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There was no sun on Edens Zero.
No golden rays filtering through the curtains.
No morning breeze or chirping to announce the beginning of a new day.
Just silence.
One of those dense, suspended silences typical of deep space. A muffled silence, broken only by the distant hum of the engines and a few pulsing lights on the wall panel. A silence that forces you to breathe slowly, as if every sound could disturb something sacred.
Weisz opened his eyes slowly, with that lazy slowness that comes after a night that changes something.
He didn't move immediately. He remained there, lying naked under the light sheets, still enveloped in the warmth of her body next to his.
Hermit.
He turned sideways, his face still half-obscured by the dim light of the cabin. He saw her curled up against him, her slender back exposed, her shoulder blades barely protruding, as if carved from the finest porcelain. Her long hair, that brilliant blue with its green undertones, was spread across the pillow and down his arm, like strands of electric silk.
She was asleep. He was sure she wasn't faking it, judging by the whiteness of the typically bright red lines on her cheeks, indicating she was in active sleep mode.
She was breathing softly, almost imperceptibly, but Weisz was now quite familiar with the small movements of her chest, the slow throbbing of her core, like an electronic heart at peace.
And then there was that detail that made him smile softly: her left leg, bare and slender, was intertwined with his.
Hermit. So tiny, so perfect.
"I slept with her. I really... fuck..."
The realization came slowly into his mind, and settled on him like a gentle weight. There was no shame. There was no anxiety. No perversion. Just a kind of deep warmth that had settled in his chest, like a small, bright star.
He reached out a hand, extremely delicately, and caressed her exposed back. The skin was smooth, cold at the first touch, but then warmed slightly, following his heat. His fingers ran down her spine, slowly, brushing the fragile curves of the vertebrae, the small muscles beneath the skin.
The girl moved slightly, an involuntary shiver, as if she had felt the touch even in her sleep. She didn't wake, but her body adapted to the slow caress, yielding a little more, relaxing.
"It's not a dream," the blond thought, almost enchanted.
"It's Her. And She's here."
He couldn't stop looking at her. The gentle curve of her hips, the profile of her face partially hidden by her long hair. Her small hands cupped under her cheek, almost protectively. And her skin: that pale, smooth skin, barely luminescent in the artificial light of the cabin, as if it had been built to be perfect... but also terribly human.
The contrast was disarming.
She was a mechanical creature, yes. But everything about her spoke of intimacy, of gentleness, of trust.
And Weisz found himself smiling. Wondering how on earth he, a mechanic a little too grumpy, a little too "old-fashioned," too human, too... too much, had deserved her.
His fingers stopped at the base of Hermit's back, where the blanket began to rise, leaving him to imagine the rest. A shiver ran down his spine, but this time it wasn't physical desire.
It was something more.
A sense of protection. Of deep tenderness. Of belonging.
He leaned in slowly, his lips resting on her bare shoulder blade, leaving a silent kiss. The taste of her skin was still there, sweet, foreign yet terribly familiar, like the scent of a room you want to stay in forever.
Hermit made a small movement, the faintest sound. She turned her body slightly toward him, her eyes still closed, and murmured something in a whisper that slipped between sleep and wakefulness.
"...Weisz...are you still here?"
Her voice, hoarse and thick with sleep, was more human than ever.
The blond smiled at her, leaning closer, intertwining his fingers with hers.
"Yes...where else should I be?"
She didn't respond. She simply squeezed his hand gently, and fell back into a light, peaceful sleep.
Weisz sank down beside her, his face hidden in her blue hair. It smelled of mint and something sweet. Her breathing slowed.
Hermit, from curled up
Her small body slowly stretched out, first her legs, then her arms, then her back, which arched slightly. A kind of elegant stretch, like a lazy feline but with the face of a sleepy bunny.
The boy looked at her, holding his breath, as if he were about to break something precious just by being there.
The robot turned around. Slowly, with a small, barely perceptible smile. Her straight blue hair fell messily down one shoulder, framing her face. Her eyes were still slightly closed, shadowed by sleep.
But they shone.
She smiled at him.
And slowly, without haste. Then she raised herself on her arms, and without another word, she climbed on top of him. Taking him by surprise.
She did it with that almost unreal grace she'd always had, even when she walked, even when she fought. As if every movement were choreographed in a dance.
The sheets slipped away, revealing her slender, petite figure, her small, firm breasts that barely moved as she leaned toward him.
She straddled his pelvis, her thighs against his hips, and leaned on her hands, one on the right and one on the left of his chest.
