“GiDi should be apologizing to you.” They muttered as they helped TO into the chair. As soon as DH came back from whatever it was they had to do, TO asked for help to get into their chair. “But, you should talk to them, yes.” 

“I’m the one who messed up.” TO muttered once they were in. Of course, DH didn’t let them go just then as they insisted on preparing TO first by putting a blanket around the injured leg, stabilizing it, and putting together a little pack of supplies. TO said they didn’t need the supplies, but they insisted on giving them some painkillers to take with them: Not the strong ones which DH had reduced to only small, twice daily dosages, but some milder ones that TO could take every four hours if the pain got bad. 

The lower dosage meant constant pain in their knee, but it was bearable. The positive side to the reduced dosage was that TO wasn’t sleepy all the time, and their mind was clear again. 

“I could go with you.” DH said, “Just in case something happens. What if your knee starts hurting really bad? Or if GiDi…” They paused and shook their head, “What if you and GiDi get into a bigger fight?” 

“If that happens, I’ll handle it.” TO said. That wasn’t what they originally intended to say in response. Originally, they were going to say that if that happened, then they deserved it and would take whatever GiDi threw at them, but they didn’t want to give DH more reason to worry about them. They had to find ways to be more beneficial to their family, and causing more work for DH was the opposite of what they needed to do. 

“Alright.” DH said. They leaned in towards TO, and gently pressed their foreheads together as DH’s hand went behind TO’s head and gently scratched the back of their neck. “If you’re sure.” 

“I’m positive.” They said. “I want to do this on my own.” 

DH held TO in place for a moment longer as they scratched the back of TO’s neck until a low chirping emitted from TO. DH chuckled as that happened, smiling at the light flush that covered TO’s ears. They then kissed first TO’s forehead, then their snout, then they planted a gentle kiss on TO’s lips. 

“Ugh. Get a room.” Vik said as they emerged from the vent once more, “We have a room just for that stuff! Though, I think that’s basically always in use. You might have to wait in line.” 

DH jolted up, “Vik!” They said as they turned around, their ears flushed blue, “Where were you? We have to work on the schematics for the prosthetics!” 

TO smiled despite their own embarrassment, the deepening flush of their ears, and the twist of anxiety in their stomach, which they fought to soothe with reminders that they could be affectionate here. The sudden affection from DH served to soothe some of the worries they had, to make things feel normal between the two of them. 

Their relief lasted as they went to the elevator and rolled inside. The door closed, the elevator moved, and now that they were away from DH, they couldn’t help but wonder if the unexpected affection was a diversion. Maybe TO themself had been too quiet, and DH knew that they were upset. DH was amazing and wouldn’t want them to feel that way, so it made sense to TO that they would overcompensate, and try to make TO feel better, right?

As they worried about this, the door opened. The elevator didn’t open on the floor where everyone else was staying. It followed its path and opened up in the hallway below them. It was relatively quiet, though the privacy room to one side, which they had set up to the side, had the little sign set on the front flipped to ‘DO NOT DISTURB’, indicating that someone was using it. There was a line, yes, but it wasn’t a line of people. It was a line of socks which trailed from the door down the hallway. 

That made sense. If TO and DH did want to use the room, they didn’t think they’d want to wait awkwardly outside for an undetermined period with a bunch of other people. 

The elevator door began to slide shut but on a whim TO pushed themself out. The motion sensor caught their movement, and the doors opened up, allowing TO to exit the elevator. They’d go find GiDi, absolutely, and they’d apologize and do whatever they could to make things right! But Avery was right here. Avery, their friend, their Ankyra. Maybe Avery would hate them as well for everything that had happened, but with GiDi angry at them and with the strange tension they sensed between themself and DH, they wanted to talk to someone even if that someone was unconscious. 

They rolled up to the door and waved their chip before it, hoping that their chip had the proper privileges for it. It did, and the door slid open, allowing TO to enter. At first glance, the room appeared to be empty, with the only sounds coming from within the steady beeping of machines. However, as TO rolled in, they caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of their eye, and heard a sharp intake of breath and a loud clatter from the corner of the room. They turned in their chair, their knee arching at the sudden awkward angle as they drew their claws. 

Someone was in there with Avery, but why? Was it a civilian? Why were they sitting in the corner? Were they going to hurt Avery? Were they waiting for DH to make their daily rounds? 

Why did their claws feel so odd? They didn’t want to draw them, but TO had no weapons or method of self defence. 

Somehow, the idea that it was Kei came through their head. Somehow, Kei had found a way on their ship, and was here to do what they failed to do on Arkane. 

Those thoughts all ran through TO’s head in the split second it took them to recognize the figure in the corner. A chair lay on its side on the floor right next to a terrified looked Noss who stood before TO with his hands out. A small tablet lay on the floor next to his feet, screen down. The minister, or former minister, stammered the beginning of several sentences as the sweat poured off his face. 

