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Nights on Copper-9 were usually a peaceful affair. If it were any other night, V would be soaring high above the cloud layer, soaking in the silence and serenity of the stars. She didn't mind spending time with N and Uzi, not as much as she used to anyway, but sometimes she just needed to be alone, to reflect on and process the last however many months it had been. Calm, quiet nights like these were perfect for a solo flight over the ruins of the human city. Usually, being the operative word.
V took a quick glance at the drone in her arms. Lizzy was silent and somber, the light of her phone illuminating her face. V didn't need to look at the device to know what had Lizzy so still. An old picture of her and Doll, taken on a moonless night like this one. Lizzy was giving the camera a self-satisfied smirk, and in the background Doll had the smallest of smiles on her face.
"Murder drones hunt easier with moonlight," Lizzy had told her, repeating what Doll had told her that night. "They won't be outside, and we can go look at the stars."
"Doll said that?" V had asked.
"Those kinda nights were... Special for us," Lizzy whispered. The way her voice had shaken, so different from the arrogant tone she normally had, it hurt something deep inside V's core.
"Is... Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered the blonde drone.
Which is how V had ended up flying Lizzy out to hover above the former grounds of Camp 98.7 and the Cabin Fever Labs on every moonless night since the defeat of the Solver. Lizzy had wanted to mourn for Doll, having never said goodbye to her. The last either of them had even talked was just before that dumb prom thing. After that, V was all she had. Sure, she hung out with Uzi and N now too, occasionally with Thad if he popped up, but V was consistent. The disassembly drone had more or less taken up Doll's place in her life.
And damn if she wasn't aware of it.
Not that she was upset or anything. Not even slightly! It didn't mean anything to her that Lizzy was using her as a stand-in for her dead girlfriend. Nope! It didn't make her core tighten and painfully vibrate when Lizzy would give her a grin, a playful glint in her eyes. She never felt pangs of jealousy when she saw Uzi splay across N like he was her personal pillow, wishing she could get Lizzy to do the same. She never cast longing glances at the blonde drone, wondering what it would feel like to have the love Lizzy had for Doll directed at her instead.
V slowly glided around the perimeter of the largest hole in the ground. Here, she had helped fight against Cyn and J, helped stop the end of Copper-9. She had been a hero for it. The colony had loved her for it. It still didn't make any of it easier on her conscience. J was her friend once, someone she looked up to, and she'd knocked her into the maw of the planet. And Cyn...
Carefully she landed, letting Lizzy stand on her own. The disassembly drone said nothing, merely stepping back. Lizzy just stood by the edge, head bowed and hands pressed together. V turned around and took off, perching on a jagged piece of metal not too far away.
What would it be like, she wondered, to swoop down and take Lizzy into her arms? To hold her close? N and Uzi enjoyed sneaking out of the bunker to go flying with one another. V had watched them once with a spark of jealousy beating in her mind. Would Lizzy like that? She never complained about V flying her to the gorey landscape so she could mourn. But that could easily be excused as a necessity. It was just faster to be carried.
"Idiot." V hissed at herself. She wrapped her arms and wings around her body, shutting out the world, leaving just enough of a gap to watch for Lizzy's signal to leave. She was just there to let the worker drone cope with her feelings for Doll, in whatever way was needed.
The minutes ticked on slowly after that. They always did. Lizzy stood by the pit silently, mourning in her own way. V sat on the piece of metal lost in her own mind, only barely paying attention to the drone below her. Always too lost in her emotions, her thoughts, her stupid fantasies. Her mind turned to N and Uzi, how happy they were with each other. How they could be vulnerable together, how they could just be themselves. She wanted that for herself, and she'd never have it.
Taking a peek through her wings to make sure Lizzy hadn't disappeared, V wrapped her tail around her little ledge, leaned back, and let herself dangle. It was just sturdy enough to hold her weight, though she knew it wouldn't last for much longer. The unnatural heat that permeated the battlefield allowed rain to periodically drench everything, with a good chunk of the metal beginning to rust away. For now, it held, and V would take advantage of it.
For the next few minutes, she let herself wallow in her emotions. She was pathetic. Pining and longing after a drone that didn't share her feelings. Jealous of her former crush's new relationship. Angry at a dead drone for having the love that she wanted for herself. Shame fell over her like a ratty blanket. If Tessa, the real Tessa, saw her like this...
