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P03 squinted his sight sensor, his screen flickered a curious expression as Leshy fumbled in the cabin’s side room, looking for something. After a few moments of rustling, the Scrybe of Beasts returned to the main living area with an envelope, P03 noted the tattered condition of it, speculating that the content might be a record that had been put away for a long time.
“Gosh you never update your things, huh? Who uses vinyl anymore?” P03 beeped, boosting his levitation motor similar to how one would stand up, he hovered closer to Leshy. The taller Scrybe smiled warmly at the playful tone in the robot’s voice, it might sound like an insult but he knows he meant no harm, his companion never meant harm in anything he said.
Companion would be what they’d tell the other two, Magnificus and Grimora do not need to know about them, not yet at least, it does not affect their work, their missions, so they spared the details.
Leshy blew the dust off a vintage machine in the corner of the cabin and lifted the lid to show a turntable, P03 knew what they were from his overarching encyclopedia programmed into his system, but this was the first time he has seen such contraption in real life.
“I have had this for as long as I can remember, long before you came.” Leshy spoked, his voice hushing as if he was narrating an old tale, he pulled the vinyl out of the envelope, the plastic showed its age “I used to listen to this frequently, but it is barely touched nowadays, life has been hectic and I almost forgot I have this in my collection.”
The robot tilted his head, screen flickered to an ellipsis, it is true that things have been…fully occupied with waves of travelers coming by almost everyday, some just came to sightsee but most wished to engage in battles. The Scrybes have to keep up with their card mechanics, perfecting their decks as well as checking on their subordinates with their mini boss battles. All of that work plus having to rule over their four domains, making sure the inhabitants are happy, from beasts to robots to wizards and ghouls, everything must run smoothly.
Although none of the challengers so far have ever finished their quests, it is not a sign to stay stagnant with their works; Magnificus has been pushing absurd training methods on his poor pupils to get better power for his deck, Grimora’s going wild with her new necromancy tricks to assure her new bosses puts up true obstacles for the challengers.
P03 and Leshy were no exception, they can barely get up from their tables, always having to play rounds of cards with incompetant challengers, they need to make sure whoever wished to be with the Scrybes are worthy enough to earn it.
It was quite a handful, though. They do have a life outside of ministries, cards and duels, but it is getting harder and harder to maintain their other interests outside of card plays.
Today was a good excuse to get their head out of work for a while.
This month’s meeting was held at Leshy’s Woodlands, which was not ideal for P03 as it was the rainy season. It just so happens that despite how advanced the technology was used to build him, he was not in the slightest waterproof - P03 learned it the hard way with the Dredger - so he stayed behind in Leshy’s cabin as the other two parted ways with their umbrellas.
But maybe it was a good thing, P03 looked up to Leshy as he put the vinyl on the turntable, watching it stably and slowly spun, it has been a while since they get to be alone with each other like this, freely to do things P03 would be too…embarrassed? That’s the feeling, to do with others around.
With one colossal hand, Leshy gently positioned the tonearm on the edge of the vinyl, soon after a soothing melody filled the cozy cabin as rain began to pick up outside.
Leshy closed his eyes, quietly humming tunes along the strumming guitar and certain pops from the old record, before turning to face P03, the robot was analyzing out of habit, calculating every stimulation to his sensors, every note on the 5-line staff, it was how he was programmed after all.
“Care for a dance?” P03 screen flickered to a surprised expression at the sudden interruption of his processing, Leshy spreaded one hand towards the bot, his hypnotic eyes putting P03 on the spot, he felt the cooling fans in his CPU kicking up their speed.
“...Leshy, I can’t.” P03 stuttered, “I don’t have legs.”
He felt his screen warm up when Leshy let out a chuckle. The tall organic figure stepped closer to him, “That is irrelevant, come on now my love.” rough, grassy surfaces met with cold, metallic material as Leshy held P03’s claw and tugged him tenderly into a loose embrace “I will teach you.”
With one hand on the machine’s waist, Leshy led the two into a slow rhythmic swing.
P03 paid close attention to the song, it sounded…antique, but appropriate for someone like Leshy. Some said he was the first Scrybe to arrive, that he has seen everything, from the lights that gave this land life to the forming of the very island that P03’s factory was built on. He had seen old Scrybes getting replaced by winning challengers, some came close to replace him, but he prevailed.
He was the definition of age, P03 on the other hand, was contemporary.
P03 doesn’t consider himself young, despite being the youngest of the four immortal beings he had been around for a fairly long time, and most of his life was spent with the title of the Scrybe of Technology after he defeated an old tyrant. But compared to the beast, he wondered if his presence meant merely a speck to Leshy.
The beast tightens his grip on the robot’s claw, pulling the metal body along with him as they dance, slowly and steadily around the small cabin in the woods. The clopping of Leshy’s hooves against the creaking wooden floor sets a nice tempo accompanied by the solemn guitar strings, the pitter patter of rain was almost drowned out by the music, yet its minor presence of white noise is pleasantly cozy.
The robot adjusted his gaze from the dancing hooves of his fiancé, and looked up to Leshy, who was looking at him, a warm smile laid across his face. P03’s screen flashed a flustered expression as Leshy pulled his hand from the robot’s waist, and caressed his monitor, the pressure was nice and welcoming, and it made the motor in him involuntarily whirr, almost sounds like how a contented cat would purr.
This intimacy, this moment.
Leshy is really good at setting the mood, the robot thought.
“ But there never seems to be enough time - ” The Scrybe of Beast planted a gentle kiss on the top of the machine’s monitor, as he hummed and quietly sang along to the song, his husky whispers was low enough as if it was only for his synthetic lover to hear. “ To do the things you want to do once you find them. ”
The robot snuggled close to his organic body, P03’s scent sensor detected a familiar faint smell of leaves and soil, scents of which his memory has registered as comforting and endearing.
“ I've looked around enough to know - ” Leshy planted another kiss on P03’s monitor, one that was slower and tender. “ That you're the one I want to go through time with. ”, he sang, his arm returned to his lover’s waist, holding him close in a tight embrace as they gently swayed to the music.
P03 felt a buzz where his “heart” was supposed to be.
The song ended with a long guitar note, as the record skipped to a more cheerful tune. Leshy suddenly picked up the pace, and threw P03 into a playful spin, one that the robot, despite having incredible reflex time due to his programming, did not have time to react. He let out a startled beep as Leshy curled the machine back into his embrace, laughing at the annoyed expression on his screen.
“Well that was pointless, you were just swaying us back and forth.” P03 scoffed, the sounds rendered to a slightly annoyed squeak through his speaker. Leshy smiled, loosening the embrace but still holding his hands around P03’s claw “You were happy judging by your purrs, and that’s what matters.”
P03 huffed, sinking into a heap in Leshy’s embrace, his cooling fans whirring.
“You’re such a sap.”
The robot turned to face his lover, and the beast leaned down to kiss him, the music echoed through the woods as the rain picked up once again.
—---------------
Sometimes he wondered if there was an error in his operating system. These feelings were not a part of his program, and unlike statistics, emotions are painfully slow for him to be able to understand and learn.
But maybe it’s okay.
He had Leshy to be there for an eternity to guide him through them.