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It’s not an easy thing to see the person you care for almost die. It’s petrifying just to imagine the idea that one day they’ll be gone. V’s had her fair share of death, she’s looked it right in the eye countless times. She’s died more times than she can remember, but only one death ever mattered. Her body can be ripped apart until she’s unsalvageable and she’d come back like nothing happened. It’s a curse to bear. But this curse can be put to her advantage, she’ll let herself be stripped to the bone over and over as long as she can protect who she loves.
She’s gotten used to the way things have been. For months, the only person she cared about could easily regenerate just like her. She’s seen him die just as much as she’s experienced it and, just like her, he always comes back as perfect as before. That’s how it always is. They’re stuck in life and death with no escape. So, why did she have to get close to a worker? She knew the disadvantages workers had, yet she still let herself be vulnerable.
And for what? What is it about this drone… this girl… that is so alluring to V? Why does V crave this connection so deeply? It was terrifying when she saw that symbol engulfed around Lizzy’s neck. It was terrifying knowing that if V was just a second late, the closest person to her would’ve been dead. Forever. There would be no bouncing back, there would be no regeneration, there would’ve been no second chance. The true fragility of a worker drone was deeply scary.
It was so easy to tear through that silicone flesh. So easy to make that oil drip. So easy and so tantalizing. V knew this relationship was forbidden in every sense of the word, but it’s even worse when she has such a vast urge to keep her safe. She wasn’t programmed to protect, she’s a weapon. Her only purpose is to kill. Yet there’s something about that girl that practically forces her to rebel. She could never lay a claw on Lizzy’s beautiful metal and that’s why she has to keep her safe from a distance.
All V’s ever known is violence and despair, there could be nothing out of this relationship except the one thing V is afraid of. The one thing she never thought she’d be afraid of.
V walks alongside Lizzy through the forest, N and Uzi just ahead of them. They had all just got done dealing with a very emotional and aggressive Uzi, so the quiet night greeting them was a pleasure. They knew they all had to get ready to go back to the bunker soon so Uzi and N were in a hurry compared to the pace Lizzy and V were at. Lizzy was tapping away at her phone doing whoever knows what while V was making sure she didn’t bump into a tree or trip over anything. She did her best to be discreet that she was looking after Lizzy’s wellbeing, but something told her she wasn’t doing a good job.
V had been incredibly antsy ever since Uzi had almost killed her. V thought, and prayed, Lizzy didn’t notice but… she did. Lizzy was much more observant than others gave her credit for. She could see the difference in V’s body language alone. She was sticking closer to Lizzy than normal and Lizzy managed to notice the small glances V gave her. It got to a point where it was both annoying, endearing, and concerning. Lizzy was debating bringing it up when V’s tail wrapped around her waist.
In actuality, Lizzy didn’t mind V being clingy. Mostly. But her tail was becoming a problem with how easily V could accidentally stab her. It was… sweet? But it was hard to tell if this was predatory behavior or something. Mostly because Lizzy doesn’t actually know how to identify that. She looked ahead to the other two in front of them to examine their behaviors with one another. Lizzy was able to tell when drones liked each other and these two were more obvious than kindergarteners.
N and Uzi were very close with one another as they walked, but not in the same way V was. V was practically skin on skin with Lizzy while N and Uzi were only close. They did bump into each other a few times but that was all. She couldn’t care enough to pay attention to what they were actually saying but she did notice how N’s tail was wrapped around Uzi’s leg, similar to V, and even Uzi debated holding N’s hand with the way she kept lightly reaching her hand out. At least, that’s how it looked to Lizzy.
She believed this was enough to settle on questioning V. When Lizzy turned her head to V, V’s tail tightened around her. It actually startled Lizzy a little and she could feel herself getting somewhat freaked out, possibly due to natural instincts. In any other timeline, V would be slaughtering Lizzy right now. It’s normal to be a little scared of your murderous bestie.
“V.” Lizzy spoke up, her hand coming up to hold at the jacket of her tail, “You gonna let go? I’m fine if you wanna get all affectionate, or whatever, but this is a bit tight.”
V’s eyes widened and she quickly unwrapped her tail, grabbed it with her hand, and pulled it closer to herself out of embarrassment, “Must’ve been subconscious! That didn’t happen, got it?”
