Chapter Text
Steam rose from the warm swimming pool sized bath. It should have been a relaxing atmosphere, but instead the boys on their side of the bath sat in awkward silence as the girls enjoyed themselves beyond the row of statues.
And there was one other oddity.
“Nouzen, why is your Scavenger here?”
Fido stood at the edge of the bath, enjoying the atmosphere even if he couldn’t actually get in the water, and looking remarkably out of place. Sure, the loyal Scavenger wasn’t the only robot present, but at least Lerche could be mistaken for a human attendant. How did Fido even get through the doorway…?
Shin heaved a heavy sigh. “He sneaked onto the cargo hold of the train. He wasn’t happy about being left behind again.”
Fortunately, the hotel allowed him to stay, as long as he slept in the parking garage. But Fido was throwing tantrums and disobeying orders increasingly often lately. Shin couldn’t help but worry that this might be the start of a rebellious teen phase.
Still, he was grateful for the distraction. He had run into Lena outside of the changing rooms earlier and…great, now he remembered again.
Rita’s voice reached his ears from across the pool. “...And despite your shrinking-violet act, you sure picked a raunchy swimsuit. Is this the one we bought together before?”
Shut up, Rita!
“A-Annette…!” Lena stammered.
“What’s wrong? Go ahead and show off. Like you said, he’s right there.”
“Annette!”
It felt extremely wrong being privy to this conversation. Fido’s commentary didn’t help either.
“Pi?!” Master Nouzen, could that mean you?!
Shin clenched his teeth. No…Rita was just teasing. He shouldn’t read too much into it. He didn’t dare to assume…to hope…
But just as he was getting lost in his thoughts, Lena let out a shriek. “Aaaah?!”
“Pi pi!” Oh dear, Lady Milize has fallen!
Shin’s whole body twitched. But he held back the urge to rush over to Lena’s side. From the sound of things, it didn’t seem too serious. He would just have to trust the girls would handle it.
“Ah, wait, wait, Lena, don’t stand up! They came undone! The strings came undone!”
Say what?!
“Pi! Pi pi pi!” Ah, there seems to be a wardrobe malfunction! Worry not, Master Nouzen, I will assist!
Fido bounded over to the girls’ side.
“FIDO, NO!” Shin jumped to his feet.
And in that second, from across the pool, his eyes met with Lena’s. Lena, who was currently in the middle of having her bikini top tied back together by the other girls.
Her eyes widened in mortified horror.
And she let out another ear-piercing scream.
Needless to say, things were rather awkward between him and Lena after that. She could barely talk to him without averting her eyes, stuttering, and blushing up a storm. Shin did apologize, and he wished he could say that he didn’t see anything, but that was…not quite true. Another thing to forcefully wipe from his mind.
But one thing was clear: a lecture was in order.
“I know you were trying to help, Fido, but if you want to be ‘one of the boys’ on this vacation, you’ll have to act like it. That means giving the girls their space and privacy. This isn’t the Eighty-Sixth Sector…and for that matter, Lena isn’t an Eighty-Six.”
Not that it was okay for an Eighty-Six either. With a shudder, Shin remembered the time Fido had burst through the wall of a bathroom to deliver him toilet paper. The walls of those barracks had been flimsy, but still…
“Pi…”. Fido slumped down in shame.
Shin sighed. He wondered how things had come to this, that he was giving a lecture on how to be a gentleman to his pet Scavenger. It felt like having a troublesome younger brother. Was this how Rei used to feel…?
“That said, I’m going to be busy training during this trip, so you’ll have to find ways to occupy yourself.”
He decided not to mention the fact that he would also be helping interrogate the Merciless Queen. Given what Fido pulled to get here, and how he had previously tackled the Merciless Queen to protect him, Shin couldn’t discount the possibility that the Scavenger might try to break into the secure facility and potentially cause an international incident.
“Pi…” Fido said again, disappointed. But at least it wasn’t a tantrum.
Fido spent the next few days doing whatever he wished. It was truly a carefree time, with no obligations or tasks needing doing. He hiked the surrounding mountains, visited the nearby city, and sat by the lake, appreciating the breathtaking view. Sometimes when he got restless, he accompanied the young Processors on their shopping trips and carried their bags for them.
The people of Wald were quite kind and accepting. Some reacted with confusion, even fear, at seeing an unfamiliar drone wandering their streets. But he only had to wave at them while beeping “Pi pi pi!” (Hello, I’m not Legion!), and they were still confused, but less fearful.
One day, Fido was helping out a street performer in the city when he noticed Master Nouzen in the audience with Lady Milize.
“Pi!”
Fido waved his crane arms excitedly. It felt like so long since they had seen each other.
“Fido? What are you doing here?” Master Nouzen asked in surprise.
“Pi pi!” Look, Master Nouzen, they taught me to juggle!
As the street performer had instructed, Fido began to juggle three bowling pins with his crane arms.
The crowd let out impressed “Oohs” and “Ahhs” and applauded. And most importantly, it got a chuckle out of Master Nouzen, which warmed Fido’s metaphorical heart.
But Lady Milize didn’t smile or laugh. Instead, she just wore a disquieted expression. If she was spending time with Master Nouzen, shouldn’t she be happy?
How very strange…