There wasn’t much left for Aoba to do, but he shuffled his headphones down around his neck and turned off the music before focusing on his last bits of hardware swapping. That left his ears free to hear everything Declan had to say even while his eyes were turned elsewhere.
It felt good, that awareness of Declan’s truly titanic form at his side. The Guardian’s presence didn’t feel threatening or intimidating or anything like that. It was definitely welcome. Definitely safe-feeling, and reassuring to know that he was right there and safe, himself.
“Yeah, it’s great,” he agreed. “Practically plug and play. He’s got more storage and RAM than any full-size computer I ever worked with back home, but still runs ten times faster. More than great, it’s amazing.”
And now done, too. Aoba closed up the panel in Ren’s belly, smoothing his fur back into place, and rolled the Allmate back into a natural-looking position. With a pass of his hand between Ren’s ears, the little dog immediately came awake with his usual sound, dark eyes somehow bright. Screens popped open in the air around him, scrolled rapidly, then disappeared again all before he’d even gotten his tail wagging.
“Installation complete,” intoned his deep little voice as Aoba held him up for their usual ritual.
“Thanks for your patience, Ren.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
After the touch of foreheads, Aoba lowered Ren to his lap, where the Allmate immediately focused upon the company that hadn’t been there before he’d deactivated. After a look exchanged with his owner, Ren hopped free and right across to Declan’s lap—or leg, really, perching there as if upon a sturdy grey-swaddled log.
“Welcome home, Declan,” he said to their host, tail wagging again.
no subject
It felt good, that awareness of Declan’s truly titanic form at his side. The Guardian’s presence didn’t feel threatening or intimidating or anything like that. It was definitely welcome. Definitely safe-feeling, and reassuring to know that he was right there and safe, himself.
“Yeah, it’s great,” he agreed. “Practically plug and play. He’s got more storage and RAM than any full-size computer I ever worked with back home, but still runs ten times faster. More than great, it’s amazing.”
And now done, too. Aoba closed up the panel in Ren’s belly, smoothing his fur back into place, and rolled the Allmate back into a natural-looking position. With a pass of his hand between Ren’s ears, the little dog immediately came awake with his usual sound, dark eyes somehow bright. Screens popped open in the air around him, scrolled rapidly, then disappeared again all before he’d even gotten his tail wagging.
“Installation complete,” intoned his deep little voice as Aoba held him up for their usual ritual.
“Thanks for your patience, Ren.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
After the touch of foreheads, Aoba lowered Ren to his lap, where the Allmate immediately focused upon the company that hadn’t been there before he’d deactivated. After a look exchanged with his owner, Ren hopped free and right across to Declan’s lap—or leg, really, perching there as if upon a sturdy grey-swaddled log.
“Welcome home, Declan,” he said to their host, tail wagging again.