#otmc

He took the notes from 4S and thumbed through them. They were simply old photographs of human picnics pasted onto paper. All of them had the telltale red and white checkered patterned blanket underneath the basket, food, and other things scattered around. 

He looked up. “Both 6O and 21O especially have done extensive research on old human customs. It’d probably be for the best to stick to them as closely as possible for their sake. Too much deviation could potentially compromise the mission.”

A2 picked another bug off her arm. “What’s the worst that’s gonna happen if you don’t though? Is 6O gonna run off crying if she sees a plastic basket instead of a wicker one?”

9S scoffed at her. “I’m surprised you know what wicker means.”

“Shut up,” A2 rolled her eyes.

“Dude.” 4S took the papers back from 9S and glared. 

“Nines, focus.” 2B squeezed his hand.

“Fiiiine,” he sighed. He rolled his eyes right back at A2. “Anyway, this is a delicate operation. We can’t move it along too fast otherwise they might feel nervous or catch on to what we’re doing.”

“I get that but why does it matter that it’s perfectly accurate? How would using a shitty basket or whatever scare one of them off?”

“I—” 9S raised a finger. “Shut up.”

A2 smirked. 

32S spoke up. “It’s not just a picnic; it has to set the mood for these two to confess their feelings for each other. The more smoothly it goes, the more relaxed they’ll be and the more likely they’ll be more open with each other.

9S nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

A2 gave him a sideways glance and picked another bug off her shirt. 4S walked up to her and brushed a beetle from her hair. His hand lingered in her strands for a moment before he pulled away quickly and rushed back to the table. A2 gripped her pants and stared at him.

“A-anyway,” 4S coughed, “red and white picnic blanket, woven basket, sandwiches, fruits, drinks. I’m sending the list to everyone’s pods so please choose what you’ll work on.” He scooped up his papers and tucked them away in his notebook. “We’ll aim for a meeting in thirty-six hours and see what we have. 9S, 2B.” He turned to them.

“Yeah?”

“You’re in charge of making sure they don’t make any other plans around that time. We’ll aim for our first, and hopefully only, attempt shortly after our meeting.”

“Yessir!” 9S saluted. 2B glanced at him and then saluted too. A2 snorted at the sight. 9S flipped her off.

4S sighed. “9S would you knock it off?”

“What?” He raised his hands up. “She started it!”

4S just shook his head.

“I honestly don’t care,” A2 shrugged. The Resistance members in the corner chuckled quietly.

“Anyway,” 4S tapped his notebook on the table. “Meeting adjourned. I’ll see you all in thirty-six hours.”

The other Scanners filed out as soon as he said that, followed by the Resistance members, then 9S and 2B. 4S and A2 made no move to leave, however.

“That was weird,” 9S mumbled, half to himself.

“What was?”

“The way 4S was acting. All defensive of A2 like that. What do you think that’s all about?”

2B shrugged. “I am the last person you should ask about that.”

“Haha, true.” He bumped his shoulder against hers as they headed down the hallway. Something small and black flashed in her hair.

“Hold on.” He wove his fingers through her hair and pulled out a shiny little beetle. He set the creature down in a sad-looking potted plant. “Looks like you were standing too close to A2,” he said with a snort. 

“Nines, ” 2B snorted back.

He gave her a cheeky grin and smoothed her hair down before brushing his nose against hers.

“Anyway,” he continued walking. “Don’t worry about that; I can be the more socially, er, aware one for the both of us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” 2B snorted and bumped shoulders with him.

He bumped her back. “So. Thirty-six hours is kind of a long time. What do you say we go home for some reconciliation after the way I, uh, acted the past few days.” He raised his eyebrows at her and nudged her with his elbow.

“Reconciliation? But I already accepted your apology, I thought we had already reconciled.”

“No, I mean.” 9S slid his hand up 2B’s thigh. He leaned in close to her ear. “I want to-”

“WOULD YOU GUYS DO THAT ELSEWHERE?” One of the Resistance members yelled and threw a rock.

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Thirty-six hours came and went with little fanfare. 2B and 9S spent their downtime during missions collecting flowers, fruits, and whatever bits and bobs they could get their hands on. 

Anemone stepped in to help and gave the Operators heaps of old data to analyze and sent them to their rooms to work. 21O, of course, diligently poured herself over her work and was done so fast that Anemone had to scramble to find more. 6O, however, was distracted almost immediately by the countless documentaries scrounged up from old human archives.

