Chapter Text
Sunlight filtered in through the cracks of the room. Dust drifted within the rays of light. A few birds sang songs outside. Things remained peaceful as the morning began anew.
Bed sheets shuffled as someone roused from their slumber. Ruby red ears flicked up from under the covers. A moment of silence passed before N took in a deep sigh.
His ears caught sound of the birds outside. Their chirping tunes slowly woke him up further. Once N got around to booting up his optics, he found that the first thing he saw was Uzi.
The woman slept peacefully across from him. Her purple hair was strewn across her face and pillow. He noted how she never even got out of her day clothes last night. Well, neither did he, but…
Raising a hand, N carefully brushed Uzi’s hair from her face. Strands tickled her nose into scrunching it up. It’s enough to stir the woman into waking up. Her eyes opened to reveal themselves, the lavender purple almost melding into the white sclera if not for a darker ring around the iris.
The home stayed quiet as the two just stared at each other. Uzi blinked a few times to gather her consciousness and bearings. Her bleary, disheveled look made N snicker.
“Well, good morning.” He spoke.
“Mm. Good morning.” Uzi’s voice was raspy.
It made N choke on another laugh. He reset his voice box and sat up. His ears flicked again while Uzi rolled onto her back and stretched. The noise she let out was admittedly adorable.
“Ugh, my lips hurt. Damn robot.” Uzi teasingly smacked N’s side as she carefully touched her swollen lips.
“What did I do?!” N whipped back around.
“Kiss me so damn hard my lips hurt now!” Uzi retorted.
N’s visor went flush at the reminder of last night. He turned his head away as his ears twitched and his tail threatened to wag. Uzi giggled from beside him and sat up as well.
“Aww, is someone just remembering what they did last night~?” Uzi cooed in a tease.
“No-o! I was just trying to not remember it!” N scoffed with a flick of his ear.
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Uzi giggled back. “Well, I guess we should get out of bed now. I have a windmill to fix up again and I need a cup of water.” The woman rolled off the other side.
“Fine. But you’re going to help me replace the bedsheets now that there’s sand all over them.” N retorted.
“Alright, alright. Just let me doing my morning routine.” Uzi waved him off dismissively.
She disappeared out of the bead tassels to get a bucket of fresh water. N let out a sigh and curled up into his knees. His visor went flush all over again as memory files from last night came flooding back to him.
‘What the hell have I become…?’ He whined in his CPU.
In any case, N took a deep vent and sat up. He hauled himself out of bed to start the day. And the first thing he did was remove all the pillows and sheets from the bed itself.
Propping open the back door, N placed them all outside. He went around to the front to trot down the steps to get water from the well. Robot townsfolk gave him “good morning”s and “how do you do?”s as he passed.
Stopping at well greeted him with Uzi once more. He huffed and his ears flicked.
“It seems I just can’t away from you, huh?” N spoke up as he neared.
Uzi gave him a glance from over her shoulder. “Not when we’re still living in the same house, you’re not.” She grinned back.
“Figured. Just unfortunate.” N sighed as he leaned against the well. “Think your routine is going to take too long, though? I could use some help washing the bed sheets.” He said next.
“No, it won’t take long. Just give me like, twenty minutes. Maybe more if I bother with breakfast this morning.” Uzi finally pulled up her bucketful of water.
N’s brow quirked. “If you need time to make breakfast, go ahead. It isn’t like you haven’t begged me to go to restaurants or such before just because you were hungry.” The Kuranta retorted.
Uzi’s grin twitched. “You know, maybe I’ll just take even longer to do my routine and eat something. And I’ll be done right as you’ve finished cleaning everything.” Her elbow nudged N’s side hard.
“Sure you will.” N rolled his silver optics.
Uzi just huffed and turned away to head back home. N stood up to get his own buckets of water.
While heading back, Uzi caught sight of a peculiar drone in the corner of her eye. She turned towards them but they disappeared behind a building. Uzi’s brow quirked down in suspicion but she decided against going after them.
‘Might just be a curious kid or something.’ She surmised.