"Good morning, Professor."
Weisz blinked. "...Good morning?"
The blue girl giggled, tilting her head to the side, and the blond couldn't stop looking at her.
The way the soft light from the room caressed the curves of her body, the way her hair fell to her shoulders like threads of water, the way her blue eyes gazed at him with a calm, almost hypnotic intensity.
She seemed like a creature made of something different. Something that couldn't be explained by technology and circuits alone.
He hadn't given it much thought in those years, or maybe it was the intensity of the moment they were living that accentuated it all, but she really was so beautiful.
"You know, you could shut up? "Otherwise flies will get in," Hermit said with a teasing smile.
"It's... it's just... damn, you're beautiful."
The words came out unfiltered. Too sincere to be polished.
The robot looked surprised for a moment, then lowered her gaze, with a half-smile that wasn't just vanity.
"You never say that to me like that."
"Well... th-then I have to," Weisz whispered almost shyly, bringing a hand to touch her thigh, tracing a thin line with his thumb. "Yes, I have to tell you more often."
She lowered herself a little, leaning against his chest, her chin resting on the backs of her hands. Their foreheads almost touched.
"I know you're trying not to look too much," the girl said, gently nibbling her lower lip and circling her finger over his chest. "But you can do it. I think we've seen each other...completely, that's it..."
Weisz laughed, caught in the act. A slightly strangled laugh, nervous, but happy. "It's just... I keep thinking this is a dream. And as soon as I move, you… vanish.”
Hermit didn't answer right away. She looked at him. Really. With a long, attentive gaze, without shyness.
Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the tip of his nose.
"Then don't move," she whispered, while slowly, like a caress coming to life, she began to run her fingertips along the line of his neck.
The human swallowed. "…What do you have in mind?"
The girl didn't answer right away. She was following every curve of his collarbone with geometric precision, the skin warm under her fingertips. She leaned down slightly, letting a lock of hair fall onto her face, while her bright eyes ran along his bare chest… then she stopped.
She closed her eyes halfway.
She placed her index finger on a red, slightly swollen spot just below his left shoulder.
Then another.
And another.
And then a well-defined bite on the side of his neck, below her ear.
Hermit frowned with an innocent, inquisitive expression, as if she'd just discovered a secret code written on her boyfriend's body.
"...Oh."
A silence.
Then a grimace.
"...Oops."
Weisz gave her a look that was somewhere between amusement and resignation.
"Let me guess: bite mode activated?"
The girl laughed softly, her voice a little hoarse and lazy. "Maybe a little. But you're too easy to bite, Weisz."
"That explains the battlefield on my chest."
Hermit rose slightly, kneeling over him, her ombre hair falling softly to her shoulders, messy and fluffy, and she slowly panned her gaze over his chest. She'd left a literal constellation of hickeys and bites. It looked like someone had tried to draw a star map with over-enthusiastic kisses.
"Oh no… this is the map of the entire Cosmos, isn't it?" she joked, caressing the darkest spot.
"Only if one of these planets has teeth as sharp as yours."
The girl collapsed onto him with a light laugh, resting her chin on his chest. "You have incredibly sensitive skin, you know that? A real dream for a very affectionate little robot like me."
"A Dream, huh?" Weisz raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended.
"I remember a certain bite of yours back in Foresta. When it was just you and me."
Hermit's eyes widened. "I was just kidding and trying to diffuse the situation a bit, it was a light bite."
"You almost took a piece of my battle suit off."
"But not your skin!" she retorted proudly.
The boy laughed, running a hand through her hair and looking at her with warm eyes. "I admit... I kind of missed those bites."
She looked up, flashing a smile that seemed innocent... but wasn't at all.
"Do you want me to stay more quiet next time?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped. Then he ran a hand down his neck, feeling the marks his girlfriend had left with a half-smile of embarrassment.
"Maybe just a little less enthusiasm around the collarbone. I wouldn't want to have to wear a neck warmer on a tropical planet."
The blue girl snuggled against him again, smiling slyly.
"I don't promise anything."
"Well, at least you're honest."
Yet, the way he said it, Weisz didn't seem annoyed at all.
In fact, he seemed satisfied. Proud, even, of wearing those marks. Because they told a story only the two of them knew.
And there, in the absence of a dawn, in a bed suspended among the stars, the human realized that something had changed forever.
He was no longer a boy with a crush or a kink for some girl around.
He was a boy in love. In love with his Hermit.
And he had no intention of leaving.