#futuristic AU

[animate-everything-everywhere]

[karionice]

The Only Hong

Pairing: ceo!Joshua Hong x secretary!female reader

This is connected to my villain DK one-shot which was lots of fun but much, much shorter. If you'd like, strap in for some world-building.

Word Count: ~ 9.7k

Genres/Warnings: eventual romance and fluff, sci-fi au, kinda dense, tech empire au, non-idol au, robots, mentions of other svt members, skz reference from my drafts, reference to death, joshua is gentle sexy as always, reader and Joshua are about the same age, joshua is an orphan, true neutral, reader probs has anxiety, "refuge cafes" = "Plaza system", first kiss, shua's shtick with water here too

Ceo world taglist: @fabulaee, @laaylaazyy

What a lonely man he must be, you thought to yourself. Everything about Joshua Hong's home was solemn and quiet, yet also very much alive. 

In every direction there was some sort of robot - little ones floating about wiping windows, larger ones scooting about sweeping the floors, little screens on each door blinking at you as you walked by...There was even a slinkier robot swinging about the ceiling rafters dusting surfaces and changing lights. One of the sweepers gave you a little wave as you kept walking until you reached a large, open doorway of polished dark wood.

You stood there in the middle of the open doors and took in the gilded, floor length windows on the other side of a large study. It was a beautiful room within an already beautiful place, but you specifically observed the motionless silhouette of a tall and slim young man. He had his back turned to you with his hands clasped behind him, gazing out the window at the glowing city outside.

You didn't know whether to make a sound or not so you stayed standing in the doorway, fighting the urge to fidget. After a couple more quiet seconds, the man looked over his shoulder and gave you a small smile. He beckoned you to come over before turning to walk over to a large desk.

With each step you felt yourself tensing up so you got yourself to breathe as you watched Mr. Hong sit down in his very comfortable looking chair. Once you'd gotten close enough in front of his desk, you bowed and greeted him plainly.

"Good to see you again, Y/N L/N.” Mr. Hong regarded you, eyes astute. “From today forward, you will be my at-home secretary. Thank you again for accepting the position."

You simply nodded and bowed again, making Mr. Hong chuckle. "No need to be nervous, I only hope to make your time working for me both comfortable and manageable." He then stood and beckoned to you again.

"Welcome to my study,” Mr. Hong exclaimed, making a wide gesture with his arm. “That desk over there will be where you will spend most of your time working."

You followed him over and he proceeded to explain some of the more unfamiliar gadgets on your desk, all of which he'd invented himself. He made note of the subtle uptick in brightness in your expression when he showed you the task managing device he'd designed for you.

"And finally, that quaint little area on the other side of the room is the refreshments corner. All of the cabinets are labeled and the refrigerator is self-cleaning - a best-seller of mine, if you didn’t know. Who knew people enjoy saving time from looking for the source of distracting odors?”

Even though you could tell that he was trying to get you to crack a smile, you still felt too timid to really do so and simply nodded at him, not meeting his eyes. At that, he cocked his head and regarded you with another small smile.

“A few of my delivery rovers have already transported your things to your living quarters, which are a little ways past the main hallway. Allow me to show you the way.”

Your shoulders relaxed a little at the prospect of rest as Mr. Hong turned on his heel and gestured for you to follow. Rather than through the large doorway, he seemed to be leading you to a smaller double door on the side within a wall of bookshelves.

As you passed the refreshments corner, the coffee machine, also a robot, waved at you.

You paused in your tracks and blinked, causing Mr. Hong to turn around to see what was happening. When he saw you giving the coffee-bot a wave back, Mr. Hong laughed. You looked back at him wide-eyed and embarrassed, only for your eyes to grow wider as Mr. Hong walked up to the robot and gave it a pat on the head. 

Did that robot just giggle? You noted the shine of curly embellished letters on the back of it that spelled Shubot.

“Come now,” Mr. Hong said, breaking you from your perplexion. “There will be plenty of time to become acquainted with the rest of my creations inhabiting this home later on.”

