castellae | Ongoing PSL - In-game setting

Ongoing PSL - In-game setting

"You say that you're no good for me, cause I'm always tugging at your sleeve--"

[ It's probably for the best that having a bad night's sleep isn't a possibility for them, as 2B likely feels that she'd be worse off for now. When he sits beside her, she shifts slightly to give him more room on the tiny bed that they share, her head still pressed against the coolness of the wall as she listens to him. ]

Good. I'll let Pascal know. [ Her voice is low and soft, and she can feel the tension that seems to coil around the both of them. The air is thick with words left unsaid, and 2B allows herself to look to his face, his expression riddled with fatigue and worry. It takes him a while to speak again, but when he does, his words hit her square in the gut.

If she'd been more like her Operator, she likely would have jumped to reassure him. To be effusive in her expressions of affection. If she'd had a more open, bubbly personality, she likely would have tripped over herself to reassure 9S of her love for him.

But she isn't. Her personality is, by default, cool and detached. It's because of this that she slowly, quietly shifts closer to him, gently sloping her neck so that her head rests against the side of his.

When 2B finally speaks, it's low. Quiet. ]

I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. [ She murmurs, looking into the space before them with half-masted eyes. She notes the way his hand covers the place where she'd pushed her blade through, and she wants to take it into his. She doesn't. 2B can't change the fact that she'd done this to him. ] I wouldn't... be here. If I didn't mean it.

[ Her voice is suddenly thick, though she doesn't weep. Instead, she leans against him, tired. ]

Knowing what you know now... Is it alright for me to feel that way about you?

[ Her response is surprising, but hardly shocking. 9S very vividly recalls her expression of love for him before it all ended. 2B is not the type to lean on lip service, and it's not that he expects her to retract the statement so much as he... Can't wrap his head around it. Tie that all in with everything that has happened, and 9S is the most baffled and lost he ever has been. And that makes a Scanner model like himself feel so out of place and broken.

Still, he hangs onto it. With everything uncertain in terms of his thoughts and feelings about 2B and their history, that emotional side of him forever clings to the want and need to be loved and seen. Emotions are prohibited because they so easily get in the way, but 9S finds himself more in need of them than ever. When she confirms it, he feels a comfort that he instantly becomes addicted and attached to. It's as if it takes hold of his uncertainties and hides them away. When 9S feels that, he doesn't want to feel anything else.

So he ignores all the other feelings in favor of it. Including the feelings of fear and doubt. If he feels love for 2B, and she feels love for him, nothing else should matter.

He hums to himself, as if agreeing with himself in his internal dialogue. As 2B rests her head against his, he scoots closer, allowing their shoulders to press flush against one another. ]

Mm.

[ It's not an answer. Because for some reason, he can't answer it. Not fully. It's vague, open-ended, but 2B can likely draw some sort of conclusion by the way he turns his head to press his nose along her cheek, his brow against her temple. 9S closes his eyes and simply takes in the warmth that she provides. Clinging to it, pretending nothing else exists. ]

[ 2B barely understands it herself. She just knows that it's a feeling that's done nothing but grown and grown the longer she stays by his side, with no hope of fading. She's felt displaced ever since she realized the feelings she holds for him, the impulses actively conflicting with her purpose.

Similarly, 2B holds onto the feeling, too. It's apparently strong enough to lead her to defect, to go against her programming and everything she'd been created for. She clings to those feelings like a lifeline, just as terrified and worried as 9S, though she absolutely doesn't show it. The only certainty she has lies in her feelings for him, and while she's sure enough of them to undertake this insane plan, she wonders if they're enough for him.

At 9S' acknowledgement, 2B remains silent. She hesitates before turning her head to face his, pressing their brows together and nuzzling the tip of her nose against his.

She remains there, quietly, taking his hands in hers. There's nothing she can say, so she lapses into silence. ]

[ He recalls everything. And so, he recalls the blissful ignorance he'd had for so many years after each reformat. The excitement he'd always felt when meeting her, the seemingly instant desire for her attention and validation. It's as if he'd been programmed for her, built for her while also being built to bring all the answers. It's both beautiful and painful, and 9S just can't seem to settle with any of it. But he finds ease in just surrounding himself with her.

