In the sterile silence of the bunker, 9S was alone. Left by himself in his private quarters, with nothing but the sound of water to accompany him. The faint noises of his legs swishing around echoed off the metal walls, and he melted further into the hot water with a relaxed sigh.

As much as he enjoyed adventuring around on earth with 2B, solving problems and completing missions for Command, and decimating any machines that got in their way, nothing could ever quite beat his relaxing time in the bath. He knew it wasn't necessary, as his partner had pointed out a million times, but he didn't care. She could question him all she wanted and he still wouldn't give up his me-time, that just so happened to take place in hot water.

Hot water that also happened to be filled with bubbles.

He didn't even try explaining that part. If she didn't understand his love of being in water, she definitely wouldn't understand his love of being in water covered in bubbles. She'd probably question why he wanted to risk getting soap in his joints or something, or question if he'd get soap residue on his synthetic skin. He'd never admit that sometimes he did, and 21O would have to throw some sort of heavy duty soap scum cleaner at his face.

She may or may not occasionally blackmail him using that information.

At the thought, he shrank further into the water, blowing air bubbles under the surface through his nose as he let out a frustrated breath. Now was not the time to think of his operator and her less than nice ways of asking for things. It's never, "Hey 9S please get me this thing on earth" it was always "I demand this thing and if you don't get it for me I'll tell 2B about how you get washed like a tub", and wait he was still thinking about it. What else could he think about? Not frustrating things. What wasn't frustrating? 2B? Well, he thought, she could be a little difficult. But even so she was sometimes oddly understanding, and the moments where she showed feelings or was gentle to him...

He became aware of his face starting to flush pink, thinking about the times she's shown concern for him. The times she's come to his rescue, or only been angry at him for making her worry. Although he felt guilty for making her angry sometimes, the fact she worried about him made a tiny smile cross his face. The fact she cared.

With his thoughts trailing off into silence, 9S looked down into the water. There was a plethora of bubbles, gathered on top of the water like little soapy mountains. He liked bubbles, a lot.

2B would judge him so hard if she saw him right now.

Uncaring, he gathered up a mound of bubbles in his hands, and set them gently right on top of his head. When it became clear they wouldn't slide off, he smoothed them into a pointy cone shape, as if he had a weird hat on. The image of an ancient human object called a traffic cone came to mind.

That wasn't enough, though. He gathered more bubbles and stuck them to his ears, smoothing them up and outward as if he had long pointy ears like a moose, maybe? The thought amused him. What would a wild moose do if it saw him? Maybe it would sniff him in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with him, and then run away if he smudged bubbles on it. Or, maybe it would trample him. Suddenly the thought was a lot less amusing, and a lot more of a bad idea. Don't taunt mooses with bubbles was probably a good life motto, he decided.

Moose? Mooses? ...Meese?

As he reached down to get yet more bubbles, he thought about it some more. Would 2B laugh at him if she saw him wearing bubbles on his face, and then getting trampled like the idiot he was for doing such a thing? He smoothed the new mound of bubbles into a beard on his face. As much as he'd like to see 2B laugh, he probably didn't want it directed toward himself, honestly. Unless he made a joke, and she laughed at that. That had yet to happen, though.

… What if he put bubbles on a really tame moose and tried to show her? No, that probably wouldn't do it.

Not bothering to clean the ridiculous bubbles off his head and face, he leaned back again, relaxing into the water. It wasn't hot anymore, but not yet cooler than his body either, so it was okay for awhile still.

His mind wandered, again. What were they, together? Were they merely partners, their only meaning to work together to get Command's bidding done? Or were they more? Did the times when she pulled him away to quiet places together mean anything, in the grand scheme of things?

What if Command found out about the things they did together? Was it even allowed? He wished he could talk with someone about it. 6O seemed a good candidate, but she wasn't his operator.

He scowled. This had been an awfully serious thinking time, in his relaxing bath time, and his water would get cold soon. 9S felt scammed, and tried to relax again with a huff.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much else to think about. The only things any of them ever had on their minds was the war, or orders from Command, or he in particular, certain feelings for his partner. Their entire lives were stress, which made it stressful to try and relax but fail, as well. Maybe that's why 2B never bothered.

Or maybe she didn't know how? Although, the times they spent together with no one else around sure made her look pretty relaxed, as she pulled him close and sighed into his hair, and… He was turning red again.

