#bitomasweek23

I tried something new with the hair, got lazy and didn't render the ones in the corner fully.

Tomas likes to care for Bi-Han's hair and that also means he likes to style it when he can.

BiTomas Week, Day 6: Seasons

Day 3. AU

Author's notes: the characters' images are taken from the classic games and supplemented with my headcannons. This is completely unrelated to "Mortal Kombat 1" (2023).

reverse!au, in which Bi Han came under the program of cybernetization of Lin Kuei

Yes, it was planned as a kind of SmokeHan, similar to the NoobSmoke from MKD. Planned…

The evening, smoothly flowing into night, again took place in the workshop. Smoke loved this place even more than his own room and, de facto, had long ago arranged his sleeping place here. He didn’t want to stain the feather beds in the room with machine oil, but the sofa in the workshop was no less dirty than the sofa itself.

Tomas, too keen on soldering, had stubbornly failed to notice Kuai Liang, who was watching him, for about 10 minutes. If you don’t break this silence, then Smoke won’t even notice him, Sub-Zero understood this very well.

— Did you at least leave here today? — He asked, tilting his head to the side.

The ninja flinched at the sudden sound, turning to look at the visitor.

— Well... — he fell silent for a long time, recalling the events of today. — I went outside to smoke a couple of times.

— But you can't tell by the smell of tobacco, — the grandmaster grumbled, waving away the disgusting smell of cigarettes. — Have you even eaten today?

— Well... — he looked down at the floor again, trying to remember something other than the cyborg to whom he devoted his entire day.

— This is not normal, Tomas, — Sub-Zero mutters, exhaling heavily. — I understand that you are free to spend your day off as you please, but as a friend, I am very worried about you. I repeat: your actions are abnormal. They harm you, Tomas!

— I... — Smoke bowed his head, frantically searching for some words in his head. — ...I understand the truth of your words. But you also understand me... — he emotionally clasped his hands, pointing at the cyborg with whom he had been fiddling with for the last 2 days. — Bi requires maintenance. Especially after the last mission.

Kuai Liang turned his head towards Bi. Or rather to the LK-7C8. He refused to call it by the name of his deceased brother.

Sighing heavily, he turned back to Smoke. He also considered the LK-7C8. But there was something in his gaze... Reverent. Enchanted. In love. It seems that Tomas really saw Bi Han in this pile of metal. How can we explain to him that there is no soul left in the cyborg? How to alleviate the pain from which he is hiding while caring for LK-7C8?

— You could also use some maintenance after the last mission, — Sub-Zero said after a painfully long silence.

— I was practically unhurt, — Smoke noted admiringly. — Bi took the entire blow upon himself, protecting me, — he pointed his finger at the deep hole in the cyborg’s chest. — I'll have to replace this slab.

— I'm talking about something else, Tomas. You are not a cyborg. You need a break. There's some relaxation there.

— I’m more than relaxed here, — he smiles, not taking his eyes off Bi. — I really like it here.

— And if I take the LK-7C8 out of here, will you like it here too?

— Don’t call him that, — Tomas snapped, almost growling. He grabbed the cyborg's hand tightly, squeezing it.

— What should I call it?

— Just like you once called your brother, — he said getting more and more annoyed

— This is no longer my brother, Tomas, — Kuai Liang remarked seriously and persistently.

— It contains everything that remains of your brother. It contains something that can be used to revive your brother, — Smoke said confidently. His gaze hardened, his lips pursed. The tension in the room grew steadily, causing almost physical discomfort.

— Quan Chi took Cyrax out of the cyborg. He is the only one, who knew the secret of this procedure, and he took this secret with him to the grave, — Sub-Zero muttered, trying – once again – to reason with his closest friend.

— It's all because of your idiot Hanzo!

The truth stings painfully and therefore Tomas responds to it with aggression. The vicious flame of malice and hatred lights up in the gray eyes. A cloud of black smoke appears around him. The faint rumble made by Bi only inflames Smoke and his indignation.

An ice dagger also appears in Kuai Liang's hand, but he quickly calms himself down. He understands that Smoke is just in pain. He understands that this cannot be brought to the boiling point. Taking a couple of steps back, Sub-Zero says:

— I'll leave you. It seems like I'm the odd one out here.

Kuai Liang really leaves. Tomas looks after him for a long time, exhaling heavily. He turns his gaze back to Bi, also squeezing the cold metal hand.

— I’ll definitely get you out of there, — he swears an oath, gently stroking the titanium body. — No matter what it costs me, Bi Han... I... I won’t give up. In no case.

Smoke looks up, staring for a long time at the unnatural light emitted by a pair of cybernetic eyes. So bright, blinding, but at the same time cold... Dead light.

Tomas is trying to say something, to continue convincing the cyborg that everything will work out well with him, but he is treacherously lacking in strength. The head falls wearily onto the metal chest.

Smoke is tired. Very tired. For 3 years now, he has been trying to awaken the soul of Bi Han. There is absolutely no result.

But he has no plans to give up yet. It took him more than a 3 year to find the cyborg.

But he found it! Restored it and brought it back into working order. It took a lot of effort, but it all paid off in full. Bi's return was worth all the years that Tomas spent looking for him and all the resources he spent on repairing him.

The ninja pressed closer to the cyborg. Just like how he clung to Bi Han during the long sleepless nights, which they filled with endless conversations about everything. The hand involuntarily reached out to the blue plates, outlining the contours of the titanium cybernetic body.

Cold.

“Bi Han was always cold and hard too,” Smoke thought. Smiling helplessly at the stupidity of his own self-consolation, Tomas still did not find the strength within himself to get up from his chest. Even if Bi was cast from titanium, and not woven from flesh and blood, but inside this body slept everything that once controlled Bi Khan - his soul. And Tomas loved this soul, and not its shell. This is probably why his affection for the cyborg really knew no bounds, going beyond some limits of reason. There was truth in Kuai Liang's words... But emotions and feelings are indifferent to any truths.

Hugging Bi's body with both hands, he felt the incredible comfort of that distant time, when life was simpler, the grass was greener, and he himself never imagined that his life would become... Like this. Of course, there were problems then, but now they all seemed so stupid, petty, idiotic. At that distant time, he did not have to run away from cybernetization, revive the Lin Kuei together with Kuai Liang, wander around the entire Outworld trying to find what was left of his beloved. Yes, then life was not all sugar either, but there was a ray of light in it. Hope. Support. Bi Han was in it.

— I love you, — he muttered somewhere deep into Bi’s metal plates, as if trying to whisper to a soul that had lost its own body.

— It’s mutual, Tomas, — a painfully familiar voice whispered right in his ear, making Smoke tremble from the sudden rush of memories.

Or maybe he was trembling from the grave cold that enveloped his back.

Postscript: I am not an English-speaking person and this is my first experience in writing a literary text in a foreign language. I apologize in advance for all my mistakes in this text and ask you to point them out in the comments or personal messages. Thanks a lot in advance to everyone!

we thank everyone who participated in and liked stuff of BiTomas Week this year, we're so grateful for all of you.

it was a really fun experience to host and participate ourselves in this BiToma Week.

kuai liang: yikes, all of your back is red! did those bedbugs bite you again?

tomas: umm.... yeah....

kuai liang: you better ask sektor to kill them until they start annoying others in our clan. are they big?

tomas: no, they aren't (in thoughts) how tall is bi han…?

this art is for my fanfic