Anything to Eat? ((Kumachan!!))

[Anonymous]

Axel did not seem surprised at Morgan's presence. He smiled to himself. His face often showed his emotions like a canvas showed a painting; with that mask, he didn't have to worry about hiding his emotions. "Good Morning to you." He frowned slightly. "Ah, I'm always, in a sense, 'ill.' You see, My mask malfunctions sometimes...I need it to breathe. I'm just fixing it. Thank you for your concern, though." He worked rather quickly on the mask, fixing things here and there. "I hope nobody minds me using these tools to fix the mask."

[Anonymous]

"I see."
Morgan himself frowned as well, showing himself to be the most expressive of the androids so far.
"Have you not gone to a doctor? Is there no cure for your condition? If so, you are much like the master. His disease has no known cure-"
"You really like to run at the mouth Morgan."
Turning, Morgan smiled a bit sheepishly at Tristan, who was again standing in all his groggy glory, powder blue pjs a bit crinkled, his blond hair again toussled in some pretty bizarre directions.
"My apologies master. Good morning."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Tristan was not at his best when first woken it seemed, and he yawned rather massively behind his hand, before stretching his arms over his head and scratching his ribs. He then blinked a few times as he realized he was staring at the back of Axel's head, and all the brown hair that came with it.
Wait...he has his mask off! Curse you and you're being turned away from me!! The curiosity would be the death of him, he swore it...
Although he was trying to slip around Morgan and Axel as quickly as possible to hopefully sneak a peak, he was at the same time trying not to be terribly obvious about it.
"I see you've made yourself at home, using my tools. For the record I hate people touching my things without permission...but I guess since you didn't know I can let you off the hook this time."

[Anonymous]

Axel nodded quickly and put his mask on equally fast. "I'm sorry. I just needed to fix it. It was malfunctioning." His true voice was rather quiet and soft. The mask made a faint hissing sound again as it went back on his head. He didn't really realize that Tristan was trying to get a peek at his face. Tristan would have failed, considering how fast he put the mask back on. He began to make his way back downstairs. "Tristan, I can guess you like creating things. Would you like to see the plans for something I'm working on over breakfast?" He sounded casual. He did like to show people his ideas, because he rarely found someone who would listen.

[Anonymous]

"You are so infuriating..."
Without warning Tristan had Axel in an abrupt headlock, though with his weak constitution it wasn't like he could actually do any harm. It was more of a playful gesture, and it kept Axel from escaping downstairs quite so fast.
"You are blocking my natural, God-given curiosity with that mask! And why do you have to be so quick at putting it back on!? What are you, some kind of freaky masked ninja??"
So energetic, and he hadn't even had his coffee yet...Morgan rubbed the back of his head and sighed before speaking up.
"Master, that's hardly any way to treat your guest..."
"Guest smuest, he's my house slave!"
"So you put your house slaves in impromptu headlocks I see..."
"Damn right I do!"
Ok, so now he was grinning and trying not to just start laughing. This entire thing had to look pretty ridiculous now that he thought about it...oh well, just his androids around to see it so it's not like it really mattered, haha. He could look the fool as much as he darn well pleased, so there! And as such...he refused to release Axel from the head lock just yet, even though at a whopping 5'6" it was a tiny bit awkward for him to do.

[Anonymous]

Axel realized that Tristan had wanted to see his face and said, smirking behing the mask, "I try."
Axel was not expecting the headlock he found himself in seconds later. He chuckled, then began to laugh. Then, he said in a joking monotone voice, "No, you cannot see my face. That is strictly prohibited." Axel said, still having difficulty talking through his amused laughter, "Your freaky masked ninja house slave requests release from the headlock." He grinned behind the mask. He sure didn't expect he'd end up like this when he'd first broken in to get the food.

[Anonymous]

"Strictly prohbited my ass! You just watch, I WILL satisfy my curiosity one way or another!"
He was only half joking...he had every intention of satisfying that need to know before Axel left his house. Already his mind was pondering various ways of getting that mask off...
He grinned somewhat smugly at Axel's laughter, and was quick to respond to the words that managed to get past the odd-sounding mask-laughter.
"Request denied!"
He tightened the headlock, but it was still no where near strong enough to actually put Axel in any sort of danger, and Tristan was well aware of it. At this point, he was just having fun. As he had said before, it was usually just himself and the androids...he was allowed to indulge in some playfighting while Isabel was still 'asleep'.
Morgan was quite content to quietly watch, a smile on his face. This might be the first time in his existence ever recording Tristan 'playing' with someone. In his opinion, it was a good experience...mental and emotional health were just as important, if not more so, than physical health, after all.

