Nox carried the sugar kuhna kit to the lake, then put her down on his foot so he could scoop some moss off a rock into a jar. Picking the sugar kuhna kit up, he turned and strode into the forest...
"Come in!" called Ratchet in answer to the knock on the garage door. "I won't be a moment, just sit down and try not to touch anything."
Nox slipped into the garage and sat down in a corner holding the sugar kuhna kit. As his friend finished up, he took a good look at the clockwork yonyuu.
"Now then, did you bring me my-oh! Who's this then?" Ratchet could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice. Surely it couldn't be!
"A deal's a deal, Ratchet." Nox said, grinning. "Your very own assistant. I found him alone in the forest. And here's your moonmoss." He handed the jar over and held the kit up so Ratchet could see him properly. The kuhna kit wriggled to face Ratchet properly, then, seeming to know he was being evaluated, extended his paws towards the yonyuu and said "Da-da".
The yonyuu's eyes flickered. For a moment, long-forgotten memories attempted to surface, and he had a fleeting glimpse of an adult yonyuu's face, before coming back to reality. Smiling, he said "He'll make a perfect assistant. Thank you."
Nox looked at his friend. Never before had he heard Ratchet's voice so choked with emotion. Excitement, yes, frustration, often, smoke when one of huis experiments decided it had had enough of being poked and prodded and promptly exploded, yes, but never emotion. He smiled. Maybe this would work out better than he had hoped. "Don't mention it" he said.
{24}[14]{17}[3]{2}