Chapter Text
V rocked back and forth on her bed, tightly hugging one of Lizzy’s soft, fuzzy shirts. The scent and soft texture comforted her, and she needed a lot of comforting right now. Thunder roared outside, and she whimpered and shook with a fear even she didn’t understand.
V felt small, and she knew that was a problem. She knew Lizzy and J wouldn’t be home for a while yet. She was all alone, with no one to comfort or take care of her.
So she cried.
She wept tears of fear and loneliness, tears of a deeply rooted fear from her past. She didn’t remember what she did before working at Elliot Manor, but she knew something bad happened on the night of a thunderstorm. It’s been a fear that’s basically hard-coded into her processor at this point.
So she cried.
She cried into Lizzy’s shirt, hugging it as tight as she could. She curled up as small as possible and trembled at the corner of her bed. She kept crying, even when the door to her room opened to reveal Lizzy and J home earlier than expected.
The two froze in shock at the scene in front of them, until J remembered, and whispered to Lizzy, “Be gentle, she’s small right now.”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, one, she never cries like this, and two, we used to live together in the manor. This would happen almost every time there was a thunderstorm. That’s why I insisted we get home early.” J whispered back. She sighs, “Let me talk first.” J said.
Lizzy nodded, “Okay.”
J slowly walked up to V before speaking in a gentle voice, “Hey there, sunshine.” V sniffs and looks up at J. “Scared of the thunder, little one?”
“Mhm…” V mumbles with another soft sniffle.
“It’s okay, Liz and I are here.” J says softly, gesturing for Lizzy to come over.
“Need a hug, Vee-vee?” Lizzy asks gently.
V nods shyly. Lizzy sits down next to her, and V quickly latches onto her. She whimpers softly as Lizzy returns the embrace.
“There we go… I got you…” Lizzy whispers softly.
“We’re here now.” J whispers as she joins the embrace.
“M’scared…” V quietly whimpers. As another thunder boom sounds, she makes a scared squeak and hugs Lizzy impossibly tighter.
“Shhh… We’ve got you now, sunshine. It’s okay.” J whispers soothingly. “You’re safe here.”
Lizzy taps J’s shoulder, a text displaying on her visor, “She’s trembling so much… Is there anything else we can do to help her calm down?”
“Not that I know of. The last time this happened was at the manor. At least to my knowledge.”
“Wanna lay down, Vee-vee?” Lizzy asks softly.
V nods weakly. She looks exhausted. Lizzy keeps a gentle hold on V while she lies down, J following soon after. Once they’re all lying down, J pulls up the blanket and returns to the embrace. Then she does something Lizzy never thought she’d ever do.
She sang.
Her voice was soft at first, hesitant. But after Lizzy gave her an encouraging smile, she got more confident.
It was a soft lullaby, her voice low and soothing.
V’s cries quieted as J sang. She nuzzles her face against the soft fabric of Lizzy’s shirt as she sniffs softly. Lizzy smiled softly and gave V a soft kiss on the top of her head. She ran her fingers through V’s hair as J sang to her, hoping to calm her even more.
Soon enough, V’s breathing evened out and her cries ceased. Her tight grip relaxed as she began to enter sleep mode. J, noticing this change, quieted her singing to a soft, gentle hum.
“She’s asleep.” Lizzy whispers.
J stops humming for just a moment, “Sweet dreams, little one.” she softly whispers. She continues humming softly, somewhat unconsciously.
Lizzy soon begins to fall asleep as well. J’s humming is quite pleasant and relaxing to listen to. With one last soft sigh, she drifts off.
“Sleep well, Liz.” J whispers. She continues humming until she, too, drifts into sleep mode.