Vaughn's posts

A failed whisper caught Vaughn’s attention from the washroom.
“Stop ya’ scurryin’ Bernard! You’re tickling me!”

Vaughn played coy as he opened the door to the washroom and quietly climbed on top of the dryer Valentina was hidden within.
“I doubt she’s in here. That girl probably doesn’t even know how to do laundry!”
He slyly reached his hand to shut the door while remaining in position.

He could hear her pout, insulted, before she slowly crept out of the dryer, taking care not to make any sound. Her pink head revealing itself first, almost like a newborn, as she dragged her hands and knees on the floor without a next step to her plan.
Vaughn rolled his eyes, disappointed. “Now, that’s a familiar sight.”

Valentina shot straight up in a shout, Bernard’s antennae frantically swirling along with the commotion as if to convey “what do we do, what do we do!” She quickly armed herself with the nearest broom in a threatening pose, teeth snarled like the wild child she inherently was.

“How offensive. Ye’ think a broom’s gonna take me down?

Just as quickly as he spoke, she swiftly sent the broom against his skull with a hard thwack. He raised a judgmental brow at first, but before his eyes the broom transformed into a mecha spider of sorts.
“What the?! NOT ANOTHER SPIDA! FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD, KID!”

His arms covered his face defensively, kicking himself closer to the wall in a pathetic attempt at escaping. It completely restricted him, holding so tightly it forced him straight into a log, then rolled him off the dryer and onto the floor like a tumbleweed. His face stuck in his own arms, he could only barely muffle out words.

“Val... of allf the bloofdy fings to make.”
He looked up at her reddened eyes and trembling lip, the sight dragging his heart into multiple guilty directions.

“Where have YA BEEN!”

Her tone was uncontrolled, shaky like a wind wisped twig. Vaughn sighed desperately, wanting to make his case.
“I canf speak lie dis.”

She condescendingly kicked her boot to deactivate a single clutching leg, allowing him to free up one arm away from his face.

“Speak.” She commanded.

He felt panicked, breathing harder than usual to maintain a normal oxygen level.
“Truth be told kiddo, I didn’t intend to be gone so long. Honest! I couldn’t have predicted that I would be ARRESTED and held in prison once I made it back to Metal…things happen I guess…Wouldn't let me write any letters...I tried...”

Her face untwisted itself to reveal concern. “...Prison?....”

He quickly noted her worry, and jumped at the perceived opportunity, bearing no shame for his manipulative streak coming about now. He pouted his lips and gave puppy dog eyes the best he could before theatrically pleading.

“Yes, yes! Prison. It was HORRIBLE! Thankfully, I ain’t on the run though, from you or the law. So perhaps, you could spare some mercy for your old man who has missed you so much? Unshackle the guy who is awfully tired of being restrained to cold, hard...and dirty…floors?”

She somewhat gave in but remained guarded. Crouching forward to deactivate the arachna broom and free him, she tossed it aside before immediately lunging backward to the door, blocking the exit, worried he’d try to flee. Vaughn sighed looking down at his feet, all it took was two years to destroy a ten year relationship. He hesitated in speaking.

“You...you know I had two stops to make before I could retire with ya. I didn’t forget my promise - I still intend to do so. Figured I’d give ye’ some alone time, space, independence sort of thing. It was only supposed to be three months... First I had to stop back at the sound realm to exchange some gems. Was hesitant to bring ya to be honest, because of the last time I brought you there…."

Both of them reminisced back to her as a younger girl, she hadn’t realized the vines she took were sacred and private property. She engineered them into electrical cables and created a small army of robots that all looked like kitten-sized Bernards. Equipped with metal detectors, they scurried all around the primordial gardens - digging holes at every detection and damaging several protected animal burrows. Vaughn face-palmed at the memory and its costliness, while Valentina smirked at it.

“After that, I headed back to Metal. To drop off the final goods and finish packing up my apartment. Noticed something strange immediately though, there was cyber security seemingly everywhere.”
This perked Val’s attention as she cocked her head sideways as if asking ‘why’.

Both she and Vaughn knew that the rich and ever climbing 'Cyber Elite' of Metal, preferred to keep their fancy new technology reserved just for the upper class. The massive class divide is all thanks to the Electric Realm who only recently decided to slowly outsource their goods. What was once a moderate bracket dividing the classes was now a heavens length away due to the wealth cyber technology pours in. Metal sates the lower class with pathetic trinkets and flash cyber accessories teasing that soon it'll be mainstream to them all, but its no secret they want to use it as fuel to get ahead and maintain their precious structure for as long as possible. For them to invest and incorporate Cyber Security into steam districts sounded either too generous or too assertive. Val raised her hands up confused and desperate for clarification.

“Well turns out there was a kidnapping of a kiddo from the elite, one of the big four families to boot.”
Vaughn’s tone and posture dropped, revealing a more seriousness and slightly bitter-hinted perspective. He gave Valentina a smug and unamused look, annoyed she hadn’t caught on yet.

“What child? Did they catch the perpetrator?! You still haven’t answered why you were in prison.”
She was completely oblivious, and Vaughn crossed his arms defensively.
“No word on the kid or the perpetrator. I was detained within my own apartment and brought in as a primary suspect. Guess other realms reported they saw her with me. She look familiar to ya’?”
Vaughn reached into his bag for a paper scroll and tossed it over to Valentina, who unraveled it. Stomach sinking into a bubbling nausea, and her face lit up cherry bright from spiked blood pressure, she clenched the scroll back into her hand. Several long moments passed as they both let several emotions come and go.

Once tears began splashing up from her fists, Vaughn instinctively leapt over to her. He paced himself slowly, in case she recoiled from his touch but she did not fuss as she let herself sink backwards into his arms.

“I promise not to leave you like that again Val, but we both...gotta be open with each otha’. Fully and completely.”

Bernard crawled out from her hair, flicking a tear off her cheek as Vaughn embraced her tightly with concern. She choked out the sobs she had been fighting back. “So Tinker ain’t ya last name then? This isn’t some look alike after all?”
He asked softly between her sniffles.

“No.”

She managed to take a deep breath in, and spoke more coherently on exhale. Her hair stuck to her face from sweat, he gently pulled it back to tuck behind her ear. “I am sorry I never told ya’ the truth Vaughn...I am Valentina Diorite.”