cradle – muse a pulls muse b’s head into their lap, a is N
"Ugh, that ending frickin' sucked! All that build up, and what the hell happened? They totally dropped the ball!"
Uzi huffs, throwing an empty energy drink can at the screen, which bounces off with a dull thudding sound. N just gives a small shrug, lips pursed.
"I dunno, I kinda liked it. Like, it was meant to be ambiguous or something."
"That's just a cop-out for when they can't write well," says Uzi. "If it were up to me, there would've been a cool sword fight or something! And a decapitation!"
"I guess that would have made it more clear, but... I dunno, sometimes it's nice when you have to think about it a bit," says N. "Is it just me?"
"Maybe. But there's a difference between ambiguous and bad," says Uzi, flopping down onto the bed. She pulls her phone out and begins to type away, still scowling. "Hold on, I gotta post about how mad I am."
As she types her all-caps and slightly profane social media post, Uzi can see N shifting out of the corner of her eye he keeps glancing at her, then to the TV, then away, then back to her. He's not very subtle, so it doesn't take Uzi very long to roll her eyes and look over at him.
"What, dude? Like, I can tell you've got something on your mind. Something wrong?"
"Uh, mmmmmaybe..." he says, leaning over towards her. "How's work been lately?"
"Frickin' sucks," she grunts. "Humans are morons. And the non-humans too, it's just... ugh, why call me for help if you're just gonna second guess everything I'm trying to do?"
Something seems to click, and N nods. "Sounds like you're kinda stressed, huh?"
"I guess. I haven't really thought about it."
Uzi frowns, pulling up a few diagnostic tabs on her HUD. Her temperature's running a bit higher than normal and her battery drain rate's spiking, but she figured those were just because she'd been working more. Maybe it's psychological? Her systems don't usually warn about emotional states unless she's about to crash out.
As she frowns at her screen, there's a gentle touch at her back, which causes her to jump.
"Woah, w-what're... What are you doing, N?" she says, shaking the blush away from her visor.
"Oh, sorry! Should've said something first." N holds up his hands, wiggling his fingers. "I was just gonna rub your shoulders. Tessa used to like that, when she was working hard. Is that okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's fine. Sorry, I just- Didn't expect it," she stammers. What good would a massage even do? She doesn't even have muscles. Or, most of her doesn't, at least.
"Um, N? Instead of my shoulders, could you... do these?"
A pair of tattered, leathery wings sprout from Uzi's back, making the bedroom feel cramped. N makes a small noise of alarm, but then she feels his warm touch on her extra appendages. She's not sure if these weird, pseudo-organic wings have muscles, but they feel weird sometimes. Foreign. Her but not her. It's hard to explain.
"Maintenance is important," N hums, touching at the skeletal joints of her wings. "Doesn't matter what it is. Does that feel good?"
It's grounding. If these wings weren't her, she wouldn't be able to feel his touch.
"Yeah. It's nice," she says.
The two lapse into silence for a time, and Uzi closes her eyes. Maybe she was getting stressed out. Here with N, she doesn't even feel like telling people to go fuck themselves on social media anymore. He's always been good at getting her to just calm down, because with him, everything feels peaceful. Like nothing could go wrong.
N's voice jolts her from her thoughts. "Oop! Eheh, not that I mind, but this makes it kinda hard, Uzi."
"Huh? What does?" she says, turning to face him.
Her eyes narrow when she sees the culprit; her mouth of her tail, dotted with glowing yellow eyes, is gnawing on N's arm. When it spots Uzi glaring, it stops for a moment, then chews faster.
"Yeah, these things got a mind of their own sometimes, huh?" says N, his own tail wagging gently. "Can't tell you how many times I've stabbed myself on accident."
"Yeah. They do," she says, yanking it off his arm. With a sigh, she retracts her wings and tail, going back to normal Uzi. Figures Cyn would try and ruin any moment that she could, even when she's just a mouth.
She can feel N's hand on her shoulder again. "You okay, Uzi? Sorry, did you not-"
"No, it was... it felt nice. It's not you, N," she sighs, glancing back at him. "I just... have a lot of crap on my mind, that's all."
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Can you just... just stay here?"
He smiles. "I wasn't planning on leaving."
And then he pulls her closer.
Uzi's eyes hollow, and a blush shoots up her face in an instant. Every so often she remembers that super cool size difference between them, just how big and strong he is compared to her. What's he doing? Why is he pulling her between his legs? Is something going to happen? She's not ready for that right now!
She screws her eyes shut, gently pursing her lips. Is that what's happening, is he going to kiss her? She's stil not sure how to do that, is she ready? Oh robo-god, what if she screws it up? Will he hate her? Of course not, but she doesn't want to make things weird!
N keeps pulling her closer, and Uzi's mind keeps racing. After a few moments, she realizes she's nearly horizontal, and her head is resting against a smooth surface. After a moment, she opens one eye, and finds N looking down at her, smiling.
Uzi opens her other eye, glancing around. "Uh? What are- Thigh pillow? Why?"
"I, uh... I remember stuff like this," he says, brushing some of her hair out of her face. "I think that sometimes, just... knowing someone cares can help a lot."
N's visor tints a pastel yellow, and his eyes dart away. "I mean, as long as you're okay with it. Sorry, should've asked first, I don't-"
"N-no, it's fine," says Uzi, putting a hand on his thigh. "It's... Thanks, N."
The two drones smile at each other, and Uzi closes her eyes. She tries to let her thoughts empty out, away from the stresses of the city and her life, to just focus on this moment. Just her and N. She doesn't need anything else.
But there's a nagging thought at the edge of things. Did she see hazard stripes printed on his upper thighs? Why does he have those? Why did Cyn build the disassembly drones all... hot?
Actually, why complain about it? It's the single good thing Cyn's done for her.
Uzi sighs, smiling gently as she feels N's fingers brush through her hair. He was right, she thinks. Sometimes this is enough.
