automaton quietly replies.||

||As the woman turns to make her way out of the rotting corpse that the castle has become, the Automaton silently follows after her.||

||Hard as it is to abandon his home, its much harder for him to defy his instincts to obey the nobility.||

||Still, red tears well in his sad, tired eyes as he moves further and further away from the only home he's never known. And by the time he's brought out into the light of the open world for the first time in centuries, those tears have formed red streaks which stain his solemn face.||

||The woman rightly notices his plight. And while she hates the fact that she must pull him from this place, she has little choice but to remain headstrong. For his sake.||

||"Do you have a name?" She quietly asks, forcing a note of sternness to her voice in an attempt to hide the crack that sneaks into it.||

||The Automaton offers a nod.||

||"They named me Jho… I don't remember what it means." He replies.||

||"Builder." The woman quickly states.|| ||"In the tongues of old, Jho was a name assigned to those who build and construct things of vital importance." She explains.||

||The Automaton's eyes widen faintly in response to this.||

||Yes. He could remember now the importance of his name. It was a special one assigned to only the best of the Automaton Constructors. A name that he had been fortunate enough to inherit from the Noble that created him.||

||"… Yes. Jho… Elite Constructor of the Automaton Army…" He murmurs, as if suddenly remembering exactly who and what he is.||

||Or who and what he once was.||

||"… I am Ayala Belrose. Last daughter of the Belrose bloodline. Sired by the final heir of the Emrick clan." She explains, granting the Automaton her name. She then motions to the fairy sitting on her shoulder.|| ||"This is Melody. My familiar and close companion. She is an ambassador of the Greater Magic, sent to instruct me on how to bridge the gap between humanity and the inheritors of magic." She adds, giving her fairy companion a proper introduction.||

||Jho offers a curious tilt of the head.||

||He has only ever known the fairies as magical conduits. Ingredients used to strengthen human magic.||

||How strange it is for his Princess to treat the little creature as such an important companion.||

||"… It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my Princess." He replies, politely referring to Ayala as he would have referred to the nobility of the old era.||

||The woman winces internally at the term, but refrains on scolding him.||

||As much as she hates it, she must play the part. She must act as his authority until he can emotionally grow to the point that he is able and willing to command himself. At which point, she would cease to be his master and begin her role as his equal and her mentor.||

||"… I would prefer to be called by name." Ayala states, speaking to the Automaton in a quiet, almost withdrawn voice.||

||Jho gives her a peculiar look. One that establishes his own confusion.||

||None the less, he offers a polite bow.||

||"As you wish, Miss Ayala." He replies, complying with her request. Unusual as it is.||

[accidentallydoorstep]

@jackplushie I made fanart of jade from your automaton au (with scavenger MC, but not necessary them)

I imagine that when they first tried to see if the twins could fight, jade ended up very bad and they just repaired him enough to work but didn't spend time with making him aesthetically pleasing.

I also based the broken part of his face of human face muscles and used this and this as a reference :)

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Encounter in the moonlight part 3

<

In which Y/N finally gets to do their job and the old one gets concerningly giddy...

Moon is too shaken to actually fight back again after they get out of the communication space, going straight for grabbing y/n & getting outta there

[bilolli]

Heyyyyyy @betweenblackberrybranches did you know that I like your automatons designs a lot?

Scans under the cut

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

(Getting tired of all this discourse so take this cute)

Lunar decides to go annoy Solar again, reenacts the "WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD" vine, and Moons there cuz he passed out in Solars place.

Lunars such a lil gremlin boi especially when his lil brother relationship teasing is activated, I cant wait for him to absolutely embarrass Solar and Moon.

I was inspired.

[hootbun]

As tribute to our one year anniversary, some story advancement, it’s not huge (and I promise to open up questions soon, I just need to start catching up on a bunch of them)

[mskenway97]

Well I wanted to write this story for a long time, I'm going to do about 15 parts… some parts I will change them in my own way.

ROTB Optimus Prime x OC (!fem!reader)

The Automatons

Summary: Your existence was empty, you had lost everything until a giant robot began to follow you without knowing why. Inspired by one of the stories of Nier

Words: 1,715

Prologue

Warning: insults, deaths, the character is going to swear non-stop, experiments

I will put the links of pillowfort and ao3 to publish this application:

Pillowfort

Ao3

[leresq]

In my AU almost half the Helldivers defect and become friends with the Terminids and they all defeat the fascist Super Earth, reprogram the Automatons, and they all live happily ever after forever thank you for coming to my ted talk

[springfallendeer]

Rehabilitation - 3

3rd part of the Automaton AU featuring @twistedviper's OC Jho. This one focused more on a character of @juicyyyboxxx, "Melody", the Fairy, and how they interact with him.

