Work Text:
A large door greets Banyue, one he routinely heads to after completing an assignment. Some passing employees snuck glances at his metallic frame on the way. No matter how many times they see each other at work, the sight seems to remain striking to them.
It hardly slows him down, and after a few quick greetings, he's soon inside the office of his senior.
Glass walls surround them while computer screens illuminate the room almost as much as the lamps themselves. And the person he's here to speak with remains laser-focused on the spreadsheets she's currently editing.
When his massive arm pulls a chair from the corner, the sound alerts her. The sudden motion making her large ears sway lightly.
"Oh, there you are, Banyue!” She turns her own seat around to properly address him.
“Good afternoon, Miss Zhao.” His synthetic voice remains as steady as ever. “I'm here for our last operation’s review.”
She recognizes the familiar effort behind his words. Nearly everything about Banyue had been designed to intimidate, yet he still makes a point of being courteous.
“Great. Report then,” she says, already taking a pen and a clipboard to begin taking notes of his statements.
With that, Banyue straightens in his seat.
"Investigation into that site in the slums of Failume confirmed the involved parties to be in violation of T.O.P.S. compliance.” His glowing eyes lock on to hers, showing the usual utmost dedication to his current task. “Unauthorized extraction operation."
Zhao check a few boxes and adds notes in accordance.
"Do you have evidence of your conclusions?” she asks, tilting her head a little.
"Falsified credentials and residual materials in key locations,” he answers right away. “All processed by our team and logged in the report."
With a turn of the page, she finds the corresponding information and checks it with a satisfied smile.
“Excellent. Judgement?" she continues.
“Delivered on-site.” He nods as he says it. “Responsible parties were apprehended or neutralized. Their equipment was dismantled as well."
Her gaze lowers yet again to the section matching the information he gives.
“Any casualties?" She moves on with a half-playful half-neutral tone.
“None. The situation was contained efficiently,” he answers with the same energy as everything else he's been asked for.
That was the last of the boxes to check.
As far as Zhao is concerned, the review is over. Her spreadsheet awaits her.
"Report matches. Very well, I see nothing out of the ordinary,” she says with finality. “If that is all, you're dismissed."
But when she starts turning around, he doesn't move from his seat.
"Actually... if Miss Zhao would allow me…” he continues, “there's something else I needed to discuss before dismissal.”
That statement makes her stop and turn her attention to him again.
It seems the sheet might have to wait a bit.
"Oh. Hmmm…” She glances at her monitor, and then back at the automaton. “Well, I wasn't expecting this, so… make it brief if you can, Banyue. What do you want to talk about?"
He takes a small moment to gather his thoughts.
The way he leans forward gives her little confidence that this will be brief.
From the corner of her vision, she catches a familiar figure walking by the office. Her bright attire and twintails never fail to stand out among the rest of their staff. Though she appears to be walking faster than usual.
“I'm a bit concerned about… hum…” Banyue also takes notice of their friend behind him across the glass, and turns to address her. “Hello, Dialyn. I was hoping to…”
“Oh, bite me!” She yells.
Her steps hasten even more.
And soon, there's no Dialyn around.
Zhao and the automaton are left in silence.
She notices how even a few employees in the hallways stare at Dialyn as she turns the corner, utterly taken aback.
Nothing about their most recent jobs together even suggested a reaction of this magnitude was coming. Now, it's especially clear to her this isn't just an everyday matter. Briefness starts looking like an unlikely prospect.
That's when she sees Banyue turning back.
“That… is what I'm concerned about,” he concludes.
Zhao blinks a few times in confusion. Her mouth opens to respond, but nothing comes out. Except for the subsequent faint giggle that escapes her before she can stop it.
“Wow... what a response!” Suddenly her posture relaxes, seemingly more amused now. “What did you do to get her so angry?”
"I do not know,” he answers a bit despondently. “She has been acting differently in recent operations, but something I did today appears to have significantly increased her displeasure towards me."
While her spreadsheet's finalization might be delayed thanks to this, Zhao finds she doesn't particularly mind it anymore. The opportunity feels too good to pass up.
So she shifts in her seat, preparing her arguments.
