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The first time it occurred, AuDy did not realise what was happening until it was too late to remove themselves from the situation. They had returned to the Kingdom Come after a relatively successful mission (they retrieved the data drive they had been sent to acquire and had not been arrested; Mako had suffered minor burns where he had held onto a hot water pipe to evade capture), setting course to the drop off point Orth had given them. Cass busied themselves with treating Mako, which also kept Mako from wandering the ship (marked: positive) but meant that Aria had one less distraction and so was more likely to seek AuDy out for the purpose of making conversation (marked: negative).
AuDy had not been built with conversation in mind. There had been some of their line who had received a beta test for passengers who preferred talkative drivers, but these models were ultimately scrapped or reprogrammed. AuDy was glad that they had not been given that impulse along with sentience. It seemed exhausting.
Aria, who had spent most of their latest mission in the role of distraction, did not seem worn out by the amount of fast talking she’d had to do (to the doorman; front desk clerk; people in the neighbouring room who had been disturbed by the sound of a hot water pipe breaking; maintenance staff; Aria Joie fans). Still, she followed AuDy to the cockpit, taking the seat next to their modified chair. They had mostly ignored her, and so had not noticed as her volume of words began to lessen, or even as she began to drift off to sleep until her body leaned against their’s.
Though their chassis was not the most traditional of restful surface (hard metal; pinch points), it tended to run hot for a few hours post-mission, the temperature optimal for organic beings to seek out. They shifted a little, but Aria did not wake. In the sleep, her hand curled around the edge of their chair (marked: N/A), stopping it from pivoting away from her.
AuDy carefully moved her hair out of the way of his shoulder joint, and let her rest.
----
Movie night was an obvious culprit for such activities. The whole crew were guilty of it, or at least for requesting that AuDy join them and sit in the middle of their little group, a blanket draped around their shoulders to keep the heat in. While Aria and Cass were content to sit next to them, Mako insisted that AuDy’s lap was the optimal spot for movie night viewing.
“I do not have a lap,” said AuDy.
“Sure you do,” said Mako.
“I kind of get what they mean,” said Aria. “It’s just sort of… your body and then leg poles. No offence AuDy.”
“I am not offended by descriptions of fact,” said AuDy.
“Legs are a lap,” said Mako. ‘Besides, I’m not really sitting on your legs , I’m sitting in the leg crevice.”
“The leg crevice ?” said Cass, wrinkling their nose.
“Yeah, the leg crevice,” said Mako. “You know, the crevice between their legs. It’s like sitting next to two heaters.”
“Oh, that does sound kind of nice,” said Aria.
“No thanks,” said Cass.
“That’s fine,” said Mako. “It’s just going to be me in there anyway.”
“I think that’s up to AuDy,” said Cass.
“If it is up to me then I abstain from movie night,” said AuDy.
“Noooo,” said Mako, clutching at their arm.
(marked: negative)
“Cass didn’t mean it like that,” said Aria. “It’s a group bonding thing, come on.”
“Exactly!” said Mako. “How can we group bond if you’re away from the group?”
“I do not want to group bond,” said AuDy.
“If that’s really what you want,” said Cass, “but I… It would be nice to have you here AuDy, unless you really think you need to watch the navigation panel.”
AuDy could not produce biological releases but in some instances, like their current one, they wished they could sigh heavily to demonstrate their reluctance. As it was they simply sat down on the couch, letting the rise and fall of their shoulder joints reproduce a silent facsimile of it.
Cass nodded. “Thank you AuDy.”
“Yeah but Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a classic,” said Mako. “You're going to love it.”
Aria nodded. Cass looked sceptical, but they selected the movie from the ship’s internal drive anyway.
Mako was asleep before they’d barely gotten ten minutes into the movie, disappearing under the blanket entirely to curl up next to AuDy’s chassis (marked: N/A). AuDy wished again that they could sigh, but locked their knee joints in place so they wouldn’t catch on Mako’s clothing as he shifted in his sleep.
----
Normally, briefings with Orth took place over a secure communication line. This was due to both the ease of such communication and the physical distance that was often between them. Sometimes, however, Orth deemed the information sensitive enough, and the proximity of the Kingdom Come near enough, that he called for a meeting in person. AuDy found the logistics of such meetings annoying - Orth’s office was easy enough to navigate to but the other members of the Chime often used the route there to take care of personal matters (flirting with Paisley; calling a sibling on a secure line; spying on Aria flirting with Paisley) and, as such, AuDy arrived alone (marked: positive, marked: negative).
“Lost them already?” said Orth, his eyes darting behind AuDy.
