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Chapter Six: Hopscotch Romance

Mouse bit her lip as she finished her latest drawing. She was enjoying the crayons...they were shiny and new, and they weren't just the nubs she usually used, when she found crayons. She had about worn out the ones that Otto had given her, so Robin's gift was most welcome. With a smile, she tore the paper out of the pad, and hopped off her crate. She went over and hesitantly sat the drawing next to Otto's arm, and stepped back with a shy smile.

There was motion out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to see Robin striding towards them with a smile. "Ahoy ahoy," Robin said with a smile. There was a woven bag in one of her hands, which she sat on Otto's table. She pulled out a large thermos. "Real coffee, as requested," she said, winking at Otto. Then she pulled out a bag of Oreos, and her personal favorite find--a mug with "Evil Genius" printed on it.

she thinks she's funny at least she knows one when she sees one are we still evil

Otto laughed and picked up the mug. Really, the saying was very apt. "Thank you, Robin," he told her. He'd put up with all sorts of evil genius remarks if it meant he got coffee and Oreos. And this mug wasn't chipped, like the one he currently used. He was always afraid it would crack under thermal stress if he didn't nurse the thing up to temperature. "Now what's this?"

Setting the mug aside for Mo to fill, he looked at the picture Mouse had left by his elbow. It was typically childish work in bright crayon, showing a man with four snakey things coming out from behind him, a little girl, and a faerie, complete with wings and a star-topped wand, all on a hillside under a bright sun. All three figures were smiling.

"This is very nice, Mouse," he said.

Mouse smiled broadly, and looked up at Robin as the woman leaned over to look at the picture. "What's that supposed to be?" she asked, nodding to the winged figure. She looked at Mouse with a raised eyebrow. "Is that me? Well, I suppose the likeness could be worse. Although I don't have wings of any sort. Not many faeries do, actually. And the ones that do, you're better off staying away from. Likely they'll try to eat you."

Mouse blinked at her. Robin just smiled, and pulled one last thing out of her bag, which vanished instantly. It was a container of sidewalk chalk. "Thought we'd have a little fun," Robin said with a grin. There was a good bit of concrete surrounding the old warehouse, and they could play without being too obvious.

"Eat you?" Otto repeated. "Are you serious? And are you sure that's a good idea? What if someone sees you two out there?" He got to his feet, new coffee cup carefully held in Moe's pincers. This was New York, for God's sake. People were everywhere. It would be just his luck for some celebrity-stalking paparazzo with a telephoto lens to get a picture with them in the background.

Robin looked at him, hands on her hips. "Yes, there are breeds of faeries that would eat you. And you're alright with a little girl going out and about the city on her own, but not going outside and drawing on the sidewalk?" She gave him an incredulous look.

"Besides, I can keep us from being seen easily enough. Little sprinkle of pixie dust, and we'll be good as ghosts." Not that there was such a thing as pixie dust--and pixies were actually one of those breeds that would just as happily eat you--but she wasn't going to spoil all of Mouse's childhood visions.

Mouse looked at Otto hopefully. She was good at not being seen. And she'd never gotten to draw with sidewalk chalk before. Eying the box, she looked at the thick pieces of chalk, and wondered what Robin had in mind for them.

Oh God. Save him from little girls with big, pleading brown eyes. Actually, big pleading eyes of any color- Rosie had used her gray ones to devastating effect on occasion.

"Mouse knows how to go in and out without being seen," Otto said. "There's a difference between going from point A to point B and staying out in the open for extended periods of time." He shook his head. "You're sure you can keep everyone hidden?"

Robin rolled her eyes. "Of course I can," she said. Really, it was an insult he thought otherwise. "You don't see me all the time, do you? Invisibility is easy. It barely even qualifies as a proper illusion."

She winked at Mouse. "What do you think, sweetheart? Want to have some fun?"

Mouse lightly traced a finger over the rim of the box of chalk, and nodded. She looked up at Otto again. She didn't want to go without his okay.

He sighed and nodded. "Alright," he told them. "Go on then."

They might as well go outside and enjoy what was probably one of the last nice days of the season. New York would turn inhospitable soon enough once winter arrived.

Mouse hopped up and down, giving him a brief hug before seizing the box of chalk. Robin gave Otto a smile and patted his shoulder before following the girl outside.

It was a nice day. It was late in the afternoon, but still relatively warm out. A light breeze was blowing in the scent of fall. Robin looked over the vacant lot that surrounded the warehouse, and cocked her head as she studied it. Readying the Glamour in her mind, she looked down and winked at Mouse.

Green sparks shot from her hands, causing weeds to shrivel up and broken concrete to become whole. The Glamour stopped at the boundary of the property, flashing once as it created a sort of shield. To anyone passing by, the place would appear as it always did--abandoned and broken down. No one would see the souls playing within.

"Now then," Robin said, clapping her hands and rubbing them together. Mouse was staring wide-eyed at the magic around her. The faerie took the box of chalk from her, removed a piece, and set to work drawing out a hopscotch board. "How about a game?"

that is very unsettling wish she wouldn't do that breaking all the laws of physics

"Will you lot be quiet?"

Otto hung back by the wall of the warehouse, watching the two females. Mouse looked so happy, a far cry from the frightened child he'd known.

Something occurred to him.

"You never said," he called to Robin. "What kind of faerie are you anyway?"

Robin looked over her shoulder at him, squatted on the ground. "Thought you knew the play," she said with a smirk. "I'm a hobgoblin, technically. Though that's not saying much." After all, she hardly acted like a normal hobgoblin. And thank the gods for that, otherwise she would have ripped these two apart by now.

Otto frowned. A hobgoblin. That didn't sound particularly... good. Quite the opposite, actually. She seemed nice enough though...

The faerie straightened, examined her work, and nodded. She handed a small rock to Mouse, who looked at it, a little confused. She'd seen children play this game, but was unsure of how it went. Robin smiled and tossed a rock of her own in the air, catching it one-handed.

"Like this," she said, and tossed her rock onto a square. With ease, she hopped on one foot through the squares, turned, and bent to pick up her rock on the way back. Landing next to Mouse, she nodded encouragingly for the girl to go ahead.

