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It was bittersweet. Maybe not in taste, Yet surely in feeling.
Forget-Me-Nots pressed between thumb and index as if no more than a napkin.
He wouldn’t recall when the feeling came. Not like it would actually matter by now.
Thick fluid dripped off the small flowers, leaving a rather messy stain on the already wrecked floor.
It was so bitter; How much his chest burned.
Some oozed from his lips, alongside a single petal.
Thoughts were more than deteriorated at this point, cluttered to the brim with could’ves and maybes.
They could have been friends. They could have met up and talked more, They could’ve seen eye-to-eye had that creep not hurt him. They should’ve coped with things. He should of stuck his hand out before; Maybe they would of been mor-
Tension built up in his chest, again. With a rough hunch forward he once again found him emptying all that was in him on the floor.
Vision was soft and hazy- He wanted to cry.
It hurt so much. He wanted to take everything back- He’d give anything to take it all back.
Axl thumped his head back against the wall he originally was laying on, faint panting to try calming that rather painful burning down, It’s been like this for approximately three months. He’s held up so well compared to most. Equally Axl has failed to report his current ailment to anyone, No matter what happens.
Slowly he moved his body to clean the bloodied petal filled mess off the floor and a whatever amount he could get off himself
What all started this mess? It feels like it was just a set of poor thoughts; All digging up what he felt back when he had to get repaired after the Jacobs Elevator crap.
Those thoughts felt harmless at the time; Just vague Ideas of what friendship with that creepy Purple fella would be like.
Then it turned to hugging, cuddling, Hand holding, then kissing, Then Axl found himself wheezing into his hands these damn Forget-Me-Not petals, Thoughts only really got worse though; Eating away at his mind and by default his throat too.
Felt at the time more like Lumine had embedded himself into Axl- Metaphorically and literally at that rate. How consumed he was with thoughts of him, How fuzzy his chest felt- How quietly he snuck around to peak at the small project to rebuild him despite everyone thinking that it was a bad idea. Both Axl seeing it and the project as a whole.
Guess they had a point too, actually. It would have just messed him up in the long run and he would have just suffered.
Not like he really cares, damage is done as is- At the very least too of the members on the project willfully offered to sneak him in once it was completed- or at least once Lumine could speak and move more than his fingertips.
Which was… Based on all they said, In half a week. Rather slow work for a place like this; Not like anyone actually wants to bring that guy back just wants to see what went through his mind back there.
Project started roughly six months ago; Alongside the full flowers rather than simple petals now that he thinks about it. Questions to how he’s managed good health when poor X couldn’t even last that long. He still could move and while his change time was increased Axl could still function almost as normal.
Zero- Being the more parental friend he is, picked up alarmingly fast that Axl’s health wasn’t as good as it should be though, so Missions were cut off approx three months ago, Along with generally not allowing his to wear armor- Strictly keeping him to loose cloths that his system could breathe through Annoying but has probably helped keep him from overheating so fast.
Floor is still stained, but he got rid of most of the evidence; Thrilling.
Actually on the topic of the reconstruction project; He knew one of the reploids working on it personally- He’ll probably bug them to let him get another peek at it all. Not like Cinder would really decline it at this point- Kid owes him one anyways.
Might be fun to be able to see Moonboy again.
No matter; Axl needs to get something to quell the burning in his guts- Promptly followed by either reading or He’ll go ahead and get some rest.
—
Without a doubt in mind, Cinder agreed to help Axl sneak in; Under the condition that if caught he won’t go off telling anyone about it. Poor Weapons Mechanic would perish emotionally if that were to happen.
Even gave him a good date to appear; When at least vocals would be complete.
Of course finish those first, Probably the safest idea- Besides if he could move right now Lumine might just take the time to escape.
Cinder took a moment to grasp Axl’s shoulder; Concerned expression grasping his face; “On a more important note though- Please see a medic before you do anything rash.” Leave it to Cin to be worried.
Worried for nothing because Axl will be fine, he’s not letting some dumb flowers kill him just yet.
“No worries Man!” Thump the small Reploid’s head and give him a good lil rub; “I’ll be fine; Ain’t nothing got it on me yet!” Not entirely calming but at least it got the other to crack a small smile.
