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The faint hums of the lights that faintly gave life to the bunker's hallways were a pleasant gift and blessing during the quiet of the colony's designated sleep time.
So pleasant, in fact, that it allowed V to walk, her peg feet clanging against the hard floor - said floor occasionally flaked with bits of asbestos that snaked through from the outside environment - to her destination without running into a singular boring worker drone she could not care less about talking to or engaging with.
Uzi's room was her destination, after all.
V had been really missing the toaster since yesterday, ever since they played the co-op mode for Chicken Invaders 3 together. It was a weird, ancient game Uzi found off of a website, and while Uzi was confident it planted 4 malwares on her computer upon its bootup, the two girls had a blast, and even almost beat it together, but lost due to V getting too excited and running into multiple projectiles.
Still, the two loved every second of it, and V knew Uzi was having a rough sleep schedule, meaning she was probably up right about now. V hoped to spend some good time with her, and maybe get to see some anime together. Hell, they could just beat the rest of the game, a prospect that made V giddy at the mere thought of it.
Absorbed in her thoughts, V didn't realise she had managed to reach Uzi's room, then walked right past it in the midst of her daydreaming. Stopping in her tracks and taking 6 steps back, she found herself right infront of the metal barrier that separated her and her favorite drone, the only opening being a tiny gap at the bottom of the door. It was so thin that even V would've struggled to ever point it out if Uzi hadn't explicitly showed it to her. Uzi always made sure to tell her about every nook and cranny.
There was one issue, however.
On the front of the door, a purple sticky note was taped, to serve as another, far bigger barrier. It simply read:
"feeling angsty. dont knock for today pls :<"
...
Whatever that meant.
V supposed Uzi just wanted some time to herself, but other, less rational thoughts and ideas started springing up in her system.
Sneak in through the vents.
Nah, V did it once before, but she didn't feel like doing it again when there was an explicit request to stay out. It would border on intrusion.
Burst down the door.
That would border on her being kicked out of the outpost.
What to do, what to do...
She looked around her, and took note of a handful of items strewn across the floor of the hallway leading to Uzi's room. Pens, papers, a bag, a... dodgeball?
V thought about it, and supposed that, if she spoke, she would theoretically have the door opened for her for sure.
...
But, she decided to entertain Uzi first.
Just a little.
Raising her hand, balled up into a fist, V gave the door a few good, loud enough knocks.
Within a second, her audio receptors picked up some shuffling from inside Uzi's room as she seemed to hurriedly maneuver around her room. V heard the rustling of paper, then Uzi's boots approaching the door.
Could it be...?
...
Instead of the door sliding open, and V being graced with a tired, "angsty" Uzi, V felt a thin object meet her foot.
She looked down, and saw a white paper, seemingly transferred from Uzi to her through the opening, on the floor.
V picked it up. The paper ever-so-simply had one line written at the top, scribbled in handwriting that felt difficult to decipher at points:
"leave me aloneeee. read the note"
As she read it, she heard the sound of boots waddling away from the entrance.
V raised an eyebrow, smirking, wondering how fast Uzi would open the door if she found out it was V standing at it.
Though, weirdly, V also felt herself gravitate towards one of the many pens scattered on the floor near her, like someone smelling the delicious waft of a pie through the window. This was already very fun.
She held a pen in her fingers, holding the paper up against the nearest wall, before she went to town on the paper:
"Nah, I kinda feel like being annoying. Could you open the door, please?"
Finishing, V made sure not to sign or give any clue it was her writing, before she slid the paper through the opening and knocked again in case it wasn't visually picked up.
She heard the sound of more shuffling shortly after, followed up by a pause, before Uzi picked up the paper again, and after a few seconds...
V saw the paper slide out again, inviting her to pick it up.
Restraining herself from giggling at this point, V crouched down again to pick it up and read what Uzi had to say:
"no. what do u even want"
Well, that was an easy question. So easy, in fact, that V felt a thought bubble physically materialize, with what to write within its confinements.
Pen in hand, V held it up against the wall again, scribbling slightly less elegantly this time:
"To annoy you. I'm an annoying drone sent to annoy you. I'll stop if you open the door tho ;]"
And again, she slid the note through the opening, knocking.
She heard Uzi's boots stomp towards the door this time as she held back the biggest roaring laugh of her life. She sensed the emo girl scribbling, before the paper was slid out again:
"well im a drone who hates opening doors and i wont open it. im not my dad. let me listen to music. grrr"
Interestingly, V took notice of Uzi not immediately shuffling away this time, seemingly waiting a good, long minute for a reply. V raised a fist in victory before holding up the pen and holding the paper against the door. She decided to keep it simple:
"Aww, why?"
