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Slash carefully wiped a few flecks of dirt off its meat cleaver. It usually took great pride in taking care of it, but right now Slash was cleaning it more to have something to do. It had become sort of a nervous habit to go back to the simple, predictable routine. Slash absently scrubbed at a particularly stubborn speck of dirt. Heart had been gone for a while.
Slash shifted slightly on the bench it sat down on a couple of minutes ago. Heart had told it to go on ahead and that it’d catch up, but Slash was worried. It shouldn’t be, they split up frequently, either to cover more ground looking for parts, or something or another had caught one of their attentions. But, then again, they usually still transmitted brief updates or comments. Heart had had complete radio silence for six hours and thirty-four minutes.
Slash knew how this always went, it’d go around and around in circles. Its programming snagged like a piece of fabric on a branch.
It made a frustrated sound and set aside its cleaver. It couldn’t focus and it didn’t want to accidentally damage it. This was ridiculous. Heart could handle itself. It could take ninety-seven percent of the challenges possible (Slash had run the simulations), and it had functioning distress signals to call for help if it encountered the three percent of the ones it couldn’t. Still, Slash just couldn’t help but think about it. What if it couldn’t catch back up to Slash? What if it was ambushed and its transmitter got damaged? What if-
Slash’s spiraling thoughts were abruptly interrupted by rustling in a bush. Heart’s screen poked out of the bush. “Hi, Slash!” Relief flooded through Slash’s systems. Seemed all that worrying was for nothing.
“Hey Heart,” Slash said, relaxing back on the bench. Heart climbed out of the bush and sat on the bench next to it.
“Why were you in a bush?” Slash asked. Heart laughed and swung its legs.
“Long story short, there are a lot of raccoons in that building over there. Had to hide to get away without hurting them.”
“Are you all right?” Slash asked, worried again.
“Yeah, just a few scratches.” Heart shrugged off.
“Anyway!” It interrupted quickly before Slash could ask it whether it was sure. “Look at what I found.” Heart thrust its hands towards Slash to reveal two spiked metal bands. “Just like yours.” It said proudly. Slash gently grasped Heart’s arms. “Oh,” It said softly, turning Heart’s hands to inspect the cuffs.
♡♡❤♡♡
Slash tapped thoughtfully on the floor of the building where it and Heart had hidden away to recharge. Its thoughts kept drifting back to earlier.
It had been incredibly sweet for Heart to do that. Slash had always felt a bit awkward around its spikes, but Heart thought it was something cool. It made Slash feel a bit better. Slash wanted to do something like that for Heart.
Slash turned its sensors to its surroundings. They had ducked into an old mega shopping district. They generally had robot-compatible ports, 4 walls, and a ceiling. Pretty good for a ghost town. That aside, there wasn’t much that jumped out to it. There were only various food dyes, some very spoiled milk that made Slash grateful it didn’t have olfactory sensors, and some now unrecognizable food product that looked like it had been sitting there for a long time.
The food dye gave Slash an idea. There was probably paint in another part of the store. Slash gently edged out of the corner it and Heart had stashed themselves away in, careful not to jostle Heart. Sleep mode lets them be on their feet quickly if they need to, and moving Heart would probably wake it up. It unplugged itself and stood up.
Slash remembered seeing some paint by the front. Not the right color, however. Slash paused for a moment. Couldn’t you mix paint?
♡♡❤♡♡
Heart woke up to a voice. “Heart!” Slash whispered excitedly.
“Slash? What’s going on?” Heart murmured back. Its systems were still coming online.
Slash laughed that deep laugh of its that made Heart feel like something was fluttering in its chassis. “Why don’t you finish booting up first?”
Heart expected to be impatient, but Slash was still right next to it humming gentle nothings. Waiting to surface from sleep mode was all right when it was with Slash. It felt too much like home to be irritated.
Heart sat upright when it completed booting up. “So, what are you so excited about?”
Slash turned its hands to reveal two pink, pixelated hearts with the same placement as Heart’s. “Oh,” Heart whispered, gently tracing the paint. “We’re matching.” Slash laughed again, and Heart felt its internal temperature rise.
Heart shuffled towards Slash and put its head on Slash’s chest, letting the whirs of its internal machinery flow over it. “I love you.” it giddily mumbled.
Slash’s arms wrapped around Heart bringing it even closer. It whispered, as if it were afraid of the moment shattering if it spoke too loud, “I love you too.”