in the stillness of these moments

X bounded down an all-too familiar path. "What did you say happened?" he asked Axl, who was jogging beside him.

"I don't really know, X, he just ran at the guy with his saber out and then suddenly his arm was on my face. Then he passed out," the younger reploid explained. "It finished the Maverick off, thankfully, but that's all I could tell."

X huffed in frustration, skidding to a halt and barging into the medical bay. "Lifesaver?" he called, but she was already in front of him.

"He's rebooting right now. His arm's been reattached but-" X ignored her and stood behind his best friend, watching Zero's face flush as coolant and blood pumped back into his systems. "But," Livesaver finished in an irritated tone- "the Maverick released some form of data into him."

"He's been infected?" Axl questioned, eyes growing in fear.

Lifesaver shook her head. "If it was the virus, his firewalls protected him from the tiny amount he took on. Nevertheless, he needs to rest. No missions for the next two days. I've already let Signas know."

X nodded. "I think he's waking up," he said, just as Zero's face scrunched in discomfort. "Something wrong, Zero?" X inquired, noticing the expression.

"Just wondering what smelled so bad," Zero commented, voice weak but still full of sarcasm. "Then I noticed you and Axl were here."

Axl pouted. "You two can be so mean at times… Do you remembered what happened, Zero?"

Red-padded shoulders lifted, the universal gesture for "maybe." "I just woke up, guys," Zero admonished. "Give me a few to get the memory banks back online."

Axl leaned his head back against the wall. "For the love of Asimov… hurry up!" X slapped the younger Hunter's arm. "I was kidding, geez, calm down!"

"I'm starting to remember… right. I saw an opening, so I ran towards him, my saber out… and it must have been that just as I stabbed him, he swung his blade down and cut my arm straight from its socket," Zero recalled. "I guess I'm lucky you managed to catch it, Axl. Thanks."

X growled. "You need to stop being so careless! You know what would happen to me- the Hunters if you were struck down?"

Zero squinted at X, confused by his first comment, but didn't acknowledge it. "Fine, I'll be more observant. But don't expect me to pause every time I need to take the final shot like a certain blue Reploid I know…" he chastised. Said Reploid responded with a blush.

Axl tapped his foot, feeling somewhat ostracized by the pair. "OK, Zero's just fine, can we go now?"

Lifesaver walked in and nodded. "I was just about to tell you to leave. Zero needs to rest for a bit longer, but he should be out within the hour. I need to run a few last scans is all," she assured the red robot. "Now scoot." She began to push them out the door.

Can I come to your room once I'm out? Zero messaged X.

My door's always open to you, Z. The two male Reploids left the room. Zero stared at the ceiling, wondering just what had X so worried today.

. . .

Only Zero was allowed to enter X's room without knocking, and all of the Hunters knew that. So when the door to X's dorm swung open forty-seven minutes later, he didn't bother looking up. Instead, he just offered a "I assume you brought the brush?"

Zero tossed the hairbrush onto X's lap and settled himself on the couch. "Do I need to start changing up my routine?" he questioned.

Pushing his paperwork aside, X sat cross-legged behind Zero and began to separate the hay-colored strands with practiced gentleness. "You better be joking. The fact that you have such a predictable pattern makes me feel less overwhelmed by all the other chaos in the world," X replied.

Zero let his eyes flutter shut, content to just let X comb out the tangles of battle. Soon enough, however, his inquiry resurfaced. "Why did you get so worked up over this?"

X paused, fingers lingering in the golden locks. "You'll have to be more specific," he requested.

"I get injured in battle all the time. You shouldn't be so surprised at this point," Zero elaborated. He threw a glance over his shoulder at the blue Reploid.

X's emerald eye twitched. "You… you lost an arm. Most of your past medical emergencies- and note that I said most, I remember that time when I saved all your parts quite vividly- don't involve you being amputated."

Zero huffed, unsatisfied. "You worry too much, X."

"I have to, Z," X said softly. "I'm the only Reploid that can. I need to make up for everybody else." He offers no further explanation, and the pair continue to soak in the comforting aura. Even after X concluded fixing Zero's ponytail, neither felt any urge to move. There was something palpable about being in the presence of a trusted ally, an understanding confidant, a best friend. Zero, beginning to grow drowsy, leaned backward, head falling into X's lap. A halo of sun spread itself over X's knees. "Oh come on," he protested. "I just finished and now it's going to get all messed up again!"

