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6O let out a loud sigh, lying back on her bed. Why had she gone and gotten herself into trouble, just for her? She appreciated the gifts, sure, but she didn't need them that badly. Gods, had she hinted too much? Suddenly, in her mind, it was all her fault. She wanted to fling that damn scrapbook out of the engineering waste chute.
When she heard footsteps outside of the door, she knew exactly who they belonged to, and she practically bounded to the entrance.
“So, how was it?” she called around the corner, before her guest even had a chance to get within reach of the 'request access' panel.
“What do you mean? It wasn't a big deal, she simply told me not to do it again,” replied 2B, calmly, removing her combat visor.
“Are you kidding? She totally made such a big deal of it!”
“I think that was more for your benefit than mine,” said 2B, her lips curling upwards at the corners ever so slightly before moving to embrace her operator. “I asked for an exception to be made for you, anyway. It'll be alright, but we have to follow the proper procedures and declare all plant life to 17H at the hangar.”
“Oh, 2B... really? It's okay? And you're not in trouble?”
“I'm not in trouble,” she said, finding it very cute how much the other girl had been worrying. “Since you're pressing them for your book, they don't count as live specimens, so she doesn't mind.”
“Aw, I'm so relieved... for you, I mean! A-and I guess I'm happy you can keep bringing me them...” 6O stuttered out. “Hey, you know, if we keep up this pace, we'll have catalogued almost ten percent of all plant life on Earth!”
2B smiled. She'd go to the far ends of the planet to gather whatever 6O wanted, even though she would never ask her to do it.
“That's wonderful news,” she said. She didn't see the appeal of attempting to collect as many as possible, especially some of the non-flowering species, but she certainly did appreciate a lot of them. 6O always managed to preserve their beauty perfectly, as if they hadn't been pressed at all. It was almost as if you were looking in on their live counterpart down on the surface. 2B had once jested about taking small animals she thought 6O would find cute back to the Bunker to press too, and 6O had taken it all too seriously, protesting loudly. Sometimes it was fun being able to keep an entirely impassive visage in any situation, thought 2B.
“Oh, oh, can I show you? I finished up all my annotations and I've been matching up all the old sciencey names to the stuff we found this month, and it looks real nice, and...”
“Of course,” replied 2B, “but you'll have to let go first.”
“Oh, right! Sorry, you're just warm, and –”
“It's fine, 6O,” said the battle android, smirking as the slightly-taller-in-her-work-boots operator skipped across to her desk to pick up a large book, that looked almost like a solid slab by now. “Though, I think we're going to have to find you a new journal soon.”
“Yeah, maybe... this one's totally gonna burst soon,” 6O said, idly turning the pages between her fingers, before excitedly settling on one that held a plant with intense, purple dappled petals. “Okay, look, this one! You remember bringing this one back, right?”
“I do,” said 2B, recalling falling into a lake after attempting to grab it from the shoreline.
“I do too,” grinned 6O, herself recalling a most-unlike-2B squeal coming from her communications channel. “Well, anyways, I found out today that this one was apparently thought to be extinct for almost five-thousand years – how cool is that?!”
“Impressive,” said 2B, still unsure how to respond after all this time. “That makes you all the more lucky to have it for yourself, doesn't it?”
“Makes us all the more lucky,” corrected 6O with a pout. “We're both doing this! It's like... a record of us!”
“It is?”
“Yeah! Don't you pay attention to the stuff I write in it?”
2B took a brief moment to try to think of a fantastic excuse for why she hadn't, but none came.
“Of course you didn't,” whined 6O, playfully. “I don't just write about the plants, you know, I write about how you found them, what we talked about when you came back... that sorta stuff. It's kinda like a diary too. Some of the pages are just writing, because I wanted there to be something we left behind, if anything bad ever happens.”
“Oh,” mumbled 2B, a little embarrassed now.
“Aw, don't worry, I don't expect you to sit and read all my blabbering... you gotta listen to it all day, it wouldn't be fair to make you read it too, would it?”
“You don't blabber, I appreciate every minute with you.”
6O blushed a little, before resting her hand on top of 2B's.
“Well, when you put it like that, I guess I can let it slide,” she smiled, turning to kiss 2B, who graciously accepted. “But one day, there's a few pages I really want you to read, okay?”
“Mm, alright. Well, I'll have a lot to catch up on by the time we finish,” she said.
“Finish?”
“Well, this war won't last forever,” stated 2B, “and then we'll have all the time in the world when we're down there to make it one hundred percent, not ten.”
6O's eyes brimmed over with tears once the scale of that statement began to sink in.
“2B... you mean we're really gonna have a life there, together? Like... on Earth?”
2B genuinely seemed taken aback.
“What do you think I'm fighting for, 6O?”
“Um... well, we're reclaiming the planet for –”
“For us,” she said. “I'm fighting for us.”
6O stood up then, throwing her arms around her partner; her confidante; her best friend; her lover. Her head rested on 2B's shoulder, her tears soaking the fabric of her uniform.
“Sometimes I just can't believe you wanna do all this stuff with me, you know...”
“Well, you're the easiest to please,” said 2B, her tone of voice betraying nothing of the underlying teasing.
“Hey!” squeaked 6O, landing a gentle punch to 2B's opposite arm. “So mean...”
“I'll make it up to you,” said 2B, disentangling herself from 6O's embrace, and fidgeting with the satchel tied around her waist that she'd taken to wearing on her field missions. She reached inside it, pulling out a bundle of cloth tenderly. “I know you've been wanting this one for a while.”
As she gingerly unwrapped the fabric parcel, 6O's hands clapped to her mouth against her will. Inside the loosely padded cloth was –
“Oh my gosh... a lunar tear... that's why you said you were going off the map for a bit?”
The flower glowed softly in the dim artificial lighting still – of course, it wouldn't be able to do that once it was pressed, but 6O made sure to record the sight to her most permanent storage.
“It took a while to find one with such large petals,” said 2B, well versed in plant anatomy at this point. Not that she minded. Anything that pleased 6O was something well worth knowing.
“It's so beautiful, 2B... you're so wonderful, you know that?”
2B remained silent. Taking compliments still wasn't her forte, and she blushed herself.
“Thank you... so much. For everything. Not just this, but... but what it means, you know? I can't believe... oh, 2B...” 6O said, dissolving into happy, elated sobs.
I would do anything for you, thought 2B, unable to choke the words out for fear of crying herself. Anything.
“It'll be okay until morning,” sniffled 6O, putting the flower to one side of the book on her desk. “You're staying here tonight, right?”
“Of course I am,” replied 2B calmly, brushing away a tear from 6O's cheek with the back of her gloved finger.
“Hey, 2B?”
“What is it?”
“You're crying...”
She hadn't even felt the tear roll down her cheek, but she did feel 6O kiss it away.
“We're such total messes,” whispered the operator, a giggle catching in her throat. “Let's rest for now, okay?”
2B let her take the reins, as she usually did. As much as her role on the battlefield dictated that she take the lead there, she was much more suited to the passenger's seat as far as her and 6O's relationship went. She was so much happier there, too.
“Yeah,” she said, moving in tandem with her partner, as they waltzed languidly towards her bed. “Let's.”