Work Text:
The quiet of Outpost 3 was pleasant. Peaceful. Tranquil. Unbreakable.
All the workers within the colony ended their work shifts an hour ago and went to power off for the day, and prepare for the dawn of a new one. It was heaven for the night owls inside the bunker who wished for no disturbance all day.
That included 2 drones who resided in Uzi's room.
"You missed a spot on feather 5, Uz."
"Oh, yeah, darn..."
Uzi, holding a damp cloth, with pieces of balled-up aluminum foil next to her for any particularly stubborn and sticky muck, as well as a bucket to her side - filled to the brim with a mixture of dish soap and warm water, now seen with some filth collecting on the surface with each dip of the cloth into it - for assistance, decided to spend her free time helping V with cleaning her wings that had endured multiple months of slicing up drones and being exposed to blizzards and impurities.
Now that V enjoyed a quieter life inside the bunker, all of the above no longer covered a significant portion of her day, and it was about high time they received a good cleanse, and Uzi was very much willing to be the one to do it for her. She was the one who called them "frickin' gross" just to ask immediately after if she could assist with them, after all.
She was facing V's back on the couch as she calmly went through the feathers one by one, only stopping once there wasn't a micrometer of grime on every individual one. It was a bit of an awkward squeeze, but V managed to deploy all of them and keep them within Uzi's range at a good angle.
V, meanwhile, was reading a book, the cover displaying its name: "Learn with a Learnosaurus". It contained random, scattered facts about all kinds and sorts of raptors, reptiles, and dinosaurs. On the armrest of the couch was a warm cup of oil V had warmed up before Uzi began the job. She had also made sure to warm one up for Uzi, but it was all downed by Uzi within 20 seconds and before she even got started at all.
V was wearing big, round glasses that gave her an adorable look as she read with mild curiosity. They had been gifted to her by Uzi, and still remained her most prized, beloved and gifted possession. She almost got paranoid a lot of the time about making sure they never broke, fell, or got even slightly fractured. She would eternally beat herself up if something so special was ruined or dented in any way.
"Y'know you didn't have to do this at all," V started, still going through the book and making light conversation.
"You kidding??" Uzi immediately replied, "Dude, this is kind of exactly what I'd like to do today, for the record."
"Just saying you seemed very eager," V commented.
"B-Bite me!" Uzi playfully retorted, "They're really cool, y'know. Your wings. I just have no clue how you let stuff collect on them for this long."
"I can't exactly reach from here," V nonchalantly replied.
"W-Well- Ok, yeah, true," Uzi admitted, "They were made to be graced by me, after all!" she added, quietly cackling to herself as she rubbed a foil ball against a very unrelenting oil stain.
"Whatever floats your boat, Uz," V said, rolling her eyes with a light smile, unseen by Uzi. V did hear her giggle from behind, however.
She couldn't help the mild blush on her visor at it, before she shook her head.
Uzi interpreted her action differently.
"Sleepy?" Uzi teased.
"N-Nah," V replied.
V flipped to the next page, despite not quiet getting to finish reading about the distinctions of a Pteranodon.
Whew, this book's reaaal interesting, she hurriedly told herself.
...
Velociraptors?
"Woah..." V said in wonder.
"Whuh?" Uzi inquired.
"Dude, this one looks like Sparky!" V said, restrained excitement overtaking her.
V slowly turned around to show the page to Uzi, the dinosaur on display on it, standing proudly.
"Woah! You should show that to it!" Uzi said with glee.
"If only it could understand..." V sighed, returning back to her original position.
...
"Y'know, V, I've never heard you say 'dude' until now," Uzi pointed out.
"Uhh, whatdoyoumean?" V replied with relative haste.
"And I tend to say it a lot, soo..." Uzi continued, smirking.
"Nope. Means nothing." V interrupted, her blush, again, unseen by Uzi.
"Whatever floats your boat," Uzi replied, broadly grinning.
"Sh-Shut!"
Both girls laughed, before both going back to their routines.
Uzi was now almost done with the left side, all the feathers she had wiped now brimming, stainless, and brand new.
"Ooo, Uzi, this guy's really cool," V said, signaling for Uzi to peer over V's shoulder and look at the Kosmoceratop that was displayed on page 73, which she did.
"Oh, hell yeaaaah, it kinda looks like it got a really bad haircut, or something," Uzi commented.
"Those are a lot of horns sprouting from its head," V pointed at the figure.
"Oh, yeah!" Uzi further leaned in and over V's shoulder to point at each individual one and count, but in doing so, had to lean on the piece connecting V's wings to her back and into her internals.
Uzi felt a horrible flinch from V, and it felt like it happened in a flash.
A couple of the feathers on V's wings awfully retched as they retreated, and in the process, cut relatively deep into Uzi's arm.