He wants her to smother him. To make him forget everything else in favor of just knowing there're in love and ran away for it. He could live in this tragedy knowing he isn't alone, and as those thoughts of doubt and fear try so hard to come back? He clings harder.

In their mutual silence, 9S leans forward, hesitant at first. His grip to her hands becomes immediately tight, head tilting just briefly before a pause. And then his mind starts to tempt him with ignoring everything else. In inching forwards the need to provoke her. Smother him. Smother these thoughts and rid him of this horrible pain.

He doesn't think of how hard he consumes her lips when he does. 9S devours them, the kiss both passionate and fierce, though it's slow to start. If only to silence his mind. ]

Edited 2017-04-23 21:29 (UTC)

[ it really did feel like they were meant for each other in all senses; their bodies, minds, and purposes all complementing one another. It was a double edged sword in the best and worst sense; they were night and day, hunter and quarry. 2B, similarly, is calmed by his presence, her fears put at ease and her worries laid to rest.

2B knows that they can't keep avoiding this forever. She knows that his question holds even more weight than it appears to, and it echoes in her mind, it's implications devastating and cruel.

When his grasp of her hands tightens, 2B blinks, opening her eyes to look at his face. She watches as he tilts his head, almost inquisitive in the way she looks at him, blinking.

Though part of her is expecting it, 2B is still caught by surprise when he crushes his lips against hers, hard and desperate. She makes a noise, her eyes hesitating to close before she returns it, lips parting in order to grant his tongue entry, if he so desires. She takes nothing from the kiss, only inviting him to do whatever he wills as she laces her fingers with his own. ]

[ With his memories in tact and where they should be, 9S can look back on their past... Couplings. Some more violent than the last, carrying a variety that had always seemed to have an innocent intention behind them. At least on 9S' end. Where he'd once craved her to dominate him purely out of an unknown preference for it, now it's... Different. 9S doesn't quite think upon it, but it's certainly as if he's meant to be completely and utterly destroyed by her. Regardless of their abandoning the cause and their reason for activation, their priorities remain much the same.

He doesn't catch on her surprise, or even her hesitation. 9S moves forward as if he's a freight train with absolutely no stopping in sight. Even if it's slow at first, his persistence is rather clear in his enthusiastic press of himself against her. Their fingers lace and interlock, tight in grip for the time being when their lips part in tandem. 9S tangles his tongue with her own, a force of passion and need behind every flick and movement of his lips. He only let's go of one hand in favor of cupping her cheek. The gesture is brief, affectionate, just before his head tilts to deepen the kiss and those fingers find purchase in her hair.

They've done this so many times before, but it's almost as if it's the first time again. His memories are there, but it's as if they aren't his. Like some other 9S model lived through them and he's merely borrowing the sentiment that comes with all this. He struggles in desperation to quiet his head and when it doesn't let up, he pushes into her. 9S isn't nearly as strong as 2B, but he gathers enough gusto in his agony to attempt pushing her to the bed. If he succeeds, he'll crawl over her, drag his hands across every curve that he can touch. Because if that quiets his head, maybe he'll finally find some reprieve.

This isn't right. How he's going about this isn't right. But he just... Can't stop. ]

[ Though it had struck her as strange in the beginning, 2B has found herself marveling at how easily 9S gives way to her. It's almost as if he enjoys her devastating him, both physically and mentally, and part of it kills her. She never thought that programming would work against him just as it works for her; it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Command to install such a devastating deficiency in its prized Scanner model, and it makes her want to rally against the gods that created them all the more.

It's because of this that 2B gives in to him, allowing him to take what he must even if it leaves her with nothing. She's spent enough time taking from him, and it's high time he did the same to her. The slow, gradual buildup of his movements hurts for some reason, but his enthusiasm makes up for it. Her tongue is gentle where his becomes desperate, warm and wet and ultimately loving in its gentle laving. As he cups her cheek, 2B melts... only to gasp when his fingers find her hair.

The movement is rough, but not unwelcome. 2B gives beneath his weight, knowing full well she can overpower him if she wanted, but finding that the desire to do so simply isn't there. Her shift rides up her lower belly with the movement, exposing the fact that she isn't wearing anything underneath it. She'd left her usual undergarments on the corpse in the Amusement Park, and hasn't since found a replacement. If she feels bashful towards this, she doesn't show it. Instead, she gently grips his hand, returning his kisses with a furrowed brow and a slow gentleness, knowing as damn well as he does that this isn't right.

