Surrender. MMX Fan fiction. 3.7.2010 Ch.7. Part 1/1. Morning After.

Chapter Rating: K+ (M for mature, NC-17, etc). For sexual content, swearing, "ideologically sensitive" situations (i.e. man sex), shounen-ai, crude humor, the use of alcoholic beverages, and the residual vomiting that accompanies them.

Disclaimer: Megaman X, etc. owned by Capcom.

Summary of Last Installment: After their encounter in the bathroom last night, X and Zero awake the next morning. How will the two react when Zero finally sobers up?

Author's Note: Just a note about canon here guys (and girls): X's eyes are –green--, Zero's are –blue--, so if you appreciate canon, change this to make it more accurate in your stories. If not, know that people like me cringe when we see this in a story. (See bottom comments section for additional AN's.)

Flash Backs/Dreams/Day Dreams

000 Divider

Light. The sun had risen over the steel retaining wall of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, painting the sides of the gray steel building with gold and crimson oils. A few night shift security reploids exchanged courteous nods with the day shift security detail that took over as they headed inside the HQ for their off-duty time. Their boots clattered loudly across the concrete pavement; one boot knocked a small pebble into a nearby patch of earth, a few sun-kissed flowers and springs of grass held within it—tiny miracles that had not been touched by the tragic hand of the Sigma virus. Overhead, the soft hum of robotic surveillance birds could be heard. Though once built to blend in with natural birds, they now outnumbered their former contemporaries by more than three to one.

Streams of golden yellow light fell through the steel, uncurtained window and began to slowly heat the mostly metal room. As the hours passed from early to mid morning, the beams shifted and fell onto the crimson bed that held the two hunters securely in sleep's lazy embrace. It had been a little over a week since the events of their last mission and a little less than that since they had been granted their indefinite leave from active duty. The smaller hunter began to stir slightly as his body warmed in the strong morning light. He would have been the first to wake from slumber had it not been for the intercom that was installed into their quarters, its' loud, persistent beeping quickly waking the two hunters from their blissful sleep.

The two men sat up with a start as their eyes met, both of them now fully aware that they had shared the same bed. Emerald eyes stared in shock at sapphire blue eyes that mirrored their stunned and confused stare. X and Zero sat in awkward, pajama-clothed silence. Neither was sure of what to say to the other, the blonde unsure of how he came to be in bed with his partner in the first place—especially when the last thing he remembered was the party—and they stared at each other in deathly silence. This lasted for a few minutes, until Zero remembered that the comm link for his room was beeping. Hesitantly reaching over X, who swiftly flattened on the bed and out of the way, Zero placed a hand on the bed next to X and the other flipped a switch on the comm panel on the wall.

"T-this is Commander Zero..."

"Good morning, Zero, it's Alia. I haven't been able to contact X; is he with you?"

Zero looked down absently at the wide-eyed, nervously-smiling brunette below him and then turned back toward the comm panel.

"Yeah, he's here with me. What do you want?"

"...Um... I was told to tell you and X that you have follow-up appointments with the hospital today at thirteen hundred hours. I was also told to remind you and X that you need to go into the city and validate your new ID cards. Be sure to wear your armor so that news of your transformations will remain secret to the general public for now."

"Ugh... the citizenship ID renewal really couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time..."

"Just don't forget to do it before the office closes at seventeen hundred hours. Oh, and Zero..."

Zero let out a dissatisfied grunt as the female reploid's voice curtly cut him off again.

"...don't forget to pick up some supplies for you and X while you're out. Humans have different needs from reploids, you know..."

"Yes, I know. Thank you, Alia."

With that, the blonde cut off the intercom and pushed himself onto his side of the bed. Rolling over, Zero picked up his helmet from the floor and pulled it over his head. Closing his eyes, he interfaced with his system, which had remained the same since his transformation. Choosing the "clock" function that stood out in green writing on the black background of the itemized list, he read the digital display that gave the current time as ten hundred hours and five minutes.

