Melting Point
Either he's been cooped up in a cramped coffin with someone else for too long, or he's starting to learn something entirely new about himself.
MDK's still not entirely sure why they chose to spare the both of them. V1 fights with an absolutely ruthless sort of savagery to get what they want, completely obliterating demons and other machines alike with a colorful weapon arsenal. Anything that stands in their way is torn to fleshy shreds or scrap metal.
By all rights, he should be dead twice over, but he's not.
When they aren't fighting other machines, they really like exploring as they go along, poking around the different layers of Hell together. V1 leads him back up through the absolutely disgusting paths of Gluttony, all across different parts of the city of Lust, and up to the half-scorched chambers of Limbo for a tour of its elaborate mansions.
It's all so new to him. He hadn't gotten to see much of it before; more specifically, the areas outside of King Minos's courtroom and the darkened halls of Greed's grandest pyramid.
Turns out, with a bunch of robots running around hunting for fresh blood, it's pretty dangerous.
"Left, left, LEFT--ON YOUR LEFT!"
"I see them!" The barrage of skulls he unleashes destroys the two streetcleaners that had rushed them both from around the stone pillar. Their remains are sent sky high, along with a veritable shower of bright red.
It's pretty freaky to see metal bleed. The couple hits he'd landed on V1 during their initial battle had resulted in a spray of crimson, followed by the strange sight of the bullet holes he'd left on their blue plating mending itself in rapid succession. These other machines don't have that sort of ability.
Three coins fly over him in a graceful arc. It's followed by an echoing shot, and the bullet splits itself perfectly in half upon landing on the third medallion. It hits the tanks of two more streetcleaners on opposite ends of the arena, and a fiery demise for the both of them follows.
And then there they are again, leaping into the residue splash of blood near the fountain to his right. For a moment, carmine coats them, dying the blue into a bloody red that glistens in the light of the artificial sunset.
V1 lands near the half-shattered column, debris from an earlier impact scattered upon the smoldering plastic grass. The machine rises to their full height, chassis slowly fades back to blue as the fuel is absorbed into their system. But the process stops partway, leaving them half-coated with the blood of the other machines.
Droplets ooze down the barrel of their pistol, drip from their helm and elbow onto the cracked stone paths. The glow of their optic and wings are a stark sight against the colors of Limbo's weird landscaping choices, halo-ing their body in a swath of orange and pink.
He swallows, the sound somehow louder in his ears than the approaching backdrop of chaos.
"Mindflayer, three o'clock."
A panicked shout escapes MDK as he narrowly avoids the searing green laser tearing through the height of the chamber. His return fire of red hot bullets all bounce off her plastic body harmlessly. He swears the repeat whirring sounds emitting from her chassis is laughter.
"I hate these things." MDK huffs. In his peripherals, a flock of drones descend from above a nearby waterfall.
"Can you please pay more attention?" His eyes dart over to the Owl for a brief second, glaring the best he can without looking directly at them.
"Relax, we got this-"
A sharp sting rakes up his humerus, drawing an arc of crimson and a yelp from him. One of the Mindflayer's tendrils had landed a hit on him. He hears her breathe in, clearly winding up.
"You were saying?" He deadpans as MDK flies backwards in a vain attempt to evade the oncoming blast.
From behind her comes the tell-tale echo of shotgun shrapnel being hit by a spring-loaded fist. Just as the deadly energy takes form around her, they all suddenly implode, engulfing her entire body in a massive blast of blue and red. The clattering of vibrating plastic fills the chambers, just a little louder than the chitters and chirping of the drone flock echoing above him.
"Fuller auto." He says, absently so as the warmachine dives for the blood of their prey, spraying out in all directions, in the moment they have to get it before the Mindflayer blows herself up. As his own attack hones in on the little robots above, his attention is immediately drawn to V1's graceful landing.
They clearly can't absorb anymore, as evidenced by the way it just streams off of them in bright red trickles. The Mindflayer explodes in a bright burst of green, stark against the bloodied machine rising from their crouch. More of it steaks their golden wings, drizzling off the tips in thick, heavy drops, speckling the stone paths beneath their feet.
For one charged second, their gazes meet, and yeah, yeah okay. He's learning something new about himself, alright.
Two things happen at once. V1 suddenly seems to start, optic focusing on something just above him. Then his stalwart companion abruptly departs from his usual perch with a yelp. By the time his gaze is redirected upward, there are about five drones barreling out of the sky in a death spiral. Right towards him.
