139: A Black Box

The battle ended similarly to how it started. With an unexpected appearance of more combatants. The absolute army of robots created a commotion in the city large enough to draw outside forces in—all aided by the fact that some of the bystanders who had less than average survival instincts had pulled out their phone to stream the chaos. The reinforcements, though arriving waves, dismantled the army over the course of half-an-hour. Police, in the meantime, cordoned off the area, collecting testimonies from those they helped escort out of the battlefield.

“I’m... so... tired... is this how you feel, Nyssa?” Celeste sat on the ground, leaning against a wall. She stared off into space. With her face pale, she sipped water in between speaking. In the general vicinity, she watched as the leaders of the operation—guild higher-ups, and team leaders did a head count. A few, once done with their responsibilities, talked to the reporters and authorities, clarifying the situation.

Nyssa, sitting right beside, massaged Celeste’s hands and legs. Looking up to meet Celeste’s gaze, she shook her head. As she spoke, a touch of melancholy leaked into her words. “No, no, I'm just usually sleepy. Not absolutely wrecked like you are... Take care of yourself. Do you want me to massage your eyes?”

“... Yes, please,” Celeste sighed as she closed her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed as she felt Nyssa’s warm palms press against her face. As they fell into silence though, bits of the conversations being held with the media and authorities floated over.

“... mentioned earlier, too many details can’t be given. It’s a top-secret operation...”

“... unter’s guild? Or was this something you...”

“... No, we did this under full supervision and jurisdiction. We have approval papers. There’s been a secret investigation going on as a collaboration for the unknown threat that we’ve been facing.”

“Colla...”

“... betw... Hunter’s and Hero’s Associat...”

“Same parent organization, after all.”

Unable to make out too much, Nyssa, after furrowing her eyebrows for a moment, chose not to transform her ears. Instead, she redirected her attention to the massage, focusing on warming her hands. “Is this a little more comfortable? Or would you prefer a cold compress?”

“Cold, please, my eyes feel hot after all the lasers,” Celeste mumbled, her voice tinged with a rare quiver.

Nyssa, hearing Celeste’s voice, couldn’t help but feel her heart melt. It was rare enough that Celeste was the one being taken care of instead of her, but now, Celeste even was actively seeking it out. Wasn’t she just... too cute?

Keeping those thoughts to herself, lest they be used against her or push Celeste back into being her stubbornly self-sufficient self, she fussed over her girlfriend. Delighted in the opportunity, she intercepted everything. Water? Well, Nyssa didn’t mind taking the cup so Celeste could rest her hands. What? That meant feeding her the water too? She didn’t mind at all.

Energy bar? Same thing! Celeste’s arms were probably extremely overworked from carrying a cat around the battlefield for so long! Surely! Nyssa, for some reason, had no hesitations about feeding it to Celeste either.

Breaking it into small chunks, she fed the energy bar to Celeste bit by bit. Mischievous, she, every few pieces, would ‘accidentally’ be a little too forceful and would ‘accidentally’ brush her fingers up against Celeste’s lips.

As light returned to Celeste’s eyes though, she raised an eyebrow every time Nyssa pulled her antics. After counting in her head to figure out Nyssa’s subconscious rhythm, she cracked a faint smile as Nyssa reached over and cooed an “open up, dear.”

Celeste ‘accidentally’ missed the energy bar Nyssa held, and instead caught Nyssa’s finger in her teeth. Her eyes twinkled as she watched Nyssa’s face redden. Half a second of tension later, she released Nyssa’s finger and used her tongue to grab the energy bar. Having left a touch of wetness on Nyssa’s finger tip, she winked before putting on an innocent expression. “I’m sorry, dear... I was just a little too tired and missed the bar you were holding. I’m really sorry and hope you can forgive me...”

“I... I...” Nyssa opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Her cheeks and ears reddened as she looked off towards the other team members.

Deep breaths.

In.

Out.

“I... I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you,” Nyssa mumbled as she kept her eyes averted.

“Thank you,” Celeste teased, reaching up and brushing hair out of Nyssa’s face. “You really need to work on those defenses of yours though. You can give it out, but you really can’t take it, can you? Hmm?”

“... Shut up,” Nyssa looked away. Pursing her lips, she tossed the rest of the energy bar onto Celeste’s lap. “Seeing as how you’re so chipper all of a sudden, I think you can eat the rest of this alone then.”

A smile danced across Celeste’s face. She weighed two options in her mind: keep teasing, or let off.

... One side won out, immediately, by a landslide.

“I think I still need you to feed me though,” Celeste let her arms fall back to the ground with a light thud. A slight coy smile appeared. “They’ve just suddenly gone weak. Won’t you help your girlfriend out? Please? You feed me so well too, each bite is the perfect size.”

With each word, she watched Nyssa’s ears redden more and more. Nyssa’s hands betrayed her embarrassment as they twitched, fidgeting with a rock on the ground as Celeste kept her onslaught.

“... Fi... fine, if you say so,” Nyssa relented after a couple seconds of deliberation. “I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you~” Celeste sang before opening her mouth. As she waited for Nyssa to finish breaking off a piece, she couldn’t help but admire Nyssa’s still red ears.

How can she always be so cute? Gah- and she treats me well...

“It’s the least I should do, you take care of me all the time after all,” Nyssa sighed, shifting her position. Leaning forward, she pecked Celeste on the cheek before leaning back. As her face began to burn from shame, she looked around with a few furtive glances before letting out a sigh of relief. “I’m always happy to take care of you...”

---

While the lovebirds enjoyed their own world off in a corner, the executives of the Wildheart Sentinels—bar Roxanne—stood in a semi-circle. In the middle, sat a huge black box. Reporters buzzed around them, looking for any sort of explanation. Everyone, though, remained tight-lipped as they looked towards Alara for guidance.

Alara, eyes sharp and tone oppressive, stood with her arms crossed. Turning to the nearest reporter, she uttered one phrase.

“It’s a living hostage. Now scram.”