||Thwip. Thwip. Plip.||

||Thwip. Thwip. Plip.||

||Thwip. Thwip. Plap.||

||Water steadily trickles down the window pane to soak into the wood below.||

||The Automaton cannot help but stare at the sky.||

||How long had it been since he had experienced rain? As in, how much time had passed since he had actually witnessed it in person?||

||Back in the castle, deep underground in the rotten crypt, he had never been able to see it. He had barely been able to hear it. He only ever really knew that the rains had come when the water soaked into the soil above to trickle down into the walls.||

||Once in a blue moon, when the rains were particularly heavy, the ceiling might leak.||

||That had been the closest that he ever came to experiencing the rain, while he was waiting in the crypt.||

||But now he could see it. He could hear it so clearly.||

||If we were to push open the glass that kept the outside world from creeping in, he could reach out and touch it. The sweet, refreshing tears of the sky.||

||He could not recall the last time that he had felt the rain. Real rain. Not the soggy mildew water that dribbled onto him from a leaking ceiling. Not the spray of water from a shower faucet. But rain.||

||But it felt so strange to yearn for its touch. It felt strange to yearn for anything, really.||

||He was not made to yearn. He was not made to long for such foolish, simple pleasures.||

||He was made to build. To work. And when that work was gone, and emptiness had settled over him that he could not fully describe with words.||

||Even now, after having been claimed by the Princess Ayala, he had not been given a purpose. That emptiness was still there. And for some reason, it had changed.||

||He did not know when it changed or why, but it had.||

||He no longer felt content with waiting. The emptiness had transformed in such a way that it made him want to claim a purpose for himself. He did not understand why.||

||It scared him, in a way. To feel these things.||

||What would happen if he should reach out to touch the rain?||

||Physically, he knew what would happen. He would feel it. The water would platter upon his abomination of a body and for the first time in centuries, he would experience what it felt like to touch the rain.||

||Surely it would be such a basic, harmless experience.||

||But what would it do to him emotionally? How would it change him on the inside to do something so selfish as to extend his hand to feel the rain?||

||He should not want for this. But he does. And that is what he’s terrified of.||

||He is no longer himself. Just like the others. He has changed. He has become closer to human.||

||How utterly terrifying.||

||Movement beside him catches his eye. What his subconscious called a bug was discovered to be the Princess’s little Fairy friend.||

||What was her name again?||

||It takes the fluttering of her wings to remind him. The movement creates such a soft, appealing sound. Like a faint, musical hum.||

||“Good evening, Melody.” He murmurs, offering the Fairy a polite greeting as he refers to her by name.||

||The Fairy responds in turn by offering him a polite curtsey. She bows her little head and grasps the ends of her flowery dress.||

||Flowery as in made from flowers. The gown itself seemed to be made from rose petals. It looked quite pleasant to the touch.||

||“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asks, curiously tilting his head to the side as he observes the little creature.||

||He isn’t really sure why he’s bothering to ask. Fairies cannot speak. Or at least he has never known one that could speak. Certainly if they could, he would have known by now. He had briefly interacted with quite a few, when performing his duties.||

||They always struggled, like the little insects they were viewed as. But at no point had he ever heard one make a sound.||

||How strange it was to try and converse with one of these mute little creatures as though it were a person.||

||But the Princess treated Melody as a friend and as an equal. So certainly all that he knew about the Fairies came from some sort of distorted reality.||

||He was perfectly willing to believe that they were greater than the insects that people treated them as in the past. But that did not mean that he would immediately be able to install this new truth into his mind to replace the facts of his past.||

||He would try to accept Melody as an equal. But it would take time to move past his own prejudices birthed of a dystopian past.||

||Melody responds to his inquiry by pointing to the window. Once more, his eyes are drawn to the world outside. To the rain.||

||The clouds have grown so much lighter in such a short period of time. Soon, very soon, the rain would be gone.||

||He isn’t quite sure to make of her body language, though. Not being able to verbally communicate with the Fairy was going to make understanding her difficult.||

||“I do not understand.” He quietly states.||

||The Fairy responds to this by taking to the air for a moment. She hovers over to the window to land in front of it, near his folded hands. Then she wraps her little arms around one of his fingers to tug on him.||

||She couldn’t hope to pull him anywhere if she tried. Her tiny body could never prove powerful enough to overpower him. But he allows her to guide his hand, if only for the sake of satisfying his own curiosity.||

||Melody guides his hand just a few inches back to the window. Once she bumps into the glass, she lets go of his finger so that she can make a show of pounding on the glass with her tiny fists.||

||That’s about as straightforward of a request as she can give him. He would be a fool not to recognize what she’s asking of him.||