As the two of you continued to walk, you eventually came to be walking next to him rather than behind. You looked around, taking in the elegant mix of all things high-tech and what had clearly been there for generations.

"Hong Corporations has had many rebrandings and changes in development throughout the decades, but the fact that the oldest furniture and designs in this home are from two centuries ago doesn’t change. My ancestors wanted to build things that would last for a long time, but my grandfather was the one who decided to begin a legacy of creating to adapt to an ever-expanding world. Therefore our original property is far outside of the city. My grandfather relocated the business itself to the west side of here, Sector 17, and built it from the ground up, eventually raising my father here. And now for a very important question,” Mr. Hong stopped walking and raised his head.

The screen on the beautiful door you had stopped in front of displayed a waterfall effect to reveal letters - letters that spelled your name.

“Coffee or tea?” Mr. Hong smiled, looking at you.

You swore you could feel yourself blush as you said quietly, “I usually prefer neither.”

Mr. Hong’s smile grew wider as he snapped his fingers. Before you had the chance to soak in how perfectly straight his pearly teeth are, a delivery rover approached rapidly and prompted the door to open.

As you walked into your room, you watched as the rover extended its compartments to plop a robot you hadn’t seen before onto a small table in between the bathroom and what looked to be a vanity. You then jumped as Mr. Hong snapped his fingers again and the new robot whirred itself to life.

“This is Voira, a prototype for a new model of my water filtration and dispensing line. She can set the time when she will refill herself in a sink, or you can have her do it herself whenever empty, and she has a variety of options for the quality and temperature of drinking water. She will also retrieve one of your complimentary mugs from wherever it may be herself, unless you switch that feature off too. Currently I am still working on flavor fusion options, but hopefully with the data produced from you having her, it will be completed soon.”

You had to unhinge your jaw before looking up at Mr. Hong with shy gratitude. “Thank you so much, sir.”

“Oh please my dear, no need to be so formal. Call me Joshua.” At that, you simply bowed and turned away to hide your even deeper blush.

Joshua checked his Shu-watch and tapped the screen a few times before putting his hands behind his back and turning to exit. “I shall see you for dinner in two hours, which will be followed by your first set of tasks to complete for me. Please, however, get yourself accustomed at your own pace. If you need any assistance organizing your possessions or adjusting the settings of anything in your room, there is a companion Shubot on your desk that will gladly speak with you.”

After he left, closing the door behind him, you flopped down into a large cushioned chair by the vanity and took a good look around. 

Your room was a sleek yet cozy little space, or at least little in comparison to what you’d seen so far. There were floor length windows here as well, with digital, remote-controlled blinds that you recognized as those of Hong Co.’s that could turn into a television screen. Your bed was a large loft over a simple glass desk, at which you noticed several charging stations for a variety of devices. Mirroring the bathroom, next to your bed was the entrance to a walk-in closet, where all of your things had been left in a neat pile by the rover-bots. 

How on earth am I going to get myself together in two hours and still have energy to work tonight? You thought to yourself. You took a deep breath and got yourself up to settle in.

To start, you decided to ask Voira to bring you a cup of lukewarm water. You then started unpacking your clothing in the closet, only to be surprised by the clothes hangers- they unraveled themselves from the shape of hangers into robotic arms similar to the swinging cleaner bot you saw earlier and began hanging your clothes for you; pants, skirts, dresses, blouses, even belts and scarves. When you placed your shoes on the shelves labeled for them, the platforms above sprayed them with a sort of odor-eliminating disinfectant. 

“...get yourself accustomed at your own pace,” you remembered Joshua’s voice in your head. 

After getting over the shock of it all, you decided to do a little experiment. You noticed drawers that read “socks.” You took out an armful of your socks from a baggage and tossed them all into one. To your amazement, there were digital shifting platforms that paired up and organized your socks for you by length.

At this rate, I will be done unpacking in no time. It’s no wonder how the big CEOs who can afford to have their homes like this are able to be so productive, despite being humans.

“Now,” you thought aloud. “What’s the internet password?”

