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As an angel, it often became difficult to balance the scales of work and play. While tipping it over on one end may seem inconsequential at first, it shows greatly in his performance over time.
Which was how Gabriel found himself on a mandated break. Pitiful, he was aware. The heavy weight of shame served him company on the train ride home. When he stood up and walked out the platform, he practiced the explanation to his machine in his mind.
It is nothing, machine, he tested, It is simply that I am a fool and a risk of integrity.
No. That is dumb.
He pressed the button of the elevator, and the Smile O.S logo lit up in the menu’s corner. The sound of gears turning couldn't take his mind off things enough as he ascended, and he ended up inserting the keys with a sigh.
Hello, V1. You are always correct, and I am an overworking idiot. Please, spare the glares this time…
As one hand clutched the door handle, the other pinched at either side of the golden cross on his helmet, preparing himself.
He opened it, and it was a resounding… silence. Which meant V1 wasn't around. He stepped forward, refinding his footing, and–
The machine crashed into him from his right, just where the door hid the interior of the apartment. What he noticed, alongside the blunt impact, was the wetness covering him.
He staggered, catching himself at the last moment.
“Damnit, machine, could you not’ve waited for me to make dinner?” He looked down at his dress shirt. “I… that… I…”
As his brain kept on turning up empty, he averted his gaze up, and saw V1. It was standing there, covered in blood. A bloody trail was painted from the kitchen to where it stood.
And now, he was covered in its leftovers, as well.
V1 dashed to his side, beeping rapidly, and trying to rid him of the mess. It attempted to wipe away the blood on his dress-shirt’s pocket, but ended up smudging it further. Gabriel's hand covered its own, which caused it to look up at his face, finally.
“It's alright. I was just… looking forward to not having to do laundry again anytime soon.” He tried making them giggle mechanically with or at him, because anything would work, but its light only narrowed in response. “I’m not mad. But… we both seriously need a clean.
But, uh, first, I need to drop off groceries.”
V1 grabbed the plastic bags and helped carry them over to the kitchen, as if it was a monumental task, and not any more than ten steps. Still, it didn't make the machine feel any better, as Gabriel still had to stop it from hugging him from the back.
He tried explaining how it would just get blood all over both of them and ruin even more of his good clothes, but it still gave him the same look with its optical lens, and the kitchen's lights hit it in just the way where it looked like it was going to burst out crying.
But, after scrubbing his hands about a thousand times, he transferred all of the groceries into the fridge. V1 practically beamed as he turned to face it again.
“Alright. We're going to go cleaned up now, and this better last a bit…”
First, they arrived in the bathroom. Second, Gabriel removed his dirty clothes. (He heard a piece of V1’s program announce its cooling system needing to be turned on when he was fully naked, but he had learned to not call attention to it. Because when he did, it'd just return the favor when his heartbeat spiked.) Third, V1 readied the tub.
Fourth, Gabriel dumped the clothes into a washer. While he wasn't an expert at laundry, he'd managed to find a detergent that worked perfectly for removing blood stains and it made his job a whole lot easier. All the while V1 would be playing a little chirpy tune as the tub filled up.
Finally, after starting the washer, he walked back to the tub. V1 was already cozied up on the water, playing with a small maurice shaped bath toy. (...Which was just a rock it was particularly fond of.)
He dipped his finger in, and adjusted the temperature to his liking. The machine, due to its nature, didn't care for any of the temperatures around the apartment, and it didn't start at that. So, he sat down, and V1 immediately cuddled up to his side.
Looking over at it, Gabriel went stiff. It wasn't that he wasn't used to physical affection -- which, don't get him wrong, he wasn't -- it was just how painfully its sharp edges dug into him. They were polished enough to not break skin, but they still pressed into his bone. And the worst part was that he couldn't pull away because he loved it too much.
So, he petted V1’s head, and grabbed the showerhead sitting beside it. He connected it back to its stand, and grabbed the bodywash.
Lathering it over himself was the easy part; the hard part was not bumping into V1 while it was applying dish soap all over itself. The smell of it was obnoxious, so much so it pierced through his helmet and broke into his head.
Note to self: buy better smelling dish soap.
And then it was V1’s favorite part: basking under the showerhead as Gabriel washed it off. If Gabriel was more familiar with their little Kitr, he would probably connect the loudness of their fans to how a cat purrs. But alas, he just found it adorable.
Then came its turn to wash him. Admittedly, he was a little less fond of that part. V1, again, due to its plating, didn't compute that shoving a showerhead into one's own body hurts. Meanwhile, Gabriel had to deal with nearly invisible bruises. But, he knew it'd understand.
“Can you be… a little more gentle? It is painful to have a metal object, albeit a smooth one, shoved into you.”
He searched in its optical lens for an answer. It turned out that he didn't have to search that hard, as it just plainly nodded.
Oh. That was easier than I thought.
“And, on that note, could you not leave the itchy scrub beside me? My skin is soft, and that hurts too.” He was about to add how that might scratch its surface, but it nodded again. Huh.
It was… surprisingly easy. Well, not surprisingly exactly; he knew V1 cared. It was just… odd to have a reciprocal relationship like that.
Every single other one in his life was professional or involved one of the participants being high up on a pedestal in the other's mind. It was never as balanced and frankly grounded as theirs was.
Gabriel was too deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice V1 just putting its head atop his chest. No, what snapped him out was it taking his hand.
He sat with that feeling, that mutual respect and acceptance, for a moment. He closed his eyes. He felt his heartbeat slow down, and then speed up at that, and then go even faster when he realized V1 could probably feel it skyrocketing.
He exhaled, softly. “I love you.”
And V1 didn't need to say it back, because it was embedded into its programming. And he didn't need to hear it say it back, because he memorized it like scripture.