"Haaah... well, Banyue,” she begins, placing her clipboard and pen on her soft-looking legs, "you know it's not really my job to mediate your personal issues. I could maybe try to identify inefficiencies, but… I can't guarantee that will help.”
The man before her rises a little, his motions indicating what might be hope blooming in his mind.
“I'm willing to try that. Please do,” he tells her.
Zhao shrugs at that, accepting the task.
If an efficiency review is what he wants, she'll give him one to end all others. And if it eradicates an issue with her team's workflow, even better.
“Well, in that case…” She abruptly stands up in her chair, placing her office materials back on her desk. “Lift me please. Up there.”
Her head motions to a tall shelf with black wooden boxes by his side.
Banyue clocks the same practice they occasionally engage in whenever a less ordinary problem shows up at her desk.
Wordlessly, he holds his arm before her, parallel to the floor. When she climbs in to sit on it, he stands up from his chair and turns his small coworker to face said shelf.
Zhao then fully stands up on his arm to begin rummaging through the boxes.
“There's got to be something here.” A few blows clear some of the dust off. “Surely somebody else went through a mess like this…”
“Miss Zhao,” Banyue calls her from behind. “Are you sure you don't want me to just grab the file for you?”
His superior doesn't look away from the contents of the box she's currently scanning, one with a large “MISCELLANEOUS” written on its side.
“It's not just one. And I don't remember where I put them.” Her tone says her focus is to remain unbroken. “Just give me a moment.”
“But could I not simply take the whole box for you?” he questions. “I can just put it back myself when we're do…”
“Ah! Here!” She cuts him off, holding a set of papers up. “Alright, put me down now.”
“Hum… understood.” Banyue complies with her command.
He notices the box the document was in is left crooked to the side. Still moving his superior back to her chair, he wonders if this is how she reminds herself to put everything back in its rightful place. And whether this means she'll ask him to be her forklift again soon.
“Very well… let's start from the beginning then.” Flipping a few pages of the file, she sits more comfortably to hear him out. “What has working with Dialyn been like?”
“She is a reliable partner, and I enjoy my time with her.” He also sets himself back on his chair. “I was previously under the impression she shared the same view of me, but I’m no longer sure of that.”
Zhao raises an eyebrow. A retelling like that seems contradictory to her.
If their interactions had been friendly so far, that likely means there was no immediately perceived offense on the automaton's part, be it from him or his assigned judge. Otherwise, he would've mentioned something. Which points to the disruption being unintentional.
“You mentioned she was acting differently before.” She elects to pry for more indicators. “How so?”
“She has begun acting distant whenever a mission escalates into hostilities." Banyue details with the efficiency she already expects of him. “At first, I assumed it was unrelated, maybe something personal. However, I later observed that it occurs consistently when more dangerous engagements break out.”
That spikes his superior's attention.
“Interesting… keep going,” she requests, sensing a pattern. “Do you identify that over the entire day or is it only after a fight occurs?”
“It seems to happen closer to when there’s a fight.” Unsurprisingly, he doesn't take any time to recall the experience and answer her. “Never before.”
“Does she stay like that for a long time after the fight?” she presses on.
“Yes. Usually for a few hours,” he says readily.
Now she's practically certain that's where the problem lies.
Still, she can't quite see the issue at first glance. Ever since joining Krampus, Banyue had been an exemplary employee. Respectful, compliant and diligent with his duties. If anything, his greatest flaw tended to be excessive self-sacrificial tendencies, resulting in recurring trips to maintenance for damaged parts.
She cannot imagine anything about his behavior sticking out as aggravating. Maybe Dialyn's conflicting tendencies could be causing attrition between them, but that seemed long past them to Zhao.
All signs seem to point to the fighting occasions however. So zeroing in on those seems to her like the obvious next step.
“Hmmm…” She crosses her arms while holding her chin up, soon deciding what to inquire next. “What are your methods for when there’s a fight? Describe them to me.”
“I engage combat protocols, focus on neutralizing hostiles, and provide protection when I determine my assigned judge in danger,” he describes everything in his monotone voice.
One item in that list finally gives Zhao something concrete to investigate.
“That last one…” she calls out. “Define ‘provide protection.’”
Banyue wastes no time.
“I utilize my larger frame to intercept incoming damage and projectiles,” he says matter-of-factly. “Usually with my arms or torso.”
