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Cyn ran the brush through Tessa’s hair, being extremely careful. She didn’t want to hurt the lady. No, she couldn’t. Not with her faltering arms. But she didn’t want to drop the brush either. That’d be inconvenient, and she didn’t want to be inconvenient. No, not her. J said there was nothing worse than an inconvenient drone.
The Lady was humming softly as she worked, some tune Cyn couldn’t remember. Her code was fuzzy like that, always faltering with the little things, like tunes. She knew that this one had been muttered before, but not when or where. The thought made her frown. That wasn’t normal. But nothing about her was normal, she was sure of that. Normal drones didn’t feel the bug like tendrils shifting inside them, didn’t feel the monster inside demand control, demand blood. They didn’t want to d-
“Cyn?” Tessa cut through her spiraling thoughts, her concern clear. She was good like that, Lady Tessa. Always thinking about them. Even her, not that she should. The only other people who did were N and V. They shouldn’t either.
“Yes Tessa?” She replied in the normal monotone. Her voice… she didn’t remember if she’d ever had a normal voice. Nothing but the bland one she possessed.
“You look sad! Are you alright?” She was. How couldn’t she be? She’d been saved from the scrap heap, given a home, a purpose. It was everything she could ever hope for, even if she was locked in the dark sometimes. If she was beat, hit. They’d given her everything. So what if the horror within wanted her to feast on them, to rend and kill? She couldn’t. No, she couldn’t hurt Tessa.
“Content. I am fine.” She gave a smile, and regretted it. With the mirror in front of them, she could see how it was nothing but teeth, sharp and ugly. She wasn’t pretty, not in the way Tessa, J, or V was. Every aspect of the lady was pretty, from her the way the little dazzled off her brown skin, her dark eyes, and her darker hair. The way she moved, the way she spoke. Same with the other maids. They were…. Refined. She was left overs, rotting away. Her gender setting hadn’t even been right when they first found her, not that it took long to figure out.
Tessa turned from the mirror, twisting around to face the drone, pushing her chrome bangs from her visor. She was in a sweater, so casual compared to Cyn’s uniform; that black and white dress. Not that she cared, she liked the dress, it made her feel fancy, at least fancier then she thought she was.
She couldn’t stop her vision from drifting to the Lady’s arms, and the thin scars the crept up them. Countless thin lines connected in a crooked web. Her own shaky hands clutched her soft hands, gentle as snow. It was a feeble motion, her metal hands moving as slow as sand. They were already touching when it occurred to her she should ask. She always needed to ask to touch any human, that was just the way things are.
“Apologetic. May I?”
“You may.” They were soft words, but she liked them. They weren’t talking about her anymore. Good, nothing worth talking about there. She wasn’t worth fussing over, no.
She chided herself. Focus on the Lady. The drone’s head lolled as she ran her thumbs over Tessa’s hands, being as careful as she could. She was so… soft. Warm. So far away from her own cold sharpness. That heat bled into her own hands, creeping up like moss. The thing inside screeched at it, urging her to rip away, to go back to the comfort of the cold, but she didn’t. Couldn’t.
“…you or them?” The question escaped her as she examined each scar, each tick. Most were fresh, but they faded as they extended up Tessa’s forearm, stopping around the elbow.
“Me.” A mumbled whisper. She nodded, pulling herself up. She vanished into the Lady’s bathroom, returning with bandages in mere moments.
“How’d you get those? They were high-“
“Giggle. I have my ways.” She didn’t give a proper answer as she began to work, wrapping and wrapping and wrapping. The pristine white slowly overtook Tessa’s arms as she did her best, silent.
“They wouldn’t care, you know. Mother and Father. They wouldn’t even notice.” They dripped bitterness. She wasn’t wrong, Cyn thought. They probably wouldn’t, or wouldn’t care enough to do anything. Or they would, and it’d make everything worse.
She didn’t say a word, not for a long time. Mimicking Tessa, she brushed her dark locks from her eye, giving her another smile.
“…. I care.” And she did. It was one of the few things she could care about. Her Brother, V, J, And Tessa. They mattered. The disgust flooded in at the thought. Not hers, but It’s. Only it mattered it screamed, but she ignored it, even as it pounded against the inside of her head. Her gaze was trained on the floor as soon as she spoke, heat filling her visor. That was too far. Way too far. She should go-
The arms wrapped around her, squeezing. Warm beyond belief, Cyn froze up as Tessa squeezed her, trying to fight the blush that swarmed her visor. She couldn’t hug back, but her head rested on the Lady’s shoulder, silent. The heat trickled into every part of her, even her twisted Core, rendering the solver silent, if only for a moment.
She felt the back of her dress grow wet as Tessa’s tears fell, but said nothing. She couldn’t, not with the digital tears falling from her own visor. It took everything she had not to shake. A losing battle, they came regardless, the tremors.
“I love you Cyn, you know that right? You four are all I have.” Tessa choked out, as she pulled back, tears still brimming in her eyes. The drone nodded, clasping the girl’s hands.
The smile broke over Tessa’s face, one that was far sadder than it had any right to be. She ran her hand down Cyn’s cheek, gentler than the drone had thought possible. She looked away, her faulty eyes struggling to read the clock.
“Apologetic. Dinner will be ready soon.” She sighed, dusting off her dress. She couldn’t meet Tessa’s gaze, no. It’d kill her. She didn’t want her to see the tears. Those weren’t things you shared. That’s what J said.
“I suppose so…” Tessa rose, not letting go of the shorter Drone’s hand. “Walk with me.”
They headed towards the dinning hall, hand in hand, Even as Cyn choked back something between a sob and a Scream.