August hugged herself. Her bones rattled inside her skin as her bare feet padded quickly across the tiled kitchen floor. The sound of a television went on indistinctly somewhere behind her.

"Hm."

She stopped, scanning the room, awkwardly hopping on her feet to keep off the cold porcelain.

"Heh, right."

Her eyes fixed on her prize and she tip-toed to the pantry door, it's laminated wood obscured by a thick purple fabric. She dislodged the garment and draped it over her shoulder, then bent over and picked up a similar maroon bundle of cloth. She parked the purple one on the kitchen counter and pulled the other over her head and t-shirt.

She shruggled with the maroon-tinted darkness for a little before popping her head through the thick turtleneck of the sweater. Her long, red hair ended inside the balminess of the wool and she liked it like that.

Three strides brought her to the fridge, and she opened it to a chill down her bare legs as she briefly wondered if she could pull off short hair. She nicked two bottles of golden ale and reacquired the purple sweater beside her. She gave the room one last glance and gave herself a satisfied, mental pat on the back before switching off the lights.

---

The living room was dark save for the flickering of the TV. August made her way slowly toward the sofa.

*Farewell, Finn, the human boy!*

*Bye Princess! You know what time it is, buddy?*

*AaaaaAAAAADDDDVENTURE TIME?!*

*Yeah, man!*

"Hey, scooch over a little."

Plum slid over, giggling at Key-per's speech before Mount Cragdor as she did so.

"Heh, look at his little arms."

August placed the bottles on the coffee table in front of them and handed over Plum's sweater.

*...however, first you must pass my riddle! My name is  Key-per!*

"It was on top of the pantry door, you know?"

"Heh, really?"

August looked up at the girl's brown eyes as as she pulled her dark hair through the sweater.

"What?" Plum smiled.

"Nothing." August smiled.

*Woaaaahh! You've unlocked the riddle of the door! Hah, brilliantly done, child!*

"That suit you got is pretty awesome," August began as she twisted around on the sofa to rest her head in Plum's lap. "Wanna tell me how you got it?"

"Heh, that's a long story," She patted August on the cheek.

August looked up at Plum with a playful pout, doing her best to make her eyes big and shiny.

"Well... it started like this..."

-LATER-

August poked Plum, who had somehow ended up on her lap mid-way through.

No response.

She jabbed the girl in the haunches, holding her breath lest it stirs the girl.

A grumble... she shifts slightly.

August allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. She deftly replaced her lap with a conveniently close throw pillow and slowly rose from the seat.

*Aww, I'll never kidnap again.*

*You said it!*

August crossed the room and disappeared into another, returning quickly with a bundle of glossy, black fabric in hand. She disappeared downstairs into the basement, but not before giving Plum one last prod just for fun. Her "chamber of secrets" was already open and so she slinked inside and got to work.

She unraveled a thin probe attached to a socket in the wall and threaded it into the suit. Somewhere else a red light turned green. She picked up her glasses and put them on, booting up her laptop as she did so, which was buried under an assortment of fabric swatches and notes.

"Alright... first thing's first."

August opened a drawer next to her and pulled out one of many tiny, flat and square devices. She gave it a squeeze and peeled off the protective sheet on its underside. The now-open surface glistened with a powerful adhesive and a small light blinked rhythmically. She pressed the adhesive against the collar of the suit, losing the thin edge of the device to the shine of the fabric.

She turned to her computer and copied in some test code she had lying around. She hit a button and watched with clinical satisfaction as the suit raised its arm and gave her a thumbs up.

"Sweet."

August rearranged a few open windows and settled on one with a large blank space in the middle. A half-smile twisted her lips and she rubbed her palms together slowly.

...She swore it was just the cold.

-LATER-

August's heart skipped a beat as she watched Plum gather the black suit into her bag, not noticing that it was strewn on the bed in a barely-different way.

"You're welcome to stay another day, you know? I'm sure we can find something to do."

Plum smiled. "It was fun and all, but I should really head back to YppleJax's place. I've been away for so long - wouldn't want her to worry."

"I guess you're right," August deadpanned, but her heart leapt... well, if you're going there... "Too bad you only have one suit, huh?"

---

The two girls waved their goodbyes and August returned to her makeshift workshop. She booted up her laptop and wiggled her mouse uselessly. Squinting and confused, she put the screen down and attempted to follow it's cable, but it was simply too hopelessly tangled. With a shrug, she tapped her track pad a few times and leaned in close.

"Let's see..."

Signal Strength: 99.8%

August reached for her unplugged mouse and wiggled it again uselessly.