"Well... I guess we need to get up now."

"Y-yeah."

Zero faded from his system interface and allowed his helmet to go offline. Tossing the item aside, it clattered loudly to the floor, and he held his head between his palms, a sudden throbbing pain centering in his temples serving to anger him further.

"Ugh... X, what exactly happened last night...?"

X turned to the left, away from Zero, as he searched his thoughts for what to say to his former sempai. Everything from the previous night came flooding back to his thoughts. His fright at Zero's sudden conditional change, how helpless he had been, what they had done together; how close, how warm, how... complete he had felt. His frown deepened as confusion was the only thing the brunette felt after reflecting on what to tell Zero of last night. I should at least tell him about the alcohol in his system. He should know that he was drugged against his will…

X's head rolled to his right, and he looked at the taller man next to him, Zero's hands still grasping the throbbing forehead beneath them. The smaller hunter mentally searched for what to tell Zero. He was sure that silence passed between them for at least ten minutes as his lips moved a few times, attempting to voice his answer.

"Ummm... X, it's not normal for humans to experience... what's that word... 'head... aches,' in the morning, is it?"

"I... um... well, Z... do you.... well--"

"Ugh... I wish you'd just get to the point. The noise and light are killing me right now..." Zero groaned impatiently as he sat up, pressing his back against the black rectangle of the headboard, hands still massaging his aching head. X sat up slowly, resting his back on the headboard behind them as he drew his knees close to him, the red blanket falling away as he clasped his blue, pajama-clad arms around them, making himself look as small as he now felt.

"Well... sometime before you went on stage for the karaoke competition that Signas ordered you to participate in, someone... or, well... some alcohol was put into your glass of orange juice. And--"

"Unn... Are you saying that someone drugged me?"

"Um... yes. You didn't add that stuff to your drink, did you?"

"X..." A turquoise eye peered between outstretched fingers around a mass of yellow gold hair and stared with pained intensity at a pair of scared grass green orbs. Holding his icy stare, the blonde hunter moved closer to his counterpart's face and leaned forward, commanding X's total attention as the brunette sunk further back toward the headboard.

"...I've been a human for less than two weeks, I have no idea who or what drugged me, I've got a maverick of a headache, and I've very little recollection of what happened to me last night. Or of what happened at all, for that matter. Now, we've got a whole days' worth of pain-in-the-ass ahead of us. So can you please tell me what happened to me last night that's left me feeling like this and..."

His lightly tanned face frowned as Zero moved his lips curiously. He seemed to be tasting something unfamiliar that stuck to the sides and back of his mouth. His frowning deepened as he tested his breath by taking a hand away from his throbbing head. "...what exactly is that taste in my mouth? Was Alia's cake that salty? I mean... I know that she's a reploid and therefore lacks the sense of taste but... she can't be that bad a cook!"

X's face grew white as he realized that Zero hadn't washed away his taste before going to bed last night. He was still unsure of how to tell his friend of the personal encounter they had last night, and X felt a certain sense of relief at the mention of Zero's memory loss pertaining to the event. I don't have to tell him, right? It was wrong…we're not together, and he's my mentor, my best friend, and he doesn't…he can't love me, right? It was just a foolish mistake…a result of this new form.

"Sometime today, X..."

"Right! Sorry..."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you drugged me. And now you're attempting to make an excuse, am I right?"

"N-NO! It's not like that, Zero! I didn't give you the Everclear. I was sitting down with the others after telling Alia what song to pick! I would... I would never drug you. You're my best friend and I--"

"Ugh! Okay, okay, so it wasn't you."

X shifted around uncomfortably, the scent of his seed and the other fluids that had been released from Zero the night prior heavy on the blonde's breath.

Zero noticed his partner's discomfort and moved back into his original position against the headboard. He allowed his neck to relax slowly and rested his heavy head of hair against the strong piece of bedroom furniture; closing his eyes, he attempted to allow his body to rid himself of the cranial pain.