Hopping up the last few steps, Uzi made it back to N’s home. She filled the sink with her water, lit a fire underneath, and left to change her clothes and let the water boil.
“Looks like all I really have is my dress.” Uzi noted as she stood up with it. “It’s clean at least, but it’s been a while since I’ve worn it.”
Staring down at the dress draped over her front reminded Uzi of the day she was accidentally kidnapped. Stuck in that stuffy and dark chest, limbs contorted in uncomfortable ways, and a commotion she couldn’t decipher happening around her.
‘And in the end, it just turned out to be a ragtag group of robots looking to survive away from us humans.’ A sigh filtered through her nostrils.
“Whatever. There’s nothing I can really do about it now.” Uzi draped the dress onto the bed.
She stripped down to put on the fresh set of clothes. ‘I wonder how dad is doing, though. Has he searched for me? Has he stopped? Is the village okay?’
Tossing her outerwear onto the bed, Uzi caught herself in a mirror. She took a moment to gaze at herself. Her legs held the faintest of scars from the day she tried escaping this place on her own. A few tan lines had formed from her new clothing, too.
‘I think I’ve even gotten a little skinnier.’ Uzi noted with a narrowing gaze. ‘I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing for someone like me…’
Shaking her head, Uzi took off the rest of her clothes and put something fresher on. Her dress came on last and slipped over her figure. Just as she was adjusting her hair and dress to zip it up, N came back home.
“The water in the sink is boiling, by the way!” N called loudly. “By the way, since I’m washing the sheets, are there any clothes you want me to wash–?” He flipped the tassels out of the way.
“Yeah, I’m gonna get my usual stuff washed today.” Uzi returned as she reached for her zipper. “Just give me a few minutes to brush my teeth and stuff and I’ll help.”
The room remained silent for longer than Uzi expected. She turned over her shoulder to quirk a brow at the Operator Drone. N was a little stuck staring at her outfit.
“Hey, N? You there?” Uzi snapped her fingers in front of his face.
The called robot recovered himself with a startled blink. “Ah! Sorry! It’s just– Been a while since I’ve seen that dress on you.” He wiped at his visor.
Uzi huffed in amusement. “What? You like this dress more than the other outfit Yeva made for me?” She smirked.
“Well– Not quite, but it doesn’t look bad on you.” N replied truthfully.
That response made Uzi’s eyes widen and her smile go blank. N moved past her to head back out to the yard and start filling up the tub. He made sure to be fast enough to avoid letting her see his mad fluster on his visor after admitting that.
“A-Anyways! You go and do whatever you need to do so you can help me sooner! We can get this done quicker if there’s more hands!” The robot shouted from outside.
“Uhm, right.” Uzi’s reply was quiet, still stunned.
Giving herself a quick shake of the head, Uzi went back into the living room to brush her teeth and rinse her face. It didn’t take long at all, nor did it take long for her to munch on a fruit for breakfast. By the time Uzi came out to the backyard, N had filled the tub and lit the fire underneath to get the water heated up.
“You didn’t fill it all the way?” Uzi questioned as she brought out more fabrics to clean.
N shook his head. “Not if it’s washing sheets and stuff. I usually put them in the hot, soapy water to soak for an hour or two, then come back later to scrub them. Helps get the dirt out more.”
“Are we going to let our clothes soak?” Uzi inquired.
“If you want to.” N shrugged back, pouring some said soap into the tub.
“Are you going to wash your clothes?” Was the human’s next question.
“Oh. Right.” N blinked.
He stood up and started stripping right then and there. Uzi almost wanted to laugh at how unnaturally comfortable he was getting naked in front of others.
“Don’t you ever get uneasy just dropping all your clothes like that in front of someone else?” Uzi questioned.
“Not particularly.” N shrugged. “It isn’t like us robots have something to show. Nor is it like we haven’t bathed naked together before.” He added as he took out his ponytail.
Uzi’s cheeks went flush at the reminder. “Geez! Just go around yelling it to the whole town, why don’t you?!” She smacked the side of his rubber.
“Ow! What was that for?!” N hollered back.