But she wants to give it to him, if it's what he wants. It's because of this that she shifts underneath him, undoing the front of his pants with her free hand, arching into his hand as it roves across her body. ]

[ With such a small amount of room afforded to them, it very quickly fills with the sounds of wet, hungry passion coupled with the shift of thick fabric. It quiets the voices, the cries telling him that this is all for nothing. That the cycle will continue and he's nothing more than a burden on her. That he can't trust her. 9S feels the ache in his very being begin to subside as 2B is forced beneath him, seemingly melting into the bed. Their sudden shift and closeness has very quickly rustled their clothing, exposing 2B enough that he can feel her warmth bleed through his jeans. He moans into her mouth, calmed in knowing this settles the restlessness.

Instantly, he's addicted. 9S has found the solution, and he's keen to stick with it. Little does he know that it's merely a bandaid to a fatal wound.

She grabs his hand, he lets himself be guided. As her shift exposes her lower half, a greedy palm seeks to push it entirely over her chest, bunching it at her collar. 9S flicks his tongue along the roof of her mouth, marveling the ridges past her teeth until they retract. He bites her lip, pulling the mock flesh before breaking away with the crane of his neck. He exhales, shakingly, realizing that he's very quickly become incredibly hard. Yes. Everything else can fade in favor of that. His need is all he should focus on. Fucking 2B until he's completely out of energy is all he needs.

She'll stay with him. He'll stay with her. Because she's all he needs and screw everything else. This... This is all they need because it fixes everything.

9S arches his back in favor of her unbuttoning his pants, only hiking his pace where he immediately buries his face in her neck and drags his tongue along the chord. Greedy hands take her breasts, squeeze and push while he twitches in anticipation to be disrobed. 2B is generous where 9S is suddenly insatiable, fingers trapping the sensitive bud of her nipples between them and squeezing.

There is absolutely no warning as he bites into her pulse. He wastes no time, and it's pretty clear that he doesn't want to go slow. At least not anymore. ]

[ 2B responds, but does little by way of initiating their next movements; she senses that 9S needs this, and she isn't about to deny him that. Her guilt dictates the way she kisses him, and it destroys her; she wonders if she'd still act this way if he didn't remember everything she's ever done to him. While she thinks so, she isn't in a position to rightly say and she knows it. When he moans, she kisses him a little bit deeper, seeking to swallow more of his sounds.

2B doesn't make any noise. She can't bring herself to. Her body, efficient as ever, has already initiated the processes to prepare her for what she knows is coming. Warmth pools, sticky and sweet between her legs as he exposes her torso fully, and while she gives a soft grunt of discomfort as his teeth scrape against her lower lip, she doesn't fight him. 2B is almost relieved as he buries his face in the crook of her neck, allowing her to stare up at the ceiling as the hand that successfully undid his jeans finds the back of his head.

Her fingers lightly tangle in his hair as he frees both of his hands in favor of squeezing and kneading her breasts, a soft, short noise building at the back of her throat in response. 2B uses her free hand to work his pants down his hips, catching a glimpse of his need-- she wonders how long he's been this hard-- and wasting no time in lightly grasping it, pumping her fingers up and down its length. It's around then that he bites down into her neck, prompting her to hiss.

2B squeezes his cock in retaliation, but doesn't do much more than that. Craning her neck upwards, she presses her lips to his shoulder, ghosting light kisses along its surface before taking the skin between her teeth, suckling and biting him in return. If it's what he wants, then she'll give it to him. ]

[ It's quiet. It becomes so quiet that 9S realizes he's been in physical pain this entire week. The pain had increased over time, the voices in his head louder and louder. Goading him to abandon this, to end... Everything in favor of all of this just going away but this...

God, this is preferred. Already, the sudden spike of his internal temperature triggers his fans to work in overdrive; a relieving sensation because he feels alive for once. He shivers when her fingers tighten through wefts of white, scalp tingling with the pressure that causes his hips to unintentionally buck well before his pants are down.

