abandonware | i n [B] o x . // acata.

[ guess who's calling! ]

Hey. A2? I was wondering about something.

[she should've guessed! but she's always a little surprised when someone seeks her out. even when that someone is nier.]

Yeah? What is it?

[ as politely as he can... ]

You wear the same clothes all the time. They look kind of dirty. Doesn't that ever get uncomfortable?

[She's so quiet for a while, that it almost seems as if she's left the conversation hanging there.

But eventually:]

It doesn't bother me.

[Simon had been curious about this too. Though she's detached enough from it to not feel self-conscious, she speaks up again, after a pause.]

Most of it isn't clothing.

Oh.

So you're like Kainé.

[ this is what they call "false equivalence". ]

You might be more comfortable if you wore something different.

....

I have an idea. Where are you right now?

That's not -

What?

[Who?]

I told you it doesn't bother me...

[Does it bother him? Was that it? It seemed to bother Simon.]

I'm by the lake.

[ he doesn't actually respond. the other line abruptly transitions to radio silence. 10 or so minutes pass.

and here he is, by the lake, running towards her.

he's holding a white undershirt? its sleeves flutter in the air. ]

Hey. Sorry for the wait.

[ and then he gestures the shirt towards her, brows knit together determinedly. ]

I want you to try this and tell me how it feels.

[She stares at him, then the shirt, then back to his face again, as if trying to decide if he's serious or not.]

You ran all the way here for this?

[He needn't have bothered. But she was finding that even the illusion of her comfort brought him some degree of happiness, and all androids wanted to do was make humans happy. Even her. Even now.

Briefly, a shadow crosses over her eyes.

But she takes the shirt from him, anyway, and though it's a pointless thing to do, she turns her back to him before pulling it over her head. Immediately, she's drowning in it. It drapes loosely over her shoulders, ends somewhere at her knees, making her look much smaller than she usually does.

Curious, she stretches an arm out, watching as the sleeve falls over her hand, swallowing her fingers.

...]

...

[She looks over her shoulder at him, puzzled, before turning to face him.]

This is too big.

[ it drapes over her figure, and in that moment he realizes precisely how small she is — a unit crafted to kill and from metal, but still so much more compact than he was, 6 feet worth of muscle in comparison.

it's absolutely precious. he stares, stunned to silence before...

smiling wide and warmly, a playfulness to his features unlike ever before. ]

Aaah...

You look really cute, A2.

[ he cants his head, still smiling, still taking in the sight of it all. ]

We need to find you something smaller...I'll have to make you something.

[ ... ]

If I have you wear my clothes, I can get an idea of your measurements. How about it?

Edited 2018-10-04 22:23 (UTC)

[His happiness pleases her even as it chafes, and so her response is less vicious than it'd be normally.]

Call me that again and I'm throwing you into the lake.

[Her expression is dead serious, so it's hard to say if she's joking or not. Probably best not to risk it.

...

She frowns at the draping sleeves. Whose shirt was this, anyway?]

If I wear your clothing, you won't have anything to wear. [...] Is that what this is about?

[ he should be afraid — but instead a laugh, small and light, leaves him.

nier doesn't answer her second question initially. instead, he starts working off the sleeves of his shirt and his gloves as he speaks. slowly, surely, he starts unclasping the chains on his shirt until it's ready to remove. ]

For the meantime, yeah. Unless you're saying you want to keep them. [ ... ] If it embarrasses you, I can hide. But I thought that I could understand your measurements by comparing them to mine.

I mean, you're really small. It's c—

Cool.

[Her eyes narrow at that near-slip, but she tilts her head at his offer, and this combined with what she's wearing make her look way less intimidating than she usually does.]

I'm the same size as most female models.

[She knows that isn't what he means, but whatever.

For some reason, it reminds her of how Number 4 was about this sort of thing. Particular to the point of near-vanity, a behavior nearly unheard of among androids.]

You want to make me clothing?

Edited 2018-10-06 08:02 (UTC)

Yeah.

[ and without warning, he starts peeling off his own shirt — the material is thick and as much of a hassle as you'd expect it to be, but it comes off in due time before he motions it towards her. ]

My mother was a seamstress, so she taught me the basics a long time ago. If I work at it for a few weeks, I think I could make you something nice enough to wear.

[ and then he cants his head. ]

But I don't really know which parts of you are clothing and which aren't...anyways, try this on for size.

Edited 2018-10-06 15:32 (UTC)

[She...takes the shirt. She's confused, but she takes the shirt. Keeps her eyes averted. She puts it on without removing the first one, and it's also too big, and heavier than the first one too. She struggles with it a little, grumbling:]

How do you fight in this —

[Never mind she used to fight dressed like a goth ballerina.

She has to smooth out her hair afterward, this time. The stupid sleeves...they're too long.]

........

[ he's...stunned to silence as he watches her, arms folded. there's a lack of a response, and his lips are pursed together as though he's fighting hard to not say anything.

nier fails, however, because his cheeks begin to puff with laughter. ]

Snrk...pffttt...

[ in between short, subdued snickers: ]

You were...supposed to take the other shirt off, A2...

[ he takes a step closer, fingers gently grasping at her cuffs. ]

Roll these up. It's comfortable when you aren't wearing an extra layer underneath.