It was all the same for 2B and 9S; as long as they were distracted and didn’t wander off it was fine.

The group reconvened at the thirty-six-hour mark. Each member proudly presented a bundle of the goodies they cobbled together. 4S rushed in last with A2 at his heel and tossed his collection on the table. He looked flustered, so did A2.

9S opened his mouth to comment but 4S cleared his throat and spoke.

“Okay, good news and bad news,” he said, after taking a deep breath. “The good news is I found a nice tarp that’s sturdy and a good size.”

“And the bad news?” 32S asked.

“No white paint.”

“Goddamit how is there no white paint in the entire camp?”

“I don’t know! I think Jackass used it to repaint her workshop.”

“The entire thing? That’d take all the paint in the region.”

“Why? It’s just gonna get nasty again in a day anyway.”

4S shrugged.

“Okay, well maybe we can find a white tarp somewhere.”

“Couldn’t find one either.”

“Well we have our white blanket we can use,” 2B offered.

“What?” 9S gasped. “No way! We’d have to f—sleep with that after!”

13S spoke up. “We could do red and black, couldn’t we? We have half the colors at least.”

“Hmm,” 4S turned to his holo-screen. “Now that I think about it, I remember…” He began furiously typing and a bunch of pictures popped up.

“Okay, okay, hold on I think red and black could actually work.” He turned the screen to the others to show a collection of photos of humans wearing black and red checkered clothing. “So according to this, people who chop wood and like women would commonly wear this specific pattern to signal to others like them. Also, there was the saying "Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, okay Jack," though I have no idea what that means but it's probably relevant.”

“Huh, I didn’t know 6O and 21O liked to chop wood,” 2B mused.

“Wha—no 2B, it’s the other one.” 9S waved 4S away as he began to giggle.

“Sorry, I meant people who chop wood or women who like other women.” He scratched his chin. “Well I guess there’d be some overlap of course; I’d have to do more research to see if there’s some correlation between the two or if it was a coincidence.”

“Oh, but why would they both choose that specific pattern?” 2B asked.

4S looked up. “I just said—”

“Anyway!” 9S chirped. “So we have a black tarp and red paint, yeah?”

11S kicks at the box and nods.

“Alrighty, what about the other stuff?”

“More or less accounted for,” said 32S.

“More or less?”

“Well, no wicker basket but I did find a nice wood box on the way, and picked some plants for a salad.”

“Hm, okay, that’s less optimal but we’ll make this work,” 4S said. “Let’s divide up the tasks. A2 and I can work on the tarp.”

9S wasn’t sure if he could trust A2 with delicate work. “Just make sure she doesn’t try to eat any of the paint.”

4S and A2 rolled their eyes in unison while the other Scanners bit back laughter. Even 2B’s lip twitched faintly. 9S flashed his signature cheeky grin.

“2B and I collected some fruits and got the utensils and plates and all that.”

2B’s eyes lit up and she produced a large bag filled with various fruits.

14S sat up. “We picked some flowers for a bouquet.” 13S nodded and smiled. He pointed to a massive pile of flowers on one of the boxes.

“Okay, cool,” 4S said. “We should probably arrange them a bit more…neatly.” 

11S shrugged. “I guess me n’ 42 will work on that.”

42S nodded. “Nice and quiet job.”

“Ah, right. Well, everyone else got what they were looking for, right?” The others nodded and pointed to their collections. 

“Okay! Let’s finish this!”

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It wasn’t the picture-perfect picnic setup 9S had imagined but it worked. They arranged the flowers and fruits, attempted to make sandwiches out of the failed bread 13S and 14S tried to bake, painted the tarp, and squashed it all inside the too-small box. 9S had to stop 2B from trying to put the flowers in too and showed her how to wrap them up in thin paper instead.

“Okay, I think that’s it!” 9S said and clapped his hands together. “Great work everyone! We’ll keep you updated on the picnic and share the full results when we come back!”

“Hell yeah!” 13S and 14S said in unison. 

“Try not to be too obvious with the motives,” A2 smirked. 9S stuck his tongue out at her and walked out the door. He stopped, then walked back in. 

“Could one of you bring the supplies out for us? Put them by the med tent, thanks bye!”

