Pale Blue Shadows
Author's Notes:
helikesitheymikey – to answer your questions: yes, it updates all of the Brainbots (wireless internet-style connection); Roxie hasn't had a date in roughly two years… she's not on the pill (no point mucking with hormones if you don't need to, right?); and my biggest struggle here is to maintain the darkness. My other fics are normally pretty light and fluffy, so the temptation to add copious amounts of fluff has me editing sections in and out of existence with shocking rapidity. The thing I want you to bear in mind is that this is a dark AU… and so, I doubt there will be much cooking with Minion. Though, on the other hand, I wouldn't put it past myself to go there anyway and just totally muck with the dark, evil atmosphere.
FluffyFurball and mommy2caitlyn – you guys are going to tempt me out of my diet. Happily samples assorted baked goods and ice cream
Chapter 6: Luxury
Roxanne woke with a start. Two glowing red "eyes" stared at her. She met the Brainbots' gazes steadily. "You guys know I'm allowed to be here, right?" she asked them uncertainly. She was curled up on herself on top of the dark satin covers of the bed. Apparently her attempts to process everything had simply overloaded her and the emotional toll of the past week had caught up.
"Bowg," one of the bots replied, electricity sparking through its blue dome as it rose lazily off the bed.
The other bot seemed to stare at her a moment longer. "Bowg," it said, its eye going black as it appeared to snuggle itself back into the hollow it had made in the covers. This one, with its red dome bereft of electric shocks, seemed only too happy to ignore her.
Roxanne looked to the other one. It floated near her uncertainly. "Bowg?" its tone seemed questioning. With a stretch, Roxanne rose from the bed, looping a hand through her bag's handles and hefting it lightly onto the bed.
"Maybe you can show me where to put my things?" she asked the bot quietly.
"Bowg bowg," the bot seemed to reply, its tentacles reaching out and taking over the task of opening the bag. Roxanne watched with bemusement as the little machine carefully removed each item from her bag, looked around the room, and then promptly zoomed said item to locations it deemed appropriate. She watched the bot open drawers, bowging disparagingly. Clothes were removed from drawers, refolded, and placed gently into others. Very quickly, the bot had replaced an entire drawer with her things. Questioningly, it pulled out several black dresses, staring from the dresses to Roxanne. "Bowg bowg," it informed her, jetting over to the closet, and hanging them with rapidity next to what she could only accept were Megamind's clothes.
She sighed, reaching into the bag and pulling out her toiletries. She supposed there was really nothing for it. At the moment, she was living with Megamind. In his room. How awkward.
She strolled over to the on-suite, pulling open a French door with one hand as she balanced several bottles with her hairbrush and her make-up bag. "Bowg bowg!" the bot scolded, zooming over to her and pulling the other door open, simultaneously looping tentacles around each of the items she carried. In an instant, Roxanne was grateful to the little bot. She was almost certain she would have dropped everything in her arms. Her entire body went slack, eyes wide as she attempted to reconcile the on-suite washroom with everything she had ever thought about Megamind.
The guy had a whirlpool bathtub the size of a small swimming pool. Black marble floors gleamed up at her. Stainless steel fixtures gleamed, reflected in the wall-to-wall mirrors. She stared around herself. "No, not even a little egotistical," she muttered sarcastically. The bot was gently placing her things down on a smooth, granite counter that ran the length of one wall. The washbasin was an immense, spotless glass bowl, rested on a black marble pedestal. Her surroundings were lavish, at minimum.
"Bowg?" the bot asked her, gesturing with tentacles at the tub.
Roxanne's eyes widened. "Seriously?" she asked the bot, "Can I?"
The bot shrugged, its tentacles already turning faucets. "Bowg?" it questioned thoughtfully, supplying her with a basket of various scented bath oils.
Roxanne looked at the variety while shaking her head. "This is crazy, you realize?" she addressed the robot, who waited patiently for her to make her selection. "This whole… everything. I'm going to wake up and wonder what the hell I had to drink to inspire these kinds of surroundings for Megamind's… what? House? Mansion?"
The bot bowged sympathetically, tentacles reaching for her and gently pulling at Roxanne's tank top. "Whoa," she cautioned the robot, stepping backwards, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" She waved a finger at the robot as she continued to back up. "Are you trying to undress me?"
The robot stared at her, its red eye unblinking. "Bowg?" it replied uncertainly. It brought up its programming instructions, reviewing them at lightning speed as it projected them as a holograph between itself and Roxanne.
Roxanne stared as the projection moved with lightning quickness. "Pause?" she asked, knowing that Megamind had informed her that they only responded to him for programming.
The bot froze its projection. "Bowg?" it inquired, its tone sounding despairing to Roxanne's ears.
Roxanne approached the hologram, staring at the dense programming language. Directories, menus, and file names streamed down one side of the display. "Hygiene protocols?" she murmured, reading this particular subroutine's header. She scanned the text, mentally thanking herself for taking programming in high school. Sometimes these things paid off after all. "Uh," she said after a long moment. "You know what?" she turned to the bot. "You just do whatever it is you normally do for him. I'll just shut up. Evil queen, right?" she smiled helplessly, "Might as well get used to being pampered."
It was probably several hours later, but Roxanne felt like a new person. She sighed contentedly. The bot was a truly amazing invention. And who knew that tentacles could give scalp massages? Roxanne pulled herself from the tub unabashedly as the bot wrapped the softest, most luxurious towel around her she had ever seen. "Bowg?" it zipped over to her makeup bag.
