Consider:
Leo Valdez was not born. Instead, two pairs of hands form him from bronze and steel and gold. His hair is copper wires so thin they bounce like natural curls, and his eyes glimmer with silver flakes. The joints of his body are plated so delicately, so perfectly, the segments are near indiscernible, smoothly gliding over each other. Faint traces of fingerprints and flecks of impurity are deliberately left behind for their uniqueness, a form of impossible signature of his creators.
Most importantly, gilded bars curl around each other in his chest, protecting the red-red-red flame that pushes his eyes open everyday, that beats in tune with his thoughts, that heats his body to expand and grow.
A metal child is not so different from a human one, and yet is so far from it at the same time. He is curious, about the world, about himself, and he picks apart toys and TV remotes and his arms, spilling their secrets before his constantly shifting eyes. He does not cry from fatigue or thirst or hunger, but a bump, a dent, a scratch never fail to draw tears. He splashes in the rain and snow, carefully bundled in waterproof coats and jackets, and runs from baths like he's possessed, fire flickering in fear.
The first time he meets someone like him, an endeavour he had long thought hopeless, it is a malfunctioning dragon others call for the death of; he is too unpredictable, too dangerous, too broken. Leo looks him in ever-shifting eyes glimmering with silver and sees himself if the cage in his chest ever bends, cracks, shatters, if the gears beneath his skin ever jam and stick and wear down irreversibly.
It is not golden flowers and godly aid that preserve him; just as he'd done for his twin-in-all-but-appearance, he creates a new body, with new fingerprints and impurities mapping his design. His hair is more bronze than copper, now, and his eyes more gold than brass. The plates of his joints scrape against each other faintly, and the gears of his bones grind together uncomfortably — he only had so much time, so much material to use, he could not polish every element of himself in the way he wished, but it holds together.
Most importantly, he reinforces the cage in his chest, coats it in layers upon layers of metal, to ensure his flame will not go out in the explosion, that Festus will be able to salvage it and lay it gently in the chest cavity carefully carved in his new body, bringing it to life.
He returns to Camp, movements more clunky and mechanical than should be, and his siblings finally pin down his segmented limbs, his shifting eyes, his clicking fidgeting. They are ecstatic, just as fascinated with him as they had been with Festus, and he lets them. He lets them take him apart, piece by piece, clean out the sand of Ogygia from his organs, polish and oil his gears until they glide against each other, press new fingerprints, new signatures of belonging, against his skin.
Most importantly, they craft him a secure, intricate cage, with golden flames licking up the bars, with delicate chains shielding it from the elements, and his flame settles inside it, flickering happily, finally truly, truly comfortable in the cage of his body.
Leo Valdez may not have been born, but he was crafted with the most loving hands imaginable, and is that not so much better, for a son of the Craftsman?
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Here she is, the one and only.
This is Queen Bee, a Bigger Body of Cat-Bee. Like her name suggests, she basically a 'queen' amongst the other Cat-Bee toys. Though she more or less treats them more like peers than subjects below her. While she does look similar to her Cat-Bee kin, there are a few markings that differentiate her from the rest. Her crown is the most obvious, but she also has white paws and black ears, while the other Cat-Bee toys do not.
In terms of what she does, she's mostly a placeholder to watch children and help enforce safety rules, especially around the tracks, they make her nervous. Queen Bee's whereabouts post-hour of joy are unknown. Many suspect she just remains hidden somewhere in the factory or maybe she's a part of the Prototype by now. (Spoiler alert: she has a little hive hidden away from the prying eyes of other toys. She and many other Cat-Bee toys reside there.)
Her relationship with the other Bigger Bodies is very mixed. To keep it short; Neutral with Huggy and Kissy, good terms with Mommy Long Legs, mixed with CatNap, tense with Miss Delight, acknowledgement with Dogday and the other Smiling Critters, and she has little to no idea who Boxy Boo is.
A little more detail for some of them:
-Mixed with CatNap because the two have an iffy relationship. They aren't allies for each other, but they're not enemies either. Queen Bee just lets CatNap do what he wants as long as he doesn't bother her or the other Cat-Bees that reside close to her.
-Acknowledgement with DogDay and co. as in they know the other exists. At the very least. They've never spoken to or seen each other but they know they exist.
-With Boxy Boo, she's only caught a glimpse of them like, once. And she has no idea if that was an actual Bigger Body or not considering how quick it was so, she doesn't really dwell on it that much.
I had a lot more lore for her than I realized good lord/lh
but yippee ocs
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