euphoricsleeplucidity

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

This blog is where I'll be posting my art from now on

Okay... but imagine if the drones were literally sharks

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Day five of that short series of Christmas-themed Murder Drones fics. At first, I thought I'd be disappointed by how this one came out - but I thought about it, and I still like it. :3

v. Presents

"Go on, open it!" N encourages, tail wagging behind himself as Uzi grabs the present and shakes it curiously before settling it back down into her lap. The wrapping is tight - and the present, whatever it is, is rather thin and flat.

Without further adieu, Uzi works to carefully unwrap it and reveal a small, thin custom black case of felt with no text or anything. Tilting her head, her fingers unclip the side latch and it opens. A DVD?

Looking up, she quirks a brow. No indication on what it is.

N chuckles at her confusion. "Remember that show we were watching? This is part two."

Purple optics widen in recognition. "Oh!"

She looks back down at it, practically vibrating in excitement. "We're absolutely watching this later," Uzi says with conviction, leaving no room for argument.

With a giggle, N agrees, "okay." Then he looks at V with a tilted head, expression morphing into something unreadable.

Uzi turns her attention to V, too, who has been watching them, awfully silent. Still no comment, and the disassembly drone only purses her lips and looks away when their eyes lock.

Okay…

Uzi's attention is drawn to V's present for her, and the worker reaches out and grabs it, taking it and examining it. Small but, a little heavy.

She wastes no more time in getting it open, and her eyes widen once she does.

It's the first part of the manga that she and V have been reading - Uzi had introduced her to it, in an effort to get closer to the disassembler and have something to bond about. Never did she think V would care enough to search for this. Uzi has tried again and again to find it, but the library never had it, and none of the rundown buildings she had searched through in the abandoned city had it, either. She figured it was a lost cause, and that she'd of had to deal with not knowing the plot of the first novel.

Well, until now. She looks up at V, who watches her barely concealed apprehension.

Uzi smiles genuinely, knows they both aren't good at emotions, so she makes a joke about it, "I didn't think you cared enough."

Seems like that was the right move.

V visibly relaxes and rolls her eyes, looking away and gritting her teeth, but a smile plays across her lips regardless. "Whatever. It took a while to find that, y'know."

"I can imagine," Uzi laughs fondly.

Without hesitation, she wraps her arms around both of their necks and pulls them in for a hug. "I love you guys," she mumbles.

"I love you, too, Uzi," N giggles, nuzzling into her face and returning the embrace.

"Love you, too, dork," V grumbles in feigned bitterness at the same time, tentatively returning the hug, as well.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

This is kind of old and I had to fix it up but here's some good ol' J angst! I write angst the best, I think. (:

J flinches as she hears the distinct sound of fabric being ripped into as Tessa uses her sword to cut into her astronaut suit and the thin layer of rotted skin below. It shouldn't have blood - never should have blood, at most it should be clotted, rotten clumps of dried nastiness, and yet it's bright red blood that leaks down the fabric and out of the open wound.

Serves to further the illusion, doesn't it, J?

Tessa's arm hovers over her kneeling, defeated form, groveling at her boots. Red pools down in a steady trickle onto the back of her head, will certainly dry up and inevitably stain her silver hair.

"That wasn't very wise, Jaybird," Tessa says, tone mockingly sweet.

The next words that come aren't from Tessa - they are monotone, cold, with an underlying sweetness tinged with cruelty.

"Don't forget who owns you," Tessa - no, this monster doesn't deserve her name - Cyn reminds.

For once in a long, long time, J really wants to cry.

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Day four of that short series of Christmas-themed Murder Drones fics. This is my favorite one out of them all, and the one I wrote before I even came up with the idea of writing five of these things. iv. Mistletoe

They were at a day-before Christmas party, hosted by none other than Thad in his own dorm. Uzi had bid herself goodbye from the group, of which included Thad and Lizzy of all drones (though she was being nice for once - perhaps out of obligation), and headed over to get another cup of oil from the kitchen.

Uzi was not watching where she was going. Safe to say, neither was V. They both pause when they realize.

N pops out from behind the doorway with stars in his eyes, in turn causing the pair to look up. Indeed, hanging above the doorway, is a mistletoe in all its bushy glory.

"Are you serious," V is the first one to say anything, her gaze turning on N. Tail flicking in irritation, her frame is tense.

He startles, tone worried when he responds, "what?"

But Uzi knows it's not his fault - although, him even being there to watch is not helping his case. She glances around, makes sure no one else has noticed, and thankfully no one has.

Just them over here.

"Well," Uzi begins before V starts an argument. The words cause those glowering yellow eyes to snap onto her anxious purple ones.

