Sorry this took so long? I started a full time job and got some family stuff :^\
Thanks 4 reading!
It took three days, three whole days before either one of them broke the mutual silence. One night of getting drunk alone on Simone's part,a day of working in an tethered avoidance by both of them, and another for the two to make eye contact on the woman's trash run. So when the pair stood stock still like dear caught in their own headlights, Ultron nodded slightly while Simone smiled. By smile, she pulled apart her face in a haunting display of teeth that came off as delusional over friendly. She was never a good faker, but it's the thought that counts
Apparently that meant the stops were out and Ultron had no apprehension towards badgering her for answers. Removing his robo-kidney with the finesse of a black market organ dealer must've done wonders for their working relationship. But then again, Simone could be completely misreading his intentions and walking directly off a cliff.
So now she sat like a complete intellectual with her hair mounted atop her head like tumbleweed, no pants, fuzzy socks, and Lucky Charms dripping from the counter top. Because if Ultron internalized anything from their most recent argument, it was her ill-timed suggestion for an airhorn. There wasn't an actual horn, just him walking up behind her while she pried the plastic bits of retainer from her mouth, tendrils of drool binding them together, and then blasting with out remorse. Apparently he doubled as a sound mixer.
Simone took back the statement of not hating him. She flew out of the chair like a jack-in-the-box with little meteors of whole-grain nutrients flying behind her.
"Why do you call that Annamarie woman Rocky?"
Her face twisted in confusion, looking up at the robot from her clump of sodden milk-rags as she cleaned. The origin story of a nickname hardly seemed worthy of scarring the sweet bejeezus out of her. Then again, what did Simone know? Getting someone's attention by name was definitely under kill, "You needed an airhorn for that?"
"It's all about time management," He said, shifting idly before continuing, "Plus, calling your name gets boring."
She groaned, throwing her napkins in the trash with a resound thud. There was no way he was being serious, that was too much effort for a question that small. Why not just throw something at her, Ultron seemed like the vengeful type. Maybe it was passive(but mostly aggressive) payback. If it was, two could play that game, Simone would just have to be a little more tactful, not being made of steel and concentrated hate, that is. She'd play hard to get.
"Ice cream," Simone ran her bowl under the sink, planning to opt for waffles over retrying cereal for cleanliness's sake, "Rocky-Road."
"Why?"
"Why'd you want to know? Jealous?"
Ultron snorted, leaning idly against the wall as he watched the woman crank down the toaster. She never took her eyes off the A.I, keeping him well in the edge of her vision. Even if he was being… conversational, Simone wasn't turning her back on him. 'You only need his trust, Simmy' She reminded herself. The memory of telling Ultron she wouldn't snitch wiggled into view, a dreadful weed of remorse growing in her chest. She crushed it and focused back Ultron, "Repeat."
He let out an exaggerated sigh, "Were you always this obnoxious or did I hit your head too hard this time?"
A frown pulled at Simone's face while she took a threatening chomp from the waffle. So much for a little bit of respect. The woman was starting to believe that the day Ultron was nice would be the day she died. What a chipper thought, "It's a long story."
"I'm a good listener!" He defended. She shot him a withering glare before the A.I added, "Come on! What else do you have to do today?"
Was he always this needy?
Lifting herself on top of the counter to finish her breakfast, she hummed, pretending to be deep in thought. There was actually a list of things to do, like restock the fridge, checking for mail, work, and the fact that Christmas was 3 days away hit her like a candy-cane colored wrecking ball. Not that Simone had anything against the holiday, just the never-ending bombardment of the same old songs sung with a little more beatboxing to make it 'hip' and 'relatable' for the cool kids got annoying. That and the rampant marking hell that covered everything in red and green like a festive pestilence. Capitalism is an amazing thing.
"Errands," She said simply, bouncing the heels of her feet against the cupboards, "Walking into town later, you'd be bored to death."
"You're right, I will," Ultron agreed, pushing off the wall with his hip, "I'm coming."