“Um… ok?” Lizzy raised an eyebrow, the relief hit her pleasantly.
V was planning on staying quiet but she couldn’t help herself, so she looked off to the side and garnered up the courage, “So Lizzy, I was wondering…”
Lizzy looked away from V but made it obvious she was still paying attention, that allowed V to continue, “No. I mean… I wanted to see if…? Ugh.”
“Spit it out, V. You’re good.”
“It’s good to see you’re ok.”
That furthered Lizzy’s confusion. She put her hands to her waist and halted her footsteps, V followed suit immediately. They looked at each other for a few seconds in silence. V was wondering whether or not she should’ve said that while Lizzy was surprised at this weird display.
“It’s good to see I’m okay ? What are you talking about?” Lizzy huffed in amusement.
V looked at Lizzy with an expression of disbelief, “You almost died today.”
“Oh.” It clicked. “You mean the whole mini genocide with gothic vertically challenged over there. Yeah, cool. Thanks, V.”
“How are you so calm about this?” V stepped closer to Lizzy, coming off as more aggressive than worried, “You shouldn’t treat this like an everyday event.”
“At this point, it might as well be. So much freakish crap happens here, it’s not even surprising anymore.” Lizzy brought her hand up to scratch an itch behind her head that technically wasn’t there, “Don’t worry about it, V. You’re so weirdly on edge today.”
“Uh, yeah?” V scoffed harshly, throwing her hands up offensively, “Sorry for finding it odd that you don’t care that you almost DIED.”
“Drones die all of the time at the colony. Let’s be real, nothing would’ve changed if I did too.”
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter!” V grabbed Lizzy’s shoulders and lowly growled.
Lizzy’s eyes widened from shock and she tensed up. V unintentionally dug her fingers hard into Lizzy’s skin, her worry coming off as something else. This weird lash-out was exactly what V was afraid of. Once Lizzy’s scared expression registered in V’s processors, her face softened and she backed off of Lizzy. Her hands were pressed against her chest, making sure she didn’t touch Lizzy like that again.
V couldn’t read Lizzy’s face now. She couldn’t tell if she just scared off the one person she had. V glanced over to where N and Uzi should’ve been, but they were long gone. It seems they were too indulged in their personal conversation to notice Lizzy and V had stopped following. She looked back to Lizzy and noticed how she was avoiding eye contact. This was never a good sign.
Lizzy understood what V was. She understood that willingly being close to something that her kind considered a “monster” wasn’t a smart idea, it was a one way ticket to killing yourself. But V made Lizzy feel alive. Ever since V came into her life, she’s got to experience so many new things she never had before. Lizzy never realized just how isolated everybody is because they’re constantly stuck in that god-forsaken bunker out of fear. This relationship was something Lizzy needed, something she wanted. She wasn’t surprised at V’s strength when she initially grabbed her, more so surprised that she really thought V was about to harm her.
She knew V very well. If V wanted to kill her, she would’ve done so already. But even robots can’t fight instinct.
“I’m sorry.” V mumbled, breaking Lizzy out of her thoughts.
Lizzy looked at V with a soft expression and sighed, “Yeah, okay. It’s fine. You didn’t hurt me.”
“I could’ve. ” V held herself, not shying away from showing Lizzy her vulnerable side. That was weird. Yet nice. But very weird.
“Yeah and you didn’t.” Lizzy got closer to her and patted her back, “Come on, knowing my dad he’s not gonna wait up for us. I don’t wanna be out in the cold forever.”
Lizzy gave her a genuine smile, probably the first genuine smile V’s seen out of her yet. This was enough to relax her and they were back to walking along the snowy path together. Lizzy’s hand was holding V’s waist and that made them both feel much more content than they were previously. Everything about this relationship was weird but maybe that was okay. It’s not like anything about the way they live is normal. They had each other and maybe it was time to accept that it’s not as taboo as they thought.
“So much for not saving me, huh?” Lizzy teased, smirking at V.
V pushed Lizzy away as a reaction to her embarrassment and spread her wings out, “Shut up!”
“Hey, wait!” Lizzy called out to V, who had already shot off into the air. Lizzy watched her in the sky and her emotions were at a conflict of annoyance and fondness, “Great.”