Thank you to my best friend, Madeline for helping me edit, encouraging me, and naming this chapter. (THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED)
Z-City was pretty overcast tonight. The humble Saitama-Genos residence was experiencing a rather quiet evening. The two men were in different parts of the studio apartment. Something like a funeral dirge was playing on the cartoon Saitama was barely paying any mind to. Genos was in the kitchen putting dinner away. He and Saitama had gotten into the habit of switching between cooking and cleaning duties. It was Genos' turn to clean up, so Saitama got to lounge in front of the television. He flipped to the local news. The meteorologist said that there was a chance rain tomorrow. Chance? Saitama thought as he dug his pinky inside of his ear. The clouds were already rolling in; the air was so heavy and humid, you could cut it with a knife. Saitama switched back to cartoons.
"Sensei."
Saitama had noticed Genos walking into the room, but he was just zoned out enough that the cyborg's voice somewhat surprised him.
"Huh?" Saitama grunted, never taking his eyes off of the television screen.
"Do you want any tea?" asked Genos from in front of the window to the kitchen.
"Sure , " Saitama responded.
A few minutes later, Saitama heard the kitchen light cut off, and Genos entered with two cups of tea. He set them on the table.
"What is this you're watching, Sensei?" Genos asked Saitama as he sat down in his usual place by the table.
"Oh, I don't know. Some cartoon about a kid who's half alien or something , " Saitama said.
On the screen a little boy in a red shirt and a petite purple woman were slamming their fists on a counter, demanding french fry bits. These American cartoons were wild. Saitama wondered if he could get away with demanding an order of extra long french fries by slamming his fists on a counter. Then he Remembered.
"This child is rude , " Genos commented.
"Eh," Saitama shrugged. He continued watching the television without really processing what was going on. Genos turned his attention away from the t.v. as well, and instead had taken interest in his laptop.
Tonight was proving to be incredibly boring. There were no monsters to fight and no errands to run. Saitama nearly called Mumen to see if he wanted to hang out, but he decided that he just wasn't in the headspace to go out, anyway.
Then there was Genos. Saitama glanced at the cyborg sitting in front of his laptop. The kid was nineteen, almost twenty, and he had never seen him do anything that struck him as particularly "teen."
"Don't you ever go out to have fun, Genos?"
"Would you like me to give so some alone time, Sensei?"
"No it's not like that," Saitama said, taking a sip from his tea. "I just don't ever notice you doing anything fun."
"Nights inside are usually enough to keep me content."
"But that's so… I mean with your status as an S-class, you could probably be having the time of your life in a penthouse or something."
"That kind of frivolity does not interest me in the slightest, Sensei."
Fair enough. It was still strange to Saitama that Genos did not express having any hobbies. Unless keeping notes on the things he said was considered a hobby. He decided to drop the subject for now. Maybe when he was feeling more up to it, he'd take Genos to the arcade or something.
The television buzzed on. Saitama finished his tea, and he was just about to go rinse his cup off when he suddenly felt the floor shake. For whatever reason, he thought it was Genos, but he was still in the same place, looking back at Saitama. The bookshelf smacked down on the floor, and the tv nearly followed suit, but Saitama was able to catch it. The shaking stopped almost as soon as it began.
"Shit," Saitama said as he looked around, half-expecting the shaking to start again. The lights flickered for a moment, and then everything in the room cut off, leaving the two of them in darkness.
"I'm not detecting that a monster caused that," said Genos. "I think it was an earthquake."
"Great. No power."
Genos pulled his phone from his pocket. After a minute or so he said, "Yes, that was definitely an earthquake. Not major enough to cause damage or casualties, but enough to cause a few blackouts around the area. Unfortunately there's no backup generator at this building. It looks like we will have to just wait until the power comes back on." Fantastic. That was just their luck. Stuck in a dark studio apartment for who knows how long?
"Ugh, are you sure there weren't any casualties? It's going to be so boring in here with nothing to do. It's only eight at night. I'm not tired yet."
Genos didn't respond to Saitama's complaints, instead he said, "Sensei, I want to check outside for gas leaks. I doubt anyone will be coming to this area of town to check. You should join me. I already assessed that our apartment is fine." Genos already got up and headed towards the door. Without any appliances or background noise, the metallic thuds from Genos' gait filled the room.
"I guess you're right," Saitama groaned. He reluctantly got up from kneeling in front of the television, and went to the doorway. He slipped on his sandals, and joined Genos outside. It was dark since the streetlights were out of commission as well, but they were able to find their way around. They started down the apartment steps. It was even more humid outside. Saitama felt his head starting to get clammy- a reaction he often felt self-conscious about since it drew more a attention to his premature baldness.
