Work Text:
J weaved through the long hallways of the manor. By this point he knew these hallways like the back of his hand. He'd been working here for a while, but it felt like Tessa had found him in the drone dump yesterday. He had spent the day watching over the other drones and making sure they did their jobs quickly and efficiently, as the head butler it was his job. He had been here by far the longest so it was only logical that he was in charge, he was the best after all, at least that's what the masters of the manor said.
It felt like a backhanded comment to him in a way. He was well aware of the humans opinions on not only him but his drone counterparts. They believed the drones to be nothing but mindless robotic servants that could be thrown away the minute they lost their use. It brought a tension amongst the workers knowing that if they had even one slip up there was a fair chance they would be disabled, thrown to the crows. There was no room for error, not here.
It was the end of the day, curfew was right around the corner and J was heading back to his sleeping quarters so he could recharge for the next day. While most of the drones shared sleeping quarters with one another J got his own. It was one of the privileges he got as the head butler. While he didn't get much he did appreciate the little things he got like privacy.
Suddenly he heard a timid “excuse me” from behind him. He stopped walking and turned his head to see who the owner of the voice was, it was no other than V. She was still a relatively new drone here. Tessa had only brought her here a few months ago. V wore the standard maid dress that all female worker drones wore at the manor and a pair of oversized circular glasses that always seemed to be on the verge of falling off her face.
If V wasn't cleaning something she was pushing her glasses up to prevent them from falling off her face. Tessa had been trying to find a pair that fit her better but so far it hasn't really gone anywhere so she was stuck with her current ones for now. It had been a long day and while J particularly didn’t want to talk to the girl, it was his job.
J turned to face the shorter drone. He was only a few inches taller than her but the difference was just big enough to notice. “Yes?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. He tried to hide the slight irritation in his voice but it was still noticeable. Hiding his irritation, he always struggled with it. He got irritated easily and struggled to hide it, it was part of the reason why he wasn't particularly liked by the other drones, not that he really cared what the others thought.
V stood up all the way up, perhaps in an effort to close the height difference between them, J wasn't really sure. “Well, I noticed that one of my dresses is missing and I was curious if you knew where it might have ended up.” V adjusted her glasses as she explained her current predicament. There was a silence for a moment before J spoke up.
“No.” The statement was blunt. “I don't know where it went.” J shook his head as he felt his digital eye twitch as a vein appeared on the corner of his visor. He believed it to be a dumb question, why would he know? Sure, he was in charge of her but it wasn't his job to keep track of her uniform.
V’s robotic fingers twittled with one another. In hindsight it did seem like a stupid question. J already had enough things to keep track of. He couldn't monitor small things like this. “I was only provided with a couple dresses when I arrived here and I can’t spend every day washing the few I have left.” V mumbled while scratching her head.
She wasn't wrong, if V washed those dresses too much they would break down and she’d need to request new ones and that wasn't an ideal situation. The Elliott’s wouldn't be happy about getting new dresses for their useless servants. It would be easier to get one dress now then get multiple later.
“Fine.” J sneered out. “I’ll see if I can get you a replacement.” J turned on his heel walking away from her back to his quarters. “But if you lose this one I’LL throw you back into the dump where you were found!” He threatened, just loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to bring attention to the two from any stragglers still in the hallways.
“Oh um, thank you!” He heard the timid drone behind him. J couldn't help but sigh and shake his head. That timidness irritated him, not as much as N’s demeanor but it still got on his nerves. At least V wasn't dumb like N, she was tolerable.
The only sound that accompanied J as he walked through the hall was his dress shoes hitting the wooden floor. He eventually reached his quarters which was located at the end of the hall. He fished the key out of his pocket and inserted it and with a click the door creaked open. It was a surprise that J was provided a lock. The only reason he even had one was because Tessa installed it behind her parents back and the two of them were too busy to notice he had a lock.