Slipped in.
...
Slipped out.
"cause ur dumb, and you u probably stink more than lizzy"
Well, V wouldn't tank that, now. She went to town despite the paper starting to run out of space on the first side:
"Low blow... You'll find out I'm not Lizzy if you just open for me. I'm a drone waiting to prove I'm not Lizzy. Ho ho ho"
The rustling of paper...
Followed up by more rustling, the paper meeting V's foot, the writing this time on the other side of the paper for space:
"well ok ur just santa then. im nottt opening the door u jackass. bitch. dumb"
V pondered her next response carefully to not genuinely piss off Uzi. Deciding to make amends, she began doodling a stickman, albeit struggling. She did a good job drawing its hair. She drew a speech bubble sprouting from its head, before she began to write inside of said bubble. It was a single, simple word:
"Sorry :["
In came the paper.
And out it came.
A new, purple stickman was seen next to V's, holding a knife that was seemingly going into V's stickman. Its hair was extremely haphazardly scribbled on top of it as it wore a frown on its face. A speech bubble sprouted from its head, too:
"not accepted, nerd. stupid. idiot"
V couldn't stop herself, a single, small giggle escaping her before she quickly put a hand over her mouth. She hoped - no, prayed - that Uzi didn't pick it up. Otherwise, she'd be busted. The paper was entirely out of space at this point, so V took one of the empty papers laid down on the floor, before writing again:
"I dunno, you seem nerdier than me, for sure. I do know you're pretty talented and tech-savvy, not to mention that you know your stuff generally, sooo"
Weirdly nervous this time, V slid the paper...
This time, V felt a longer pause from Uzi, before she seemingly seemed to snap out of it, and shortly after, the paper was sent back:
"well thanks ig, but no im not a nerd shut up"
V decided to test that statement, already beginning to write:
"I kind of came cause I remembered overhearing you talking to murder thing in class about some game about chickens and invasions. Something about the weapons in it. Was hoping you'd tell me about those :]"
Snickering, V sent the paper through.
...
This time, it took Uzi a few minutes to write her response, prompting V to stand against the wall and wait. Eventually, the paper was sent back:
"first of all, V isnt "murder thing", shes V, but sure yah i could tell u ok so there's the ion blaster which is the default one u start with and its kinda ok. u have the neutron gun and its my personal favorite and it SHREDSS thru the chickens. theres the laser cannon and it's total trash imo. theres the lightning fryer which is kinda cool to mess around with honestly. theres utensil poker which is a really funny one and oh god wait im running out of sp"
...
V flipped the paper to its other side.
"ace"
...
Flipping the paper back to the first side, V only focused on the first sentence, her visor suddenly very hot.
Composing herself, V took the paper, flipping it again, and writing:
"So you are a nerd. Big nerd. Huuuge nerdddd. I actually already knew all of them and just wanted to see if you were a nerrrrddddddd"
V slid the paper through, and got a response, this time within 5 seconds:
"NO"
She wrote back:
"Well hey I'm not complaining. Honestly it's kinda cute dude"
The paper was sent back.
"WHAT???"
This time, V audibly heard Uzi's muffled voice yelling from the other side, before the door was suddenly opened, Uzi standing at it, a crazed expression on her face.
"WHO is THI-"
Uzi didn't get to finish her sentence before she saw V at her door, her mouth forming a huge 'O'.
"V???"
...
That literally all happened within 10 seconds.
V dropped to the floor, cackling, entirely unashamed as she clutched herself, desperately trying to keep herself stable before she actually died from laughter. She completely did not care if it woke the entire bunker up.
She heard Uzi begin to giggle alongside her, before it developed into loud laughter as the two were now on the floor, laid down at the absurdity of it all.
Eventually, though, it died down, and the two went still, smiling widely, before they looked over at each other.
"Dude, I can't believe you," Uzi said through more giggling.
"It was too funny to pass up, especially when it was going so smoothly the whole time," V replied.
"Yah, I would've instantly opened it if I had any idea it was you," Uzi said, looking up at the ceiling.
"That's exactly why I didn't give it away," V said, smiling at uzi and winking, before the two got up, "Oh, yeah. I came cause I wanted to hang out with you, and maybe beat Chicken Invaders tonight. You feeling up to it?"
Uzi immediately grinned.
"YEAH!!"
"Woah!"
V was pulled inside and into Uzi's room as the door sealed shut.