Den Mothers

by TinyDragonSnake

Summary:

Uzi and V being soft around each other, their partners, and their children.

Notes:

Some more fluff before the next big story hits. Honestly this is mostly self indulgent, I just wanted Uzi and V being cute together

Chapter 1

Ten Years Ago

It wasn't often V found herself giving in to her animal instincts. Normally she was able to suppress them, save for her hissing and growling of course. She didn't go around marking territory, or stealing her girlfriends' clothes to add to a nest. At worst she curled around their triplets like a mother lion would her cubs, snuggled safe within the pseudo-nest she and Doll had made together. Occasionally, though, those instincts took over. They drilled and clawed at her thoughts, driving her to be more feral, more protective of her litter, of her mates. 

She finally gave in one moonlit night. Lizzy and Doll were out at some school reunion type thing, leaving the disassembler alone with their triplets. She shouldn't have gotten spooked by unseen dangers. The bunker hummed just as it always did, air rushing through vents and distant machinery rumbling away. Something had banged in a nearby airway, a fan getting stuck or hit by random outside debris. Normally, V would have ignored it. She would have just huffed and curled back around her babies and fell back asleep. Not this night. This night, it had startled her awake, and some deep primal fear took over her mind and body. 

The disassembler bundled up her babies and ran. Out of the apartment she shared with her girls and Doll's parents, out of the winding cramped hallways, out past the doors. She spread her wings and took off into the chilly night, angling for the spire, the only safe place her overly afraid animal mind could think of. Already she was relaxing as she flew through the familiar pathways of broken buildings and shattered streets. 

The spire itself was no less cold than the outside. V didn't mind it, though her babies whimpered and whined at the loss of the sweet warmth they had been sleeping in. Scanning the open area, the disassembler mother made her way to the pod still sitting in the center of the clearing. It would be marginally warmer than the outside, but V was sure she'd be able to find something to warm the place up once she got them all inside. She hurried up to the derelict ship, careful to keep her babies from falling to the hard, frozen ground. 

Instead of dropping down into cold quiet darkness, V and her litter were met with soft violet light and warmth. The larger drone shuddered, keeping close to the pod's ladder, all seven of her eyes locked on the lumpy mass curled on a nest of loose blankets and clothes, tucked up against the far wall. Quietly, she chirped to the mass, taking a careful step closer. It shifted, and purple eyes tiredly blinked at her in slight surprise. 

Uzi didn't speak. She only watched the larger drone inch closer and closer. She hummed and warbled, a sleep-slurred ping leaving her throat as she tucked herself back into her nest. Safe here, sleep now. V relaxed, then, hurrying up to the solver drone's side. She pinged back, Share?, gently nudging at the nest's edge. Uzi warbled once and shifted. The larger drone eagerly set down her litter and shuffled in beside the solver mother. She nuzzled her babies closer, quietly purring to soothe them. Something soft and warm draped over them, and she gave Uzi a grateful smile when she realized the smaller drone had shared a blanket with her. It didn't take long for the triplets to fall back asleep, nor did it take V long to follow them. 

The next night, warm and safe within Uzi's nest, V woke up to the scent of oil. A lingering scent of cinnamon and butterscotch hung around near the pod's ladder. One of her mates visited her, with N visiting Uzi. They must have dropped off the oil for her and Uzi to share. She purred, tail lazily thumping the nest's side. V didn't devote any thinking to wondering just where, exactly, Doll and N had gotten the oil. She only cared that it was warm, and seemingly fresh. Making sure her litter was still asleep, she slipped out of the comfortable nest and went to eat her share of the gift. 

Uzi woke up not too long after. V was quick to return to the nest, snuggling her litter close while Uzi went to have her fill of oil. V was only mildly surprised to see Rowan tucked beneath a pale blanket. She tugged the slightly older infant closer to herself, curling around him just as she did her own babies. If the lilac eyed boy had any issues with her doing so, he didn't let her know. He just kept peacefully sleeping, cuddled up between Nathan and Luka. Uzi finished eating and returned, slipping right next to her and nuzzling up under V's chin. The smaller drone curled up around the four infants, a quiet content sigh leaving her as she, too, fell back asleep. 

If she hadn't been running almost entirely off her instincts, V would've pushed her away. Only Doll and Lizzy had ever been so close to her like this. Yet, right now V didn't care. Uzi was packmother, with her own mate. Her affectionate cuddling wasn't any more intimate than V and J slumping next to each other for a nap. So, the larger drone curled tighter, bringing the smaller solver closer. She spread a wing out and lazily tossed a blanket over them with her tail. The six of them fell back asleep, warm and safe beside each other.

---

"You think this'll be enough for them?" N grunted as he tugged a frozen corpse towards the landing pod. 

"[Should be,]" Doll answered, lazily tossing another into one of the scrap piles. "[If not, we can head back out for find more.]"

