Deep In The Streets Of Hermiton

9.-Baskets

Iskall stepped inside, gawking at the hallway the quartet stood in. The walls were a pinstripe green-yellow with a spruce trim, the floor and ceiling a dark oak. It was dim, only a few gas lamps lit the room.

What stood out the most in the long hallway was the boxes. It must have been nearly a hundred cardboard boxes lining the walls, reaching what must have been 7 feet. They had sharpie-written titles written on them: NPG's room, KitcheN, roBot Bits, books + notebooks, and old things, among many other box names.

"Nice... hallway," they muttered. "So, where's the kitchen?"

"Over this way," Robot Grian smiled, opening a door on their left. "Try not to knock over any boxes while you walk in." He ducked behind the doorframe as he and his brother went in. "Dad, you coming?"

"Of course! I just have 2 large baskets full of apples and leaves," Grian called, handing the older robot one as he stepped into the kitchen. "Isky, some on!"

"Yeah, I'm coming," the Swede muttered, tapping the side of their cyborg eye.

Stepping in, the mood changed drastically from 'old abandoned house' to 'modern kitchen from the future'. The oven was some new kind Iskall had never seen, the counters a-

"Grian, is that diorite?" They asked, pointing at the shining countertop.

"Ha- sorry, Isky! It looks good here," Grian laughed, placing his basket of apples on the large island in the middle of the room. "Well, I thought it looked good."

"Oh yeah, it does look good, I just might preform arson late at night while you're asleep, though!"

"Oh, you wouldn't."

"I have done it!"

"On a tiny house, way back a million years ago."

"Daddy?" NPG interrupted. "Daddy, can I bring my basket to my room?"

"Of course, but you can get some more caterpillars when we look through the other baskets," the dirty blonde smiled, taking some old magnifying glasses from the top of the silver fridge.

"Daddy, can I look through yours?"

"Of course," Grian smiled, placing his basket on the ground next to the boy. He turned to Iskall, handing him a magnifying glass. "Enjie likes caterpillars, he has a few in his room. I let him keep them if he helps do some chores. Now Iskall, could you do me a quick favor?"

The brunette tilted his head at the shorter man. "What is it? I'm open for a few hours."

Okay, so..." Grian turned to the robots. "Me and Isky are going into the hall to talk, one moment." He pushed Iskall out, a few feet from the doorway.

"Iskall, could you maybe... babysit the boys for a bit? I have a bit of overthrowing the government to do."

"Uh... sure? Don't get thrown in jail again, though." He laughed, scratching his beard. "How long will you be gone?"

"I- I don't really know. Me and..." Grian stopped for a moment. "Me, Etho, and Impulse are just doing a small thing. Putting up signs on build boards, fliers under doors, walking around with some signs. Nothing much."

"Okay, dude. So 3 hours or something?" They muttered, taking their old communicator out. "Let me write that down."

"Okay, want a recap-voice thing?" Grian muttered, taking his friend's communicator in hand.

"Sure."

The dirty blonde smiled, pressing a few buttons before a big purple one just under the screen of it. "I will be gone til noon today in the shopping district with the resistance. If I'm not back til then, shoot me a message." And with that, he pressed the button again. "There, keep that."

"Cool! You wanna tell the boys now?"

The Brit nodded, turning back into the kitchen. "Enjie! Argie! I'm going to go work with some of my friends, Isky will take care of you until then. Is that okay?"

NPG frowned from his spot of the floor. "What about Cookie Lady? Will she be here?"

"Uh- she might? Stress is pretty good with kids," Iskall called as they walked back in. "I'll shoot her a message, we'll see when she's open."

"Yayyy!"

"Cool,"

"Okay boys, bye-bye!" Grian grinned, waving. "I'll be back by lunch, don't worry!"

—————

(684 words)

Byyeee! Flangst is coming, I think ::)