The worker swallows. "The longer we stay here, the more attention we might draw to ourselves…"

As she looks behind herself, she can pinpoint the exact moment Lizzy sees them. Oh, no.

Uzi does something drastic. She might regret it, she might not. As she turns back to V, she grabs the collar of the disassembler's jacket and yanks her in to connect their lips.

V is stunned, and rightfully so. But then Uzi feels a gentle pressure against her and her eyes close and is V kissing back?!

It ends quicker then the worker wants when they hear a bunch of 'ooh's and cheers behind them.

As she lets go of the taller drone's jacket, V pushes past her and the crowd they drew without another word, wiping her mouth clean with the back of her hand while she does so.

N is trying to say something at her side, but Uzi isn't listening, watching V leave.

Huh. She doesn't quite regret it, after all.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Day three of that short series of Christmas-themed Murder Drones fics. This one is one of my favorites, I feel like the other two are kinda weak - but day four is my absolute favorite and I can't wait to share that tomorrow. :3

iii. Hot Chocolate

"Tessa used to love hot chocolate on Christmas."

It was an absentminded comment made by N, but one that had stuck with Uzi.

From his description, it was melted chocolate, or something like that. Obviously, they didn't really have access to chocolate - and it's not like the drones could even digest something like that.

But Christmas was two days away, and Uzi wanted to surprise her friends with something.

So, she had heated up some oil in a microwave. Yeah, okay, it was not at all difficult to do that but it was the thought that counts, right?

With that thought in mind, Uzi enters the pod with two cups of 'hot oil', as she's decided to refer to it as.

N lights up as soon as he sees her, but V grumbles and mouths something Uzi doesn't understand. Whatever.

"Uzi! You're back!" N says happily, tail wagging behind himself as he approaches her. He notices the mugs in her hands, and tilts his head. His pupils dilate from the scent of oil that wafts toward him, steam rising up from the heated liquid sloshing around inside the cup.

"Yeah-" She pauses, and bashfully hands him the mug, suddenly embarrassed. "Uh, I made you… something."

Another pause, feeling like she should probably say more when he remains curiously silent. "Remember when you were saying how Tessa liked hot chocolate? Well, it's not chocolate but I figured it'll give the same… vibes or feeling or whatever."

"Aw, Uzi!" His tone is excited once he finally responds, accepting the mug from her, holding it carefully. "Thank you!" He lifts it to his lips and takes a sip.

Blushing, Uzi rubs the back of her neck. "You're welcome."

She peers behind him, to V, who leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching them with curiosity and something bitter. Envy?

Uzi isn't deterred, and approaches her with the other cup in hand.

"Here," she says, outstretching the mug for V to take. The disassembler doesn't, instead seems startled.

"Uh," is V's intelligent response after a moment.

Did she seriously think that Uzi was going to give N something and not her? Uzi's eyes narrow, patience running thin as she shakes the mug a little to try and entice the disassembler. "Well?"

Again, V seems stunned silent.

Another moment passes before she uncrosses her arms to grab the cup. "… Thank you?"

Uzi reaches a hand out, considers patting V on the shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring, but thinks better of it and drops her arm. "You're welcome," Uzi mumbles, albeit genuinely, turning back toward N and approaching him.

The two talk while he sips from his mug, even sharing some with Uzi herself, and V watches them with a smile and something warm that isn't the oil while she drinks from hers.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Huh okay I drew again tonight um lazy V doodle ig

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Um I'm absolutely not an artist but I woke up and decided, "hey, I can draw now!" I have no idea how shading works or backgrounds or even posing but here's V I guess! Back to the shadows I go! I'm hoping to get into drawing more so that I can actively improve, so that'll be fun :3

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Day two of that short series of Christmas-themed Murder Drones fics. I should mention right now that these are all loosely connected and also, Nuziv is the end game but I'm not tagging it for all of these because it isn't focused on until the very last one on Christmas.

ii. Christmas Tree

"N, you are going to topple it," Uzi grumbles, watching as he climbs up the tree. It's large, yeah, but it definitely wobbles as he climbs it, since it's not natural and the only thing actually holding it up is the fact the base is buried in the snow. She and V had sent him to go see if he can find a tree suitable for decorating - and he winded up bringing this thing back. Apparently, he had found it in an abandoned holiday store.

Safe to say, Uzi was impressed that he had managed to carry it all the way back here. They set it up just outside the corpse spire, the fake leaves bristling stiffly in the cold, windy air of Copper-9.

She watches as he finishes putting up the very last ornament along the spiral of Christmas lights, a proud smile on his face. Uzi finds it cute. Uh, not that she'd ever admit that out loud, of course.