J knew that they’d find out eventually and remove the lock but he was gonna appreciate it while he had it. He entered the room, flicking on the lights. The door made a clicking noise as he closed it. Placing the key back into his pocket he was going to lay down and recharge but stopped when he passed by his dresser. He stared at it, a lump slowly formed in his throat.
J stood there for what felt like hours but his internal clock said it had only been a minute. Another minute passed before he moved. He slowly walked back to his door and locked it before approaching the dresser. He stood over it before grabbing the knob and opening it.
Inside the dresser was a neatly folded maid’s dress, V’s dress. J sighed looking down as his finger idly tapped against the knob. He had known where the dress was the whole time because he had been the one to take it. He had done it yesterday morning while V had been in the library. He knew her schedule because he was the one who made it.
He had been irritated with her in the hallway not for asking a question he didn't know the answer to, but he just didn't want her to know that he had taken it. J carefully picked up the dress almost like he was afraid to touch it. He looked at the small mirror that sat atop his dresser. He had turned it down long ago. He grabbed it and placed it upwards. He cringed as he looked at his face. Since Tessa had brought him here he had struggled to look at his reflection, whether it was in a window, puddle or mirror he didn't want to look at it. He didn't like his short hair or his stocky build. He especially didn't like the uniform he had been provided.
He carefully unfolded the dress holding it in front of himself to see how it would look. It looked like it would fit, that's why he had chosen V. while he was a little taller than her, for the most part they were the same size. J placed the dress down atop his dresser, his hand resting on the tie to his uniform for a moment.
He took a deep breath before undoing the tie and stripping his suit off. He knew if he stopped now he wouldn't have the confidence to try this again and the dress would just sit in his dresser never seeing the light of day again. He slid the dress on, never wearing one before he was a little lost on how to properly wear it but he eventually figured it out.
Finally he looked at the mirror, he looked at his reflection. His heart stopped, he just stood there frozen. Everything just felt like it had stopped. It was just J and his reflection. Finally after minutes of silence he reached his hand up and touched the mirror, his reflection mimicking his actions.
He had been thinking about doing this for a while but he never made the move. It always seemed childish to him, playing dress up in front of the mirror, but he……he was jealous of the maids in the manor. He admired their dresses and pretty hair. He had always wanted to stylize his hair the way they did but always shoved that feeling down. It once again all felt so childish to him, or that's what he had been telling himself.
It seems like he had been holding it in too long and all those feelings had spilled out. It's why he had impulsively stolen V’s dress. J blinked a few times as he continued to touch hands with his reflection. Usually he avoided his reflection but for the first time in his robotic life he didn't want to. There were still some things he didn't like about it, like his short hair, but it was so much better. It felt nice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J quietly walked through the halls, it was far past the drones curfew and he should be recharging by now but he wasn't, he couldn't. He had gotten V a new dress weeks ago while keeping her old dress. She had thanked him profusely. She still didn't know he was the one who had stolen it.
Finally after what felt like an eternity J reached his destination, Tessa’s room. He stood in front of the door nervously. His fans were working overtime to keep himself from overheating. “Tick, tick tick” he could hear the grandfather clock ticking at each second interval, this only seemed to increase his nervousness. He looked down at the dress under his arm.
He had already come all the way here, he couldn't back out now so finally, J reached up and knocked on the door. He tapped his foot as he waited. Finally the door opened to reveal a familiar silhouette. Tessa James Elliott. Even though he was only programmed to see her silhouette, J could still see the surprise on her.
Tessa looked left and right before pulling J in, shocking him slightly. Tessa waited until the door was closed before speaking up. “What are you doing, J?” There was a hint of excitement in her voice, her favorite little drone was doing something he wasn't supposed to do, that was exciting.
J shifted slightly, the usual confidence he displayed wasn't there. “Boss, can you help me with something?” He asked looking back down at the dress to hopefully give him some confidence, it didn't seem to work much. Tessa followed his gaze down to the dress.