That description requires a bit of clarification, she feels.
“You’re saying you take the hits for her?” Zhao asks.
“Correct.” He nods in confirmation. “I can always replace my parts, so ensuring she remains unharmed is my priority.”
Zhao's ears twitch. Her clipboard is lowered.
“I assume this occurred today as well?” The pattern she suspected begins assuming a coherent form in her mind. “Hostile engagement, her needing protection…”
“It did.” He sounds completely oblivous to the conclusion she is arriving at.
“Walk me through it.” She leans in on her chair.
“At a given point in the engagement, multiple hostiles pointed guns at us from several angles,” the automaton begins his recounting of events. “As I couldn’t secure a single direction of approach, I wrapped my arms around her and shielded her with my entire body. Once we had some breathing room, I…”
“Wait, stop right there.” Zhao hurriedly cuts in. “You… wrapped your arms around her?"
“Yes, I did,” he states.
To her, what she heard before sounds too funny to be true. So much so that the obvious must be reiterated.
“Are you saying you hugged her?” she asks.
“Yes,” he replies.
“And you did that… in front of the rest of your team?” Her internal laughter is close to bursting out.
“Yes,” he confirms again.
Zhao's restraints begin cracking.
The entire situation suddenly clicks into place, and the answer to this conundrum turns out to be both far more mundane and entertaining than Zhao expected. From the way her coworker demonstrated all the makings of a hopelessly dense construct to the mortifying scenarios he must've been subjecting his judge to. Probably on a monthly basis too.
Dear to her as her team is, Zhao can't help herself delighting in the embarrassed look Dialyn probably had upon returning to HQ. She can practically picture the looks she must have received from the rest of the team afterwards. That alone sounds aggravating enough to make the her want to disappear.
She holds back on furthering the poor woman's humiliation as best she can.
“I… s-see…” A visible giggle still escapes her as she tries making her point as politely as possible. “Th-that's… hum… enlightening, Banyue.”
The automaton's head tilts a bit in confusion.
“May I ask what you find amusing about this?” he asks without an ounce of embarrassment.
His obliviousness does little to quell the trembling in Zhao's lips, but she manages to mostly settle down.
“No, y-you… ahem… you may not.” Her strained answer finally comes out. “Let's focus, yeah?”
Though he wants to argue what her reaction is about, his priorities currently lie in repairing his relationship with Dialyn. So he drops that line of inquiry for now.
“You see, Banyue… I have an idea of what might be the issue.” Though her voice returns to its practical tone, the smile in her face remains. “But it's not something I have the expertise or the time to handle.”
“Hmmm…” The automaton's graze drops.
He begins wondering what his alternatives are since this seems to lie beyond his wiser coworker's scope.
“Still…” She cuts through his hopelessness. "This is clearly affecting your efficiency."
Her words draw his eyes back to her.
“And as your senior,” she continues, “that makes it my problem too.”
The way she expresses herself leaves him a tiny bit concerned.
“So what I'll do is apply corrective measures to see that this is resolved in a timely manner.” Her wording sounds final in tone. “You know… so we can get back to work.”
Part of him grows agitated. He and Dialyn had both witnessed Zhao's approach to workplace problems before. She was known for solving problems efficiently, not necessarily gently.
“U-understood,” he says. “What type of corrective measures?”
No verbal answer is given.
Her smile merely widens in response.
He doesn't quite like the meaning of this look.
“Hum… Miss Zha…?” His nervous question isn't allowed to be fully voiced.
“Yimin?” She interrupts him, pressing a soft finger into the internal comms button.
“Yes, Miss Zhao?” A feminine voice comes out through the speaker near it.
“Bring judge Dialyn to the interrogation room, please.” Her command sounds brisk and unfeeling. “Tell her it concerns… let's see… team efficiency and cohesion.”
Internally, Banyue begins wondering whether the issue had been more severe than he initially assumed. And whether he'll be in trouble after this.
{🦁☎️}
The slam of the heavy metal door behind them startles the employees. Except for the one still sitting in the previous room.
“Hum… Zhao? W-what is…?” Dialyn reacts first, slightly off put.
Her and Banyue faintly hear their senior struggling to reach a tall microphone before her voice comes in through the speakers, amused and uncaring to their state of confusion.
