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“..I’ve heard that you’ve never seen the winter flowers before.”
Hyperlaser spoke up. The mercenary was sitting at the table with a cup of tea in hand. It was a nice Saturday morning and the two were having a nice breakfast at Thieves’ den; luckily Vinestaff, Shuriken and Slingshot were too busy doing things today so Hyperlaser was allowed to sit inside and have breakfast with Katana. The Thieves’ den members didn’t quite enjoy any members of Blackrock, so having Hyperlaser over without any of them was a relief, especially since Vinestaff wasn’t here to give Katana an earful on how the mercenary was a ‘danger in the house’. Hyperlaser was quite hesitant in even setting foot in the house, but as long as nobody else was there, he was sure he’d be fine. As the two ate, the mercenary and the swordsman would lift up their mask and helmet slightly to take a sip and to eat their plate of breakfast. Despite the two already seeing their faces, they both didn’t bother taking off what shielded their faces quite often. Katana then nods at Hyperlaser’s comment.
“It’s true, I haven’t quite been in a cold setting for so long.” The swordsman replied. He had his hands wrapped nicely together on the table, looking at the mercenary as he drank from the cup of tea.
“I actually cannot quite handle the cold so much.”
Katana added, sitting up in his seat. Katana was quite sensitive to the cold, he would need to wear layers and layers of clothes to stay warm.
“Well,I was going to ask if you’d like to come with me to see them….they are very nice at this time of year.”
Hyperlaser set his cup of tea down on the table. He wanted Katana to see the different types of flowers that grew in the winter climate, especially since Katana and Vinestaff had a bit of an interest in flowers. It wouldn’t hurt to try and bring some plants for Vinestaff after all.
“Hyper…hon... you know I cannot go to Blackrock. That place is littered with biografts. What if I get attacked over there?” Katana sounded a bit concerned about the matter, but Hyperlaser shook his head. He gently set his hand on Katana’s.
“Come on, it’ll be fine. Besides, it’s a Saturday.. the end of the week, ‘tana. I don’t think Subspace would plan on doing anything today.” The mercenary reassured the swordsman. “He should be too busy producing more Biografts in the lab since some were destroyed this week.” Katana looked away and sighed, contemplating whether or not he should go with Hyperlaser. Katana then looked back at the mercenary before letting out a soft sigh, giving a nod. “..I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to go and see the winter flowers with you.” Hyperlaser then nodded in return. “I’m sure you’ll love them. Besides, I won’t let anything hurt you.” He reassured Katana, finishing up his plate of eggs. “You can count on me.” Katana then nods, getting up from his seat. “…okay, I trust you.” With that being said, Katana picked up the dishes and took them to the kitchen with Hyperlaser following behind.
“Are you sure this will keep me warm?” Katana questioned as he tilted his head at the mercenary. Hyperlaser then nods. The coats and multiple layers that Katana wore were a bit thick. “It should do. This is about 5 layers. If you’re still cold, I could give you my scarf.” He suggested. Katana shook his head and politely declined.
“Mmm, no need. This’ll do.” Katana pointed at the multiple layers of sweaters on himself. “…it’d be my own problem if I still freeze.” “Nonsense. You can’t control yourself from being cold.” The mercenary gently wrapped his arms around Katana, hugging the swordsman tightly. “It’ll be okay…alright? Let’s have a good time together, ‘tana. We’ll just spend an hour or two there.” Hyperlaser said, taking hold of Katana’s hand. Katana then nodded, holding Hyperlaser’s hand as well. “Sounds good.” Katana and Hyperlaser began to head out of the house and waited for the bus stop. As they patiently waited, they held each other’s hand, the mercenary leaning his head against the swordsman’s arm. Once the bus arrived, they finally made their way towards Blackrock.
____
Cold. The weather was icy cold once the two arrived at Blackrock. As the two stepped out of the bus, Katana looked around curiously, seeing sheets and mountains of snow around. The snowfall was light and it was….quite freezing. Hyperlaser’s helmet fogged up slightly from his warm breath making contact with it. Katana’s breath can be seen going through the bottom of his mask, making him look like a dragon breathing smoke. Katana shivered a little as he held Hyperlaser’s hand tightly, looking down at the mercenary.
“Are you truly sure we won’t get ambushed at all?” Hyperlaser nodded. “I’m sure. I know a secret passage to the area we’re heading to actually.” The mercenary replied, leading the way. Katana hesitated for a minute before following closely behind, still holding onto Hyperlaser’s hand. Hyperlaser wiped the snow in an area with his boot, exposing what seemed to be a sewer drain cover. He then let go of Katana’s hand and lifted the sewer cover, setting it to the side. “It may be hard to believe, but through here is the area I was talking about.” He replied.
“Don’t worry though, the sewer drain doesn’t actually lead to the sewers.” Hyperlaser added, slowly lowering himself into the sewer drain. Katana responded with a grunt and a nod, following after Hyperlaser lowered more into the drain. “Alright my moon.. don’t forget to close the sewer drain with the cover.” Kantana nodded as he then grabbed the cover and closed up the sewer drain. A minute or two passed…something can be heard crunching through the snow..
…from afar… a Betagraft had been watching this entire time. Their mechanical legs whirred as they clanked and sank into the snow, walking towards the now closed sewer drain that the two were seen going into.
