TO knocked rapidly on the door to GiDi’s room. It had taken them far too long to get there, to find GiDi, and at this point TO thought that they may well scream if GiDi wasn’t there. First, they went to the common room, but GiDi wasn’t there. Vik was there, typing away on his computer, but wouldn’t help them until he was done with some kind of coding or something. DH helped him with the programming which sped that up but of course that meant that afterwards they had to have a chat about what they worked on. By the time that was all done, Vik had entirely forgotten that they needed something and To had to remind them and ask again for Vik to tell them where GiDi was.
“I mean… maybe you should wait for them to come here.” Vik said, “They might still be sleeping-”
“This is important!” TO insisted. “It’s about Kei, and I need to talk to them! They’ll talk to me, and they won’t mind me waking them up!”
“They’ll come right here when they wake up-”
“Vik! I need it now!”
It had taken a good five minutes before Vik finally relented and sent them the directions. If GiDi was not here, then TO didn’t think that screaming just a little would be an exaggerated response.
Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. It only a moment before GiDi opened the door a crack and slid out into the hallway as they closed the door behind them. They had clearly just woken up; their eyes were half closed with crust in the corners, and they wore a black silky housecoat that was both too big for them and also not made for someone with wings. Their wings poked out of the back of the collar but its larger size still covered them.
“Vik sent me a message.” They said with a yawn, “Said you needed to talk to me?”
Maybe Vik had been right. Maybe they should have waited. Seeing GiDi disheveled and exhausted filled them with guilt, but they were here now, anyway. “I’m sorry for waking you.” TO said, “But yes; it’s important. It’s about Kei-”
Another yawn, and another twitch of their ears. “Alright.” They said, “Give me a minute to get dressed and get to the common room-”
“Can we talk here?” TO offered, “It won’t take long, and then you can go back to sleep-”
DH nudged TO in the side, and shook their head, “We can go to the common room.” DH said.
“What?” TO asked, “It’ll only take a few minutes-”
GiDi cleared their throat, “Yes, maybe.” They said, the lightest of flushes coloring their ears, “But Pearla is in there too and… not ready to have guests.”
It took TO only a second to see what GiDi was saying, and to understand what DH had already figured out. Their own ears burned at just how long it had taken them to figure out why GiDi might not want them in their room.
“Right!” They said, grabbing DH by the arm, “The common room then.”
GiDi’s ears twitched in amusement, and a smirk crossed their lips, “Thank you.” They said as they slipped back into the room, closing the room behind them.
“Honestly.” DH said, their words tinged with laughter and their ears twitching, “You’re supposed to be smart. How were you so clueless back there?”
“I wasn’t clueless!” To snapped, as the flush to their ears deepened “I was distracted! This is important!”
A snort of laughter escaped DH, their ears twitching as they pulled TO along. Despite the flush to TO’s ears, they didn’t mind DH’s gentle teasing. There was a levity to them in this moment that hadn’t been there for quite some time and it suddenly occurred to TO that despite everything, despite all the threats and dangers that they were facing, there could still be little slivers of happiness, of joy and mirth; in DH laughing at TO’s cluelessness––though TO wasn’t clueless, they knew that!––and their gentle, affectionate teasing.
These were the moments that they had to treasure. It wasn’t just spending time with DH; it was savoring these moments when they had so little opportunity for them, and when their time might well be limited.
They tightened their hand on DH’s, intending to just let their mate pull then towards the common room. However, DH suddenly stopped, pulled TO suddenly towards them, and pulled them into a tight embrace.
“You are.” DH whispered as their hand went to the back of TO's neck. “You’re utterly clueless.”
“I am not.” TO protested, but their protest lacked any genuine conviction; it was hard to disagree with DH when they were scratching at the back of their head like that. Even harder when their hand went up to stroke the back of TO’s ear with careful, gentle hands. A carefully worded counter argument turned into a squeak as TO melted into DH, hiding their face in the other’s neck. A moment later, DH took TO by the chin and lifted their face so that they were looking at each other, and kissed TO softly.
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A thousand questions ran through TO’s mind, all jumbled together and rendered incoherent as they kissed back, their ears shivering. Maybe DH would push them against the wall, would kiss them all along their neck, across their shoulder…
How far away was their room from where they were? TO was having a hard time remembering. How quickly could they get to the relative privacy of their modest living quarters?
DH pulled away, stroked TO’s ear once more with a smirk, and then pulled away.
“Yes.” They said, “You’re entirely clueless.”
They let go of TO and continued down the hallway towards the common room. TO stood, rooted on the spot, their mind spiraling in the confusion that going through so many emotions in such a short time put them into. It wasn’t until DH was about to turn the corner down another hallway that they looked back at TO.
