Haley Thistle
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Goblin Girlfriend: Blair (rough draft)
🕑 Added 2020-11-11 21:01:00 +0000 UTCThe accident, as everyone around me had called it, kept getting talked about like it was some monster in the shadows. ‘The accident took your hand,’ they said. ‘The accident is to blame for this, don’t blame yourself.’ They aren’t the ones missing a hand though, are they? Yes, the accident did take my hand, but that isn’t what concerns me. I don’t blame the entity known as ‘accident’, because accidents happen. Actually, I don’t know who or what to blame for this.
The hospital offered to grow me a new hand in their lab, but that felt too gruesome for my taste, it also would have taken too long and cost far too much. Instead I was given a list where I could find someone to build me a new hand. It would still be expensive, but it would still be cheaper than anything the hospital offered.
Most of the people listed were located in the ‘circuit district’, a section of town where most of the robot repairers, mechanics, and their like had set up shop over the years. After I was able to leave my house without being mildly panicked, that was where I headed.
The list was quite long and I wasn’t sure where to start, the circuit distract was quite a maze, with shops being down narrow alleyways or shacks built on rooftops. There was an electric hum to everything, sparks and sizzles were part of the music as well. As I navigated myself into the blue glow of the place, suddenly there is a cat in my path.
“Oh, hello kitty.” I was quite surprised to see a cat in such a place. I then see that the cat’s left paw is mechanical, a shiny chrome sort of color.
The cat scratches itself then looks up at me with sweet, wide eyes. It meows and trots over, weaving in and out between my legs. I kneel down to pet it and rub behind its ears.
“Nice to meet you uh-” Taking the collar I see a small tag with the cat’s name. “Hello Georgie.”
The cat suddenly sits up and with a wiggle Georgie leaps up. With some slight panic I manage to hold them in my right arm. “Easy there! I only have one hand now.”
Georgie purrs.
I sigh and double check the address on their tag. To my surprise, the very same address is on the list I was given.
“Well then, perhaps you helped me make up my mind, Georgie.” I adjust my arm so Georgie is happily nestled in my arm and against the crook of my neck. I walk with him that way until we reach their home.
The building is on the corner, so two of the walls are just massive garage doors, one red, one silver. The red one is open so I just walk inside. The ceiling is way up, and there are hydraulic lifts above, one has a car on it, the other has some sort of mech suit. To one side of the shop there are three other mech suits in a line, yellow, pink, and blue. Beside them is a wall of tiny drawers. The next wall is covered in monitors, each showing a different wall of text or image.
“Who goes there?” A voice booms.
I jump from the surprise, but Georgie bolts down from my arms and runs towards the back just as someone slides down from a pole above. The person is quite short and wearing a large head peace with goggles. They’re wearing grease muttered coveralls and heavy black boots.
“Georgie!” They stoop over to pick them up. “You bolted this morning. What the hell was so damn important? You got a lover out there?” They then turn in my direction. “This them?” They point at me as they judge their smug cat.
“No. Uhm, hello there.” I go to wave my left hand but quickly stop myself and use my right. “I found Georgie, or well, technically, Georgie found me.”
“He does that.” They set Georgie on the desktop under the monitors and take off their helmet.They hair fluffs out and then run a mech hand through it. They look at me with big green eyes and smirk. “Thanks for bringing the asshole back.”
“Actually.” I hold up the list. “It could be a moment of kismet. Are you uhm-” I try to read their name on the page.
They turn to the monitors and start clicking on a keyboard. “Call me Bleh, that’s the best most people can pronounce it by, some are nice and say Blair, but I really don’t give a shit. What are you here for?” They take off the coveralls and I see a petite, slender figure as she’s only wearing a tank and bra underneath. Her arm and hand are mech as well.
“My hand,” I say quietly. “Uhm, it’s-”
Blair turns and sees the arm I’m holding at my side. “Prosthetic, eh? Didn't like what they could grow at the hospital?” She laughs.
I grimace. “It was too creepy. It felt...wrong.”
“What’cha got there, a lefty?” She double checks then looks back. “Nicole, bring up schematics of left hands.”
“Yes, Bleh, bringing up left hand schematics, years 5 through 9.” The screens blink then flash with different hand models.
Blair wags her hand for me to comes close. “I ain’t gonna lie to ya, even mech hands can be extremely pricy. Not hospital pricy, but still pricy.”
“I’m fully prepared for that. Without this hand, I can’t work, and if I can’t work, I can’t pay you back.”
