Archive of Our Own

A knock on her door in the dead of the night. 

“May I enter?”

“Right now?”     Bibi groaned, flipping on the light, as all 6 feet of her flatmate crept into her room. Sleep weighed down on her bones, but she sat up regardless, smiling as best she could to welcome her in. The bright light hurt her eyes.

“Don’t you have work?”

“..Yes.”

Tara sat down at the foot of her bed, crossing her legs. She looked conflicted. Bibi wondered if it was about Rico. Or maybe Piper. Both very likely possibilities. Or, it could just be because Tara wanted to cuddle. Also a likely possibility. Tara’s voice box fizzled, making the scratchy sound it always did to indicate the start of a sentence. Perhaps a technological failure? It wasn’t particularly grating, and Bibi didn’t mind. In fact, it was pretty cute...

“Apologies. I seem to have forgotten why I came.”

Tara seemed to stare into her soul, but Bibi no longer felt the discomfort she would’ve a month ago. Tara was just.. Like this, she supposed. She didn’t mind. Everyone had their quirks. Bibi tipped her head, waiting for her to continue.

“Perhaps it's just loneliness..”

Tara let the sentence trail off, staring hopefully at her. Bibi laughed, rolling over in her bed, giving up a space in her bed for her flatmate to lay in.

“Fine. Okayyy.”

Tara flopped down beside her, pressing into her side. Bibi’s face warmed, but she simply coughed and looked away. They laid in silence for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence.

“You know, Tara. You could just sleep here with me. Instead of waking me up in the middle of the night.”

“I know. But.”

The disjointed voice being played so close to her ear made Bibi shiver. She never particularly liked robots. After all, they were the main source of law, order, and discipline in the lower levels.. But knowing that the form pressed against her was wholly human comforted her. Sure, she knew that not all robots were the same. Rico was living (?) proof of that. But it was difficult for her to let go of her.. Prejudices. Bibi waited a few more moments in case Tara felt like finishing her sentence, but by the way her artificial voice generator stopped buzzing with activity, she could tell that Tara wasn’t even going to try.

“You know. Okay, you big nerd. Go to sleep.”

She was, frankly, not in the mood for any shenanigans, especially not at.. What time was it? She hadn’t thought to check. Tara’s voice generator began to hum again.

“Can’t. Not tired.”

“But I’m tired.”

Tara wrapped warm hands around her waist, face pressed into her hair. Warm breaths tickled the back of her neck.

“Take off your voice box. I don’t want to hear your dreams, dummy.”

The sound of metal clicking against plastic signalled Tara dropping her expensive gadget to the ground. Clumsy ass. Bibi snorted as she squeezed her eyes shut. Tara’s scratchy breaths comforted her, and despite her complaining, Bibi appreciated her presence. The light bled through her eyelids, however, and much to her chagrin, she found herself having to make another request.

“Can you turn out the light?”

Her insistence on the voice box’s removal had the added benefit of removing Tara’s ability to talk back. All she could do was obey her demand, shrouding the room in black again. Even so, the dark of the night and her limited communication ability did very little to hinder Tara’s ability to bother her. Bibi tried to ignore the feeling of hands creeping slowly up her sides, but the light touches made her squirm.

“T-Tara, don’t you dare-”

Now fixed on her target, Tara’s fingers dug into her skin, jabbing into her sides as she began to tickle her. Caught off guard, Bibi burst out into laughter. She attempted to wriggle out of her grasp, but Tara held her tight, leaving her helpless.

“S-stop, p-please-”     She’d managed to choke out in between gasps for breath. To which Tara obliged, releasing her death grip on Bibi’s hips, chest rumbling in amusement.

“O-okay. Okay. You win. Please, I surrender-”

Bibi managed to choke out, still giggling. Now fully awoken, she realized she should've felt grumpy. But she never could stay mad at Tara for long. Rolling over so her face was pressed to the underside of Tara’s chin, Bibi hooked her arms around her waist, holding her in an embrace.

“I’ll stay up for you. G-geez.”

Tara seemed happy with that, chest vibrating as she hummed happily. Her raspy breathing seemed to shake the entire room, but Bibi relaxed, letting herself sink into Tara’s arms.

“You sound like a hovercraft..”

Tara seemed to appreciate that sentiment, or at least regard it with amusement. Bibi focused on her heartbeat, allowing her hand to drape over Tara’s back.

“I’ll be here for you. If you ever need me. Preferably not.. in the dead of the night. But if that’s what you need..”

The sound of Tara’s heart beating softly began to lull her back to sleep.

“I.. I like you a lot.”

The arms around her shoulders tensed, and Bibi hoped that wasn’t the wrong thing to say. She tried to continue; maybe the sleep deprivation would reduce her inhibitions.

“I.. Love you, maybe. If that’s alright with you. I mean. It’s hard to tell. I don’t know what we are. Maybe we’re taking things too fast. I. Shouldn’t have made you drop the voice box, h-hah. This is a conversation we need to be having together! Y-yeah, I’ll wait until tomorrow-”

Tara pressed a kiss to her forehead, cutting her off.

“Fair. Yeah. Friends don’t.. They don’t do this, do they?”

A hum indicating a negative. Bibi laughed softly, feeling her face grow redder by the minute.

“Ok. That’s fair, I guess.”

Worry ate at her, but it was.. Fine, wasn’t it? She trusted Tara. Tara.. Tara had been with her through thick and thin. Tara wasn’t going to abandon her anytime soon. Bibi raised her head up, squeezing her eyes shut, leaning forward. Her lips found Tara’s.

“I love you.”