Aldritch gave a small sigh as he poured over the DDRA website on his display, listening to his favorite band and waving his hand across the hard light projection over his desk. He gave a small, exasperated sigh at a seeming lack of results.

He had recently, at the prodding of his partner, signed up for a program with the Displaced Droid Rehousing Association. After several sit-down interviews with him and Tia, the organization had decided that they would in fact be housing a droid with the two of them.

The problem was that they would not be allowed to pick the droid in question, or even meet them until they arrived.

Now there were good enough reasons for this. Statistics showed that allowing program partners to pick who they took in resulted in certain models being taken in at a far higher rate than others who got less attention for looking less normal (I.e., less humanoid, or more conventional generally in appearance), and allowing prospective adopting households to meet their assigned droid beforehand generally resulted in an up to 15 percent higher rate of return and further rehousing according to available data.

Partners to the program were instead matched up for the possible highest compatibility based on advanced sorting algorithms that accounted for interpersonal compatibility, profession, hobbies, interests, and the psychological profiles of both the adopting and adopted parties. This allowed them to maximize the likelihood of an adoption sticking.

He understood all of this, but the tension of waiting to see exactly what sort of new member his family was going to be getting was absolutely awful! As much as he hated to admit it, Al was a product of his time, used to the instant gratification that a post-scarcity world brought. Having to actually wait for something longer than a day was torture!

And so far, he had been waiting almost a week.

He gave an exasperated noise after reading the organization’s terms of service one more time and finally sat up, running his hands through his hair and getting out of his chair, and heading into the living room.

Tia was there, watching some old British comedy from the stupid ages, seeming fairly content. She gave a small chuckle at something going on on the screen. “Oh, that is absolutely silly! Why isn’t there any cheese in that cheese shop?” she asks the television as notices him walking into the living room and sitting up, smiling at him “Oh! Hello darling. Have you decided to finally stop sulking over when our guest will arrive and join me for a while on the couch instead?”

“No, I still have a bit more sulking to do later if they do not arrive soon, but I can definitely join you on the couch, love,” he said with a small chuckle of his own as he sat beside her, gently wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close, eliciting a small delighted noise from his equine amore.

She leaned in and kissed him on his cheek, placing a wing comfortingly around him “Oh hush now, she should be arriving later today.” She said confidently as she leaned against him with a soft sigh.

“And what exactly makes you so sure, Tia?” he asked her curiously as his hand slid up and down her back slowly, the other hand coming up to rub at the fluffy, soft spot on her chest, causing her leg to twitch slightly with enjoyment as she leaned in and relaxed against him a bit mote giving a satisfied little noise at the touch.

“O-ohh….I know she is coming because I called ahead and they told me that she was on her way about an hour ago.” She said with a small smirk as she raised a hoof and gently tapped his forehead with it. “Did you not think to simply call them. Or were you just reading their website over and over again and missing the number at the bottom?”

“No!” yes, yes he had been doing exactly that. But fuck him if he was going to admit it. He gave a small pout as he slid his hand up her back and ran his hand through her hair, humming as he looked down at her “Thank you for doing that, Tia. I guess I was just a bit too nervous about all of this…”

She leaned into the touch happily and nodded. “I can understand why. This is a lot for you, letting a new person into our home like this. It’s a big step for you, and I’m very proud that you feel ready to open yourself up that way to help others.” she said soothingly as she leaned in and pecked his lips.

He kissed her back gently and pulled away again, smiling wide down at her. “I won’t lie and say you asking me to isn’t a big part of the reason I’m doing this, Tia,” he said as he scratched slowly behind her ears

“Mmm-mhm, you certainly do do a lot for me don’t you?” She asked as she pressed a hoof to his chest as she soaked in the gentle pampering from her partner.

“Mhm, and I’m sure the memory foam in that bed back there remembers most of it” he responded with a small smirk, getting a small sigh and a begrudging smile in return.

“I said for me, not to me, you adorable little man, you.” she said, bapping him on the nose with the hoof that had been on his chest before returning it there and slowly rubbing “Though, I do appreciate that stuff in its own way, but this is different. I think that this will be good for you, and I wouldn’t be telling you to try if it wasn’t. And just as importantly, I’m sure that whatever poor soul ends up here with us, it will be good for them.”

That was indeed, just as important, if not moreso, in his opinion. The percentage of Bio Droids that were abandoned by their owners and left on the streets was staggering. Droids made up over 80 percent of all homeless individuals, and over 35 percent of victims of crimes performed by someone within the home. The sad truth was that despite the best attempts of lobbyists and well-meaning lawmakers, sapient Bio-Droids were still by and large not seen as equal to human beings by most people.

“Yeah, yeah I know. They have probably been through a lot, and I am sure some stability will be nice for them. I just hope that we can show them that we are trustworthy and build a good rapport with them. Going through the struggles of your average displaced Bio Droid is probably no cakewalk.” he said softly as he pulled himself away from her and stood up, stretching a bit.

Tia looked a bit disappointed, flopping onto the couch and rolling onto her back, looking up at him with her wide magenta eyes. “Going back to your room to sulk already?”