He stood there, watching them at play. Mouse seemed to grasp the concept of the game relatively quickly and was soon hopping back and forth with Robin. Otto himself had never understood the point of this game. He'd seen girls play it often enough in grade school, but he'd never been able to figure out why they thought it so fascinating.

Robin traded off turns with Mouse, watching the little girl's smile grow broader as she increased her speed. She had good balance, for a child of her age. She barely even wobbled bending over to pick up her rock. Robin wished that they had a third so that she could teach her to jump rope. Somehow she doubted Otto would be up for the task.

She turned to look at the man, seemingly standing guard by the building. "Want a turn, Octavius?" she called with a playful smirk.

If he'd been wearing sunglasses, he would have given her a Look over their rims. But it was too bright for him to risk sunglasses, so he was wearing his usual goggles. He still managed a raised eyebrow.

"Do I look like I can hop, Goodfellow?" he retorted, his tone very dry.

Robin shrugged, looking perfectly innocent. "Just thought I'd offer," she said. Leaning over to Mouse, she whispered, "grumpy guss." Mouse bit back a smile.

After a little while, Mouse got bored with the game. She sat on the ground, pulling out the different colored chalks with care. It was getting darker, and the temperature was dropping, but she didn't care. On her hands and knees, she started drawing in long lines and swirls, smiling at the feel of the chalk and texture of it against the concrete.

Robin went over and leaned against the wall next to Otto. "Not too shabby for a day's work," she mulled.

"Not too shabby indeed," he replied quietly. The actuators chittered their agreement. Larry liked seeing his Mouse so happy, and had even drifted over to her and picked up a stick of chalk to draw with as well. His lines were sharper than hers, more mathematically precise.

Otto smiled to watch them as the shadows began to grow long. "Thank you, Robin," he said. "For all of this."

Robin looked over at him and smiled softly. "You're most welcome," she answered. She watched him for a long moment. Reaching over, she cupped the side of his face gently. Her touch was light, but warm. Moving slowly, so not to spook him or his machines, she stepped a bit closer, and lifted the goggles up to rest on his head. She wanted to see his face properly, without the large dark lenses filling half his face.

His eyes were shut against the light, and Robin smiled as she lightly traced her fingers down his jawline. Leaning up, she planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Mouse had her back to the grown-ups, ever more entranced with the lines and colors. Her lines crossed with Larry's forming a strange silent symphony of colors and lines along the concrete. Even here, in the city, it seemed all was quiet except for the sound of chalk scraping across the ground.

He didn't mind having her that close. Really, he didn't. But when she reached up to touch his face, he froze. It was a nice touch, and he wasn't expecting it. The actuators froze around him, wary, waiting to see what she did next.

She pulled up the goggles, and he hurriedly shut his eyes to avoid the light. God, he wished he wasn't so sensitive to it. He hadn't always been, after all. But he'd made the mistake of removing his goggles when the reactor had gone out of control, and the light and energy from it had seared his retinas, doing permanent damage and making them painfully sensitive to light.

Soft lips against his, capturing them in a kiss. Otto jerked back as if he'd been electrocuted- again- eyes flying open automatically. He yelped with pain and fumbled to get his goggles back in place. "Robin! What-?"

Well...most men didn't usually react to her kisses quite like that. She hadn't meant anything by it really...but he was handsome and she was a faerie and this was the direction that most of her relationships with mortals tended to take.

"Sorry," she said softly, swiftly moving back a few feet. She caught Mouse looking at them, startled by Otto's exclamation. Robin felt a little embarrassed, though she wasn't sure why. She wasn't even sure what she was apologizing for.

Closing her own eyes, she wrapped a bit of invisibility around herself, though she stayed frozen in place. She wanted to help make Otto not be so sad and serious anymore. Apparently the kiss had not been the way to go.

Mouse started to get to her feet, frowning as Robin blinked out of view. She cocked her head a little, confused, and looked at Larry. What had happened?

Otto didn't know if he wanted her kissing him or not- he had actually liked it, but Rosie was still painfully fresh in his mind, and kissing Robin seemed disloyal to her- but he didn't want her to leave... did he? No. No. He didn't.

"Robin?" he said, staring at the space where she'd been. "No, please, I didn't mean it like that- you just- oh God."

Robin hesitated, then brought herself back into view. Shoving her hands into her back pockets, she avoided looking at him, parts of wavy brown hair hanging into her face.

"Just didn't like seeing you so...serious," she said softly. "You've had that same look on your face since I met you. Thought you could use something for you."

She turned her head, glancing in Mouse's direction, without really seeing the child. Robin had been around a long time. She knew when a man was attracted to her. In her mind, this had been the right move. Clearly though, those strange rules of human grief were interfering.

"I... well... thank you, I suppose..." he said hesitantly. The eyes behind the heavy goggles were confused as he stumbled over himself. "Robin, really, I.. it's not that you're not lovely, it's not, honestly, you are... I just... I can't. Not now..."

He felt Flo nuzzle his hot cheek as Mo gave a mournful little chirp, Harry hanging back silently.

The faerie nodded, shuffling her feet. "I understand. It's alright." It wasn't, not really, but Mouse was coming over to them and what else was she supposed to say to him.

Mouse had gathered up her chalks, coming over to the grown-ups with a concerned frown. She went to Otto, looking at Robin almost suspiciously, wondering what the nice faerie woman had done wrong.

The scientist tried not to wince. Great. Now Mouse had come to see what was wrong. One more complication, one more set of variables in an already muddled equation.

"Mouse, please," Otto said, almost begging. "Go inside. Please."

Larry chirped and gave her a gentle nudge in that direction. Mouse's look of concern deepened into an outright frown, as she looked from one adult to the other. She felt the words rising in her throat, but forced them down again. It would sound mean, and she didn't want to speak to them in that way. Better to stay silent.

She did as she was told, and went inside. Robin kept avoiding Otto's face, stepping back a little further. "I should just go," she said.

"I-" I don't want you to go.

The words died as he saw an image of Rosie's face in his mind. What would she say if she saw this? How could he be doing this, letting Robin kiss him? It wasn't right...

Mo nudged her hand, clicking sadly. Otto just stood there, looking at the pretty faerie and hating himself for making her upset.

Robin looked up, almost as though she knew what he had wanted to say. She gave him a soft smile.