N nodded, cracking open the torso of the corpse he carried. Doll winced at the loud sound. For a moment she worried it had woken up either of the sleeping mothers within the pod. When there seemed to be no commotion, she sighed and let herself relax. She went to help N silently carry the corpse inside, trying to help the large disassembler stay as quiet as possible. Neither of them wanted Uzi or V to wake up anytime soon, after all. 

Which, thankfully, neither did. They dropped off the cracked open corpse, collected the drained one, and hurried back out into the bitter snow and cold. The two of them hung around the pod for a few moments before they spread their wings and took off into the night. The Russian let N take the lead, falling behind as he zipped past her. He pinged, This way!, and dove down into the shadows of a half crumpled offices building. Doll called back and dove after him, weaving between jutting rebar and shattered concrete. The larger drone led her through ruined offices and destroyed lobbies, skidding to a stop just outside what used to be an executive's office. 

Doll had been impressed when the disassembler first showed her his hidden stash of oil. Unlike her beloved V, or even J, N's oil reserves had been stored into barrels and jammed into the remains of the office. N's territorial markings, the letter of his designation sliced through with three claw marks, littered both the once-ornate doors and the floor outside the room. It was one of the very few animalistic things disassembly drones did that J let her squad indulge. As far as Doll knew, only N and the squad leader had hidden stashes like this. V preferred to just hers within the spire. If anyone tried to pilfer it, she just bit them. 

N darted into the room. Doll stood outside, listening to the larger drone rummage around. The last time she tried to follow him in, he almost sliced her head right off. He had apologized, of course, but Doll wasn't dumb enough to try it again. So she waited, letting her mind wander. Mostly towards V and her sudden flight from the bunker. Her beautiful disassembler had just up and left, taking the triplets with her, and no one knew why. Her and Lizzy had spent a few hours searching, trying to understand why their girlfriend fled. It wasn't until Doll heard something banging around in the vents that she had an inkling of an idea. She flew out to the spire, and lo and behold, V was curled up in a nest beside Uzi, triplets cuddled between them. 

For a moment she was jealous. It was supposed to be her and Lizzy curled up beside the disassembler, not Uzi. Doll knew it was just some deep instinct, some mental animal that wanted to keep her claim on V. It was a part of her that wanted to stomp down into the pod and yank her beloved and their babies into her arms and go home. When N had landed nearby she had hissed at him, that same animal worried he was going to try and steal her love, her children, for himself. N had only hissed back and nudged her out of the way so he could check on Uzi. 

We're weird creatures, Doll thought to herself. Half organic drones with eldritch powers and animalistic instincts. Hissing, roaring, talking to each other with bird-like ping calls, territory marking. Nesting. The only thing they didn't do was have weird courtship rituals. She was only slightly disappointed about that.

Eventually N popped back out, a barrel clutched between his arms. They nodded to each other and left the hidden depot. The two of them made it back to the spire just before the sun could begin cresting over the horizon. N was quick to fill one of the many corpses laying around with some of the oil, sealing it up for when their respective girlfriends would wake up next. 

"I'm gonna have to do something about my stash," he idly hummed. "Once they finish up that dome, everyone's probably gonna want to move back up here. And I don't really think anyone would be happy with me having a room full of oil, you know?" 

"[You could probably keep it down in the bunkers,]" Doll told him, dragging the barrel off to fill up another corpse. "[If we're all living up here, no one's going to bother you stuff if you keep it down there.]"

"Mm, yeah, but you know how people can be," N said. "I don't want someone to get urban explorer-y and come across it. They might get the wrong idea."

"[Three disassembly drones and six solver drones live in the colony system,]" the Russian said. "[If someone wants to get pissy over there being a room full of drone oil, that's their own problem. We need to eat, and it's better to eat from a stash than go on killing sprees.]"

"Yeah, I know," the male sighed. "It just... I dunno, it's kinda weird, not to have my hidey hole be some broken old room."

"[You'll adjust,]" Doll said, giving him a playful tap on his shoulder. "[Come on, let's go see if our girls are up yet. I want to cuddle with my kids.]" 

They clambered up the ladder as quietly as they could, dropping down into violet dimness. Doll seethed for a moment as she saw her precious V laying atop Uzi's smaller body, her cousin tucked close with four happily sleeping infants pressed against her body. She slunk up to the nest, heedless of N's warning growl, and tugged at her lover until the larger drone rolled off Uzi with a grunt. V wiggled for a moment, readjusting herself and blinking [SLEEP MODE] off her visor. She yawned, saw Doll, and promptly yanked her down into the nest. N growled again, silenced only by a sleepy Uzi letting out a tired ping, Shush, Sleep. 

N obeyed, grumpily flopping into the nest and covering Uzi's smaller body with his, just as V did to Doll. The four of them cuddled closer together, sharing warmth as N spread a wing over all of them. Doll pulled her triplets up to her body, N tucking Rowan up against Uzi's with his tail. Sending off a quick message to Lizzy, the Russian wiggled until she was comfortable, and fell asleep in the comfort of her cousin's nest, safe under the wing of her disassembly drone in-law. 

