Workmates?

Camp 98.7 - 2

12:45 AM
Camp 98.7 - Large wooden house

N stood right in front of the wooden door that V had disappeared into a few moments prior. He took a deep breath and took a hold of the door handle. Although the male drone wanted to open the door immediately, he hesitated for a moment. Maybe it'd be best to knock? And so he did. The silence that followed his action got to him and he called out to her. "V? May I come inside?" Nothing again. It felt as if V wasn't even inside the cabin. After waiting for just a few more seconds the disassembly drone quietly opened the door just enough to peek through the crack he'd just created. A TV was running inside, although at a low volume. Unfortunately the large sofa faced towards the TV, away from the door. That way he couldn't even see if she was there.

After rambling through his thoughts N had made up his mind. The door swung open fully and he waltzed right in, leading the freezing, howling wind with the occasional snow flake inside aswell. Then a bundle of white-silver hair raised from the sofa and turned towards him. The drone swiped her hair out of her face and blinked twice before saying anything. "Hey N. Just watching some TV. You can join me or go straight to sleep if you feel like it." With those words the female laid back down. 

N didn't think twice and joined V on the rather comfortable sofa after closing the door. He sat down and both drones watched TV. Apparently his squadmate had found an older VHS tape from the 1970s which played a romance novel. The mentioned film focused around two individuals who had to keep secrets from one another in order to keep their friendship afloat, although by the end of the movie both parties decided that it'd be best to split for good. To face new horizonts and move on to new frontiers.

"Well that was a load of crap." V commented and sat back up. She'd been laying peacefully on the soft furniture for the entire length of the film and was captivated by the plot. It seemed like the VHS tape reflected V's situation perfectly. N took the moment to say something. "You know, I think the novel was actually pretty good. Sure it had moments where their friendship stood on the verge of collapsing, but they managed somehow. And by the end they both agreed. It was..." the male sighed and looked at the ceiling, suddenly his right holografic eye twitched. "... beautiful." A small tear rolled down his cheek. He then turned to V. "V... if you ever need-" Suddenly a song errupted from the credits scene on the television. 

Bridge Over Troubled Water [By Simon and Garfunkel]:

 "When you′re weary, feeling small, When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all..."

N looked straight at V. As the lyrics from the song kept going he imagined himself doing everything the singer sung to her. The male imagined himself keeping V company in sad times, drying her tears so to speak. As a good friend that is. "What I wanted to say was... if you ever need someone to talk to... talk to me... I-I know I said this before, but seriously. V." He took a deep breath and scooted closer to the female drone.

"When times get rough, And friends just can′t be found...
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down."

V understood what her partner was implying, but backed up as he came closer. "I'm... I'm flattered N. Really. You know this is just... I don't know." She sighed heavily and faced away from him. "You don't know me N. You don't know anything about me. Please just... stop trying so..." Her voice cut out momentarely. "...s-so hard to get close to me." The sigh that followed came out in a stuttered fashion and N could swear he saw V's entire hull shake along. N's circulation pump whirred loudly as he took the chance to close the distance. His arms gently wrapped around the smaller drone and he nuzzled his head against her left shoulder.

"...I will comfort you, I′ll take your part... 
When darkness comes, And pain is all around...
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down."

The voice from the TV finally did it. The voice along with the music finally brought V to her breaking point. As tears rolled down her cheeks she began to stutter. "I-I don't deserve y-you N..." 

"...If you need a friend, I′m sailing right behind...
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind."

.

.

.

Then the song ended and out of nowhere, V pushed N away and stopped sniffling in one swift motion. She had to keep control, steel her own nerves. So that it doesn't hurt as much when they eventually have to go seperate ways. "I'll..." The female exhaled deeply. "...head to bed now N. The cabin only has a single bedroom so... would you mind spending the day on the sofa?" Her posture changed and she crossed her arms, waiting almost impatiently for an answer. 

N, who was completely bewildered by this absolute and instantaneous mood change, could only stare in awe. "Hello?" V tilted her head slightly and began tapping her left stilt onto the ground. She groaned and leaned in close to him. "Helloooo? Moron Bot." N felt a small impact on his forehead and realized after a second, that she'd snipped her finger against his visor. "Uh... yeah..." His voice was quiet, yet his counterpart was able to make out what he'd said. Then without hesitating, she darted up a staircase that had been on the opposite wall of the TV and vanished. 

As the male gently laid down and extended his whole length on the sofa he could only wonder. How in the hell did she change moods THAT quickly? There's no way she'd be able to do that out of the blue. But then again... It's true. What little he remembered from the mothership was true. V was a born assassin and lone wolf. Even back then before his trip to E-1-18-20-8 with Tessa, V almost never paired up with another drone...

He went to E-1-18-20-8???

???
???

"And you're sure you want to tag along again? You know there's no returning until we finish the mission." A human female with an astroneering suit asked as the trio made it's way down a long hallway. "Of course I want to! That guy killed me! It'd only be right to return the favour." A male drone, wearing a long black coat whilst tagging along the feminine duo, said. The female drone only scoffed in reply. "If you couldn't kill him the first time... I doubt you'd get a second chance. After all... that moron's squadmate is really protective of him... although he doesn't see it." This small comment caused the astroneer to stop dead in her tracks.

"They... They show affection to one another?" Her voice was calm, but also very surprised in the same time. Her partners made of steel and rubber only glanced at one another before confirming her suspicions with a stern head nod. At that moment Tessa realized something. "Maybe... we'll just let them be and-" She was cut off by H, who shook his head. "We've got orders from the top. We can't just... not follow them... although we might not even want to..." His voice trailed off as he looked out of a large panoramic window. The frozen planet the ship'd been orbiting for approximately 17 years now hadn't changed a bit. 

"Aww... do I hear some type of affection towards those two buckets of scrap?" J teased him and leaned closer. "If you ask me..." She gently traced her index finger down his neck joints. "I can't just forgive them for bringing you back up here." She stopped short of his collar armor plating and retracted her hand. "Oh come on J, It was an accident. I got overwhelmed by the sheer combat force that female drone had. It won't happen again." 

"Oh, I'm sure I won't." The twin pigtailed drone straightened her posture again. "Now... It's best that we depart immediately... We're being watched." The drone added and began walking down the corridor again. H and Tessa looked at each other before eventually following her. "You're troubled again H. I can tell." Tessa said as they made it to the hangar. "Yeah well... N used to be my best friend. And just... just attacking  him... I mean I didn't have much choice planet-site cause they would've executed me using my own troops, but now that those guys are literal scrap... Things might be much easier to handle with words than guns and blades."

"You're not going soft on us now... right?" Tessa asked and faced the disassembly drone. The highly reflective visor of her helmet made it impossible to read her gesture, so H was treading on dangerous grounds. "O-Of course not!" The officer drone replied and shook his head again. There was a prolonged pause between the pair before the human slightly nodded. "Right-y ho! Let's board the ship everyone! Next stop, Copper-9!"