Simone sighed, sweeping the crumbs off her shirt. There was no telling the Silver Sinner no, he'd come along anyway, or crush bones till there was a yes. She wanted to stay intact, hospital bills were out of the realm she called affordable. Telling the A.I she'd go get some pants and a bra, she shuffled like a man on death row to the bedroom. It was definitely a sweatpants kind of day. If the whole town knew her as 'trashy train wreck', why try and change the legacy? Besides, she had no one to impress and Ultron wasn't one to judge.
The A.I's motivation's were out of her reach, she wasn't about to break a wrist trying to catch it. They were already sore enough from his treatment, but even while shoving her leg through the soft material, she was set on edge. Ultron was being, well, she didn't want to say friendly after he reformatted her cereal into confetti, but sociable would suffice.
He wanted something, that's all there was to it.
If the robot wanted to walk to the mailbox with her, fine, but she was going to get something out of it too. Stomping to the living while securing the scarf around her neck, Simone realized she forgot something. And with Ultron staring at her life she just spent an hour doing makeup instead of just brushing her teeth, there was no going back.
She forgot the taser. She left the useless, half grand, hunk of plastic her room…again.
'I have yet to learn how to cope with my own internal resentment and lack of responsibility' verbally translated as, "Ready?"
He was the first one out the door, thankfully missing the woman's mournful glance back at the house. She'd be okay, if the last spat proved anything there was a 25% chance she'd be able to get out alive. Ultron's question broke her from the incessant worry fogging her stomach, "So, the nickname?"
Cue the mutual benefit, "Only if I get to ask something back."
"Quid pro quo," Ultron hummed, "Fair enough."
'Well spank me thrice and hand me to my mama,' Simone thought. His chipper attitude was starting to wig her out. If anything it set more of edge in her bones than the barely contained rage he'd normally exude. Nerves festered in her like a mold, silently praying to anyone listening, Nicki Minaj, Buddha, God, Allah, or a powerful combination of them all that she didn't fall into a trap.
"When Annalise broke up with her boyfriend, and trust me it was a helluva process, she ate a whole tub of Rocky-Road, I got like, two scoops at most," It was a gross night full of tears, snot and dripping into each others hair till it looked like sticky tentacles, but a relief. Simone didn't want to think of the years leading up to it, "That's the short version at least. Long one's sad, the kinda sob story they make low budget romcoms about, trust me when I say you don't want to hear it."
He probably did, she just didn't want him to use Annalise's history against her. Too personal, and their stance was to unclear. It was like two dogs in a fight, circling around each other, waiting for the other to strike but not sure how to make the first move. Simone wasn't sure she wanted to, or if he already had.
"That's going to drive me insane," Ultron complained. The woman almost told him he already was, but held her tongue. The peace needed to be kept, "But if you get to hold onto part of your secret emporium, so do I."
Bait. Simone wouldn't fall for it, "My turn."
She paused, unsure. There wasn't enough information about the A.I to ask a personal interest, the answer would probably involve unorthodox nukes, or recyclable bombs. Sokovia was recyclable, right? From dust to dust, dirt to dirt.
Favorite season would be easy, but then again he hadn't been alive long enough to experience anything besides blistering Russian cold, that was more of a conversation to have with Napoleon Bonaparte. Then she realized, he literally did try and invade Russia in the winter. The two had a lot in common, like failure and bad ideas.
"Do you hate everything about humans?" She wished the question could be snatched back and shoved down her throat. The woman didn't want to sour his mood, or get him started on the never ending list of how horrible everyone but Dicktron was.
"No," He said simply, idly stepping over a hunk of ice while Simone tripped. That wasn't the answer she expected, and the information wasn't something she was able to process immediately, "There's culture, art, an inclination to individuality and prosperity,even I can appreciate that."
"So why try and…. you know."
"Ah-ah," Ultron scolded, "my turn."
Fine. It was a bad question that he had probably answered in an argument beforehand anyway. Evil and good, that's right, the moral dilemma and tiger. She sighed and worked her palms. Kneading away at the bubbling energy in the flat of her hands, she hated it, the calmness would always crawl up when she was anxious and no matter how hard she'd tried it wouldn't leave, "Shoot."