Chapter 2

V curled tighter in her nest, sinking deeper into the comfort the endless piles of blankets and soft clothes provided. Her beloved mates were gone again, off for some benefit Lizzy's dad was hosting with Mikhail. She had opted to stay home, snuggled into their nest and awaiting their return. It had been too long since she'd let herself relax like this, warm and safe and indulging her dumb inner animal. The last time she had, she'd woken up in a big old sleep pile with Doll and their infant triplets cuddled up to them, sharing a nest with Uzi, N, and itty bitty Rowan. It was nice, cozy and sweet. When was the last time she'd been so vulnerable like that? 

The disassembler hummed and she buried her face into one of Doll's shirts. Wonderfully spicy cinnamon flooded her senses and a purr tore its way out of her throat. Her tail thwapped the edge of her nest and she snuggled deeper into the soft fabrics around her. More cinnamon and the scent of sweet vanilla was near overwhelming. V's purring grew louder as she covered herself in the scents of her beloved mates. 

A knock at her door startled her. She wormed her way out of the warmth and poked her head up out of the pile of shirts she buried herself in. She trilled seeing her babies standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the living room lights. She beckoned them closer, shuffling to the edge of the nest. Nathan was the one to approach first, a high pitched warble leaving his mouth as he pawed at his mother. He pinged, Bad Dreams, and whimpered. V purred to soothe him, reaching out to lift her son into the nest. Luka and Ashley shuffled closer, both also whimpering. V lifted them up, tucking them into loose fabrics and curling up around them. It didn't cross her mind to question why only Nathan pinged at her, nor did she question why all three of her children had been so spooked. She was just happy they were there, and she could cuddle them close. 

V drifted off, without realizing it. She only knew she did when an extra weight had added itself to her nest. Lavender and roses mingled with the cinnamon and sweet vanilla she was surrounded with. The disassembler hummed low in her throat, not yet a growl, as she shook off a layer of blankets. Her babies were all still asleep, curled up together, Ashley and Nathan's tails wrapped protectively around their brother. The disassembler mother warbled gently, twisting to see who the newcomer to her nest was. 

A mop of purple hair rested on her legs, Uzi wrapped up around Rowan's smaller body. V snorted and pinged at the solver mother, tail coming up to tap at her side. Uzi whined and snuggled closer to the larger drone, tightening her grip on her son. V purred and leaned over to muss the purple mop laying on her. She didn't mind sharing her nest with her fellow mother. She liked having the extra warmth permeating the soft fabrics. The only thing she bothered doing was moving the smaller drones closer, pulling them up beside her own babies. She happily snuggled back down, drifting back into comfortable sleep.

---

Doll didn't need to question why N stood in her doorway at damn near midnight, his head hung low and his body slouched. She only stepped to the side and let him shuffle inside. The Russian led him towards the bedroom she shared with her girls, wordlessly letting the door creek open. They stood together, their shadows blocking the hallway light from the pile of sleeping bodies. 

"I'm sorry, Doll," N whispered. 

"[Don't be,]" she whispered back. "[We don't mind. You know that.]"

"Yeah, but still," he mumbled, taking a careful step into the room. Doll would've been a blind idiot to not see that he was nervous about intruding on her and her girls' territory. "Uzi and Rowan don't usually like to sleep in nests, and here they are hopping into yours and V's."

"[They're keeping us warm,]" Doll shrugged. "[Like I said, we don't mind.]" 

She slipped past him, lazily tossing herself into the chaos of too-many limbs and overbearing heat. She purred, laying herself over her beautiful beloveds. Neither Lizzy nor V stirred, only smiling in their sleep at the added pressure. When she didn't feel the nest shift with even more weight, Doll grumpily looked up. N was still standing near the door. His tail flicked back and forth with clear apprehension. Doll huffed and nodded her head towards the chaos she nestled on.

"[You can join us, you know,]" she gently told him. "[The only ones that bite are your mate and child, and they're fast asleep.]"

"I know, just..." the male disassembler shuffled a bit closer. "I don't want to overstep."

"[You're not overstepping if I'm inviting you,]" Doll quietly chuckled. "[Come on, N.]"

N frowned, and he still seemed a bit unwilling. Still, he moved, inching closer until he bumped the edge of the nest. Doll resettled herself on V's back, watching him carefully climb up and drape himself over Uzi and Rowan. The much larger drone tucked them close to him, mumbling and pinging something so softly to them Doll couldn't hear it. They he relaxed, and before long she could see his chest rise and fall with slow, steady breaths. She nuzzled further against her disassembler's back and joined the rest of the pack in warm, safe sleep. 

Notes:

And here's the last non-sad thing before the next big story! Hopefully after everything, our goobers will be able to go back to having soft moments like this...

(Also I'm sorry for the rushed/low quality of this entry. Things happened in my personal life, you know how it goes)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 33 of Eventuality