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It was weird. Being in Hell for so long really changes one’s perspective on things.
V1 hadn’t really thought much about what the surface might’ve been like. Of course, he’s only been there after his creation— and he doesn’t remember much from being up there either. That’s just how it goes.
The surface was bright, somewhat welcoming. There weren’t many people, maybe the occasional passerby, otherwise it was empty. The only other person nearby was Gabriel, and of course he didn’t say much. What was there to say? ‘Well, here it is, goodbye’? That would be awkward.
The both of them were standing under some kind of bus stop, a very remote one at that. They were both glad it was remote— how would people react if they actually took the time to take in what they were seeing? If anyone actually payed attention to them, things might get out of hand.
V1 didn’t really know what to do. It had left hell. What else was there to do? Stay there forever? Hell was fun, in a way. There was almost always something to do. On the surface, where they were currently, it was almost, in a way, boring. The sun would stare at you every day. The nights were especially boring, although peaceful. You couldn’t really do anything in public— a lot of people wouldn’t handle a war machine, and V1 probably couldn’t handle a lot of people.
So, what now?
Gabriel stood in silence. It’s hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time, but right now it was plain obvious— ‘This is boring.’
He had had to make an effort to hide his wings, folding them to try to seem small, as the bus stop had a very limited amount of space. V1, on the other hand, had made no effort to hide himself. Ever since Gabriel brought him to the surface, he’d been staring. Staring, at what, exactly? The horizon. It was a bit pretty— you could spot the moon from here.
Gabriel started tapping his foot impatiently. It seems he has had enough of just standing there.
“Machine, what exactly are you going to do here? We’ve been staying here under this hood for almost an hour. It’s getting ridiculous.”
V1, snapping out of its stupor, looked up at Gabriel. It just stood there for a second, then signed out-
“I’m waiting.”
“Waiting- waiting for WHAT? There is almost NOTHING you could be waiting for! I cannot FATHOM what you might be waiting for-“
He was cut off by V1 elbowing him in the hip- an obvious ‘shut up’.
Gabriel sighed, exasperated. “Fine. Do what you want. Don’t be mad at me when you’re disappointed that nothing happens.”
V1 crosses one of its arms with another. He was a bit annoyed at the fact that they came all the way up here, with Gabriel agreeing to take it, just for him to complain.
…Was this it? Was this really it? Was this the wonderful surface, the place he was made? It was… almost disappointing. V1 didn’t even know himself what he was waiting for. It just wanted an excuse to stay a little longer, to see if anything would catch his eye. Maybe if—
suddenly, his thoughts were cut off. Something… wet was activating its sensors. Something familiar, but unfamiliar. It was cold, and wet, and weird. And then another. And several more of the same feelings were processed.
V1 quickly decided to hide back under the bus stop. Its wings folded down behind himself to maximize space.
He saw the cause of the feeling- water. Water from the sky. A lot of it. Too much to handle. It was strange and unfamiliar.
Yes, V1 could handle water. It has been submerged in water multiple times. But this was new. It was weird, and it was—
“Machine, you look frightened. Did something-“ Gabriel paused. Nothing had happened in the past minute to make V1 as scared as this.
V1 snapped its head to Gabriel. All it muttered out was something along the lines of “What is that.”
Gabriel heard it, despite the soft patter of the water on the roof of the bus stop. “What is- the rain? You’re scared of the rain? Why that’s—“
He started laughing. Why? Because that- V1 being scared of the weather- was the most amusing thing to him, apparently.
V1, noticing his laughter, froze.
“That was a serious question, you-“
It was cut off by another one of Gabriel’s jibes. “Is the rain scaring you, machine? The water, really? That’s- that’s quite stupid! Truly, I—“
He just kept going. It was embarrassing, really. V1 felt its internal workings getting all heated up, mostly from anger, and maybe a bit of shame. If Gabriel wasn’t his only way back anywhere, it would’ve started ending him right here and now.
Then, while Gabriel was making his own remarks at him, V1 thought to themself. Was this really just common knowledge? Is it really that funny? V1, scourge of Hell, afraid of a thing called rain? What even was rain, and how did it work?? Was it worth it, being all afraid?
Gabriel’s remarks were starting to die down as V1 was more in thought than anything. He took a second to trail off, moving his gaze back to the android. Gabriel stood there, taking a minute to just stare at V1, wondering what it was thinking about. Then it clicked.
“Machine- have you.. never seen rain before?”
It was a bit of a shot in the dark, but it was worth making sure.
V1 snapped out of their thoughts. It took a second to register that Gabriel had said anything to them, then responded to him with a short, monotone-
“…No. No I haven’t. At least- I don’t think I have.”
This came as quite a shock to Gabriel. Never seen rain? True rain? It was baffling. However, being a war machine, it.. kind of makes sense.
V1 would pause, thinking it over while Gabriel processed this information. It then felt… embarrassed. Judging by how surprised he was, rain was probably a very common thing. Even more of a hit to V1’s pride.
Gabriel pauses his own thoughts, trying to collect himself. Learning this information was quite a bit to handle. He had run out of remarks to poke at V1 entirely. At this point, he had no other choice but to try to explain to V1 what rain was.
And he went about doing that in the clumsiest way possible.
V1 was broken out of their downward spiral by the feeling of Gabriel tugging on their hand. This was even more unfamiliar, as Gabriel never liked touching them, let alone be near it. Their gaze turned up to him, Gabriel, who was no longer under the bus stop. He was standing out in the rain.
Quickly, he grew impatient, and used his other hand to pull V1 out into the rain.
The feeling was…weird. The rush of the water washing through their senses was new and unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.
“It’s nothing to be afraid of, machine. It… doesn’t hurt. Or anything of the sort.” He muttered out.
V1 stood still, then remembered the grip Gabriel still had on their hands. It didn’t say anything about it, the feeling was almost.. comforting to them.
Gabriel, however, did seem to notice. He made an attempt to pull away, but V1 only tightened their grip. It was if they were afraid what would happen if he let go.
Gabriel froze.
“Machine, is something… wrong?”
V1 didn’t know how to respond, so it just nodded. It was tense, standing in the rain. All of this was new, and it didn’t know how to react.
Gabriel soon caught on to this information. He’s been around V1 enough to understand their body language, even when they won’t say anything. It’s something that happens when you fight something enough— you start to understand them without words. Something like that. He tried convincing himself it was nothing but that.
Both of them just stood there. Together. In the rain.
“..It’s nothing to be afraid of.” Gabriel repeated, softer this time. “Just rain. Just water. It won’t hurt you. And if it does— well-“
He tightened his grip on their hands. He doesn’t really know where he was going with that. V1 made a sound akin to a giggle.
Neither of them knew what was really happening. Really- an angel and a war machine, in the middle of nowhere, holding hands in the rain. It would’ve been very poetic if it weren’t so silly at the moment.
Gabriel unfolds his wings, raising them above V1. It was like a very pretty umbrella, shielding them from the rain.
“…You don’t- I- it would be a shame if you got rusty.” He mumbled.
V1 was fairly waterproof, but they didn’t stop him.
They wouldn’t admit it, but it felt nice being cared for. After all their petty fights, deathly battles, and whatnot— it was nice. Having a moment to themselves. Just Gabriel and V1. No violence. Just them.