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You know that the concept of love for androids was different, that although they are capable of loving each other, they do not fully understand what it means to love the other part, their concept of love is demonstrated above all in their concern for their loved ones, you know that 2B and 9S have made several assignments from other resistance androids where they asked to search for their lost comrades or at least their belongings.
Worry between teammates is common, you've seen it with 2B and 9S, they worry about each other in their own ways, you think it's nice even though feelings are strictly prohibited in YoRHa, but it's gotten to the point where it's apparently so common that it doesn't really matter anymore.
However, for androids, when it comes to loving a human, a unique being in their current world, they are somewhat different, or at least that is what you have seen. They are delicate, careful in the way they speak or act, sometimes they are obsessive, making you promise to never leave them, because you are their everything.
It is not strange the day when you find anonymous letters or gifts, recently it has become more and more frequent, it seems that they stopped having emotions for each other just because now you are there. Their attention is focused on you, you finish talking to one for another to come, and so on, it's as if they are lining up to grab your attention.
It's exhausting, terrifying too, they don't waste time praising or asking questions about the old world, and you think it's funny because you're not the only human there; The base on the moon must be full of other humans, but it seemed like they had never seen one in the bunker. You also don't understand why you're not there with the others, as much as you sometimes like the company of androids, you would be much happier with the company of a human.
But the commander always makes excuses; that the council hasn't decided yet, that they can't send you on supply shipments because it would be dangerous, because the main objective is to rid the earth of the machines, among other excuses that you consider dubious but choose not to comment on.
So when you're assigned 2B as your primary caregiver, you can't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
In a way you are grateful to have 2B as your caregiver, although you do not stop receiving gifts and anonymous confessions, she is in charge of discarding the androids that seem to make you uncomfortable when they go too far. The bunker is a small place, but you really enjoy it when you are with her, sometimes you are even allowed to go to ground with 9S and 2B when things seem calm.
At the same time, you think, it's funny that i can go to the earth, but not the moon.
You choose to mention that the next time you talk to the commander.
2B is someone who is difficult to read; She is reserved and prefers not to speak unless necessary, it is what undoubtedly differentiates her from other androids, she is not a worshiper, or if she is, she never lets it come to light, you prefer it that way anyway. There are few casual conversations you've had with her, she talks to you when you seem eager to talk to someone, but other than that, she stays quiet.
You like hanging out with her because she's not pushy, she's strict, but at the same time she's the closest thing you have to a calm presence. 9S is also fine, he is more or less like 2B, but he asks a lot about the old world to satisfy his curiosity, you respond with pleasure to his requests, you don't mind talking about your past.
2B doesn't ask, since she barely speaks she doesn't feel the need, she follows you like a shadow and does whatever it takes so that others do not bother you, you are happy about it, because she is not like the other obsessed androids, she is there to ensure your comfort and keep you alive.
But oh, so wrong you were.
2B loves, you learned this firsthand on your travels to Earth, when they decided it was best for you to be in your homeland until the council of humanity decided what to do, as strange as that sounded. 2B took care of you, you learned that maybe she wasn't that different from the other androids, she just knew how to disguise correctly.
2B's love is worse than you imagined, although you always thought she couldn't love, in most situations you feel like you can't breathe, her touches are firm but soft as she guides your body on the walks you insist on taking, she knows that if she pushes too hard she will hurt you with her strength.
You're not completely sure that she knows what her love is, she never learned it from her peers since she wasn't interested, so she loves you the way she thinks of loving, artificial; she loves you like an android programmed to love a human, the only human she knows.
She is different from her companions, the other androids were insistent, but loving and delicate. 2B is cold, scary at times, but you know that she doesn't exactly mean to scare, the last thing she would want is for you to be afraid of her —you already are—, so she tries to be gentle in the best way a battle android can b; she takes you on a walk around places she cleared and that she thinks you would like to see, she offers you rare flowers she finds and tries to get good food for you.
