Saddle's Watch (Welded Sunset)
#229 of Short Stories
A lynx sets up camp with a trusted pangolin mech.
~ The lynx gazed into the campfire, and the pair of pots settled in atop the rack over it. The evening was, thus far, a calm one beneath the trees and stars. The saddle assembly rested against the trunk of a tree with its soft croon of some old banjo tune he'd loaded into it before the trip began. The tent stood, as firmly assembled as on any previous night, while the pangolin mech's plodding arrival brought a smile to the lynx's muzzle.
~ "Each night, you look as ever silly with your plates removed.", the lynx commented.
~ With a lithe frame half again as tall as a horse, the pangolin mech slipped closer to the fire to flop out across the flames from the lynx before he commented, "I'd rather my armor be out there on watch, than here to see us caught unawares in the night.", with a playful snort. With matte gray placement fittings for the plates contrasting against the browns and yellows of leaves, he sprawled out to his fullest length with the conclusion of his day's labors.
~ Chuckling softly, the lynx levered himself upright to pull the pot of oil off of the fire and soft wire brush from atop his pack, "Still, makes your joints easier to oil, with all those plates out of the way."