“…INTRUDER SPOTTED.” The machine said in a monotone voice, leaning down and lifting the drain cover. The Betagraft took a peek inside, their mechanical legs whirring softly as he hummed softly. They signified their signal to Subspace, however it didn’t seem to quite reach him, especially since it began snowing a bit harder. The machine would have to deal with this themselves. Its legs rumbled and whirred silently as they stepped into the drain, making their way wherever the mercenary and swordsman were heading.
——
“Nobody is following us…right?” Katana asked, walking through the void of the tunnel. Katana had his other hand resting on the sheath of his blade, his horns illuminated red as the two walked. The light of Katana’s horns reflected off of Hyperlaser’s helmet a bit. Hyperlaser stared at Katana’s glowing horns, clearly a bit mesmerised... he then cleared his throat and began to hum softly.. “Mmh…’tana, like I said, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Just take it easy..okay?” The mercenary leaned his head against Katana slightly, letting out a soft sigh. “Just a bit more and we’ll be out of this tunnel soon” Katana looked around the tunnel, noticing there were a lot of mechanical parts and broken pieces of Biografts down there. This area must have been some type of machine graveyard for Blackrock’s machinery and robots.
“Say…how did you find this place, Hyper?” Hyperlaser then looked around the area before replying. “I usually go down here to take a break from Subspace or when I’m ordered to dispose of broken parts of the Biografts.” Katana hummed softly in response. “Interesting. And how did you find out about the garden here?” “…I found it when I was destroying some of the trashed Biografts here.” Hyperlaser spoke softly. “..Subspace was very angry at me over something I couldn’t control and one day, I got kind of…destructive. I was destroying the parts until I saw… a door.” Hyperlaser then stopped walking in his tracks, causing Katana to come to a halt too. Hyperlaser gently wiped the dusty metal door and opened it.
“Are you aware of who might have been in charge of the garden?” Katana asked curiously.
“..no. I actually have no idea. I began taking care of the plants here after I found it though. The plants seemed to have been slowly wilting before I started doing anything.” Hyperlaser then walked in the door, pulling Katana in. The two ended up back outside but in a secluded area, the garden was covered in a type of snow enclosure that made it seem camouflaged with the snow outside. Katana gasped softly as he looked around, seeing a variety of flowers growing from the snowy bushes and trees. There were snowdrops, pansies, a few roses and some winterberry plants.
“So technically this is your garden…” Katana said in amazement, walking around and kneeling down to look at the flowers and plants. “I guess you can put it that way, yes…” Hyperlaser stood next to Katana. “..aren’t they nice?” “Very..” Katana admitted, looking at Hyperlaser.
“You...don’t mind if I take a few back to Vine…do you?” Katana asked.Hyperlaser then shook his head.
“Not at all. Besides, I think she’d like them. She does know a lot about plants.” Hyperlaser grabbed an empty pot from the floor. “Feel free to pick some and set them in here.” Katana gave a nod and picked some of the plants that he thought were nice, setting them nicely in the pot. Once he picked out some plants, he gave Hyperlaser a hug. “Thank you, Hyper… despite it being extremely cold here, I do enjoy this small garden.” Katana said, sounding content. Betagraft finally caught up to Katana and Hyperlaser as they peeked from the crack of the door, watching the two. Its eyes narrowed slightly as they watched Katana carefully. They were about to charge through the door in an attempt to attack the swordsman..however they continued watching for a bit longer.
“It’s nothing, ‘tana. It’s a pleasure to show you my safe place..” Katana gave a contented sigh, gently lifting up his mask. Hyperlaser did the same as he slightly lifted up his helmet, the two leaning in for a kiss. As their lips touched, the Betagraft widened its eyes, deciding whatever was going on was…private for its little mechanical-bug eyes. It then decided to head back to Blackrock, making a turn and speed walking back. Its mechanical legs whirring silently as they made its way out of there. It truly was acting like its age, 3 years old being sickened by adults kissing. Yuck.
Katana quickly pulled away and pulled his mask back down, looking over at the door that was still somewhat open. He then slowly faced the mercenary. “…did you hear that?” “I’m sure it was nothing.. trust me.” Hyperlaser pulled his helmet back down and wrapped his arms around Katana. “…okay. Apologies for being extremely… cautious since we’ve got here.” Katana apologized, wrapping his arms around the mercenary. Hyperlaser soothingly rubbed Katana’s back. “It’s okay, my moon. I understand. There’s no need to apologize anyways. Especially since it *is* dangerous here.” “…thank you for understanding, my star.” Katana then gently grabbed ahold of Hyperlaser’s hand, the pot of flowers in his other hand. “Shall we start heading back?” “Of course… let’s get out of here” The two then left the garden and back out of the tunnel, leaving Blackrock. On their way back on the bus, Katana looked out at the sewer drain and back at Hyperlaser. He wanted to see the garden again some day, maybe even spend more time with Hyperlaser there.
———
“CREATOR. THE MERCENARY WAS SEEN WITH THAT REALLY TALL SWORDSMAN IN YOUR GARDEN.”
“My garden? I… I haven’t touched that area in ages. Did you manage to see the plants by chance..? If so.. what were the conditions on them?”
“…HEALTHY AND IN GOOD CONDITION. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE SWORDSMAN, CREATOR?”
“…..leave him be. I’m quite occupied currently. Thank you, Beta, for the report.”
“…ANYTIME, CREATOR.”