—
Much like suggested before, Axl was handling his current conditions well; Even the day before he was to sneak out and see the very NewGen that put him in this position he was able to walk around, speak, lightly run, and contain himself in social moments; Not to brag about it but was X a bit of a wimp over this stupid thing.
Of course the puking was god awful. He’ll give him that much, Real sucky to spend thirty minutes both hurling everything up and trying to clean it up. Worse when he finds old flowers wilted and for a moment feels the need to tear up- Tragic last he checked he couldn’t cry.
Though- X actually was forced to fix his.. Actually can’t call this a virus, huh? Can’t be spread.. No matter he was forced to cure it and found himself with no memories of Zero, Right? Damn must be actual hell for him.
Of course the two ended up being made to work together more; Partially to see if it might spark up some memories for X- And because Zero requested it. Good for them.
Progress was technically made, X went back to speaking with him more like he did before, though still uses more professional terms to reference Zee.
He kicked his feet up and watched the two talk for a bit, Zero leaning a safe bit close to X, who was circling a few areas each unit should head off too, Making comments on how tired he is of doing this while he was at it- And being comforted by Zee.
Axl stuck his tongue out, “You’d think there would be less by now.” Voice was a little more raspy than needed- Actually might call some unwanted attention if he were to clear it.
“It’s been like this for years, Axl. Not likely it’ll just vanish overnight.” X muttered, just as annoyed with this as him.
Zero made a vague sound of agreement, remaining close, if anything more pressed up against X.
It completely blows Axl’s mind that he hasn’t found himself coughing either- Granted knowing Zero that would be dealt with swiftly; Or he’d take death again. Real good at that apparently.
“Not going to get any better when they have such stupid projects! What was it, two years ago that one ended and they really wanna bring him back?” When did Palette even enter the room?
Axl definitely started zoning out of the conversation by then, throwing out small comments here and there but overall managed to find himself drifting off again.
Only to be brought back to his room by Either one of his teammates- Probably would get an earful over how messy his room is if it was Zero.
—
Perhaps that bit of rest was well needed though- Woke up just on time to pull off his little adventure.
Poor man changed quite a bit; Hair was definitely a lot shorter than expected; Cinder did mention that it was matted beyond repair, At least the cut’s a lot better than before.
Axl approached slowly, Taking a seat next to the workbench Lumine laid out on.
Legs were still in repair, so those were covered up; Missing his right arm with no possible chance of it coming back at all, Chest plate was open as many of its parts were missing with plans of switching them out with something better- leaving him with an admittedly unfunctional body, Despite it, Lumine blinked, tilting his head over to face Axl.
It was a bit uncomfortable for a moment; Neither really spoke, making what tension was there even more apparent.
Leave it to Axl to bre- “Why are you here?”
Or, Lumine would cut him off before he gets the chance.
Voice was awful, Glitchy, with a neat buzzing sound anytime he tries communicating. It was humorous.
“Boredom I guess.” Not like Axl’s was any better, Not the worst conditions his voice has been in but still.
Lumine didn’t buy it, That’s for sure. A half truth like that surely wouldn’t go over someone like him. Eyes narrowed.
Which, Caused Axl to roll his, “I don’t know- I just wanted to see you man!”sharp shrug, glancing the other direction as his face warmed up more than he’d like to admit.
Once more, Lumine blinked- Maybe a little taken back by the idea that he’d even want to see him- after their last encounter that is.
“..Why?” Which would lead into a rather amusing game of repeating the same word; Of course.
“Just… Needed to, I guess..” Axl kept facing the other direction, placing one of his hands on the- Oh it’s a bed actually- That’s amusing.
Place a hand on the bed, “It just.. Feels right to see how you’re doing.”
Not an answer that made the Lilac haired fella feel any better; But it’ll do for a bit.
Fingers nudged his remaining arm closer to the other.
“Needed to see the same guy that almost killed you?” That’s killing him.
Axl bit his lip, “Was this whole thing your idea?” Lumine managed to finally brush his index against the gunner’s- He’s rather small now that he thinks about it.
Vague contact really was going to make all of this worse, wasn’t it? God he needed to cough now-
Press on.