Blair offers their hand out. “What do you do?”
“Book repair.” I place my left arm in her hand.
Blair whistles. “You work for rich people, don’t you?”
I shrug. “I suppose. But I do sometimes volunteer my time to museums and preservers when I get the chance.”
Blair takes a pair of goggles from the table and flips down a row of magnifying glasses before the right eyes. “What happened here? Amputation? Eaten? Saw mill accident?”
“Accident,” I say. “But not at a saw mill.”
Blair huffs and sits back. “I can make up a mock up of what I can do, but I’ll need to take some extensive photos of your right hand to get size and shit right.”
“That’s fine.” I pull back my left arm. “I’m free right now if that works.”
Blair smirks up at me. “You sure you wanna start working with me?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Do you have a reputation? I know sometimes fae folk are-”
Blair snickers. “I’m not a fairy, I’m a goblin. And yeah, I have a reputation as being a bit of an asshole to work with.”
Blair shows me the estimate, as well as prices with certain materials and colors used. It is quite expensive, but it would be worth it in the long run. I needed this hand.
“Now, as for payment,” Blair sighs. “I could use some help around here. I get busy and I get forgetful about things. Nicole can only do so much for me. I need someone around to help me with the life admin of my, well, life.”
I’m a bit surprised. “You want an assistant?”
Blair nods. “I’ve forgotten to eat and stuff like that, a lot, and it’s starting to not be okay. Never was but-” She clears her throat. “I also need help with laundry and my apartment upstairs is-” She grimaces. “Well, it’s something you can work on to pay off some of your hand until you can work on books again.”
“I don’t know how much help I can be. But this would be a huge load off my mind. Not being able to work right now is driving me batty,” I chuckle nervously. “This could help me get on my feet again.”
“Then why not start today? I can begin getting things laid out and prepped. Maybe by next month I’ll have something that can be temporarily fitted.” She motions to a door in the back and leads you through it and up the stairs.
“I’m so used to tech I sometimes forget about real life, you know?” She turns her lights on in her apartment, and while it isn’t too bad, it’s still pretty chaotic. Clothes everywhere, machine parts propped up, tools scattered everywhere with wrappers and cat toys.
“I used to have a hamster. I got Georgie ti find it but eh-” Blair shrugs. “Georgie was the wrong cat for the job. So if you come across a hamster-”
“I get it,” I murmur. “Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?”
“I have window cleaner somewhere,” Blair murmurs.
I try hard not to react to that. “Window cleaner isn’t what I need.”
Blair glances back up at me. “That’s all I ever use.”
“Oh boy,” I whisper to myself. “Well, where would you like me to start?” I look around, trying to make a map in my mind of how to go through this place.
“The floor, I guess?” Blair grumbles. “I’m not picky, whatever you want to work on, you work on. If you need anything, just ask Nicole. She will be able to answer your questions.”
I nod, continuing to plan mentally. “Have you had lunch yet?”
“I haven’t even had breakfast,” Blair laughs. “One of those things I forgot.”
It takes me a few days to get into the groove of things. I show up early, but usually Blair is still working. She’ll go to bed once I arrive, sleep a couple of hours while I clean or work on her planner, which I’m putting together. After she wakes up I help her get breakfast in order then clean with a vacuum and louder things as she goes to work. Once her apartment is in order I work with her in the shop. I keep it clean, dusting, sweeping, usually with Georgie hanging off the broom.
I’ve enjoyed my time with her. More than that, I’ve found myself being more and more drawn to Blair. I like her, more than I expected. In fact, there are times when my heart flutters when I think about her. I’m nervous to ask her if she feels the same, so I’ve kept my mouth shut.
Finally, the day comes for the first fitting. I sit with Blair in a brightly lit room and she puts a bracelet cuff over my wrist. She then adjusts the hand, puts it through a few tests, then attaches it to the bracelet.
“How does it feel?” Blair asks softly.
“It itches a little,” I reply. “Tingles too, sort of like when it falls asleep.”
“Good.” Blair smiles. “Try moving the fingers then.”
The fingers flex, albeit slowly. Blair giggles excitedly. “Okay then, turn your wrist.”
I do so.
“Perfect!” She takes my hand and starts poking at it. I can feel her warmth through the new hand, or perhaps that’s just hopeful.
“After this is done, what then?” I ask.
“You can go back to the things you used to. Go back to work, your home, whatever you want. It’s your hand.” Blair says.
“But” My voice catches in my throat. “What about you?”
