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Two people walked down the once quiet stone path. Despite it being a relatively chilly day, the two desperately wanted to get out of their lab. Over the past two weeks neither of them had gotten a break, nor did they really have time to spend much time together. After some planning, also known as disappearing out of thin air away from Planck’s watchful eye, they ended up sneaking off to the nature park nearby.
Before moving to London it had been one of the most important places to them. While they were still studying it was one of the few places they could escape to without being terrorized by the other scientists. Whether it was to explore or just have a second of peace and save their non-existent sanity. Though they did occasionally drag Schrodinger along, she never seemed particularly interested when they complained about the others.
Crunch.. Crunch.. CRUNCH!
“Nikola.. Be careful, please. You don’t know what’s underneath that.”
The redheaded menace had run ahead and was kicking up leaves while the other silently watched on expressionlessly. Crossing her arms she looked at her. “Hmph! There's nothing in here that can hurt me!”
Moments later, as if on cue, something started moving by Tesla’s foot. Her face went pale as she slowly looked down, only to see a snake slithering past. Moments later a scream could be heard and Einstein was desperately trying to regain her footing from Tesla suddenly jumping on her.
“M-MOPHEAD!!” The pitch of her voice had gone several decibels higher. “HELP!!”
Einstein blinked several times trying to process what just happened. Regaining her composure she shook her head and sighed. “I thought nothing could scare the great Frederica Nikola Tesl-”
“SHUT UP MOPHEAD!!” She screeched as her hold tightened around her. “D-DON’T TEST ME! I’M NOT SCARED OF THAT STUPID THING! I COULD DESTROY IT IF I WANTED TO!”
Slightly jumping, Einstein readjusted Tesla and grabbed onto her legs. “Well.. If that’s the case I can sit you back do-”
“ NO! ”
Einstein felt the others' hold on her tighten as she shoved her face into her shoulder and neck. It was amusing if she was honest. Who knew the girl who would threaten literal gods would be so afraid of a tiny snake. Glancing towards the slithery menace she watched as it raised its head towards them and stuck its tongue out.
Both of them stared at each for a few seconds before Einstein stuck her tongue out at it in return.
“MOPHEAD!!! DON’T JUST PLAY WITH IT!!”
Rolling her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. “Okay, okay-” she began walking off, “-let’s get you away from the big scary monster.”
Tesla just angrily mumbled several insults, though they were too muffled to make any of them out. Glancing back, she noticed the snake was watching them curiously.
“You made a friend, Nikola! I’m so proud of you!” She teased, tilting her head to playfully ‘hit’ her.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
After a few minutes, Ein glanced back to see the snake had slithered off somewhere. It seemed like Tesla had offended the snake so much that it didn’t even want to stick around for round two. Though she didn’t blame it.
Tesla sat her head on her shoulder and started softly speaking. “Hey.. Lieserl..?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Can we go to that pond we used to go to? I want to see if my rocks are still there or if Schrodinger stole them.”
She chuckled, “Yes, we can. Though I don’t think she would have a reason to steal them.”
“Hmph! Well, that dipshit she hung around sure as hell had a reason! She’d do anything to make my life a living fucking hell!”
“Eh.. I don’t think she would mention something like that to her.. She knew how much this place meant to us, she wouldn’t turn on us like that. Especially knowing what that.. thing.. did to you.”
“.. You’re right, I guess..”
Without warning, Einstein stopped upon hearing something. Tesla looked at her puzzled before the other shook her head. “Sorry, I thought I heard something..”
“G-Great!! Either your stupid mom followed us or we’re going to be murdered! Or both, actually!”
“.. We’re not getting murdered.”
“THAT’S WHAT YOU SAID THE LAST TIME!”
“Well.. I didn’t lie, now did I?”
Tesla stared at her shocked. “Are you??? I?? Whatever!”
Einstein giggled and smiled at her. “Come on now. It’s time for you to use your legs and walk.”
“Huh? Why!”
“We’re here, dummy,” suddenly she let go of her taking Tesla by surprise. Unfortunately for her she had gotten too used to the other carrying her and had unwrapped her legs from around her, resulting in her almost immediately falling.
Stumbling backward, she desperately tried to get her footing. “MOPHEAD?!”
Einstein giggled, “At least I gave you a warning, dear.”
Tesla stood there pouting with her arms crossed. “Hmph..” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Einstein move towards her. Moments later she felt Einstein’s hand gently caressing her cheek.