[Anonymous]

Axel took on the joking monotone again. "Access Denied. Please don't try again later." He said, "Request denied? You better be careful with denying my requests, or else I'll steal all your food with my freaky ninja skills!" Some button got pressed when Tristan tighened the headlock, changing Axel's voice to something that sounded rather evil and deep. "What..?" He snickered and began to play with the voice he got. "Look what you've done now. Your curiosity has brought me to the dark side."

[Anonymous]

"Screw you, jerk face! You can't deny access to your master! Even if you are a freaky masked ninja, you're still my freaky masked ninja house servant!!"
He had to bite back a laugh himself, still trying to play along, but he couldn't contain it at what Axel said next, and he burst out laughing, nearly losing his grip on Axel's neck in the process.
"Oh no, I'm ever so scared of your ninja skills. My refridgerator is probably trembling in fear right now."

Meanwhile Morgan was just shaking his head behind them, even as Isabel finally came from Tristan's room, only to stumble upon the absurdity happening in the middle of the lab. Morgan filled her in easily enough via their link, and she just stared blankly at the play fighting, trying to decide if it posed any sort of a risk to Tristan's health.

After the button was pressed, Tristan blinked a few times, before snickering and biting his lip to keep from out right laughing again.
"I don't suppose you gain evil super ninja powers now, do you?"

[Anonymous]

Axel slipped out of Tristan's grip and said, "It better be trembling in fear! My skills have no bounds!"
He said in a jokingly serious tone, "You want to see my face, huh...?" He scurried downstairs and said, "Maybe if you can get my mask off, you can!" He hurried over to the plate of food downstairs and ate a random piece of it. He turned  and said, "Curiosity killed the cat. Maybe you shouldn't take a chance!" He didn't remember what his face looked like any longer. He was, honestly, rather curious himself.

[Anonymous]

"Ack, hey-!"
Wow, maybe he really was a ninja? Axel slipped out of his hold easily enough and was quick to make a dash for it. Sheesh the guy was fast...arrgh!
"Get back here!"
And before Isabel could advise against running in the house, Tristan was bolting after Axel, down the stairs, and back into the kitchen. Holly seemed a bit surprised at the flurry of activity, but set Axel's plate down on the table all the same...as well as a big mug of coffee for Tristan (though at this point he probably didn't need the caffeine anymore!)

Huffing a bit, simply thanks to the fact he never really did much more than a causal walk most days, he put his hands on his hips rather saucily...which was even more amusing thanks to his ridiculous hair-do.
"Maybe I will pull that mask right off your face. What then, eh master ninja??"
He then scoffed, smirking haughtily.
"And satisfaction brought it back. It's always worth the risk!"

[Anonymous]

Axel said, amused, "If you get the chance to pull it off in the first place, of course." He took another mouthful of the food and ate it. "I dunno why you're so crazy about seeing my face, but I don't think you'll get the chance!" He dove past Tristan and threw himself onto the couch, peeking over the back of it at Tristan. "I don't think you CAN take it off." He grinned behind the mask again. "Can't catch me, can ya? Can ya?"

[Anonymous]

Tristan actually stopped to ponder the answer for a moment. It wasn't really that he was super keen on seeing Axel's face, it was just...the not knowing that was driving him nuts.
"I just hate not having the option. My curiosity is a dangerous thing! Ack, quit it!"
Much to fast for him, Axel was able to dash by and dive into a hiding spot of sorts, frustrating Tristan to no end. Ugh curse my feeble little body, this is ridiculous!
Standing in front of the couch now, his hands again on his hips, he huffed a bit as Axel taunted him. But then the little light went on above his head, and he smirked as an idea blossomed.
"Well, maybe I can't...but that doesn't mean somebody else can't. I have other servants that are much more obedient than you."