Uzi immediately retreated, her eyes hollowed out, holding her arm and wincing in pain.
"Shit, shit, owowow!"
V's back was arched to an unimaginable degree, before she suddenly seemed to snap out of some trance, reeling around.
"Uzi! Oh, robo-god, I'm sorry I'msorry I'msorry!" V, her eyes also hollow, looked at Uzi and gently held her with an unusual amount of concern.
"V, I-I'm fine, it's just a cut-" Uzi, started, but was interrupted.
"I-I, uhh, okayjuststaystill!" V outstretcheed Uzi's arm, looking at the cut her feathers created, before she...
Began licking at the wound.
A blinding blush took over Uzi's visor as V performed the little ritual, wondering why on Copper-9 V was doing all of this. It really was just a cut...
...
And, above all, she was beyond flustered by the situation she found herself in.
She glanced up at V as she worked. She was sat on her knees, holding Uzi's arm with extreme care, like it was a legendary artifact that would get factured if it moved an inch beyond its capabilities. Her wings, still deployed, were capable of enveloping them both into a makeshift cocoon of sorts, and into a warm embrace. Her silver hair and five bulbs on her headband glowed brightly inside of the relatively dim room as her round glasses, passed from Uzi to her, made Uzi heat up and skip multiple core cycles.
...
WHY was she SO PRETTY???
...
Eventually, the wound sealed after making contact with V's saliva enough times. She had been licking at it in a feline-like manner until its repairment.
"O-Okay, think I'm done," V whispered, eyeing the arm to ensure no spot was damaged. Concern mixed with calculation flooded her expression.
"D-Dude, thanks, but I was fine, I promise," Uzi gently muttered.
"I-I know, just, it was my doing. Sorry, i-it was just a sensitive spot you touched," V replied, looking down.
"I-I see. Okay, I'll be careful," Uzi finished.
Both drones were madly blushing, desperately looking away from each other.
"Youwannacontinue?" Uzi offered.
"Yah."
"Cool."
They retreated back to their original and respective positions, V holding her book, taking a good sip from her oil cup despite it having gone cold, and Uzi picking up her cloth before giving it a light dip in the bucket and continuing.
Both drones were quiet, a surprisingly comfortable silence overtaking them as they simply enjoyed the other's company.
The only noises heard were the rubbing of cloth against metal, the occasional scratches of foil, the rustling of paper, until eventually, after nearly an hour...
"'Kay, done," Uzi said.
"O-Oh, uhh..." V replied with enriching wisdom, looking at a few of the feathers, absolutely gleaming and sparkling.
V's core fluttered at the amount of effort.
"Th-Thanks, Uz. Really," V said with gratitude as she slid her silicone fingers over the feathers.
"It was a lot of fun," Uzi replied, giggling like a gremlin, the tension between them having subsided.
At least for Uzi.
V looked over her shoulder and at Uzi, smiling warmly at her, before going back to her book.
Neither of them was in any mood for the other to leave, only accompanied by their thoughts, so they both, interlinked, just decided to keep each other company.
Uzi got up from the couch as V retreated her wings, going to her desk, and plopping herself down on her spinning chair, tinkering with pieces and opening up MP3s of nightcore on her computer, her headphones plugged in, but on a low volume for the time being.
She looked back at V, her back facing her, not catching herself staring.
"Is there something?"
Uzi nearly fell out of her chair.
"H-How'd you know???"
"I can see you from here, y'know," V spun around, replying coolly, "These," she continued, pointing to the yellow bulbs on her headband, "allow me to always see you long as we're in the same room."
"W-Woah. Wait, so, like, a bigger field of view??" Uzi's voice squeaked, her excitement barely restrained.
"Yeah! They also let me see stuff brighter, darker, a lot redder, and whatever, really. I don't exactly know how it works, but each one does its own thing."
"Ohh, so you see all sorts of light rays? Infrared, UV, and all that?"
"What are those?"
"Some science stuff. Basically, you can see a lot of what we, and especially humans, can't."
"Yeah, it's neat."
Their conversation ended on a good note as the two went back to their occupations.
For a few seconds.
"Uhh, V?" Uzi wheeled around again.
"Uh-huh?" V replied.
"W-Would you, umm, l-like to... go out? Sometime? L-Like, just- hang out! Yeah, th-that!" she continued.
"I- Y-Yeah, of course!" V replied with a strained smile, about to burn up on the spot.
"The mall? Sound good? I wanna pick up some stuff there," Uzi offered.
"I'd love that," V replied, shaking ever so slightly.
...
"Yay..." Uzi croaked.
And with that, the two silently continued on, the nightcore on Uzi's computer suddenly becoming extremely captivating. Same with V's book, of course.
The two were excited at the prospect of a new day.