"See? It didn't topple," N replies late, climbing back down it.

"Wait until later," V pipes up from beside Uzi, startling her. She didn't even see her come out, 'nor hear her walk up next to her.

She voices as much. "Where did you come from?"

"The pod," V answers without missing a beat, a hand on her hip.

Uzi groans. "No shit," she grumbles under her breath.

"Now we need to put this up!" N says eagerly, and Uzi looks back at him just in time to see him hold up a tree-topper - some type of star ornament, which shines brightly in the moonlight. It's actually quite pretty, the light of the moon hitting it just right to illuminate the more translucent spiky outer edges.

A hand at her back, and she's shoved forward, stumbling to catch herself so that she doesn't fall flat on her face.

"Really?" Uzi snaps, turning her head to glower at V, who looks at her with a toothy grin and smugness written all over her.

"What?" V acts innocent, cocking her head. "You want to do the honors, don't you?"

Before Uzi can berate her, tell her that she did not have to push her like that, N pipes up. "Yeah! Uzi, c'mere," his arms are outstretched, and Uzi can't help the smile that spreads across her face at how happy and excited he looks. It makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know he's enjoying their little Christmas festivities, even if it's just the three of them out here.

With a pep in her step, Uzi approaches and allows herself to be picked up and hoisted over his shoulder. He hands her the tree-topper, and carefully aligns her with the tree. Reaching up, she can just barely make it, her fingers touching the tip… a little further and… voilà! Uzi carefully settles the star at the top of the tree.

"Ta-da!" She giggles. N's energy is evidently infectious.

He brings her down and spins her around in his excitement, and though it's dizzying and he squeezes her a little too tightly, she returns the embrace and buries her face into his jacket to hide her blissful little grin.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

So, here's part one of a short series of Christmas-themed Murder Drones fic thingies. I'm going to be posting one of these at the same time each day leading up to Christmas. Enjoy! :3 i. Christmas Lights

"V, how does that happen?"

Somehow, the disassembly drone has managed to get herself tangled up in the festive lights they were setting up within the pod. Uzi should be surprised - she'd expect this from N, not V - but at this point, she's not even.

Uzi is staring up at the hanging disassembly drone, who squirms in a futile attempt to dislodge the flickering lights from her frame.

"Well, are you gonna get me down?" V huffs when she realizes that her writhing is doing nothing but worsening the bonds, glowering down at the worker watching in amusement.

"I don't know. It's kinda funny," Uzi supplies, tilting her head in a teasing manner.

V growls, frustrated. "So help me, if you don't-" She pauses, realizing her threat would only serve empty in such a predicament.

"I'll yell," the disassembly drone ends up with.

"For who?!" Uzi's tone is exasperated, a snicker bubbling up from within her. "N isn't gonna be back for a while!"

For a moment, V is silent.

"C'mon, Uzi. Get me down," she finally says, but the way she says it gives Uzi pause.

With a groan that hides her concern, Uzi's eyes trail along the lights' cable, then she looks over to the one chair within the pod. Sighing, the worker moves to the chair, dragging it over to where the lights hang and climbing on top of it so that she can reach up. Uzi unclips the cable and yanks it down, letting it fall to the floor.

A yelp behind her lets her know that she had pulled down the right one, followed by a thud and a grunt.

Uzi turns around, watching V remain facedown on the floor.

"You good?" The worker bothers to ask, quirking a brow.

V huffs and flashes her a thumbs up. It's only then that she decides to remove the rest of the Christmas lights from herself, and Uzi shakes her head with a fond smile.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Very sorry for not posting very often lately. Lots of stuff has been going on. But I managed to write this, and figured it's good enough to post. This is my first time writing Vizzy, so I hope I did it justice because I have zero clue how to write Lizzy. Enjoy! :3

"Lizzy," V begins carefully. The worker's fingers don't pause, continuing to stroke through her hair and untangle any knotted strands.

Lizzy hums in acknowledgement, but doesn't say much else. Grabbing the brush again that she had set aside, she works it through the disassembler's hair, unaware of V's inner turmoil.

"Are we-" Uncertain on how to word this, V stops herself.

Putting the brush down in an exaggerated motion, Lizzy huffs and tilts her head. "What is it, V?" She prods.

Swallowing, V leans further back, into Lizzy's chest. She looks up and continues, "… dating?"

What brought this on, is the fact that earlier, Uzi had winded up referring to Lizzy as V's girlfriend. Of course, the disassembly drone had denied it, flustered and embarrassed by such an accusation even if Uzi meant it as a joke. But, what she couldn't exactly deny was the fact that she honestly didn't know if they were or not.