After they descended the stairs, Genos began to scan the area, and surrounding areas. "There." He pointed to a downstairs unit. "There's a leak."
"Damn. Now what?"
"We should turn off the gas, and notify the landlord in the morning," Genos said. Anything to do with the landlord anymore meant going to an entirely different part of town. The landlord moved out, and wanted nothing to do with living in the deserted part of Z-city. Rent had to be paid electronically. The fact that the apartment building had not been torn down yet was a mystery, but Saitama was not going to look a gift-horse in the affordable mouth.
Saitama went back inside to get a wrench, while Genos located the gas meter on the other side of the apartment building. Saitama met up with him and proceeded to cut the gas off. After Saitama took care of that, the two of them went back to the apartment with the gas leak. Genos said that the apartment needed to air out, so he broke into the building to open a window. Saitama absentmindedly fiddled with his wrench as he waited for Genos to finish. The smooth metal was the same temperature as his skin. As it spinned in his hand, he was fixated on how it reflected the moonlight- the clouds had cleared just enough to provide some. The activity was relaxing.
"I feel bad doing that, but hopefully the landlord will understand," Genos said, breaking Saitama from zoning out again.
"Relax. I don't even think you dented the door. These doors are so cheap, anyway. No one will notice," Saitama said, and then he added, "No one even lives here but us."
That seemed to take some of the worry off of Genos' mind, and he pulled out his cell phone again. "Still no reports of casualties. I guess we can go back inside," he said as he began to head back to the stairs.
"Still no power, huh?" Saitama said as they entered their own studio again.
"Not down here. There's some power in the main part of the city," said Genos, still staring at his phone. He was the most visible thing in the apartment, and he looked kind of like a floating ghost head from the light of his cell phone.
However, the cell phone provided enough light for Saitama to grope his way to the closet and grab his flashlight. Now that he had sufficient light, he set to put the bookcase right again. The trinkets that sat on top of it scattered across the floor of the living area, and it took him several minutes to locate everything. As Saitama crawled around the floor for his stuff, Genos went to the kitchen to move the leftovers in the freezer. Saitama figured he didn't need a flashlight since he was equipped with night vision. After they took care of business, they both found themselves back in the living area. This time with nothing to occupy themselves, and this time with less light. Sure, Saitama could read manga with a flashlight, but he just wasn't really in the mood.
"I'm not even tired," Saitama continued to complain.
"It's still pretty early," Genos agreed.
"I was hoping for at least something to do after this," Saitama said. "Minimal damage, and no people to help, though. I guess that's just the way it goes. Don't suppose you got video games anywhere on your body, huh?"
Genos just gave him a look.
"It was a joke. Y'know. 'Cause…" Saitama trailed off.
"Yeah," Genos smiled. "Maybe I'll ask doc to fix me up next time I need repairs."
"Make sure you get good graphics, yeah?"
"Of course, Sensei."
Saitama smiled back. It wasn't like Genos to joke with him like that. Indeed, it wasn't like Saitama to be inquisitive, yet he still wondered. "Do you ever miss, like, having a human body?"
Genos looked at him again. His eyes narrowed, and his irises whirred a little. Analysing Saitama's face?
"I'm not bullshitting you, I'm actually pretty curious," Saitama worried he had offended him.
Genos sighed, and said, "I understand. No, I don't. As a child I always felt strange in my body, when I was transformed I somehow felt normal."
"Really? Can you feel anything? Like temperature, pressure, or pain?"
"Temperature not so much. I can feel pressure, and sometimes if I am shocked enough I can feel a sort of phantom pain. I simply lack the nerves to feel normally as a human anymore. My central nervous system is still largely intact, but it mostly acts like a bridge to control my android parts. Interestingly, I can still get shivers up and down my spine, and I have both temperature and pressure sensors on my face-however, it is not quite the same as I remember from when I was human."
"Oh…" Saitama kind of regretted asking about that because he had no idea how to respond to long-winded and personal comments. Especially from Genos. One slip-up and suddenly it was a day at the theatre. One-Cyborg show starring Genos, the monologuing wonder. Get your tickets now. Saitama also wondered about the whole 'I felt strange in my body' comment. He decided not to pry, but he thought that it was nice that Genos felt more comfortable as a cyborg. It was just sad that the circumstances that led him to become a cyborg were so tragic.
"And you, Sensei?" he asked as he shifted in his position on the floor.
"What about me?" asked Saitama, no longer absorbed in his own thoughts.
"I've seen you express frustration regarding your immense strength, and that you have trouble feeling highs and lows. Would you give that up?" he asked.
