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Ash sighed. To the outside observer, it would look as though his hand was glitching. In reality, he was coding a glitch. Or at least trying to. He just wanted Squiddo to see.
Squiddo was a half-blind rosy maple moth hybrid. She was kind, funny, sweet… just perfect. Also, she was Ash’s girlfriend. Did he mention she was half-blind? She could only see blurry versions of reality, using her antennae and sense of touch to move around. For her credit, she was calm about it. She didn’t much care about seeing. But Ash wanted her to see, just for a little while.
The glitch sparked under his fingers. He cursed and drew his hand back. Fucking glitches. They were so temperamental sometimes. He just wanted to help his girlfriend see. Was that too much to ask? The glitch sparked again before going completely still. Ash smiled. He’d done it.
“Squiddo?” He called.
“Yes, dear?” Squiddo replied, turning in his direction.
Her antennae twitched and she honed in on where Ash was, coming closer.
“I made a temporary glitch,” Ash explained.
Squiddo beamed, her wings fluttering. “What does it do?”
“It’ll allow you to see. For just a little while. But I know you’ve wanted to, so…” Ash held out a hand, the glitch flickering above it.
“You— you really figured it out?” Squiddo said softly, her wings stilling.
“I did. Only if you want to, though. It wasn’t that hard,” Ash said, lying through his teeth.
She looked conflicted. Ash could understand. She’d spent her whole life blind. Now… did she really want to see? Ash waited for her reaction, lowering his hand. She took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yeah. Hit me with it,” Squiddo said bravely.
Ash summoned the glitch above his hand again, reaching up. Squiddo closed her eyes and Ash trailed his glitching fingers over them. Once the glitch had faded, Ash pulled his hand away and dragged her outside.
“Open your eyes,” he said, hoping and praying she’d enjoy it.
She opened her eyes and gasped. She stared around, tilting her head first at the sky, then at the ground. She leaned down to inspect a flower. She looked like a kid in a candy store as she traced its red-and-gold petals.
“There’s so many colors,” she whispered.
Ash decided to stay silent. He smiled too, though. She was happy. That’s all that mattered to him.
“The trees are so many shades of green,” Squiddo gasped. “And— the flowers aren’t just one color and—oh my void.”
She turned around to thank Ash and froze. Her gaze flicked across his body, his face, lingering on his eyes and the glitched side of his face. She gazed at him with reverence, eyes filled with awe.
“Do you—?” Ash asked nervously.
“You’re beautiful,” Squiddo interrupted.
Ash found himself blushing. She stepped closer, still staring at him, tilting her head curiously.
“Thank you. Um. Do you like it?” Ash asked.
“Are you kidding?! I love it!” Squiddo exclaimed.
She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. He smiled into it, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. She rested her head on his shoulder.
“The glitch will end soon,” Ash warned.
Squiddo leaned up to look directly at him when she spoke.
“It’s okay. I’ve seen all I needed to.”