"Um... Zero?"

"Yes..."

"W-would you like something to ease your hangover?"

"Hangover? You mean this pain in my head?"

"Yeah, it's called a hangover. I heard some of the humans talking about it at the party while we were eating dinner with the others. It's the residual effects of the alcohol leaving your system. It commonly occurs after heavy amounts of drinking, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages can also lead to memory loss and lack of normal inhibitions. I've never seen this in person before and it looks--"

"YES! I'd like something for the pain in my head... Please... please just bring me whatever will help."

Zero slid down the headboard and covered his ears up with one of the scarlet pillows that lay about the bed, trying to end X's long, drawn-out explanation of his current predicament. He felt X's weight leave their shared bed and heard the sound of soft feet walk across the newly carpeted floors. He used the pillow to shut out X's sounds and the light that bathed the room, and it seemed to help to ease his pain. He knew little to nothing about this... what was it called again? Everclear? Alcohol? He wished it to never again be used on him. What did humans gain from ingesting such substances? And what did X mean by loss of inhibitions?

Did... did I do something regrettable last night? Zero's head was a swirling whirlpool of pain and confusion. He remembered the dinner that he and X had shared with the others. A... vegetarian pasta dish of some sort and a collection of vegetables that had composed a salad. Some cake, other sweets, soft mint candies, and his glass of orange juice.

The orange juice... I put the glass down on the table backstage before finishing it and then going to sing. I remember Douglass saying something about rigging the lighting behind the stage curtains... and then...

"Douglass!" Zero rose with a start as he recalled the last person who he remembered being remotely around his drink before he finished it off. He reeled back onto the black headboard, the lightheaded feeling that resulted from the sudden change in altitude aggravating his headache.

"What did you say, Z?" X asked, making sure to keep his voice soft, as he walked in carrying a bottle of pilss and a book under one arm, and a glass of water in the other. He sat down on the bed at Zero's feet gently, so as to not disturb his ill friend. Setting the book aside on the crimson sheets, he opened the bottle of pills, taking two small, white discs out and handing them, with the glass of water, over to Zero, who accepted them. He stared down at the medicine for a moment, unsure of what to think of them. X opened the book and began to read a little bit.

"It says here in the book you've got that a headache can be treated with a few aspirin pain relievers. You swallow them with the water and they're supposed to work on getting rid of the pain within a few minutes."

"...Are you sure you're not trying to give me more drugs to 'loosen my inhibitions'?"

X's head snapped back, eyes turning from what he was reading, shocked by what his partner had said in relation to last night's events.

"I-it wasn't like that! And I don't want to 'loosen your inhibitions' any!"

"Wait... what wasn't like that? Did something happen last night because of the alcohol that you're not telling me?"

X had been caught. He stood there staring at Zero like a deer that was trapped within the headlights of a vehicle, unsure if he should come clean. Was it right to hold such information from Zero? Was it even right to have given into the pleasure of the moment in the first place? His own passion had gotten in the way, yet he hadn't tried to stop it. He objected, sure, but did he really try? Could he have overpowered Zero if he tried to?

"No... nothing happened."

Taking the aspirin into his mouth, Zero drank it down with some of the water and set the glass on the night stand by his bed. He then leaned back again, this time his head back against the headboard.

"Are you sure that there's nothing you can tell me about last night?"

A look of regret crossed X's face as he closed the book quietly and rose from the bed. Grabbing the glass of water from the nightstand, he began to walk out of Zero's room and stopped short of the door as it silently slid open. "You wanted me to stay with you last night so that you wouldn't be lonely. I didn't think that it was a good idea, but you were vomiting a lot and couldn't hold yourself up. You practically begged me to stay... I was worried, I... didn't want anything bad to happen to you... But... I-"

Suddenly, Zero felt very ashamed of himself. He had been rude to X, cutting him off, all but ordering his assistance, nearly yelling at him earlier...

"I'm sorry, X; I'm not used to feeling like this. And you had a right to be worried. I'm sorry if I did anything to anger or hurt you last night."

