Chapter Text
[BOOTING SEQUENCE READY]
[ALIGNING PNEUMA & OUSIA CLAMPS]
[JOINT TEST COMPLETE]
[MEMORY CHIP: RECOGNIZED]
[DOWNLOADING CONTENTS. . .]
[DOWNLOAD COMPLETE]
[INITIATING RESTORATION PROCESS. . .]
[RESTORATION COMPLETE]
[PLEASE ACTIVATE BOTH CLAMPS TO ACTIVATE RESTORATION PROJECT: MARIONETTE]
[ACTIVATION DETECTED]
[ROUTE ALL POWER TO MAIN CORE? Y/N]
[JOINTS ENGAGED]
[ORGANIC & INORGANIC ALIGNERS BALANCED]
[CLOCKWORK MECHANISM INITIATED]
[ADMINISTERING PNEUMA & OUSIA POLARITY MASS TO PRIMARY & SECONDARY CORTEXES IN T-MINUS]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[WELCOME BACK, MS. SANDRONE.]
Jubilation filled the room as Fontainian researchers were grouped around their most recent project delivered personally by the Fatui from one of their top-ranking Harbingers. It carried a bad omen at first, being delivered an assortment of crates and containers from a number of soldiers at the behest of the Knave, but the distrust was cleared as this was indicated to be a personal request from she who was the lead of the House of the Hearth.
“These crates contain two important creations from Alain Guillotin. I’m sure I have no need to spare many details, so I’ll fill you in on what exactly should happen here. You’ve all surely been aware of the situation in the Nod-Krai region, and of the catastrophe that the Doctor brought upon the nation, as all other neighboring nations were informed of the situation and the cataclysm that could occur with his most insane experiment yet. If so, then you’ve surely heard of the unfortunate fate of the seventh-ranked Harbinger ‘Marionette’, who saw herself fit to save the Traveler’s life by sacrificing her own. Her remains are contained in the crate marked with gold Fatui insignias, along with what is left of Alain's final creation, Pulonia. Consider this a personal request on my behalf: for I figured if there was anyone in Teyvat who could repair her and the robot, it would be someone in the nation she was created in.”
“See to it that this commission be prioritized and accomplished. Rest assured, the Fontaine Research Institute will be paid heftily; such is the price for restoring a deceased Harbinger’s life.”
As clockwork and machinery grinded and rattled to life, the results of months of hard work came to fruition. They were able to repair and mend the damages done to her body, while Pulonia remained in a near-complete state of restoration. She was dressed similarly to how she usually clothed herself prior to the prevented calamity in Nod-Krai; albeit with less clockwork features over her apparel and, thanks to the innovative minds at the institute, no longer had to struggle with laying back on flat surfaces as the spinning key at her back was there no more.
The researchers held their breath, waiting for life to occupy Sandrone’s body once more, and…
The Marionette’s eyes shot open. The first thing that escaped her was a sharp gasp as she woke from a sharp jump in her memories—from watching as the false god went to finish her off—to waking up in some dingy building with blonde and brown haired men and women watching her eagerly.
“Where am I?”
“Where is he?”
“This isn’t… another trick, is it?”
“We…”
She scanned the room apprehensively and recognized the landscape outside. Fontainian hills with outlandish, fractured infrastructure in the sky.
“Fontaine.”
“We won…”
“We defeated him.”
And she grinned and lurched forward, her limbs held back with braces keeping her feet and hands locked in position; and how her artificial limbs ached to move and breathe, oh the humor of it all. Her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. The real formula was hidden in Pulonia—yes—and what fell from her body-
She fooled the Doctor. Not any dim-witted Fatui skirmisher, or one of the lower-ranking Harbingers; THE Doctor. Il Dottore. The psychopathic nihilist with a self-developed god complex. Someone who saw her as some irritation, an unwanted variable in his grand scheme.
And how she began to laugh.
A soft giggle turned manic in the time it took for one to snap their fingers, and the researchers glanced at each other in hesitance to approach the Marionette at that moment. Before any of them could raise a hushed suggestion to their peers, Sandrone straightened her back and barked an order at them.
“Well, don’t just stand there! Unlatch my hands and feet, I wasn’t created yesterday you know!” She shouted, wriggling her limbs in place. A couple of researchers quickly went to her side and worked to release her from her confinement. “Apologies, Ms. Marionette! We–” “Yeah yeah, of course. Are you assuming I don’t understand clockwork machinery? As if I wasn’t a construct made by THE Alain Guillotin?”