He heard a faint affirmation as the door shut. He stretched out and turned to 2B. “Okay, you go get 6O and meet me out front.” He jumped up and down. “You ready for this?”

2B nodded vigorously. “This is more exciting than I originally thought.”

“That’s the spirit!” He gave her a quick hug and skipped down the hall.

When he reached 21O’s flat he stopped and took a deep breath. 

Okay, not obvious. Just a ‘heya wanna go on a picnic?’ Casual explanations. Let’s go!

He knocked on the door. There was some scuffling from the living room and the door opened a crack. 21O peered outside.

“Oh, hello 9S.”

“Hey 21O—er… Mom.” He smiled.

“I didn’t expect you today. Do you need anything?” She opened it wider and let him inside.

He casually sauntered in and sat on the tiny sliver of couch not covered in papers. “2B and I were planning on going out for a picnic of sorts and wondered if you would like to join us?”

“A picnic? But Androids don’t need to eat.”

“I know but it’s more for the symbolism and fun! Just trying old human customs,” he chuckled. “It'll be good to stretch out for a bit, right?”

She thought for a bit. “I suppose I can go. It’s not like I have anything important to do anymore and it could help with my research on humans.” She looked at the piles of paperwork and old books stacked neatly around the room, contrasting the chaos on the couch.

“Aww, don’t be so glum, Oper—Mom. The Resistance could use your help with a lot of things.”

“I'm aware. Anemone has already given me another list of tasks she wants me to complete and I was going to start working again soon. The data she keeps sending me is getting weirder and weirder, like this book called The Kama Sutra, which depicts humans doing…” Her eyes went wide. “Er, never mind.”

“Oh, huh, never heard of that,” he lied. “Well, it doesn’t seem too urgent to finish then. We were planning on heading out soon. I can talk to Anemone if you’d like. She’s understanding and let’s 2B and I put things off all the time.” Though she’s usually not too pleased about it.

“No, they’re not. I just sai—” She paused and relaxed a bit. “No. I don’t believe anything here is urgent.”

9S let out a stiff sigh and perked up. “Great! I’ll meet you out front in ten?” 

“9S, what’s got you so excited? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

9S stiffened. “Er, no, I just wanted to take some time off since the last few days have been so eventful. It’s nice to just do nothing, you know?”

“No. I don’t know.” She looked away briefly. “But it’s never too late to learn new things.” She cracked a small smile. “Well, I suppose I’ll get ready.” 

“Okay!” He ran out the door.

“Phew, easy on the enthusiasm, 9S,” he mumbled out of earshot. He skipped along to the meeting spot to find 2B was already there shifting from foot to foot by the med tent. She perked up and waved to him when she saw him. 

“Everything good on your end 2B?” He smiled back and gave her a peck on the cheek.

She nodded. 

“Okay I gotta double-check with Anemone to see if—”

“Already took care of it.” 2B smiled. “She seemed very eager to help.”

He let out a squeaky giggle and flapped his hands in the air.

“This is gonna be fun. It’s nice to have a task that isn’t just breaking—”

2B jabbed 9S in the ribs. “Shh. 6O’s here.”

9S slammed his jaw shut and turned. “6O! Hey! Hi! Glad you could make it!” 

6O massaged her wrist and smiled at them. “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ve always wanted to go on a picnic. They seem so dreamy and romantic!”

Yes, romantic, exactly. 

9S and 2B nodded.

She continued in her flowery tone. “I always thought those red and white checkered blankets were so cute!”

9S and 2B looked at each other.

“Haha, yeah. They sure are!” He coughed.

“Anyway, is there anything else we need to—oh hi 21O!” 6O giggled and fidgeted with the hem of her blouse.

21O approached. “Oh, hello 6O, 2B, 9S.” She nodded at each of them but her eyes lingered on 6O a moment longer.

“Heya, Mom! That was quick! Are you ready for the picnic? We invited 6O too, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Ah, no, not at all.” 21O’s back stiffened and she began to lean to the side.

“Whoa, careful there,” 9S grabbed her arm and pulled her back upright.

When he stepped back he saw 6O had grabbed hold of her other arm and was still hanging on. 21O looked at her and 6O squeaked and let go.

“S-sorry, I was just making sure you were steady enough like 9S said be careful we can’t have you falling on our picnic hhahah that wouldn’t be fun to have happen!”