"I don't know. I think about that often. I mostly just want the ability to feel thrill or excitement again," he stated.
"Like an amusement park ride?"
"Something like that," Saitama mused. "No use dwelling on that kind of stuff, though."
Genos scooted closer to Saitama, and put his hand on his shoulder. He then started to pat Saitama's back.
"Oi. What's that for?" Saitama demanded, looking at the hand on his shoulder.
"I'm consoling," said Genos, somewhat offended.
"That's weird."
"Is it?"
"Kinda."
Genos removed his hand. "Sensei, you are worried about me not having friends or hanging out with anyone, but I truly feel as though I have a friend right here. Friends find ways to sympathise with each other. I understand and respect if you do not appreciate physical contact, but I would not call it weird. And your strength may prove to be too much for you, but everyday I aspire to achieve that strength. Not only your physical strength, but your mind, Sensei. Through you I learned again different elements of what it means to be human. Before I met you, I didn't care about any of that. I only saw myself as a machine for destruction. And because of everything I just said, I will stop at nothing to help you feel like your old self again."
Genos delivered that long-winded statement in a collected manner, but Saitama could tell that it's been something on Genos' mind for a while. He couldn't bring himself to kvetch about the length of that statement because it honestly made him feel pretty good.
"A friend, huh?" Saitama finally asked.
"Of course," Genos immediately responded.
Again, Saitama considered what Genos had said. It made sense, after all. He didn't particularly see himself having done as much as Genos gave him credit for, but Saitama did understand why the most reasonable way to define their relationship was as a friendship. It definitely was not the teacher-pupil relationship Genos tried so hard to enforce. Still, he felt like a shitty friend because of his aloof nature. He remembered why all of his friends from a few years ago up and left. Or did Saitama up and leave his friends? Nevermind- he couldn't really remember after all. However, a very real, and very current friend was sitting right next to him. Maybe Saitama should start acting a bit more like a friend. Emotionally, that is.
"Okay let's try this consoling thing my way," Saitama said.
Saitama hooked his arms under Genos' and waited for him to hug back. After several clicks and whirrs, Genos returned the embrace. It was interesting being hugged by metal arms. It was not as if Genos could hurt him, but Saitama wondered if anyone else in this hug would get crushed. He didn't think he and Genos had actually hugged before. He wasn't used to this kind of physical contact. When was the last time he had hugged anyone? Saitama couldn't remember. It was kind of nerve-racking.
"Hm. Nice hug," Saitama said while pulling away. The anxiety from the hug still lingered. It was almost as if-
"Saitama, are you okay?" Genos asked.
"Yes, why?"
"You look strange. Your heart rate has increased."
"Hey will you stop performing scans on me? I feel violated," Saitama frowned, covering his chest with his arms. Genos continued to stare at him. Saitama thought about turning off the flashlight so he wouldn't have to look at his face. "Are you going to keep staring at me, or?" Instead of saying anything, Genos embraced him again.
"Oi," Saitama grunted at the force of this hug. "I guess you really needed a hug, then, Genos?"
"I think you did, Saitama," said Genos, still hugging him. The use of his name sans honourific made Saitama feel some type of way.
Saitama gingerly patted Genos on the back. "Yeah, sure? What's gotten into you?"
Genos let of him, took his hand, and pressed it over Saitama's own chest. "You feel your heartbeat, right?" he asked.
"Well, yes, I..."
"Do you feel anything? Or is it still apathy?"
"I guess I feel a little different, but where are you going with this?
Genos paused for a moment. Saitama looked at him, slightly frustrated, and very curious. He was about to tell him to spit it out when Genos finally asked:
"May I kiss you?"
WHAT?
Genos waited patiently for his response.
Saitama didn't even roll that way. He wasn't even sure what way he'd be rolling if he kissed a cyborg. Technophile? Gay? Technogay? What the actual fuck, Genos?
But could there really be any harm in kissing Genos? He looked at the cyborg. Young, full of potential, and carrying way too much adulation for a simple guy like Saitama. Still. It could be nice. Saitama had never kissed a cyborg before.
"Sure, go ahead," he finally managed to mumble.
Genos closed the distance between the two of them. He lifted Saitama's knee in order to get closer. He held his face for a moment, and kissed him.