“You two will remain there until this is resolved,” she states with finality. “Or until Dialyn starves, whichever comes first.”
The judge doesn't take long to question this logic in her mind.
“W-what?!” She's soon eyeing the one-way mirror, knowing her target lies just beyond it. “Zhao, you… you can't be serious. Open this door right now!”
“No.” She sounds firm, hellbent even. “Work. It. Out.”
Her next words nearly have Dialyn breaking the barrier between them.
“I will be on my break if you need me.” That is all they hear before the line is severed.
Upon hearing that, Dialyn stands frozen, unable to believe Zhao's audacity with this move. Locking her up in her own headquarters feels too far, even by her ruthless work-oriented standards.
But from inside their highly secured white cell, one meant to hold potentially dangerous individuals still for questioning, there's very little she can do about this situation that doesn't involve destroying the door entirely.
Or worse, asking her dense automaton coworker for help.
“Aaargh…” Dialyn groans, plopping herself on one of two available chairs in the room. “She's… just the worst!”
Nearby, Banyue's machinery whirs as he processes the sight of his defeated judge. Her noticeable distress beckons him to say something to help.
As he steps a bit closer from around the singular table, she tries her best to ignore the comforting familiarity of the sounds his joints and pistons emit.
“Given that threatening your life within her own workplace would be professionally indefensible, I believe Miss Zhao wasn’t being serious.” His voice sounds calming, meant to soothe the spike in her mood. “It is unlikely she intends to starve…”
“Gosh, I know that!” Dialyn’s head snaps at him, instantly conveying his failure. “You’re missing the point! Again!”
That reprimand hits him square in his posture.
His frame shifts downwards a little, signaling the thwarting of his efforts. The instinct to shield her from any and all problems had guided his decisions even now, yet in this moment, it feels like it only drives the invisible wall between them higher.
“I… apologize,” he says softly.
The contrast of the genuine tone of despondency with the synthesized voice she so often associates with the sense of unfaltering will almost brings her to feel guilt over the place she's putting him.
It isn't enough however. His actions have consequences, whether he intends them or not.
“Hmph!” She holds her ground, turning her head away as the sharp puff of air leaves her.
“But…” Banyue continues, "I do not believe I understand what the point even is, Dialyn.”
She keeps her frustrated gaze averted, fixed on the wall.
“You know…” Her voice carries a tinge of bitter irony. “For someone with a synthetic brain, you sure lack in basic research capabilities.”
“Well, not all automatons are equipped with full internet integration,” he replies, shoulders rising in amusement over that topic.
She smirks weakly at that statement.
The silence that stretches between them feels a little lighter than before after this interaction. Which, to Banyue, seems as good an opportunity as any to address the matter that brought them here.
“Dialyn,” he calls, voice heavy with care.
She doesn't look up immediately, shoulders still tense and body motions showing her resistance against the urge to give him an inch.
“What?” she eventually says flatly.
“Are you upset,” he hesitates for a second, only to push himself and take the risk. “because I embraced you during our last mission?”
At that moment, a sudden fierce heat rushes to Dialyn's face. As if Zhao's stunt wasn't enough humiliation, now she feels painfully self-conscious and exposed on top of it.
“Huh?! W-w-why would you even think that?!” she demands in a panic, voice rising an octave.
“It is the most recent event that I feel may be related to this attrition between us,” Banyue explains humbly, but also looking almost oblivious to the emotional storm behind her reaction. “And… upon review, it is the most likely cause of your reaction.”
Dialyn's stare goes unbroken for several seconds before she starts moving again.
“You…” She raises her legs to hug them on her seat, hiding her face behind her knees. “Do you really… believe that?”
“I believe it may have caused you distress.” Banyue's glowing eyes search hers for answers as he speaks. “I'm just unsure as to why.”
Her grip around herself tightens. A spark of irritation cuts through her. At how oblivious the man seems to be to her plight.
“It’s just…” She forces herself to explain it. “It's a very inappropriate thing to do to a coworker.”
“But you were in danger.” The automaton counters without hesitation.
“I know that…” she says mildly pressed.
“And I cannot, in good conscience, allow harm to come to you,” he adds seamlessly, as if that idea came to him without compromise.