Ah, but nothing makes him shiver more than the sudden sensation of her teeth biting down and pulling. It's wet, warm, and the sting brings a hot rush of pleasure through his receptors. They work seemingly harder, as if they're ablaze. 9S hisses against her neck, exhaling another shaken moan that is soft, but saturated in need and lust. 2B's hand finds his length quick, pulling him from the confines of his pants that she gracefully discards.

His hands pry themselves from her breasts, quick to adjust himself. The sudden sensation of her warm, soft fingers squeezing on his cock has him eager for more. Hungry for it. Because it will keep everything silent, and he wants to continue drowning himself in the sounds of fucking her so his thoughts don't come back.

Hn--

[ His mock flesh feels as though it's on fire, with burning pinpricks shooting along his arms and legs. He needs more. With a sudden quickness, his hands reach down, grasping hard at her thighs and working to push them back. 9S seeks to bend her legs over his shoulders, despite their differences in size. His hips roll forward, carrying an immediate sense of urgency that this needs to move forward now. And that much is made extremely clear when he seeks to move himself away from her hand in favor of basically impaling her on first impact. ]

[ 2B would be a fool not to notice the pain 9S is in, and while she desperately wants to relieve him of said pain, she knows such a feat is out of her wheelhouse. She's not an Operator, or a Scanner, or even a proper Combat model; she's ill-equipped to deal with any of this, and it drives her insane. It makes sense that the only way she can abate his agony is through physical, violent means, and though she's grateful she even has a way to assist him... she can definitely see the irony of their situation.

2B can hear his fans whir to life from this distance, and why she knows that this isn't the most efficient way to handle things, she's grateful that this activity still has some sort of effect on him. He reacts extremely positively to her biting, and it's because of this that 2B continues, tamping her teeth down hard enough against his skin to possibly break it with prolonged attention. She makes sure not to do this, of course, moving up and down the length of his neck, causing bruises to blossom in the wake of her lips as she suckles and bites his mock flesh. He tastes like earth and the sun, warm and visceral against her tongue as it laves against the teeth marks she leaves behind.

2B pulls away when he does, continuing to stroke his cock up and down. Her movements are gentle even as his are erratic, and she only ceases her ministrations as he pries her thighs apart, causing her breath to hitch. 2B admits to feeling a thrill of excitement at his forwardness, her teeth digging into her lower lip as he bends her lower half back over her, his hands resting in the crooks of her knees as he lays her bare beneath him. When she sees him reposition, 2B's eyes widen, a glimmer of doubt taking hold of her. ]

Nines, wai--

[ Her words are cut short as she chokes, his cock burying itself deep into the tight, wet cavern of her cunt before she can properly protest. She knows she could have stopped him short, easier than breathing; the fact that she hadn't leaves her questioning why, even as her optical cameras go white for a split second. 2B's chin tilts backwards, her mouth agape as he fills her up and stretches her open, her breath coming in sharp, short mouthfuls of air. ]

[ 9S doesn't quite realize how harsh he's being, making it clear that his mind is in too deep of a fog. But the relief he feels in just drowning himself in 2B is tangible, delicious. He loves her. He can remind himself that he loves her rather than hating her and fearing her. This proves it. How could he be unhappy when he's got the physical love and devotion of the one android he cares for?

And so, 9S falls into this with ease.

The immediate sense of white-hot pressure and friction greets him like a goddamn pile of bricks to the skull. It forces his neck craning, lips falling open into a cracked and hoarse cry. The one consistent part of him seems to always be how willingly vocal he is, company be damned. He ignores 2B's questioning, hardly capable of paying attention to the fact that she'd been partly doubtful. That cracked moan draws out, broken into whimpers when he curls over her and digs his fingers into her thighs. The overflow of sensations causes his processors to go in and out, vision fuzzy and causing latency in his actions. It takes a moment for him to gather himself, the next thrust heavy, yet not as harsh as the first. ]

H--Ah, fuck.

[ 2B knows she loves 9S, without so much of a shadow of doubt. While the years have only proven to make them closer to one another, 2B can't help but feel that this is the furthest away from him that she's ever been; she can't tell what he's thinking, and the thought scares her. It's unfair, surely, but it's true. She knows his tells like the back of her hand, but this 9S is different from the rest. She can see the agony in his eyes, feel it in the way his fingers dig into her skin, and it causes something deep and dark to churn in her gut.

