Work Text:
Someone came into her lab without her permission. Her eye twitched. They stood there, slack jawed, not even bothering to state why they came here. The anger and fear that clenched her heart at this... intrusion, wasn't normal.
She knew it wasn't normal. Normal people don't dry heave into a bucket because someone tried to talk to them. Normal people don't hide away from others, only coming out to send a wayward Vault Hunter on a quest or deal with Eridian technology.
Some days she's pretty sure she's forgotten how to interact like a normal person.
She's certain she has, actually.
She couldn't stop the involuntary flapping of her hands at her sides, an attempt to self soothe in the face of distress. She could not bring herself to verbalize, her mouth felt like it was held together by glue. The effort it would take to open her mouth let alone form words would be too much for her right now.
They didn't leave. They saw her distress and didn't leave. That familiar mix of anger and pain raised in her chest and she could feel the beginning of tears form at her eyes.
She knew either a shut down or a melt down was coming, and behind all the anger and other silly human emotions, she idly wondered which would happen this time as if it was nothing more than a scientific oddity or a research oppurtunity.
She knew there was a disconnect between her emotions and her logic. The logical part of her knew this was an overreaction, but it could not successfully reign in her emotions.
Sensing her unease, finally, the person left her lab. She let out a haggard breath before rushing over to make sure the door to her lab was properly closed.
Her emotional state was still heightened. She huffed. This wouldn't do at all. It would take hours for her to properly calm down just because one of the idiots aboard Sanctuary came into her lab unannounced.
She paced, shaking her hands every once in a while. She could feel the distress leave her bit by bit before-
She heard a notification come from her echo. She let out a frustrated noise, somewhere between a growl and whine. She grabbed it with more force than needed. She had no time for this, clearing her mind and getting back to her research was far more important!
She stared down at her echo like it had somehow personally wronged her. Her face softened by just a fraction when she saw it was a message from Lilith.
It was about the Vault Hunters having found a new key fragment, and that they'd be over soon to deliver it.
Her frown went away somewhat at this news. Not only did Lilith respect her enough to warn her beforehand, but she was sending her another fragment too! Nothing quite soothed her as much as losing herself in her research.
She awaited the Vault Hunters appearances with a mixture of excitement and dread.
Her eye twitched again as the tall one's feet left dirt on the floor of her lab. Their pet and their teammates were also covered in viscera and dirt. They handed her the fragment, and she grabbed it without hesitation before telling them they could leave.
They were also at least smarter than most aboard Sanctuary, and left right away.
The annoyance left quicker this time, and after a quick shake of her hands, she placed the fragment on the pedestal she had laid out in preparation before grabbing a broom. She needed her space to be clean. The only ones allowed in her lab as she worked were Lilith and- well, she supposed just Lilith.
She got to work on cleaning.
When she was done she finally sat down and began her work, she heaved a sigh of relief. She gazed happily down at the Vault key fragment and thought of Lilith.