Friends

“So, I take it trying to repair your friend didn’t end well,” Rider said.   When I'd gone back downstairs to where Reeder and Rider were, they were waiting for us. Apparently they'd heard chunks of the argument, but didn't quite pick up everything.   Ephraim walked down a moment later. Israel followed dumbly behind, one awkward step at a time. He walked up next to where I was, then pulled Israel forward in front of him. Israel took one or two stabilizing steps, then came to a dead standstill in the middle of the forming circle. Reeder and Rider looked him up and down, and pieced together what'd happened.   "I'll take that as a no," Rider said.   Reeder spoke up timidly. “Is Eli going to be alright?”   “To be honest, no. I think he’s going to leave the village,” Ephraim admitted.   "What? We can't have that! He's one of our best engineers!" Rider said.   “This was all just a misunderstanding. I'm going to go find him and convince him to come back. What are we going to do with this walking abomination?” Ephraim asked. After a second, he eyed me and quickly added, “No offense meant, really.”   I sighed. He wasn't wrong.   Rider put his hand to his chin. “Well, as of 20 seconds ago, the engineering labs are a man down.” He turned to me. “You could leave your friend with us. He could be very useful in our upcoming experiments.”   "I'm not letting you put fur and scales on my friend." I said.   "No, no. We don't want to experiment on him, we want to experiment with him.”   I stared at Rider.   “That didn't come out right. Well, all I'm suggesting is that we could use another hand around the lab while Eli's gone, and you, well it sounds like you've already got your hands full with reviving your big metal flying creature and helping Ephraim."   I folded my arms. "Who said I’m helping Ephraim with this? I've got my hands full as it is. And aren't you worried your village chief will find out you're hiding a hominid? Based on what Ephraim was saying to Eli earlier, it sounds like a serious offense."   "Oh, trust me, fuzzy-eyed friend. You've never met better secret keepers!"   Reeder piped up, "It's true. One time Rider stole a—"   Rider cut Reeder off. "—In fact, we've got a little secret we've been working on for years now that I bet would help you on your journey,"   Reeder cut back in. "That's a lie, actually. Rider thought it up just last night after you cra—"   Rider slapped his hand over Reeder's mouth, shooting him a glare. "Like I said, best secret keepers you've ever met." He looked back over at Jerrod. "So do you want us to take care of him or what?"   I eyed them. “That still doesn’t mean I'm can just go off to help Ephraim. I need to look after Blizz. There’s no way I’m leaving her alone, and I’m not taking her anywhere dangerous after everything we’ve been through the past few days. We’re sitting this one out until I can rebuild the ship.”   At some point in the conversation, Blizz had snuck her way into our circle and was listening in. When had she done that? I looked over her face, and it seemed like she had something she wanted to say.   “What is it, Blizz? Is everything alright?”   She looked down.   "It's okay, Blizz, go ahead."   “If Eli ran away, I want to convince him to come back. He’s Ephraim’s family.” Blizz said.   “Oh.” I cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Well, I...”   “And it’ll be a little tough for you to collect all the guts of your ‘ship’ creature without going beyond the walls of the village.” Rider said.   Ephraim left the circle momentarily to pick up his crook. “And besides, you and I are friends now. Friends help each other out, yeah? I'll help you find the guts of your ship, and you help me bring Eli back home."   It hit me that Ephraim was being sincere. He really did see me as his friend, even after yelling at him and Eli. I was half the reason Eli left in the first place, and this robot still felt like I was worth being a friend to? How? Why?   "I guess so, huh?" I said.   "I suppose that’s checkmate, then,” Rider said as he eagerly pulled Israel over to his and Reeder’s side of the circle.