X's still form stood in the open doorway as Zero slowly stood up and walked over to his partner. He put a reassuring hand on the smaller youth's shoulder, causing X to turn and look at him. His emerald eyes were slightly wet with tears, his fear and worry about the SA class hunter's reaction to the details he gave of last night coming fourth.

"Are... are you crying?"

The shorter brunette hurriedly wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his blue sleepwear. His new human emotions where much more raw and prevalent than the impressions of his emotional chip had been. He didn't want Zero to see him like this. He had hated seeming weak in front of the watchful eyes of his former mentor. Shutting his eyes tightly, he turned to step back towards the exit and stopped. His shining, tear-stained eyes shot open in surprise as he felt a pair of comforting arms wrap around his waist and embrace him and a tight hug.

"I'm not mad at you, X."

"It... it's okay if you are, Zero. I'm still weak. I'm not as strong as--"

Zero spun the smaller hunter around and grasped him by both arms, which were now at the brunette's sides. Pulling him closer, the blonde's bright blue eyes stared into the deepest recesses of his partner's psyche, as if reaching out to something within X. "Never say that again, X. You're not weak. You represent limitless potential and I've told you that before. Don't ever think anything of yourself other than what you really are. Now come on, we've each got to shower and--"

A large drop of water cascaded down the length of one of Zero's soaked bangs as his eyes became crossed in an effort to look at the clear drop on his forehead.

"D-did I already grab a shower in my sleep?!"

Zero turned from the smaller hunter who stood in the threshold of the door and picked up his pile of wet, tangled hair. He sniffed it lightly, finding it to be clean and smelling lightly of soap. Letting the lump of untamed hair fall to the floor, he placed a strong hand on X's slender shoulder.

"Come on, X, let's get ready for the day ahead of us. Whatever it is, we'll take it on together, as a team."

Kind words which had brought smiles to X's face, even when going into the most ferocious battle, rang in the brunette's ears once again. His shaky confidence was somewhat restored as he headed for his room, and in the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Zero opening the window facing the heliport, sticking his head out of it to dry his hair.

A few hours had passed between their chat in Zero's bedroom and the present they found themselves in. The two strode side by side—complete in their newly refitted armor—down the sunlit city streets. They passed by several shopping bazaars after having parked their ride chasers by the city Identification Verification License office. Even though they had already gone about their business with the IVL office, they had decided to pay a few extra Zenny to the government agency so that they could park their vehicles there for a short time. His recent treatment of X still rang in Zero's mind, so he decided to take Alia's advice and shop for necessities for both of them.

After attracting much attention from the humans and reploids who where passing by, they settled on their first stop. Zero held the older-style door open for X as the blue hunter accepted the act of chivalry with a small smile.

Sweet smells filled the air of the Jetlad bread shop, and X's stomach began to rumble as the wafting aroma of freshly-baked bread, sweets, and sandwiches filled the air. Walking towards the counter, the two looked around the tiny restaurant. It had been squished between a large electronics outlet and a high-end clothing store; the humble brick cobblestone wall style was continued inside the establishment. It gave off a rustic charm of its own, baguettes filling a few barrels by the register, pictures of regular customers and staff members lined the walls, and small shelves of various pastries sat behind clean glass displays. Both of their stomachs growled, summoning the owner of the shop from the baking racks that were a couple of feet away from their current location.

"Welcome, you two. What can I get for you today?"

The proprietor of the shop was a small, elderly, Japanese woman. Her thin wispy hair was pulled back into a bun, and a small pair of spectacles rested on a short, yet strong nose. Her face had been wrinkled with age and yet her short stature didn't diminish her larger-than-life—yet sweet—character. Her soft, gentle smile caused the two hunters to mirror it on their own faces.

"I'm not sure... I've never—I mean, we've never been here before," X said politely as she stared at them, somewhat puzzled.

"Dearie... I thought that reploids didn't have to eat."

