Work Text:
Hot air from the starship Aurora’s engines blasted up to the top of the room, almost visible, like billowing clouds of smoke, giving the whole place an uncomfortable feeling of dry heat, as if it could blister one’s skin in mere moments, making it an inhospitable place for most of the living (As alive as the mechanisms could be, really) aboard ship, save for one—
– “Shit.” Nastya paced around her small personal corner of the room, a crudely put together fort of wires and sheet metal in which she could reside, her body’s natural chill making it livable, simply for when she had to get away from the rest of the crew. It wasn’t there. She uprooted stringy old knitted blankets, plushies, pillows, gadgets. There was nothing, nothing. “Shit. Shit. Shit..”
She had sworn it should be where it always was.. In her own little part of Aurora, safe from the others’ recklessness and their idiotic tomfoolery… shit. She should have been the only one to know where it was, except for Aurora herself, but even as Nastya called out, her lover did not answer.
Nastya kicked over a piece of sheet metal that posed as a wall in a fit of anger, shouting out something indecipherable over the engine’s roar. She slumped against the actual wall of the room, head in the palm of her hand, loosely tied hair creeping to spill over her downturned head.
***
“She’ll notice it’s gone, won’t she?”
“Of course she will. You would not?”
“Oh quite unlikely! I tend to focus solely on things that actually matter .”
“...”
“Anyhow, ugh.” A piece of metal clattered to the surface of a workbench. “Those ah.. sentimental types are always so awfully hard to steal from, honestly, I’m shocked you even managed to sneak it past her..”
Raphaella la Cognizi’s voice trailed off. She stood in her lab, clad in her proper lab gear and fitted with a pair of thick rubber gloves, handling a plate of metal that seemed to be even more ancient than she was… thought was in quite an admirably good shape for its sheer age, especially for a metal, which didn't tend to preserve so well over such a long time…which was quite the shame…
She figured Cyberian metal must be something special… she’d never really had the chance to handle it, being mechanized much later than some of the others, most of Aurora had already been replaced with their own scraps… perhaps she’d run a few tests on a spare piece when she had a moment, though for the time being, Aurora just seemed to want it repaired. Sigh..! Sigh, sigh, sigh. How unfortunate. Really, this should be a job for Ivy, as an archivist, restoring old junk was perhaps one of the highlights of her job on the ship, but maybe it was good Aurora came to her first, she’d get on her good side, then maybe use some of that good strong Cyberian metal for her own equipment.. Oh, shit.
The starship Aurora’s–er, the portable device Raphaella plugged in to allow her in her laboratory (Typically, she would have her own speakers in most rooms, sometimes a camera, though Raphaella refused to allow the thing to spy on her.) speakers had been letting out a dull, impatient hum, letting the scientist know that she was getting impatient with her faffing about. Ah.. the consequences of a wandering mind. Again, again, again.
“You could’ve said something.” Huffed the scientist, a look of indignation on her face as she whirled around to make eye contact with Aurora’s camera. She put hand on her hip to further get across the point that she was growing ever more frustrated with their uneasy alliance.
The starship Aurora did not respond, though would be rolling her eyes, if she could.
Raphaella refocused, turning the slim metal plate around in her gloved hands. She handled it with precise care, as if she was scared that even the wrong movement could send the ancient thing crumbling to dust, after all, it was something older than she was… not your everyday item. Beneath layers of rust and corrosion, the scientist could just barely make out the shape of Aurora’s logo, a stylized starship, but nothing else. She could assume there was some kind of dark serial number below the vague shape of the logo, but through all its age, it was hard to tell. She hummed to herself, placing the plate on her workbench.
“How… soon do you want this all restored and ready for you? I’d imagine it’ll take some time. This thing is practically scrap, by now.”
“As soon as soon can be.” Said the starship Aurora. “She will go mad looking for it. She has already noticed its absence in my engine room.”
“Oh, how lovely.”
“Well, at the very least, she will not be barging into this room for another mmn… ten seconds or so.”
“What?”
***
It was awfully hard to let whoever’s room you were barging into know you were angry upon arrival on the Aurora. The cold steel doors opened automatically, with a slow, slow hiss, sliding back into their sockets with a metallic thud, giving the person on the other side about five seconds to hide anything incriminating, if they were expecting you.
