Treehouse! (Open in case anyone wanders across it ;) )

[hacker_twins]

Somewhere in the Nexus is a patch of random forest, mostly pine but with a few other trees interspersed.

In that forest is a small clearing with a very large, old, and sturdy oak tree.

In that oak tree is now a treehouse made mostly of metal and polymer panels that one familiar with a variant on the world might recognize as having come from Gemini's area on the moon.

And in that treehouse, if one happens across it at the right time, one just might find two child-sized reploids...

Comments

[gravity-splode.livejournal.com]

"Hey, sorry about that. Didn't mean to startle you."

Which... may or may not mean he intended to pop into this particular treehouse. Hmm.

[hacker_twins]

"Oh, that's ok," Middy says cheerily. And then there's a slight uneasy silence and an exchanged glance between the twins as they wonder just what to say to someone who just popped in like that.

"So, do you live around here or something?" Techno asks.

[gravity-splode.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I just like to drop in now and then."

Sometimes even literally.

[hacker_twins]

"'Here' as in the Nexus in general, or 'here' as in this tree," Techno says. Because if it's the latter, he's not going to be happy. It's bad enough some people have a habit of not knocking back at the labs...

Middy just blinks. "We come here when we can."

[gravity-splode.livejournal.com]

"The Nexus. Haven't been here before just now."

[hacker_twins]

"Well, we did only finish moving all the bits from our universe's moon and putting it together a day or two ago," Middy says. "So really, it wasn't here until then, although the tree must have been here for a lot longer."

[gravity-splode.livejournal.com]

"That might explain it somewhat, I guess. I can try to keep out of here if you'd like."

[hacker_twins]

Both twins start to answer at once, stop, blink, shut their mouths, and exchange a glance for a moment. That this is done in an odd mirrored unison might raise questions. But whatever the reason they seem to come to some silent agreement a second later and Middy speaks first.

"Well, it's a treehouse. We like meeting new people. That's one of the reasons we come here," Middy says.

"... But we'd like to have to invite them first," Techno adds.

Middy gives a shy giggle at that. "I'm Middy, and that's Techno. What's your name?"

[gravity-splode.livejournal.com]

"Xigbar."

The fact that they do things in a mirrored unison raises less of a question than one might think, apparently.

[hacker_twins]

"Hello, Xigbar," Middy says. And then the undersocialized pair's reserves of small talk run out for the moment. They each munch on a Dorito as they try to think of what to say next.