Zero guffawed and smirked. "You'll fix it again. You always do."

"Yeah, I will. I'll do basically anything for you, Zero," he admitted, curling a strand of his partner's hair around his forefinger.

"Hey, don't go falling in love with me, buddy," Zero teased, arching his feet. He expected X to laugh, but instead heard no verbal reply. Shifting his eyes to focus on X's face, Zero quickly realized his comment had upset the brown-haired Reploid. X's lower lip quivered, his hands had tightened into a clench that caused his joints to creak, eyes throbbing with despair and longing. "X? Everything alright?"

X tipped his head up, closing his eyes and allowing his tears to dance down his face. "'Don't go falling in love with you,' you say…" he murmured, voice supple. "Too late."

Zero's breath caught. "You… you what?" he stammered. Cyan met viridian, and a drop of moisture landed on the red robot's cheek. "X?"

X caressed the jaw of his friend. "I tried my damndest not to," he sighed. "And for a while, it worked. During battle, all I felt was… admiration, I suppose would be the right word. I admired how you moved, so primal and yet something only a nonhuman creation could pull off. But then we became friends." He shook his head bitterly. "We spent time together outside of missions, we grew closer and closer during the brief hours of peace. And it was in the stillness of these moments that I fell in love with you."

Zero subconsciously leaned into X's touch. "You… you're in love with me," he repeated, dumbfounded.

"I know you aren't, Z. I know that you don't return and could never return these feelings, not after everything you've gone thro-hmph!" X was forced into silence when his mouth was sealed by Zero's lips.

Despite all their grace and finesse in combat, the two fumbled and mashed their lips together, both desperately seeking the heady rush of rapture. They rocked back and forth as one attempted to dominate the other, but slowly sunk into a steady rhythm of give and take. Zero grasped either side of X's face, a euphoric buzz building in his chest. X simply savored, the agonizing yearning finally beginning to simmer off.

Zero pried himself away to cradle X's jaws, pressing their foreheads together. "Don't ever assume you know everything about me," he choked. "Because you don't."

"Then… then you…" X squeaked. "You love me back?"

That gave Zero pause. He backed away from the contact, pushing his bangs up in frustration. "I can't say that in good conscious, as much as I want to. After Iris, I just don't feel comfortable throwing around that word. I want to mean it. To be 100% certain." He rubbed X's shoulder tenderly. "I know what I feel for you is beyond respect and enjoyment of your company. It's adoration, affection, maybe lust, if the situation is right. But I can't say I love you. Not yet," he concluded, blinking away the liquid pooling in the corners of his eyes.

X beamed. His smile was pure radiance in Zero's thoughts. "It's that devotion that I wanted so much," he confessed. "I knew that, even if you knew of my feelings and didn't return them, you would still be my best friend."

Zero surged forward once more, pushing X flat onto the couch, both relishing the literal sparks in the spaces between their lips. X had no problem in allowing Zero to straddle him, as it gave him a chance to readjust his hands: the left molding into the small of his back, the right finding purchase in the blond hair. There was something sensual building in the atmosphere, yet it felt incredibly chaste.

Still, X craved more. Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, he opened his mouth and allowed his tongue to crawl across Zero's lips. The red Reploid rasped in shock, allowing his partner to enter his mouth.

Neither really tasted so much as experienced the other. It was an influx of data, a constant bombardment of information overloading their processors. Nevertheless, it provided the same euphoric sensation that lust was traditionally known for.

It wasn't much long after that Zero, encouraged by the brashness of the blue robot, to move his kisses from the lips to the nose, eyes, and a pepper of pecks down X's jawline. X, in response, writhed in bliss- and then in disappointment. He quickly shoved Zero away, causing Zero to exclaim in anger.

"Not- not yet," X panted, cracks in his tone. "I don't want a purely physical relationship… I want something more… I want to build to that…"

Failing to hide his frustration, Zero huffed. "Basically, you want to snuggle, don't you, you big baby?" he assessed. X gazed to the side guiltily. With a yelp, he was pulled into the lap of his new lover, who rested his chin in chocolate hair. "You said something like the quiet moments made you fall in love with me, right?"

X encircled Zero's waist with his arms, nodding. "Yeah… why?"

Zero hummed to himself, already noticing a kindling burn in his ribcage. "Well, maybe those moments will let me fall in love with you."