“Yes, I kno…” Dialyn's words die in her throat as she registers his line fully. “W-wait, what?! No, that’s… there! See? That right there is the problem!”
Banyue notices her voice rising again and how her hands cover her face as signs that he is failing in his reasoning.
“The fact that I can be repaired and you cannot?” he asks, sounding detached enough to make her even angrier.
“No, you dumb metalhead!” she snaps in her irritation.
“Then what is the issue?” he asks, the insult going over his head entirely.
For a second, she looks like she won’t say anything.
“It’s… that you keep treating me like that! Like I’m… special, or something!” Dialyn’s voice finally cracks, showing a vulnerable side he’d never seen before in his partner. “And you won’t even be clear about why!”
That makes the automaton pause in surprise.
“You just… act however you want!” she continues, exasperation evident in her tone. “And I'm the one left wondering what any of that means! You’re putting the weight of this entire thing on me!”
He hadn’t considered that possibility. In following his values, he had quietly decided on acting this way for her sake, but now it’s clear that decision may have been making things more difficult rather than less.
“There! Do you understand now?!” She glares at him, redness still painting her face.
Though he doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she sees him avert his eyes wordlessly, as if reconsidering her feelings for the first time since they’ve known each other. The silence lingers, heavy enough to make Dialyn wonder if she'd finally pushed him too far.
“You… hmph!” Frustrated, she turns away from him in her seat with a sharp puff of air.
“I… believe I do.” Banyue then says.
“Of course you don’t…!” Her retort is halted as her brain catches up with his words. “Wait. What?”
“If clarity is what you're missing, I can give you that,” he murmurs.
The resolute tone his voice reaches isn’t lost on her.
Suddenly, she becomes very aware of his short stride towards her chair. Her eyes widen as he kneels down for his gaze to meet hers. She mostly only watches the scene without expectations, but a distant part of her begins growing anxious.
“Here's what is true,” he begins his explanation. “I was built and programmed to end Hollow crises. That hasn't changed. Later, I shifted to prioritizing saving lives above all else. That also hasn’t changed.”
She listens to him intently, wondering the entire time where he’s going with this.
“But… neither of those remains true… where you are concerned, Dialyn,” he says profoundly.
“Huh? W-what?” Dialyn’s throat feels dry to her right now.
“Fighting alongside you… keeping you safe… I did initially categorize those things as duty.” His words carry a hint of vulnerability she isn’t used to seeing, making this moment increasingly dangerous to her composure. “To Krampus and to my assigned partner. And as repayment for everything you've done for me.”
She swallows hard, equally desperate and terrified to ask her next question.
“O-okay… a-and now?” Her voice is barely a breath, but he hears is clearly.
“Now… I find myself motivated by a desire to… be close to you.” The weight in his declaration crashes hard against her. “By my own choice. Even when there is little reason for me to do so.”
By this point, there’s barely any air in her lungs. She has to force herself to remember to breathe, granting her brain brief windows where she isn’t contemplating how her entire life is about to change.
“When we're working together, and I determine you're in danger, I stop thinking about my directives,” Banyue continues, looking to her like he’s far from done scrambling her thoughts. “I even risk saying that… I'm not thinking to begin with. I just act on that desire.”
“Y… y-you… d-desire?! What… a-are you saying…?!” She almost doesn’t get that inquiry out through her overworked senses.
“I'm saying the possibility of you being harmed has recently become unacceptable to me,” he states firmly, like the gravity of that declaration is something he’s long made peace with. “And if at some point, that translated to me coming across as unclear on how special you are to me… then I am truly, deeply sorry.”
“Wha…! Wa-wa-w-wa-wa…!” Dialyn stammers unintelligibly.
She feels herself short-circuiting. She finds herself with no measures in place for this much sincerity, trapped under his steady mechanical gaze.
“So… in the interest of clarifying how immeasurably important you are to me… please allow me to fix my earlier misstep.” The more intimate register of his voice becomes impossible to ignore.
Emphasizing those words, he leans in.
Dialyn’s heart hammers wildly on her chest.
His hand is gently placed over hers on her raised knee.
“Dialyn… I lo…” he tries saying.
“Waaah! No! Stop right there!” She cuts him off with a hand to his chin, sealing it shut in her panicked instinct.