“Ah, yes, right, correct.” 21O nodded stiffly. “Thank you two.”

“Haha, yeah.” 6O giggled. “Oh! I have an idea!” 6O ran around the corner and came back a few seconds later with a long, spindly machine leg. “Oof. Oww.” She winced and held the leg out to her. “Need a hand?”

“A leg?”

“No I mean…a hand…like…you know…”

21O blinked.

“It’s a walking stick.”

“But that’s a—”

“You use it to help you balance.” 6O put the leg in 21O’s hand. Her hold lingered for a moment and she blushed. “Lean on it when you need to.” Her voice was slightly more elevated.

“Ah, I see.” 21O tapped it on the ground a few times. “Thank you.”

6O beamed and leaped back. She flinched when she landed. “Owie. Maaaybe I should get one for myself too.”

“I’ll get it,” 2B said and rushed to grab another before 6O could move. There was a loud crash and a cacophony of cursing and apologizing and 2B skidded around the corner with an arm of similar length. “Well, no time to waste, let's go.” She picked up the supplies and beelined for the camp exit.

“Wh—hold on 2B!” 9S called after her. He turned to the Operators. “Let’s hurry after her before she gets into more trouble.” He made an awkward laugh.

6O and 21O exchanged glances.

“You two okay though?”

They both nodded and headed after 2B side-by-side.

9S let out a stiff sigh and followed suit.

The spot they picked was in the middle of a massive field of sunflowers. Yellow, black, and green as far as the eye could see. The edge closer to the camp was rimmed with a handful of short, yet steep hills covered in dense foliage.

6O nearly fell over when she saw it.

“Oh, it’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life!” she cried with tears in her eyes. 

21O glanced at 6O with mild concern as she wobbled around. 2B held out an arm in front of her to keep her from tripping on herself and tumbling down the hill. Even 21O looked steadier than her.

---------------------------------------

It took some time, but they finally made it to the clearing and set up. The paint on the blanket was a bit smudged but looked dry enough. 9S put the box and cushions over them to hide them. He motioned the Operators to sit on two pillows placed right next to each other. They settled down beside each other, both avoiding the other’s gaze.

2B unwrapped the bouquet with her back turned to everyone and whirled around to show it off. 6O nearly cried all over again. 21O watched her with a soft gaze as she took the flowers and named every one of them. 

2B looked very pleased with herself and presented the Operators with the fruits and sandwiches next. 

“We don’t have many ingredients to put in them so we made what’s called peanut butter and jelly but we didn’t have any peanuts so we used acorns.” 

“Clever!” 6O hummed and took a bite. Her face fell. “It’s really…” Her voice was strained. She chewed once. “Unique.” She struggled to swallow and casually put the rest to the side and grabbed an apple.

21O took a bite and had a similar reaction. She tossed the sandwich into the field when she thought the others weren’t looking.

“These apples are good,” she nodded, holding one with a tiny bite in it.

2B brought her sandwich to her mouth but 9S pushed her hand back down and gave her some fruit. Perhaps the next picnic should have some more beta testing. Oh well. Things were still going relatively smoothly.

They started chatting about how they prepared the picnic and other mundane things while digging into the remaining food. 9S led them and tried to prod 21O into speaking more but 6O dominated most of the conversation. Despite being distracted from her original ‘task’ from Anemone, 6O had learned a lot from the documentaries she binged and gave very animated summaries of them all. 21O seemed content listening.

Satisfied enough with the direction of the conversation—9S pulled up his holo-screen and pretended to navigate to some ‘interesting data’ he had. He pulled up a smaller screen out of view of the Operators. 

Time for phase 2. He sent.

9S sent the signal. He flipped to his main screen with his folder of flower pictures and showed it to the Operators. They were neatly categorized by region and he filled the time talking with everyone about other local flora. 

He kept glancing at the clock. It sure was taking Anemone a while to get back to him. What else could he talk about? It was clear that 6O was the flower expert, not him.

Anemone. He wants you to call him. 4S typed.

Oh.

Shortly after, after nearly five minutes of waiting, the call came in. 9S nearly spilled his tea reaching out to take it.

“Sorry, everyone, it’s Anemone. Could be important!” He answered the call. “Hey, Anemone, what’s up? Everything okay?” 

