Secret Music in the Snow [OPEN]

[Fiddle]

Snow was a very good thing right now.

Fiddle slumped against the sharp cold of a glass window, peering out through its grime at the drifting white beyond. It was a stroke of luck that it had started snowing—most dolls and machines didn’t like to travel in such weather, and it would give Piper and himself a chance to rest and relax for a night or two. He still wasn’t completely recovered from having his body modified. He needed the break.

They were residing on the windowsill of a second floor window, as hidden as Fiddle figured they could be. He’d spent the day gathering scraps to make a sort of little nest, and though it wasn’t night yet, for the moment he was allowing himself a little rest.

Fiddle glanced over at Piper to make sure she was okay as he pulled away from the frozen glass, shivering and wrapping himself in a bit of cloth.

“Sorry we can’t make a fire,” he murmured to her, “But the light’d probably attract something.” He spoke in stitchpunk even if he preferred machine, for her sake. At the moment everything he was doing was for her. Fiddle was perfectly fine with this.

“How are you doing?” He gave his companion a comforting smile as he moved to wrap some cloth over her shoulders as well.

[Piper]

The small doll called Piper looked up slightly as she was addressed. Her facial features were relaxed, calm.. something she hadn't been able to express in many weeks.

The imminent fear of being caught by the slavedrivers was a distant memory now. She had begun to dare to believe that they wouldn't find her again. Still she would imagine what would happen if they did.. her whole body still felt sore from the punishments she was dealt, even if she'd healed completely on a physical basis.

The doll sat against the window sill beside Fiddle, arms wrapped rather protectively around her legs, and those gathered up against her front. She'd always sat like this since Fiddle had saved her. It made her feel safe, like she knew where all her limbs were, and nothing could snap at them.. and for other reasons as well. Reasons that terrified her because she had no idea what they were, and you only had to mix that with a little bit of shame.

The cold wasn't really on her mind. Little was, recently.. Piper was content with staring into the air quietly, thinking of nothing, but only calm as long as Fiddle was around. Even now, after they'd both been repaired and she had a voice again, she rarely - VERY rarely - used it. If she made a sound, it was a small whimper of agreement or disagreement, something that was probably hard to tell between. She said nothing now, simply smiling softly up at Fiddle as she moved a hand to clutch the fabric he placed about her shoulders. She looked down again, shifting slightly to be able to lean against him and his comforting presence.

[Fiddle]

Fiddle watched Piper a moment, almost sadly, as she huddled mutely like she always did lately. He wrapped an arm around her as she nestled against him and relaxed his cheek against the top of her head, then after a moment wrapped his long, furry fox tail around her as well. It was nice to relax… or, at least try to relax. The x-skullbeast found he couldn’t shut his optics; he just kept watching Piper to make sure she was doing okay. It made his chest ache to see how affected she was by everything, even after so many days had passed…

Fiddle could still remember the spunky little skullbeast Piper used to be. She’d been so bold and aggressive, such a strong, opinionated little thing. He wished… he wished he could see her recover back to being that way… but he didn’t know how to go about doing that. All he knew to do was be there for her, watching over her as she recovered. He was getting used to moving slowly and the one-sided conversations, but… he wondered if this current approach was helping. Was he letting her bury into herself forever? Should they try something else?

…

… “Piper…” Fiddle started hestitantly, shifting to wrap his other arm around her to hug her in an affectionate gesture. “I’m… I’m worried for you…” He winced a little, wonder if he was pushing too hard by doing this, but he made himself continue, pulling away a bit and dipping his head to try and look her in the eye.

“What did they do to you? What’s going on in your head? I care about you so much Piper…” He pulled her close again to hug her. “I want to help you… Please… please let me in… please let me know what happened... what’s still going on…”

[Piper]

Fiddle's movements made her tense, they were so familiar and so.. frightening; to be held like that by someone bigger than her. It made her think of Boss.

But she knew it was Fiddle, and though she did tense physically she didn't try to pull away from the embrace. She needed it, and once she was past the initial panic, she relaxed and pressed into the fox-like doll who had saved her life and had protected her this whole time. She owed him so much - here he was sitting with her and worrying about her and he didn't really have to. She'd never asked him, really. Not vocally, anyway.

Piper realized that her secret, her terrible secret.. it wasn't fair for her to hide it, especially not from him. He obviously would care to know. In all honesty it was the main thing keeping her from even slightly going back to her old self again, if that were ever to happen.

Hell, she didn't even really know what was going on. Maybe Fiddle would have a better idea. He made her not want to be scared anymore.

She pulled back slightly from him and let her gaze flick up to his face, studying it unsteadily for a few seconds and trying to say something that she hadn't yet decided on. Instead she ended up just.. removing her arms from around her legs, letting the front of her torso become visible. A steady green glow was coming from inside, quite bright. She didn't know it, but there was a child's soul inside her. The slowly-intensifying glow had terrified her, so she'd been hiding it for this whole time, the way a housecat might hide behind a couch for a day or two whenever it felt sick.

[Fiddle]

Fiddle winced a little at Piper’s initial negative reaction to his hug—it was another trait she’d acquired after her custody in that strange place. He waited patiently for her to calm down, and she did after a while, finally accepting his touch and pressing against him. Fiddle responded by hugging her a little more securely.

And then, Piper pulled away.

Fiddle sat up properly to watch her, suddenly afraid his pressing had been too much for her and he’d hurt her somehow.
“Piper…” he started sadly, prepared to apologize for saying anything, but something in her eyes, as she turned to gaze at him, stopped the fox doll. He watched her, mute and a little confused, as Piper uncurled herself in quiet deliberance. And then… the glow appeared.

The x-skullbeast stared at the glow, his eyes growing wide and his ears going back a little. He knew what this glow was. He may have never had personal experience with it, but he’d seen the symptoms from afar many times in all the years he’d served the Fabricator… he also knew the symptoms weren’t always created as a result of affection and love.

Before he could THINK about how to approach the situation, Fiddle found himself reaching for Piper again, curling tight around her as though trying to protect her from whoever had done this to her.

“A baby,” he whispered, unaware of the language switch he’d sunk into. His voice quivered and he brushed the fur of his tail against her torso, half hiding the glow from the world. “A baby is growing inside of you… from one of those that…?” He wasn’t even sure why he bothered asking, it was obvious that that had been the case. One of her captors had mated with her, probably against her will. For a moment blind fury struck him and he had to fight to calm down, quivering and pressing his head against her. Then he gave her a quick kiss on the temple and nuzzled her cheek.

“I’m here, Piper, I’m here; it’s okay, I’m not going anywhere—I’ll help you raise the pup and we’ll keep it safe and happy. We’ll teach it to be nothing like its other parent, don’t worry…”

He was quiet for a moment, just thinking… then he whispered with incredible softness.

“I love you Piper. I love you so much…”