"Oh shit-"
No sooner had these words left him, something collides with him at top speed and the world becomes a blur. It knocks him right out of the air, and both him and his attacker go rolling across stone. A racket of metal and bone is not enough to drown out the ensuing explosion that follows.
The pair of them come to a stop in the fake grass. He aches everywhere, but it's still far better than being dead a second time. MDK's eyes crack open to the colors of twilight sweeping away the brilliant sunset.
Something on top of him moves, lifts off of him just a bit, and then a dimmed optic is looking down on him. The machine atop him lets out a whirr, air puffing out from between their plating; almost like a sigh of relief.
He desperately wants to say something, even crack a joke to dispel the sudden surge of warmth that rushes through him, bordering on heat, even. Their lower body pins his own to the ground, legs tangled (they are so much smaller than him), and worse yet, blood not yet dried upon their plating dripping onto his ribcage, staining sun-bleached bone bright red.
"Uh." He manages, intelligently so, but his brain short-circuits as they shift again.
Their crotch plating is pushing against his, and it's doing something to him. Heat's going south through his body, and it's almost enough for what will definitely be the most embarrassing sound in existence to ever leave his mouth-
Fortunately for him, V1 pushes themselves off of him, and gets to their feet, letting him float right back up to about their shoulder level. He reels from the sudden absence of contact; it leaves him feeling just a bit cold.
"Uh, thanks," MDK manages to get out, mortification at last catching up with him. They'd just saved his life and here he is ogling them like an idiot.
For a beat, V1 simply stares at him. Through the glaring yellow, he sees their optic dart away, zeroing in on his arm. Then they reach.
And sure, yeah, V1 could be siphoning fresh blood still oozing from the wound drawn across his humerus. But the way they press two fingers very gently upon the bone, careful not to draw more fuel more from, suggests something bordering on worry. His head almost seems to fog over with the implications as it glides down the length of the injury.
"I'm fine." MDK blurts, hurriedly. "Doesn't hurt."
It does, in fact, sting quite a bit now that the adrenaline is dying down. But they don't need to know that. It'll heal up pretty quickly on its own as it is.
Any reaction to his words that could have followed is interrupted by the flapping of wings, followed by the light but familiar weight of his companion landing upon his clavicle. MDK looks to his left and is met with the dirtiest glare he has ever seen that beak twist into.
"You," The Owl points at him with an accusatory primary feather. "Are gonna get us both killed."
"I had it under control." The husk insists, pushing his wing to the side.
"Bullshit!" He retorts. The familiar push and pull of their banter, thankfully, prevents him from doing anything remotely close to putting his foot in his mouth. "If you had been paying any attention at all-"
"Which I was." MDK states matter-of-factly.
"There is a reason I am the eyes in the back of your head, dumbass!"
"I don't need you backseating me every five seconds!"
He misses the Owl's answering retort, because in the corner of his eye, V1's shoulders shake, like they're laughing at their usual exchange. It does funny things to his entirely metaphorical chest cavity. Then they turn to stride towards the nearest door, which conveniently leads to the elevator leading back down to the chambers below. For a moment, the machine glances back and beckons them both to follow.
Their hardlight wings are covered in dried blood, dappling the golden light with a sheen of deep crimson. V1's lower optic shutter rises just slightly, fixing him with a look he swears borders on something other than bright curiosity or deep-seated bloodlust. A single, stray droplet of fuel rolls down their chassis, dripping onto the blood pump on their hips.
His mouth waters, and the heat he thought had been firmly pushed away suddenly pools once more.
Right as they turn away, that same wing grips his plume, and tugs his helm sharply to the left.
"Owowow!"
"I'm fucking serious." The Owl hisses, tone thick with exasperation but thankfully low in volume. "Either you do something about this cringe crush of yours, or I will."
"You wouldn't." The harshness of MDK's answering quip is softened by a sudden surge of panic. "I don't even know if they feel the same-"
"Do you really not notice how they look at you when they think you aren't paying attention?" He says with a long-suffering sigh.
The husk can't conjure a response to that, trying to stifle the sudden surge of hope flaring bright and warm.
"Wait, r-really? You're being serious."
"I am about this." The Owl fluffs up his feathers, and then settles in on his perch for the long trek back down to Lust for the evening. "‘Eyes in the back of your head', remember?"
