Chapter Text
A week had passed since the first lesson and Uzi hadn't spoken to V since. V went back to her usual 'dark and brooding' self, lurking in the shadows and keeping her distance. Uzi began to question if what happened actually happened, or if it was just a weird dream. Her feelings certainly remained the same, dream or not. She was no longer able to approach V with the usual edge and bite she had. That sensation, the one of butterflies in her non-existent stomach, took over whenever they did something as simple as making eye contact. She had too many questions and not enough answers. Why was it always that way?
"Hey Uzi? You good?" N asked with an air of concern in his voice. Uzi flinched and turned towards him. She must've spaced out, too deep in thought.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry dude, I'm fine." Uzi lied to her friend, her voice trailing off near the end.
"Well, if you want to talk, I'm here to listen. Seems like you've got a lot on your mind." N offered, taking a seat next to Uzi.
Uzi considered his offer. Talking to him at the camp did help, but that was a different situation entirely, one that wouldn't have hurt his feelings if too many details were revealed. What was she to say? I've been taking flight lessons from V cause you kinda suck at it? Even with nicer wording, that's still what it would boil down to, and it didn't even scratch the surface.
Uzi shook her head, "Nah, I'll be fine. I'm just frustrated with this whole flying thing." Her voice shifted to a sarcastic frustrated tone. "We've been at this for, what, weeks now? And all I can do is crash and burn."
"I think you're improving a lot! A few more days and you'll probably get the hang of it!" N replied with a cheerful attitude.
Uzi feigned a smile and sighed, "Thanks N." Though N's words were no doubt encouraging, they always were, that wasn't what was bothering Uzi. It hurt to lie to him, but it was probably better than the alternative. Probably.
N nodded, "No problem! We'll get there eventually." He said with a grin. Shortly after, he let out an involuntary yawn. A small warning on his hud letting him know that his battery was low began flashing in the corner. "Oh, it's that time already." He paused to sigh, "I guess I should probably go recharge. You gonna be okay?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.
"Yeah." Uzi said in a sigh like way.
N stood up and turned towards Uzi, giving her one last content grin. "Wake me up if V starts bothering you again!" He said as he waved goodbye to Uzi for the day. After goodbyes were exchanged, N made his way over to the spire.
A few minutes after N disappeared into the spire, V appeared from the darkness, slowly approaching Uzi. She didn't seem hesitant or afraid to approach the short worker drone, and she didn't seem angry at her either. In fact, V seemed quite relaxed. Then, what happened wasn't a dream? Surely she'd be more on edge if it was. Right?
V sighed, "Didn't think he'd ever leave us alone." She complained, putting one hand on her hip. "He's been so paranoid since the camp."
"N?" Uzi asked, though the answer was obvious.
V nodded and looked down at Uzi, causing Uzi's motor to skip a beat. V acknowledged her reaction with a sly grin, "He's gone now though. You ready for another lesson?"
"Y- Yuh." Uzi wanted to say more, but it was all she could awkwardly mutter out.
V deployed her wings, spreading them out as far as they could go. She held her hand out and waited for Uzi, who was dazed by the sight of the disassembly drone before her.
V just rolled her eyes, "We don't have all night." She said in an impatient tone, which seemed to snap Uzi out of it. For the moment, anyway.
Uzi stood up and approached V, climbing onto her and gripping her jacket firmly, their warm bodies once again pressed against each other. Being so close to her alone flustered Uzi slightly, but V wrapping her arms around Uzi drove her over the edge. A flurry of purple blush washed across her visor, her grip on V's jacket tightening. V launched herself into the air shortly after, catching Uzi off guard and causing her to let out a surprised yelp.
The flight wasn't very long, it never was. Disassembly drones were fast and could easily travel long distances in short periods of time. The fact that it was done in silence made it feel longer than it should have. To Uzi, anyway. There was no way to tell what was going on in V's head, and her face didn't exactly give any insight on that. Uzi wished she could pick at her processor and figure out what was going on in there.
A short dive later and V landed right in front of the familiar ruined skyscraper from before. Uzi let go and landed on the ground, letting out a grunt and doing a little flashy pose before she stood up straight and stretched her limbs.
"Now what?" Uzi asked as she turned towards V, her head cocked to the side slightly.
"First, you need oil. Top yourself off so you don't repeat what happened last time." V explained as she walked towards the skyscraper that housed her oil stash. "If you overheat in the sky, you're gonna crash."
V stepped through the hole in the wall and into the dark, dusty ruins of a former lobby. She kicked a piece of rubble to the side and bent down to dig through the corpse pile. By the time Uzi caught up, V already had a limb in her hands – it was too mangled to tell what it was anymore, with frayed wires sticking out both ends and a large gash down the middle.
"So, V-" Uzi began to speak, attempting to muster up the courage to ask at least one of the questions she had. Halfway through, Uzi choked up, internally cursing herself for not being able to get words out properly.
"What?" V replied as she tossed the limb to Uzi. Uzi fumbled with it before gripping it in her hands and staring at it.
