EVE soared through the air, coming to hide behind a shadowed part of the Axiom, just behind the setting sun. One of the defective WALL-E's was examining some of the loose garbage that had been missed by the reactivated WALL-E's and the WALL-As. It grabbed something from the trash and looked at it.
Impostor...
"Oo..." the WALL-E spun it this way and that, examining it from all angles. EVE couldn't see what it was at first, but it gave off quite a shine. She wanted to get a closer look...
Maybe she let her guard down because he looked just like her lover, or maybe she was just being reckless after her recent encounter, but she ended up making a noise and the WALL-E spotted her.
"Evah!"
Her LED eyebrows shot up.
"Evah!" he showed her the thing he had been examining, which turned out to be a metal towel hanger. It had an odd elegant curve to it, and it had a few fine details. No wonder it caught his eye. He was after all-!
No. This wasn't WALL-E. It was an impostor.
"Wall-E...?"
He pressed the hook into her hands, nodding excitedly. He then went off to grab something else.
It was indistinguishable. The way he moved, the way he acted, the way he said her name...every little thing was spot-on.
She looked at the hook in her hands. This was wrong. She felt so guilty, and she didn't even know why. Well, she knew why, but-Arg! This was so confusing!
"Evah!"
"No! No!" she dropped the hook on the dusty ground, "I'm sorry..." she flew off without giving it a second thought.
Wall-E. Gotta get to Wall-E. My Wall-E.
Gotta get to the truck.
She found the lever by the door and pulled it, allowing it to open just enough so that she could slip inside, then she closed it again with the other lever.
"Evah!"
The voice sent shivers down her frame, "Wall-E!" she felt around him, perceiving, "Lighter?"
"Huh?"
The incident with AUTO shocking her happened after her memories were stolen, so if he was the real WALL-E - her WALL-E - he would know.
"Wall-E, lighter. Where?"
WALL-E tilted his head to the side.
Come on...just tell me...where is it?
He let his eyebrows droop, laying a hand over her access panel, "Heeere."
EVE nuzzled him, relieved, "Wall-E..."
He was real. He was hers.
"Evah?" WALL-E pulled back to look into her eyes, beeping in concern.
EVE shook her head. She wasn't sure if she could explain without words, but she was convinced when she saw his eyes.
She knew what he would want. Just try.
So, she gestured outside, then she pointed at him, moved her hands in the shape of a box, and then another, and another. She finished by softly squeezing his shoulders.
WALL-E processed all of this with intrigue. The others...him...more of them...
"Act. Just. Like..." she stopped.
Just like him.
Exact copies.
WALL-E didn't fully understand what she was telling him, but he trusted her completely, and by the looks of it, it was upsetting to her. He figured, all he could do was stick by her, and offer comfort.
So, WALL-E softly brushed his thumb along her cheek, pointing to himself with his other hand.
EVE was touched. She reached down to give him a hug, Never change, ok?
He didn't understand what she said, but he nodded anyway, returning the hug.
It was then that EVE remembered how late it was, and gently pushed WALL-E back into his shelf, rocking him back and forth. WALL-E sighed happily, making EVE giggle softly, sweetly, and she let her hands wander with her eyes. His rough treads, his arms and hands, his optics. She just wanted to be with him. She let her hands stop at his neck, massaging around his back. WALL-E just loved the attention, and he loved how it felt. It was all just making him melt. He let out a soft purr, leaning towards her lovingly. She lay her head on his while continuing to stroke him.
They were now all the same, but there was no way they were programmed with sentience either, otherwise that computer wouldn't have needed to steal her memories of him. She understood computers, and she remembered what the captain had said. The defective WALL-E's had just started behaving this way out of nowhere, like a switch being flipped. Sentience was not something that could be taught. It was something learned, something felt. It usually came slowly, and all the WALL-E's had basic hardware, so achieving sentience would take forever.
But...even so...that WALL-E near the Axiom knew her...he knew her name and face. That could only mean...well...
EVE gave WALL-E a small kiss, pulling away to hover beside him on the shelf. She watched him slowly come out of his trance, proceeding to box up and go to sleep.
She gave one last pat on the head before going dormant herself, tired from the day's events, and tired of being away from WALL-E.
She wouldn't let AUTO's escape ruin her night.
My attempt at fluff... :3