"I can't pretend to understand human grief," she said quietly. "And I am sorry if I...if I upset you." She fidgeted, then finally crossed over to him and kissed his cheek. Just a friendly gesture, an apology. Mortals in Europe kissed each other on the cheek all the time.

"I'll go grab you and Mouse some dinner. Back in a flash." With that, she stepped back and was gone. Better to give him a few moments to collect himself. Then she would return and act as though nothing had happened.

He nodded as she disappeared and drew back inside. He liked Robin well enough, and she was a remarkable kisser, but... he couldn't. Not now. At least she wasn't upset with him. That was something, at least.

The actuators were uncharacteristically silent, leaving him to think.

Mouse looked up as Otto came into the warehouse alone. She had perched herself on a crate, refusing to even look at her bed in case they were mad at Robin. If that was the case, then she wanted nothing to do with them.

But Otto didn't look mad, so much as...she was really sure. Sad, maybe? Mouse hopped off her crate and went over to him, giving him a small hug. It would be okay. They didn't need some silly faerie anyway.

Otto didn't think he'd ever been gladder for Mouse's presence than at that moment. He hugged the little girl tightly, the actuators curling around her for a moment.

"It's okay, Mouse," he said. "Robin just... reminded me of someone I lost. Someone I loved very much."
Mouse frowned, but gave Otto an extra squeeze before letting go. He seemed to need it. She tried to think of a way to cheer him up. Mouse didn't like seeing Otto sad.

She looked at the dying light, trying to gauge how much time they had before dark. If they hurried...yes, if they hurried, they might have enough time. She tugged on his hands, leading him back outside. If he could follow her from the roofs, she had something to show him.

Otto looked down at her in puzzlement, but followed. "Where are we going, Mouse?" he asked. He didn't expect her to answer, of course, but the question bore asking. "Why are we going outside?"

Mouse just tugged him along, until they were outside. Then she let go of his hand, and continued on her path, stopping a few feet away and looking back at him to make sure he was still following her. Once he had started climbing the building, she smiled, and kept going.

She had found the little junkyard a few months before the warehouse. It had made a neat hideout in the spring, before it had gotten too hot. It was only a scrap pile, but there were lots of mechanical things there that she thought Otto might could use. Most of them were just too big for her to carry the few blocks to the warehouse.

Mouse slid through a hold in the fence, and looked back to make sure Otto was still with her. She had seen him on the rooftops--or at least glimpses of him. Now she smiled, and headed over to the place where she had dragged some of the most intact mechanical bits. The ones that looked the most like what Otto used, and the most salvageable. She had been coming here every few days, and sifting through things. Mouse knew that she couldn't carry most of what was here, so she had been planning to bring Otto here for awhile. She had just wanted to make sure that there was something to show for it, and not just lead him into a random scrap heap.

Once Otto was on the ground again, she went over and took his hand, to lead him through the piles of junk. They stopped at a noticeably smaller pile, and she dropped his hand. Mouse just stood there with a smile, waiting. Maybe this would cheer Otto up.

She'd complied the raw materials for dozens of projects. How had she done it? There were hundreds of bits and pieces he could refurbish and restore for his work. This was absolutely incredible.

"You found all this?" he asked, picking up a circuit board. "Mouse, this is wonderful."

Mouse grinned broadly, and started pulling some of the smaller pieces into her bag. She was glad he could use the things...she'd been afraid she was only gathering useless parts.

And there were more parts in the junkyard...maybe if she could get him to draw a picture of some things that he needed, she could find them for him. She was good at finding things.

Otto helped her, picking out parts that would be the easiest to fix up. This was great- he recognized all sorts of useful bits in here, and if he got them from here, it would be easier to stay off the radar than if he had to get them himself.

They didn't take much to start with. Otto wanted to begin with just a little while he finished getting himself and Mouse into some form of a routine. Once they were finished, Larry curled around her waist.

"Want to come with me?" Otto asked, gesturing at the nearest building. "It will be faster. It's fun too."

Mouse bit her lip and nodded. Her eyes were bright with the sort of fearful excitement that comes before riding a roller coaster. She gripped her bag tightly, and gently stroked Larry for a little reassurance. This was Otto, after all--he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He picked her up and held her tightly- she was a tiny little thing, it wasn't even hard with his bad leg. "You're safe with me," he said.

The actuators took them up the wall, shifting easily from one hold to the next. This was a smoother trip than they usually made, out of concern for their new passenger.

Mouse closed her eyes and clutched onto Otto's coat tightly. For the first few minutes anyway. Then she opened her eyes and peeked down. She had never been up so high before.

She was so fascinated that she forgot to be afraid. The streets looked so different up here. She twisted as far as she could, craning her head to see as much as she could. The air was getting colder, but she felt warm next to Otto.

They came down by the warehouse, Otto continuing to carry Mouse until they were inside. It was just dark enough now to make walking across the open expanse of concrete a little hazardous, and it was faster to carry her anyway.

Robin was there when they arrived, with pizza boxes this time. Otto didn't look directly at her- he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Instead, he set Mouse on her feet.

"Was that fun?" he asked her.

Mouse stayed close to Otto's legs as she regained her balance. "Wow," she breathed. The word was barely more than a whisper, and it slipped out of her so fast that she had barely registered that she had spoken. But that had been the most fun she'd ever had.

Robin's head shot up, her supernaturally sharp hearing catching the word even from several feet away. She smiled, and continued setting out the two pizza boxes. Real progress at last, it seemed.

Larry trilled happily, re-playing the sound clip of Mouse saying 'Wow' for Otto as he'd missed it in the clank of the actuators. Hearing it, Otto grinned.

"Wow," he agreed, patting her shoulder. "That's one of the good things about this lot- I get to travel like that whenever I want. Go wash up so you can eat."

Mouse gave Otto a happy hug, and skipped over to the sink to wash her hands. She dropped her bag by Otto's table and scrubbed the dirt off her hands in the slightly brown water from the tap. Drying them off on her clothes, she came back over to the table, giving Robin a cautious look. She didn't want the woman making Otto sad again.

Robin looked at Mouse, putting a piece of cheese pizza on a plate for the child. The faerie had noticed how Otto was avoiding looking at her, and hesitated. "Would you rather I go?" she asked Otto softly, who was pulling bits of things out of his pockets.

He looked up at her, in the middle of drawing some circuitry and LEDs from his pockets.