“Not to worry, Miss!” You heard a voice say from outside of the closet. You rushed out and saw the companion Shubot on your desk waving at you cheerfully. “Just place all of your electronics into the appropriate charging slots and I will get them connected to the internet right away!”

Your hands covered your mouth in silent glee as you hurried to follow the robot’s instructions. Once most everything had been put away, you noted how less than thirty minutes had passed. You got iced water from Voira and sat down at your desk again, you wanted to greet your desk companion properly.

“Hello, Miss! What can I do for you?”

You giggled at the thing and asked, “I just wanted to know, what should I call you?”

“You may call me whatever you’d like, Miss!”

“Please, call me Y/N. And er, may I call you…let’s see…” The little bot swayed in place patiently as you thought about what to possibly name it.

“Ani. May I call you Ani?”

“Of course!” You laughed as Ani gave a little spin. “Nice to meet you, Y/N! I’m excited to take care of ya!”

“Ani, I have some questions, if that’s okay?”

“Absolutely, ask away!”

“Why does Joshua only live with robots?”

Ani’s head quirked to the side. “I assume you don’t know the story of his parents?”

You shook your head. “I know about Joshua being an orphan but does he really not have anyone else?”

Ani shrugged, something you never thought you’d see a stiff little robot do. “I don’t contain any data on the topic of the Hong family outside of their names and important dates. There are other AIs here who do. But I am programmed to keep anything you tell me confidential, so don’t worry! I may not have much to say but you can talk to me anytime!”

You had never thought it possible to experience awkward silence with a robot but there you sat. “Well…I suppose I just don’t know where to start around here. I’m sort of hoping I'll wake up one day and realize things have picked up and I can just work. If, uhm, that makes any sense.”

Ani nodded. “Mhm! If it helps, one of your first tasks after dinner will be to organize your schedule for tomorrow! Joshua will send me a list and then you get to add whatever you want to in my hourly calendar!”

Checking the currently blank calendar, you weren’t surprised that you could add anything you wanted down to the minute, though you did wonder how much of it Joshua would see. “Ani, I have one more thing - Should I dress up for dinner?”

“Oh! The master has specifically requested you wear this…”

“...Ah.”

The uniform wasn’t tacky by any means, you just weren’t sure if it suited you. At least it was comfortable, and you liked that the skirt wasn’t too tight and left plenty of possibilities for layering.

When you arrived where Ani had indicated dinner would be, you stopped in your tracks in shock. Even though you knew that Joshua lived alone, you were expecting something more like a large or lavish dining room, maybe even with a chandelier. Instead you were greeted with a simple kitchen and living space, separated by a counter with tall seats. 

Behind the seats was a small glass table and simple chairs with tied-on cushions, almost like what a grandmother long ago would have in their home. Even larger of a surprise, Joshua was in the process of taking off an apron.

When he turned around to give it to a nearby robot to put away, he saw where you were standing and smiled.

“Come, have a seat at the table. My Cara-bots will bring out dinner momentarily.”

As you sat down gingerly, a robot similar to Voira but with a retractable tray for a body hovered over and poured wine into Joshua’s glass. He then looked at you, lifting his glass in question.

“Oh! I don’t really drink…”

Without anything said, the Shubot hovered over to you and poured something amber colored into your glass. You looked up at Joshua, puzzled.

“Try it, Y/N.”

You took a tentative sip and was immediately wowed. It’s like the robot had read your mind - you’d been craving something at this consistency, and the taste…it seemed to be diluted fig syrup, strained of seeds.

A Shubot similar to the delivery rovers but smaller set out plates, chopsticks, and soy sauce. Another one followed with a tray of kimbap.

“My mother’s recipe,” Joshua said, a tad softly. “It’s one of the few dishes I always make myself.”

The two of you ate in silence for a bit. It’s not that you didn’t want to talk and the food was really delicious, you just felt a bit…awkward. Joshua, being considerate of your shrinking posture, didn’t try to make any small talk like he had earlier. You were hyper-aware of it, especially since the situation was too reminiscent of how the two of you had met. 