No, it wasn’t sweat; it was a secretion. Noss said that it wasn’t sweat. 

“What are you doing here?” TO hissed, moving themself between Avery and Noss. Yes, he had helped them get off the planet, and Pholi had vouched for him, but who was to say that it all wasn’t a trick?

“Nothing! I swear!” He said, finally regaining control of his tongue. 

“Then why are you here” TO still kept their claws unsheathed. They hated it, and it made them feel anxious and sick, but they had no other weapon and couldn’t defend themself properly since they were in the chair. 

If he had a weapon, TO would attack. They glanced to the corner of the room, and saw the camera, its activity button blinking away to prove it was working. Good. Hopefully DH would see what was happening, and would be there soon. 

Their chip suddenly beeped, a signal that they had a message. They nearly went to check it, but that would have given Noss an opportunity to attack, so they didn’t. 

“Why are you here?!” TO demanded again. 

“I… I’m hiding!” Noss said, backing up a little more, his back against the wall. “I swear, Ask Pholi. Ask GiDi, I swear-“ 

“Hiding from who!” TO said as they willed their chair forward. “And why in here!?” They flicked their eyes to the tablet on the floor. “What were you doing with that?” Maybe they weren’t there to hurt Avery, maybe they were just sending information off to Gyrini. Maybe this was all a ploy to redeem themself in Decon’s eyes. 

With painful slowness, Noss reached down and picked up the tablet. He turned it over and pointed the screen at TO so that they could see what they had been doing. On the screen, a show was playing: something animated, but otherwise not something TO recognized. 

“Please, I swear, I was just here watching a show I like,” He said. “That’s all.” 

“But why here” TO said again, “I can’t think of a single reason you should be here, or why anyone should be here!” 

“T-That’s the point.” Noss said. “I’m here because nobody else has a reason to come here.” He lowered the tablet slightly and looked at TO, “GiDi visits in the morning. DH makes their rounds in the evening. Nobody else comes here in the middle of the afternoon, so it’s a place I can hide!” He turned the tablet around and began inputting something on it, “I can call GiDi or DH, and they’ll tell you they said it was ok! Pholi suggested it, and he asked them-“ 

“But why are you hiding at all?!” 

Another beep on TO’s communicator: This time it was a call. TO gestured, and a flickering screen popped up before them, showing DH’s face. DH’s ears were out in panic, their eyes wide. 

“DH. Noss was-“ 

“Noss is ok to be there!” DH said quickly, “He’s staying there, so he doesn’t upset the other civilians!” 

TO frowned, their ears flicking out slightly in confusion. “Why though?” TO said.

“I was... Well, they were going to lock me up somewhere.” Noss said. “But there wasn’t space, and nobody really wanted to give up that privacy room, and I helped so GiDi and Tham said that so long as I didn’t cause any issues with the others, I didn’t need to be isolated or locked up. But most everyone else hates me, and things were always tense.” He paused and gave a nervous laugh. “I mean, really, what happened wasn’t my fault! I didn’t make the rules, but half the people on this ship hate me!” 

“We were worried about fights breaking out.” DH said, “And with tensions getting a bit high with the others anyway, it was looking more and more likely. Pholi suggested that Noss just hide away somewhere for most of the day, and I figured at least this way, Avery wouldn’t be alone.” 

As TO’s ears dipped further, they retracted their claws. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” 

“You were still heavily medicated when we decided on this,” DH said, “And after that it just didn’t seem important.” They frowned. “Why are you there though? If I knew you were going down there, I’d have told you about him. I thought you were going to find GiDi!” 

“I am!” TO insisted, “I just wanted to see Avery first!” 

“…I’m ok to be here?” Noss said. “I mean, I can go-“

“You’re fine, Noss.” DH said, “I’m just glad I called. I messaged TO first when I saw them on the camera, but they didn’t answer.” 

“I didn’t know why Noss was here.” TO said, “What if he was here to hurt Avery? What if he attacked? I didn’t want to give him an opening.” 

DH stared at TO in stunned silence for a moment longer before breaking out into laughter, their ears twitching. 

“Noss? You didn’t want to give Noss an opening? TO, weapons here are all locked up and Noss… Well, he’s Noss. I doubt he’d be stupid enough to attack you!” Their ears flicked down suddenly, “Ah, apologies, Noss, I meant to offence-“ 

“None taken in this case. You’re right, I’d not be stupid enough to attack even an injured synth! I have a strong sense of self-preservation!” 

TO sighed, their ears warming as DH continued to laugh. “I was being careful.” They muttered. 

“I know, I know, and I love you for that.” DH said as they calmed down. “Sorry, I would have told you before.” 

“Don’t worry about it!” TO said. The last thing they needed right now was DH worry about something like that. “Sorry I caused a fuss-“ 

“It’s nothing. I’ll see you when you’re done. Don’t forget to check on GiDi.” 

The video cut, leaving TO along with the sleeping Avery, and the still terrified Noss.