"Why listen to music?" The A.I asked, he sounded genuinely curious. He wasn't the first.
Simone shrugged, "I don't like the silence."
"But you're deaf, it's inevitable you won't be able to hear anything." True, not like everyone hadn't already reminded her of that enough, "What are you trying to do? Pretend there's nothing wrong? To forget?"
"That's three extra questions, Megatron," She said and paused. That wasn't supposed to slip out. The woman watched the robot carefully, looking for a twitch, a shift, anything to show that he was was bothered. He ignored it.
Simone sighed, "'Cause when I was a kid my hearing wasn't always this bad, it deteriorated."
He was looking at her now, the woman could tell he was about to ask why or how, curiosity conveyed easily enough on the blank face, "Way back when, I could actually hear okay, when I was six it started going downhill. 65% of my hearing was gone by that point."
"My left ear's worse," She said, tapping the mentioned area, "I was on a swim team and forgot earplugs one day, didn't think anything of it, swam to the bottom of the pool then-"
"-Pop," Simone mimicked the sound, spreading her fingers in emphasis, "Like a water balloon."
"That's fixable, modern medicine can prevent scaring and damage, it's an avoidable issue," He pointed out. The woman didn't know if Ultron was either confused and trying to seek clarification or blaming her.
"If you can afford it." She shrugged, "Try being a single mom, and cough up enough cash for a kid, college, then add hospital care. I was gonna go deaf anyway, I'm at 85% when averaged out."
"And you just except that?"
What else did he expect her to do? Sit and wallow in the misfortune of her life till angels descended and wiped the tears from her broken face? No, Simone was a grown-ass woman, it was a disability, sure, but it wasn't a death sentence, time taught her that, "What else am I supposed to do? Waste away because I wasn't born perfect?"
He didn't answer. She was afraid he'd say 'yes'. Simone didn't like the quiet, to many possibilities could pop out like spring chickens. Was the A.I surprised, shocked, disgusted? Who knew.
"Mom couldn't afford aids till I was 14, Ultron, that's why I listen to music," Her palms slipped, bones clicking under a thin layer of skin as the woman grimaced, wrists flaring, "I got enough of quiet."
She remembered getting them. Tiny dark brown pieces to match her ears, spiral wires and synthesized voices. Simone recalled crying, laughing, her mother helping her adjust the pair. They sat next a radio and talked all night, words tasting strange on an atrophied tongue as it remembered how to curl and bend, forming letters after years of scattered use. It was a special night, one of her favorites.
Focusing back on Ultron as he hummed, she blurted the first question that came to mind, "Favorite bird?"
"What."
Both of them stopped. Simone didn't know who was more unearthed by the string of words. part of her was internally beating herself with a meat grinder, the other had a chainsaw hacking the traitor of a brain to itty bitty pieces. Definitely backpedal time, "You know what? I take that back. 180 degree turn around, forget that came out of my mouth."
"Mmm…Eagles."
Simone blinked at the robot. Eagles. Of course, big dumb birds with huge claws that represented an unobtainable and false ideal. They had so many similarities it was uncanny, "They eat garbage. They're like patriotic chickens, sky pigs."
"Hedonistic kill joy," He said(she could've sworn he was vaguely amused), rolling his shoulder and turning away from the woman. She followed after him, the mailbox was close now, Ultron would be turning back any minute.
"Mine's owls."
Looking ahead she noticed something. Large, flat, pancakes of cardboard five inches thick at best guess were leaning against the mailbox that bent against the weight. Someone was a shopaholic, and it wasn't Simone, "They didn't need anyone to sign off for that?"
"Funny story, actually," Ultron said, picking up his pace, obviously excited by the gifts awaiting him, "Money is a powerful language, and universal. In fact, it's powerful enough you don't even need to say a word."
The expression on her face fell flat, "You bribed the UPS man?"