"Well... we don't, it's just another way of getting fuel. Though it is less efficient, it makes us seem human and is somewhat enjoyable, and--"

The blue bombers' failed explanation was cut short by a loud noise that arose from the deepest pits of his empty stomach. The small, Japanese baker smiled and leaned over the counter, closer toward X's ear, and whispered lightly.

"It's okay. I won't tell the rest of the world that you're not a reploid if you don't want me to. You guys must really admire the legendary X and Zero to cosplay them that well."

Zero's line of sight had trailed away from the handwritten menu overhead as he picked up on the conversation between X and the owner of the Jetlad bakery. Realizing that their cover had narrowly escaped being blown, he turned towards X and placed a firm hand on his back.

"Yep, you got us all pegged, grandma! We're just two –big- fans of those maverick hunters, and we wanted people to think we were them. We don't mean any harm and would like to try some of your delicious smelling bread, so what would you recommend for us today?"

She giggled slightly as she hopped back from the counter and turned her attention towards the two hungry youths at her doorstep. "Well... let's see... neither of you two are allergic to anything are you?"

Looking at each other in question, they both arched an eyebrow and shook their heads, indicating a "no" response.

"Okay, then, our early lunch special today is a toasted cheese and vegetable combo on whole wheat bread or honey nut bread. It comes with a drink of your choice from the ice box in the corner, and a desert of your choosing as well."

"That sounds good to me. I'll take one on wheat with..." Zero's blue eyes scanned the shelves of pastries below him. The only objects he recognized were closely related to cakes and breads, and he wanted to try something different. Running his finger across the left case in a searching action, he came across a semi-circular-shaped piece of sweet bread. Small squares dotted the top of the tiny loaf of yellowish bread and a light dousing of liquid sugar frosted the very top of the item that was labeled in Japanese as "Melon Bread."

"...a piece of 'melon bread.' What would you like, X? It's my treat."

"Hmm...I'll pass on the special and instead take a small vegetable panini and a salad with a piece of cheesecake."

The red hunter handed over his new ID card, which contained his Zenny credit chip and account information. Swiping the card without a second thought, the older woman handed it back to the white-gloved hand and began to prepare their items.

X and Zero strode over to the small refrigerator, a woosh of frigid air clouding the space between them. Stacked on the shelves were several bottled, canned, and Styrofoam-cupped drinks with labels in several languages on them. Picking up an oddly shaped bottle, X examined it with curiosity. It was capped off with a blue top, a curve at the top of the neck leading down to where the bottle flared out, the dozens of other bottles seeming a little more "normal" than the few like the one he held. He turned it around so that he could read the Japanese label printed on it. It was made by a soda company, with "RAMUNE" in large English letters across the front. Some of the ingredients puzzled X, but he decided upon getting it anyway. He backed away from the chilly icebox as his partner pulled a bottled "Coca Cola" from the icy shelf.

The two turned and faced the seating area. Despite the small size of the restaurant, it seemed to be a pretty popular place. All of the small, aged, wood tables were taken up by families, businessmen and businesswomen, and general members of the public alike. Turning their attention towards the large bay windows, they noticed a couple of small café-style tables on the street shaded by umbrellas that had gone unnoticed as they had entered the store.

"Shall we, X?"

The green-eyed reploid smiled and blushed slightly as he walked through the door that Zero held open for him, walking out into the warm sunlight. Finding an empty table to the left of the door, X took a seat as the other swiftly joined him.

They suddenly found that they were grateful for the shade, the early afternoon sun causing their boots, which hung outside of the shadow, to become hot. Wiping a minute amount of sweat from his brow, Zero proceeded to pick up the bottle opener attached to the table by a string and utilized it to open his soda pop. A small hiss sounded as the red lid clattered onto the steel-top table. X examined his own beverage, finding that it didn't seem to have a bottle cap, and he peeled off the plastic that surrounded the circular blue top. He took the bottle opener in his free hand and attempted to pull off the top. After a few minutes of failed attempts, his blue plastic topper refused to move and he sat staring at the cool, unopened beverage.

