Chapter Text
She wakes up with a start, gasping for a breath she doesn't need. Claws dig holes into her blanket, ripping through so thoroughly she scratches against her legs. Her whole body heaves with a sob she can't release properly.
"Uzi?"
Her door bursts open with all the might a magical, three inch tall drone core can manage. Which is to say, it is flung off it's hinges.
Still, it does little to stifle the sobs that ring through Uzi's chest.
Her mother flings herself onto Uzi's bed. Claws reach up to gently cup her cheeks, trying their hardest to rub gentle circles but not really making the cut due to their mobility. Trying to wipe away the digital tears do nothing — and even if it did, more would just take their place.
"Oh, Hun," Nori's voice seems as quiet as she can make it. She coos and chirps, calming noises that seem to go in one processor and put the other without registration. "Wanna tell me what it was about?"
Uzi curls. Her knees pull up, pressing up against her chest as Nori maneuvers herself around to not get crushed. Wings wrap around her small frame, cocooning her and Nori. Uzi's tail — the Absolute Solver — lays itself on top of her head; Uzi can feel the way it speaks, mouth opening and closing, but she doesn't hear the words. Uzi just knows that whatever it's saying isn't to make her feel better though, probably worse. It's a good thing she can't hear it over the way her core is thundering from within her.
"Uzi?" Nori calls out again.
Uzi forces her head to be buried between her legs even further. "Just a-a stupid nightmare." Her whole body seems to tremble as she recalls exactly what it had been about.
"Wanna talk about it?" One of Nori's claws disappear past Uzi's wings, flicking away the tail.
"Rude."
Uzi shrugs. "You know! Just the same it always is," A weak laugh fires out of her voice box. She falls quiet, "just, killing those that I care about. Not that I…care- about others."
"You know," Nori starts, pushing herself closer in a way that forces Uzi to lift her head up, "I used to have nightmares too. About the same thing you are now." Nori draws in a useless breath — voice box squeaking slightly because of the noise. "When you were younger, I would have nightmares- about hurting you, hurting your dad. You know what helped the most?"
"What?" Uzi bites out; torn between wanting the answer and wanting Nori to just leave her alone.
"Being with those I thought I hurt."
Uzi stares with hollowed eyes. It's not long until a frown over takes her face, which easily prompts her to bury it once more.
"Khan," Nori calls out — Uzi's father, who has apparently been watching this whole thing, "go get N, will ya? Think Uzi could use some cuddles from him."
"What! No, I don't!" Uzi unfurls, throwing Nori off of the bed as she does so.
Her hands grip the end of her bed, no other movement made to stop her dad from running away. She could catch up to him, if she wanted to. Her wings would propel her forward, give her enough speed that she'd be able to stop him. He doesn't even run that fast.
It's as if she's been glued to the edge of her bed though. Hollowed eyes watching as he disappears from view. They flicker back to Nori once, or twice.
Uzi doesn't realise how much time passes until N is — quite literally — flying through the door. He slams into her with a force that throws her up against her headboard, head banging against the metal. His hands hold onto her face, yellow eyes hollowed with concern.
"Uzi! Your dad said you needed me? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" With every single word, N turns her around. More than likely searching for wounds he will not find.
Uzi bags his hands away — and when that doesn't work, she holds onto them tightly, keeping them in between the two of them. Absentmindedly, she notes that Nori has left the bed and Khan is not in the doorway.
"I'm fine," Uzi stresses, rolling her eyes. Still, when she lets go of N's hands, she pulls him forward. Her head rests on his chest, her audio processor able to catch the way his bio-mechanical core beats similar to a human heart. "It was- I just had a stupid nightmare s'all."
N pulls her even closer, settling her into his lap. His wings wrap around her, his tail acting like a tie to their little cocoon. Her own wings fold in, the Absolute Solver falling quiet — although that might be because N has quite literally tied his tail around its mouth. N's head falls on top of Uzi's, soft rumbles leaking from his voice box.
"Oh, Uzi," N softly drags out. His hands rub gentle circles on her back, right below where her wings protrude. "Do you- do you wanna talk about it?"
Uzi sniffles. Not that it really does anything, since — as a drone — she doesn't really have a nose. "Not- not really."
"It might help?"
"I know! I just-" She huffs, squirming about until she feels as though she's even closer to N. Tears well up in the corner of her visor. "I killed you, N." Her words are quiet, barely there.
"I mean, you have shot my head off-" N stops, a sheepish laugh echoing through him as he notices the look Uzi sends him. "Right, yeah, not helping. But, hey! I'm still alive! It takes a lot to kill me."
"And it's gotten close so many times."
"But now there's nothing that can kill us. We killed it first! You literally ate it, Uzi!"
A weak laugh comes from her. "Yeah, I did. Didn't I?"
"See? Now the most that Absolute Failure can do is tell lies and mock us because it's stuck as your tail." He gives her a small smile. "So, like, unless you want to kill me-"
"I don't!" Uzi says swiftly.
"There we go then. I'm not dying any time soon! Uh- no offense to every other worker drone but I don't think-"
Uzi snorts with a shake of her head. "Yeah, no, we're pretty hard to kill."
"Well then!" N falls, hidden the bed with the soft thump. Uzi comes with, a half-hearted scream falling from her processor. "With that decided, how about we head back to sleep? We do have to get up for school in," He grimaces, "two hours."
Uzi wiggles, getting herself comfortable. "Plenty of time for cuddles." She freezes for a moment. "For you, obviously."
N huffs out a laugh. "Obviously."