“It’s not that, we just–”
“RELEASE ME!”
“Okay.”
Shouting orders and demands, much as she did with those beneath her at the Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau. Though she could’ve treated these researchers with more respect since they rebuilt her, she didn’t seem to particularly care at the moment. She was alive, alive and well!
Once the latches were undone, Sandrone didn’t hesitate to step out with her reconstructed form and feel her hands over her face and shoulders. She smirked and lifted her head up to the opening in the building, looking up at the moon–
No, not just any moon. Not the moon held in the false sky that Dottore tore open in his godly power tantrum—a REAL moon.
The Frost Moon.
“Columbina…”
And Sandrone whispered into the night sky, barely audible to the researchers who watched her mouthing incoherently upwards.
“Burn in hell, Dottore.”
Activity quickly resumed at the Fontaine Research Institute. Their main goal was to reconstruct the Marionette, and that they did! Now all they had to do was rebuild Pulonia, and with that Sandrone could officially be back on line with her business in Nod-Krai!
That was, of course, going to be a struggle with Sandrone yapping to them about how they’re tinkering and poking around Pulonia all wrong. While she occupied the researchers unfortunate enough to have to hear her babbling about how Alain Guillotin would’ve laughed in their faces as they worked with Pulonia, another researcher hastily wrote a letter issued to the Fatui—specifically to the Harbinger that assigned them this commission.
“Mailed to the House of the Hearth, from: The Fontaine Research Institute
We write to you tonight with great news: the reconstruction assignment you gave us was a complete success. The Marionette is back to life and, insistently, making it apparent that we’re doing poorly at reconstructing her Pulonia (despite the fact that we are following the same schematics that came with the materials you sent to us). We hope you receive this letter, and return to see her now that she has returned. Please take care, and may the tides shift and have her returned in all her glory.”
A day passed at the institute. Pulonia was successfully reactivated for a bit, though his reactivation caused a stir of trouble as he immediately became hostile to the researchers trying to get up close with him to ensure everything was functioning properly. Pulonia’s aggression faded once its scanners recognized Sandrone’s voice, who shouted at the robot to cease his aggression towards the researchers. Who was he to refuse her?
As Pulonia shifted back into position, Sandrone heaved a sigh and rolled her fists on her hips. “Seriously, you should’ve expected him to get defensive with you poking and prodding at his internals.”
“...Madam, his command module is prioritized to respond to you only.”
“And who’s fault is that?”
“...Y-Yours.”
Sandrone raised her hand to speak, and her lips parted to voice an annoyed symphony towards the woman who proclaimed Pulonia’s programming being her fault; she quickly realized that, much to her disdain, the woman was right. “...Fair enough.” Sandrone’s arm lowered, and as the woman turned away she raised it up again, intending to backhand her shoulder until she heard a familiar voice coo from across the room.
“Greetings, Sandrone,” The Knave’s heels clacked across the stone floor as she spoke, “how have you been faring since your awakening?”
“Ah.” Sandrone caught her breath in her throat and cleared it, folding her arms at her front. “Decent. Though it pains my visual receptors to see these fools bang their tools together in such a disharmonious fashion. Their mekas wouldn’t even dare to compete with the machinery I’ve made at the Bureau!”
Arlecchino’s usual stone-cold gaze did not shift as she glanced back at her subordinates, to which she did a hand gesture to them. “See to it that these researchers are paid—in full—the price negotiated in our deal.”
“Wow.” Sandrone droned emotionlessly for a second, followed by a chuckle. “You’re rewarding these foolish whelps, as if the opportunity of restoring Alain Guillotine’s most splendorous projects isn’t enough for them?”
“Understand that fundamentally, especially with your reputation as a Harbinger, many of them were hesitant on even accepting you and Pulonia’s remains and the other spare parts without a fill-in on just what occurred over in Nod-Krai.” Arlecchino reasoned calmly, walking over to the deactivated Pulonia and running a finger over the cold exterior of the bulky robot. “You’ve already been able to figure out the result of everyone’s combined actions, yes?”
“Tch, a farmer could piece together the puzzle! It’s barely even elaborate to begin with.” Sandrone replied sarcastically, then proceeded to answer properly. “Indeed. Dottore is… dead, of course?”