2B's legs give way underneath him easily, her ankles coming to rest upon his shoulders as he moans, his cock throbbing needily within her. She looks to his face as she adjusts, vision blurry from the initial surprise of him filling her, and she reaches upwards to wrap her arms around his neck, fingers curling into the short hairs at the back of his head.

She adores him. It's clear in the way she looks at him. When he rolls his hips into hers, she hisses, fingers tangling in his hair as her walls cling to his girth. Every little movement on his part causes sparks to fly behind her eyes, though she remains relatively quiet. Though her body welcomes, no, ushers, him into itself, her mind whirs with worry. With doubt.

Still, she makes no effort to stop him. Being this close to 9S has always felt right, and she's in no position to deny it now. In her compromised position, she can't do much but clench and squeeze around him, her gaze heady with need and not a small amount of sadness as she looks to his face. ]

[ If its sadness which plagues him, 9S can no longer tell. It's as if his worries and doubts roll away when he's surrounded by nothing but her. That much is solidified when he curls over her, their bodies connected and intertwined both beautifully and tragically. 2B is silent, and perhaps if 9S weren't so desperate to keep his own thoughts at bay, he might have worried. But he doesn't.

Honestly, it's selfish. He recognizes that even now, but the thought slips away as quickly as it comes.

Her walls devour him, suckle on his need and so gently usher him further inside. The friction is white hot, pressure delicious and allowing his nerve receptors to deliver wave of pleasure after pleasure. There's a gratifying sound of their union with every pull back of his hips, a wet squish once they push right back inside her. 9S feels her resist him from the hilt, the head of his need squeezed tight and stealing a tortured sort of whimper from the back of his throat.

He's being selfish, yes. He's running away from thoughts that, quite honestly, terrify him by smothering himself in the crook of her neck and the tight cavern of her cunt. But he can't completely escape it when 2B so passionately embraces him and threads her fingers through his hair. It's painfully romantic, stealing a reaction by way of his mechanical heart that swells without protest on his part. Even with his thoughts confusing and agonizing, he still loves her. He doesn't want those other feelings, and so he denies them.

It's because of this that the tears which fill his eyes are purposefully hidden. 9S moans into the curve of 2B's neck, but it cracks when his throat tightens. As her legs rest on his shoulders, his arms slip underneath her, palms pressed to her back and fingers twitching with every hard, desperate thrust. He can't look at her, and even seeing just a flash of her sadness for him destroys him. And so he pounds into her harder, fingers digging into her flesh when the pace starts to quicken. ]

Edited 2017-04-24 14:55 (UTC)

[ 2B figures she's always belonged to him, even before she ever consciously knew it. Her body accepts him so easily, desperately clinging to every inch of him and reluctant to let him go. Her hips press upwards into him as best they can from her compromised position, aching and eager to take everything he has to give, literally and figuratively. She shudders beneath him as he pulls back only to push forward, bottoming out inside of her and causing her to hiss.

Her insides grind and shudder around him, prompting her to hold him close as that pained whimper emanates from his throat. 2B grits her teeth as he thrusts into her again, over and over, a fractured, strangled noise eventually pushing past her lips in spite of herself. 2B knows 9S is avoiding something, trying to bury it deep inside of her... And all she can do is let him, because it's the only thing she knows how to.

Sheltering him in her arms, she feels the sorrow that cracks the desperate moan he entombs in the crook of her neck, prompting her to hold him a little more tightly. She wants to comfort him, somehow, but finds herself helplessly pinned underneath him; she wants this just as much as he does, honestly, and the fact that she's soaking wet is likely an indicator enough of that fact. His thrusts drive her to make more of those soft, strangled little cries, forcing air out of her lungs when he ups his pace.