“How did you know she was here?” The scientist yelped, hiding something behind her back, wrapped in her wings. “I mean. Good Evening Nastya!”
“Aurora,” Nastya entered the lab, not paying any mind to the scientist, only side-eyeing her at the former comment. It reeked of blood. “What are you doing here?” She asked, trying to keep her own voice neutral, though couldn’t help coming across as accusatory– which, to be fair, she was. The engineer could immediately sense the two were up to something.
“Nastya, I am helping the scientist. She was in need of my assistance…”
The scientist interrupted Aurora as she stepped forwards, placing a gloved hand on Nastya’s shoulder, trying to usher her out the door. “None of this concerns you, unfortunately. The Aurora will come find you when she’s done here!” She sounded awfully rushed, trying to get Nastya out as soon as possible.
Nastya huffed, jerking her elbow back and hitting the scientist in the ribs to get her hand off of her shoulder. She squawked, her wings puffing out as she took a step back. “Oh fuck off!”
“Fuck you!” Nastya spat, turning on her heel and storming out (as fast as one could, she still had to wait another few seconds for the lab door to open, an awfully embarrassing moment, as the scientist’s sharp eyes bored into the back of Nastya’s neck.)
Nastya let out an angry noise, her face flushed, embarrassed from her outburst. Still fuming, she paced down Aurora’s halls, heavy steel-toed work boots clanking across the metal floor. She mumbled to herself, deep in thought. Fuck.. it was crystal clear Aurora and the scientist had been up to something together… but how strange ? Aurora had made it clear to her that she did not want anything to do with most of the other Mechanisms, in fact, she had more distaste for them as a whole than Nastya herself. What in god’s name had the scientist done to her Aurora..?
She groaned, turning as she reached one of the doors, that of which belonged to one specific psychiatrist, one specific psychiatrist who opened the door with a hiss before Nastya could even make an effort to herself.
“Oh hello-o-o, princess !” The doctor greeted her with a grin and a wave, big brown eyes sparkling. Nastya’s first instinct to punch him directly between the eyes was successfully resisted, though it took nearly all of her willpower to do so. From the open door, the stench of incense burning hit her like a truck, forcing a sneeze.
“ Von Raum, ” She didn’t want to humor him by calling him a doctor to his face. With people like this, you just couldn’t give them anything. At the very least, la Cognizi was a real scientist.
“Well well well! What brings you to my beautiful, horrible, terrible office of therapy, un-prescription medication, and docting , Nastya? It’s rare I have one of the others come here on purpose… and you of all people! Ahh, this surely is something special! Come, come inside!” The doctor winked and bowed his head, ushering her inside his office with a wave of his arm.
She took a quick look around, the room had a warm, dim lighting and was furnished quite nicely. By all means, it would be quite a comfortable thing, if the wretched psychiatrist was not standing there, grinning at her like an idiot. Tentatively, Nastya stepped forwards, careful with her footfalls as if nervous she’d misstep and fall right into a booby trap–which, by all accounts–would not be that unexpected of a thing to happen, justifying her prudence. She took a seat on the edge of the psychiatrist’s near cartoonishly therapy-esque therapy chair, watching as he sat across from her in his own leather armchair, crossing his legs and pulling a clipboard from behind his back.
“So,” He cleared his throat, pushing dark curls behind his ear to reveal a novelty pen, which he began to take notes with. “What’s the matter, my friend?”
Nastya sighed, head in her hands. God… she couldn’t believe she was actually putting up with this. “It is about the starship Aurora–”
The psychiatrist immediately interjected. “Oh! How scandalous… how intriguing!” He chirped. “An affair, is it? No, no, some kind of fight between the two of you… how sad… an affair with fighting? A violent affair?”
“It–” Nastya groaned, exasperated. “She is hiding something from me, her and the scientist. I came because I know the two of you are… rather close , yes?”
The psychiatrist nodded curtly.
“And you know nothing? She did not tell you of any nefarious plans?”