And with all the epic timing that there was in the universe, Morgan picked that particular moment to come down the stairs...and effectively got himself caught in the madness.
"Morgan! Apprehend that squirly house servant. He's in need of some discipline!"
Blinking, the green haired android looked a bit perplexed (if he was actually feeling it was something else entirely), before sighing and shrugging his shoulders in defeat.
"I won't ask...please come willingly Axel, so I needn't use force."
He stepped closer to Axel, looking still a bit sheepish about this entire thing, but really unable to go against Tristan's orders.

[Anonymous]

Axel scoffed. "That's cheating, Tristan." He did come willingly, however. "Fine then, I'll come over. Good luck getting the mask off, however...." He grinned madly behind the mask as he walked over to Tristan. "I'd rather you not take it off for too long, if you do manage." He said jokingly, "Hey, I know my face just as well as you do. If I saw a picture of myself with my mask off, I would probabaly say, 'Who's that?'"

[Anonymous]

Tristan smirked and crossed his arms, quite pleased with the outcome.
"My house, I'm allowed to cheat, Mr. Freaky Ninja Servant."
He waited patiently for Axel to come to him, Morgan following close behind, apparently in case Axel should try and bolt again (not that it was a terribly big house, so it'd be a pretty short chase all the same).
Tristan had to snicker at that, still playing the part of king of his domain.
"Oh I'm sure I can manage. I build complex human analogs from the ground up, so I think a mask shouldn't give me too much trouble."
As he reached out to tinker with said mask, he had to snort at the next bit of information.
"Wow, that's...kind of sad. Don't you own a mirror...?"

Out of the blue, those slender hands, which had once been going for the mask, clamped down onto Axel's shoulders with a force not yet seen in his sickly body. Tristan's face went from mirthfully grinning, to twisted into pain, blue eyes darkening with the force of it as his fingers dug into Axel. He wasn't doing it on purpose...the pain shot through him with such ferocity that his muscles locked up, his knuckles turning white with force of his grip.
"Master!"
Morgan was right there, catching him about the waist just in time as his knees buckled. He wanted to let go of Axel, but couldn't...he couldn't even speak, and he could hardly breath, the air trapped in locked lungs, tears pricking his eyes and turning their edges red with unfallen moisture.
Dammit dammit dammit...just try and relax...you know it will pass soon enough...
"Geh...ah..."
He let out one sob before finally he collapsed entirely, the pain subsiding just as quickly as it had come and allowing his body to relax, and he fell against the waiting Morgan, who scooped up his limp body as though he were a doll.
"Apologies, Axel. You are not hurt I hope?"
Perhaps odd considering the one 'hurt' was clearly Tristan, who lay gasping in Morgan's grasp, but all in the house knew this was normal...well, all but Axel perhaps.

[Anonymous]

Axel stood completely still as the events happened. He shook his head. "I'm not hurt at all. Are you okay?" He sounded concerned. Then, trying to put a joking twist back on things, he said, "Besides falling victim to the dark side, I'm fine." He breathed in sharply and coughed. "Mask's still not fixed completely. Do you mind if I use your tools?" He said that rather sheepishly. "While I work on the breathing part of it, you can look at the outer shell, if you wish..." He faced away from Tristan and took off the outer part, placing it on the couch. Then, he went upstairs to fix his mask.

[Anonymous]

Tristan just nodded to the question of whether or not he was okay, still trying to regain his breath, his eyes closed as he rested in Morgan's arms. Morgan was obviously a bit more talkative about the situation.
"Master will be alright. Sudden flares of pain are a symptom of his condition. I am glad his grabbing you did not cause you any harm."
At Axel's joke, Tristan laughed weakly, managing a grin, but that was about all he could muster. The worst part about the pain was how drained he was afterward...he just needed a good rest.
Isabel was there in a flash, scanning Tristan's vitals a few times just to be sure.

Axel's own cough sort of broke the somber mood, and both androids watched him as he spoke. They then exchanged glances, before Isabel took Tristan from Morgan, whom followed Axel as he moved back upstairs.
"Jerk..."
Was all Tristan managed to get out, again robbed of a chance to see Axel's face, even though he'd been so close. All the same, Isabel laid Tristan out on the couch, making him comfortable and moving the outer shell of the mask for now. She covered him with one of the fuzzy blankets and allowed him to rest for a bit, the only real cure for this symptom.

