Hangin’ by the Toy Store, art by Slayton Underhill.
“Oh, uh, here ya go Rabbit.”
Walter digs in his back pocket with his good hand a places the card in his automaton brothers’ insistent hand. “No point havin’ a broken deck, ey captain?”
Meanwhile, Jon tends to pouring the batter into multiple skillets, juggling the pancakes rather than flipping them at this point.
Rabbit nods curtly, examining the card closely. There is something protective about his demeanor as he draws the card close to his chest. Quickly, he flourishes it between his fingers, spidery copper catching the light of the sunny kitchen, and then it’s gone, just like that. A small, secretive smile pulls at his lips
“Th-thank ya.”
His fingers click together as they slot into each other.
“Ya would know bout broken things, wouldn’ta ya?”
Steven is, at this point, hypnotized by The Jon’s display. The pancakes smell heavenly, and the dexterity in the deft hands of the golden ‘bot never ceased to amaze him- more so because his own brother would be just as likely to throw a skillet and demand “privacy for the pastry lord” as to actually let him watch. He sneaks a finger forward to nick a taste of batter from a bowl, but a light rap of a wooden spoon on the back of his hand and a glare more silly and playful than scolding rebuked him. Couldn’t blame a guy for trying, right?
He misses the first half of Walter’s exchange with Rabbit, but the clicking of spindly copper fingers draws his attention away from the cooking pancakes and towards Rabbit’s speech, just in time to catch his last phrase. He winces and turns back to The Jon, hissing. Not something he had been meant to hear… And if he was, it wasnt something he wanted to hear- it sounded far too much like a dig he’d heard from countless humans over the years. “Broken robotic freak…” The pancakes were far more appealing.
Walter doesn’t respond, but only darts a glance at his brother with an uncomfortable twist of his lip. No. Not in front of his guest. He clears his voice to break the tenseness of the situation and raises his brows at the plates of pancakes being pushed in front of him and Steven. He doesn’t hesitate in picking up a fork and swallowing the first few, he hasn’t eaten since yesterday!
“Slow down The Spine! Eat these morning tarts any faster and it’ll go straight to your tush!”
