Chapter Text
In the abandoned ruins, after their first kiss, An Zhe stood next to the bed where Lu Feng slept, knowing he should leave now. Lu Feng was already unconscious, laying peacefully on the bed. His spore was also ready for him to leave, he could do nothing more for either of them. Yet he wanted to. He deeply yearned to stay here in this moment, and finally felt what could be defined as human selfishness.
He understood why, now, humans would do things that could only hurt them. It was so tempting. Could he now be considered an honorary human being?
An Zhe could not bring himself to leave. He was going to die and Lu Feng was going to be his witness. He would be selfish and hurt this wonderful man a little bit more. His legs had begun to quiver where he stood, so he moved to lay next to Lu Feng on the bed.
An Zhe could find something to live for, just a little longer now.
He was reminded how much of a bastard Lu Feng was when he awoke to his cheek being pinched by 2 cold fingers. He found that he was lying across Lu Feng’s legs.
“You didn’t leave?” Lu Feng asked him as soon as he awoke. Fingers gripped his chin, moving his head side to side. An Zhe hummed in response, his hands already moving to pet the much larger spore between them. Then, Lu Feng pulled his chin up and kissed him. He did not seem so upset about being drugged.
“You don’t want to come back to the base?”
“I don’t”
“But you’re not leaving?”
An Zhe thought for a moment, then nodded. He wanted to stay because of Lu Feng.
They still had a little while until people came to collect Lu Feng, yet neither of them felt the need to do much but lay there and talk. They were at a truce. An Zhe could not hurt Lu Feng, and Lu Feng refused to hurt him. It was unsure how the base would treat An Zhe upon his return.
“It might not be safe,” Lu Feng warned, fingers moving to tug An Zhe’s shirt back down where it had rolled up, then he continued, “For both of us.”
Now, they were next to each other, sitting up together. An Zhe’s head was against Lu Feng's shoulder. Lu Feng’s coat was draped across their legs and the spore had moved under Lu Feng’s shirt.
“So you're not going to kill me?”
“Why would I? You're subjectively human, remember?”
An Zhe’s eyes widened, and his surprise seemed to make Lu Feng so happy. The jjudge was so happy that An Zhe felt himself be pulled into yet another deep kiss. They were in an abandoned city, nearing the end of the world, but right now it was just them. Their world was just this little room. Here, there were no human bases, and the Arbiter didn’t have to be here. Here, they were simply Lu Feng and An Zhe.
They sat in silence for some time. They had slowly built an understanding, but now was peaceful, anymore words and they would shatter the fragileness of the moment.
Lu Feng turned on his communicator and called Dr. Ji, “I found him.”
There was a muffled thump before the blonde doctor’s voice rattled through the small radio, “An Zhe? I thought I told you…are you planning on bringing him back along with the spore?”
“Mn.”
“Lu Feng you can't just do that!” Dr Ji’s voice had gotten loud enough that it cut off. The doctor went on a long rant about Lu Feng just doing “whatever he wants regardless of others or consequences!”
But Dr Ji. was right and so was Lu Feng. An Zhe did not want to go back to the base, it was dangerous and no longer held anything happy except for the human currently beside him. An Zhe had already been selfish in refusing to leave an hour ago, he could not bring himself to be more selfish. To ask Lu Feng to instead stay with him. Don’t go back to the base. No one will know. They would be utterly free from expectation. An Zhe knew these were just useless wishes of his. This could not happen because Lu Feng needed to protect the base. Because he was a good, loyal human.
“Then figure something out,” Lu Feng snapped at him, then quickly followed up, “When will you be here?”
There was a deep shuddering sigh, “2 hours out, you bastard. See you soon.” With that, Lu Feng’s communicator shut off, and they were alone once more in the quiet. An Zhe felt another wave of exhaustion wash over him, and soon fell asleep against Lu Feng.
Lu Feng stayed quietly awake the whole time. One hand would rest on An Zhe, while the other carefully pet the spore. It was so large now, but he worried. With distortion, there would likely come a day that these two could no longer stay together safely. An Zhe knew he might not even be allowed into the base as it currently stood.
It was three hours later that Xi Bei knocked on the door saying that people had arrived at their building, and then another few minutes that Lu Feng took to appreciate An Zhe’s resting face before he shook the young man awake.
Xi Bei, Lu Feng, and An Zhe walked together downstairs, but An Zhe was made to wait before entering the other people’s sight. They might recognize him, after all. Xi Bei looked slightly confused, but did not mention it.
Dr Ji climbed out of one of the cars and strode over, “Arbiter Lu Feng. The Base welcomes you. Is he…?”
Lu Feng nods, as Dr Ji walks over to examine them. “Much of our technology has been destroyed by the distortion. We are in our final days. You…it would probably be better if you stayed away,” he murmured.
However, there was a present witness who did not need to see this. So Dr Ji moved his attention there and said, “Lets—lets get you all back to the base…” Somehow he was able to force his features into a bright smile, “What’s your name?"
Xi Bei gave his name, and went to the cars. He only looked back once at the building that held his last family.
The doctor turned towards An Zhe the moment Xi Bei was gone, “You can change at will?” With a nod, Dr Ji continued, “If you switch to your mushroom form, we can smuggle you in with the spore, for now. The base is in a state of turmoil.”
An Zhe should not have been selfish.
“Having regrets?” Lu Feng teased, clearly attempting to poke fun at him.
His hyphae were slightly less white, but especially compared to his young spore. He was scared and ashamed, he did not want Lu Feng to see him like this. Not only was he a xenogenic, but he was an ugly, dying one. There was no point in staying so long, he should have abandoned Lu Feng in his sleep.
An Zhe’s train of thought was cut off by a coat being wrapped around him.
“Don’t worry. I'm not scared. I’ll carry you and the spore in this. It's okay.”
An Zhe wanted to roll his eyes. The Judge acted like he knew the situation completely. But he didn't. There was no way to know, yet…An Zhe read an emotion he had seen previously in the Arbiter’s green eyes, worry.
With Lu Feng’s support, An Zhe transformed his body into the soft mycelium. Dr. Ji’s eyes still managed to widen in awe of his control. An Zhe felt a chill go down his spine—this doctor wanted to pull him apart and run more tests. The staring was cut off by the perpetuator being glared at by a certain someone.
An Zhe’s senses became cloudy, but he could recognize the warm coat around him, and the sturdy arms that held him inside it. There was another feeling that accompanied it, like the warmth of someone’s chin.
How nice.
Then, Lu Feng and Dr Ji got into the car, and so began their travels back to the North Base. Like before, the journey was by no means smooth and it took them another day to arrive. An Zhe was almost surprised that the car had not broken down by the time that they arrived.
Occasionally An Zhe would fall asleep, then be jolted awake by a large bump—>solely because Lu Feng would move to stabilize him.
Then they arrived.