You had just been let off of your last job in the upper-east side of the city, where some places were filing for bankruptcy due to a recent falling through in DK Tower, that part of Sector 17’s keystone, something about a security breach causing a leak of investment funds. 

You ended up in one of the city’s “refuge cafes”, which are large plazas scattered across the south side of Sector 17 that offer temporary housing for people willing to work until they find security, usually from business owners that set up there, then after workers can find more permanent options.

Unlike where you used to work, all of the businesses in the refuge cafes used Shubots for everything. The whole system is owned by the south of the city’s keystone, who’s even more secretive than Joshua.

Joshua noticed you at the business you were taking refuge in while he was in the midst of a meeting one day. A rare occurance since it's said he usually never leaves home. He’d invited you to meet with him after your shift and in the midst of the awkward silence of that encounter, you were given a new job which was currently proving to be just as daunting but luxurious.

What finally broke the ice in the present moment was one of the helper robots; a Cara came floating over with another robot that looked similar to Ani on her tray.

“Hello Sunday,” Joshua smiled at the bot as it hopped off of the tray onto the table. “Is something the matter?”

The robot spoke in a much stuffier voice than Ani’s cheerful one. “The atmosphere within a 3-meter diameter of you is rather ‘chilly’. Would you like me to play fireplace sounds over a decibel of white noise?”

The five seconds of silence that followed was deafening until it was broken by an unbidden snort from you. You quickly brought your napkin up to hide your face as Joshua’s head snapped towards the sound. Another second after, Joshua broke into loud and enthusiastic laughter.

Seeing this, you felt your face finally break into the smile Joshua had been looking for all day as you joined in.

What made you laugh even more was how you saw that Sunday was still just standing there, patiently awaiting input. It seemed the suddenly happy atmosphere was affecting him though, as the robot’s face smiled a little more while swaying in place.

“It’s okay Sunday,” Joshua finally said, still wheezing slightly. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you. Let the other Caras know that it’s almost time to bring out dessert.”

Joshua turned back to you as you drank more of your fig drink, and upon seeing that your glass was past halfway gone, he waved his hand and a robot came swinging from the kitchen to refill it.

“Thank you,” you spoke less softly than before, still smiling. “I’m sorry I haven’t said much.”

“Oh my dear, you have done nothing wrong. Besides I should apologize, I forgot to let Sunday know not to have his 'automatic ambience' setting on earlier.”

“All of your creations have so much personality…how have you made that possible?”

“This city is as transparent as it is crowded,” Joshua spoke in a more professional voice, perking your interest. “All it took was programming a Bitty bot to fly around it and gather data on human interactions, giving me everything I needed.” He looked away, wiping his face with his napkin.

“Do any of your robots continue to collect data even after being purchased?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you. “Of course not, but I have no control over anyone who uses my devices for surveillance after it’s out of my hands. Only if, say, a separate company volunteers to gather data for me might I entertain the idea, but even so I am still capable of getting that information myself.”

“So if I said you couldn’t use data from how I use Voira to do anything, you wouldn’t?” You were trying so hard not to find your own comment funny.

“Haha! Sorry dear, but the matter of liabilities isn’t there yet. However if you really insisted, I could have Voira be tested elsewhere, but she's a prototype and still under my ownership.”

“There isn’t anything else in this place gathering data from my presence, is there?” You asked, for no reason in particular at this point.

“Just my eyes, of course,” Joshua winked at you. That sure made you quiet. As if to save you from how flustered you felt, the Cara-bot from before brought dessert. A welcome distraction.

Your first day of work was well-paced and quiet. So much in the house was already done by Shubots that most of your tasks were completed at your desk in the study, mainly brief correspondences through an earpiece that matched one Joshua wore, and filtering through messages. Pretty much anything Joshua preferred a human do, which was what you’d expected well before coming. 

Joshua was good about making sure everything was doable along with efficient breaks and meals, all while keeping a pristine friendly attitude. You quickly felt your initial fear vanish.