“9S, yes, hello. We need your assistance ASAP.” Anemone’s image popped up.

“Oh, hey Anemone,” 9S gasped. “Yeah? What’s up? Is everything okay?”

She paused. “There’s been a malfunction with the communicator. We need you to come fix it now.”

“Oh no, that sounds serious. Can it wait a bit though? We’re on a picnic.”

“No.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll hurry over then, I guess.”

“We need 2B too, we need her strong arms to move things too.”

“For the communicator?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, fine. We’ll be there soon.”

9S hung up and turned to everyone. 

“Well, damn isn’t that a pain? Anemone’s always coming in with orders at the worst times.” He grabbed 2B by the hand. “We should probably get going. So sorry. You’ll be fine here on your own right?”

“That is unfortunate,” 21O frowned. “But yes, we’ll be fine on our own.” She cast a glance at 6O and straightened up a bit.

“What about the other Scanners?” 6O asked.

“They’re probably busy.” He stood up with 2B. “We’ll be as quick as possible, bye!” 9S turned on his heel and power-walked to the hill with her in tow.

When the Operators were well out of earshot 9S sighed. “Damn, Anemone’s an expert at giving out real orders, you’d think she’d be better at giving out fake ones, too.”

“It seemed convincing to me.”

9S looked at her and blinked several times. 

“What?”

“Oh, 2B. Ooh, there’s a good spot to watch.”

9S dove into some bushes at the top of the hill and peered through a small gap. The Operators were quietly eating but not speaking. Occasionally one of them would take a bite from something new and toss it into the flowers.

2B squeezed in next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

9S typed on his holo-screen. Okay, we’re in position. Nothing as of yet but we’ll keep you all posted. Also Anemone, what the hell was that? “The communicator?”

You didn’t give me anything to work with.

OMG

2B leaned over and typed. Thank you anyway. You took time out of your schedule to help us with this.

Of course. Good luck to all of you.

9S sent a thumbs-up emoji. He looked back to the Operators. They were still eating. 21O said something after throwing some dark berries away and 6O giggled.

He stretched out and leaned against 2B. “I suppose this might take a while.”

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9S was jolted from his holo-screen sometime later by 2B jabbing him in the ribs.

“9S,” she hissed, “something’s wrong, they look upset.”

9S jerked forward and saw 21O sitting back with her legs out. She held her hand in front of her face while 6O seemed to be freaking out next to her. Her skin looked very red.

“Is that blood!?” 2B panicked.

“What?” 9S zoomed in with his pod, and his heart raced. “No, it’s too red.” He looked closer and groaned. “Goddammit, it's the paint. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted A2 with that.” He pulled up his holo-screen and started furiously typing.

21O’s got paint all over her. You two said you made sure it was dry!

Oops.

Just ‘Oops?’

“So what now, is the whole thing ruined?” 2B asked. She inhaled deeply and evened her breathing.

9S grumbled but lit up a moment later. “Wait no, this might be a good thing.”

“Huh?”

He rubbed his hands together and cackled. “6O is going to offer to clean 21O off and they’ll get that close contact they’ve been craving and then they’ll have the chance to talk about those deeper feelings they have for each other. Yes. This might be what they need.”

“9S have you been reading romance books again?”

“Maybe,” he snorted. “Anyway, look. Look.”

The two of them squeezed together to look out the small gap and watched. 6O still seemed very disturbed but had calmed down somewhat. 21O seemed more upset about 6O’s reaction than about the paint on her body. She waved a hand at 6O and pulled out a napkin from the box. 

“No. No. Come on,” 9S urged in a whisper.

6O said something and then held out her hand to 21O. When she handed her the napkin 9S almost cheered. 

“Good, good, let’s goooo.” He bounced up and down.

6O poured some water on the napkin and carefully cleaned the paint from 21O’s hand. Neither of them spoke. She moved to her legs and hooked her fingers under her calf to steady it. 

“Oh, wow,” 2B mused, “they’re actually doing it.”

“See? I know these things! Now they’ll start talking about deeper feelings and one of them might let it all slip.”

But, they didn’t. 6O continued wiping 21O’s legs without another word from either of them. 6O’s hand on 21O’s leg stayed in the same position the entire time. They smiled at each other when she finished and sat back.

“Come onnnn,” 9S breathed. 