That's something you talk about first, right?

But they do hang out a lot and she enjoys Lizzy's company, even if she wouldn't admit it. And the worker makes her feel weird, occasionally. Warm and just - happy?

Does that mean V likes Lizzy? Or worse (better?), love? She does not know.

That scares her.

And she realizes that Lizzy hasn't even responded. Or maybe she had and V wasn't listening because she was so caught up in her thoughts.

Without warning, V pushes herself up and scoots away from the worker. "I'm sorry-" She apologizes, a little frantic.

She needs to get out of here.

Getting off of the bed, she stumbles to the room's door without even so much as a glance or word to the worker, but then she finally hears something that breaks through her muffled audio intake and freezes.

"V! Seriously?"

Lizzy is mad at her. Of course. "I'm sorry," V repeats.

"Oh, no, you don't," she hears grumbled behind her. Before V can open the door, a hand on her shoulder startles her and her eyes lock onto it.

"V, turn around," Lizzy says, and it sounds like a plead. But her audio receptors must be playing tricks on her.

Regardless, she sighs in resignation and listens, ready to be berated, turning around to look at the worker.

And her eyes widen when Lizzy leans up on the tip of her toes to press a soft kiss to her lips. What.

"You're an actual idiot," is the first thing Lizzy says when she pulls away.

The disassembler is in shock. "Huh?" Is the only thing she can think to respond to that with.

Lizzy rolls her eyes. "Well, I wouldn't say we were dating, but I've been flirting with you for like, ages," a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "so we can be."

"Really?" V tries her best to keep the hope out of her voice.

"I don't know if you know this, but you're incredibly hot," Lizzy remarks. "I would love to date you, V."

And there's that feeling again. The warmth. Lizzy makes her happy.

V leans down to press a kiss to the worker's lips, unable to contain the emotions that bubble up within her. Doesn't know how to react to them, but she does know they're pleasant and she doesn't want it to ever go away.

Happy.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

V leans against a broken-down car, vaguely listening as the worker goes on and on about this railgun she's been working on. Honestly, it's impressive and normally she'd be listening more, but tonight, something is... wrong. V first noticed something was wrong when she realized her sensors were hyper-focused on the worker, tracking her every move like the predator she unfortunately is. Then she realized how high and fast her core temperature was climbing - warnings were normal for her, so she generally dismisses them without reading them.

... But with how she felt like she was on the verge of overheating right now? Well, she goes to double check, maximizes the warning tabs and - oh. Her oil reserves were low, dangerously so. How could she be so stupid? To her dismay, that's when she realizes that the reason she was so hyper-focused on Uzi is because her processors recognize the worker as a perfectly fine fresh oil can. Which... is not good.

At the rate her temperature was climbing, she's unsure if she could even make it to hunt any other worker. Which left... no, she can't think about that. She swallows hard, hunches over to clutch her abdomen, realizes hot steam is venting off of her body already. Her eyes hollow, tail thrashing as she tries to fight off the hunting protocols that threaten to take over. Damnit. She hates this - hates being an uncontrollable predator who relies on artificial instinct to hunt and disassemble.

Her head lifts, her eyes - no, that emotionless outstretched X on her visor locks onto Uzi's startled purple pair.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

I'm not the greatest artist, but I can at least get my point across, which is all that matters for me. Anyway, uh, meet one of my Murder Drones OCs! I don't usually make fan characters like this but me and my friends came up with the idea for a Murder Drones RP, which I've titled MD: Weaponized because it was the only thing I could come up with at the time and now it has stuck.

So, this is Enyo. She's a worker from Outpost 10 who inherited the Solver from both of her parents, which winds up having severe consequences later on. Enyo works as an assassin for her colony. On this planet (Rune-0), worker drones have armed themselves with spare disassembly drone parts, and Enyo's choice of weapon is a fast-firing sniper rifle that she made from a disassembler's assault rifle. As an assassin, she often leads hunting parties to track down squads of disassembly drones. Once the party engages in a fight with disassemblers, Enyo stays back to cover them from afar. When she was very young, both of her parents were murdered by a disassembly drone, but she doesn't know which one. She's not going to have a good time of it when she finds out, though. ;) Because of her parents death, she was adopted by the chief of Outpost 10, but he's always so busy and barely has time to interact with her. While Enyo is good with long-range weaponry (and not so much melee weapons - last time she tried, she ended up putting two children in the medbay - never again), she is also an excellent technician and excels in repairing all kinds of stuff, with the workers of the colony often coming to her to get their weapons, machines, devices, ect fixed up. Oh, but uh, Enyo is selfish. If there's a fight she knows she can't win, well, it wouldn't be the first time if she abandons a hunting party in the midst of fighting a squad of disassembly drones in favor of ensuring her own survival. To her, the less workers on this planet, the better, anyway. She gets better later on, but at the beginning she is kind of mean. If you read all of that, I hope you enjoyed my silly little OC and some of the lore. :3

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

Self-indulgent Vuzi cuddles? Yeah, self-indulgent Vuzi cuddles

"I am freaking freezing," Uzi had complained not twenty minutes ago, just before suddenly being snatched up by an oversized murder kitten.