You think she's cute, she goes out of her way to show that she appreciates you, doing things that distract her from her most important goal just to please you, but at the same time you wish she would go back to being as reserved as before, when she was just being a mere shadow
2B, for her part, she doesn't know what love is, but she hopes that as a human you can teach her so that she learns to fix her mistakes. She knows that she loves you, perhaps to a point that you consider unhealthy, because humans have a very soft concept of love for androids taste.
She may seem possessive, overwhelming, think that you will also come to think that she is terrifying if you catch her watching you sleep without her blindfold in your sleep time in the room that the resistance gave her, admit that it becomes strange, but for her it doesn't make much sense sleeping next to you if she doesn't need it and if she can see you in a calm state.
9S doesn't say anything, after all they both work together and he may be just as obsessed with you as she is, although she doesn't show it much. In conclusion, they are a good team, even more so when it comes to you.
— How do humans love?
One day, 9S asks you that question, notice how you look at him surprised, maybe you didn't expect a question like that from him, but you don't deny him the answer either.
— There are many forms of love —you explain, with a soft, almost tired tone— you see; there is family love, where you love your family in a platonic way, it is similar to the love you give to your friends, and for lovers, It is something more intimate, it is romantic, because you feel that person is your entire world when you truly love them.
Uh, humans are strange to have so many forms of love, 2B thinks, but she doesn't question it anymore, she knows that if she has to compare the love of androids for humans, it would obviously be the last one.
9S seems enlightened by that information, is happy with the answer and clings to it as the new definition of love. On the other hand, you smile at him, praying to God —does he still really exist?— that they don't do something crazy with what you just said.
Later, when 9S was forced to separate to make a report to his operator, 2B takes the opportunity to talk to you when you are about to sleep, she knows that you should sleep for a while soon, you have been too many hours since your last nap, but at the same time she wants to have a little more time with you.
— How do androids love? —she asks, and this time it surprises you, you didn't think 2B would be able to ask.
You're silent for a while, you want to tell her that if she doesn't know the answer, why you should know? You are not an android, you cannot tell them exactly the way they love because you only observe them from the outside, you do not know what they think or what they want to do.
So you answer for your experience.
— It's overwhelming —you answer, looking at the gray ceiling of the resistance room, it is dark due to the lack of light, but you know that despite that 2B can see you clearly— androids love each other like humans love each other, but the way androids love humans is completely different.
2B chooses not to say anything, giving you the floor.
— In my experience, the love they have given me scares me, I still receive letters and gifts from androids that are in the bunker, they reach the point of being stalkers —you express your displeasure a little further, letting yourself go— androids don't love humans, they're just programmed to, but it's not because they want to.
2B doesn't say anything, she scares you a little, but that's how she is.
The silence lasts for a while, neither of them choosing to speak, at the point where you almost fall asleep.
You feel 2B's hand caressing your face, a shiver runs through you as you feel her cold gloves, you think that under them it must be the same or worse.
— You're wrong —she corrects, you feel the mattress sink with the arrival of another weight lying down—, each of the androids loves you in their own way, it's not because they are forced to do so.
— Even you and 9S?
— Especially we —she states, surprising you— we don't love you because you're human, we love you because you're you.
You know that 2B can't fully express herself well since she isn't very assiduous about her feelings, but now more than ever you pray for her to specify.
— You are like a treasure —she confesses, you look at her confused in the darkness, but she doesn't tell you why— you are our reason to continue fighting, and if overwhelming you with our way of loving you means keeping you safe, so be it.
You don't speak, you feel a lump stuck in your throat that prevents you from formulating words, you are tense while you still feel 2B lying next to you, looking at you.
— Go to sleep.
You don't refute, not when she returns to her even, cold tone, you turn towards the wall, and close your eyes, you feel 2B settle into the mattress, but she doesn't get off it. For the first time you hope that when you wake up, she's not in the same room, watching you.
2B's love is different, it's so deep that it's scary, but you'll learn to live with it, by hook or by crook.