#zeef

Greet our two new trainers kindly to the world of Luwmon.

Breathing heavily his eyes dart across the space, finding no trace of Alena. His heart drops as he briskly walks over to the discarded bandages. Where is she? Why is she gone? Oh god oh fuck is he too late?

He curses loudly, throwing the cloth at the wall as tears begin to run down his face, the drops collecting along the bottom edge of his visor. He has to go look. He has to find her but... He can't get his legs to move.

█✢█ @z479

Though long gone, the evidence was fresh. That wouldn’t help much, though. Z-909 was nowhere to be found.

What was sitting in her place, however, was a black feline with a strangely coloured eye. A bright pink scar ran the width of his face and down the length of his torso, parting the fur on either side. Scars also wrapped around the cat’s front wrists. His muzzle was curved in such a way that it made it seem like he was grinning— or maybe he actually was. Above its head a small top hat was floating, with a yellow ribbon decorating the base.

He sat there, watching, that grin ever present, and that strange eye narrowing knowingly. A voice begins to speak, though it feels more like it’s coming from inside 479’s head.

He laughs, humming faintly as a finger taps to his cheek, trying to think of what they'd even talk about. There's nothing to talk about! He already knows it all! They were so kind to tell him after all.

"I'm sure we'll meet again. You're a bug no one can seem to get rid of anyway! Haha! Why would you even want to talk! I thought you hated being seen near me, Doctor. Surprised you'd even try to lie and call me a friend to my face!"

█✢█

Oh.

Her spines twitched and vibrated; she didn't know whether to be angry or hopeless. Either way, hurt and confusion were the reigning king and queen.

"If I hated being seen near you why would I have welcomed you into my lab? Why wouldn't I have sent you away? Why wouldn't I have argued against it whenever my coworkers were around?"

Tears stung the back of her eyes, made them water.

"What the hell did they tell you? Did they also tell you I don't pick and choose what the hell they tell me to research, or experiment, or whatever? That I was at their mercy just like everyone else?"

Her chest tightened. What dd they tell him? That she was the one who figured out how to convert Z-317's data into something serviceable to human genetics? Did they tell him he's an experiment, did they tell him about the other guy? ...Oh god what if he's down here, too?

She glanced down.

"It isn't a lie, Zeef. You're my friend. You made life more bearable just by being around. Should I have said that more? That I care about you? That I missed you? That I felt like I could be more myself around you than any other damn person in that place? That it hurt whenever you weren't there? That thoughts of you was what helped me sleep at night and dull the pain after I was made into this?"

It was hard to see, now. Everything was blurry, smeared in a watery, salty hue.

He laughs at the idea. As if. At least they'd know she was still alive down here once the conversation is over.

"If I'm a pet I'm a loyal dog, don't you think? They saved me, what else could I do for them after all! If I wanted to be laughed at I'd put up with you again."

█✢█

"What are you talking about?!"

Her face scrunched, tail beginning to lash irritably. His belief that Urbanshade saved him didn't sit well in her, and a cold acidic bile clawed at her throat. Urbanshade saves nobody, why can't he see this?

"What is wrong, Zeef? You've done nothing but insult me and rub in my face what a big failure I am as if I didn't already know."

Her voice grew quiet and concern blossomed in her dying pale eyes.

He knows it's unlikely, but seeing this woman struggle amused him far too much to allow his mind anything but torment for her.

"I've been just fine! UrbanShade treats those who behave very well after all! Shame you're seeing that too late, isn't it? Could go back. You had your chance though! Blew it! Or, didn't blow it, I guess."

"Learn your lesson already, 909, and come home."

█✢█

"Home?"

"It doesn't matter the reason, does it? We're here. Right now. No one else laughing or judging or whispering. No tests to get in the way. Just us right here."

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

Even if his words would indicate Z-479 being no danger to her, the tone he says it in makes it sound very much like a threat.

"How have you been? I was under the impression I'd not have the chance to even see your annoying face again...."

The face of a woman who refused him the decency of even looking him in the eye and yet now she's a pathetic Z-class scrounging the Blacksite to sate her desire for knowledge.

"How sad I can't lift a single finger to help you."

█✢█

When his tone registered to her, it felt like an ice-cold dagger had went through her chest. Her fins fell flat again, though drooped more than usual. He was talking down to her.

She swallowed the hurt and tried to talk to him like she used to. Like it could be old times. Like nothing could have changed.

"Clearly, I've never been better, big guy. What could possibly have gone wrong since the last time we saw each other?"

But she had the feeling everything's changed.

"A-are you hungry? I have some spare food. Funny now we can... maybe get some lunch, together. Urbanshade was um. We were always busy...."