The trek to Outpost Four was remarkably unremarkable. Aside from having to make some changes to the established route due to collapsed buildings, the group really had nothing to report throughout the journey. Even when night fell and the spook-factor went ALL the way up, nothing actually happened. There were some itchy trigger fingers, but that problem was mostly fixed by N whistling through the comms to warn them that he was about to pass overhead.
For most of them, the worst part was knowing someone back home was actively listening, so they couldn't just ramble and vent like they usually did during scavenging runs and such.
For Uzi, the worst part was coming to terms with just how short her legs were. The others thought she took up the position of rear guard to keep the group sandwiched between the two most capable drones among them, but in reality she had gotten very self-conscious about how fast she had to walk to keep up with the unfairly-tall Erik at the front.
Luckily the sheer excitement of seeing another colony far outweighed the tedium of a seventeen-hour walk. That, and some good company.
"You really like dogs, don't you?" Uzi asked with a slight smile after N gave her yet another random canine factoid.
"Doesn't everyone?" N replied.
"Well, yeah, but I don't think anyone else keeps a whole encyclopedia of them on-file like you do. Have you ever met one?"
"I..." N trailed off with furrowed brows on his screen, "I don't know, actually. I feel like I've seen one in real life before, but..."
Uzi saw the look on his face as he went quiet again and knew what was coming.
"But...?"
"Who in their right mind would ever let me near their dog? Or anything organic for that matter?"
"I would," Uzi said without hesitation. "Y'know, if I had one."
For a moment, N was struck dumb by the statement. And in that moment, as if summoned by a bored deity, something hidden under the snow caught his foot and he stumbled. Right into Uzi.
His arm went around her shoulders, her arms went around his waist, and his mind went to the past.
Suddenly it wasn't Uzi holding him up, but J hauling him to his remaining foot after she had cut his other leg off for...something or other.
"Hold still, Idiot! You fall over again and I'm not picking you up."
"You'd better be grateful for this; I should make you put it back on by yourself!"
"Ugh, you got oil on my skirt! Have to fix this or I'm gonna smell like Loser for a week..."
"There, good as new! For whatever that's worth. What do we say?"
"Thank you..."
"You're wel-!," Uzi tried to reply, only to be dragged three meters back when N tried to jump away from her and she hung onto his coat on reflex.
"...Please let go..." N pleaded in a strained whisper as his whole body started to tremble.
"Sorry!" Uzi yelped and immediately backed away.
"Oi, N!" Erik called suddenly, drawing their attention. "We're about two klicks out from O-Four, so you might wanna make yourself scarce in case they've got lookouts!"
"Didn't someone tell them what to expect?" Uzi muttered, then turned to apologize to N again, only to find empty air where he once stood. "...Did you just 'Batman' me?"