A ragged sound hit her audio receptors just then. V twisted her head, all eyes searching for the source. Then, she saw Lizzy, knees to the ground, head leaned back. The sound was coming from her. Worry almost made V drop from her perch. Was she screaming in pain? Fear? Thankfully, the disassembly drone realized, no. She was... Singing? A slow, sorrowful song fell from the drone's mouth, stirring something within V. Recognition. She remembered hearing a similar song once, back at the manor. She'd asked Tessa about it.
"It's called a dirge," the human girl told her. "It's a funeral song, you sing it to the dead."
"Why?" V asked, curiosity burning in her mind.
"Lots of reasons," Tessa said. "Mostly, though, they're just meant to be sad, 'cause you miss the people who're gone."
V sighed and listened to Lizzy's singing. She couldn't hear the lyrics, if there were any, from where she hung. But she knew it was just full of pain and longing and damnit she wanted to be who Lizzy's core was given to. Angrily she shoved the notion down into the back of her mind. Her friend was down there singing to her dead love, and here V was moping over not being the recipient of Lizzy's affections.
"You're supposed to be the tough one, idiot," she berated herself. "You're not supposed to be all dumb and mushy like N and Uzi are."
Tears pricked on the corners of her visor. Anger, hatred, guilt, and desperate longing swirled within her. She couldn't hold onto to one or another for more than a nanosecond. It felt like she was going to be torn apart. Unsheathing her claws V covered her head, trying to block out Lizzy's singing and her emotional hurricane. It didn't work. V closed her eyes and hunched in on herself, the tears freely flowing as things hit a crescendo.
The world melted away, save for the sound of her sobbing and her unknowing crush's singing. It could've been seconds, or hours, or years, V didn't know. She was drowning in her dumb feelings, unable to do anything but let them out as quietly as she could. It was bad enough she was crying to herself. Robo-God forbid Lizzy heard any of it.
"V?"
Well. Shit. Wiping her visor V dropped to the ground without looking. She gave her friend a nod and held her arms out. Lizzy didn't move, making V panic just the slightest bit.
"Are you, like, okay?" Lizzy asked her.
"Of course I am," V hummed. Her indifferent mask slipped back on as easily as it ever had. "Ready to leave?"
The smaller drone didn't answer, merely stepping up to her. Just as V brought her arms to lift her up, Lizzy pushed them aside and stared up into her visor. V's core skipped a few beats as Lizzy leaned closer. Gently, oh so gently, she rested her head against V's core. V tensed up and froze entirely. A blush fully covered her visor as she looked down at the blonde head before her.
Her first instinct was to force her friend away from her, to tear her to oily shreds. Her second was to embrace her, hold her tight in her arms and wings and tail and never let go, keeping her safe from every danger. Instead of following either, V let out a shocked sound (it was not a squeak no matter what her audio receptors heard) and just let Lizzy nuzzle into her like a kitten.
"You're lying," Lizzy mumbled. It wasnt accusative, or questioning. It was a simple statement, like saying Copper-9 was snow-and-ice covered.
"I am not!" V denied. The smaller drone just hummed and kept nuzzling her core. Slowly, she felt arms wrap around her, just under her wings. Was... Was Lizzy hugging her?
"Mmm, yes you are," was the hummed response. Lizzy tilted her head up, chin on her core, and blinked at her with those pretty pink eyelights. It was oddly intimate, and made V look away.
"What are you doing?" V asked her, fighting back the blush she knew was trying to paint her visor.
"Hugging you?" Her voice had a playful lilt to it. "You do know what a freakin' hug is, right, V?"
The way she said her name made a shiver go through the disassembly drone's spine. "Obviously. Why are you... Hugging me?"
"Girl, you and I both need this, so shush," Lizzy answered. One of her hands rubbed the junction where V's wings met her back. Her tail jerked up into the air, as stiff as rebar. Her chassis vibrated with a low rumble as Lizzy kept up the action. A grin spread across the worker drone's face. "Are you purring?"
"We don't purr!" V hissed through her teeth, even as the rumble grew louder.
"Mmhmm, sure," Lizzy teased. "You totally are."
V didn't dignify her with a response. She only turned her head and huffed. "Are you ready to go back to the bunker?"
"Yeah, I am," Lizzy sighed after a moment, reluctantly pulling her arms back. Her grin turned into a soft smile as V easily lifted her and took off into the air. "Thanks, V."
"For what?" She didn't take a look down, choosing to focus on the flight path.
"For like, all of this." Her voice was so soft. A hand came up to gently brush against V's cheek, drawing her attention. The same soft smile was on her face, her eyelights seemingly shining brighter. V averted her eyes, a vicious blush lighting up her entire visor.
