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“Ugh. I guess I had it coming.”
V2 looks over from the old magazine they were reading. Mirage is in front of the mirror with her jeans unbuttoned, lifting her shirt with a tired, almost uncomfortable expression. She doesn’t look like she’s undressing—she’s just frozen.
Walking over, V2 says, “What are you doing?”
“Looking at my stomach. I gained some weight,” she says, her voice carrying a tinge of disappointment.
Another inexplicable thing only Mirage can do. V2 leans to peek at the mirror—she did gain some weight. Not an unhealthy amount, it's just... there. They’ve heard humans chatting with each other about recently gaining or losing weight, but it’s a toss-up whether they talk of it as a good or bad thing.
“Is that a bad thing?”
Mirage pauses. “Not inherently.”
“After you came along, deciding to make sure I’m keeping a ‘healthy lifestyle’ and all that,” she jokes before lowering her voice, “I was waiting for it to happen.”
She continues under her breath, “and I know I needed it. It’s just… disappointing. Why is it still so disappointing?”
It looks at her, then back to the mirror. She’s in the middle of buttoning her jeans back up again.
“Wait,” it says. “Go back to that pose you were doing.”
Mirage, despite narrowing a suspicious eye, complies without saying a word.
It looks at her chest. Her shirt is shyly lifted just enough to show a hint of those dimmed yellow lights accentuating her chest—the slight wear matching the little flecks of chipped-off paint on her chassis. They always liked those little imperfections on each other.
The shape of her stomach is new, though. V2 likes the new slight pudginess of it, covering the waistband of her boxers that barely peek out from under her jeans. It's like nothing they've seen in a machine before and it makes them just want to reach out and hold it.
Mirage’s voice snaps them out of their daze. “Staring is rude, you know.”
“Hm? Sorry.” It would keep gawking at her, but it doesn't want to irritate her. Instead, it walks behind her, wrapping its arm around her waist and resting its head on her shoulderーsomething Mirage has casually done with them a few times now.
Continuing their train of thought, they can’t say they’ve ever seen a machine like her.
She looks… new. Healthier. Unusually soft.
V2 can't stop itself from saying, "I think it’s beautiful."
Mirage freezes for a moment before reaching to lock her fingers with theirs. “So that’s why you were staring.” With a smile in her voice, she says, “go on.”
“You want to hear compliments, huh? I feel it just sits nicely on you.” It idly traces a finger against the side of her waist. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Mm. Sounds like you like it. I’m glad. Feels a bit better knowing you do.”
With a soft sigh, she leans her head against theirs. “Guess I’ll try to treat myself a little kinder. Thanks, Red.”
V2 mumbles out something fuzzy with static that’s supposed to sound like “you’re welcome.” They’ll just be staying here for a while.