“If that was his only segment left—given the deal he made with the Dendro Archon in Sumeru a while ago, what we faced in Nod-Krai was the ‘Omega’ segment. Unironically, the most selfish and most powerful version of himself. Unless he made other segments after his debut in Sumeru, it should be safe to assume that he’s out of the picture for now.” Arlecchino replied. She had her doubts on the Doctor’s condition, but that would be an investigation for later on. “Aside from him, Columbina has returned to us. She was able to assist everyone else in fighting the Doctor, and only saw you once he was gone. Despite myself being off of the field, I could see her silently mourning over your lifeless body.”
And upon those words entering her ears, pipelining across her audio receptors and scattering across her mind, her lips formed a frown. She recalled Moon-Prayer Night and that dingy little game her and Columbina played. She first recalled how annoyed she was with the obvious disadvantage she had, given that Columbina could sense the kuuvahki to determine what plates were safe to step on without triggering anything. But then, before Columbina departed to see the other venues at the festival, the hug she gave to the Marionette.
“She said, ‘I’ll miss you,’”
The hesitance that Sandrone had regarding whether or not to return that hug, the struggle in her mechanical hands. The decision she made to just stand there and wait for the embrace to be over with…
“I wish… I could have…”
Watching her walk away, striding ever so gracefully with the orb-like structures under her heels sending ethereal ripples across her every step. Leaving Sandrone with that awkward and, what, regretful feeling(?) over not saying goodbye back…
“...said ‘I’ll miss you too’ to her before she walked off.”
Who would have guessed that Moon-Prayer Night would be the last time Columbina saw her dear Sandrone?
At least
when she was still alive?
The echoing snap of fingers brought Sandrone back down to Teyvat. She met Arlecchino’s gaze, the Harbinger lowering her hand with fingers held in position to snap again. “You zoned out, Sandrone. Is everything alright?”
“...How is…” Sandrone’s voice wavered, her eyes reflecting a slight urgency for an answer. Internally pleading, she continued, “...Columbina? How is she doing?”
“Oh.” Arlecchino hummed and closed her eyes for a moment. “Columbina is still in Nod-Krai, I presume. And if she were to be anywhere, I would imagine her being in that glistening cave with bright-blue flowers in full bloom.”
“Silvermoon Hall.”
“Hah… she probably still sings that lullaby to her kuuhenki.”
Sandrone looked to Pulonia, approaching the deactivated robot and tugging down a patch of his outerwear to undo the pins of a coatpocket. She peered in, hoping it didn’t fall out after his destruction in the battle against Dottore. But there it was. A small flower from the hall. Pulonia had picked it while Sandrone was shouting at Columbina for interrupting the clash between Pulonia and the recently awakened Rächer of Solnari. She didn’t bear much interest towards the flower until Columbina vanished…
“...When can I go back?”
Arlecchino tilted her head slightly and held her hand to her chin. “You want to return to Nod-Krai?”
“To assess the state of the Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau, mainly.” Sandrone replied bluntly. “My subordinates are surely lost without my instruction and guidance!”
“Some of the superiors you enlisted at the Bureau have been holding down the helm in your absence. As far as they are aware, you are dead.” Arlecchino informed the Marionette, who scoffed in reply. “Hmph. I’m going to stick around until these dolts get Pulonia fixed up. For all that it matters, I might just do the rest of the work myself!”
“...And also.” Sandrone looked over to Arlecchino, who saw the slight pleading look in the Marionette’s eyes. “If you return to Nod-Krai for any reason before I do, would you keep my reconstruction a secret from Columbina?”
“...Hmm.” Arlecchino hummed quietly to herself. “Very well. I shall not utter a word to her, should I see her before you of course.”
“Thank you.” Sandrone sighed, and saw some researchers entering the room with some different components; one of them dropped a part on his foot and yelped as a result of Sandrone shouting at the researchers. “Oh for the love of– Let ME handle this, you bumbling twits!”
If you were to walk along the territory of the Frostmoon Scions, along the sands where flowers grow across the patches of soil and silver blades of grass, you’d find yourself standing at the entrance to Silvermoon Hall. It does not make itself stand out, nor does it appear intriguing to those who aren’t naturally a spelunker; merely just some cave entrance. From afar, however, you could maybe hear a hum or two in the gentle breeze over the land.