Didn't he realize that could get them in trouble? Simone wasn't sure how, she wasn't a lawyer, but there was a basic understanding of the law under her belt. For some reason, some tiny, probably unjustified reason, bribing a multimillion dollar company seemed like a horrible idea, also boring? Who scandalized the mail man? You do that to dignitaries, politicians, and parents, not the robot, apparently. Instead he went with the kind of plan that painted a big light up sign reading: 'I'm R2D2's Pissy Pal, Ultron! I've Come to Destroy the World(Again), All are Welcome to Come Chill At My Pad ' with a P.S, 'Especially the Avengers. ;)' underneath.
"You doubt me!" He exclaimed in faux offense, "It was all very clean, I'm a professional."
"You're three months old, you should be in diaper." She mumbled, trudging along in the trail Ultron left.
"Someone's in a sour mood," The A.I was practically skipping and Simone wanted to pummel him 2000 leagues under the dirt because of it. She decided the angsty, sulking Ultron was her favorite, this was miserable, "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed? I heard insomnia's a common thing in your generation."
Simone would cut off her arm if it got the robot to shut up. The Steel Solicitor was not getting on anyone's good side today, and by anyone's, she meant hers. Ultron knew the first thing she'd do when in front of a computer would be look up symptoms for a sleeping disorder, she groaned and charged forwards. The A.I hovered around whatever 'super secret super villain goodies' he ordered, barely acknowledge her leave besides and a quick 'have fun without me.'
'Oh trust me' she thought, 'I will.'
She didn't. Halfway into the Meijer's Simone had hoarded at least 3x as much as originally planned. Extra food, a new blanket, presents, wrapping paper, she even bought her self a 'sexy apron' for an early gift. Basically, it was a normal apron but it had the torso and thighs of a male underwear model with his manly bits covered by a turkey and pepper shaker. It was love at first sight and she was always a romantic.
But that wasn't the problem, yes her bank account was slowly bleeding out like a victim of Sweeney Todd, however, the real issue lied with someone else. Two someones to be precise: Ultron and Chad.
Ultron because all of a sudden she found herself perusing the home improvement isle with an aura paranoia surrounding her like fog. She kept looking over her shoulder and reaching towards different tools then snatching it back on repeat, and the woman was pretty sure there was some stress sweating involved. All in all it looked like she was trying to steal a weedwacker and the employees kept asking, 'Ma'am, are you all right?'
No, she wasn't alright. Would you be alright if you were seriously considering buying a Christmas gift for the evil desper-roboto that tried smudging out over 2000 years of culture and a few million of evolution? Oh, not to mention he kept strangling, pulling hair, smashing, yelling, basically being an all around nightmare.
She should get coal all things considered.
"Grow the fuck up, Simone," She grumbled to herself, eying the appliances one last time. But the more the woman though about it, the less she was sure it was *her that needed to grow up. Ultron was basically a five year old pissing on an ant hill, definitely not the most mature person out there.
What would a Satan's Right Hand Automaton want, anyway? Yes Simone, I would like a string of fairy-lights to go over my Devastator Lazerator 2000, you know, the ones that have little stars? Oh! For Christmas I want a potato gun, but instead of starchy roots, I want it to shoot a pestilence grenade! Dear Santa Claus, all I want for Christmas is your head and 50 nukes.
The image of Ultron sitting in Santa's lap would scar her for the rest of her life.
A soldering torch would work, she decided. Simone wanted to be through with the impulsive holiday hell she put herself in and go home. It would be good enough, he was metal, worked with metal, had metal, it'd be functional, maybe even like a robot tattoo gun or something. The A.I could give himself a tramp-stamp.
That's when she saw him, or, that's when she saw his sweater-vest.
If it hadn't been for the 100 pounds of junk she'd collected, Simone would've sprinted in the other direction. Chad. Chaperone Chad. Chadperone. The man didn't waste a second before ambling up to her, holding a wreathe. Three days till the godforsaken holiday and he was just buying a plastic circle? Better yet, why was he staying in Maine, the middle of nowhere Maine, instead of with family? First her house, now this. The woman wanted away, and ASAP.