||The Automaton reaches up to unlock the window. Then he pushes against the glass.||

||The window creaks open like an unoiled door.||

||Just like that, the outside creeps in. The damp chill of the soggy air pours into the room through the open window, creeping over his flesh and metal and making his senses burst to life.||

||The air was so clean.||

||No. That wasn’t the right word to describe it. The air in the house was clean… He could not describe this sensation quite well enough to make it understandable.||

||Refreshing. The smell of the damp air was refreshing. The feel of it pouring over his ancient body was invigorating.||

||Just a single breath of it. The feel of it. These things suddenly made him feel so alive.||

||He failed to even realize that his hand was still outside the window. Until Melody flew out to land upon his palm.||

||The weight of her in his hand pulls him from his mind. He stares down at her. She stares up at him in turn with soft, curious eyes.||

||He reflexively wraps his fingers around her little body. Not to squeeze her. Not to hurt her. But to hold her.||

||In the past, she would have been in danger once he had hold of her. He would have buried her in a pile of cremated material and used her as a catalyst to enhance the power of the crystal heart that he would craft during the creation of a new Automaton.||

||But now, he’s only holding her. He isn’t sure why.||

||Maybe it was just a reflex. An instinct created by the nature of his origin.||

||Maybe it was because the wind had picked up and on some level he feared she would be carried off.||

||Maybe it was because the flowery dress she wore really was surprisingly pleasant to the touch. Soft and velvety. It was unlike any fabric that he had ever had the chance to feel.||

||Regardless of the why, she’s still there. Held gently but securely in his hand. If only for a few moments.||

||He cautiously allows his fingers to uncurl when she presses against them. Then he watches as she adjusts her posture so that she can kneel casually upon his palm.||

||She wraps an arm around his finger to keep hold of him as the wind picks up again. Then she points out into the rain.||

||He follows the direction with his eyes. Unsure of what she’s trying to relay to him.||

||The clouds are almost white again. The rain will die away soon.||

||He doesn’t even realize when he extends his arm further. Not until he feels it.||

||The plink of the water against his fingers.||

||He nearly drops the Fairy, he’s so startled by the unexpected sensation.||

||She clings tighter to his finger in response. But only for a moment. Only long enough to keep herself secure. Then she pushes on his fingers to encourage him to flatten his palm.||

||He isn’t sure why he obeys. But he obeys.||

||And he allows the rain to plink and splatter against his hand.||

||He slowly sucks in a deep breath. The chilled, damp air floods his tired lungs. But the more air he takes in, the more he starts to feel.||

||He feels so… Alive.||

||The rain feels so nice against his body. Its a little cold. But every droplet that splatters against his flesh feels like a kiss from the Heavens above.||

||He cannot help but find himself fixated on the feel of the water trickling over his arm. So much so that he extends his other arm without realizing it.||

||So much so that he doesn’t even pay attention to Melody. The Fairy slips off of his hand on her own accord, and she easily flies back to the security of the house.||

||She settles down upon his shoulder. Not that he’s fully aware.||

||Subconsciously, he realizes that she’s there. But he is so utterly transfixed on the feeling of the train that he cannot be bothered to put his attention back on her.||

||Even as she reaches to lightly caress his cheek with her tiny hand. Her palm becomes just another raindrop upon his skin. Only it is comfortable and warm, as opposed to pleasant and cold.||

||He isn’t even sure how long he spends half hanging out of the window like this. But he remains in this position until the rain fades away and the clouds drift off.||

||Only then does he take notice of the tiny hand stroking his cheek.||

||He slowly turns to face her as he tugs his arms back into the window.||

||His hands and arms are drenched. But he doesn’t care.||

||His arms feel so much more real for some reason. The rest of his body seems so dead by comparison…||

||He stares down at Melody. She smiles up at him in turn, even as she shivers from the damp chill in the air.||

||He backs into the room and shuts the window. The outside is locked back out. And then he reaches up to gently pluck the Fairy from his shoulder so that he can look at her properly.||

||Such a small, frail looking thing.||

||A thing that has given him such an enlightening experience.||

||“… Thank you.” He quietly murmurs.||

||Melody responds in turn by lifting herself off of his palm to fly up to his face. There, she presses her hands between his eyes and leans forward to let her head rest against his.||

||He closes his eyes. The melodious sound of her wings fluttering and the tiny spot of her warmth against him become his only sense of reality, if only for a moment.||

||How strange it is to be so moved by something so simple.||

||How strange it is to be granted this experience by something as small and delicate as a Fairy.||

||He has been wrong about so much.||

||The Fairies really must be greater than he has ever known them to be, if the others are even remotely as akin to Melody.||