"I- no, I... I don't know. Not really..." He glanced over at Mouse, who was giggling a little as she bit into her pizza and drew away from it trailing strings of gooey cheese. If at all possible, he didn't want to discuss this in front of Mouse. She would just get upset.

Robin followed his gaze and nodded. She finished pouring a glass of soda and sat it in front of Mouse, then gestured over to a more isolated spot of the warehouse.

When Otto followed her over, she turned to face him, hands in her back pockets. "Look. If you want me to go, I'll go. You never have to see me again if you don't want. But if you want me to stay, I'm more than willing to forget anything ever happened. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. So whatever you want, I'm fine with it."

Otto couldn't help but notice her graceful lines, flowing from shoulder to arm to hip and on down. She was a very pretty thing- but shouldn't that be expected of a faerie? Weren't they supposed to be pretty?

Damnit all. He wasn't unhappy because she'd kissed him. He was unhappy because he felt guilty about wanting her to kiss him again.

"No," he said at last. "Robin, I... I don't want you to go."

Robin nodded once, the decision made. "Right. Okay then. Best get you some pizza before it gets cold." She turned and started back towards the table. The Puck was going to ignore the guilty desire lurking in his eyes.

Patting Mouse's head, who was eagerly making headway on her pizza. "Not bad, eh? Course, this is nothing like real pizza. The Italians make a much simpler version. Not as much cheese. But this is pretty good, even if it is all American." Robin made a face at Mouse and pulled out a piece for her herself, leaning back onto a crate. She looked over at Otto, waiting to see if the mortal would attempt to put their mishap behind him.

you want her

The accusing voice stopped him dead in his tracks. Flo looped around to look at him. Otto had to squint simultaneously against the scarlet glow of the actuator's heartlight and against the always disorienting feedback image of himself that she fed to him.

you want her shouldn't want her not Rosie

The actuators were definitely learning, if they'd managed to pick up the human concepts of both desire and fidelity. Otto flinched a little at her words. Unfortunately, she was right. Robin was beautiful, with a mild exoticness that was very attractive. And she was clever, vivacious, and probably most important of all, not afraid of the actuators. Could Rosie have known all he'd done and still look at him with love in her eyes?

"We'll discuss it later," he muttered, seeing that Robin was watching them. Flo clicked disapprovingly and withdrew as he went to the crate that served them as a table. Mo, on the other hand, seemed to completely disregard his twin's distaste and went to curl around the faerie's shoulders, chirping a greeting. Larry shifted closer to Mouse, intrigued by the concept of 'pizza' as an energy source, while Harry, silent as always, helped Otto along. Otto sat on a nearby crate and picked at the slice Flo brought him.

Mouse bounced back and forth as she grabbed an escaping bit of cheese. Tilting her head back, she gobbled it off her finger, smiling broadly. Pizza was good. She liked pizza.

The girl made happy noises of contentment, munching on the pizza. Her delight in the food distracted her from the awkwardness between the adults, at least through her first slice. By the time she reached for her drink, she was realizing that Otto was shifting about uncomfortably.

This made her pause, and she fixed a steely glare on Robin. She put her pizza down, and crossed her arms across her chest. The woman wasn't going to win her over with food if she was going to make Otto upset.

Robin looked at the child, who was now glaring daggers at her. "What's with you?" she asked. "Is it not good?"

Mouse looked in Otto's direction, then back at Robin, her scowl increasing. She'd gone to all that trouble to cheer Otto up, and the faerie had ruined it. Robin rolled her eyes. "Great. Now a six year old is scolding me." Mouse glared harder, and flashed seven fingers up. She was no six year old. She was seven, and that was far more intimidating.

Robin rolled her eyes and looked back at Mouse. "I said I was sorry. If he's moping, it's his own fault."

As if he didn't have enough to think about, now they were arguing. Flo was ticked at him, Mo was sucking up to Robin, Larry was siding with Mouse, and now Robin and Mouse were annoyed. The voices in his head were bad enough when they weren't taking sides.

Start with the easiest problem first.

"Mouse, please," Otto said, closing his eyes briefly to try and find a little patience. If he snapped at her she'd probably never trust him again. "It's not Robin's fault, it's mine, understand?" She might not, but he didn't want to risk accidentally treating her as stupid. Otto gestured to the actuators. "Mine and theirs. Let Robin be and eat your pizza."

Mouse gave Robin one last glare, and picked her pizza back up. Grown-ups were stupid. They were complicated and she didn't understand them, but they danced around each other and didn't just come out with what they thought. Even she could see that. She might not talk, but she usually made her feelings clear.

Robin sighed, muttering to herself in Greek. Really...why was she wasting her time here? Oberon was already losing his patience with her. Why wasn't she leaving these mortals in her dust to care for each other? And maybe find a man or woman or group thereof who would appreciate her kisses?

Yet here she was. The gods only knew why, but for some reason she was not leaving.

Mo chirped and nuzzled the faerie's shoulder, pausing only once to snap at a rather disapproving Flo. Otto glared at the pair of them.

"Stop that," he growled. "I need to live with you lot in my head as it is. I don't need you arguing." He bore down on their presences with his mind, something he hadn't had to do since... Well, not since Pier 56. He felt them quaver beneath his will, then all four drew back behind him.

Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Thank you for dinner, Robin," he said. "I'm afraid I find myself not very hungry." He slid his piece back into the box, intending to have it for breakfast. He was actually rather fond of cold pizza, the result of many late nights in the lab. Getting to his feet, he limped off to the corner that was his 'room', barricaded off by carefully stacked crates and equipment.

Mouse and Robin exchanged a look. The child clearly still blamed Robin, giving her a glare. Robin held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine. I'm a bad, mean faerie. It's all my fault. It usually is." With a sigh, Robin stood, and dusted her hands. Screw it. She'd had enough of this game.

She patted Mouse's head, if only to remind the child that she harbored her no ill will. The Puck was highly tempted to send the girl into a deep sleep, both to give Otto the night free of worry and so that the memory of her would have faded by morning. But she didn't, because for some reason she didn't want Otto to look in on Mouse and think that she had done something bad to her. The gods only knew why, but she didn't want him thinking bad of her.

Robin headed off, fading from sight and heading at near-top speed into the city. She needed a party, and she needed it now.