V waited for Uzi to respond or finish what she was going to say, but when that never came, she looked down at the purple worker drone with an eyebrow raised.
"Right..." V grumbled, crossing her arms. "Finish that up, we gotta start soon. The sun's gonna be up in an hour and we can't fly indoors."
V began walking outside, Uzi watched her go. "V, wait!" She impulsively called out. V stopped and turned back to Uzi.
"Are you actually going to say something this time?" V teased.
Uzi fell silent for a third time, thinking about what to say, how to say it, and what responses she might get. V just watched her, fully expecting her to not say anything again. It came as a surprise to V when Uzi actually said something else.
"I don't know what's wrong with me." Uzi immediately cringed at her wording.
"That's what you're trying to figure out, isn't it? It's why you went to that camp, N told me." As expected, V completely misinterpreted what Uzi meant. It wasn't about her, 'condition', at all.
"No, I mean-" Uzi began considering her word choices again before groaning in a frustrated manner. V snickered at her. "Nevermind, forget it." Uzi grumbled, stomping off.
She only stopped when V grabbed her, hoisting her into the air so they were face to face. Uzi opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself when their eyes met, quickly shutting her mouth.
"I'm just messing with you. I know those puppy dog eyes, I've been around N long enough." V's words made Uzi look away as she madly blushed, prompting V to giggle again. She enjoyed messing with the short worker drone, watching her become a flustered mess. "You're not very good at hiding it."
"B-bite me-" Uzi meekly hissed out, though it was more of a squeak than anything. V cackled again as she put Uzi down, satisfied with the results. For now.
V placed her hand on her hip, her tail slowly swaying behind her. "Now, are you ready to start learning or are you just gonna keep mumbling to yourself."
"N-no. Let's get this over with." Uzi responded, stepping out into the snowy wasteland. V followed her out, walking close behind her.
"N sucks at giving criticism." V stated, beginning her lesson. "You flap your wings way too hard and take way too long to get to the next one. It's why you broke them last time, and it's why the wind keeps pushing you down." She paused to quickly cross her arms. "That idiot hasn't corrected any of that."
V was once again correct. N hadn't mentioned any of that to Uzi, and if what V said is true, then Uzi wouldn't have improved her ability any time soon.
Disregarding the last comment V tacked on, Uzi nodded, "Okay, so you want me to do light flaps. I can do that."
"We'll see." V replied, deploying her wings and launching herself into the air, just out of Uzi's view. Uzi spread her wings out as well, following after V.
She began by gliding, slowly descending while moving forward. V stayed over her, casting a last black shadow onto Uzi and the clouds below. Above the clouds was the safest place to practice, there were no skyscrapers or old cranes that posed a potentional crashing hazard. Control wasn't exactly something Uzi had when flying, so she wouldn't be able to turn if a building was in her path. Start with the basics in a safe space.
"You're going lower." V blankly called out, drawing Uzi's attention to her. "You're gonna have to start flying eventualllyy~."
"I know!" Uzi snapped back. One too many failed attempts made her weary of doing anything besides gliding, and though she knows V will most likely catch her, going down and losing control still wasn't a fun experience.
But if she never tried, there was no way she'd ever be able to improve. It was either bury her fears, or give up all together, and Uzi wasn't a quitter. She took a moment to muster up the courage, closed her eyes, and then in one swooping motion, flapped her wings quickly and lightly, just as V instructed. When she didn't feel a dizzying sensation, Uzi slowly opened her eyes and realized she was still in the air, gliding along. Above her, V was clapping her hands slowly.
"That wasn't too difficult, right?"
Pride began to seep into Uzi, slowly filling her processor. She did! She didn't end up horribly spiraling out of control! Another flap, more confident this time, and Uzi began to laugh to herself. She began flapping her wings repeatedly, creating a steady rhythm that kept her airborne and prevented her from descending any further.
"I did it!" Uzi shouted out, her tail unwillingly wagging with joy.
But, as one problem is solved, another takes its place, and Uzi's joy quickly turned to dread as she realized
She can't land.
How would she get down? Did she just have to stop flying and hope for the best? Was it time for another crash landing? Uzi became so focused on the hows and the what ifs that she her flapping quickly became disjointed and panicked. One wrong move later and the high winds snagged Uzi's wing. V, who was still above, was quick to notice the worker drones panic and prevented her from falling by grabbing her arm and hoisting her up. She cradled Uzi close to her as she circled around and began heading back to their secret spot.
After diving down and landing roughly, V glanced down at Uzi, who was still resting in her arms.
"What happened?" V asked.
Uzi just rolled over, burying her face into V's jacket. V could feel Uzi's body getting warmer, she didn't need to see her visor to know that she was overheating again. Realizing this, V let out a sigh and put Uzi down.
"Stay here." She commanded as she walked into the skyscraper. Uzi did as she was told, too sluggish from the heat to actually get up and go anywhere.
When V returned, she had a workers head in her hand. She used her claws to keep it firmly in her grasp, oil slowly dripping down her arm.
"Open your mouth." V's tone made Uzi jump, she once again did as she was told. V held the head over Uzi and crushed it with one swift blow. Oil squeezed out the bottom and into Uzi's mouth, dripping out the corners and onto the pure white snow below.