Blinking, and mentally shaking off the flustered feeling, he paused. Maybe he could someday get her to try relaxing in the bath? And then she'd understand the soap thing and 21O wouldn't get to blackmail him anymore. He wondered if 2B would ask him for direction on how to go about a bath, or ask him to help her. That meant he'd see her in the bath, though, without her uniform and covered in bubbles, and-

The door slid open. Like a deer caught in headlights, 9S slowly turned to look, suddenly very aware of the ridiculous bubbles still on his beet red face as he spotted 2B standing in the doorway.

Well… this was less than ideal.

Her face stayed stoic as ever as she stared at him, for what felt like several minutes. Eventually, slowly, she stepped into the room, coming to crouch at eye level beside the bath.

"9S." She said, slowly. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

The bubbles felt like judgement on his face, fully aware of how he looked to her right now. " a.. Bath?" His voice perfectly portrayed every ounce of embarrassment he felt right now.

"What did you do to your face?"

"Um. I have an explanation. I swear?"

She just stared.

"Uh."

2B moved slightly, but from in the tub 9S couldn't tell what for, until her bare hand appeared in his vision and he realized she'd removed her glove. He rarely saw her hands, and watched in awe as it came closer and closer to his face, only to splutter when she harshly dunked him under the water without warning.

"Hey! What was that for?" He snapped when he surfaced again, spitting out water. It was gross and soapy, too.

"That stuff was obscuring your…" She paused. "Pretty face."

Whether she was genuinely complimenting him or being sarcastic, he didn't know. "Can you please try not to drown me, at least?"

"I wasn't trying. Would you like me to try?"

"I'd rather not die, thanks."

There was a tense moment of awkward silence, neither of them really knowing what to do or say. As much as 9S wanted to abscond, he didn't dare try to escape, seeing as he was naked in the bath and she was blocking the door.

"So." 2B started, and 9S looked up at her again from where his eyes had drifted to the water. "Is it really so nice?"

He blinked dumbly. "What?"

"Baths."

No way. She couldn't be showing interest.

"It… looks nice."

She was showing interest.

"Oh, um. It is really nice. It's warm and relaxing, and sort of gives you time to yourself to just think?" He tried to explain the allure while she was receptive, but felt like he was distinctly falling flat. After a split second of silence, his rational mind ran away without him, leaving him to say the most stupid thing he could. "You could always join me if you wanted."

Oh, why did he have to say that? With an internal sigh, he waved goodbye to his life. He was ready for her to drown him now.

"Okay."

Wait, what?

Before he could so much as question her, 2B stood, stepping back from the tub a teeny bit. Part of him hoped she had lost interest and was going to leave him to drown himself now, but then he forgot what the rest of him thought, since it malfunctioned at the sound of her dress being unzipped and hitting the floor.

Suddenly, he felt like his body heat alone was enough to warm the water back up, as he stared at decidedly the opposite direction of her. He knew his face was burned bright red like a big flashing alarm button, and he didn't even want to think about what expression he was making as his internal monologue turned to a giant string of malfunctioned gibberish. He heard a faint noise, that almost sounded like a barely suppressed chuckle, and then two thud noises that must have been her boots hitting the floor.

A swish of fabric was next, and then he felt the water being disturbed as she stepped in with him. Her hands found his shoulders for support, and he felt her knees settle in on either side of him, her body slowly lowering into the water on top of him.

All thought processes had stopped, aside from something in the back of his mind that sounded like screaming. This wasn't happening. There was no way this could be happening.

"9S."

His stare stayed trained stubbornly on the wall, refusing to move. She cleared her throat, and tried again, sterner.

"9S"

Nothing.

"Nines."

That was it.

Trembling, he turned to face her. She was completely, shamelessly undressed, sitting on top of him in the water only came up to her waist, leaving everything above that.. entirely visible. And.. right in front of his face.

She cleared her throat again, and his eyes snapped up to her face. She was smirking slightly, but considering everything he could see right now, he was thankful she'd left the mask on. If he had to make eye contact like this, he was sure he would die.

And as if on cue, she reached up and took that off too.

Her pale, faintly colored eyes stared down at him, half lidded and through her thick lashes, along with that smirk from before, and everything going on.. Below her face… He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to speak.

"I.. Um, you.."

He stopped trying.

And then, she laughed. Actually, truly, non-hidden away, fully open laughter. It was quiet and elegant, and only for a moment, but the sound was beautiful. The way her body moved when she did was beautiful, too, and he found himself completely mesmerized.

"You're right, 9S." She said, her voice smooth as silk. "Baths are kind of nice. Thank you for showing me."

He could only gasp an attempt at a reply, turning to complete putty when she leaned forward, deeper into the water and flush against his body. Her hands found his, pulling them onto her waist, and her lips met his neck.

"You should invite me to join you again sometime, Nines."

NieR: Automata

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