And uh, fighting without clothes on sounds...kinda uncomfortable. You have cracks in your skin as it is. We should get someone to fix those, and then y'can start wearing clothes that'll help ensure you don't get anymore.

[Her frown, near-perpetual, deepens considerably, and she swats at him with more force than necessary when he tries to fix her cuffs.]

I'm not a child. I can do it myself.

[Said as she does so.

His suggestion, well-meaning as it is, makes her back tighten, her metaphorical hackles raising. She does not look at him when she speaks again.]

There's no fixing it. [At the least, no one here that was willing or able to. 9S was a scanner, and adept at such, and could likely repair any internal errors she was dealing with, but he would not offer, and she would not ask.] I don't need it fixed. [She adds, voice clipped.] Everything works.

[ he takes a small step back, not because he's afraid, but because he figures she'd prefer the space. most interactions with her are a matter of trial and error. usually error, but he doesn't mind. ]

No one should be content with being broken.

[ it isn't meant righteously — it's earnest is all. ]

At least consider it. Anything can be fixed, and it won't hurt you. And if what I'm saying makes you angry, you should just fight me.

It's not like I'm going to change my mind.

[ it's blunt. but people enjoy the release of anger that comes with a fight, and it beats watching her wear that tight lipped frown, always a little aggravated with him.

people like to hit things when they're mad, don't they?

a sigh escapes him, and he brings his arms over behind his head. ]

I still need you to try on my pants, but I should hide behind a tree for that...oh, what colors do you like? I need to know for when I make...this.

[ he doesn't..actually know what it'll be yet, but! preferences. they are worth noting. ]

Edited 2018-10-13 03:33 (UTC)

[Her fingers twist in the fabric. The distance he creates helps, though his words do not. She is angry, but also ashamed, forced to recognize the damage she's inflicted on herself, and upset at being reminded of it.

It would be easier to fight him, though programmed guilt would turn her insides out as soon as she tried. Instead though, she says something else.]

There's no point to fixing me. I'm not even supposed to be in operation. [Alive.] I should have died a long time ago.

But it makes you happy to think you're helping, right? So whatever.

[She keeps her gaze on him, this time.]

Something dark. Those are the colors I used to wear.

[ maybe, had he been younger, he'd flinch and protest accordingly. instead, he stares unblinkingly — he thinks it's a little laughable how little she understands the people she claims to serve.

but it's not as though he was truly human, anyways.

he doesn't know how to tell her that nothing will make him happy, really. nothing beyond violence, and brutality and blood. everything was gone. that included himself.

but these would all be vindictive and cruel things to say, and while he is both of those things, she did not deserve to be burdened with that knowledge.

so instead, he meets her gaze. ]

But you didn't.

And so long as you're alive, you have an obligation to take care of yourself — unless you want someone else to do it for you. If that's the case, you might be stuck with me forever.

It'd be nice to avoid that, wouldn't it?

[ his features soften at her answer. ]

Got it.

[ ... ]

The undershirt — I don't need it. You can keep it.

[She holds his stare for a while longer, her eyes flat and assessing in the way they are when she is sizing someone, or something up, and then the moment passes again, as it tends to, into uneasy peace.]

I don't need you to take care of me.

[Her gaze shifts away.]

And this shirt's too big. I don't need it either.

[She's quiet for a moment.

Then, she sighs.]

...It's your shirt, isn't it.

[ he holds his arms, holding her gaze in turn. his features harden. ]

Then start taking care of yourself for once. I might finally back off once you do.

[ and then there's a crease in his brow. ]

Yeah. Not sure what you expected. I'm not really in the business of stealing other peoples' shirts. I don't need this one though — it's what I wear when I go to sleep, and you don't look half bad in it.

[ wow.

that definitely did not come out like he intended for it to. ]

I mean, it looks nice on you. That's all. I just don't want your skin taking any more damage than it already has.

Edited (i can read) 2018-10-21 05:13 (UTC)

[She bristles, visibly, and is right on the verge of telling him to mind his own goddamn business —

but then he says that and she's just like

The silence edges right there on uncomfortable, and then she looks away again, tugs off the heavier shirt, and tosses it in the general direction of his face.]

Fine! I'll keep it if you leave me alone.

[ she's notably short, so it smacks right against the space that separates his collarbone from his chest instead. it elicits the same effect though — he blinks slowly, not sure of what to say. ]

If I offended you, you can just tell me.

[ anyways, he slips his shirt back on rather nonchalantly, as though nothing particularly strange has occurred in these past 20 minutes or so. ]

Yeah, sure. But can you at least try to spend time with other people? You don't have to be alone here.

I'm not offended. You're just irritating.

[She sounds almost exhausted saying it, like it should be obvious.] I've been fine on my own for all this time. There are too many people around here, anyway.

Being fine and being happy are two different things.

[ she's so content to do nothing but survive, and do nothing more. how sad, he thinks. with a shrug of the shoulders, nier turns around a few degrees, moving to leave. he raises a hand to say goodbye. ]

See you later, A2. Thanks for letting me see you. It was nice to talk with you for a bit.

[ nice is certainly one way of putting it, but the sentiment is earnest enough.

maybe one day, she'll acknowledge that she's more than a tool — he thinks that wistfully, like a dream whisking away into the air.

and with his only his back in sight, he takes his leave accordingly. ]

i n [B] o x . // acata.

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