“Personal business,” said AuDy. “They are aware of the meeting time and location.”
“Right,” said Orth. “Right, well, we’ll- I’ll give them a few minutes.”
AuDy tilted their body to indicate their agreement. Orth, apparently taking this as an organic’s sign of tiredness, ushered them in to sit on the worn couch that took up one side of his office. He sat next to them, fidgeting (his fingers twisting around each other; leaning forward to straighten objects on the coffee table; checking his personal communicator). He sat back, his arm resting against the side of AuDy’s chassis.
“We’ll give them five more minutes,” said Orth. “I don’t, you know, I don’t have all day for this.”
“That is fine with me,” said AuDy. “I can relay any instructions necessary.”
“Right, sure, yeah,” said Orth.
He sat back, his arm still leaning against AuDy. The pressure there increased every few minutes until he was leaning into AuDy’s side entirely, his face pressed against the hard metal of AuDy’s side panel. AuDy watched his expression, making note of the small movements in Orth’s face as he slept (a twitch of his eyelids; his forehead wrinkling and then smoothing out, the small parting of his lips).
Carefully, AuDy reached behind him to remove the small pillow wedged against the couch, and slide it underneath Orth’s head. Orth slept on. (marked: N/A)
----
AuDy did not often spend extended time in other people’s quarters. There was no real call for it, and when they were on the ship they often had more urgent tasks than what Mako referred to as hanging out . Cass, too, did not often invite the others for such activities, preferring to keep their hanging out to the communal spaces of the ship.
This made the sensation of being invited inside Cass’ quarters even more strange. There was little past data to compare it to. Cass gestured for them to sit down (two chairs, smaller than AuDy’s chassis, weight limit would be reached; or the bed). AuDy sat down on Cass’ bed, tilting their body slightly as the scales of Cass’ cheeks glittered briefly with illumination before they sat next to AuDy.
“You had a topic you wish to discuss,” said AuDy.
“Yes,” said Cass. “Or, I mean- Just checking in.”
“Checking in,” said AuDy.
Cass nodded. “I- Yeah.”
“This is more privacy than your check ins usually need,” said AuDy.
Cass’s cheeks flushed again, bright against the metal walls of the ship. “I… I guess.”
“Do you believe the information I disclose will be of a sensitive nature?” asked AuDy.
“I- Maybe?” said Cass. “I mean, you don’t… We don’t get to hang out a lot, lately, and I guess I’ve… I missed you. Is that weird?”
“Many things you do are weird,” said AuDy.
Cass made a face. “Thanks.”
AuDy tilted their body again. An odd expression flickered over Cass’ face, unfamiliar to AuDy.
“Is it- I mean, I don’t want to like, force you, but I… can we hang out?” asked Cass. “Just for a little while? I promise Aria and Mako won’t pop out and force you to do sleepover activities.”
“Good,” said AuDy.
“Does that mean you’ll stay?” asked Cass.
AuDy tilted their chassis again, and Cass smiled, their cheeks dimly illuminating again. Cass shifted a little on the bed, drawing their legs up next to them.
“I do not have any updates for you that you do not already know,” said AuDy. They paused. “Is there something you wish to update me on?”
“No,” said Cass. They paused, fiddling a little with their cuff. “Well, I mean, I did read this article on Apostolos, which, I guess I knew was a bad idea but I just couldn’t help myself, and…”
AuDy let Cass speak on, the words a hum in the background until Cass had spoken all. Their positions had shifted as the time passed, Cass curled now against their side, cold blood seeking warm metal (marked: positive). AuDy adjusted Cass’ arm slightly so it wouldn’t get caught in their front panel. Cass let out a sigh in their sleep, their breath clouding the metal. AuDy watched the fog of it fade out.
----
Jacqui paused in the doorway. “Uh.”
“It is fine,” said AuDy, adjusting their internal volume metre so it wasn’t projecting directly into Mako’s ear. “They are napping.”
“Yeah,” said Jacqui slowly, “I can see that.”
“Their usual sleep cycle for this event is between one point five and two point three hours,” said AuDy.
“Uh huh,” said Jacqui. “They do this a lot?”
“Occasionally,” said AuDy, keeping themselves motionless, as a shrugging motion would have dislodged Cass where they were resting against AuDy’s side. “Do you require them to be awake?”
“No, I- It’s fine, it’s nothing,” said Jacqui. She gave them a look. “You know, I wouldn’t have thought this would be your vibe.
“It is not my vibe,” said AuDy, locking their shoulder joint so that Aria's hair wouldn’t tangle in their gears. “It is just something that happens.”
(marked: positive)