For a few seconds, the interrogation room remains frozen.
The absurd scene holds still for a long time. Dialyn’s face is lowered to her chest to hide the fierce blush across her cheeks, and Banyue’s head stays raised at the resilient push upwards from her free hand, while he himself hasn’t let go of her other hand.
It takes him a moment to figure out how to answer. But eventually, his artificial processors muster a close-to-appropriate reply.
“I… am confused,” he says calmly, like he didn’t just give her the confession of a lifetime. “Is clarity not what you wanted?”
“Yes! Yes, okay?! It is what I wanted! Just…” With a nervous sigh, she lets go of his face and turns away once more, attempting to keep some semblance of dignity. “Give a girl some… some time to catch up, okay?”
“Very well.” He leans back a little with unquestioning patience.
Dialyn closes her eyes, attempting to steady the frantic thumping of her heartbeat. The silence feels momentarily better, but it is soon replaced by agonizing anticipation.
When the roaring in her ears subsides, she finds her words once again.
“S-so… hum…” she begins, “I am… immeasurably special then?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation. “More than anyone else to me.”
“Then… w-why didn’t you just say it before?” She lets a bit of her past frustrations bleed into her question. “Why make me wait… this long?”
Banyue averts his gaze for a moment, briefly reconsidering whether he should tell her that. But soon reminds himself of the same conclusion from before. That his silence is hurting her more than anything else now.
“Because…” he begins, “I believed saying anything would’ve been inconsiderate to you.”
“Huh? But I lik… ahem!” She stops herself abruptly, fighting through another warm blush to continue speaking. “I mean, h-how would that… be inconsiderate?”
“You’ve done so much for me already, Dialyn. More than anyone should ever be expected to do.” Flashes of that one moment that cemented their bond come to his mind as he explains himself. “I thought… telling you would incur an unreasonable burden. Like I was asking for even more of you.”
Her defensive posture, before already waning away, now fully crumbles as she contemplates that same automaton from before.
The one she saw sitting down to accept his end, and that she refused to give an easy way out. No matter how much he’d want that.
Naturally, he would still be the one to place everyone else's well-being ahead of his own. Even if those led to misunderstandings beyond what his clueless artificial mind could anticipate.
“And we work together too.” He looks back up to meet her eyes. “If me being honest about my feelings risked making your everyday life more difficult... I believed they were better kept to myself.”
A sharp flare of fond annoyance returns to her, as she works through his self-sacrificial logic and all the problems it caused and could’ve been avoided.
“So… instead of talking to me…” she counters, voice now carrying a slight edge, “you just… th-threw yourself in front of gunfire… f-for me.”
“I suppose… I did.” Banyue awkwardly backs away a tiny bit in concession. “But don’t expect me to apologize for that. I would do it again, no matter the circumstances.”
To her, that feels like a cheap move.
Her heartbeat returns to its earlier wild pace.
She feels at the verge of doing something impulsive.
“You're just… so dumb…” Her words carry none of the harshness they had before, now so obviously affectionate even the one before her can tell.
“Something tells me you don't mean it this time.” His tone feels warm as he says it.
“Shut up, rust bucket…” she snaps instantly.
Dialyn now wonders if this is the best she can do to regain her grounding. An old insult she can hardly say carries any real bite.
“Hum… so… as you can imagine, this would be very new to me.” Banyue filters past her irritation, completely unmoved as he chooses to continue the embarrassment. “I'm unsure whether this now means we're dat…”
“Don't… say it!” She quickly holds a finger up between them, cutting him off sharply. “Whatever you were going to say, just don't.”
With a deep breath, she stabilizes her heartbeat as best she can.
“We'll… we'll go step by step, you hear me?” she declares, voice trembling but resolute. “I'd rather… this… here… started off the right way. So you're gonna give me time to get there, yeah?”
Banyue’s large frame sits back, his body language conveying a quiet and reassuring stillness.
“Of course,” he says softly. “That's understandable.”
The reality of the last few hours begins to settle in Dialyn’s mind.
What had started as just another assignment ended up overturning what the rest of her week, and maybe much longer, would look like. From a hostile engagement that saw her coworker wrapping her in his arms to keep her safe, to the shocked stares of their team, to her senior locking them up to resolve the issue rather than wallow in indecision, she feels exhausted to say the least.
