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“me0808,” he says, waving at his red blood cell as she draws near. She smiles in his direction, adjusting her beret, all while holding onto her delivery.
“Hello, u2001,” she replies, looking up at him when he stops in front of her. The neutrophil spins the cup of green tea in his hand, trying to ward away the silence.
He is thankful when she speaks again.
“Would you like to walk with me to my deliveries?” His soulmate offers, call. brown eyes looking at him from under black frames.
He shrugs. “I'm on patrol, so I guess I can.”
me0808 smiles, cocking her head in the direction they're to be going in. u2001 finds himself following without complaint.
…
u2001 decides me0808 is incredible as he follows her through a narrow capillary.
Red blood cells aren't necessarily used to tight spaces, unlike neutrophils who have transmigration.
But they do it anyway, a happy smile plastered to their faces as they deliver the oxygen for the day.
“Your oxygen,” she says calmly, and the normal cell takes it, thanking her for her service. It is only then do they realize the white blood cell next to her, and begin to cower in fear.
me0808 snorts, shaking her head as a soft smile crawls across her face.
“Don't mind him,” she says, jerking a thumb in his direction. “He doesn't bite.”
The normal cell watches him slowly, and u2001 shrugs.
“Thank you anyways,” they whisper, closing the door with a little more push than necessary. u2001 follows the brunette out of the capillary.
They stop at a little cafe, not too far away from the lungs.
She orders a vanilla chai milkshake, much to his chagrin, while he asks for a green tea. They don't take very long to prepare.
“So…” she begins, twirling her straw in her cup. “How are things?” u2001 adjusts his hat, looking down at his green tea.
“It's good. The immune system has been doing an amazing job defending the body, I must say,” he replies. “We've been receiving lots of new recruits, as of late. May be due to the shortage during the hemorrhage.”
me0808 nods slowly, taking a sip of her milkshake. “That does make sense,” she mumbles, a soft frown present on her features. “But wouldn't there be a shortage of myelocytes and lymphocytes from the bone marrow and lymph ducts?”
u2001 sighs, poking at his cup. “I mean of course. The body is still adjusting from the loss.”
And then there is silence among the two of them, and u2001 feels the need to return to work when me0808 takes his hand.
He looks up at her confused.
“What are you doing?” The white blood cell asks.
“Holding your hand,” his soulmate replies like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
He watches their intertwined fingers with curiosity, dark gaze finding her chocolate orbs after a bit. When he chuckles, it's light, and me0808 smiles with him.
“I really do think the Body you came from was much more accepting of neutrophils, then ours.”
She winks at him, pushing her drink away.
“I suppose,” she sighs, dusting off her uniform. “Now let's bring the carbon dioxide to the lungs, yeah?”
He sighs, nodding.
…
They did not make it to the lungs.
me0808 was talking to him about something that happened a while back, when the ground began to shake.
The white blood cell is aware of what this means: an abrasion. If he didn't get the erythrocytes around him to safety, they would all be gone forever.
“me0808,” he calls, voice hard as he addresses her. “I need you to return the way we came, and get as far away as possible.”
She snorts at this, remaining where she is as screaming and panicked red blood cells run around them.
“No.”
u2001 feels his eye twitch as she stares up at him. “What do you mean, ‘no?’”
The brunette shrugs. “I mean, no.”
He glares at her, eyes narrowing, as his receptor begins to go off. He passes a hand across his face as u2626 comes running passed, a grin on his face.
“u2001, what's this?” He asks, genuinely curious. me0808 smiles.
“Hello, u2626. Your senpai is trying to get me away from him,” she explains, feigning innocence.
u2001 groans, shaking his head as he runs off. The sound of u2626's boots on the pavement behind him are enough to know she stayed behind.
Don't die, okay? She tells him, and he laughs to himself.
Of course, miss.
…
He looks for her once he's cleaned up, uniform free of any blood and gore a few hours prior.
Where are you? He tries, utilizing the bond on his own for the first time in a while.
Since me0808 came to the Body, communicating with her became a matter of when they ran into each other. Don't get him wrong, me0808 happily used their shared mind space to her own accord, projecting thoughts, complaints, and songs in his direction.
He's still trying to cope with the fact that she's here, in all her snarky glory.
“Here I am,” she calls, and he turns around to see her.
“Are you off work?” He asks, quirking an eyebrow in her direction. She nods, and he hums quietly.
They set off walking, destination no where in particular. She talks softly about her day, informing him of the cells she ran into, including an osteoclast.
It isn't until they stop in front of a small condo complex does he realize where they are.
She smiles up at him, and he meets her gaze with a dry look.
“Would you like to see my home?” me0808 asks, and u2001 squints down at her when he notices her slightly pinked cheeks.
Opting to save her embarrassment, he sighs.
“I don't see why not,” he mumbles, and she laughs softly.
“All right then, follow me,” she tells him, walking into the building with him on her heels.
…
He pulls her condo door shut, slipping off his boots tentatively.