He chuckled and shook his head, reaching down to gently scratch at her chin. “Nah, I’m going to go get dinner started. I want to make sure that our new family member has a nice hot meal to come home to. Give them a good first impression, ya know?” he said as he withdrew his hand, leaving a pouting but pleased Tia in his wake as he walked to the kitchen.

A few more hours passed, this time much more quickly since a lot of it was spent preparing a nice dinner for their upcoming new arrival. Everything was ready to go, being kept warm on the table by the heating element underneath its surface. A purchaseTia had made years ago after countless evenings of him coming home a bit later than was to be expected of a responsible young man but was to be entirely expected of a normal one.

“Okay, I just checked in, and It seems like they should be arriving via autocab in a few minutes,” Tia said as she trotted out of her room. She had decided to pull her mane back into a ponytail to look a bit more casual, despite the mild amusement of her partner.

“Thank you, love. I’m coming out now.” Aldritch said as he walked out of his own room, having showered and changed after cooking to avoid smelling of the kitchen when they arrived. Sure they would smell the food soon enough, but smelling fresh food and smelling stale food smell off of someone who has been cooking for a while have very different effects on the average appetite.

“Now remember, they may not be friendly right away. They have likely sustained some amount of physical and or mental trauma and may be initially distrustful of us and will probably need time to adjust.” She said as she stood by the door with him, waiting, seeming to get a bit antsy herself now that the time was almost here.

“Yeah yeah, Tia, I read the same pamphlets and webpages you did.” he said gently, running a hand along the back of her neck slowly, looking down at her reassuringly “Look just...let’s not try too hard, okay? I’m sure they will appreciate it more if we are just ourselves for them and don’t try to overcompensate. Trauma or not, all we really need to do is treat them with the kindness respect they deserve right?”

She blinked slowly as she looked over at him and gave an approving nod and smile “Yes. That’s absolutely right, dear. Sorry, I slipped into mommy mode for a minute there.”

Al did the right thing and resisted the mighty urge to make a raunchy joke about slipping into his mommy, and it is a good thing he did! A few moments later, they heard the doorbell ring.

Tia gave a small squeal, using her telekinesis to open the door and smiling wide “Hello, how can I help...you…?”

She stood still, her face slowly falling as she saw who was in front of her.

It was another pony, a bit shorter than she was, and another alicorn mare by the looks of her. Her coat was a dark, regal blue, and her mane flowed with an array of sparkling stars that wonderfully matched the ones in the sky above. Though the light-polluted display of the city skies could certainly scarcely compete with the wonderful menagerie of cosmic wonders that flowed naturally through her mane.

Her soft, blue eyes held a fair amount of uncertainty. An uncertainty that seemed only magnified when she saw the other standing before her. They had of course, never met before, but being sister units, having integrated artificial memories of one another in a different time, a different place, brought about certain...feelings of familiarity.

Tia was the first to shake it off, literally shaking her head back and forth for a moment and coming to her senses before offering the other a small smile “Apologies, I was not expecting another MLP-series Model. My name is Tia, and this big goof over here is Aldritch.”

She gestured with her hoof towards the man behind her, who was currently doing his best to formulate a delicate, appropriate greeting to his new guest before realizing that he was not following his own advice. He cleared his throat and shook his head, walking forward and slowly extending his hand, not moving suddenly so as to make sure she understood his intention. “Hello there. My name is Al, I will be your er...adoptive keeper from now on.” He said, being particular not to call himself her owner. “It’s very nice meeting you, I’ve been anxiously awaiting your arrival all week.”

The new arrival watched his hand warily, but when it stopped in front of her in an obvious friendly greeting, she sniffed softly and raised her hoof to his, meeting his eyes with a firm, dignified measured look. “We are quite pleased to make your acquaintance, Aldritch. Our Name is Luna, though if you do not object, we prefer to be referred to as Lu.” She said in a voice that matched the look in her eyes. Measured, cool, and quite eloquent. A bit old-timey, even by the standards of her franchise setting, but he would be lying if he said he did not find it at least a bit charming. If he had to sum her up in a word it would be...dignified.

He smiled a bit wider and withdrew his hand after shaking her hoof firmly “It’s wonderful to meet you, Lu. Please, come right on in, We made dinner to prepare for your arrival and we would be quite happy if you would be so kind as to share your evening with us. We can get you settled in once we make you you’ve had something to eat.” he said as he backed out of the doorway and gestured for her to enter if she pleased, Tia giving her some room to enter as well.

She seemed to think for a moment before giving a small nod, her horn lighting up, levitating some bags behind her as she walked into the house “We suppose this is acceptable. Very well, Al, please lead us to your dining room. We have had a long trip and are Indeed quite famished.”

She raised her head slightly and trotted her way past the couch, setting her things down before looking at the two of them expectantly. Al smiled and gestured for her to follow, and the three of them make their way to the dining room for what would hopefully be a pleasant evening of good food and good conversation.

And possibly, a new good friend.

Author's Note

And there it is! A bit short, but this was more meant to set up things for proper development later! hope it wasn't too boring!