Work Text:
Hammerhead tended not to show her feelings often. She put up a wall around herself of aggressiveness, and would only let someone in if she was sure she could trust them. It helped protect her from anyone who might want to hurt her. After all that was her job, to protect the rest of the underground. On the other hand Penny Farthing wore her feelings and anxieties on her sleeve, able to be read like an open book. These attitudes often led to them being close to each other, with Penny coming to Hammerhead when she was upset. She knew that the aggressiveness was only reserved for bad people, and that if she came to see her she’d be kept safe.
This knowledge came in handy when Karen was around. Karen tended to be. Mean to Penny, and frankly most of the underground. Her job was in a weird way to protect them, but her idea of protection was blending in and being “normal”, which conflicted with the others wanting to be recognized as their own individual selves. The latest incident in this trend happened when Penny was relaxing in her favorite memory, trying to keep calm after she got frightened. She closed her eyes and started to breathe, when she heard Karen.
“Hey Penny, can I talk to you for a second?” came that too cheery voice, always sounding like happiness that was hiding real emotions but with no emotion detectable behind it.
“Y-yes Karen?” she replied
“It’s actually about that stutter of yours. You should see someone to fix it. It’s. Interfering. With us being perceived as normal and you know just how important that is to me.”
“Dr-Dr Harrison s-said I don’t have to f-f-fix it if I don’t want to. There are some t-things about me that I want to remain. M-me.”
Karen frowned. “Well, sorry to bother your idyllic paradise then, I’ll just return to my station and mope for all eternity,'' she said, walking over Penny’s picnic basket. “Oops, sorry about that, one more broken thing to fix I guess,” giving a chuckle as she walked away.
Penny looked at her shattered picnic basket and thought about what Karen had said. She understood why Karen wanted everyone to be normal, but she liked the way she was. Tears slipped down her face as she took her basket and brought it with her. She walked to the train station out of the memory, to find Driver 8. They understood when she was upset without her having to embarrass herself by showing her face and shaky voice, and took her to someplace she could be alone to cry. She sat there for a bit, absentmindedly touching the broken picnic basket. After around half an hour of sitting, she heard Hammerhead’s distinctive boots stomping along the station, probably checking to make sure everything was OK along all the stations. Penny instinctively hunched up a bit, and bent her head down so Hammerhead couldn’t see her face. Hammerhead took one look at her and her normally harsh expression softened, her tone slipping to just above a whisper as she sat down.
“You alright Penny?”
“S-s-she. Broke my ba-basket,” Penny said, huddling closer to Hammerhead. Hammerhead stiffened at first, but relaxed enough to let Penny touch her.
“I’m sorry.”
They sat in silence for a bit, until Hammerhead broke it.
“Do you want to go back to your room, I could. Take you there. Make sure she doesn’t get near you again for a while.”
Penny nods, starting to walk with her. Hammerhead puts her arm around Penny’s shoulder, briefly reaching to brush her tears away. Driver 8 comes back with the train, nodding briefly at them both as they climb aboard.
“Mind the gap,” they say, putting down a curtain over the cabin to afford Penny and Hammerhead some privacy.
Penny wanted to lean close, but shied away worried it’d upset Hammerhead.
When they arrived, Hammerhead guided Penny into her room. It was a quaint space, full of antiques, old tea kettles, and knick knacks looking like they’d just been saved from an unloving owner’s garage sale, restored to as quality condition as possible but still reflecting their past.
Penny sat on the bed, huddling fully into a ball now that she knew the only one here was Hammerhead.
“Can I stay with you. For a while Penny. To make sure you’re alright?” Hammerhead asked.
“Y-yes please.”
Hammerhead moved a bit closer to Penny and touched her shoulder. Penny slowly crept her way from that position until she was resting the back of her head against Hammerhead’s chest. After a while, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, Hammerhead was absentmindedly stroking her hair, looking down at her.
“Feel any better?”
“A little b-bit,” Penny replied, feeling grateful she’d woken up to see Hammerhead.
“Good. I’ll stay a bit longer but then I have to get back to checking on everyone else.”
Penny nodded, knowing of course she’d have to leave eventually, but still having part of her regret it.
When the time eventually came, Penny handed Hammerhead a small teacup.
“I know it’s a bit. S-silly. But I want you to ha-have it. To remind you of. Me. Thank you Hammerhead. So so much.” Hammerhead nodded, and hugged Penny tightly before walking away, afterwards stiffening up and making sure nobody else saw. Penny walked back into her room after, choosing to hide there for the time being instead of in her memory.
A few days later, she walked out of her room and found something. A knitted bag, carefully color matched to the basket Karen had broke. Penny smiled. Hammerhead sometimes had trouble expressing her emotions, but that was OK. They both knew how they felt about each other, even if it was unsaid.