Yeah, if you had told past her that she'd wind up cuddling with one of the very things sent to destroy her own kind, she'd of probably bit you. Or told you to bite her, whichever comes first. But, alas, here she was, grumpily pouting, arms crossed over her chest, back against the rumbling chest of a disassembly drone while said disassembly drone's arms are wrapped around her and trapping her to its body. And, not to mention, one disassembler that she's come to find is probably the most violent - though she hasn't met the other two for comparison. She shudders to think of there being one more brutal than V.

Uzi had quit fighting the forced cuddling a little while ago. In fact, she found it kind of nice. V's body was warm, really warm, and the soothing purrs that seemed to vibrate her entire being were actually rather comforting. Of course, she wasn't going to admit any of that, and she certainly wasn't going to show that she was enjoying this.

None of them said anything for the longest time. Uzi couldn't help the fact that the longer the silence stretches for, her body ends up beginning to relax against V, arms uncrossing to settle by her sides. V's tail, previously wagging (don't think she didn't notice), comes up to drape across her stomach, a gentle pressure that should be threatening, but the stinger is poised so non-theateningly that she really didn't care. Maybe it was the fact she was kind of tired though, she belatedly realizes, as she checks her battery levels. 16%.

V's head lowers onto her shoulder, and any other sound within the abandoned shack they called home for the time being was drowned out by the disassembly drone's purrs. Uzi absentmindedly wonders if the sound comes from somewhere within their chest, or their vocoder, because it is loud. She winds up voicing her question aloud, "how do you guys purr? Like- where's it come from?"

V snickers at her question, but graces her with an answer anyway, "it comes from our core." That does and doesn't answer Uzi's question. She had wanted a little more than that, but whatever, she'll settle with it anyway. Not like she has much of a choice, V can be rather secretive and aloof when it comes to certain disassembly drone features.

Once more, the silence stretches on, the only sound Uzi can hear is the lazy purring that emits from V. It's then that she realizes that she really doesn't feel cold anymore. Huh. What was it V had said while she was struggling and complaining when the disassembly drone had initially grabbed her? Oh, right.

Sharing body warmth is effective heat dissipation.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

J x V x Uzi... does this even have like, a proper ship name? I've just been calling it BrandedViolentBites. Anyway, this takes place in an AU of mine where the disassembly drones are more feralistic - but I intentionally didn't make that very obvious, and although some background information is missing (this seems to be the usual for me), it's still readable.

While I think the pacing is rather off and it might be a tad rushed (writing these on Discord for your friends first might do that to you), I'm rather proud of this regardless. :3

The worker wanders through the snow, white crunching underneath her boots loudly, her purple optics honed in on the ground. Everything felt too quiet as she makes her way to the corpse spire - she felt uneasy, like she was being watched.

Which, is kind of weird, considering Uzi has befriended all of the disassembly drones. So realistically, there shouldn't be anything out here for her to fear? And yet, she still does as she enters the towering structure of long-dead corpses, all of which her own kind.

"N?" She calls out first, familiar name on her tongue. She gets no response, which is kind of concerning. He's usually always here - he's the one who rarely ever goes out hunting, something about how his systems don't need as much oil as his female coworkers. He is almost always here to greet her.

While Uzi has 'befriended' the disassemblers, that doesn't necessarily mean she gets along with all of them. Namely V and J - while V is a little easier to get along with and they're certainly getting closer, J is... well, J.

Just as she's about to call out their names anyway, something impacts the snow behind her.

Uzi yelps, turns around to be met with an intimidating hunter's cross across black display, a sign of impending demise for any other worker. Though she's starting to feel like just any worker.

It's V - she can tell that much, if the eerie giggling alone didn't give it away. Claws out, tail lashing as if irritated, wings twitching in anticipation. Yeah, Uzi is actually kind of freaked out.

"V?" She utters quietly, but alas, gets no response. As if the disassembler has completely given in to her hunting protocols - she might of.