Morgan shadowed Axel back into the lab, hands behind his back as he watched the young man's movements quietly.
"If you'd like, I could run a scan on your vitals? It's possible we have the technology here to help you, as master and his father have both done much research into the human body in a quest to beat master's condition."

[Anonymous]

Axel smiled a little when Tristan spoke. He really did hope he would be okay. As he set the mask down on a table, he looked over his shoulder at Morgan. He looked a little surprised. "Ah, so you think you can help..?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Sure, go ahead. Just don't let Tristan see my face." He wondered if they really would be able to help him. He had allways been like this, ever since he was born. He didn't like being called a freak. He did want the cure. Weirdly to him, he almost felt a regret in being able to get a cure. The mask had become a part of him, in a way. He said, sounding rather concerned, "You sure Tristan's gonna be okay? He seems like a good guy, I'd hate to see him doing real bad."

[Anonymous]

Morgan smiled and nodded slightly.
"I believe it is possible. Though this equipment is normally used for androids, we can also perform a myriad of different medical procedures as well. All of the medical data that has been recorded is saved on my hard drive. I am fairly confident we either have a cure, or we can find one."
He then had to chuckle, shaking his head slightly.
"Well, I'll do my best, but should he order me to...my protocol dictates I must obey him. Ever so sorry, Axel."
This face mystery was quite entertaining.

Morgan motioned to one of the metal tables, meaning for Axel to lay on it for the scan. But he was still listening, and sighed softly in response. Clearly, Morgan was the most 'human' of the androids here.
"He is okay, relatively speaking. In the grand scheme of things however, he is in a very bad way. He's slowly dying. Naturally, all humans are slowly dying if you think of it that way...so I suppose in reality he's quickly dying. His estimated lifespan is no more than thirty years...if he's unlucky he won't even hit his twentieth. And even should he live that long, he will be confined to a wheelchair. It's a degenerative nerve disease, passed down genetically in his family."
Possibly too much information, but Tristan was not here to censor him, and Axel seemed genuinely concerned.

[Anonymous]

Axel lay on the table as instructed, and frowned slightly, closing his eyes. "That's really too bad. He's so smart. I think he deserves as long a life as everyone else." He sighed, and coughed, sounding worse than before. "There's no history of this breathing problem in my family. Parents kicked me out for 'being a freak.'" He smiled again. "Thank you for filling me in on that, Morgan." Axel looked up at the ceililing. He coughed, once again, almost seeming to gag on the air. "No more talking for me" he said, shutting his mouth.

[Anonymous]

Once Axel had become as comfortable as one can on a hard metallic table, Morgan stepped closer to stand over him, but he had a soft smile on his face in response to the kind words Axel had spoken.
"I agree. I wish to be there when Tristan dies of old age, rather than his disease."
Perhaps the first time Morgan had called Tristan by his name, rather than master, but he was speaking from the bottom of his mechanical heart, and it was hard to say if it was a simulated emotion...or if he genuinely felt it.
He sobered quickly enough as the conversation progressed, and nodded slightly.
"That was very unkind of them. But thank you for telling me it is not an inherited condition...that does narrow down the suspects, if only a little."

Turning away slightly, Morgan began to type on one of the consols attached to the hub of the mechanical arms, but was listening all the same...even to those coughs. He could hear them in a way no human could ever perceive, catching octaves far beyond human ability, and running the sounds against data stored in his cybernetic brain.
"I understand. Do not speak further if it troubles you. This scan will not take long."
Suddenly the mechanical arms jumped to life, swinging out over Axel, instruments unfolding from their ends like metallic fingers. They swept over Axel's body from head to toe, scanning with lasers and sensors, without ever really touching him. They took detailed information about body temperature, body mass, heart rate, blood pressure, and other such basic data. They constructed a 3D model of his body, scanning first his surface, and then progressively deeper into his flesh and bone, layer by layer, gathering all manner of medical statistics on Axel.
Minutes later and it was over, the arms refolding, the scanners disappearing back inside the arms, and all the clicking and whirring of machinery was still and quiet.
"Alright Axel, thank you for your patience. I will begin studying the information gathered, and once master is well enough, he will come up and help I'm sure. I can only work based off what is downloaded into my memory...master has the ability to think in abstract ways, so his input is very important if we are to diagnose your condition."