“For being indecent about that! You could at least mutter it or something!” The lady retorted right back.
N rolled his silver optics. “Oh please! We’re basically secluded up here! I doubt anyone is going to hear!” He argued. “Either way, let’s just focus on getting all this cleaned. If there’s anything else, grab it now so it can soak.”
Uzi huffed but did as told. She scoured the house one more time and grabbed a couple of blankets. After dumping them in the soapy water, the two returned inside and allowed the fabrics to soak.
“Are you going to make yourself something for breakfast?” N asked.
“Dunno. I just had a fruit, so maybe I’ll wait till lunch.” Uzi replied with an added shrug. “Do you have any plans for today?” She tossed her own question.
“Not too much. Help out the town, prepare for some plundering tomorrow, maybe I’ll play in another game of soccer. Who knows.” N answered.
“Maybe you can help me put my windmill back together? Since you were spending so many late nights fixing it.” Uzi nudged the Kuranta with a grin.
N’s visor went flush again. “F-Fine. But if something comes up, I’ll have to break away to help. And you’re still helping me with the wash!” He pointed with knitted brows.
“Okay, okay! I get it! I’ll help!” Uzi raised her hands in mock surrender. “Let me go get my windmill and toolkit, though. I need to see how shoddy your job is anyway.” She giggled as she left.
N scoffed in offense and whipped around to her. Uzi laughed and scurried away before he could do anything more. With a pout forming on his lips, N turned around to sit at the table.
“I’m not sure why I’m helping her now if she’s going to be mean to me.” He grumbled to himself.
Uzi returned and placed her items onto the table. She gingerly took out her broken windmill and took a few seconds to simply stare at it. N’s handiwork is plastered all over it—from the glue, to the tape, to the replacement materials, and more.
N watched her silently as Uzi gazed at the object. His ears lowered and his brows creased as the silence stretched on.
“Are you… Doing okay?” He inquired softly.
“…Yeah.” Was Uzi’s even softer response. “Sorry. Got stuck in my thoughts for a second there. Let’s see how bad you did in patching it up.” The woman tried to hide her feelings with a smile and a laugh.
N didn’t return it. Uzi ignored his lack of reply and popped open the windmill.
As she trailed her sights over the inside, she found that it’s surprisingly put together. A lot better than she was initially expecting.
‘It’s not perfect, but it’s done surprisingly well.’ She mentally noted.
“So? What’s the verdict?” N asked from his position propping his chin on a palm.
“Surprisingly good for a jackass.” Uzi puffed in mirth.
N’s expression fell. “You’re welcome, human.” He hissed.
“Yeah, I know. So… Thanks, robot.” Uzi pulled N from his chair.
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. N became stunned by the sudden embrace but didn’t pull away. A sheepish blush formed on his visor as he returned the hug.
When Uzi pulled away a minute later, N was ready to sit back down. But he got taken off-guard one more time as Uzi pressed a soft peck to his cheek.
“You really… Don’t know how much you trying to fix my windmill means to me. Seriously…” The woman averted her gaze as her cheeks went hot and rosy.
N merely blinked at the human. He knew his display wasn’t any better than her face, and he was probably just as stiff. But it’s all a mere passing thought as Uzi’s bashfulness took up his entire attention.
Without even realizing, N slowly lifted onto his toe joints. His hands pulled the lady’s head back down so he could give her a kiss of his own. On the lips this time. It made his ears flounder and his tail lift high to flag furiously but he didn’t regret it.
When he pulled away, the drone took a soft vent. A lump of static formed in his voice box. If he spoke now, would it come bubbling up?
“If you– If you ever need the help, you can always ask.” He whispered, unable to speak higher for fear his voice might turn to static. “Even if my job at it is bad… I’ll still help.”
Uzi gazed at N. She smiled and nodded, hands grasping gently onto his own.
“Okay. Thank you, N.” She whispered.
The robot just nodded silently, too embarrassed to say anything more. It made Uzi giggled. She leaned down to kiss him one last time and make him stiffen.
It’s surprisingly fun getting him so sheepish and gooey under her lips.