“It wasn’t my idea; You would’ve known if it was mine.” Truthfully Axl probably would’ve made it a nightmare- For everyone actually.
Which Lumine would not entirely doubt at this point.
“I overheard you’re still not allowed out on missions.” Might as well keep the conversation going then.
“Yeah, Off duty until my conditions are a lot better.” He might not be the boss around here but no one’s going to tell Zero off when it comes to statements like that.
Axl stuck his tongue out to it- Which triggered a rather small coughing fit- Which thank Asimov only contained a few petals- easy to shove off into a pocket.
And thankfully not like Lumine would care to address-
“You’re not going to get any better like that.” Or he is. Good for him.
“I- Look I’m not ready, Besides it’s not that bad! Just a few fits here and there.”
Brush it off, Not like it is that important.
“..I’m not at fault for it, Correct?” Of course Lumi was more of a ‘Get to the point” kind of guy; He’d want it addressed rather fast.
He managed to grasp Axl’s hand by that point; Took more effort than needed- Only has partially movement back in that arm anyways.
“Y-...You’re not entirely at fault.” Definitely made his head spin a bit- Though he took a moment to face the NewGen
“Not entirely?” Lumine was still technically dead when the ‘outbreak’ occurred; Yet has some passing knowledge thanks to one rather excitable Reploid working on him.
Enough to know that it’s not exactly something anyone wants, to an extent What the symptoms are, And that it’s indirectly caused by someone else.
Axl once again bit his lip; “More I’m at fault than anything- T-That’s besides the point- We’re not here to talk about my conditions-” Brain fizzled up as Lumine lightly squeezed his hand- Face thoroughly coated with a rather unwanted blush- Which only got worse as the Newgen, despite how much effort was needed, took a moment to pull Axl’s hand up to his face- Pressing it to his cheek.
Really knows how to read others- Axl feared that talent more than anything right now
“I guess you are right; I’m sure being here is not going to treat you much better.” Hardly made sense to him. “Though I have been wanting to see you too, I will not deny that.”
He stammered out some weird high pitch noise,
“I was awake that day, You know?” What?
“Snuck in while no one was tending to me, Holding up a rather graphic conversation with yourself.” Axl entirely forgot he spoke.
“Of course I can’t recall all of it but, It entertains me that you feel so much despite what happened.”
Being confronted about his rather questionable romantic feelings towards the NewGen was everything but what he wanted- He focused more on that than the gentle force pulling him over- “Look I-I’m sorry probably said a lot of things in that moment; didn’t mean for you to hear them.” Leave it to Lumi to manage literally pulling someone face to face with one half functioning arm.
“If I were to Reciprocate those ideas, what exactly would you do?”
“Don’t play with my head like that man-”
“If I were to have suggested such actions to you, would you’ve completed them?”
“Maybe-? I don’t know it’s kind of hard to te-”
With that, and no other little warning- Lumine pulled Axl just a little closer, Into a rather short lived kiss- Which would surely be on his mind for months post this.
Once broken, Axl was left stunned, still rather close to the other Reploid. Lumine’s arm dropped stiff- Worn out for sure.
Blinking for a few seconds didn’t do much to the fuzziness that one little action caused him- Yet neither really spoke; Partially thanks to Lumine wanting to see what he’d do and Axl having to fight off some desire to make this moment even more awkward to deal with later- That said, his mind really went the awkward route, Moving closer to peck the NewGen’s cheek- getting a small gasp and rather quiet “Coward.” in response.
Plopping back into his seat, Axl covered his mouth and let out a few sorries for his rather meek action. “If it gets rid of that cough, please be my guest. Would hate for you to die before I get out of here.” Vague nod to Lumine wanting to snuff Axl out himself if anything.
“Wish it were that easy man, You’d quite literally need to fall for me to make that work for either of us.”
“Then so be it. Try not to perish before then.”
A small line that led to a rather interesting set of conversations- Ranging from Axl originally attempting to talk Lumine out of that idea- to Lumi discussing nearly everything Axl had originally said to what he thought was his sleeping form.
Ending with a single beep telling Axl it was time to go- Lumine shifting his hand once more to give Axl’s another brief bit of contact- And rather rushed goodbyes.
To his surprise, He felt slightly better.