Non-Vore one (idk man I just figured might as well put this stuff out here)
Murder drones story, Oilrose
The word stayed ever-constant in her mind. Every moment spent staring into the wastelands sky where ash and other toxic byproducts constantly moved through the wind. Still, she had no right to complain after all those 2 idiots made their decisions.
A traitor? Ha. The title made her roll her eyes. Betrayal required switching sides, burning bridges to stand with the enemy. She hadnât switched sides. She just hadnât followed them when they did. When N and V decided to take on the suicide mission of fighting that Eldridge abomination. Following that pathetic worker drone.
After all those years. Making sure that Cyn, or the Solver, whatever that horror is, saw them as useful making sure that they were doing their jobs correctly and not ending up on the bad side of someone who can wipe them out with a flick of her wrist, and now they call her a traitor. They were the one who switched sides. They were the ones who cast her protection aside. Fine. Let them. She never needed either of them anyway.
So what if they actually beat Cyn in the end. Cyn got cocky and played with her food trop much. J was glad she was dead. Good riddanceâŚ.but if Cyn had truly wanted to if she hadnât underestimated them. YeahâŚtheyâd see exactly why staying on the winning team was the smart moveâŚ.
But what use is it to dwell on those what-ifâs? The facts are sheâs here. The only sound being the wind and the snow-like crunch of copper-9âs implosion leftovers beneath her feet. Her wings deployed and she flew up and landed on a rooftop, perfect landing as always, she priced herself on not being the sloppy one.
She didnât know what exactly the plan was now. No missions. No teammates. If they didnât wanna see her again that was their choice. All she ever did was make sure they werenât in danger and look at all the thanks thatâs gotten her. Maybe she got close to V. Maybe it wasâŚ.a noteworthy loss when the two foughtâŚ.Her visor flickered a small emotional sting setting in before she brushed it off. She could live just fine without her. Without her care. She thrived on her own without those distractionsâŚ..
âUgh. Quit thinking.â
She ordered to herself before sitting down leaning against the concrete wall. Attempting to forcefully silence her own thoughtsâŚ.but every so often the time spent with her playedâŚthat annoying warmthâŚ.how pathetic it was to miss it.
Internal fans slowly winded down signalling the beginning of rest mode. As always the wind was the only other sound she could hearâŚ.until it wasnât..a landing that turned into a stumble into a crash, cut her rest short. J looked over and saw V who hadnât noticed her yet, brushing herself off as she got up.
V:âUgh stupid thing..â
V cursed her bad wing as it didnât take long for J to see the problem. One of Vâs wing modules was loose. A simple fix if one knew where to look. Unlike the others J had taken the time to learn their own schematics. Always being the best at repairs, an interest she picked up from watching Tessa bring other drones online a long time ago.
Her observations were interrupted by V finally noticing her as a beat of awkward silence passed between the two.
V:âUh..HiâŚ.Im just gonna-â
V attempted to take off but as she did one of her wings didnât comply and went limp, falling to her side as she stumbled, in instinct J made sure she didnât completely fall. After it V gave a light push off, not harsh enough to show anger but enough to tell J not to make that much contact. J didnât comment on it.
J:âYour wing is disjointed.â
V:âYea I can see that.â
J felt a bit of old pride flare up as V shot a glare knowing full well only J had known what the problem was.
V:ââŚ.Well since I unfortunately canât use my wings to take off and launch ash in your face, I suppose stairs will do.â
J paused, taking a moment to think before mentally scoffing at herself for offering this.
J:âOr you can let me fix your wing.â
V went quiet for a moment, thinking of how to reply, a teasing jab of 'as if' ? accept it?..after some thought V put her usual tone back on.
V:ââŚWell I suppose that would work better. Iâd rather not have to walk all the way backâŚplus you seem lonely.â
J:âThereâs a difference between lonely and enjoying the quiet.â
V:âWhatever you say.â
J:âUghâŚjust sit down.â
J walked behind V as she complied, J began working. It feltâŚunreasonably tense for how simple a process it was, V had planned on finding J again eventually when she knew what she wanted but she hadnât figured it out yet and wasnât ready to encounter her.
V:âSoâŚwhy are you just resting on a random rooftop?â
J:âItâs better than the ground. What else can I do?â
V:âWell I donât know, come back and apologize for working with Cyn.â
V had spoke a little bitterly well glancing back at J. Who just rolled her eyes in response.
J:âI donât have anything to apologize for. My actions were logical and understandable.â
V:âYeaâŚdoesnât matter who gets hurt if itâs logical right?..â
J:âI tried to offer you a spot on the same team. It isnât like I didnât care.â
V:âYeah but you didnât exactly show a lot of that care either.â
They both went silent after that before J resumed working. After the silence stretched V just sighed dropping the usual sharp tone.
V:ââŚWere you planning on making any attempt to come back?..â
V:âWell itâs justâŚI wanted to know if you were content leaving it-leavingâŚus like this.â
J got mentally stunned. She figured V hadnât wanted her around after all if she did she wouldâve come a whole lot sooner then this. Did she want J to chase?âŚWas she supposed to?
J:ââŚ.What did you want me to come crawling begging for forgiveness or something?-â
V:âNo, of course not I just- ..ugh..forget it.â
J:âNo. Go ahead and say itâŚ.â
J then became slightly prideful again as she spoke
J:ââŚYou miss me huh?-â
V:âOf course I do. We dated. Itâs natural, but Iâm not gonna just come to you all 'please come back' . No, what I want is for you to show that-âŚ.that..â
V admitted without shame before faltering near the end as J let her pride go aside for a moment to speak
V:ââŚ.Ugh I know you offered me a spot on the same team and in your own way that was your way of saying you care but it didnât feel like itâŚit still felt like you threw away all we were easily. I wanted you to be the one to at-least try fixing something so I knew that I wasnât soâŚ.discardable. Itâs dumb but there..Ya got me to admit I missed you. Happy?..â
J fell silent processing it all, she debated keeping it that way, she fixed the module as she moved back letting V know she can fly away, V looked at J leaving an opening to respond.
J:ââŚ.Im not sorry for working with Cyn. As I said my reasons were understandable.â
J:âLet me finishâŚ.I may not be sorry for them butâŚiâm sorry for how they made you feel..I never meant to..hurt you that way..Yeah, I was ready to let stuff just..stay like this, but not cause I didnât care. I just didnât think you expected me to attempt, I figured if you wanted me around youâd say soâŚ.I care about you.â
The wind became the only noise again for a moment as V listenedâŚJ hated being vulnerable like this not injecting pride or softening any words but if anyone deserved to see J like this, it was V.
V:ââŚ.I..I guess that worksâŚI guess it makes sense in your logical mindset why you wouldnât see thatâŚ.thanks for the fix..â
V didnât exactly know how to continue..so she prepared her wingsâŚbut before that..â
V:ââŚtomorrow iâm searching for parts with Uzi and N for whatever the hell sheâs building but usually we split up when we searchâŚwanna assist me then?â
She mentally thought about how it would go if she encountered N or the worker drone again before just sighing
J:ââŚYea I donât got much else to do anywayâŚâ
V nodded before letting her wings ready.
V:ââŚ.Take care of yourself for me okay?â
And with that she flew off. J didnât know what to think of the interaction butâŚit felt like a right step foward..