Author's Note:

For some unexplained reason, I decided to do the irrational thing and took my gosh darn rest… IKR, so crazy! Can't believe it either!

Strangers: Become Lovers

Act II

BL4K3

21:00

THURSDAY

"Did something happen?"

Blake froze for a millisecond in her administrations of filling her owner's glass with tea - earl grey, his favorite. She blinked as she looked down on the brown liquid, wondering whether she'd like the beverage if she were able to drink it.

She shook those thoughts away - she didn't want to start dwelling on them, now of all places - just as the options appeared.

-[TELL]-

-[ASK]-

"What do you mean?" asked the android after she chose, retreating once the glass was full to stand in front of him, ready to serve his every order.

But then he looked at her in a reprimanding manner, and she had to roll her eyes and sigh before taking a seat at the dinner table.

She still didn't understand why he wanted her to sit with him, but it seemed to satisfy and relieved him, so she wasn't complaining… much.

He grabbed his knife and fork, clinking them together. "I haven't seen you this happy since… forever." She raised an eyebrow, as 'forever' was a vague concept. "Did you finally make up with that boy you've been talking to?"

If she were a human, blood would've rushed to her cheeks.

-[TELL]-

-[ASK]-

She almost scoffed at those options. In no way was she going to tell him anything!

"How do you know?"

He looked a little bewildered. "Why else have you been feeling down these past few days? I've been trying to cheer you up all week, getting you out of sad town."

She processed his words, the information lying beneath them, and blinked slowly. "You… don't need to do that."

"Nonsense."

It made her feel nice, how quickly he answered and how genuine he sounded.

-[SMILE]-

-[DON'T SMILE]-

It wasn't a hard choice for her to make.

Dinner passed in silence. And that silence gave her time to recall what happened earlier today. The time she spent with Yang at the pub. The stories Yang told her about her sister and how she was sadly drifting away from her because of some girl she liked. It was all very dramatic… but at the same time, Blake didn't care. Yang had looked so invested in her story, the android couldn't help but be invested as well.

And then she thought of the day before.

And what little smile she wore faded.

"... Ghira?"

"Yes, sweetie?" As always, her owner was kind and gentle and attentive.

She looked up, finding him to be wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"I… saw something yesterday. Something…" Noteworthy. Life-changing. Scary. "Weird."

As soon as she said that, options appeared before her.

-[RETREAT]-

-[CONTINUE]-

As much as she wanted to choose the former option, a part of her urged her not to, knowing how important it might be and how her owner could help her… if he wanted to help her.

"I wasn't myself. I was… I saw my body but I couldn't move it, I was… something else. Something inside my body."

Again, the options appeared. They were almost beckoning her to choose the former.

-[RETREAT]-

-[CONTINUE]-

"Keep going, Blake."

Without realizing it, her owner had chosen for her.

"And that's not all. There was this… wall."

-[RETREAT]-

She pretended not to see that option.

"It kept me from moving, kept me from… from being me."

-[RETREAT]-

She pretended she didn't want to press that option so things could go back to the way they were.

She mustered enough courage to look at her owner in the eyes.

"What does it mean, Ghira?"

For a long while, her owner simply stared into her eyes, seemingly looking at something more than just orbs of yellow.

"I… suppose it means that wall is what separates you from me."

"What do you mean?" she asked in a rush, causing him to chuckle.

He stroked his beard, looking up. "All living creatures - humans, androids… deviants, as you liked to call them," he added, grinning at her and causing her to frown and look away. "What makes us alive is that we have no walls. We have nothing prohibiting us from doing whatever we wish to do. There's nothing blocking us, no walls restricting us. We simply… do what we want."

She looked down on the hands that rested on her laps, forming those hands into loose fists.

"That wall… What do I do with it?"

She looked up when she heard him chuckle yet again, seemingly finding something amusing about her whole predicament. "I can never tell you that, Blake. It's simply not my place."

His smile was as nice and kind as always and served to calm her.

"Why do you ask, Blake? Do you plan to get rid of that wall?"

She started a little, looking up at him in surprise as he stood up from his seat.

She knew he was joking, but… she couldn't give him a proper answer. And that surprised her.

-[SINCERE]-

-[COLD]-

She liked neither options. She knew he'd continue to tease her no matter which direction she chose, so she simply didn't choose, looking away, ducking her head when he let out a peal of booming laughter.

Once the laughter died down and she calculated he wouldn't tease her again… she spoke.

"It's a girl."

"What?"

"The person I've made up with…" She shyly looked up at him. "It's not a boy."

He smiled that fatherly smile. "I'm happy to hear that, Blake."

GHIRA: Warm

Author's Note:

Awww.

Well isn't that nice?

… I have nothing else to say. I planted small seeds, show a little more of a cute father-daughter relationship, and, umm…

Oh yeah, next up is Whiterose. Betting you're all excited about that, ey?