This isn't what he needs-- what either of them need. But 2B falls into it anyway, holding him tight and willing him to bury and drown out whatever it is he needs to inside of her. Her eyes flutter shut as he holds her, prompting her to curl upwards as she gently presses his face into the hollow of her neck, small, desperate noises emanating from her throat as he fucks her. ]

[ It absolutely isn't what either of them need. What 9S relies upon to bury his doubts and fears doesn't provide the literal burial of them. Even if he treats each thrust into her cunt like a secret he's shoving away, it's not the way this works. Logically, he knows. He knows and he'll think upon it when he can but he simply doesn't want to. 2B devastated him with her affecrion, with the sweet sounds she breathes out as he thrusts into her faster. Harder. 9S feels himself very quickly approaching that edge he recalls so well with his memories returned to him.

He chases it. There will be regret in that when this ends, but it doesn't stop him.

He whines into her neck, loud and careless of those who might hear. And it's something between a pleasured moan and a painful sob. 9S doesn't realize that his tears continue to pile up and pour from his eyes, because he's far too fixated on the promise of climax. 2B struggles, but meets each thrust. He bottoms out inside of her, over and over, her soaked cavern seemingly tighter the more he moves. His fingers curl into her back, body shuddering and hiking in temperature. The telltale crackle of his visuals shows him that he's close, the warnings firing off in his vision louder and more frequent when the threat of his circuits frying become all the more possible.

He feels her breath against his neck, her face so affectionately brushing along his skin. 2B lets him do whatever he pleases, and so he meets that end so quickly. 9S cries out, the broken delivery of her name falling from his lips as hot, thick lubricant spurts from his length. His hips twitch into her, he frantically holds onto her as if he'll lose her, and his vision goes completely white. His internals increase so much in heat, he nearly powers down, latency wracking his functions where he practically seizes on top of her for a short moment. ]

[ 2B is used to roughness in their coupling, so much so that anything less than it is likely to take her by surprise. This instance is much the same, and though her cunt seems to struggle to grip his length, she takes to it with remarkable ease, meeting him halfway as best she can with her ankles propped onto his shoulders.

She knows that the other denizens of Pascal's village can likely hear the sounds of their lovemaking; the small room they're staying in is not much more than four walls and a roof constructed out of old wood and scrap metal. Thankfully, no one comes to investigate as 9S makes enough noise for the both of them, though 2B's own voice joins his with every heavy thrust of his hips.

She can feel him nearing his peak as he twitches and throbs within her, and though 2B herself isn't terribly close, she finds herself anticipating it all the same. She plants a line of kisses along the pulse of his neck as he thrusts, teeth gently nipping at his skin and holding him close. 2B shudders as she hears her own name fall from his lips, that familiar, sticky feeling of him filling her cunt with cum causing her to shiver.

2B is quiet in the aftermath, holding him as he rides out his orgasm. She strokes his hair, his cheek, his neck and shoulder, silently wondering how they'd come to this. She wonders if he feels better after that, though she knows better than to ask.

Instead, she closes her eyes, taking a breath. She tries to imagine a world without set directives, and fails. ]

[ Perhaps if this had been a session outside of everything he's discovered, he would be a bit more attentive. Perhaps question if it had been good for her, maybe move things along. But as time passes, as he pours into her and is left a writhing heap metal and silicon, he's left incapable of words or movement. At least for now.

2B holds him so tenderly, caresses him and cares for him and he just doesn't get it. 9S is immediately embittered when the thoughts start to flood back well after his climax passes. They creep in slowly, heavy, and he can't help but wonder if they were both better off going on as they had before. How the hell are they to move on like this? 9S isn't sure if he hates himself or hates her, and it becomes even harder to understand when he still feels this surge of love and need well past their coupling. He loves her, he wants her, but he's fucking terrified and hurt all the same.

Despite that, he can't break away from her. As 2B cradled his head and strokes his hair, his face buries itself further into her neck. Sensitive skin tingles when she peppers kisses along his neck and shoulder, prompting a twitch and huff. 9S pulls out, but he doesn't leave her hold.

He's almost frantic in the way he tightly wraps his arms around her, tears flowing freely. He should have made sure she was done first but he just... Can't anymore. He can't hold it in, cant even understand why he's feeling so many things at once. He wants to be numb, to feel nothing. To go back to how they were but at the same time? He wants to stay far away from their cycle. With a sniffle and soft sob, he curls in on himself, hanging on to her. ]

T...

[ His voice is meek. Fragile. The whirlwind of feelings and thoughts leave him confused and lost. ]

Tell me you love me again.

Please.