To be honest, u2001 had never been in the home of a red blood cell, and even though he and me0808 are soulmates, that doesn't make it any less awkward.
She pulls off her beret, ruffling her brown locks. u2001 watches as she goes about her flat, straightening any knick knacks and fluffing pillows.
Her eyes find his after a moment.
“Take a seat,” she instructs, patting the spot next to her on the couch as she sits down. u2001 huffs, taking off his cap as he sits next to her.
He passes a pale hand over his short white hair, tugging at any tangles. me0808 sighs, tossing her head back.
“It's so weird…” She begins, and he turns to meet her expectant gaze. “One moment I was in the Body of my birth, and now I'm here, in a completely foreign place, going about life like the transfusion never happened.”
She stops talking after that, choosing instead to stare at him. u2001 wants to look away, but he doesn't, meeting her gaze head on.
His onyx eyes rake across her face looking for anything that can distract her, when he feels something underneath his jacket.
u2001 breaks the staring contest, looking down at where he thinks the offender may be. His eyes widen when he realizes it's me0808's hand , and she's still staring at him.
His mouth opens to chastise her, but shuts promptly when she jabs his side with her finger.
The white blood cell fidgets away from her hand, trying to free himself to no avail.
me0808 proceeds to tickle his side, and u2001 begins to make some shocking discoveries.
One: he never knew he was ticklish.
Two: me0808 is extremely pretty when she smiles.
She's laughing at this point, eyes creased at the corners. He decides to destroy her small victory by tickling her sides.
The red blood cell snorts at this, shoving her glasses away from her face to rub her eyes. When she slaps his hand, he pulls away, and me0808 sniffles.
“Sometimes you look like you've got a stick up your ass all the time,” she says after calming down. u2001 rolls his eyes.
“And you don't?” He retorts dryly, and she shrugs.
“My point is that you need to smile more,” me0808 says seriously, and u2001 stares at her. “You look like you've frowned a lot, so a smile wouldn't look bad.”
She pauses, as if she's not sure to continue but goes on anyway.
“Especially on your face…”
He frowns. u2001 isn't entirely sure if this is an insult or a compliment.
So instead he clicks his tongue, looking away from her. “Thank you, I guess.”
The silence is awkward for a bit, and then me0808 sighs heavily.
“For someone who's so keen on doing things himself, I'm surprised you haven't done this yet.”
u2001 scoffs, shooting her a wry look. “Do what?” He taunts. “Smile?”
His soulmate shakes her head, smiling mischievously.
“No,” she replies, taking his face in her hands. The white blood cell stares down at her with wide eyes. “This --”
And then she kisses him.
His face is probably burning under her touch. u2001 has never kissed anyone… what's he supposed to do? He remains unmoving in her gentle grip, and when she pulls away, me0808 looks apologetic.
“Sorry about that,” she says sheepishly. “You seemed really uncomfortable.”
Oh no. That was the last thing he wanted her to think.
Rubbing his hands on his white pants, he takes a deep breath.
“I wasn't uncomfortable, me0808,” he mumbles. “I just didn't know what to do.”
She smiles softly at him, taking one of his hands in her own. u2001 finds it difficult to be stoic and grumpy around his soulmate, because she's always so full of surprises.
Despite being what some might think is a cocky red blood cell, me0808 was really and truly genuine and kind.
“You've never kissed anyone before, u2001?” me0808 asks, a shit eating grin pulling at her lips. “Never had any lovers?”
He rolls his eyes, turning his head away from her. And then there were times where she was just a pain.
“Ohhhh,” she drawls, wiggling her eyebrows. “Is there a secret girlfriend or boyfriend I never knew about?”
She leans over his lap, trying to look at his face.
“Was there someone during the period of silence?”
u2001 pushes her away gently, shaking his head all the while. “You were the only one, me0808.”
The red blood cell sighs at this, nuzzling her head into his shoulder.
“I'm sorry about that, y'know,” she says quietly, and u2001 rests his head on hers. “I really wish I didn't block you from my mind.”
He hums, and the sound reverberates through them.
“I would say the same thing, except I've moved on now,” he says after a while. “It was something we both didn't know and couldn't control. What could we have done?”
She nods in agreement, further situating herself so she is comfortable against him.
They sit like that for a while, and it is only until the sky starts to darken does u2001 realize how late it is.
Shaking me0808 gently, he attempts to wake her up, sighing when she doesn't budge.
If he left her on the couch, she'll be uncomfortable when she awakes. His eyes find the door to her room. Best to take her there, then.
He slips one arm behind her back and the other underneath her knees. She moves only slightly to press her face against his chest, glasses shifting upwards as she does.
Her room is scarce of anything and everything, save for her bed, night table, and reading desk.
u2001 rests her on her futon, pulling the white blanket up to her chin. He hovers over her for a second, taking in her peaceful expression before planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
He closes the door quietly behind him, picking up his cap and slipping on his boots.
The neutrophil can only hope to God that she was asleep, he thinks, walking through the quiet streets of the body.
Because if she wasn't, me0808 would never let him live it down.
FIN