"What's wrong, X? Has your soft drink bested you?"

The shorter hunter sat staring at his drink as it gathered condensation. He refused to acknowledge Zero's comment as his slight anger was starting to get the better of him. Setting down the bottle opener, he reclined back into his white, painted steel chair in defeat.

"Ugh... I give up. Whoever designed this drink obviously didn't want me to get into it..."

"Hi, you two; I've got your trays ready for you," the elderly shopkeeper said with a smile as she closed the door with a foot, never dropping the tray in her hands, or the small stand that she held under her arm. X motioned to take the tray from the old woman, but she was faster than he was. Shifting the tray to one arm, she used her free hand and a foot to pull the stand out and set the tray of food on top.

"Thanks for the help, sonny, but I've been in this business a long time, and I've a way about doing things."

"That was very impressive for someone your age. I can see why so many come to this establishment," Zero commented, the older lady's familiar skill making an impression on him as she continued to serve her guests. Cloth napkins were placed down first, followed by white ceramic plates which held the sandwiches. X's salad was next, and each of their dessert items were doled out respectively. The smell of warm, freshly-prepared food filled their nostrils, causing Zero's stomach to grumble loudly. Smiling with a nod, he closed his eyes as he often did. "It would appear that your timing is as impressive as your table manners."

"You two be sure to let me know how your meal turns out. I'll be back for the plates in a--"

Her attention shifted towards X, who had picked up his Ramune bottle and was, once more, attempting to deduce a way to open it. Taking the bottle from his hands in a soft, yet stern manner, the old woman placed her thumb over the top of the hole in the blue cap and pressed down firmly. A small pop sounded as a glass ball dropped into the circular well that caught it below. X stared at her as a small light bulb went off in his head; he had forgotten to examine the opening in the bottle to see if there was anything blocking it. Feeling somewhat ashamed, he glared over at the other "cosplaying" human who had started laughing hysterically.

"Hahah! Oh man... X... haha... you should've seen the look on your face when she opened up that bottle! It was priceless!"

"Hmph. You just had an easy one, that's all..."

The old woman smiled softly as the two kept arguing back and forth about what had just transpired. Noiselessly picking up the trays and the small stand, she opened the door with her back and proceeded inward. Sitting the items down behind the counter, she looked out through the windows as the two happily ate together.

"Ah... to be young and in love again..."

"Ugh... I just wish that they had gotten a better picture of me for my ID..." Zero complained between bites of his sandwich, as he held the ID card up to see it.

"Oh, come now, Zero, it can't be all that bad," X said as he grabbed the ID from his partner's hand. It wasn't that it was a bad picture of the red hunter, per se. The lighting was fair, there was no grainy texture, and his hair looked fine.

The only thing that X could find wrong was the expression on Zero's face. "Ppppffft! Why did you frown so much when they took your picture?" the green-eyed X asked between small laughs.

"Hmph. It wasn't my fault. They were particularity busy today and I was just as impatient, so they let me use the kiddie ID photo area. However, it turned out that the stool is too low for someone of my height. It's not fun having to squat like that, you know."

"Still... what I can't understand is why they'd think that I was older than you..."

"What do you mean, Z?"

"Look at your ID, what does your age say when you switch over to the classified 'human' menu?"

X pulled his ID from a rectangular, card-sized, metallic blue container attachment that had been affixed to his hip plate. Entering in a few commands and disengaging some of the security locks on the touch screen surface of the ID, the reploid information on him blacked out and a new human ID screen was pulled up. The picture screen remained blank, a notice on it reminding him to use the backside of the ID to input his picture at his convenience. That aside, everything else was there: height, eye color, hair color, ethnicity, etc. Scrolling down to the age information, X was a little surprised when he found they had estimated his age to be twenty-three.

"Twenty-three? I'm sure that I'm at least 30!"

