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The silence that hangs on the air is deafening. Looking up from the mutilated corpse of a viral
cell - he's not sure which one yet; Macrophage is yet to arrive - U-1146's vision fills with the
startled face of one AE 3803. Her mouth barely opens to break the tension when the words pour
off of 1146’s tongue.
“Sorry you had to see that, Red Blood Cell. It’s for the greater good.”
3803 blinks, processing the scene. She was, 1146 assumes, on her way back toward the lungs.
Her bulky trolley lays empty beside her shaking legs. With a deep breath, she pushes the
positivity back into her expression. He's always admired how she can just do that. Stoic as he is,
1146 can't entirely fathom such a degree of emotional control. Keeping neutral is one thing, but smiling? Red blood cells can be scarily resilient.
“Don’t worry! It is your job after all.” Her hand rises to fiddle with her collar. “Though, it seems
that every time we see each other it’s because of another germ. Wouldn’t it be nice to catch some
peace around here?”
1146 nods. Secretly, he wishes that this body wasn’t so demanding. He relishes those down-moments where all he notices is the warmth of his green tea and that pretty face...
No. His thoughts aren’t allowed there.
“Yeah, catching a break wouldn’t be awful.”
By then, Macrophages had arrived at the scene. One of them crouches by the dead cell, turning
him this way and that and examining the bubbled cap that had fused to his head. The cell himself looks worse for wear. Painful looking white feathers had sprouted from his joints and his complexion is waxy and pallid. The macrophage stands up and dusts off her flouncy skirt.
“Chicken pox. Just as expected. It's certainly been a while, but this is nothing we can’t deal with. Stay alert, but don’t worry. We can deal with it alone.”
At this news, 1146 exhales in relief. B-cell will handle everything with his marvellous
antibodies. With the threat neutralized, and the tension evaporating from his nucleus, he returns his attention to 3803. She's still there, standing awkwardly at the edge of the capillary.
She’s so kind, he thinks. She doesn’t deserve the trouble that she gets thrown into.
“Red blood cell!” he calls. She turns to him with a smile and yet again he is struck by how marvellous red blood cells are; perfectly adapted to the veins that they trek through hundreds of times per day.
Perhaps he's a little biased.
“I need to wash off.” he gestures to the cytoplasm that has already begun to dry into his jacket.
“If you’re not busy, maybe you can join me? It should only be a small detour.”
At this 3803’s face brightens and she nods enthusiastically.
“Of course!”
And so, they walk together through the veins of the face. It can get quite busy here, but right now it seems pretty lax, with red blood cells chatting idly as they meander towards the lungs. 1146 and 3803, however, take a different route - to the nasal cavity. 3803 chatters excitedly along the way, talking about her kouhai and how cool she is, and how she had accompanied the platelets on a
tour of the eyeballs.
“The iris is a beautiful!” she exclaims, flapping her hands wildly. “It’s all greenie-gold in there! We should go together sometime.”
For some reason, 1146 feels his cheeks warm at this last sentence. He smiles.
“Maybe one day. I think we’re here.”
The glittering pools of the nasal cavities spew steam into the air. Cells of all occupation are lazing about; the smell of soap permeates the room. 3803 heads automatically towards the inviting water but 1146 places are cool hand on her shoulder, halting her in her tracks. When she
shoots him a questioning look he gently leads her towards an innocuous door.
The door is labelled “neutrophils only”, which makes 3803 hesitate. But 1146 is a neutrophil, and he nods reassuringly at her as he opens the door and guides her through.
On the other side of the door golden lights illuminate a vast shower room it’s a little bit cooler in here than it was in the hot baths, but steam still shrouds the scene. 1146 leads 3803 towards one of many ornate brass showers and turns the tap. The water that spills from the shower head is
deliciously warm and 1146 allows it to wash over him. Distracted by the pinkish hue of the cytoplasm that runs into the drain, he almost misses the strangely constipated look that decorates 3803’s features.
Wordless, he extends an arm towards her. She takes it without question and so he pulls her under the stream of water. All of a sudden, sense kicks in and begins its protest. This is fucking weird. But 3803’s eyes are closed contentedly, so he ignores it.
There’s a pleasant hush that has settled over the pair. Surprisingly, the shower room seems sparse. With a slight pang of guilt, 1146 realises that the others are probably off fighting.
Doing their job.
Being brave.
3803’s words float back into his psyche. Is it so wrong to want a break? A sigh escapes him.
“Nice, isn't it?”
At this, 3803 opens her eyes. Her expression is calm but otherwise unreadable. She nods.
