Dirk Strider had about the social grace of a fish. Not even a clownfish or something everybody loved. No. He was a sea bass. Something seen far too often yet still oddly welcomed. Oh, well. Life was pain or some upsetting bullshit like that.
Not really.
Not with Jade.
He first met Jade Harley in the Robotics club. She just walked in one day, with her long coffee hair and her green apple eyes and her flowing white dress not at all appropriate for the chilly Washington weather (as if the Texan could talk- he was wearing a wifebeater). She walked in and verbally destroyed him and all he was working on.
It was love at first sight.
Jade had a dancer's grace, even though she swore she never took any classes. Her hands were soft, quick, matching her work with a perfect ease. She was soft, quick, resolute. Everything. Perfect. All of those cheesy romantic comedy lines and more.
It was her idea to make a body for his auto-responder. She'd met him one night when Dirk was busy, she'd said, and had a conversation with him. He never really figured out exactly what had happened. It didn't matter, though. Dirk had blueprints scattered all about for a fully functioning robot chassis for quite some time now. It was a matter of motivation, really. A lot of motivation.
"He's so nice, though!" Jade whined.
The pair sat in the robotics room, a spare room set aside next to the science lab. It was just before the day ended, before the bell rang and before the club was supposed to meet up. They were alone.
Dirk sighed softly, setting down the screwdriver he had in his hand. The small robotic rabbit in front of him- a birthday present for an old friend- twitched slightly and looked up at him. He gave the bunny a stern sounding "Stay" before turning back to Jade.
"No."
Jade visibly deflated, leaning against the desk with another whine.
"Why noot?"
"Because," the boy continued, turning around to find the wrench. The rabbit stood suddenly, jumping over to Jade before he could turn around, "it would require both materials neither of us can access and time neither of us has. Not to mention the question of what it would do with a- Hey!"
The girl straightened as the bunny landed near her, giggling softly. Dirk had turned around at that point and was scowling, pointing down at where it once was.
"Here. Now."
The bunny jumped on Jade's head before leaping back to where it was, sitting down. Dirk scowled again, beginning to open the a small hatch on the back of it's head with ease.
"But anyway!" Jade continued on, straightening up and wandering over to where Dirk was. "I don't think Hal would do anything bad with a body!"
"You've met him a total of once."
"Oh, come on!"
"No."
"He's told me you have blueprints!"
There was a pause as Dirk opened the hatch, crouching down to peer inside it better. He took a small pair of tweezers from the work table, moving his pointed sunglasses to the top of his head.
"I do. What of it?"
"Why make blueprints if you don't plan to act on them?"
"Practice."
Jade groaned, turning around for a moment with a deflated look. She brightened a moment later, though, and turned back towards Dirk.
"Well now you can practice making full sized robots!"
"No."
She groaned again, this time louder. "Diiirk!" She stepped forwards, around the table. Dirk didn't look up until she took his shades, after which he looked up at her with a shocked noise.
"Hey!"
Jade held them up over her head, sticking her tongue out. "Come on! I'll even work on it with you!"
There was a pause, and then a groan as Dirk stood.
"Where do you plan on getting a power source?"
"How did you plan to power it?" she smiled as if she'd won the argument. "If it's a battery, we can easily rewire an old car one! I mean, nuclear power would work, too, but that'll be a hassle to get! We can do the car battery, easy! C'mon, Dirk, what do you say?"
Pause.
"Fine."
And there was nothing more to say on the matter.
Except for the fact that, the more he spent time with Jade, the more… Attached, you could say, he felt. It was the little things he noticed that wormed their way into his head like a catchy song on the radio. The more he tried to drive it out, the harder it stuck.
"Jade, hand me the screwdriver."
Nothing.
"Jade."
Snore.
"Jade."
Snort, then some incoherent mumbling.
Dirk looked over at Jade with a raised eyebrow. He sat on the ground, a metal foot in his lap. Jade, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the room, surrounded by blueprints and wires. She was sleeping, and once Dirk realized this, his expression softened.
She did that a lot, didn't she? Just fall asleep on things like a tuckered out puppy after a walk.
It was sort of endearing.
Really endearing.