Still, looking back at the man before her, she can’t say the final outcome is unwelcome. She might have to make adjustments to many parts of her life going forward, but for someone so terrifyingly irreplaceable as him, it hardly feels like too much effort at the moment.
“Miss Zhao’s break shouldn’t take much longer,” Banyue suddenly brings up, turning around to study the door again.
Her irritation comes back, cracking her reverie a little.
Though he can’t see it, she wonders if he really is so clueless that he can’t tell how she’s feeling now. The mood of the moment felt perfect until he went mentioning their insufferable senior again. Then again, she was the one that just asked them to take things slow, and he did just bare his mechanical heart out to her.
Hate as she does it, if there’s anything to do about this now, it has to come from her.
“Though your break has been compromised,” he continues, oblivious to the next move she’s planning. “Do you want me to bring you someth…”
He doesn’t get to finish that.
As her hand gently cups his cheek.
Pulling him back to a kiss on his metallic lips.
It lasts only a little, but it’s just long enough to erase any doubt that it was intentional. And when it ends and she pulls back, he can practically sense his processing speed increasing in real time.
Before him, he catches sight of a very different Dialyn than he’s used to. Shy, hiding her face in her hands, and even redder than earlier.
After several silent seconds, he finally finds his words.
“Hum… but you just said…” Banyue says with a rare note of confusion.
“I know what I said.” Dialyn quickly cuts in, voice slightly muffled from behind her fingers. “That one… doesn’t count… I think…”
“You’re not sure?” he asks, tilting his head.
“It’s just…” she mutters, “so you know I’m not… burdened or whatever you were going on about before.”
He pauses for a moment, letting the ramifications of that statement fully dawn on his code.
“I see…” he says quietly.
His eyes then lock on to hers, with a clear resolve behind his gaze.
“Dialyn,” he calls.
“Wh-what is it… Banyue?” she whispers unsure.
“Can we do it again?” His words make her breath immediately hitch.
Her heart flips violently upon hearing that. Tucking her chin under her shoulder, she can hardly believe the casual tranquility with which he just asked that. And at the same time, she’s thankful he did, as she can't imagine finding the courage to take another step by herself today.
A helpless smile crosses her face as she looks back up at him.
“Yes…” she answers under her breath.
{🦁☎️}
“Casualties?” Zhao asks, eyes dutifully scanning the report Banyue had just handed her.
Before her, the automaton sits as straight-backed as ever. The same mechanical composure he'd maintained through every report review they'd shared.
“None. Situation was contained efficiently,” Banyue replies without delay.
Leaning back into her chair, she confirms the information printed onto the paper on her soft paws. Although the pattern she notices does strike her as odd for once.
“You know a few wouldn’t be a problem, right?” Her eyes meet his, letting her hand holding the pen rest on the table. “Happens all the time around here. You don't have to go out of your way to avoid collaterals.”
“I am aware,” he says calmly. “That is simply a personal objective.”
For as ill-intended as other people’s decisions can be, he takes his new direction in life seriously. And keeping the world he and Dialyn inhabit as it is now maintains his peace of mind.
“If you say so…” Zhao shrugs and puts down the items she held, unmoved by his choice of ethics. “Well, assuming that concludes your report… any words on your prior issue with Dialyn. Or your inefficiency as a team?”
“That's been resolved,” Banyue states with an air of finality. “For a few days now, in fact.”
“So I have heard.” She leans forward, propping her chin on her hand. “How are things between you two now?”
“My professional relationship with Judge Dialyn has improved considerably.” He remains perfectly upright in his seat as he gathers data from the missions that followed that day in the interrogation room. “I'd even say we've gotten better at working together than before.”
“Really? Well, in that case…” His smaller senior pulls a drawer with another document she takes into her hands. “I have some reports here that require clarification.”
Though the automaton’s expression can't change much, the quiet hum escaping his voice synthesizer and the slight shift in his posture betray a hint of curiosity.
“According to a few of your assigned teammates, you two have been demonstrating… increased proximity and extended contact.” Zhao’s large eyes run through the observations section. “Always off-mission hours, it seems.”
Turning away from his coworker to gather his thoughts, Banyue finds himself in an unexpectedly sensitive spot.