Your second day was more or less the same, and you concluded it by having Ani help you with finding a television program to wind down with. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt so…safe. Just being alive.

Your third day began with a very perplexing addition to your schedule. Joshua had the words “Field Trip, dress normally” written in the slot after breakfast, which was to be eaten with him. 

You picked a comfortable dress you owned with a cute collar and layered with stockings, plus a pretty jacket. Wanting to maintain some professionalism, you detached your name tag from your uniform and fixed it to your jacket.

“Good morning, Y/N.” Joshua greeted you when you arrived. “I’m glad to see you growing accustomed to the place.”

You gave him a smile and bow. “Thank you for breakfast, Joshua.”

Before you sat down, Joshua walked up to you while reaching into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a small object to show you.

It was a brooch, beautifully polished with a vintage crest decorated with opal. You noticed embossed words before Joshua read them aloud to you.

“Purposeful, Practical, and Peculiar. That has been my family motto since the very beginning. It’s why the company used to be named ‘Pianissimo’ before it was out with the old, but the rather silly motto still stands. You asked me how my robots are so expressive and I told you how but not why. The basis for such an intent has been passed down for generations, I wasn’t about to let it end with me.”

Joshua leaned in closer to you so suddenly you almost tripped, but he stopped just short so he could fasten the brooch in between the lapels of your collar. 

“You look lovely today, Y/N. So I hope you don’t mind my ‘finishing touch.’ Please keep it, as a token of my gratitude.”

It was Joshua’s turn to blush as your face broke into the widest smile he’s seen from you yet.

He almost didn’t hear you thank him, the glow of your happy face made the lights illuminating it seem less bright in comparison making him step back in admiration. Joshua nodded in an attempt to hide his sheepish face as you both sat down to eat.

“So,” you began. “What is this ‘field trip’ that Ani told me about?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you as he took a sip of coffee. “You named your companion bot Annie?”

“Ah, yeah…I just thought he sounded like an ‘Ani’ to me,” you said, owning it softly.

“That’s really cute. Well, today I will be showing you the ‘Practical’ side of Hong Co. and give you a better idea of how my business is actually run. I know you have some degree of experience from your time at the Woozi Plaza but you will find that tech headquarters are a bit different.”

“Is it true that Hong Co. is just you and this tower?” You asked before taking another bite of your food.

“How could it not be true is the real question?”

You cocked your head at Joshua in confusion. He looked almost stunned. “My my, you must be the first person I’ve met who doesn’t know.”

“Well I always heard people talking in the plaza but I didn’t really…ingest much of it. I’m sorry…”

“There’s really no need to apologize, I promise to take my time telling you.”

He then placed his hand up to his earpiece, silent before nodding. “Mhm, thanks Sunday. And please have that package brought to the upper loft and unpacked.” Joshua looked back at you. “We’ll depart as soon as you’re finished eating.”

The center of Hong Tower was one long and sleek elevator, surrounded by a steel staircase to follow city safety regulations. Otherwise, as Joshua joked to you once you both stepped in, he wouldn’t even bother with the waste of material. You noted that this central elevator defaulted to being accessed by a biometric scan.

“My home is on the second floor through the sixth floor of this tower. My grandfather began with that and kept building up as the business grew. He had hopes that for generations to come, this building would continue to blossom from the roots he laid down. Our original estate would be a retirement place for each scion’s father to rest when we inherited the tower and well…” Joshua didn’t finish the thought as the elevator reached your destination.

When the doors opened, the most complex symphony of so many sounds hit you, and not one sounded human. When you stepped out onto a platform, you gasped at the hundreds of different kinds of robots performing so many tasks below where you were standing.

It was so fascinating how there weren’t any assembly lines or cuticles, it was just a lot of machines and holographic screens and the constant movement of work surfaces and…oh, a couple of them waved up at you. You and Joshua waved back at the same time. Then you looked at each other, causing you to giggle a bit.