[ 2B thinks nothing of her own climax, even as the heat in her systems threatens to torture her without an outlet. She focuses instead on the way 9S' weight sags against her, tired and sorrowful, and it makes her hold him all the tighter. Her feelings for him are myriad, but not half so complicated the ones he holds for her... and with good reason. 9S has never, ever hurt her, but she can't say the same the other way around.

2B buries her face into the hair at the top of his crown, keeping her eyes closed as he weeps. He clings to her like a lifeline, and she does much the same, allowing him to curl up in her hold as she embraces him like she's shielding him from the rest of the world. She wouldn't be surprised if, at the end of it all, he ends up hating her. Hating her for murdering him in cold blood, over and over. For making him into a fugitive because she simply didn't want his blood on her hands anymore. Hating her for not seeing any other way to go about this.

At his request, she stiffens, his words sharp as a knife driven through her gut. The frailty in his voice, in his very being, strikes her harder than ever. Softly, slowly, she disentangles herself from him in order to pull away and lift his head, hands coming to frame his face as she looks him in the eye.

Seeing the tears on his face pains her, and it's reflected in her gaze. Though she doesn't look as if she's close to weeping, she feels like she could crumble at any second. ]

I love you. [ 2B says, and she means it. More than anything else she's ever said. Her thumb gently smooths away an errant tear that trails down his face, and she leans in, pressing her brow to his. ] I'll say it as many times as you need me to.

[ She says it. She says it so easily and without thought, and 9S knows that 2B is never one for lip service. Lying by omission, yes. But any question he's ever asked or request he's made has always somehow, eventually, been made for him. How can he feel hatred and doubt in his gut when feelings of love are so strong for him? 9S meets her gaze without protest or pulling when she ushers him to look at her.

He doesn't want to cry. It hurts. All of this hurts and he wants to just be happy that he's with her but he can't be for some reason. 9S looks into her gaze as if he'll find his way out of this and he doesn't. But he immediately clings to even the modicum of comfort he gets from her cradling his face. She wipes away his tears, but once those words fall from her lips? More pour freely. 9S inhales sharply as if the words strike him like a brick, and he clings to her harder. 9S tangles his legs with hers, keen on losing sight of where he starts and she ends. Getting lost in her even if they aren't making love because something has to give when it isn't happening.

She loves him.

She loves him. ]

Ah--

[ 9S sobs, his tears becoming hot, heavy, his chest heaving when he essentially loses control of his composure and holds onto her tight. 9S shuts his eyes, expression distorted into pain and need. ]

I... I love you, too. I love you so much, 2B, I can't--

[ The words come easily to 2B simply because she means them, and there's freedom in saying them. There's no holding back anymore, what with their connection to the Bunker severed. While the threat of YoRHa pursuers is ever-looming, 2B is free to fully explore her feelings for him, and the pieces all start to fall into place. She isn't one to lie outright, it's true. Even her lies of omission were simple necessities in the face of her duty.

Even if 9S decides to hate her, 2B knows that how she feels for him isn't going to change. It's only grown in the years she's known him, and she figures it'll only continue to grow in the years to come. Things are far from alright between them, and they likely won't ever go back to the way that they were before. But 2B silently vows to herself that she's with him until the end. ]

Hey, hey. [ She murmurs as he sobs, pulling him in and assisting in tangling their legs together. 2B slowly sits up, pulling him with her so she can more properly hold him. She's never been the comforting type, but for 9S, she can try. ] You don't have to do anything. It's alright. I'm with you.

[ Her voice is soft as she holds him close, her eyes sliding shut as she gently kisses the corner of his mouth. ] I love you. [ She says it almost like she's testing the way it feels on her lips, though it doesn't lose its meaning. It's a strange phrase, but she decides she likes saying it. It buoys something in her central systems, making her feel warm. ]

[ Why is it that terror has decided to take the forefront now? Even as 9S feels comfort in the way she holds him so close, something about all of this poisons him. His stress levels haven't gone away, and it's a wonder his Pod hasn't commented on it yet. She had, much before he had returned, but it's pretty clear now that he's not "fine", as he'd also reassuringly put it. No, 9S is far from fine, especially when the conflicted feelings he has continues to plague him.