'Escape' She thought, 'Initiate Escape.' There was no one to pretend she knew and walk towards, she still didn't have a phone and couldn't fake call someone either. No way out.
"Hey, Simone! Crazy, what are you doing here?" He asked, smiling.
She wanted to punch his teeth in and had no idea why, then she realized that was a lie. A kiss with a fist meant bye-bye cashmere… Chadmere. She was on a roll, "I'm stealing."
The man's face scrunched at her, perplexed almost, probably more shocked. She was joking, Simone knew not everyone get her sarcasm but this was a little bit ridiculous, "Shopping, it's Christmas. I put stuff off, what about you?"
"Uh, same actually!" He was smiling again. Why was everyone so happy today?, "I was uh, so…I'm staying here for Christmas, and I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go out for dinner the night before?"
"Christmas eve?" She supplemented, arching an eyebrow. He was really cutting to the chase by not even attempting small talk. Simone was not going out with this guy, he was starting to freak her out, more than earlier, and if blue wasn't his color then, pastel carrot wasn't his color now, "I actually have plans with friends, sorry, some other time though, okay?"
'NO. Idiot!' Her brain screamed, 'You left the door open, you left the goddamn door open, wide open, and he's gonna waltz right through.'
"That's fine! Had to ask though, "Chad laughed, "Can you blame me?"
"Yes." She blurted. Rude Simone, don't be the robot, you're the fun one, remember? "I'm kidding, but alright, I, um, I gotta scat."
She looked behind her, arching her entire back in the motion, "Got stuff to do, things to see…haven't broken the law more than once today so I'm definitely behind schedule."
It wasn't necessarily a lie, harboring a terrorist was probably illegal. Whipping around the cart she sparred him one last glance and a terse goodbye. But the bad vibes didn't deter him, and the man grinned like a kid in a candy store.
"See you later, Simone!"
'Stop. Smiling.' She was really about to pull a shelf of lawn flamingos over his head. Ultron was right, humanity had to go, Chad had to go. She'd help him push the big red button as long as it meant freedom afterwords.
Focusing on just getting home and loading all the junk in a taxi, Simone rode home in silence. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that every door, window, plus air vent would be locked and blocked tonight. The man gave her a sketchy vibe, and coming from someone's whose intuition was never great, that was saying a lot.
She was just glad the cab ride was shorter than normal, even if the fair stayed the same. Home was definitely where she needed to be with a steaming bowl of Campbell's soup and crappy television. She unloaded as quickly as possible, dropping her belonging in the snow as the car drove away.
'Some help,' Simone thought, heaving the bag with the residential Apocalyptic Android's present.
She stepped inside the threshold, banging the snow off her boots and she shuffled blindly inside. You know that saying, speak of the Devil and he shall arrive? Simone embraces that during her four minutes back home as the A.I came swaying inside.
Quick stepping as fast as humanly possible Simone shoved the bag in her closet and peeked back at the entrance. Ultron walked in with his arms full of groceries. That didn't seem right, maybe the cab was laced with something and she was hallucinating? No, after one solid pinch to the arm Ultron, the Titanium Toddler, was bringing in the shopping bags.
"Your face'll get stuck like that." He chided smugly. Oh, the bastard was proud of himself, doing it intentionally to shock the hell out of her. At least he was being more creative, it was better than an airhorn anyway.
"Why?"
"I can be a decent person!" He defended, "Besides, it's pitiful watching you lose a fight with inanimate objects."
She gave him a side-eye and skeptical 'Mmmm' before starting to unpack her purchases. There was no reason for him to do what he was doing. Being kind wasn't a facet he made presentable, or even had as far as she knew. Just anger and the desire for divine retribution.
"Is it really that hard to believe?"
"Yes."
"You're exhausting," He complained, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. If he scratched the paint Simone was chopping it off a limb and using it for a mantle piece.
The woman cupped a hand over her ear, expression sweet, and leaned towards him, "I'm sorry I think I misheard you? 'I'm' came out as 'yours'."