Dirk glanced at the digital clock mounted on the wall. It was about seven at night. He figured that once she woke up, he'd take her home. Her grandpa liked him enough, but he really thought if he got her home too late, he'd be on the wrong end of some rifle.
He stood and cracked his neck, stretching a bit before walking to his bed, which was also covered in papers and spare parts. The pair had really monopolized this room for the project. He had to sleep on the couch during all of this. By some stroke of luck, he managed to dig a blanket out from under the mass of papers, and he walked back to Jade and draped it around her shoulders.
As he walked out of the room and into the kitchen, she snuggled into it.
It took a few months to finish the chassis. A few months, about a truckload of coffee, and too many all-nighters to count. But. They did it. They had done it.
It was a cool night, late spring. Jade was putting the last finishing touches on the robot itself, which Dirk's brothers had taken to calling "Brobot", while Dirk was setting up wires, a download to move his AI from one hard drive to the other.
Jade's hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her glasses moved to the top of her head like Dirk's. She was squinting, biting her lip, brushing back her hair every now and again.
Dirk didn't notice he was staring until his computer dinged.
TT: You're doing it again, Dirk.
TT: You're staring at her.
TT: Aren't you?
Dirk rolled his eyes, quickly typing in response.
TT: Of course not.
TT: Dirk.
TT: Remember who's making your body.
TT: You make it sound like I am ungrateful.
TT: Truly, I am.
TT: As much as a computer program can be.
TT: Hal.
TT: A body, all for myself.
TT: I'm a real boy, Dirk.
TT: It seems she's calling you.
"Dirk!"
He glanced back at Jade, tapping his glasses down once again to cover his eyes. "You finished?"
She nodded, grin bright, though her eyes showed the slightest bit of unease. "I just did. Are you ready?"
TT: Are you ready?
TT: She's done.
TT: I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
"Yeah," Dirk replied, turning. He closed the window with Hal in it, typing quickly once again. "And… We're going."
Jade nodded a few times, stepping back so she was in line with Dirk. She watched the chassis with the same, slightly uneasy eyes.
"...Do you think it'll work?"
"'Course I do. ...Do you?"
"...Yeah."
Dirk turned around to watch the robot as well as Jade pushed her glasses back over her eyes. They stood in a tense silence. When nothing happened for quite some time, Jade broke it.
"Is it working?"
"..." Dirk glanced back over his shoulder to look at his computer. "It's still downloading."
"...What if it doesn't work?"
"It'll work."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Really?"
"I am about ninety-nine point nine three percent sure."
"What about the other point o'seven percent?"
"That part thinks that it'll work, but it's going to kill us both."
"Lovely!"
"Isn't it?"
Jade laughed, then, nudging Dirk.
"Well, if that happens, I'm glad I died with you!"
Dirk glanced away with a small, wry smile.
"Ditto."
The computer let out a soft ping. The robot moved slightly, causing Jade to squeak.
"Dirk! Dirk, look at him!"
The chassis moved again as Dirk looked over. The orange sunglasses that Jade picked out ("They look like yours!") lit up. The pair both leaned forwards as it looked up.
Dirk broke the silence.
"Hal?"
There was a quiet moment of silence before the robot nodded, a soft metallic voice responding.
"Hello, Dirk."
Jade squealed, hopping up and down before turning, throwing her arms around Dirk's neck.
"We did it!"
Dirk flushed a dark red at the action, clearing his throat.
"We did it."
"Hooray!" Jade laughed and stood up on her toes, pressing a soft kiss to Dirk's lips.
"A-ah-"
He flushed again and sputtered, though after a long minute of regaining his bearings, he leaned down and kissed her back.
That happened.
And that's all there really is to say on the matter.
Yes, I know this is confusing.
Yes, I know it's been a year.
Yes, I know this isn't an update.
I wanted to write cute fanfic please don't hurt me.
Ahem... The world needs more Dirkjade, so as a Christmas miracle, it appeared. I did it, bro. i made it hapen
But... This is rushed, I know. And I know that the grammar isn't the best. So if somethin's wrong, just... shoot me a pm maybe?
Happy Holidays!
(disclaimer saying that i dont own stuff)
(bold is hal italics is a flashback oop)