Brrrrrring!

Brrrring!

Brr- Crunch!

Spike woke up, let his scaly head fall over to his right, and groaned in misery. Why couldn’t he just have a normal day where everything went right?! Slowly he opened his eyes and saw his answer. Standing right by his cheap plastic nightstand was Mania, and Spike’s very nice alarm clock. Well, the remains of a very nice alarm clock.

Mania extended one of her fingers.

Boop.

“Awww, is my little Spikey Wikey tired? I wonder why...”

That’s why.

Again, Spike groaned then pulled a pillow over his head and was enraptured by the beautiful darkness under his eyelids. He had time after all. He didn’t need to get up at four in the morning. And it wasn’t like he hated his job or anything. Nope. Not at all.

“Com’on Spikey Wikey! You do want to go to work today don’t you? I mean, you can’t miss another day cycle or you’ll be out of a job. Again.”

Poke.

Nothing... Another poke. Slightly harder than the last one. Spike groaned and curled into a ball trying to get some more shuteye. Mania couldn’t have that. She needed her partner.

...

With a heave she shoved Spike off his bed and onto the hard, smelly plastic floor of his bedroom module. Spike groaned. Mania lept onto the bed, her tail trailing lackadaisicaly behind her.

“You awake now Spikey?”

Spike groaned. Mania sighed. She propped her right arm and hand off the edge of the bed then released her hold on the still sparking remains of Spike’s Giga Clock. It fell clattering and sparking onto Spike’s bed sheets. A few seconds later a random spark got caught in a nest of fibres. It smoked and smoldered then a small flame appeared. Mania’s blue pupils constricted into blue colored dots.

She muttered one word under her breath

“Oops.”

Taking a breath she injected some serious tone into her voice, “Spike. I know you hate being cold. I know you hate cold mornings. But if you don’t get up now you’ll get really hot in a second.”

With an annoyed huff one of Spikes green scaled arms rose from the burning pile of bedding and waved around for a few seconds.

“I don’t care. Chief can go off himself fer all I care.”

He finished his statement with an obligatory one clawed salute to Mania then withdrew the offending appendage beneath the fiery sheets.

Mania was tired. She was satisfied and tired. She did not need all that. It was ruining what was supposed to be a perfect morning. Again. So she had one route to go.

“Spike I lit your bedding on fire. See you later.” She rolled off the foot of Spike’s bed and landed in a push up position. Shooting her left arm out she rifled under Spike’s bed and after a few seconds she withdrew her arm. In her left had she held a red Blood Ruby the size of her eye. She pushed herself up from the floor and tossed it into the air. She juggled it.

Whoosh.

Clink.

Whoo-

The ruby was snatched out of the air by a tongue and quickly secured in Spike’s mouth. Mania smirked. Then went flying into the door frame as Spike punched her. With the ruby being stored safely in his mouth, Spike’s glowing green eyes locked onto Mania’s glowing baby blue irises.

“You!” Spike launched himself at Mania and wrapped his claws around her neck, pinning her to the door frame, “What have I told you about touching my gems!”

Mania blinked the spittle off of her ocular lenses then stared at Spike and monotonously repeated in a harsher, grittier voice,

“You will not touch my gems or I will end you. Got it?”

Spike took a breath in, held it, then let it out in one big go. He withdrew his claws from Mania’s neck leaving visible dark spots on her circuits and armour running around her neck. Mania took a deep breath, infusing her remaining organic organs with precious, life giving oxygen.

After a few seconds, Mania spoke up in a rasping, wheezing voice,

“Why didn’t you do that last night?”

Spike turned away from Mania with a disgusted look on his face and stepped into the bathroom module.

Mania leaned against the doorway for five minutes. She entertained herself by blowing a few strands of her flat pink hair filaments above her forehead.

Spike stepped out of the shower module and Mania stopped. The strands of hair settled over the left side of her face, obscuring her flourescent blue iris.

Spike ignored her probing eyes as he got dressed. He dressed as he usually did. Glasses; for the awesome factor. Trenchcoat; for the pockets. Fedora; because he rocked it. Mania stared at his body for the whole time, enjoying the free show.

Bending down to pick his Slugthrower Spike shot a look over his shoulder at Mania,

“Enjoying the show?”

Mania grinned,

“Too much if you ask me.”

Spike stood up, holstering his gun and advancing on Mania. She moved aside as he swept by her and out into the main hallway of his housing module. Mania followed Spike to his kitchen module and hopped up on the counter, her synthetic flesh made a flapping sound as she landed. She looked down in disdain.

“You’re getting fat.” Spike snarked.

Mania’s eyes narrowed,

“Take that back.”

Spike continued.

“You stole my gem. I get to call you whatever I want. Fatty.”

Mania closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and out but that did nothing to dissuade her suddenly shaking body.

Spike reached under the kitchen sink and fished around.

“Spike-”

-Spike grunted in reply.

“Spike, I- I’m shaking and I c-can’t stop.”

Spike pulled his head out of the cabinet with a bone shaking thud and cursed. As soon as he was clear of the cabinet he quickly made his way over to Mania’s shivering form and pulled out what he had been trying to find.

In the middle of his palm lay a large clear bag, inside it lay a syringe, its barrel was filled with a pus colored liquid. Just behind the hub were three red, iridescent bubbles.

Spike quickly opened the packaging and withdrew the syringe and an alcohol pad. Placing the packaging, syringe, and alcohol pad on the table Spike then opened the alcohol pad's package, took it out and used it to sanitize the area around the back of Mania’s neck. After he did that, he picked the syringe up then took off the needle’s inch long protective covering. Spike flicked the needle then pressed the plunger head down enough so that a small dot of red was shown in the needle’s lumen. He quickly but firmly moved a hand to steady Mania’s neck and confidently placed the needle over the only part of open puckered flesh that was part of Mania’s exposed organic body. Spike slowly pushed the needle into Mania’s neck. When he had the needle inserted all the way he began to depress the plunger.

The red globs were the first ones in. Spike stopped pressing when he saw them completely dissapear.

“Mina? How’re you doing?”

Mania didn’t respond. She had a silly, happy grin on her face. Her tongue was hanging out and she was drooling all over Spike’s countertop. Spike took a breath and resumed his task.

The HUD on Spike's glasses flashed once. It was 06:00.

It had taken Mania nearly an hour and a half to recover even with the help of her injection. And Spike had stayed by her side for that whole time. They were partners, that what they did for each other. If they couldn’t handle the small, personal stuff, then how would they be expected to handle the big stuff at work? They were partners and they had each other’s backs. That was all that mattered.

06:30

It had taken Spike and Mania a half-hour longer to get all their gear together and head out to the station. They had a set timetable to meet.

Report in at 07:00.

Receive and process reports by 08:00.

Get out, relieve current patrols then patrol the streets by 09:30 until break.

Break at 12:30.

Resume patrol routes at 13:00.

Head back to the station at 20:00 to clock out.

Head to a bar. Any bar. Get drunk. Head home.

In their line of business, getting drunk and heading home were optional. They always were.

Author's Note

So I went fishing around in my pile of favourites and I found this. First off, the picture is from sPxHoLEic ~ A Great and Powerful Friendship~ by MythrilMoth who is an awesome author. Secondly, you see Spike? That's kinda how I imagine him looking like just with more of a trench coat and fedora. Kinda like Nick Valentine from Fallout 4 just without that whole synth thing going on. That's Mania's thing.

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