“I had no idea that there were places like this in the body...” She trails off. “It’s been so long
since I needed cleaning. Red blood cells don’t tend to get messy.”
A thought diffuses into 1146’s mind. Several thoughts, actually, but he brushes most of them away. He's breaking protocol by even allowing 3803 into this wash station. He won't let himself get carried
away.
Instead, he reaches for the bottle of shampoo that sits in a small inlay next to the tap. Her eyes follow his hands as he reaches out for her red biconcave cap. They widen as he motions to take it off, but she doesn’t protest. Placing the cap down, he squirts a purple glob of shampoo into his
palm and moves so that he’s standing directly behind her.
The sight of her damp scarlet hair sends a shiver through him, swiftly followed by a thick ball of nerves that lodges in his throat. His hands shake from the sudden effort that it requires to force them towards her head. As soon as he actually makes contact, however, the apprehension melts away.
Her hair feels gorgeously soft, even when wetted down, and he gives in to the temptation to bury his hands in it. He has always been rough with his own hair, but right now it feels as if he’s cradling a precious artefact between his fingers. As gently as he can muster, he massages the
shampoo into her scalp, building up a sweet-smelling lather. 3803 hums and leans into the gesture.
One movement.
That’s all it takes to send every mitochondrion in his body screaming. He gulps down the terrible pressure building inside of him and focuses with all his might on finishing what he started before
he does something stupid.
3803 seems hell-bent on making this difficult, a dozy smile spreading across her face. 1146 angles the shower head slightly, rinsing the suds down the drain. His hands are yet again beginning to tremble, though he fears it's for a different reason this time.
He attempts to distract himself.
“Do you usually condition?”
3803 startles at his sudden question but shakes her head.
“The wash stations outside usually only have the basics.” She pauses. “Do you?”
“No, but I’ve heard that it makes your hair lovely and soft.” 1146 curses at himself for letting that slip. He should be trying to end this and get out and yet... he yearns to keep her in this shower forever. She grins up at him and he's suddenly overwhelmed by just how small she is. Typically, white blood cells are around 5 micrometres taller than red ones, but right now that gap feels infinite.
“That sounds nice.” she says, still grinning.
Yet again that yearning hits 1146. Pretending it hasn't, he angles the shower head away from 3803. He takes a moment to admire how the warm water flushes her face before grabbing the conditioner from the alcove and dolloping it into his pale palm. He cards his fingers through her
hair, working the conditioner into it. The smell of strawberries hits his nose, and he can't help but let a smile grace his lips.
When he really got down to it, how bad was this really? Who would it hurt? The terrible feeling had reached fever pitch in his ears, causing his mind to spit silly thoughts to the forefront of his imagination. He can't even fight it any longer - or perhaps he just doesn't want to. Either way, he rinses the conditioner out of 3803’s hair with a strange sense of purpose.
Grabbing a towel from a nearby rack, he motions to dry her hair, which she graciously accepts by tilting herself towards him. He walks around her so that they’re face to face. Gingerly, and trying to make himself as meek and unthreatening as possible, 1146 places a towel over 3803’s pretty red head, and ever so gently pats her dry. Maybe he's imagining it but her eyes seem to sparkle as he gazes into them, pools of honey framed by russet eyelashes that widen when he brushes a fold of the towel out of her face. He hesitates, and she doesn't move, so he tests the
water again by tracing his hand down her cheek to rest below her jaw. Something seems to click into harmony. She rests her hand over his, leaning forward slightly. Permission.
1146’s breathing gets rather ragged, his membrane breaking out into goose flesh as he sprints past the point of no return.
Something about the way that their lips press together makes him want to sob. It's chaste, and can’t have lasted more than a second or two, but the moment stretches out.
There’s a haze that envelops the scene, but internally 1146 is already beginning to panic. He’s clearly overstepped some form of boundary and there ought to be hell to pay.
“I am so-“ The apology barely has the chance to escape his mouth, because 3803 throws her arms around his neck knocking him back. She immediately releases a rapid barrage of kisses on every available nanometre of his face. Between kisses, she babbles away.
“White Blood Cell!” -mwah- “I had no” -mwah- “idea!” -mwah- “You should have said
something sooner!”
1146 instinctively wraps her in his arms. She flutters against him like a trapped bird before settling against him.
“I’m sorry Red Blood Cell. I shouldn’t have. My job is to protect you, not... this."
3803 clings to him.
“It's okay. We'll think about that later.” She says. “Now, we get some peace.”
At her words, 1146 almost does sob. His knees go entirely weak and he lowers himself to the floor, taking 3803 with him. Tentatively, he presses a kiss to her forehead.
“Yeah. There are others. We’re gonna be alright.”