She tries to calm his tears. It succeeds only insofar as the sobbing softens. But the tears don't stop. It's years of them, he thinks, but he can't be sure. All of his memories are there but they don't feel like they belong in his head. Nothing feels right. He feels like a stranger in his own body because it's been replaced so many times. Is he even the same 9S?

Who the fuck is he?

"I love you."

"I'm with you."

The words sound so genuine but so foreign. 9S clings to them nonetheless as he strives to melt into her. She kisses the corner of his lips, and they part in a shaken exhale that gets caught in his throat. He manages to reach her face, to touch it as he has so many times before. He can only hope that she doesn't see this as a mistake, because he isn't sure if he can see it as anything but. The more she reassures him, though, the easier it gets. But only by a small number.

His voice is a labored whisper, hoarse and struggling as he speaks against her lips. ]

Something...

Something is wrong with me. I don't know what it is. I can't... For once I can't figure anything out.

Did I break myself?

There's nothing wrong with you, and if you're broken, it's not because you did it to yourself.

[ 2B speaks with conviction, knowing her words likely aren't doing anything to quell his fears and doubts. She doesn't pull away, continuing to hold him close as he weeps, opening her eyes to watch him. She can't begin to imagine how he must be feeling, having finally seen everything that's happened to him up to this point; it's all she can do to just. Be there for him. To hold him and support him in any way possible.

When he touches her face, she leans into it, pressing a kiss to his palm. 2B puzzles over his face, wet with tears and rife with sorrow, and she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she did this to him. Her mind tries and fails to find a better, more elegant solution to all of this, and while she knows she can't think that way since this is the path she'd set and chosen for them, she can't help it.

Maybe if she'd acted quicker, she'd have saved him this pain. Maybe if she'd been shot down over the ocean with the rest of her squadron, it would have been better.

But then again, 9S would have likely been reassigned to another Executioner-type. 2B feels a surge of protective possessiveness at the thought in spite of herself, her thumb gently stroking over his cheekbone. She's more his than anything else, but some small part of her wants to claim him for her own, too. ]

If anyone broke you, it was YoRHa. It was... me. [ She says, and her voice grows thick. 2B's gaze doesn't waver even as she says it. ] If you decide none of this is worth it, I'll take the blame. Tell them you were under duress. You're more valuable as a Scanner model, anyhow, so they'll be inclined to believe you.

[ This is such a mess. 9S stares at 2B with this look of complete confusion and loss and it seems that isn't going anywhere anytime soon. She kisses his hand, bringing this ridiculous contrast of warmth to the tension he feels broiling in his gut, and he just doesn't know what to do anymore. It makes him feel less like himself, not having the answers and of being able to figure anything out as quickly as he's accustom to.

It's a shot to the already nonexistent ego he has. It kills his confidence. Completely and utterly.

His expression falters, both his eyes and his hand dropping between them as he practically deflates to the implications of her words. ]

They would terminate you. Even if I can't be sure the same would happen to me, I'd lose my memories again.

That's...

[ His eyes flit back to her, desperate. ]

2B, that's all I have now. They'll take it away from me again. Take you away and just--

I don't know anymore. Scanner models aren't supposed to be uncertain or lost. But it's like I'm completely out of answers and understanding.

Sometimes I wonder if that might be better.

[ Her voice is low as his hand drops away, its warmth leaving her. 2B doesn't pull away, but she feels a certain distance wedge itself between the two of them, leaving her cold and feeling empty. She feels strange, having this conversation with the majority of her body exposed, but she supposes that it doesn't matter. 9S looks lost, and she wants desperately to be able to guide him somewhere, anywhere, but she's just as disjointed as he is and she knows it.

So instead, she drops her gaze somewhere over his shoulder, looking out the window of their shared room, towards the bright, blue sky that almost taunts her with its clarity. A few birds flit by the window, chirping happily. ]

Scanner models are also constantly connected to the Bunker. You may as well not be one anymore. Our designations don't mean anything now that that connection is severed.

[ 2B sighs. It's a weary sound, heavy with exhaustion and thought. ] If there are answers, I don't have them either. But what is it that you want, 9S? From me, specifically? [ She turns her gaze back to his face, looking just as lost as he is. ] What do you want me to do?

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