“Aw, don’t be like that Nikola,” she teased and reached for her hand. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
“Fine..” She begrudgingly grabbed her hand while trying to look mad despite her face showing the complete opposite.
Trees began to sway as a gentle breeze blew through. Tesla used her free hand to tighten her scarf trying to prevent the chill that crept over her. As they got closer running water could be heard as it got progressively louder as well as it progressively began to get colder. Pushing through a few tree limbs they emerged shielding their eyes from the sun.
“It’s still the same as I remember it..” Tesla spoke with a slight sadness in her voice.
“Yeah.. It seems it hasn’t changed much, has it.”
The two wandered around in silence, looking for the spot where they used to spend time hiding away from the world. How things changed, yet stayed the same, truly amazed her sometimes. Just a few years ago they were hiding at their own free will, yet now they were hidden away from the world for their own safety.
A yell broke the silence, drawing Einstein's attention away from her thoughts. “Hey! Mophead! I think I found it!” Almost immediately she ran over to find Tesla sitting by her pile of rocks. “Look!!! My rocks are still here!”
Ein smiled seeing her eyes sparkle like they used to so long ago. “Maybe we can take them back this time. I brought my bag, after all.”
“Wait really??”
“Mhm. We can add them to our collection, though I don’t think we’ll be able to label them unfortunately.”
Tesla shrugged, “We can at least put the year! It shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
She shook her head still smiling, “Nikola.. Do you even remember which rocks are from which year?” The redheaded menace thought to herself for a few minutes before becoming extremely frustrated and giving up. “It’s okay, we can label them as this year. It won’t hurt anything.”
The other sat down beside her and just stared out at the pond. Meanwhile the other sorted through the assorted rocks smiling to herself. It’d been one of her fears that someone had taken them while they were gone, and to see them still there made her happy. Each one had a story tied to it and was one of the only remaining parts. A frown formed as she stared at one of the rocks in her hand. She’d found it the last time they came and had planned on giving it to Schrodinger the next time they dragged her with them. There wasn’t a next time.
At that moment she shook her head and tried not to think about it. There wasn’t any point in thinking about something she couldn’t change, even if she desperately wanted to. Instead, she turned to face her girlfriend who was still staring off into the distance.
“Mophead?”
“Hm?” She turned to see the other looking at her worried. “Oh.. I’m sorry, I spaced out for a minute.”
Moving closer, a look of concern crossed her face. “.. Want to talk?”
“Eh.. It’s nothing. Just reminiscing..”
Tes leaned against her and gently rubbed the others hand in an attempt to comfort her. “.. Lieserl you know I care about you.. Right..? You can talk to me..”
Feeling her touch comforted her, making it feel as if nothing else mattered.. Despite the cold, her heart was warm and the feeling of safety overcame her. “Just remembering old memories is all.. Back before we got into this mess.. I sometimes miss the days when we were studying and would sit here for hours complaining about the others, or talking about our plans for the future. If it wasn’t for Madame Planck I wouldn’t mind staying out here tonight and looking at the stars again like we used to..”
“... Lieserl we’re grown adults. That old hag really can’t stop us.”
“Eh.. You’re right, but she’ll worry about us and you know how she gets.. Besides, we didn't exactly tell her that we were leaving..” she replied solemnly. “Besides.. If she came looking for us I’d hate for her to find this place.”
“I doubt she’ll notice, Mophead. She’ll just assume we’re asleep. We aren’t exactly known to have functioning sleep schedules. Besides..” She paused, unsure of if she should continue. The other looked at her softly and nodded. “... I.. I’d be okay with staying out a bit late tonight with you.. If you want to at least..”
A warm smile formed on her face, one Tesla hadn’t seen in a long time. “Maybe..”
Silence enveloped them as they watched a family of ducks swimming past. Sometimes Tesla wondered if animals knew of the concept of Honkai. It was a ridiculous consideration since most species can’t grasp most concepts, though part of her wondered if there was a natural reaction toward it. Similar to how prey instinctively knows to run from predators, or how birds instinctively migrate.
Tesla was the first to break the silence. “Mophead.. Do you think Schrodinger’s still out there..”
She thought for a second as she stared at the pond. “I.. I don’t know. I have a feeling she is. Something tells me that she is, though that may be false hope.”