“You coming? We have to meet up with GiDi; remember?”
“Y-yes, I’m coming.” They said, stumbling forward in a daze as they touched their hand to the back of their ear. Finally, one question rose from all the others; a question that they kept unspoken for now.
Where did that come from?
======
“Back already?” Vik asked once they came back to the common room. The tone of amusement in their voice was painfully clear. He glanced over to TO, saw their still flushed ears, and chuckled. TO’s ears dipped, and a familiar horror filled their veins as. What if Vik had cameras? What if they saw-
No. They had to remind themself that it didn’t matter. Even if Vik saw them through a camera in the hallway—something TO doubted—the insurgents didn’t care! The insurgents couldn’t and wouldn’t have them killed or corrected for it! DH could throw TO against the hall right here, pull their clothes off with their teeth, and kiss every inch of their body, and there would be no threat of correction.
Though, even as they thought about it, their ears twitching rapidly in a way that made TO very grateful that Vik couldn’t read their ears, they might still absolutely die if DH did that right here!
“I warned you.” Vik said as they went back to their computer, “Anyway, is GiDi heading here? And is Pearla coming with them?”
TO cleared their throat, trying hard to ignore the grin that covered DH’s face and the way their ears perked up as they watched TO’s own ears. “Yes, GiDi is on the way.” TO said, “I don’t know about Pearla though.”
“She’ll likely come with them.” Vik said, and once more they started typing rapidly, “I’ll send out a message to everyone else to meet up.” They looked up at TO, “It’s breakout day.”
TO wasn’t sure what they meant at first, but then remembered Pearla mentioning getting people out of the indebted system. Would that take the whole day? TO assumed it would, and that was a problem. They wanted to see Petra and Lendulin again, and a part of them was still worried about Constance. True, they had heard nothing about her, and they were certain that the other family was taking good care of her, but they still felt they had a responsibility to check in; especially since they had listed the child as being with themself.
And of course, they needed to talk to GiDi. Ideally, they’d talk to GiDi alone.
“Could you wait until they get here?” TO asked, “It’s still early, right? And I still need to talk to GiDi.”
“Hey, it means i Have more time to finish my work here.” They said as they focused on their programming once more.
======
GiDi and Pearla both appeared not too long after, dressed in their normal clothes though still clearly half asleep. GiDi made tea as they listened to TO and DH explain what happened with Kei, what Goretta and Snout said, and Avery’s own worries about Kei being isolated again.
“Well, they won’t be isolated.” GiDi said, their ears pinning back, “Not if I have anything to do with it.” Their ears dipped as they glanced at TO, “I shouldn’t have let that happen with you. I should have fought that, or come back earlier, or…” they stopped as they spilled some tea, and then took a long breath. “I won’t let it happen again: Not even to Kei.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Pearla said from where she sat at the table. Through the entire conversation so far she had drifted between napping and listening, but now she was entirely focused on GiDi, “And you came back earlier than Tham and Goretta said you should.”
“I shouldn’t have-” They stopped, sighed, and wordlessly finished pouring their tea, “Nothing I can do about that now.” They said as they brought Pearla a cup of steaming tea, “The point is, they won’t be isolated again.” They looked at TO. “But, if they’re violent… we have to think of something.”
“Yeah; we like you GiDi, I don’t think any of us want a crazed, violent synth wandering about here freely.” Vik said without turning from their computer, “Now, I do have some options for you; I don’t know how much you’ll like them-”
“I think I’d rather hear from Goretta before we decide on a course of action.” GiDi said as they sat down next to Pearla. Pearla cupped her hands around the tea and took a long drink of the steaming fluid. When she was done, there was a moment where she seemed utterly and entirely content.
“I think that’s a good idea too.” She said, already sounding more awake. “Get all the information. Who knows, maybe Kei’s calmed down by now? I mean, they did just wake up then and saw all these people around. I doubt anyone would be calm in that situation, let alone a synth who hasn’t had the freedom to feel that deeply before.”
TO hadn’t considered that, but maybe they were right. Maybe Kei had calmed down. Well, either way that wasn’t their concern. They of course didn’t want anyone to be isolated like that, but what they were doing now wasn’t for Kei; it was for Avery.
“You can promise though that you won’t let Kei be isolated, right?” TO asked, “You promise. Can we tell Avery that he’ll be alright?”
GiDi nodded, their ears pinning back once more, “I promise.” they said, “Whatever I have to do; no more isolation.”
GiDi said it and said it so seriously that that was enough for them. No isolation. Whatever happened now, at least they didn’t have to worry about that.
At least TO had kept their promise.