Description
Chapter Six: Hopscotch Romance

Mouse bit her lip as she finished her latest drawing. She was enjoying the crayons...they were shiny and new, and they weren't just the nubs she usually used, when she found crayons. She had about worn out the ones that Otto had given her, so Robin's gift was most welcome. With a smile, she tore the paper out of the pad, and hopped off her crate. She went over and hesitantly sat the drawing next to Otto's arm, and stepped back with a shy smile.

There was motion out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to see Robin striding towards them with a smile. "Ahoy ahoy," Robin said with a smile. There was a woven bag in one of her hands, which she sat on Otto's table. She pulled out a large thermos. "Real coffee, as requested," she said, winking at Otto. Then she pulled out a bag of Oreos, and her personal favorite find--a mug with "Evil Genius" printed on it.

she thinks she's funny at least she knows one when she sees one are we still evil

Otto laughed and picked up the mug. Really, the saying was very apt. "Thank you, Robin," he told her. He'd put up with all sorts of evil genius remarks if it meant he got coffee and Oreos. And this mug wasn't chipped, like the one he currently used. He was always afraid it would crack under thermal stress if he didn't nurse the thing up to temperature. "Now what's this?"

Setting the mug aside for Mo to fill, he looked at the picture Mouse had left by his elbow. It was typically childish work in bright crayon, showing a man with four snakey things coming out from behind him, a little girl, and a faerie, complete with wings and a star-topped wand, all on a hillside under a bright sun. All three figures were smiling.

"This is very nice, Mouse," he said.

Mouse smiled broadly, and looked up at Robin as the woman leaned over to look at the picture. "What's that supposed to be?" she asked, nodding to the winged figure. She looked at Mouse with a raised eyebrow. "Is that me? Well, I suppose the likeness could be worse. Although I don't have wings of any sort. Not many faeries do, actually. And the ones that do, you're better off staying away from. Likely they'll try to eat you."

Mouse blinked at her. Robin just smiled, and pulled one last thing out of her bag, which vanished instantly. It was a container of sidewalk chalk. "Thought we'd have a little fun," Robin said with a grin. There was a good bit of concrete surrounding the old warehouse, and they could play without being too obvious.

"Eat you?" Otto repeated. "Are you serious? And are you sure that's a good idea? What if someone sees you two out there?" He got to his feet, new coffee cup carefully held in Moe's pincers. This was New York, for God's sake. People were everywhere. It would be just his luck for some celebrity-stalking paparazzo with a telephoto lens to get a picture with them in the background.

Robin looked at him, hands on her hips. "Yes, there are breeds of faeries that would eat you. And you're alright with a little girl going out and about the city on her own, but not going outside and drawing on the sidewalk?" She gave him an incredulous look.

"Besides, I can keep us from being seen easily enough. Little sprinkle of pixie dust, and we'll be good as ghosts." Not that there was such a thing as pixie dust--and pixies were actually one of those breeds that would just as happily eat you--but she wasn't going to spoil all of Mouse's childhood visions.

Mouse looked at Otto hopefully. She was good at not being seen. And she'd never gotten to draw with sidewalk chalk before. Eying the box, she looked at the thick pieces of chalk, and wondered what Robin had in mind for them.

Oh God. Save him from little girls with big, pleading brown eyes. Actually, big pleading eyes of any color- Rosie had used her gray ones to devastating effect on occasion.

"Mouse knows how to go in and out without being seen," Otto said. "There's a difference between going from point A to point B and staying out in the open for extended periods of time." He shook his head. "You're sure you can keep everyone hidden?"

Robin rolled her eyes. "Of course I can," she said. Really, it was an insult he thought otherwise. "You don't see me all the time, do you? Invisibility is easy. It barely even qualifies as a proper illusion."

She winked at Mouse. "What do you think, sweetheart? Want to have some fun?"

Mouse lightly traced a finger over the rim of the box of chalk, and nodded. She looked up at Otto again. She didn't want to go without his okay.

He sighed and nodded. "Alright," he told them. "Go on then."

They might as well go outside and enjoy what was probably one of the last nice days of the season. New York would turn inhospitable soon enough once winter arrived.

Mouse hopped up and down, giving him a brief hug before seizing the box of chalk. Robin gave Otto a smile and patted his shoulder before following the girl outside.

It was a nice day. It was late in the afternoon, but still relatively warm out. A light breeze was blowing in the scent of fall. Robin looked over the vacant lot that surrounded the warehouse, and cocked her head as she studied it. Readying the Glamour in her mind, she looked down and winked at Mouse.

Green sparks shot from her hands, causing weeds to shrivel up and broken concrete to become whole. The Glamour stopped at the boundary of the property, flashing once as it created a sort of shield. To anyone passing by, the place would appear as it always did--abandoned and broken down. No one would see the souls playing within.

"Now then," Robin said, clapping her hands and rubbing them together. Mouse was staring wide-eyed at the magic around her. The faerie took the box of chalk from her, removed a piece, and set to work drawing out a hopscotch board. "How about a game?"

that is very unsettling wish she wouldn't do that breaking all the laws of physics

"Will you lot be quiet?"

Otto hung back by the wall of the warehouse, watching the two females. Mouse looked so happy, a far cry from the frightened child he'd known.

Something occurred to him.

"You never said," he called to Robin. "What kind of faerie are you anyway?"

Robin looked over her shoulder at him, squatted on the ground. "Thought you knew the play," she said with a smirk. "I'm a hobgoblin, technically. Though that's not saying much." After all, she hardly acted like a normal hobgoblin. And thank the gods for that, otherwise she would have ripped these two apart by now.

Otto frowned. A hobgoblin. That didn't sound particularly... good. Quite the opposite, actually. She seemed nice enough though...

The faerie straightened, examined her work, and nodded. She handed a small rock to Mouse, who looked at it, a little confused. She'd seen children play this game, but was unsure of how it went. Robin smiled and tossed a rock of her own in the air, catching it one-handed.

"Like this," she said, and tossed her rock onto a square. With ease, she hopped on one foot through the squares, turned, and bent to pick up her rock on the way back. Landing next to Mouse, she nodded encouragingly for the girl to go ahead.