Down the long drop and through a sizable crevice is where one can hear the gentle lullaby sung by she who returned from the moon’s reflection; she who bears tri-lunar authority. The cave glistened with the cyan flowers that bloomed and swayed, small streams of water running across the floor in quiet flows. At the end stood a large moon arch, which bathed the surrounding area in trace amounts of moonlight. Near the moon arch sat Columbina, singing softly to some kuuhenki that fluttered around her and danced in the air.
She paused for naught but a moment, lifting her head up to the cavern walls. The kuuhenki chirped and hummed idly, floating along the ribbons of her outfit. “The moon is bright tonight. Perhaps I shall go on a walk…” She looked at the few kuuhenki around her and smiled. “Does that not sound lovely?”
From outside Silvermoon Hall, Sandrone neared the entrance atop Pulonia’s shoulder. A few days after her and the Knave spoke, repairs on Pulonia were completed at the behest of her unruly guidance of the people at the Fontaine Research Institute. Once Pulonia stopped at the entrance to the hall, he raised his palm up and waited for Sandrone to shift over before letting her down to the ground. It was there that Sandrone stood, deep in thought to herself. The memories came back to her—of the tea parties that Columbina had attended when she was still called the Damselette. Back when Rosalyne, Arlecchino, and sometimes even Capitano and Tartaglia would attend them as well.
How somber it was that the only ones who can still attend now are Arlecchino and—fairly recently—the Traveler and Paimon. Tartaglia is too busy with where he is posted, and the others are either dead or in no condition to attend her tea parties. But she hoped that perhaps, just maybe, Columbina would still join.
“Don’t be stupid, Sandrone! She’s intruded before after she left for her little cave.”
Sandrone stood with some mild conflict in her distant gaze.
“Maybe I’m just overthinking it. Tch, stupid-”
Then Sandrone’s eyebrows flicked upward in surprise as she heard the distant singing down in the hall. She looked down to the flowers and bit her lip in speculation.
“Is she playing stupid? She surely would have sensed me by now-”
“No, I know her.”
Did she?
“She won’t be expecting anyone at this hour. I’ll drop in and take her by surprise! Ms. Columbina thinks she’s so clever when she disappears and gets everyone worried! I’ll show you, you charlatan!”
Sandrone turned back to Pulonia and stiffly crossed her arms. “Pulonia, stay outside the hall and keep watch. If anyone tries to get in, block them or throw them in the water. You are free to choose, so long as they’re barred entry.” As she said this, Pulonia processed the command and silently acknowledged it. He gently picked Sandrone up and jumped down into the small space before the rest of the shining caverns.
The sudden loud thud nearby startled the kuuhenki and sent them flying around in the air in a panic, although Columbina was unable to notice at first. She continued to sing without a care as she usually did until one of the kuuhenki flickered one of its ethereal ears across her hair. “Hmm?” Once her singing ceased, Columbina saw the panicked kuuhenki and tilted her head. “What is the mat–"
Through her innate ability to sense things with kuuvahki, Columbina felt footsteps on the ground over where Silvermoon Hall gave way to the small cave between the entrance and the hall. “Oh… a visitor! Perhaps it’s the Traveler and Paimon, or maybe Lauma?” She thought to herself, striding to the moon arch and sitting beneath it. The few kuuhenki circled around the arch and dissipated through the stony roof.
What she sensed next almost made her feel as if there was a disturbance in the kuuvahki energy around the hall. She made an alarmed gasp as she effectively saw who was entering the hall.
“That… couldn’t be…”
The Moon Maiden shook her head and lifted a hand to the lattice veil on her face, removing it and opening one of her eyes.
And then she was frozen in place as she saw her guest emerge through the patches of blue and white. The veil in her hand slipped away and fluttered slowly to the ground, stopping short of a stream of water.
“...S-Sandrone…?”
Sandrone halted to a stop a meter or two away from Columbina. She momentarily felt herself urged to embrace the maiden. Her arms moved slightly forward on impulse, and then her hands went back to hanging at her sides. She cleared her throat and quickly assumed her know-it-all, arrogant demeanor. “I know, you must be thinking to yourself, ‘She’s back, she’s back…! Let me sing her a song that I’ve sung to her at least a MILLION times!’” She spoke condescendingly while flicking some of her hair back and forth. “Well, before you get all sentimental with ME, missy, just know that–”
The Marionette had little time to brace for the incoming impact. For in one long and quick stride of her legs, she flew into Sandrone and wrapped her arms around Sandrone—more tightly than she had hugged her on Moon-Prayer Night. “Wh– Hey! Do you mind?! I spent the entire time practicing for this while I was coming here–” Sandrone paused as Columbina buried her face into the construct’s shoulder, and she felt the maiden shaking and weeping into her shoulder.
