A/N: Hello again! Today's story is a (really short) one shot about Iko, because I love her and feel like I've been sadly neglecting her thus far in the ship weeks. By the way, if you haven't already, go check out wavingthroughawindow's TLC Ship Weeks collection, called Over the Moon. It's definitely worth reading! Anyway, enjoy!
Iko's skin had been torn open, the gash extending from her right wrist to the inside of her elbow. She frowned at it, threading her needle. She hadn't bothered to stitch the frayed edges of the wound together - if you could even call it a wound.
It was during times like these when Iko felt the least human.
Without anything covering the intricate wiring embedded in her humanoid form, it was as if her humanity had been stripped away along with her skin.
Experimentally wiggling her fingers, Iko began roughly stitching the edges together with her left hand. If there was any damaged circuitry, she'd slit the stitches open for Cinder later. But for now, it was more important that nothing be exposed to open air or liquids.
Tying a hasty knot, Iko cut the remaining thread. Flexing her fingers, she checked to make sure everything was in roughly the correct position. Thumb - check. Index, middle, and ring fingers - all present and working. Pinky - not responding.
Iko scowled at the offending appendage. Then, resigning herself to her bad luck and shrugging, she reached for her netscreen.
She picked up where she had left off six hours ago, before she had been so rudely interrupted: scrolling through dresses sold by online retailers.
After all, if one was going to go to a party where one intended to meet an extremely dangerous wolf-hybrid, one needed to be dressed for the part. Iko figured she could probably buy a relatively functional dress online and then retrofit as necessary.
Pursing her lips, she narrowed her options down to two. One, a sleek, floor-length chiffon dress dyed in sunset reds and golds, would contrast wonderfully with her braids.
The other, a knee-length, silky black dress, was probably more functional, and came with the added advantage of pockets.
Of course the pockets won out. Who in their right mind would turn down a good-looking dress with pockets?
Completing her purchase, Iko sighed and leaned back in her chair. Hopefully, she'd also be able to replace her ripped skin before the big night.
Stars, that sounded awful. Unnatural.
No - that wasn't just unnatural. She was unnatural. Too robotic to ever be a true human, yet too humanlike to ever be just another mindless android.
Sometimes, Iko wondered if it would just be easier to become like them - to have all of her emotions and responses preprogrammed.
But she would never be able to do that, she knew. That would be almost like giving up.
And Iko never gave up.
Maybe, she mused, she had the best of both worlds.
And maybe that made up for it all.