He stood there, watching them at play. Mouse seemed to grasp the concept of the game relatively quickly and was soon hopping back and forth with Robin. Otto himself had never understood the point of this game. He'd seen girls play it often enough in grade school, but he'd never been able to figure out why they thought it so fascinating.

Robin traded off turns with Mouse, watching the little girl's smile grow broader as she increased her speed. She had good balance, for a child of her age. She barely even wobbled bending over to pick up her rock. Robin wished that they had a third so that she could teach her to jump rope. Somehow she doubted Otto would be up for the task.

She turned to look at the man, seemingly standing guard by the building. "Want a turn, Octavius?" she called with a playful smirk.

If he'd been wearing sunglasses, he would have given her a Look over their rims. But it was too bright for him to risk sunglasses, so he was wearing his usual goggles. He still managed a raised eyebrow.

"Do I look like I can hop, Goodfellow?" he retorted, his tone very dry.

Robin shrugged, looking perfectly innocent. "Just thought I'd offer," she said. Leaning over to Mouse, she whispered, "grumpy guss." Mouse bit back a smile.

After a little while, Mouse got bored with the game. She sat on the ground, pulling out the different colored chalks with care. It was getting darker, and the temperature was dropping, but she didn't care. On her hands and knees, she started drawing in long lines and swirls, smiling at the feel of the chalk and texture of it against the concrete.

Robin went over and leaned against the wall next to Otto. "Not too shabby for a day's work," she mulled.

"Not too shabby indeed," he replied quietly. The actuators chittered their agreement. Larry liked seeing his Mouse so happy, and had even drifted over to her and picked up a stick of chalk to draw with as well. His lines were sharper than hers, more mathematically precise.

Otto smiled to watch them as the shadows began to grow long. "Thank you, Robin," he said. "For all of this."

Robin looked over at him and smiled softly. "You're most welcome," she answered. She watched him for a long moment. Reaching over, she cupped the side of his face gently. Her touch was light, but warm. Moving slowly, so not to spook him or his machines, she stepped a bit closer, and lifted the goggles up to rest on his head. She wanted to see his face properly, without the large dark lenses filling half his face.

His eyes were shut against the light, and Robin smiled as she lightly traced her fingers down his jawline. Leaning up, she planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Mouse had her back to the grown-ups, ever more entranced with the lines and colors. Her lines crossed with Larry's forming a strange silent symphony of colors and lines along the concrete. Even here, in the city, it seemed all was quiet except for the sound of chalk scraping across the ground.

He didn't mind having her that close. Really, he didn't. But when she reached up to touch his face, he froze. It was a nice touch, and he wasn't expecting it. The actuators froze around him, wary, waiting to see what she did next.

She pulled up the goggles, and he hurriedly shut his eyes to avoid the light. God, he wished he wasn't so sensitive to it. He hadn't always been, after all. But he'd made the mistake of removing his goggles when the reactor had gone out of control, and the light and energy from it had seared his retinas, doing permanent damage and making them painfully sensitive to light.

Soft lips against his, capturing them in a kiss. Otto jerked back as if he'd been electrocuted- again- eyes flying open automatically. He yelped with pain and fumbled to get his goggles back in place. "Robin! What-?"

Well...most men didn't usually react to her kisses quite like that. She hadn't meant anything by it really...but he was handsome and she was a faerie and this was the direction that most of her relationships with mortals tended to take.

"Sorry," she said softly, swiftly moving back a few feet. She caught Mouse looking at them, startled by Otto's exclamation. Robin felt a little embarrassed, though she wasn't sure why. She wasn't even sure what she was apologizing for.

Closing her own eyes, she wrapped a bit of invisibility around herself, though she stayed frozen in place. She wanted to help make Otto not be so sad and serious anymore. Apparently the kiss had not been the way to go.

Mouse started to get to her feet, frowning as Robin blinked out of view. She cocked her head a little, confused, and looked at Larry. What had happened?

Otto didn't know if he wanted her kissing him or not- he had actually liked it, but Rosie was still painfully fresh in his mind, and kissing Robin seemed disloyal to her- but he didn't want her to leave... did he? No. No. He didn't.

"Robin?" he said, staring at the space where she'd been. "No, please, I didn't mean it like that- you just- oh God."

Robin hesitated, then brought herself back into view. Shoving her hands into her back pockets, she avoided looking at him, parts of wavy brown hair hanging into her face.

"Just didn't like seeing you so...serious," she said softly. "You've had that same look on your face since I met you. Thought you could use something for you."

She turned her head, glancing in Mouse's direction, without really seeing the child. Robin had been around a long time. She knew when a man was attracted to her. In her mind, this had been the right move. Clearly though, those strange rules of human grief were interfering.

"I... well... thank you, I suppose..." he said hesitantly. The eyes behind the heavy goggles were confused as he stumbled over himself. "Robin, really, I.. it's not that you're not lovely, it's not, honestly, you are... I just... I can't. Not now..."

He felt Flo nuzzle his hot cheek as Mo gave a mournful little chirp, Harry hanging back silently.

The faerie nodded, shuffling her feet. "I understand. It's alright." It wasn't, not really, but Mouse was coming over to them and what else was she supposed to say to him.

Mouse had gathered up her chalks, coming over to the grown-ups with a concerned frown. She went to Otto, looking at Robin almost suspiciously, wondering what the nice faerie woman had done wrong.

The scientist tried not to wince. Great. Now Mouse had come to see what was wrong. One more complication, one more set of variables in an already muddled equation.

"Mouse, please," Otto said, almost begging. "Go inside. Please."

Larry chirped and gave her a gentle nudge in that direction. Mouse's look of concern deepened into an outright frown, as she looked from one adult to the other. She felt the words rising in her throat, but forced them down again. It would sound mean, and she didn't want to speak to them in that way. Better to stay silent.

She did as she was told, and went inside. Robin kept avoiding Otto's face, stepping back a little further. "I should just go," she said.

"I-" I don't want you to go.

The words died as he saw an image of Rosie's face in his mind. What would she say if she saw this? How could he be doing this, letting Robin kiss him? It wasn't right...

Mo nudged her hand, clicking sadly. Otto just stood there, looking at the pretty faerie and hating himself for making her upset.

Robin looked up, almost as though she knew what he had wanted to say. She gave him a soft smile.