Her long ears twitch. “Me? What about me?” She then looks up and her cheeks darken. “I’ll be fine.”
My fingers fidget and twitch and she looks back down.
“Maybe I could check in on you from time to time,” I say softly. “Make sure you’re eating. Maybe even take you out now and again.”
Blair sniffs and nods. “Sure, maybe,” she says dismissively.
“I’m free tonight,” I say unsurely. My nerves are rising, but I need to ask. “Maybe we could get something to eat then maybe snuggle, with Georgie, on the couch.”
“Not anywhere near here good,” she murmurs.
I frown and look away. “Oh.”
Blair stops, turning her green eyes up to me. “Wait.” She furrows her brow. “Snuggle on the couch.”
My cheeks feel like they are on fire. “Yeah.”
Blair’s face always darkens to a deep emerald color. “Oh.” She sits back a second. “I don’t know about dinner.”
I’m trying not to smile too big, so I bite my cheek. “I can figure that out if you’d like.”
“Okay,” Blair begins to smile. “I would like that. But uhm-” she clears her throat. “Lets focus on your hand here. Okay, trying holding something.”
I pick up a screw driver nearby and hold it, twitching my wrist around and flexing my fingers around.
“This is just a temporary make, mind you, so it won’t have all the features, but this does give me something to work from and build off. I’ll be able to make the permanent model now and you can use the temporary.”
I sigh with relief and clutch the hand to my chest. I coud just about cry. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Blair smiles softly. “I do, actually. I had an old friend do the same for me when I was much younger.” She pulls up her sleeve to show me her arm. “It made me fall in love with the craft. The mechs.” She motions to the blue, yellow, and pink mech suits behind her. “My old friends.” She smiles back at me. “That’s why I wanted to work so hard for you, Sig.”
I smile brightly back at her, wishing I could kiss her, but I would have to wait for that. “You deserve more than I can give. You really are an artist.”
Her cheeks darken. “Yeah well, I don’t really care. I’m happy with this here.”
When I come back that evening, I’ve got take-out with me. Georgie greets me at the door and I let myself up the stairs. When I get into the apartment, I see something strage. It’s still quite clean and there are candles lit. It looks like Blair tried cleaning up herself.
“I’m here!” Blair comes running out, her hair is wet and she’s wearing clean clothes. I’ve never seen her in shorts, so for the first time I realize her leg is mech just like her arm. She pushes her hair out from her face. “Hi,” she says breathlessly.
I smile back. “Hi.”
She sits close to my when we eat, and when we are done she takes my hand as we walk to the couch. She cuddles up close to me, but I can tell she’s still nervous, I know I am too.
“Is this okay?” Blair asks.
I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Yeah. of course.”
Blair clears her throat and nods. “Would it be too much if I asked for a kiss?”
I bite my lip as I smile. “No.” I look at her, bending down a bit. Her hand touches my cheek and I close my eyes. The kiss starts out soft and sweet, but Blair starts to pull back. I chase after her, deepening the kiss. Blair presses closer, putting her arms around me as I slip mine against her back.
Blair breathes softly as we part. “I was hoping something like this would happen,” she whispers. “I just felt silly all this time.”
“So, you like me?”
She nods.
“I like you too.” I cuddle up beside her again. “I’d like to get to know you more in this way.”
“I still have a lot of work to do on your hand. This is just a temporary fit for now.” She smiles awkwardly. “But, that doesn’t mean I’m trying to trap you or anything.”
“I know.” I kiss her again and I feel her shiver.
“You’re good at that,” her voice squeaks. “I’m not good at a lot of reall world stuff,” she murmurs. “So just, yell at me if I forget something.”
“I’ll remind you, I won’t yell.” I kiss her cheek and she leans into it, turning her head this way and that to accept more kisses. Her smile grows large and hard to ignore, she looks so happy and cute, I can’t stop myself.
We’re soon laid on the sofa with Blair snuggled on me and Georgie purring on her back. We’re watching a movie, but we haven’t really paid attention. We’ve kissed and talked a lot, and now, because of Georgie, we’re sort of stuck.
“I blame Georgie for this,” Blair says.
“What do you mean?”
Blair looks up at me with those perfect green eyes. “Well you said so yourself, it was sort of like kismet that Georgie found you. Maybe it’s more than that. Not just a hand, but maybe, a friend...a girlfriend?”
I kiss her again. “Yeah, I guess this is all Georgie’s fault,” I giggle.
Comments
Jennifer Lynn Bolan
Awww! Good cat!