Tesla shoved her way under the other's arm, resulting in the other looking down at her with a ‘are you serious,’ teasing smile on her face. It was a welcome surprise as the sun began setting and the chill began to set in. Moments later she was staring up at her from her lap smiling.
“I missed coming down here with you..”
“Well.. Maybe we can make time for it again,” Ein teasingly tapped her nose and watched as her face scrunched up.
“.. I love you Lieserl..”
“I love you too, Nikola..”
Tesla hesitated for a second. She didn’t want to ask in fear that it’ll prompt them to leave, but she felt like she had to ask. “.. Do we need to get going..? The sun’s going down..”
“It’s okay. I brought flashlights, besides..” She pushed the hair out of Tesla’s face before finishing, “Like you said she’ll assume we’re busy or asleep. We’ve barely left the base in months. It’s only fair that we have at least one night away from everything. What Madame Planck doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
Tesla smiled happily and made a small noise in response. Einstein lightly chuckled, seemingly forgetting everything else outside of their little bubble. “We should pack your rocks before it gets much darker. If we hurry we can watch the sunset too.”
“.. Okay.”
As Tes began hesitantly sitting up Einstein began taking the flashlights out of her bag in an attempt to not damage them. Tesla had turned and moved back towards her rocks, staring at them sadly. An idea came to Ein and she smiled. Unbuttoning her jacket, she moved behind her and leaned forward, pressing herself against her.
Tesla jumped a little, not expecting it. “H-HEY?!?”
Einstein giggled and wrapped her arms and jacket around her. “It’s getting cold, is it not?”
The only response she got was a begrudging mumble as she carefully sat her rocks into the bag. “Hey, Mophead.. Look, it’s the rock you found me that time we went swimming.”
“Oh.. I remember that,” she softly smiled remembering that day. It hadn’t seemed that important at the time, though now it meant the world to her.
As she sat the rocks within the bag her pile began to become smaller and smaller. Tesla looked up at her and smiled. “I.. I think that’s all of them, Mophead..”
Ein laid her head on hers and smiled. “You’re adorable.” Watching her become embarrassed made her heart melt.
“H-HEY!?!?”
Chuckling, Einstein hugged her tightly. “Come on, let’s find somewhere to sit before it gets too dark.”
“Okay, Mophead.” As Einstein backed up to give her room a feeling of longing immediately hit Tesla. She hadn’t realized just how cold it’d gotten and she immediately pulled her own jacket around her tightly.
After grabbing her backpack the two walked around until they found a little open patch and sat down. Almost immediately Tesla was shoving herself against the other in an attempt to escape the cold. Smiling to herself, Ein put an arm around her and pulled her closer.
“.. I wish things could’ve stayed like this forever..” Tesla muttered to herself. “We’ve come so far.. But we’re not out of this hell yet.. I have a bad feeling it’ll only get worse from here..”
“It’ll be okay,” she spoke softly, glancing toward her. “What matters is now. Worrying about the future or past won’t do us any favors. All we can do is move forward, for them and for ourselves.”
Both of them went silent as they watched the sun finish setting. It really did feel like they were in a separate reality, a reality where nothing happened and they were safe.
“Lieserl.. Can you promise me something?”
“What is it?”
“We’ll stay together forever.. Right..?”
“Of course, as long as you don’t get tired of me,” she said teasingly.
Tesla rolled her eyes, “You get on my nerves, but I love you too much to get tired of you.”
Suddenly the other laid backward and dragged Tesla along with her.
“H-HEY?! A WARNING WOULD BE NICE!” She complained as she flailed her arms.
“This is payback for the other night when you interrupted my reading and not so nicely forced me to lay down.”
“MOPHEAD?!? YOU WERE SITTING IN BED READING AT TWO AM! I WANTED TO SLEEP!! YOU NEED TO SLEEP!!!” Tesla argued, knowing full well the other wouldn’t listen. “I wasn’t even that forceful!!”
“You sat up and pretended like you wanted a hug before shoving me down, then refused to let go of me until I promised to sleep.”
“THAT WAS ME BEING NICE! WANT TO SEE FORCEFUL?!”
“Mm.. Preferably no.”
“That’s what I thought!”
After calming down a little she finally actually laid down next to her, laying her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. A smile suddenly appeared on her face as she excitedly pointed up toward one of the twinkling stars.
“Mophead look! There’s our star!”