“Hmm, what's this?” She asked as she grabbed the dress. J didn’t resist, he tried to focus on her accent, it wasn't particularly interesting to him, he was so used to it at this point he hardly even noticed it but he just needed something to distract him from the nervousness that was eating away at him.
“It's not mine I….stole it from V.” Tessa looked up from the dress in her hands, she was surprised by J’s words. It seemed so out of character. J was always the one making sure things were where they needed to be, not stealing them.
“How long ago was this?” Tessa questioned tilting her head. She was still surprised but was hearing him out, that was good.
“About a month ago I've been.” J paused, gripping the sleeve of his suit. “I’ve been wearing it when I'm alone in my quarters.” He scratched the back of his head, the longer he stayed here the worse this idea seemed. “ It's childish, I know its…..I jus-” J was suddenly cut off by the other.
“Oh, it's not childish! Don't say that. Do you like the way it looks on you? Then it’s fine!” Tessa said, refusing to hear him ridicule himself. She grabbed J’s shoulders leaning down to his level. It surprised him, he hadn't expected her to react to his words this way but then again he was talking to the Tessa James Elliot.
J looked down, a blush appearing on his visor. “Yeah, I like the way it looks on me.” He looked up to see her large white eyes looking back at him. “A Lot actually and” he paused for a moment. “I was hoping you could help me look more like a girl.” There, he said it, the words finally left his mouth.
Tessa continued looking at him before picking him up by the waist and spinning them around, likely wrinkling the dress she was still holding in the process. “Oh, Jaybird! Of course! I'll make you look like the prettiest girl in the world!” Tessa was being far too loud for the time, she could wake someone up and while J would have usually hushed her for once he didn't, he just smiled.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J quietly sat on the edge of Tessa’s bed playing with the apron on the dress he was currently wearing. Tessa was currently brushing his now much longer hair. Tessa personalized all her drones with hair so she had extra wigs in her closet for whenever she would fix up a new drone, J was thankful for the spares.
Tessa said if he didn't like the longer hair he could go back to the old wig but he was fairly confident he would. The silvery white strands went all the wat down to his back, it felt nice to get it brushed. Finally Tessa placed the brush down on the bed beside them and grabbed J’s shoulders.
“Okay, done! Are you ready to see?” She questioned the excitement evident in her voice. Not being able to find any words J nodded. Tessa hopped off the bed and gently grabbed his hands, pulling him off the bed and walking over to the full length mirror that sat in her room. The two stood in front of it. It was quiet, neither of them spoke. J gripped the hem of the stolen dress. Even though he didnt breathe it felt like all the air had left his lungs.
They stood there for a few minutes until Tessa, who was standing behind J, put her hands on his shoulders and rested her chin on his shoulder. “If you want I can reprogram your voice and make it more feminine but you don't have to.” J didn’t respond and that seemed to make Tessa just a little nervous. “Or if you don't like it we can just stop!” She chuckled
“......Yeah, can you reprogram it?” J finally mumbled looking up at Tessa. “And can you teach me how to do my hair?” While J couldn't see her features he could have sworn he saw a smile.
“Of course.” Tessa softly said, giving J’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. This was a rare moment. Usually when Tessa was with her drones she was full of energy and excited but right she quiet, her voice barely above a whisper. This was a serious moment and just as important to Tessa as it was to her little drone friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J sat on the floor of the landing pod doing her hair. She was currently putting her long hair into pigtails. She used the reflection from a worker drones visor from the wall of corpses in the ship to help her tie the ribbons around her hair. J always had her hair up. The only people to ever get to see it down were N and V but even then it wasn't very frequent.
Pigtails were her signature hairstyle, the same hairstyle Tessa had taught her all those years ago. After finishing her hair J stood up adjusting her tie before turning on her peg legs to leave the landing pod. With her hands behind her back she walked out as the moon shown on her. V and N were waiting for her. It was time to go hunting again.