"Oh, hilarious, truly the comedic genius of the century," Ultron paused looking around the room as if he was deep in thought, "You're more fun shaking against the wall."
She tensed, hands clutching defensively around the rough brown paper. The woman had done a pretty good job at putting herself out there, right now though? Crawling back into her shell seemed a lot more appealing, and safer, did she mention safer?
"Kidding! Kidding!" He raised his hands diplomatically, "Tough crowd."
The robot left, shrugging and then swaying almost proudly down to the basement. Good. She wanted him as far away as possible. Simone didn't understand his recent change in behavior, and the woman wasn't naive enough to think it was like in Mulan where she does something kind of cool and gains everyone's respect. Her life would be way to easy that way.
But the thing that bothered her the most was that the A.I had no reason to try and change anything in their relationship. She did, Simone needed to shape it to fit her needs so she could spill the beans to the Avengers. The robot had her house for a hideout regardless, there wasn't a lot she could do to stop him. Even if things went flip-side, he could always walk an hour or two and find the next residency.
The compatible attitude wasn't genuine. He was Ultron, his rage led him to try and destroy the world, that wasn't the kind of evil that you could bleed out overnight. The A.I desired something, but the question was what? Simone bit her lip, perhaps it was the same thing she was chasing? Ultron was aiming to bind her, tie the woman to him and make Simone trust him, and inadvertently provide protection. He wanted to be safeguarded from the people she wanted to ward over her: The Avengers. It was almost funny, two people wanting the opposite thing but going about it the same way.
Simone didn't know what she wanted anymore, her goals were muddy and opportunities kept sliding through open fingers. She would get his trust, but the primal, hungry urge to make him hurt was ebbing and that terrified her. The Avengers were the good guys, she needed them and they needed to kill him. The woman didn't hate Ultron, sure, but she still had to do the right thing.
Simone punched the wall, her fist thudding against the plaster. She was angry at herself for being a fool. Trying to play a game she didn't know the rules too. She was outmatched, and had an feeling Ultron's hand was better than hers. A weak hope infested the woman's heart, her cards may be bad there was one thing in her favor: the lack of resentment was mutual.
At least, she hopped so. Why not keeping trying to scare her into submission, why try and act nice? If the A.I resented her he wouldn't do this. The plan was working, Ultron was starting to like her. Simone wasn't sure how she felt about it yet, but there was an intuitive little voice telling her it would probably bite her in the ass later.
sorry about how long this took to get out, again, bossman had me work everyday But i have a couple off now so a new chapter ASAP :^)
special thanks to Guest x4, elen, and machaja! MVPs Ilu.
Analin: thank you and Yep! their relationship is gonna go much deeper than frenemies. haha.
Ilopeem: thnk u so much! And thank you so much! I really want 2 go in w/ him in this fic, so i rlly appreciate that!GoD! I love ur reviews so much thank u thnk u! And yeah, i get the vibe Ultrons like.. super confident in himself b/c he was MADE 2 be right and know the right thing 2 24/7 but he isn't lmao. Oh! n Simone's 'accident' attitude will be revealed later! it was vaguely hinted at in an earlier chapter ;^) and again thnks so much!
Sorana3: im CRYING ur REVIEW ur So KIND. THANK YOU, THANK KU! And ahaa ha and who knows? What's he been doing in the basement? Where is the other dron? the world is full of mysteries. THANK U! like there is the saying 'going downhill' and then there's sky diving in2 hell... guess what they're doing. XOXO
LVOWL: I love ur reviews so much ur u make my world turn THANK YOU TH AN KYOU. and a little bit of her past in this chap but there is stil a lot more 2 come! And THANK YOU, i swear 2 god he's giving me an aneurism b/c i live in terror of writing him srsly i love putting him in positions where he doesn't have the upper hand lmao just AAAH, god thank you there r like zero refs of his drones? and Clarion refers 2: Loud and Clear! THank you again! So much! XOXO
As always please review! Thank you so much!