6O picked up an apple and went right back to eating. 21O followed suit. 

9S dragged his hands through his hair. 

“So when are they going to confess?” 2B whispered.

He dropped his head and sighed. “It woulda happened by now if they were.”

“Oh.” 2B sounded dejected. “Well, now what?”

9S turned to his holo-screen. We’re just finishing up here. Heading back soon. How’s it going?

He watched 21O pull up her screen and respond. Everything is fine. Thank you.

9S mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath. “It’s fine. No big deal. These things take time.” 

“Nines, are you okay?”

He sighed, “Yeah, sorry. Dunno why it’s got me worked up like that. Shouldn’t have expected it on the first try. They had the perfect chance though.”

2B kissed his forehead. “You are a dork.”

His face went red. “Twooo Beeeeee.”

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The couple watched for another ten minutes in hopes of something new developing, but nothing did. 6O said a few things here and there while 21O listened and nodded occasionally. 

9S stretched and clawed his way out of the bushes. 2B followed suit and the two of them headed back to the picnic without saying anything.

6O waved when she saw them. 21O perked up a bit too.

“9S, welcome back,” she said when they reached them. She looked down and tilted her head. “Why do you have dirt embedded into your legs?”

“Oh uh,” he looked at his shins, “I tripped on the way back. I’m fine though.”

“You both did?” 6O added, looking at 2B.

“...Yes.”

“Anyway, how was the picnic?” 9S chirped. “I hope you left some food for us!”

“Oh, yeah we—” 6O pulled a single persimmon from the box. “Er, technically we did! Sorry.” She handed the fruit to 9S.

He turned it in his hand. A thought came to him. “That’s okay! We can share!” He held the fruit out to 2B and bowed with his arm behind his back. “Would you like a bite ma’am?”

2B paused for a moment; her eyes flicked between 9S and the persimmon. “Of course, let me grab a knife.”

“No, I mean.” He put the fruit in his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at 2B. 

“Oh.” A smirk grew on her face and she leaned in and bit into the other end. Their noses touched and he could feel her hot breath on his face. He bit down, and so did she. The sweet juice squirted into his mouth and ran down his chin. 

He looked at 6O and 21O through the corner of his eye. They exchanged glances with each other. He bit down harder and the persimmon fell to the ground with a wet thud.

“Ah, shit.” Probably should have held on to it.

“What are you two doing?” 21O asked, eyebrow raised.

“Nothing, never mind.” 9S tossed the persimmon into the flowers to join the other failed snacks. 2B snorted while wiping her face. “So do you wanna do something else? Maybe go to the beach and collect shells? Humans used to do that all the time!”

6O clapped her hands together. “Ooh, I’d love that!”

21O looked at her. “Yes, that sounds nice.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

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Hours later they arrived back at the Resistance camp and went their separate ways. The rocky beach was too precarious for 21O to walk on and put much strain on 6O’s body, so the four of them opted to just lie in the grass nearby and watch the waves. 

6O happily chattered on about various facts about the natural world; so much, in fact, that not even 9S could get a word in to add to or counter anything. 21O seemed content with just listening, at least.

9S must have fallen asleep at some point because he awoke draped over 2B’s back as the group headed back to camp. He hid his face in shame in 2B’s hair as 6O teased him about it. However, 2B refused to let go of his legs when he tried to slide off and walk alongside them.

When they got back to camp they bid their farewells and headed back home. 9S fell back on the bed as soon as he got through the door. 

He sighed. “Well that could have been better, but still went pretty well all things considered.”

2B fell on top of him and knocked the wind out of him. He wheezed and wrapped his free arm around her.

“I had a nice time,” she hummed.

“Yeah, me too.”

“What was up with the peach, though?”

“The wha—oh the persimmon?” 9S scratched his head and laughed. “Well, I was trying to act all lovey-dovey with you in hopes of maybe, er, inspiring them but that didn’t work out too well.”

“9S you are a dork.” She bonked her forehead against his.

“Heheh, I kind of am, aren’t I?” He kissed the back of 2B’s ear. “I’m tired. Let’s take a nap. We can plan the next picnic some other time.”

“Agreed.”

He closed his eyes and started drifting off then jolted awake.

"Shit, we were supposed to tell the others what happened..."

2B didn't respond; she was already asleep.