"I can't pretend to understand human grief," she said quietly. "And I am sorry if I...if I upset you." She fidgeted, then finally crossed over to him and kissed his cheek. Just a friendly gesture, an apology. Mortals in Europe kissed each other on the cheek all the time.

"I'll go grab you and Mouse some dinner. Back in a flash." With that, she stepped back and was gone. Better to give him a few moments to collect himself. Then she would return and act as though nothing had happened.

He nodded as she disappeared and drew back inside. He liked Robin well enough, and she was a remarkable kisser, but... he couldn't. Not now. At least she wasn't upset with him. That was something, at least.

The actuators were uncharacteristically silent, leaving him to think.

Mouse looked up as Otto came into the warehouse alone. She had perched herself on a crate, refusing to even look at her bed in case they were mad at Robin. If that was the case, then she wanted nothing to do with them.

But Otto didn't look mad, so much as...she was really sure. Sad, maybe? Mouse hopped off her crate and went over to him, giving him a small hug. It would be okay. They didn't need some silly faerie anyway.

Otto didn't think he'd ever been gladder for Mouse's presence than at that moment. He hugged the little girl tightly, the actuators curling around her for a moment.

"It's okay, Mouse," he said. "Robin just... reminded me of someone I lost. Someone I loved very much."
Mouse frowned, but gave Otto an extra squeeze before letting go. He seemed to need it. She tried to think of a way to cheer him up. Mouse didn't like seeing Otto sad.

She looked at the dying light, trying to gauge how much time they had before dark. If they hurried...yes, if they hurried, they might have enough time. She tugged on his hands, leading him back outside. If he could follow her from the roofs, she had something to show him.

Otto looked down at her in puzzlement, but followed. "Where are we going, Mouse?" he asked. He didn't expect her to answer, of course, but the question bore asking. "Why are we going outside?"

Mouse just tugged him along, until they were outside. Then she let go of his hand, and continued on her path, stopping a few feet away and looking back at him to make sure he was still following her. Once he had started climbing the building, she smiled, and kept going.

She had found the little junkyard a few months before the warehouse. It had made a neat hideout in the spring, before it had gotten too hot. It was only a scrap pile, but there were lots of mechanical things there that she thought Otto might could use. Most of them were just too big for her to carry the few blocks to the warehouse.

Mouse slid through a hold in the fence, and looked back to make sure Otto was still with her. She had seen him on the rooftops--or at least glimpses of him. Now she smiled, and headed over to the place where she had dragged some of the most intact mechanical bits. The ones that looked the most like what Otto used, and the most salvageable. She had been coming here every few days, and sifting through things. Mouse knew that she couldn't carry most of what was here, so she had been planning to bring Otto here for awhile. She had just wanted to make sure that there was something to show for it, and not just lead him into a random scrap heap.

Once Otto was on the ground again, she went over and took his hand, to lead him through the piles of junk. They stopped at a noticeably smaller pile, and she dropped his hand. Mouse just stood there with a smile, waiting. Maybe this would cheer Otto up.

She'd complied the raw materials for dozens of projects. How had she done it? There were hundreds of bits and pieces he could refurbish and restore for his work. This was absolutely incredible.

"You found all this?" he asked, picking up a circuit board. "Mouse, this is wonderful."

Mouse grinned broadly, and started pulling some of the smaller pieces into her bag. She was glad he could use the things...she'd been afraid she was only gathering useless parts.

And there were more parts in the junkyard...maybe if she could get him to draw a picture of some things that he needed, she could find them for him. She was good at finding things.

Otto helped her, picking out parts that would be the easiest to fix up. This was great- he recognized all sorts of useful bits in here, and if he got them from here, it would be easier to stay off the radar than if he had to get them himself.

They didn't take much to start with. Otto wanted to begin with just a little while he finished getting himself and Mouse into some form of a routine. Once they were finished, Larry curled around her waist.

"Want to come with me?" Otto asked, gesturing at the nearest building. "It will be faster. It's fun too."

Mouse bit her lip and nodded. Her eyes were bright with the sort of fearful excitement that comes before riding a roller coaster. She gripped her bag tightly, and gently stroked Larry for a little reassurance. This was Otto, after all--he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He picked her up and held her tightly- she was a tiny little thing, it wasn't even hard with his bad leg. "You're safe with me," he said.

The actuators took them up the wall, shifting easily from one hold to the next. This was a smoother trip than they usually made, out of concern for their new passenger.

Mouse closed her eyes and clutched onto Otto's coat tightly. For the first few minutes anyway. Then she opened her eyes and peeked down. She had never been up so high before.

She was so fascinated that she forgot to be afraid. The streets looked so different up here. She twisted as far as she could, craning her head to see as much as she could. The air was getting colder, but she felt warm next to Otto.

They came down by the warehouse, Otto continuing to carry Mouse until they were inside. It was just dark enough now to make walking across the open expanse of concrete a little hazardous, and it was faster to carry her anyway.

Robin was there when they arrived, with pizza boxes this time. Otto didn't look directly at her- he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Instead, he set Mouse on her feet.

"Was that fun?" he asked her.

Mouse stayed close to Otto's legs as she regained her balance. "Wow," she breathed. The word was barely more than a whisper, and it slipped out of her so fast that she had barely registered that she had spoken. But that had been the most fun she'd ever had.

Robin's head shot up, her supernaturally sharp hearing catching the word even from several feet away. She smiled, and continued setting out the two pizza boxes. Real progress at last, it seemed.

Larry trilled happily, re-playing the sound clip of Mouse saying 'Wow' for Otto as he'd missed it in the clank of the actuators. Hearing it, Otto grinned.

"Wow," he agreed, patting her shoulder. "That's one of the good things about this lot- I get to travel like that whenever I want. Go wash up so you can eat."

Mouse gave Otto a happy hug, and skipped over to the sink to wash her hands. She dropped her bag by Otto's table and scrubbed the dirt off her hands in the slightly brown water from the tap. Drying them off on her clothes, she came back over to the table, giving Robin a cautious look. She didn't want the woman making Otto sad again.

Robin looked at Mouse, putting a piece of cheese pizza on a plate for the child. The faerie had noticed how Otto was avoiding looking at her, and hesitated. "Would you rather I go?" she asked Otto softly, who was pulling bits of things out of his pockets.

He looked up at her, in the middle of drawing some circuitry and LEDs from his pockets.