“Oh, for the love of–” Sandrone wasn’t quite sure how to approach this situation—she never really had anybody… cry into her shoulder before. She then heard Columbina speak through some of her ugly sobs—words leaving the Moon Maiden’s lips that seemed to paralyze Sandrone in a way. “Y-You died… I saw you lying on the ground… you died…”
For a second The Marionette’s lip trembled, and she replied, “Don’t be ridiculous, Columbina. You think I wouldn’t have planned for that outcome ahead of time?”
“I missed you…” Columbina lifted her face back from Sandrone’s shoulder, allowing the puppet to see the extent of the maiden’s mourning. She never saw Columbina with her eyes open—frankly Sandrone assumed it was a characteristic in relation to Columbina’s ‘sleepy’ behavior, given how Columbina often slept in Sandrone’s quarters—much to her frustration. Now Sandrone looked upon a teary-eyed moon goddess, and slowly came to realize how much her death affected Columbina. “I missed you… so much…” Sandrone stared ahead as Columbina slung her head over the same shoulder she weeped into and continued to do just that.
And slowly
she felt the puppet
embrace her back.
Sandrone often read of how humans would comfort each other in a time of sadness or depression. It didn’t intrigue her before then, but she figured it wasn’t just exclusive to humans. Soon enough, however, she began to hear Columbina laughing softly in the midst of her sobs. “I– Uh… Is this working?” She asked, confused. “Hehe… maybe it is.” The Moon Maiden responded. “Maybe if we stayed like this for a little longer…”
“Don’t push your luck, Columbina.” Sandrone scowled. Though she made no effort to leave the embrace. Columbina soon moved back from the embrace after a minute passed, and rubbed her eyes. “Apologies, I must look so silly like this…” She murmured, clearing away any tear streaks from her face.
“No, not at all…” Sandrone assured her, still looking at her eyes. “Finally ditched that veil, huh?”
“Momentarily.. I was quite shocked to sense your presence entering this hall.” Columbina responded, looking to the ground and crouching to retrieve her veil. “Oh, I see. I was just surprised to see your eyes for once.”
Columbina looked to Sandrone with a curious gaze and then giggled, shutting her eyes and putting the veil back over them. “Hm, so you like them?”
“Guh– Wha–” Sandrone stammered over herself and narrowed her eyes at Columbina. “I-I was making an astute observation, idiot! They’re eyes, not jewels.”
“Though they do shine like jewels.”
“Wait, what are you thinking, Sandrone?”
“The red on your cheeks betrays your words, Sandrone.” Columbina teased, lifting one of her hands to the puppet’s face and poking her cheek. “Poke.”
Sandrone scowled again and went to swat at Columbina’s hand, and the former withdrew it with a grin on her face. “It is… nice to see you again, Columbina.” Sandrone murmured, raising an eyebrow at the Moon Maiden. “You had everyone worried sick, you know. Your disappearance instilled such an ache for my processors—I was practically the backbone of the entire operation!”
“Ah.” Columbina placed her elbow against her other arm that was folded to her front and rested her head in her palm. “Then it’s safe to say you did well. Even if…” She frowned a bit. “...I wasn’t able to come back before the Doctor killed you.”
“Pff, my death was a mere distraction. I hid the real world formula in Pulonia. Despite his intellect, that overly righteous fool didn’t think to check Pulonia’s remains.” Sandrone attempted to brush off the intensity of the world around her darkening, the painful sting as she was... executed.
“Of course. I just wish to ask you a question, just one.” Columbina requested, floating into a crescent moon that manifested itself behind her as a kuuhenki then proceeded to rock it back and forth. “What would you have done if I didn’t come back?”
The question made Sandrone feel absolutely appalled. It was quite the scenario to picture, and if she was being honest with herself, it almost felt uncomfortable to imagine.
Then again, maybe it was a trick question. She could never really tell with Columbina—what with how bizarre she may act sometimes. Despite that…
“Didn’t come back?”
“Columbina…”
“Your disappearance before Moon-Prayer Night made me worried sick.”
“Your disappearance after The Doctor seized the two marrows made me… even more worried.”
“Worried that you wouldn’t come back.”
“Walking into Silvermoon Hall and seeing you absent, not hearing that lullaby you sing for yourself and the kuuhenki…”
“It made my heart—as mechanical as it is—feel so hollow.”