Okay this was happening. He was kissing the cyborg. No- the cyborg was kissing him. His kiss was fast, but legato. Genos sucked Saitama's bottom lip, and skimmed it ever so slightly with his porcelain teeth. It all felt very vivid. His eyes closed. They were kissing. Genos' nose brushed against his cheekbone. The artificial skin was smooth, perhaps silicone. Gaining some confidence, Saitama allowed himself to reach up for his hair, he ran his fingers through it, and used the extra support to pull Genos closer to him. Genos wrapped his metal arms around Saitama's frame. Where did Genos learn to kiss so well? Is there a cyborg app you can download for perfect kissing technique? Saitama felt a strong wave of affection build in his chest. The intensity of the kiss eased a little. A small sigh came through Saitama's nose, and he felt Genos hold him just a little tighter. There were mad endorphins running through Saitama's body. This was something else.
Saitama broke away for a moment, his eyes meeting the warm glow of Genos'. "I mean, it's not like I'm cured, but..."
"It's a nice feeling."
"Yeah."
Genos started kissing his teacher again. Closed mouth smooch on his mouth. Above the mouth. Bridge of the nose. Forehead. His metal hand ran across and back Saitama's smooth head. He stopped, and sat back on his heels. He rested his head on Saitama's bent leg.
"How do you feel, Sensei?" Genos asked, wrapping his arm around the same leg.
Saitama didn't know how to answer that, so he took Genos' hand that wasn't wrapped around his leg. He ran his thumb across the mechanical knuckles.
"So you can feel this, right?" he asked calmly.
"Yes, I can," Genos responded.
"Hm." He laced his flesh and bone fingers with the metal. He felt the groove where Genos' incinerator was against his palm. "How about that. I made out with an appliance," said Saitama.
"This appliance still has feelings, you know," Genos raised his eyebrow, only sounding mildly offended, at the very least.
"Sorry. I guess that's just ironic-I mean, the fact that you helped me feel something. This has been a strange night," Saitama admitted.
"I'm just as surprised as you are," said Genos, lifting his head, and sitting back up. Saitama's leg felt cold without his arm around it anymore.
'Surprise' Genos had said. Another feeling. It's as if rich colours were being added to a black and white portrait- slowly building from gold, bleeding to copper. Saitama still didn't understand what was really going on, but it's not like he minded. He spent a long time trying to feel the exhilaration of battle, and he definitely still wanted to know that feeling again. But he never thought that a person far weaker than he was could make him feel so… nice. Although, considering Genos as weak wasn't correct. He looked at the cyborg's hand held in his own. Genos was incredibly resilient. In fact, his ability to win a fight with more than a single, overpowered punch made him far stronger than Saitama. The colours grew more vivid-with hues of red being added to the pallet. In his chest he felt this energy moving in him. He felt a little dizzy, and definitely ready to go to bed that this point.
"Hey, how about you sleep next to me on the futon tonight?" Saitama figured there was no harm asking. Perhaps it was a little bit forward, but suddenly all he desired was to be close to Genos. It was kind of gross, but the thought of the cyborg in his arms as they slept seemed like the most comforting feeling in the world. What if another monster smashed through his ceiling as they slept? Saitama would be right there to protect him. Saitama became egregiously aware that he might have been suppressing a lot of feelings toward Genos. That kiss opened the floodgates, and he felt overwhelmed. He didn't have to wonder if Genos felt the same. It was clear that the cyborg had a lot of admiration for him, but Saitama never thought of it as more than a respectful way, albeit misguided.
"Sensei!" Genos had an embarrassed look on his face.
"Don't be bashful, you just made out with me."
A beat as Genos thought.
"If you insist, Saitama-sensei, I will join you on the futon," said Genos.
"I don't insist. It's up to you, really." But if you said 'yes,' that would pretty cool.
Genos hesitated for a moment, and then gave him a small peck on the lips. "I'll take that as insisting enough."
The colours exploded to neon.
Whew. Okay first things first, I know this is flawed, and I have another chapter in the oven, so constructive criticism would be so helpful. I understand that my writing can be pretty dry. My biggest self-critique is my preposition usage. If you could help me with that I'd love you 6ever.
I started writing this in stream-of-consciousness, so i'm sorry that it's a bit jumbled. (i'm also more used to writing scripts so it's difficult for me to paint pictures with prose)
I was really nervous to upload this, but from the encouragement of my friend, and the fact that Talon Vines day is coming, I just went for it. On that note I'm prolly gonna be single on valentine's day so I guess i deserve a little bit of fluff. On that note, children, relationships do not cure depression, please remember that.
The title of this work is a quote from Janelle Monae's song "Mushrooms and Roses." If you are interested in romance between robots and humans, I suggest you check her music out.
I think that's just about everything I wanted to say. If you have any other questions, comments, concerns, puppies, dead bodies, compliments, sacrifices, modest proposals, money, or threats, please drop me a line at my tumblr: .com