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Uzi and N watched from the landing pod chair as V curled up in the nest, letting the pillows and blankets support her. She let out a faint yawn, then within seconds, was out like a light.
The other two drones sighed, partly from relief, partly from exhaustion.
It really had been a long week. Uzi felt uncomfortable having to put up with the tension between N and V, but now that it was all over, she was completely spent. She needed some other distraction; gaming was a bit too much at the moment.
"Did you want to watch a movie? We'll keep it quiet for V," N asked, his voice soft.
Uzi couldn't resist mirroring the fond smile that N donned.
"Sure," Uzi murmured, "I'd like that."
"Okay!"
They were watching a dog movie.
Well, more N than Uzi. He was always invested in that stuff. But Uzi? Even with the colorful moving pictures on the laptop screen, and N's warm arms wrapped around her, she couldn't stop thinking about everything V admitted. There was a lot for Uzi to ponder, and not a lot of it made sense to her.
The movie faded into muffled noise as she lost herself in her thoughts.
A month ago, she would've never considered V to have any sort of emotion. She never showed it, and if she did, it was only ever in glimpses. Uzi chalked it up to weird optical artifacts or something, but as she grew closer to her (or, as close as she could get, really), the more she realized it was really happening. Something was affecting her, making her show genuine hurt behind her nonchalant expression, and she didn't know what it was.
At least, not until now.
"Uzi?" N's voice pulled her out of her mind, which was when she realized she was staring off into space instead of watching the movie. N had paused it, just in case they needed to rewind. Uzi blinked, processor addled from the sudden shift back to reality.
Everything was quiet, except for the soft snoring coming from the nest.
"Huh?" she murmured.
"You weren't watching the movie. Do you not like it?"
"N-no! I mean, y-yes, I like it, it's just..."
N gave her an expectant look. Some nagging part of Uzi didn't want to admit it was about V, but she was way past that point already.
No point lying to him about something so petty.
"...I was thinking about V."
"Oh." He gently leaned his head on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
"How can there not be? She just admitted to wanting to wither away and die!"
"Shhh! Not so loud!" N replied in an urgent whisper.
They both heard a small grumbling noise coming from the nest, capturing their attention. They watched as V stirred, but eventually fell limp again.
Uzi sighed. "Sorry, I'm just– I don't know why she had to wait so long to tell us all that stuff."
N hummed into her shoulder, sending a fuzzy warmth through her chassis. "Yeah, me neither. I was– no, I wasn't mad at her–"
"You've been mad at her the whole time we've been stuck in here, though."
"I know," N sighed, "but I don't really... like being mad at anyone. I think I feel more frustrated for her."
"Yeah, I get that. She's a bit... difficult sometimes."
N made another small noise into her shoulder, this time more melancholic. Uzi could feel it in her tactile sensors more than her emotional processors. At that moment, she remembered the discussion she had with V in the aftermath of her overheating episode, but realized she never brought it up with N.
"You know, just before the storm came in, I talked with V while you were sleeping."
"Oh." N instinctively squeezed Uzi tighter, but without a threat, he loosened up. "What did she say to you?"
"Well, she said sorry, to me of all drones," Uzi smirked, "but I think that's the least important part of what she told me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She hates herself for what she did to me," Uzi said, gesturing to her injured arm, "and I think she believes that we hate her for it."
"But that's not true!" N softly whined. "Do you hate her?"
"No, but that's the thing. She doesn't want us to hate her. I know she doesn't."
"Why would she think we hate her?"
"...I don't know. She also said we're making a mistake by caring about her, which is just... ugh!! So not true!"
"But... why would V say that?" Uzi could see a frown tugging at his face. As much as she wanted to give an answer, she didn't know what to say, so she just shrugged. Their gazes turned to the nest and landed on the drone occupying it.
Heavy silence filled the pod, only interrupted by V's breathing. It wasn't the tense quiet that simmered whenever N was mad at V, but the more uncomfortable type; the one that isolates people with their own, unwanted thoughts. Uzi didn't know which was worse, but she knew she had to break the silence.
"Are you worried, N?"
"About V? I'm always worried, why?"
"I feel like she'll keep hurting herself if she stays distant. She thinks we're better off without her, but I still don't know why she believes that's true."
N hugged her tighter. "I don't know either. I love you, but that doesn't mean I don't want V around," he said while nuzzling into her hair.
Uzi felt her face heat up from his affection and playfully swatted at his face. "S-shut up, dork," she replied, giggling at his antics.
Another bout of silence stretched between them before Uzi spoke up again.
"I feel like I could've done something about it before it got this bad."
"Huh? What do you mean?" N asked.
"I'm not saying she should've starved herself, it's just... I should've checked up on her."
"Are you saying you blame yourself for what happened?" N's expression turned somber. "You didn't know the signs. It couldn't have been your fault."
"Yeah, but I knew something was wrong and I didn't tell you until you said you were scavenging for V. What kind of drone does that?"
N sighed. Uzi knew he didn't have a good answer to that.
"I don't want to blame anyone, Uzi. If it's anyone's fault, it should be mine, because... because I–"
His breath hitched, and something in him burst. "I had all the oil ready for her, and I didn't bother checking up on her either and if I just gave her some she wouldn't have overheated and now your arm is–"
"N, dude, don't beat yourself up about it. We don't need to think about that right now. All that matters is that we're all here," Uzi said, surprising herself with her choice of words.
He was rubbing off on her for sure.
"Thanks, Uzi," N said, wiping away tears that threatened to fall.
"You're welcome," she meekly replied, before gaining back her confidence. "Now, this movie won't watch itself. Can we keep watching?" Uzi asked, having had enough of emotional talk for the night.
If N had ears, Uzi would have seen them perking up right now.
"Oh! Right, I forgot we were doing that, haha."
Uzi leaned further into N's chest as the movie resumed, feeling content in the moment.
Once the credits started rolling, N let out a hushed yawn and looked down at the drone resting in his lap. Uzi was fast asleep. Fair enough, considering the events of the night. A fond smile tugged at his mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair.
Once he turned off the laptop, he shifted his position, allowing him to pick her up gently and carry her over to the nest. But there was a small problem.
V took up quite a bit of space in the nest.
N frowned at that observation, trying to come up with a solution. The chair he sat in was fine, but it wasn't a comfortable spot to sleep in, like V said. They couldn't exactly go outside either due to the electrical storm still raging.
That left no other option.
V did ask for him to wake her up if they had to use it, but it just felt so wrong to do that. Especially after she told them how much and where she recharged. And the more N thought about it, the more appealing it seemed for all of them to be together; to make each other comfortable.
He sighed, and lowered Uzi next to V. It was like putting a puzzle piece into its place; she fit snugly between V's body and the nest's edge. Content with his work, he whispered a quick "goodnight" into Uzi's aurals and placed a kiss on her forehead. He caught a glimpse of the text on V's visor, partially obscured by her hair and dimmed from her terrible charging habits, but clear as day in the darkness of the room:
[SLEEP MODE]
GUILT: ACTIVE
N's core twisted upon reading those words. Oh, V...
It was strange, in a way. Compared to the way V cried in their embrace, it didn't have the same effect as reading those two words under the 'sleep mode' status. Something was hurting her so much that it festered in her sleep.
N didn't know what it was that led her to believe in such a harmful mindset. But one thing was for certain: she wasn't able to deal with it alone.
Deciding that V was in need of comfort, N wrapped his arms around her midsection as he cozied up with her, listening to the quiet snores that filled the room. A warm feeling spread through his circuits, knowing that the two drones he cared about the most were okay, even after all they've been through.
And soon, he joined them in slumber.