V shows off her fangs in a sickening grin, wide and malicious across her face. She prowls forward, and Uzi is beginning to feel like prey caught in a predator's trap. For every step the worker takes back, V takes one forward, unyielding in her approach.

And Uzi wasn't doing a very good job at keeping an eye on her surroundings, clearly, because her back hits something solid. A quick glance, hesitant to take her eyes off of the predator and yet doing so anyway, reveals that she's been cornered against the landing pod.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the incoming attack - and as the disassembler pounces, Uzi leaps to the side, hitting the snow just as a thud sounds from behind. V had hit the pod in her lunge, and Uzi can hear her growl in frustration afterward.

The worker rolls onto her back, stares at V, terrified. She quickly gets up, puts her hands out in front of herself as if she's trying to calm a wild animal. Well, she kind of is, isn't she?

"V, calm down, please. I-I'm not your prey, remember?" Uzi says, those pleading words feeling foreign in her mouth, uncharacteristically scared but sue her, this is a life or death situation. She can worry about her edgy teenage persona later. Her words only cause V to giggle, however.

And then something else lands behind her, and she whips around on instinct, her eyes thinning out. J.

Now, she is cornered between two disassembly drones. While J is usually far more restrained than V ever could be, right now, she matches V's hungry look and that is a horrifying realization.

Uzi looks between both predators, involuntarily trembling. She's defenseless, she didn't bring anything she could possibly defend herself with. Not that she really has anything that could help her here in the first place, anyway. And thanks to a certain drone, she pointedly glares at J for a split second, fear be damned, her railgun is still in repair.

She's unable to evade V's next pounce, and finds herself pinned up against the pod with the hungry disassembler's maw opening wide. And she feels a cable coiling around her leg, feels the cold canister settling against it. Uzi belatedly realizes that it's not V's as she looks down to watch the yellow liquid slosh inside, her eyes then following the length of the cable to its actual owner - J.

"W-why... ?" The worker utters, voice shaky and wracked with fear. She feels betrayed - why does she feel betrayed? V and J aren't like N, they could have attacked her at any moment because they aren't close, and yet she still feels betrayed when they actually do. Guess she liked them more than she thought she had.

Uzi squeaks when J moves to crowd her, too. While V's talons wrap around her arms and hold them to the pod, J settles one pair of hers by Uzi's head. She leans in, as well, but then that elongated X disappears and gives way to cold calculating eyes, a frown playing across her lips.

Can Uzi feel relieved already?

She waits with bated breath, and then J's claws shift out for the normal drone hands and she moves to rest a hand on V's shoulder. A silent command, to which the other disassembler obeys without question. Hunting protocols retreat, and Uzi no longer feels as threatened as wings disappear, X flickers to give way to usual optics, and claws retract to shift back into hands.

Both back off, allowing Uzi space to breathe. They look concerned, but unsure on if they should move closer again or stay back.

But Uzi only scowls, lets herself slide down the wall she had been cornered to as she works to relax her systems, still reeling with the aftershocks of her prior panic. She wants to yell at them, scold them, anything to feel more like herself right now, but she can't find it in herself to do so. Maybe later.

J kneels first, and Uzi finds herself flinching as the disassembler moves closer. Regret flashes across the ex-leader's face, and Uzi can hear the click of her vocalsynth resetting before she speaks. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of..." A glance over to V, "that was a mistake. I'm sorry." Her tone is full of remorse.

It's as if the pair communicate with their eyes, but then Uzi realizes that they probably are - they have some sort of program that allows them to speak to each other without their prey being able to know, Uzi recalls from one of J's explanations on disassembly drone features.

And V kneels too, but stays where she is. Uzi looks between the two.

"Then why did you?" She finally questions bitterly.

"We were... playing," V mumbles an answer, embarrassed.

"Seriously," it's not phrased as a question - Uzi is exasperated. If they had brought this up beforehand, she probably would of actually played along, but she thought she was really about to die at the claws of the first drones she found herself willing to trust. She kind of feels bad - feels like she's ruined something, but, it's not like she was even aware there was something to be ruined in the first place!

Uzi groans loudly. "Ugh, you guys were really scary, y'know," she mutters, looking away. 'Scary' is an understatement, but she's trying to lighten the situation.

In a move that is so uncharacteristic of her, J hesitantly wraps her arms around Uzi's waist and moves up against her side. While Uzi tenses initially, she ultimately finds herself relaxing into the comforting gesture. It feels weirdly nice? She normally hates physical contact, and honestly, so do the disassemblers, and yet... she finds herself enjoying this and her breathing calms down completely.

