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“So, you got your present?” Uzi asked Copper-9’s resident murder drones.
N and Uzi sat across from each other on the floor of the pod, while V was still tied up.
“Yep!” N cheerfully replied. V didn’t bother responding and continued to do what she had been doing for the past fifteen minutes: comfortably sit in her restraints and stare into space. “Though I have to say, I still don’t really get the gist of this “Christmas” thing,” N added.
“You eat good food and get presents. Not much else to it,” Uzi said. “Supposed to be a holiday celebrating Jesus or something.”
“Fascinating,” cooed N. Though he had to wonder, who was Jesus?
“Whatever, let's just open up our gifts!” Uzi told him.
N and Uzi both tore into their wrapping with uncontained eagerness. N gasped when his claw ripped apart the box that contained his first christmas goodie. A mug with the words “Planet's best pilot” imprinted on it, with what looked like the insignia from N’s captain's cap scribbled on with marker.
Uzi became very nervous when N was silent. Should she have gotten him a different gift? Oh gosh, she knew she should’ve gotten him that rubiks cube! Who in the galaxy would like a stupid mug more the christmas gift—
“Uzi, I love it!” N beamed. He traced a digit over the drawn insignia, smirking to himself. Even V who had just now decided to tune into reality found it pretty adorable. Despite her mind telling her body to not, her cheeks lit up with a purple blush that she tried to hide with her beanie. V snickered at this sight while N just smiled.
“Bite me!” Uzi growled at the two, but her words lacked any real heat. Just playful banter. Uzi tossed her beanie at N and folded her arms. “Whatever, lets just move on. Hurry up and open your presents, V.”
Said drone raised her brows in surprise. “Me? I get a present?”
“N got you one.” V glanced at N for this remark, who blushed and looked away, muttering to himself. From behind, Uzi pulled out a yellow box in yellow gift wrapping and slid it to the femme fatales feet. V looked down at the box unamused.
“Not sure if you haven’t noticed or if you're just stupid,” V began, “but hands are tied, remember?”
Uzi was about to retaliate with her own snarky reply till N cut in. “Don’t worry V, I’ll help you.”
N carefully set the gift in her lap and undid the wrapping. V’s eyes widened at the contents. It was…a red scarf, one that she recognized immediately.
“H-how…how did you find this?” V’s voice was wavering as she did her best to pick it up with her bubble blowing hands. N walked over to assist her, putting it around her neck.
“I remember the last time you ever had this being during one of our first hunts. I assume you lost it at that old mining facility up north, cause I just so happened to find it one night while flying through, and have had it ever since. Never found the right time to give it to you,” N replied. V was at a loss for words. It had been years since she’d seen her favourite scarf. She brought it up to her nose (if she even had one) and inhaled deeply. It still had that same smell; motor oil and metal.
N just smiled when V looked at him, not knowing what to say. “Merry Christmas V,” he simply said before plopping back down. V then looked to Uzi, tilting her head slightly.
“Did you get me a present?”
Uzi scoffed. “Nope. Only good drones get presents from me.”
V narrowed her eyes, grumbling to herself, but otherwise couldn’t argue. She and Uzi weren’t exactly close to say the least. She couldn’t blame Uzi for not getting her anything. She would have done the same, if given the chance to participate in the gift giving.
Last but not least, was Uzi. N squealed in delight as Uzi grabbed ahold of his gift he had gotten for her. Uzi didn’t want to be rude or anything, but she was slightly bummed out by how small the box was, but kept her expression neutral as she tore into it. Opening the box, she was taken back by the gifts beauty…
Before a chilling realisation settled on her, followed by a torrent of emotions.
Delicately, she reached out her hands and took hold of the gift, moving so carefully, as if it were going to shatter to pieces at any moment. She cautiously laid it out on the floor for the other two to see. A beautiful necklace made of black metal, and the centre of attention being the purple gemstone that seemed to illuminate in the dimmed light of the pod.
Her mothers necklace.
Uzi whipped her head to N, looking for some kind of explanation as to why he of all drones had it. A flurry of theories flew through her mind, and she liked none of them. She wanted none to be true.
“Why…why do you have this?”
N rubbed his arm, avoiding her gaze. That was not a good sign. Uzi could feel her core run cold. N didn’t see her horrified expression—his stare on the floor—and went on to explain.
“Alright, how do I explain this?...So I’ve been talking to your dad recently, cause who else would know more about what kind of stuff you like than your father? He’s been helping me find a gift for you ever since you explained to me what Christmas was.”
N was with her dad? Uzi hated the way she felt her body tense at the mention. If what she was thinking was true, she didn’t want N anywhere near her father. Despite the inner turmoil, she continued to listen to N talk.
“Your dad let me into your house one day, and I saw one of your photographs while I was in your old room, looking to see what kind of stuff you already had that I could get ideas from—” N said. He flinched at how Uzi shot him a glare at the mention of entering her room, but carried on his story. “—and noticed your mom wearing that necklace. I just so happened to remember that I had a necklace that looked exactly like that stored away, and thought it would be nice to give you something that belonged to your mother…” He trailed away once he looked up and noticed the look Uzi was giving him. She was mortified. Hell, even V was giving N an awkward look and running her hand across her neck as an implication for him to stop talking.
It took him a second to process the situation and what was going on, but his mind got there eventually and he hurriedly waved his hands around in an attempt to diffuse Uzi’s thoughts, But Uzi was faster to the draw, standing up and jabbing a finger in his direction.
“N…were you the one who did it?”
N was taken back. “What?”
“W-was it you who took her away?” Her voice was wavering, her mind clouded by rage and grief. “Answer me, N!”
“O-oh shoot…U-um, look, I know what you're thinking—”
“Then answer me!”
N rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he locked stares with Uzi. “To tell you the truth…” N took a deep breath. “...I can’t guarantee anything. There are so many workers that my squad has killed over the years; it's impossible to remember all their faces.” That didn;t help the situation at all. Uzi’s glare intensified tenfold. N gulped, shuffling back a bit. “A-and besides, I'm the least likely to have done it! I have the lowest body count of everyone in my squad!”
“Then why do you have this, why do you have her necklace?!” Uzi got up into N’s face, snarling at him like a rabid dog. Is this some kind of trophy you took from her corpse? Some kind of token to remember your conquests by?!”
“Why in the galaxy would you even think that, Uzi? Of course not! Just like with V’s scarf, I kind of just…happened to find it while scavenging.”
Uzi’s face softened a tad for a few seconds, before she clenched her fists with seething rage. “You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?”
“It’s not bull, it’s true!”
Just as Uzi’s mood continued to worsen, so did the situation. To neither Uzi’s nor N’s expectation, V stood up and got in the way of the duo, body blocking Uzi when she tried to get closer to N.
“How about you lay off, shorty. You told us Christmas was a time of being jolly or whatever, not going at each other's throats,” she growled. She tried to nip and bite at Uzi, but N stood and grabbed her, holding her back. Before Uzi could respond with a heated argument or question why the female disassembly drone cared, V yanked herself out of N’s grasp and leaned down to Uzi’s height, whispering. “Let's cut to the chase. I know you’re angry, short-pint, but to be frank, I don’t care. But you getting angry at N? That I care about. Either calm down or I put you down,” she threatened. N managed to pull her back, but what she said had already been heard. Uzi’s normal purple tint of her visor was red, showcasing just how angry she was.
“Who the hell do you think you are—” Before Uzi could finish, V groaned with an eyeroll. She honestly didn’t care for anything Uzi had to say.
“I don’t know what you workers like to do to take off stress, but go do it, and do it away from N; go outside or something, gain your bearings, rationalise, maybe watch some of those nerdy cartoon anime things, I dunno,” said V.
With how muddled up her mind was, whatever argument Uzi had died in her throat, and she complied with no complaint. She slowly went out of the pod, one step at a time, hands trembling the entire way. N stood to go after her, but V blocked the doorway, still tied up.
“Do NOT go after her, you nitwit. She probably wants to kill you right now.”
“But—”
“No buts!” V interrupted. “She needs some time to cool off before you even think about checking up on her.” N recoiled at V’s commanding tone, but listened. He sat on the ground, knees to his chest and deep in thought about this whole ordeal.
V just watched, face impassive.
“Is this what Christmas is like?”
——————————
It had been an hour before N had come out to check on his best friend. She was sitting in the snow a few feet away, glowering at the ground. She didn’t need to turn to see who came out, as she easily recognised the sound of his coat flapping in the wind. N stood next to her, awkwardly looking around before taking a seat.
“...Hey,” N greeted.
“Hi…”
The tension was thick. N could till that not all the anger had drained from her system. Maybe he should’ve waited another hour…No! He needed to sort things out with her as soon as possible. One of the few good things he learnt from J was to always take care of things as soon as possible to make sure it doesn’t become a problem in the future. He turned to start profusely apologising for his stupid idea, but was beaten to the punch.
“I’m sorry N, for ruining your first Christmas,” Uzi whispered, just barely audible enough for N to hear. “I was quick to jump the gun when I saw your gift and I just couldn’t stop myself from…accusing you.”
N nodded, scooting a little closer to her. “Don’t worry about it, Uzi. I understand. You lost someone important to you and being near someone who could potentially be the person who killed them is…”
Uzi deadpanned at him. “I really wish you didn’t say that.”
N flinched, but couldn’t stop the smile forming on his face. At least she was looking at him now. And that’s when he noticed the purple necklace of Uzi’s mother hanging on her daughter's neck. It was a really good fit, and suited her very well. Looks like that despite all the fighting, Uzi still liked the gift.
Uzi caught N glancing at the jewellery, and it was at this point in time that she had remembered that she never actually thanked him for the gift. Welp, she was gonna change that. “Thanks for the gift, N,” she said, gauging his reaction, “and I mean it. At least now I can carry some kind of keepsake to remember her by, and not just old photos. Feels like I’m carrying a part of her with me, y’know?”
N smiled, crossing his legs and pushing his hands into his pockets. “I do; I have something like that.” From the depths of his coat, he pulled out an all too familiar piece of office kit. “I keep the pen J gave to me in my coat pocket at all times. Even though she was really mean to me, I’ve spent my whole life with her and V, so to suddenly have her gone…it makes me sad. Holding onto her pen kinda stops the sadness, for a little bit.” N smiled slightly. “And like you said, kind of feels like I have a part of her with me.”
Uzi blankly examined the pen, scoffing a few seconds after. “Guess we’re in the same boat then, huh? I took someone from you, and you potentially took someone from me.”
N was dead silent at that remark. He cast a sad glance at the sky, sighing. “Some Christmas this turned out to be, huh?” He said, playfully jabbing her side with his elbow, expecting some kind of retort like always, but no, Uzi just looked the other way, not willing to humour him. His mood took a quick plummet, and soon both drones were sitting outside in the snow, awkwardly next to each other. It was N who worked up the courage again to speak again.
“For what it’s worth, Uzi, I really hope I wasn’t the one who did it,” he told her. “You're my friend, my best friend, and knowing that I hurt you in any way, shape or form…I don’t know what I’d do.”
Uzi’s face was solemn. The words he spoke were sweet, but the feeling she got when he spoke was nothing but sour. N didn’t notice the way her fingers curled up tightly, clawing at the snow. “Yeah, I hope you weren’t the one who did it either, N.”
“Cause if you are, I don’t know what I’d do to you.”