"Apparently, the hospital used our physical appearances along with blood samples to try and estimate our age for the ID. I'm listed as 25 solar years of age."

"Well... it's over and done with now, so we can cross that off of our list. What else do we have left to do?"

"Well..." Zero reclined backwards in his chair, which had its front legs off the ground as Zero used his left foot and the back two legs to balance. He scratched the side of his chin slightly in thought, trying to recall what Alia had told him earlier.

"...we should still get some supplies for the apartment. Though... after this episode, I'm beginning to think that buying human items while parading as a reploid isn't..."

"...such a good idea? I think I remember saying that same line to you a few times last night... I'm surprised that you seem to hear it better when it's you talking, rather than me."

"Yeah... well... I wasn't in my right mind to listen to you anyway."

"Oh, so you actually do listen?"

"...Not really."

"Anyway..."

"...Anyway, I think that we should just order what we can and have it delivered to the dorm for now. That way, we can order things without giving out our identities or names. I can have Alia direct the transporters to beam the items into our rooms so that no one else notices them. As for things like clothes and such... I think it would be a good idea for us to go out of uniform to shop for those items. We should have enough clothing to last us through tomorrow."

"You don't think anyone's going to notice us, do you?"

"Nah, I wouldn't count on it. We're in Japan, after all; if a little old lady can think that we're cosplaying 'famous' reploids, I doubt anyone will question us. After all, we did get the additional human information that HQ put on our ID cards for a reason. We'll be fine."

"I suppose you're right. Are you ready to go then?"

The blonde-haired youth finished off his last succulent piece of melon bread and brushed a few crumbs off of his armor.

"You know, if being human means that I get to taste great food like this, I think I can put up with it."

X let out a chuckle as he, in turn, dusted off his own armor and piled some of the used plates onto one large pile.

"So I take it you boys enjoyed my cooking?"

The old woman had returned with a plastic basin in one hand to collect the dishes. She placed it on the table as the two hunters stood to help her with the clean up.

"Yes, it was quite enjoyable."

"The salad was great, and everything tasted really fresh. And... uh... thank you for helping with my soda earlier..."

"It's no problem, dearie... Did you want me to take care of that bottle of yours?"

X looked down at his blue-labeled bottle, the small glass glinting with the now high noon light.

"No... I think I'll keep it. It's very interesting and it'll remind me of this place and the day that I've had."

The old woman smiled warmly as she finished loading up the dirty dishes and turned her attention towards wiping down the table with a slightly wet cloth. Her work finished, she nodded towards Zero to open the door for her as she picked up her gray bin full of dishes.

"Come back again, boys; it's refreshing to see such passion for heroes and youthful love between you two."

She then disappeared inside her cobblestone shop, leaving the two hunters alone with their thoughts.

"Heh, well, she sure is lively..."

"Yeah… what time do you have, X?"

Closing his eyes, X engaged the time function interface, the navy blue lettering of his itemized list bold against the green background. Listening to the small voice that read the time aloud, he found it to be... twelve hundred hours and forty-five minutes.

"Oh shoot, Z! It's fifteen minutes until our follow-up appointments at the hospital! We need to hurry over there before we're late."

With a frown, Zero stared back towards their parked ride chasers, the possibility of some more fun with X having to wait.

"Alright, last one to the ride chasers has to do dishes for a week!"

"H-hey, Zero! Wait for me!"

Zero was off in a flash as X raced along after him.

Author's notes: Here's chapter 7. There was so much more that I wanted to put into this chapter but, I didn't want to make it seem too long. I'm a particular fan of how the beginning doesn't start off as a full blown out fight, or one of those "OMG let's be boyfriends!" scenes. I feel that it was just in the realm of realism without seeming cheesy.

I've now got an awesome beta reader (DigitalPhantom). All thanks for corrections and better overall read-ability belong to her. She's also got a good MMX fic called Felicity that's well worth checking out.

As per usual, updates will come and go with time and effort that I have within me to put them together.

-Rachel out.