And then there is pressure against the other side of her, and V has joined the party - her arms join J's, wrapping around the worker's waist as well. Completely sandwiched in-between them, Uzi's visor, despite the earlier incident, flushes with a purple blush. Oh, great.

She'll consult herself about that later.

"I'm sorry, too," V mumbles after a moment of silence. A rare sincerity in her words that catches Uzi off-guard, and, apparently J too, if her looking up with a rather surprised look on her face is anything.

"It's not really fine, but I guess I can forgive you," Uzi says, and that's the most they'll get out of her. She's not being sappy and shit around them.

V snickers, and nuzzles her face into the back of her neck.

J leans her forehead against Uzi's.

And y'know what?

She's content to stay like this for as long as they'll allow.

She leans into J's chest, listens to her core beat while V's breath warms the back of her neck.

This is nice.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

MY FRIEND'S OC IS SUPER COOL, Y'ALL SHOULD TOTALLY GO CHECK THEM OUT AND LIKE AND REBLOG AND STUFF, YEAH!

So.. Murder drones?

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

My friend had requested me to write this. I've never written Nuzi before, as I struggle to write N, but I hope it's enjoyable.

N snaps awake with a cry, his systems on high alert, his breath quickening rapidly. It felt like everything was closing in on him, the sheets covering him were too warm, and he pushes himself off of the bed, stumbling over the fabric that was wrapped around him, crawling further away from the bed and cowering in the corner of the too small room. He covers his face with his hands, shaking his head repeatedly, shutting his yellow eyes tightly even though his 'true' eyes continue to look around the room, locking onto the looming shadows as the barely visible pupils within them constrict in his panic.

She was looming over him, she was going to hurt him again, the yellow optics of those AS cameras staring right at him from within the darkness. "No," he chokes on a sob, and that's when he realizes tears stream heavily down his visor.

Through the haze, he hears a voice that clears the fog (though he can't make out the words), enough for the darkness to fade slightly, the cameras to flicker away for a split second, revealing familiar yellow-purple gradient optics before the panic returns. But he instead focuses on the voice that speaks to him, until he can make out the words - this isn't the first time he's woken up in a panic, after all.

"N, it's me. It's me," he can hear her say, and his eyes flick open. There's no Solver anymore, no shadows that threaten him, just Uzi, and she looks scared. For him. "Uzi, remember?"

"… Uzi?" He asks cautiously, as if afraid that she's not really there, like it's a hallucination, even though deep down he knows that is not the case.

"Yeah. That's me," she murmurs carefully, moving even closer to kneel down and outstretch a hand as if she were interacting with a wild animal. She might as well be.

Immediately, he lunges forward and to her credit, the worker doesn't flinch. But she knows she doesn't have to - he only wraps his arms around her, latching onto her tightly, afraid that she'd disappear if he were to let go. He buries his face into the crook of her neck, trembling.

"It's okay," Uzi reassures, bringing her hands up, rubbing his back with comforting circles. "You're safe, she's gone, N. She can't hurt you anymore, I promise she can't."

He doesn't respond for a little bit, nor does he relax. But finally, "I'm scared, Uzi. I-I keep having those nightmares. I-. They don't s-stop." He whimpers, clinging even tighter to the smaller worker before letting up, not wanting to hurt her.

"I know," Uzi mumbles. "We'll figure that out, okay?"

N finally pulls back, if only slightly, a small smile on his face. He hates worrying her, knows he does even if she won't tell him. "… Thanks, Uzi."

She rolls her eyes, a purple blush appearing on her visor as she averts her gaze. "Any time, dude. You wanna try and go back to sleep, now?" She asks, standing up as he releases her and stretching with a tired yawn.

The disassembly drone hesitates, his nightmare still very much fresh in his mind, but he inevitably concedes. "Okay," N agrees softly, shakily standing up as well, lifting his hand to wipe off any tears that remain on his visor. He swallows his saliva, and grasps Uzi's hands as she outstretches them. She smiles in a bashful way, and backs up, leading him back to the bed.

"Uzi-!" He shouts in surprise when she lets herself fall back onto the bed, dragging him with her and causing him to fall on top of her. Though the worker lets out a muffled noise from the pressure, she doesn't complain much further, instead wrapping her arms around him, keeping him there. "I don't-."

"You're not crushing me, you dork," she interrupts, "I'd tell you if you were, don't worry."

"O-okay," N yields, albeit hesitantly.

They don't say anything else after that. Uzi is content just rubbing his back in comforting patterns, and N just relaxes into it.

He is nearly completely asleep when he just barely registers Uzi speaking one last time, "… You're safe, N."

And he falls asleep sometime after that.