The document is truthful. He and Dialyn just assumed they were being discreet enough.
“Ahem…” An audible simulation of throat clearing is heard across the table. “Those… reports are accurate.”
Zhao doesn't interrupt him. Patiently watching him continue.
“But I assure you, it is not affecting our operational efficiency,” he quickly adds. “And we actually are... by Dialyn's own request, taking things slow.”
She tilts her head a little, her long ears following the motion as she studies him. But finding no reason to doubt him, she slides the file back into its designated place.
“Well, as long as it doesn’t destabilize the rest of the team, I don't see anything wrong with it.” Her gaze returns to him, now a touch more friendly. “T.O.P.S. regulations don't forbid personal involvement if work’s still getting done.”
“Understood.” His frame lowers very subtly, unintentionally conveying his relief to her.
That’s when Zhao steps off her chair to make her way around the table.
“And I guess congratulations are in order!” she says with a warmer tone as she approaches him.
Tracking her through the room, the next thing he sees is a soft paw extended to him from below his imposing figure.
A scene some would find ironic given how much power the smaller employee holds over the office’s repurposed war machine. But both know appearances say nothing of their quiet camaraderie.
“You have my best wishes, Banyue,” Zhao says with a bright smile, waiting for him to reciprocate the gesture. “I hope you two can make it work.”
Content with the direction this conversation took, he feels comfortable enough to share in the welcoming mood she created for them.
“Mmhm. Thank you, Miss Zhao,” he says. “I'm sure she too would apprecia…”
Suddenly, she catches his hand and pulls it down toward her.
The abrupt gesture catches him completely off guard. Even more so when he realizes she's closely examining his fingers.
For a few moments, he is unsure what to make of the analytical stare she directs at his metallic limb. That is, until he notices a detail about it that may have slipped his mind.
“Huh? Miss Zhao?” A tinge of anxiety floods his thoughts. “Is… something wrong?”
“You tell me, Mister Banyue.” She looks up at him with a knowing smirk. “Your index and middle finger…”
The automaton’s usually reassuring voice remains nowhere to be found.
“They're missing their claws~” she completes.
“Huuuh…” His processing starts working at full capacity, looking for a reply to give her.
“You're aware that,” Zhao continues, smug and full of confidence, “as a Krampus automaton, any and all defensive measures you employ fall under ‘issued components,’ are you not?”
“Ahem…” An uncharacteristic vibration makes itself apparent in his tone. “I… am well aware.”
“Then can you explain yourself?” She makes sure to focus her narrowed eyes straight into his, now with a good idea of what might be happening lately.
Beyond her, Banyue feels cornered and mortified. Even partly wondering if this is how Dialyn felt on the day he embraced her in front of their peers. To him, it feels genuinely exposing and uncomfortable.
“Huh… I… I can assure you…” He settles for an attempt at a diversion, though he’s almost certain it’s for naught. “They're carefully stashed and not compromised in any way.”
“Good… but that's still not the whole story, is it?” she says, shattering his hopes.
For the first time in what might be forever for him, his vocal synthesizer emits a simulation of a gulp. He’s faced Hollows, ethereals and all manners of dangerous individuals throughout his existence, and not once was he ever made to feel as worried as he does now. Let alone for something so mundane.
“Now now…” Zhao finally lets go of his arm, voice suddenly more soothing. “I don't want to be unreasonable. Not with my dear team.”
He follows her calm stride around the table, seeing her jump to reach the significantly taller chair.
“So here’s the deal,” she announces, delighting in the sight of her coworker twisting himself internally over this slip-up. “If you can explain to me exactly how and why those two fingers specifically came to be stripped of their tactical components... I am willing to be lenient.”
Banyue can hardly believe what he’s hearing.
His gaze drifts to the birds in the distant sky beyond the window, and for one brief moment, he wishes he could turn into one of them and leave. Reality isn’t so merciful, and he will remain here and give his senior what she wants. He can’t chastise himself enough for being so careless.
“Y-you… s-seem to be enjoying this… Miss Zhao,” he murmurs, voice laced with a rare tone of defeat.
“Hmm? What gave you that impression?” she interlaces her fingers together with a satisfied grin.
Her excitement to hear his retelling of events can hardly be contained anymore.