Relations and a rich history

Death Anchor has an existential crisis, but calms down thanks to Astro Robin.

Death Anchor gloomily explored the large and intricate building of their newfound home, his small demon tail swishing behind him with grace and a hint of annoyance. As he looked, he took in the dark and dreary appearances of the almost charred remains of this large castle, the very one that he and the other machines had agreed to fix up and make into their very own domain. While the result came out as perfect as expected, Death knew that this wasn’t his concern at all; his only concern was his reputation as “the machine belonging to a member of Dark Million”. Every time someone would dare to bring it up, he would scoff or shrug it off as if it didn’t bother him. Too bad it did. To him, it was infuriating that people would even ask him that often to the point where he would end up snapping at them or shutting them up in the most aggressive way possible. But thanks to a few supportive friends and a well understanding driver, Death Anchor was happy that none of them would budge further, even if they tried.
With his earbuds plugged into his ears, all he could do at the moment was lose himself into the dark, immersive bass of his own music as he simply wandered aimlessly down the halls and into the main room of Birdview Residence, where he would feel much more relaxed with the sound of birds besides his music. There were reasons as to why this place was called “Birdview” of all things; the abandoned building they were placed in seemed to have been conveniently located where birds are more common to appear, throughout the day and night. It was a solidly good decision for the drivers to make, but at the same time, Death often wished the birds would be quiet during the night. Entering the living room, Death Anchor’s hooves made soft yet rough clicking noises as he steps over the clean marble floors and trots over to the couch. Plopping himself down, he lies down on his back and yawns, scratching at the center of his fluffy belly with his clawed hooves. He ruffled through his bag and took out what appears to be a pack of gum that he had stolen from the convenient store.

Death opens the container and pops a small cube into his mouth, chewing on it nonchalantly. He looks up at the ceiling and continues to listen to his music, drifting off into his own little world, away from the strife and hardships of being a machine. But before he could do any of this, he hears a few more footsteps come from upstairs and get louder. He softly sighs and gets up, looking down at the floor. He notices a sudden flash of blue and yellow, making his eyes roll. He knows damn well who it was, much to the surprise of no one. Death Anchor turns around to drift off again, only until…

“HELLO!” Astro Robin squawks out, startling Death Anchor and making him fall off the couch with a hard thud. Astro simply chuckles and picks up the caprine machine with one wing. “Heh! Sorry ‘bout that! Did I scare ya?!”

Death dusts off his shoulders and scoffs. “Yeah… you sure did…”

“Oh, don’t be so down, Death!!” Astro giggled, “sometimes ya gotta loosen up and enjoy life! Live a little!”

Death Anchor just sighs in disbelief and rolls his eyes. “What is there to be happy about, anyway? It’s easy for you since your driver is a famous pop star! Meanwhile, mine is… a bad guy.”

Astro Robin jumps onto the couch and plops himself next to Death Anchor, as if intending to stay. Death Anchor decides to sit up and allow space for Astro to sit next to him. He pops another cube into his mouth and chews again.

“What are you even here for, anyway?” Death snorted, “it’s not like White Cat’s making you interact with me or something…”

“Oh, well, I just wanted to see how my best buddy is doing with these ongoing events and stuff!!” Astro happily answers as he flaps his wings. “Plus, you looked as if you needed some cheering up!”

“I don’t need cheering up, Astro. What I need is some peace and quiet,” Death Anchor shot back as he shoved the pack of gum back into his bag. He simply throws himself down onto the other side of the couch and rests his head against the arm opposite from Astro, careful enough not to accidentally scrape his horns. As Death Anchor tries his best to ignore the pestering avian, Astro still stays there. He leans down and softly chirps, much to Death Anchor’s annoyance.

“Y’know, Birdview has this name because of these noises, ehh…”

“I’m well aware…”

Astro Robin sits back up and chirps again. Astro isn’t one to be aware of anyone’s personal space and boundaries, since he’s usually a joy to have around. No one knows nor cares of his antics, let alone his mannerisms. Luckily, this doesn’t come up very often. “It does suck having to live this life, huh?”

Death Anchor huffs. “Mmh. Well, if you belong to a criminal mastermind, it does feel that way. Especially when you’re trying your best to make it up to others, including your own best friend…”

“OKAY, I GET IT. You hate stupidity.” Astro gently places a reassuring wing down on Death’s shoulder. “But I’m smart enough to know what’s goin’ on in my buddy’s head.”

Death Anchor sits up and faces Astro Robin, his posture now in a more formal one. He stared long enough in the avian’s eyes as he smiled weakly. “You seem like a great guy, Astro, but sometimes it’s best not to dig too deep into things. I often don’t enjoy my existence either, and I know you don’t as well.”

“Heh! It’s true, it’s true,” Astro replied, “sometimes I have trouble even breathing too. All the autographs, the signings, the interviews, guest star appearances, it’s all too much! You see, when you play your cards right, it gets frustrating.”

“Yes, but for you it’s easy. But for me… it’s just people glaring down at you with disgust, thinking you’re gonna do something bad, just like your driver…”

Astro softly gasps with surprise as he hears this and fidgets with the wrists of his wings. “Death, what makes you think that?! Who would say that?!”

“Who do you think? Blue Falcon, White Cat, those morons with the Galactic Space Federation, everyone!!” Death slumps back into the couch and crosses his arms, in lieu of a grumpy child.

“Now you’re the best dang thing that’s ever happened in the F-Zero scene!” Astro said as he flapped his wing and playfully nudged the caprine machine. All Death Anchor could do was softly chuckle and slump back into the couch again.

“I guess that’s one way to put it,” he shoots back, “but that still doesn’t change the fact that my driver just so happens to be Zoda, of all people!”

“Anchor, maybe this whole thing is getting you bent out of shape. Just because your driver is a supervillain, it doesn't make you any less of a machine to us!”

Registering the Astro Robin’s words carefully, Death Anchor simply just hugs his knees and darts his eyes back. His lips quiver almost into a smile and, with not much hesitation, he softly bleats. Surely this wouldn’t put a damper on his current friendly mood with Astro, right? He turns to look him straight in the eyes and says, “yeah! You’re right! My driver doesn’t define me! My origins don’t define me!! I’m my very own person, and thanks to you, I see that now! All I have to do is be myself? No problem, when I’ve got you, Astro.”

Astro Robin just nods and claps his wings together. “I’m happy to be of help, dude!” He laughs. “Just the confidence boost ya need to keep on goin’!”

As the party of two simply sit on the couch and stare off into the windows where they would watch the trees’ leaves hollow in the wind and listen to the overcrowding songs of birds, Astro and Death end up scooting close to each other and being quite comfortable with their company. Death Anchor looks over at Astro, who just went back to being lost in space, and a shy smile crosses his gray and blue muzzle. He ruffles his pockets for his stolen pack.

“H-Hey, Astro,” he shyly says, “here’s a piece of this stuff if you want it.”

Astro Robin softly snickers. “You stole that one, did you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Death Anchor gestures a finger gun and tosses the piece to Astro Robin. The mechanical avian simply pops it into his mouth and chews it ever so slowly. He slumps into his back on the couch and hugs Death tightly. “Y’know, I could get used to this.”

Death Anchor weakly smiles and tussles the Astro Robin’s fluffy tuft of synthetic fur. “So can I, man…”