“Oh not at all, Nastya! Raph doesn't tell me much of anything these days, especially not her nefarious plans.” He sighed wistfully. “Oh she’s always so busy, Nas, and when I inquire oh so courteously about her projects it’s always, ‘no, Marius, stop sticking your fingers in acid,’ ‘oh, god, Marius, what have you done this time,’ ‘Marius, you’re just too charming and handsome to be here in my lab, surely you’ll blow something up with your beauty!’”
Nastya snickered. “Perhaps she is always so busy because she has a real job?”
“Oh I’m so hurt, Nastya.” The psychiatrist glared at her. She laughed once more. “Err, anyways, maybe if… they’re hiding something from you then it’s something for you, right? Maybe… they just need a little time?”
Nastya’s eyes narrowed. “You know something.” She hissed, tensing up.
“No! No, I swear!” He flinched away, a nervous smile breaking out on his face, hands up as if worried Nastya would shoot him at any moment–which she was quite tempted to do. “It– it’s just a lucky– it’s just a guess! Aurora doesn't particularly like any of us… if she and Raph were being cagey about something to you, specifically… I’m just saying…”
She grumbled, rising to her feet. “I’m going back.”
“Agh! Ack! Wait!” The psychiatrist stumbled after Nastya as she turned with a whorl of her coat, storming out. “Nas! Wait! Seriously, just… just give them some ti–”
A deafening crack rang out as Nastya drew her pistol, shooting him directly in the head. The gunshot’s ring died down, leaving her with two different kinds of peace and quiet. She blew a puff of air at her pistol’s muzzle, for dramatic effect.
***
Raphaella hummed thoughtfully, holding the newly restored piece of sheet metal in her hands, admiring her work. She had to applaud herself for her work, it was indeed gorgeous. The metal was lighter in color than she originally assumed it might be, a gleaming silver that caught the light in every beautiful way, reflecting hints of blue and green from the surrounding room (as a mad scientist, Raphaella needed her ominous blue and green glows. You simply can’t be one without them.) She traced her fingers alongside the slight grooves in the metal, making a vague shape around the Aurora’s logo.
“What do you think?”
“Satisfactory.” The starship Aurora loved it. “It seems you have finished right on time, as well. You are quite lucky, scientist.”
“Right on time?” Raphaella sighed. “Don’t tell me she’s going to burst into this r–”
The door to Raphaella’s lab hissed open, light from the outer hallways pouring in, shrouding Nastya Rasputina in darkness, light reflecting off of her rectangular glasses.
“Tell me the truth, scientist,” She stepped forwards, boots clanking across the floor. Raphaella did not make a move. “You’re hiding something from me. You all are, I can tell.” She glared at the small device a few paces away, swiveling her gun from the mockery of Aurora, then to the scientist.
“Awfully ironic to be pointing a gun at an immortal.” Raphaella chuckled, then let out a hacking cough as Nastya sharply pressed her gun into Raphaella’s windpipe, forcing her to stumble backwards, knocking over some tools and papers on her workbench.
One Raphaella recovered from the shock, she disarmed Nastya with one quick motion, wrapping a hand around her wrist and pushing upwards, loosening Nastya’s grip on her gun, allowing it to clatter to the workbench behind her, not letting go even as Nastya cursed and spat. “To tell the truth, yes, Nastya, we have been hiding something from you. It’s…” She paused for a moment, looking to Aurora. “Something from the Aurora and myself, a gift.” Raphaella let go of Nastya’s wrist.
The engineer seemed to calm herself for a moment, before firing up again. “Are you fucking kidding me?” She hissed. “Do you have any idea how many ‘gifts’ I have received from you all? How many times one of you has claimed to do something for me while taking more and more of my Aurora away from me? Do y–”
Aurora cut her off with a light hum, as if to put a soft hand on Nastya’s shoulder.
“Just wait.”
It seemed to work, Nastya, once again, became cognizant of her outburst, immediately drawing back as she watched Raphaella with a careful eye.
Before her, Raphaella held out something she had not seen in its current state in a long, long time.
“Oh..” Nastya reached out her hands, clutching the sheet of metal in her arms. “I.. ah.”
“It was Aurora’s idea,” She said quickly, in case Nastya was upset with it. Instead, Raphaella was met with one of the quickest, most uncomfortable hugs she had ever been subjected to.
“ Thank you, Raphaella.”