"It's what friends do, or, whatever, yeah," V hastily said, flying just a bit faster.
"Friends, right!" Lizzy said. Then, quietly, she added, "Just like Doll was my friend, huh?"
Their flight stopped as if they had flown right into a wall. V darted every eye to look at the drone in her arms, her mouth agape in shock. Lizzy just kept smiling, a blush on her visor. The hand on V's cheek moved to hold her face, bringing her a bit closer.
"L-Lizzy wh-" She stammered out.
The drone didn't answer. Instead, she pulled their faces together, clinking their visors, tiny sparks erupting during the contact. The blush on V's visor brightened, as did the one on Lizzy's. The smaller drone pulled away, a content smile on her face. Her hand didn't leave V's cheek, thumb absentmindedly brushing the silicone skin.
"I'm not blind," Lizzy hummed. "You're not sneaky, either, y'know, I caught you looking all night."
V didn't, couldn't, answer. There were so many thoughts running through her mind that they all turned into blaring static she couldn't get rid of. She just stared and blinked at the drone in her arms, saw her smile and shiny eyes, the happiness in them. When Lizzy brought her other hand up to V's face, she finally plummeted to the ground, landing hard and scattering plumes of snow and ice.
"V?" The worker drone called her name as she was placed on the ground. V just shook her head and backed away, the emotional hurricane back with a vengeance.
"No, no, this isn't real, that didn't happen," V said. Her claws were unsheathed, pressed against her head, as if that could stem the tide of the everything she was feeling. "You're just in another stupid, stupid fantasy, you dumb idiot."
"V?" Lizzy called again. V shut her eyes and turned around.
"Stop playing tricks on yourself!" She could feel the tears in her visor again. "She doesn't want you! No one wants you! Not like that... Not anymore! You're just a murdering psychopath that got her girlfriend killed!"
Her claws were pulled from her head. Lizzy stood in front of her, eyes hollow and wide. V retracted her claws and stepped back, letting the tears in her visor fall. Liszt wasn't having any of that, though, and thrust herself into V's chest, gripping her as tight as she could. Her pink eyelights searched V's yellow ones as a hand came up to brush away the tears on her visor. Her core lurched and a sob tore its way from her. She didn't deserve this. Not after all the oil and blood she had spilled, not after all the death and suffering she had inflicted.
"V, hey, hey, shh, it's alright," Lizzy tried to soothe her. Her thumbs rubbed circles on her visor, and the tears just fell faster and faster. "I'm here, don't worry, it's gonna be alright."
"I'm the reason your girlfriend is dead!" V yelled at her. She pushed Lizzy from her, only succeeding in getting the smaller drone to wrap herself around her frame again. "Why are you just... Alright with me being near you!?"
"Because, dumbass, I give a shit about you!" Lizzy snapped, pressing their visors together again.
"How can you-!" V snarled, shaking her head. She didn't want to pull away, but the guilt, the shame, drove her to try.
"Doll left me!" Lizzy screamed. It was then that V noticed the matching pink tears in her visor. "After all that crap at Prom, Doll said that I... I was unreliable and a traitor and said she couldn't be with me and then she was gone!"
"What..?"
"She left me 'cause I chose you over her and her dumb revenge!"
"You... What do you mean you chose me?" V asked, head still in a flurry of emotion.
"I chose you cause I like you, you dumb traumabot!" Lizzy yelled. With that, the smaller drone pulled her down into a forceful, chaste kiss.
The dam broke entirely. V swept Lizzy up into her arms, earning a surprised huff. Her tail wrapped itself around her midsection, squeezing her tight. V returned the kiss, holding Lizzy as close as their bodies allowed. It was chaste, but it was the most passionate thing either of them had ever experienced. Slowly, slowly, V broke the kiss, panting and blushing and feeling the best she ever had. Lizzy gave her a wide smile, dazed but obviously pleased.
"I... Um..." V brilliantly spluttered out.
"Holy shit, V," Lizzy all but purred. She pressed herself up against V's core again, humming that same sad song as before.
V felt a smile quirk on her lips. She wrapped her arms tighter around the smaller drone and took off again, angling for the bunker. Lizzy nuzzled closer, her humming vibrating V's body.
"You're totally, like, purring again~," Lizzy giggled.
"I will drop you."
They'd have to talk about all of... This, at some point. What they were now, their (ugh) feelings. For now, though, V contented herself with just having Lizzy in her arms. It couldn't hurt for her to indulge her dumb fantasies just once, after all.