The clock read 3:40 am. The medical bay was quiet and dark, save for the soft glow of monitors, and quiet besides their low droning.
Genji sat bathed in the dim light with Angela sitting before him. She was saying the same word over and over, until Genji finally got it and tried to repeat it back to her.
"No," Angela shook her head. "No. Try it again, like this: ich liebe dich. Say it slowly."
Genji hummed and tried again. But his mouth couldn't properly form the harsh intonation of her native language, and his tongue caught constantly on its foreign sounds like when he was a child learning his first scraps of english. German was similar, but more severe. Not as melodic as his own mother tongue, nor as smooth as english.
From the mouths of anyone but his Doctor, of course.
He tried again. The beginning of the word flowed smoothly, halted, then puttered out in a mess that made the doctor grimace. With a heavy sigh, Angela held a finger to his faceplate and stopped him again.
"Closer," she said softly. "But not quite."
She scooted forward toward him and took his hands carefully, her warm skin cold against the cool metal of his own, and pronounced the words carefully for him once more, exaggerating the motions and sounds for his convenience. Genji could feel his heart pound hard against what was left of his ribcage at her closeness. He begged it to be still.
"Ike lee… Ah..."
"Almost, Genji."
"Ich… leh… liebe… dich." Genji dipped his head. "Ich liebe dich."
It sounded strange on his tongue, in his voice, filtered through his faceplate and a fake lower jaw. But the glow in Angela's eyes told him he must have done something right.
Genji stiffened in offense when she began to laugh, lilting and light. She pulled her hands from his and wrapped them around herself as she laughed.
When she noticed the stiffness of his posture, she took his hands again. "I'm not laughing at you, Genji. I'm laughing with joy." Her smile softened. Whatever offense Genji had taken at her laughter melted away almost instantly. "You are trying, and I'm proud of you. Ich liebe dich, Genji."
She was proud of him. The whirring mechanisms of his body jittered with delight in response to his emotional high at her words. He had made his doctor proud of him. That filled his chest with an affectionate heat, the vents along his shoulders cycling to release the buildup.
"Ah," Genji nodded. "Thank you, Angela. For taking the time to teach me."
"Of course," she replied easily. "But you know what this means, don't you?"
Genji paused. "No?"
Her smile grew. "You're my teacher now, and you must teach me Japanese. When will we begin?"
A grin ticked at the corners of his mouth. It wasn't the same as the grin he'd worn as a boy, but it felt just as good. "I see. We'll begin now."
He responded to the pressure of her squeezing his hand, and tilted his head. "However, I do have one question."
"Go ahead," Angela replied.
"What does 'Ich liebe dich' mean?"