“I would have kept searching.” Sandrone answered back. “You refused to give up on us that night when you vanished—leaving us messages from beyond the moon’s reflection, retracing your steps in the past, and influencing both the present and the future. Do you really think…” The hands of the puppet trembled a bit and shook, balling up. “...I would have just forgotten you?”
Columbina was quiet for a moment, and even the kuuhenki rocking her had ceased activity.
“There aren’t many people left to attend my tea parties besides the Traveler and Paimon, or the Knave. If I lost you, no…”
“Heed my words, Columbina! If I lost YOU…”
“I’d feel so alone.”
“That’s how important you are to me.”
Columbina sat up and rose from the crescent moon formation and stood facing Sandrone. The words from the puppet stirred something in Columbina—an emotion, or a feeling, that she had observed back when the Frostmoon Scions worshipped her before she left for the Fatui. How two individuals would coalesce into a union, to embrace one another and build a fundamental bond that could become harder to break than diamonds. And this sensation made Columbina’s own heart flutter, and made her moon-pale skin feel warm.
“..I apologize if I upset you, Sandrone.” She murmured softly, lowering her head and stepping close to Sandrone. “That was quite sweet of you to say, though.”
“Ah– That was j-just a stream of random emotions. Nothing more!” Sandrone sought to provide a reason for her answer to Columbina’s question. A second after she went to rub her eyes, she felt a hand along the side of her head. “Huh? What are y-”
Sandrone wouldn’t have been able to anticipate what happened next, not in a million years. Her speech was suddenly interrupted, and-
“...!”
Oh Archons.
She was… being kissed…
BY COLUMBINA?!
Sandrone’s eyes and optics were locked in a suspended state of shock at the mouth-to-mouth contact between herself and the goddess who went for it. Though it lasted only a few seconds, she registered every single thing she could feel at this exact moment: the way Columbina’s hand caressed her cheek, holding her still in order for Columbina to press her soft lips against the puppet’s—lips that were tantalizingly soft, and if it went on for just a moment longer, the Marionette would’ve most likely melted to a puddle.
Columbina pulled her lips back from Sandrone’s and breathed softly. They were both blushing, although Sandrone got exponentially more flustered, synthetic skin practically almost pink. And Columbina couldn’t help it; she let out a gentle laugh and smiled. “You… are important to me too, Sandrone.”
Sandrone had no words to say at the moment. Her internal systems were being overloaded in the midst of her rampant mind entangling within itself.
“What just happened?”
“Did that really just happen?”
“Does she…”
“...Like me?”
“Well, I’m glad that you’re okay now, my dear Sandrone.” Columbina hummed contently, turning to walk over to the moon arch and lie down for a while. “We should get together sometime for a tea party. Just the two of us.” She said as she went to rest and… process the rest of these fleeting and complex emotions going through her mind. “That would be nice, don’t you think?”
Somehow, in the span of a minute and a half, Columbina got herself comfortable enough to rest for a while. She held her arms close, and let her hands feel her cheeks.
“Warm. Fuzzy.”
“I like it.”
And Sandrone stood petrified. Slowly, her mind reorganized itself…
“...”
“WHAT THE HELL?? FIRST YOU WALK UP TO ME AND KISS ME OUT OF NOWHERE, AND THEN YOU PROCEED TO ACT LIKE NOTHING MAJOR HAPPENED! NOW YOU’RE SUGGESTING WE HAVE A TEA PARTY, AND JUST THE TWO OF US?!”
“WHAT’S GOING ON IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS, COLUMBINAAAAAAAA?!”
While she wanted to make these thoughts vocal to Columbina, Sandrone felt inclined to not disturb her sleep and made an awkward shuffle to the exit. There, Pulonia sat by the water and kept watch to ensure Sandrone had secrecy. He looked over to the puppet, who stopped next to him and fumbled for her words. “Fsshhh…–hhuhhh….”
"By the Archons, she did something to me... altered my systems with kuuvahki, she must have..."
"What is this feeling in my core? Its rhythm spiked tenfold from that... that kiss..."
"Do I.. also... like...?"
Pulonia perked up and shot his arm over to catch Sandrone as her body leaned forward, catching her just before she landed in the water and setting her on his shoulder.
“Pulonia, r-remind me to… send out an order f-for some… tea leaves…”
“Just... What are you making me feel and think, Columbina?”