"I- no, I... I don't know. Not really..." He glanced over at Mouse, who was giggling a little as she bit into her pizza and drew away from it trailing strings of gooey cheese. If at all possible, he didn't want to discuss this in front of Mouse. She would just get upset.

Robin followed his gaze and nodded. She finished pouring a glass of soda and sat it in front of Mouse, then gestured over to a more isolated spot of the warehouse.

When Otto followed her over, she turned to face him, hands in her back pockets. "Look. If you want me to go, I'll go. You never have to see me again if you don't want. But if you want me to stay, I'm more than willing to forget anything ever happened. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. So whatever you want, I'm fine with it."

Otto couldn't help but notice her graceful lines, flowing from shoulder to arm to hip and on down. She was a very pretty thing- but shouldn't that be expected of a faerie? Weren't they supposed to be pretty?

Damnit all. He wasn't unhappy because she'd kissed him. He was unhappy because he felt guilty about wanting her to kiss him again.

"No," he said at last. "Robin, I... I don't want you to go."

Robin nodded once, the decision made. "Right. Okay then. Best get you some pizza before it gets cold." She turned and started back towards the table. The Puck was going to ignore the guilty desire lurking in his eyes.

Patting Mouse's head, who was eagerly making headway on her pizza. "Not bad, eh? Course, this is nothing like real pizza. The Italians make a much simpler version. Not as much cheese. But this is pretty good, even if it is all American." Robin made a face at Mouse and pulled out a piece for her herself, leaning back onto a crate. She looked over at Otto, waiting to see if the mortal would attempt to put their mishap behind him.

you want her

The accusing voice stopped him dead in his tracks. Flo looped around to look at him. Otto had to squint simultaneously against the scarlet glow of the actuator's heartlight and against the always disorienting feedback image of himself that she fed to him.

you want her shouldn't want her not Rosie

The actuators were definitely learning, if they'd managed to pick up the human concepts of both desire and fidelity. Otto flinched a little at her words. Unfortunately, she was right. Robin was beautiful, with a mild exoticness that was very attractive. And she was clever, vivacious, and probably most important of all, not afraid of the actuators. Could Rosie have known all he'd done and still look at him with love in her eyes?

"We'll discuss it later," he muttered, seeing that Robin was watching them. Flo clicked disapprovingly and withdrew as he went to the crate that served them as a table. Mo, on the other hand, seemed to completely disregard his twin's distaste and went to curl around the faerie's shoulders, chirping a greeting. Larry shifted closer to Mouse, intrigued by the concept of 'pizza' as an energy source, while Harry, silent as always, helped Otto along. Otto sat on a nearby crate and picked at the slice Flo brought him.

Mouse bounced back and forth as she grabbed an escaping bit of cheese. Tilting her head back, she gobbled it off her finger, smiling broadly. Pizza was good. She liked pizza.

The girl made happy noises of contentment, munching on the pizza. Her delight in the food distracted her from the awkwardness between the adults, at least through her first slice. By the time she reached for her drink, she was realizing that Otto was shifting about uncomfortably.

This made her pause, and she fixed a steely glare on Robin. She put her pizza down, and crossed her arms across her chest. The woman wasn't going to win her over with food if she was going to make Otto upset.

Robin looked at the child, who was now glaring daggers at her. "What's with you?" she asked. "Is it not good?"

Mouse looked in Otto's direction, then back at Robin, her scowl increasing. She'd gone to all that trouble to cheer Otto up, and the faerie had ruined it. Robin rolled her eyes. "Great. Now a six year old is scolding me." Mouse glared harder, and flashed seven fingers up. She was no six year old. She was seven, and that was far more intimidating.

Robin rolled her eyes and looked back at Mouse. "I said I was sorry. If he's moping, it's his own fault."

As if he didn't have enough to think about, now they were arguing. Flo was ticked at him, Mo was sucking up to Robin, Larry was siding with Mouse, and now Robin and Mouse were annoyed. The voices in his head were bad enough when they weren't taking sides.

Start with the easiest problem first.

"Mouse, please," Otto said, closing his eyes briefly to try and find a little patience. If he snapped at her she'd probably never trust him again. "It's not Robin's fault, it's mine, understand?" She might not, but he didn't want to risk accidentally treating her as stupid. Otto gestured to the actuators. "Mine and theirs. Let Robin be and eat your pizza."

Mouse gave Robin one last glare, and picked her pizza back up. Grown-ups were stupid. They were complicated and she didn't understand them, but they danced around each other and didn't just come out with what they thought. Even she could see that. She might not talk, but she usually made her feelings clear.

Robin sighed, muttering to herself in Greek. Really...why was she wasting her time here? Oberon was already losing his patience with her. Why wasn't she leaving these mortals in her dust to care for each other? And maybe find a man or woman or group thereof who would appreciate her kisses?

Yet here she was. The gods only knew why, but for some reason she was not leaving.

Mo chirped and nuzzled the faerie's shoulder, pausing only once to snap at a rather disapproving Flo. Otto glared at the pair of them.

"Stop that," he growled. "I need to live with you lot in my head as it is. I don't need you arguing." He bore down on their presences with his mind, something he hadn't had to do since... Well, not since Pier 56. He felt them quaver beneath his will, then all four drew back behind him.

Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Thank you for dinner, Robin," he said. "I'm afraid I find myself not very hungry." He slid his piece back into the box, intending to have it for breakfast. He was actually rather fond of cold pizza, the result of many late nights in the lab. Getting to his feet, he limped off to the corner that was his 'room', barricaded off by carefully stacked crates and equipment.

Mouse and Robin exchanged a look. The child clearly still blamed Robin, giving her a glare. Robin held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine. I'm a bad, mean faerie. It's all my fault. It usually is." With a sigh, Robin stood, and dusted her hands. Screw it. She'd had enough of this game.

She patted Mouse's head, if only to remind the child that she harbored her no ill will. The Puck was highly tempted to send the girl into a deep sleep, both to give Otto the night free of worry and so that the memory of her would have faded by morning. But she didn't, because for some reason she didn't want Otto to look in on Mouse and think that she had done something bad to her. The gods only knew why, but she didn't want him thinking bad of her.

Robin headed off, fading from sight and heading at near-top speed into the city. She needed a party, and she needed it now.