Smiling, she looked where Tesla was pointing. “I’m surprised you found it that fast.”
“HEY?! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?! I COULD NEVER FORGET SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT!!!”
“Just earlier today you forgot you needed to drink water, Nikola.”
“... That’s different Lieserl!”
Einstein raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you saying that a star is more important than basic human needs?”
“No! I’m saying you’re more important than basic human needs!!!”
‘.. You’re such a disaster, but that’s why I love you,’ Ein thought to herself lovingly. She subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair as they lay there staring up into the endless sky.
After an hour or two, Tesla rolled onto her side and put one of her arms around the other. Einstein glanced at her, smiling.
“Are you tired?”
“Hmph.. Of course not! I’ve been awake for days at a time before!” She tried to hold back a yawn but it came out anyway. If she was honest the only reason she was even remotely tired was because of the other. For the first time in months it felt as if nothing else mattered, and combining that with the other holding her.. She didn’t even have a chance. “What time even is it..”
“Uh.. I..” Einstein raised her arm and squinted at the little watches face. “It’s.. Somehow twelve…”
“Huh?! How! It didn’t even feel like that long..”
“Maybe it’s just because of nostalgia.. We lost track of time..”
Tesla frowned, realizing that they’d have to go back.
“It’ll be okay, we can still talk when we get back,” she spoke softly, seeing her frown. “Maybe we can come back soon if we have time..”
She smiled hearing that, “.. Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Ssssss.”
They both shot up and quickly grabbed flashlights only to see Tesla’s newly formed enemy staring at them. Tesla, of course, screamed terrified and Einstein just stared at it confused.
“.. Back for round two, I see?”
“DON’T JUST FUCKING TALK TO IT!! MOPHEAD WE HAVE TO LEAVE!! I DON’T WANT IT NEAR ME!!”
The snake, on the other hand, was just there to be a hater. It stuck its tongue out at Tesla and raised its head to look at her. She looked like she was on the verge of tears at this point and desperately wanted to disappear.
Einstein sighed and stood up keeping the light on the snake. “It’s the same snake.. It seems you really did make a friend, Nikola.”
Tesla just screeched and was almost immediately on Einstein's back trying to get away from it. “LIESERL PLEASE LET’S GO..”
Einstein stuck her tongue out at it one last time before holding onto Tesla and carrying her off and away from the hater that was keen on following them.
The walk back was silent for the most part. After they escaped from the slithering menace and from the forest Ein sat Tesla back down. Despite her exhaustion, Tesla didn’t complain about having to walk. The street lights were dim and barely illuminated their way, a consequence of the maintenance staff not having the resources to change them. Pulling out her ID badge she scanned it before the two walked in.
Walking through the base towards the dorms they were met with Planck staring at them. “Where were you two?!? I was worried that blonde man got you!”
Einstein yawned, “We were careful, Emma. Nobody saw us.”
“You could’ve at least told me, dear Lieserl!”
Tesla just stared at her annoyed and tired. “Can we talk about this tomorrow? I don’t feel like getting scolded like a child at one in the morning..”
Planck frowned, “I’m not scolding you! I’m simply asking where you were! Scientists ask questions, little Nikola!”
She rolled her eyes before grabbing Einstein and walking off. “Good night, Madame Planck.”
“Goodnight, Mom,” Einstein called back. She wasn’t even mad about being dragged off. For once Tesla’s impulsiveness worked to their advantage.
“Goodnight you two! But we’ll be talking about this tomorrow!”
A few minutes later Tesla started mumbling complaints to herself. She knew that the eccentric scientist only had good intentions, but being scolded like a child wasn’t something she was in the mood to deal with. They were both in their twenties and being treated like children bothered her more than anything.
“Nikola..” Einstein yawned, tiredly.
“Huh? Yeah, Mophead?” She stopped to look at her, clearly seeing her exhaustion. “.. Mophead please let me carry you back..”
“I’m fine,” she mumbled. “You’re just passing our dorm..”
Glancing at the room number she just stared at it. Ein just teasingly smiled before opening the door and immediately went straight to their room as Tesla followed behind after locking the door back.
Einstein had clumsily changed and was already laying down by the time Tesla came in, and she just silently lay there waiting for her to lay down. Minutes later she was laying down with her and holding her closely as she tiredly smiled.
“Goodnight, dear..” She muttered, closing her eyes. “I love you..”