"Seriously?" Roxanne replied. "You do makeup too?"
"Bowg." The bot floated back over to her, the bag in one tentacle, as others began removing the various cosmetic implements she'd bothered to bring.
Roxanne lifted an eyebrow. "I better not come out looking like him," she cautioned. The robot didn't reply, simply bumping against her to encourage her to sit down on the raised dais that surrounded the tub. "My face is in your hands," she relented, "Well, tentacles."
She watched the bot work in the mirror behind it. The bot was a master. Perfect smoky eyes left her looking dark and alluring and sinfully red lips curved into a smile. Her eyelashes had never curled or lengthened so expertly under her own applications, or those of the station's mediocre hair and makeup staff. "I'm impressed," she began, cut off by the bot's waving tentacles. "What now?" she asked in wonderment, as the bot pulled out her black nail polish.
"Bowg bowg," it seemed to beg excitedly.
Roxanne stared at the bot, "Knock yourself out," she told it. Within minutes she was melting under a foot massage. "Good god, you are a fantastic invention," she moaned in pleasure, extending her leg and pulling her toes en pointe. Her toenails glittered black, matching her nails. She'd never felt so pampered in her life. She wondered if this was how movie stars felt. No wonder Megamind was always so sure of himself, if he got pampered like this every day. She sighed again, pulling the soft towel a little more tightly around her body where it was starting to slip. "I could learn to live like this."
"I'm glad to hear it," a silken voice said from the doorway.
Roxanne stiffened, her eyes flying open in surprise. "How long have you been standing there?" she demanded.
"Long enough," he replied. The smirk was wider than ever, and Roxanne wondered if the goosebumps on her arms were simply because she was finally getting cold after her hot bath, or if there was another reason behind them. "Fourty-two," he commanded, "Please get Miss Ritchie some clothes for dinner."
Without any hesitation, the bot flew from the bathroom with such speed that Roxanne nearly tipped from her perch. She wrapped her arms tightly in front of her towel-clad body and watched him watch her. "What?" she snapped, "See something you like?"
If anything, his smirk widened. He straightened from where he leaned against the door frame, strolling over to her with a distinct lack of concern. "And if I do?" he whispered, leaning forward just enough to put his face level with hers. Roxanne felt shaken. Was this part of the game? When exactly was it that he had upped the ante on her? She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach as his green eyes raked over her seated form. She licked her lips despite herself. With a sense of loss, she watched him pull himself straight again. He turned to leave the room, "You should let the bot do your makeup from now on," he tossed back lazily. "You look much more the part of an evil queen."
Roxanne felt her mouth go dry. She caught her reflection in the mirrors as the bot zipped back into the bathroom, pulling the doors closed behind it as it drew one of her black dresses off the hanger it had only recently placed it on. She let the bot dress her. It was amazing how little of a problem she had with it, once she'd gotten over that initial shock. Her mind was too busy processing both what Megamind had said and the reflection that stared back at her. The bot bowged softly as it fussed around her. Some sort of product worked its way into Roxanne's hair as the bot blow-dried and brushed and styled with speedy ease. "You can do hair too?" she asked it, only momentarily surprised. God only knew what Megamind had programmed it with or why. Or maybe the bot was self-updating with its memory banks. Perhaps she'd ask Megamind later. Maybe she'd even get an answer.
The woman who stared back at her when the bot finally floated away, freeing her off its tentacled grasp, was entirely unfamiliar to Roxanne. The dress was one she had bought two years ago to wear at a station party. She'd only worn it the once. She had no idea how she had ended up packing it, or why. It was a short, sleek, strapless number. Simple, but sophisticated in the way the fabric bunched and bundled to give the impression of a long piece of black satin wound and twisted about her figure. Her hair was styled in such a way that her short hair fluffed and spiked its way to fashionable, framing her face but looking exciting at the same time. Her eyes stared back at her, dark and mysterious. Overall, Roxanne was certain she was staring at some yet-unknown movie star. Maybe a foreign one. Definitely one with lots of money. Her breath caught in her throat.
She stepped forward, and into a pair of black heels she was almost entirely certain she had not packed. Strappy stilettos which she had also only worn once. She'd been kidnapped that day and the simple indignity of barely being able to stand on her own when her ankles were bound had sent them careening to the back of her closet the moment she had gotten home. She stared down at them. "How did they get here, I wonder?" she asked the bot dryly, her lips telling a different story.
She looked back up at her reflection. "Bowg," the bot insisted, pushing her around to another mirror, unbroken by the counter top.
"I look… amazing," Roxanne gasped, staring at herself up and down. A wicked smile flitted it way onto her lips. "I'm supposed to, aren't I?" she asked the robot, mischief in her voice.
"Bowg," the bot replied, ducking innocently and flaring a brighter blue for a moment. "Bowg bowg."
Roxanne reached out and petted the bot's dome. "Thank you, Fourty-Two," she murmured. "I'll do my best to live up to how you've made me look." She raised her eyes again to her reflection. In some ways, she didn't want to tear her gaze away from the figure in the mirror. She had never looked so good. Never so wicked, either. The black dress clung to her curves. Her blue eyes flashed in the mirror.
Megamind had teased her just minutes ago. He had been absolutely mysterious and dismissive by turns since he'd brought her back her. The tone of his voice… the flutter rose in her belly again, as she struggled to squash it. She stared at the mirror. Was it, maybe, a terrible thing to contemplate, to give him a taste of his own medicine?