Once drained, V tossed the head aside and waited for Uzi to finish. Uzi sluggishly wiped the remaining oil off her mouth, leaving black streaks on the back of her hand.
"Thanks." Uzi muttered and lowered her head. Though her temperature dropped significantly, her processor was still covering from the heat.
"Next time, don't ignore what I say, stupid." V playfully said. Uzi quickly looked up at her with narrowed eyes, ready to snap back with some witty remark or perhaps a 'bite me', but V caught her off guard.
She grabbed the collar of Uzi's jacket, lifting her off the ground slightly and pulling her closer, their faces nearly touching. Uzi blushed madly, trying to squirm from V's grip. V gave her a sly smirk before pulling Uzi in for a kiss, their synthetic lips meeting. Uzi was stunned, her processor and motor began to race. All she could do was close her eyes and enjoy the moment. A moment that hardly lasted, as V pulled away shortly after and stared down at the dazed worker.
"You missed a spot." V teased, licking some off oil that had transfered onto her face during the kiss.
The suddenness of the action certainly brought Uzi's processor up to speed. Or maybe it slowed it down even more. She was left speechless, staring up at V with a dumbfounded expression. V simply smirked and patted her shoulder.
"You did good tonight, despite your accident. Maybe we'll-" V suddenly stopped speaking, her smirk fading into a more neutral or frustrated expression as her gaze drifted towards a line of ruins behind Uzi. Peeking over the top was the orange glow of Copper-9's sun. Bad news for the both of them.
"Shit." V hissed under her breath. She brought up her internal clock and realized they'd stayed out later than they were meant to. There was no way they'd make it back to the spire in time.
Uzi turned back to see what upset V so much, uttering a soft "Oh." when she too noticed the sun rising.
"C'mon." V grunted as she stomped towards the skyscraper. "N's gonna kill me."
Uzi shook her head and began walking alongside V. The two made their way into the building, taking shelter from the onslaught of harsh rays that was cast down on the planet. While V hid in a dark corner of the room, Uzi sat by the entrance and watched the sun slowly rise, ensuring she wasn't caught in the rays. It was something she rarely saw before meeting N, and now would definitely be something she only saw on occasions like this. It made her wonder if the others had seen it before, perhaps in their early days on Copper-9.
"Hey V? Have you ever like, seen the sun rise?" Uzi asked, still facing the entrance.
V stayed silent, it took her far too long to answer with a simple "No." It made Uzi wonder, but wasn't something she was about to push. Instead, she looked back and signaled V to come over. V was hesitant, but slowly made her way over to where Uzi was sitting. She sat down next to her, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her tail around the bottom of her legs, carefully ensuring the barbed end didn't touch Uzi.
"It can't reach us here, so we'll be fine. I think." Uzi tried reassuring V, though she seemed unsure of herself. V scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Dork." She playfully muttered, resting her head on her knees.
The two watched the sunrise in silence, the gentle winds of Copper-9 softly blowing through the holes in the ruins. Uzi let herself gently lean on V, resting her head on her shoulder. Her tail was happily wagging slowly behind her, though V couldn't see it. She was too focused on watching the sun, seemingly drawn to it.
"It's been a while since I've seen it." Uzi sighed. "Kinda weird to think it'll end up killing me." She said in a joking manner, but V didn't respond. Not even a scoff or an annoyed grunt. Was she that infatuated by the sunrise? Uzi didn't find it very interesting, she didn't even find it that interesting when she first saw it. So what gives?
Curious, Uzi looked up at the female disassembly drone, only to realize that she'd drifted off into sleep mode, large yellow text plastered across her screen clearly indicating such. It all made sense now, Uzi had almost forgotten the fact that the disassembly drones slept during the day. The fact that V even managed to stay up as long as she did was impressive, seeing as she was always the one to go to sleep first, and yet she never complained once about being tired.
Uzi smiled, content with her night and the indirect answers she got to her questions. She rested her head back down onto V's shoulder, wrapped her tail around V, and looked out at the orange-ish red landscape. After a while, a low battery warning flashed in the corner of her HUD, and with little left to do, she didn't fight it, allowing herself to drift off to sleep as V did.
When Uzi woke up, she found herself in the landing pod, resting in one of the swiveling chairs. N was seated across from her and happily greeted her as her systems slowly rebooted.
"Wuh? What happened?" Uzi asked, still half asleep.
"V told me you guys got caught in the sun after an argument." N explained, "But you took cover, and she brought you back here as soon as it was safe!"
Argument? Why did she-
Behind N, Uzi noticed V, standing with her arms crossed. She gave Uzi a knowing grin before exiting the landing pod.
N glanced back upon hearing V leave and sighed. He turned towards Uzi, "I'm sorry she keeps antagonizing you. I've tried talking to her about it but," N stopped to awkwardly chuckle, "She doesn't really listen to me."
"It's fine dude, I think I can handle it." Uzi replied. She was hardly bothered by V's 'antagonizing', if it could even be called that, anymore.