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[deal]

[Cassandra glances over before focusing on her wind up music box, and begins slowly turning the handle. Music starts to play, a tune that may be familiar to people from Earth. She's not doing this to play music for everyone though, so she stops after a handful of seconds, looking thoughtful.]

It's funny. You hate home until you've been gone from it long enough, and then you get homesick and home is all you can think about. No matter how shitty it is, you forget about all of the bad things and only care about the people you left behind.

[The music box is picked up and clinched in her hand.]

Do you think it's possible to get a message back to someone? Has anyone tried communicating outside the ship yet? If things like this - [She drops the music box in her hand on the table she's sitting at.] can come through the Ingress to us, we have to be able to send things back through it.

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[daintylegs]

Home is familiar. You humans have a saying, right? "Home is where the heart is."

[Tailgate misses his home too, even if it was far from perfect.]

I bet you're from Earth, right? What's it like there?

[deal]

I am, yeah. Probably not the same version everyone else is from. But it's Earth.

[She smiles at trying to think about how to describe her home.]

It used to be really great. Then people started getting sick, and now it's a shithole. What about it do you really want to know?

[daintylegs]

Why do you miss it if things are so bad?

[Or maybe he knows the answer to that.]

Do you have people there you care about? People like... uh, what's that word again? Hmm... Family. Yeah, I think that's it. Like friends but closer.

[deal]

I had people there, yeah. They weren't related by blood, but they were like family.

[She misses them like crazy, but she won't let herself say that out loud and look even more pathetic than she already does.]

And I miss it because it's home, and there's always a chance things will get better someday. What about you, do you have anyone that's like friends but closer where you're from?

[daintylegs]

Sure! I have a bunch of friends I miss a lot. I don't really understand what a family is, but I bet it could be used to describe them. I'm kind of lucky that some of them ended up here though, so I don't feel as lonely.

[That doesn't stop the homesickness, but it sure does help.]

I lived on a ship called the Lost Light before we came here, and it was my first and only home. Weird things happened all the time, but what mattered most was that we were all in it together.

What is a family anyway? I've watched some human movies, but I don't really understand it yet.

[deal]

Humans are born to parents, usually. A mom and a dad. They raise you, and sometimes you get brothers and sisters. And you have family like grandparents, and aunts and uncles, and cousins. You all share the same blood. Growing up, you think that's everything. But there's more to it, there's family you pick yourself. People you fall in with that you care for, people who'd fight to save you if it came down to it. That's what the people I left behind are. Family by choice.

[Well. Most of them, anyway. She wasn't sure Murphy was included in that, but it wasn't really the time to think it over. She misses her group so much, she's close to getting emotional talking about them.]

It's good that you've got friends here with you, though. That makes it easier.

[daintylegs]

A family sounds nice. My kind doesn't really have anything like that, but we do have friends, Amica Endura and Conjunx Endura. Oh, that last two are words for Best Friend and, uh... significant other? Romantically, that's what it means.

[Mentioning Conjunx Endura has flustered him a little, so he decides to move on.]

So what's your chosen family like? Do you do silly things together? Watch movies?

[deal]

Uh -

[There's no way to word it that doesn't sound horrible. So she doesn't try and instead just bluntly states the truth.]

We're transporting this guy to California to be turned in for lab testing. There's not any electricity or anything, and we don't have the time to do anything else. But we tell stories sometimes, though.

[Yeah, they're the most boring people ever. She knows.]

[daintylegs]

I freely and openly admit that that wasn't as cute as I was expecting.

[He's not disappointed, just surprised at himself.]

But, uh, to each their own?

I hope they're nice stories.

[deal]

Sorry. There's not really anything cute left where I come from.

[Which makes her feel awkward, but it's not like she's going to make some stupid sappy story up just because it sounds good. She shifts, a little uncomfortable.]

So some of the stories are nice. I think Doc and Murphy reenacted the movie Alien once -

[Wait.]

Which I guess might be offensive to talk about here.

[Given how many people are from other planets. Probably a good idea to trail off and not talk about a movie that kills them.]

[daintylegs]

[Tailgate of two years ago probably would have plowed forward and not notice her discomfort, but Tailgate of Today sees and realizes that maybe he's taken it too far. Learning about boundaries has been quite the journey for this minibot.]

There's not a lot of cute where I come from either, I just happen to be a bit of an outlier. By that I mean that I'm a bit more optimistic than others, and not that I think I'm cute.

[That's a lie, Tailgate knows full well he's adorable. It's his special power.]

Oh! I think I've heard of that movie! I didn't go to watch it because someone told me it had something to do with a gross organic alien being planted inside humans and bursting from their chest. I'm glad I didn't see it because I bet it would have given me nightmares.

[deal]

[Okay, so he's adorable. She laughs, trying to hide the fact she's smiling at that last part.]

It gave me nightmares when I was a kid. So don't worry, if I ever act out any movies from Earth for you, it'll be something a little more calm.

[There's a pause, and she laughs again, trying to imagine her acting anything out. The idea is completely comical.]

What's your name, anyway?

[daintylegs]

Tailgate! Full name is Tailgate of Rivets Fields.

What's yours?

[deal]

Cassandra.

[She used to have a full name, a long time ago, but she hasn't used it in so long she doesn't bother trying anymore. But since he has a nice title to go with his name, she quickly adds on -]

I'm from Philadelphia.

[daintylegs]

Cassandra of Philadelphia. I think it has a nice ring to it.

[Of course all of this means they're friends now, because that's how Tailgate rolls.]

Have you ever seen any of the Muppets films? We watched a few of those during movie nights on the Lost Light and those were always my favourite.

[deal]

[There's awkward laughter as she realizes that this is indeed her life, and she's talking about the Muppets with an adorable robot.]

I did when I was little, yeah. I always liked Kermit the best. Gonzo was pretty cool, too.

[daintylegs]

Personally I always liked Miss Piggy the best. You just know something funny and awesome is going to happen when she appears.

She's way too good for Kermit if you ask me.

[He could only dream to be as great as Miss Piggy. Though he did save the universe once, so maybe he comes pretty close.]

I'm surprised you haven't asked me what I am yet. Or called me a robot, humans tend to do one or the other when I first talk to them.

[deal]

It doesn't matter what you are. You've already said your name is Tailgate. Why would I call you a robot when I know your name?

[Besides, she's smart enough to keep her thoughts to herself. He's nice, and makes her smile. He seems oddly innocent, so she doesn't want to mess that up by calling him robot instead of by his name.]

I'm not sure I can trust anyone that likes Miss Piggy best, though...

[It's a tease, one she can't say with a completely straight face.]

[daintylegs]

Wow, it must be tough being as wrong as you are.

[Tailgate says with an entirely straight face. This is easily accomplished by not having any face at all, but his tone is mock serious.]

And here I thought we were getting along.

[deal]

[Her eyes narrow, and she does a good job of looking tough.]

Are you looking for a fight?

[daintylegs]

[Tailgate huffs and summons every ounce of bravado his frame can hold.]

Oh please, I can take you on with both arms and a leg tied behind my back.

[deal]

You're only saying that because I'm human.

[She tries to keep looking serious, but fails miserably when she cracks up with laughter.]

[daintylegs]

[He manages to muffle a snort of laughter. It's only through pure self-control that he's not rolling around on the floor and laughing.]

I have to give you a fair shot or else someone might spread lies and slander about my honour.

And we can't have that.

[deal]

[Both eyebrows arch and her mouth forms a tight line. She really can't believe she's having this conversation, but she's got to give him props for getting her to forget about home and loosen up a little.]

You're defending an overbearing pig puppet. I think you have plenty of honor.