[euphoricsleeplucidity]

I initially didn't want to post this anywhere for reasons, but well, here we are. Likely out of character, so just a warning. But, enjoy some good ol' Oilrose angst!

J slides down the wall of the pod, her fists clenching, the claws at the tips of her servos digging into the metal of the palms of her hands, drawing a small trickle of oil from the marks. She feels like she wants to cry, and she doesn't even totally understand why. She doesn't understand why she's been feeling like this lately. She should be fine, she'll leave the planet soon, inevitably die. But her core beats so rapidly against her chest as if it's going to jump out, and is she panicking?

A memory plays.

-MEMORY.log// "J. I love you," V says carefully, firmly, enunciating every syllable, her yellow eyes gleaming with sincerity, and yet the leader steps back.

"What?" Is J's response, taking another step back, her voice full of disbelief. Is this what her subordinate seriously wanted to meet for? She had-. She had other things to attend to (she didn't, the sun would rise any moment now). She steels her expression, gaze hardening. Looks away. "You can't," she hisses, a frown playing across her lips.

"Really? I can't?" V questions, tone smug, cocking her head, quirks a digital brow. She's smirking, J can observe as she glances at her.

J swallows. Why did her subordinate complicate this, this time? Why… now? No matter, they were almost done on this planet-. V's memories would be erased soon. "I-," J pauses, changes her wording to ones of confirmation instead, repeats, "you can't."

She doesn't elaborate. One last step back. Her wings deploy.

V looks hurt, and J thinks that she can vaguely hear a quiet utter of her name but she doesn't want to care.

J takes off with a quick downwards thrust, tries to ignore the guilt that creeps up on her.

A tear animates and falls down her visor, finally.

Another memory plays.

-MEMORY.log// And V kisses her, rough and heated, slams her against the wall of the corpse spire, tail coiling itself around her waist to keep her in place with the canister settling at her side. J shivers, places her hands against her subordinate's chest, considers shoving V away, but it feels nice… V's lips moving against hers with such pent-up aggression and raw emotion, and the leader hesitantly reciprocates, moving her hands up to squeeze V's shoulders. Finds herself… accepting it.

V growls into the kiss, before finally pulling away, leaning her forehead against the leader's, eyes narrowed. "Don't you get it, J?"

Yet, the leader shakes her head no. Tongue feeling as if it's too heavy in her mouth to allow her to speak.

"I still love you, you… idiot," V mutters quietly.

Normally, J would scold her for the insult. But she doesn't even register it, those words serving to bring J back to what happened all those months ago. She remembers? And why does V insist on playing with her emotions like this?

…

Suddenly it all makes sense.

The realization almost makes her hysterical-.

V loves her.

And she loves V, too, doesn't she?

They are bonded rather closely.

She'd go as far as to say she enjoys V's company.

She's tried to deny it for so long.

And now she breaks. Leans into V, who opts to wrap her arms around J, uncoils her tail so that it sways behind her.

More tears animate. Fall down her visor. On shaky legs though, she stands. Her hands shift out, replaced by three hooked talons. She still leans against the wall, those very talons digging into the metal of the pod, piercing it. Damage she'll have to fix later.

And another memory plays.

-MEMORY.log// They sit on the rooftop of some tall building, staring at the ringed moon of Copper-9 as it illuminates the planet. The disassemblers lean against each other, both of them with soft smiles on their faces, so unlike their usual selves. But well, it is just them out here.

Although hesitantly, even awkwardly, J moves her arm to wrap it around V's middle, pulling her even closer.

"This is nice," V mumbles quietly.

"Mhm," J hums in agreement, her hand rubbing comforting circles against V's back. "Love you," she mumbles.

"I love you, too," V giggles happily, smugly. J rolls her eyes, though it's playful.

J snarls, wants to break something but there's nothing around and she really doesn't want to break the only chair within the pod.

She ruined it all. And for what?

Because she believed that there was truly no escape.

Hah.

She really is an idiot.

-MEMORY.log// She looks down upon her subordinate.

"Well, I never needed either of you," J coldly utters, tries to protect herself, and yet she hates the look of hurt and betrayal that crosses V's expression just before her missile launcher fires.

It makes contact.

J noticed the bond that V now harbors with N and that… worker, evident during their fight (and after, when J watched them from the shadows).

She finally has something that J could never give her, doesn't she?

J never really was… affectionate.

And honestly, neither was V.

But that doesn't matter, does it?

The leader always was selfish.

And in the end, J ruined it by betraying them in the first place.

She really screwed up.

And she could never fix it.

When this stupid spaceship is fixed, she'll be long gone.

Forgotten.

Because there was just no point in staying.