“Every floor serves a general and unique purpose in the many aspects of how I have shaped the company. This is where stock is managed and maintained, receiving materials from above and below. Sunday is in charge of these factory floors, sending me any quirks for me to fix from the study. That used to be a more frequent process when I was still developing Sunday's AI,” Joshua chuckled. “But it has streamlined exponentially since I gave him the ability to control physical forms.”

Joshua led you back to the elevator where he showed you the next floors, “the flight lofts” as he called them. They were where everything from hoverbots to drones to transport pods were developed, managed by Joshua’s other AI program, Wednesday. Clever, you thought, that they were the floors that began to surpass the height of most other buildings in the city.

Since the tower was meant to always be built up, Joshua showed you that the second flight loft was the only place he had ever built sideways so that there could be hovercraft landing pads somewhere.

Your final destination for today’s little trip was a lounge floor almost completely surrounded in Joshua’s signature floor-length windows.

“This is the floor right above the last current factory floor, the upper loft. In his later years, my grandfather found that having a break location to end up in on maintenance check days was necessary. It would constantly change and rise since there could never be a penthouse, so my father inherited the idea as a tradition. It is currently of my own design.”

Joshua brought you to the other side of the lounge where instead of long couches, there were two armchairs. As you sat down in one, Joshua clapped his hands together, summoning a rover bot that placed down a round coffee table between you. A lone Cara-bot floated over with a ceramic tea set.

“I ordered the table yesterday, it’s what was in the package I had Sunday send up.”

You barely heard Joshua say that; you were too busy in awe of the view of the city.

Never in your life had you ever seen it from so high up - And goodness had you also never in your life smelled tea so good before.

Joshua laughed aloud at the face you made when you turned your head towards the teapot. “I like to keep my nicest tea leaves up here. I suppose I’ve always been waiting to share it. Let me pour you a cup.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Your smile made Joshua blush a little again, and this time you shyly took notice. “I will be sure to savor it.”

You sat there for a bit in silence that was decorated by the sound of an electric fireplace nearby and the raindrops outside catching the neon glow of everything in Sector 17.

Despite the city always being rather dark, during the middle of the day like this it was just bright enough where you could see the towers of the other keystones. You could even see DK Tower in the far, far east, though the drizzle made it appear blurry.

“A great view, isn’t it? The City of Perpetual Dusk…” Joshua murmured, and you turned to look at him.

The look on his face was hard to read. You had a feeling that this was the most he ever truly lets himself relax, which was unnerving. His face when speaking to you was usually wise and cheerful, with rather watchful eyes.

At this moment, his whole form was none of those things, and it made him look a lot younger and smaller than you always picture him.

You watched him turn to look at you back and it wasn’t the motion that startled you, but the subtle diffusion of the glint in his eyes. In the time it took you to think of something to say, you wondered how exactly he saw you.

“If you’re always expanding up, what happens to the order of the floors below?”

“This company is constantly recycling itself,” Joshua answered simply, turning back. “We have a few floors of storage above and below ground, but I try not to have material come in too often. The average lifespan of a Shubot purchased in the city is rather short, so a certain percentage of them end up back here to be repurposed in one of the stock floors. Material left over from renovations and expansion goes back down to be repurposed.”

Practical indeed, you thought, sipping your tea.

You reached out to the Cara-bot still floating next to you and tried petting it the same way Joshua petted the coffee machine the other day, evoking a purr from the robot and a melodic chuckle from Joshua.

Two weeks later came a day where you were tasked with helping Joshua out with gadget orders that required more…personal attention than what was taken care of in the floors above.

You were in awe of how many big names appeared in the list Sunday gave you, a couple of whom you’d seen before at the refuge cafe. Though one unfamiliar name did catch your attention among the rest.

With a quirk of your eyebrow, you looked up at Joshua.

“A large order from one…Arthur Pendragon.”

To your surprise, Joshua cracked the most playful smirk as he chuckled. It caught you very much off guard, so much so in fact, that you felt your face warm up immediately, which only made his smirk wider.

“Ah, Seokmin…still ordering under a fake name after all these years. Well, what would he like this time?”

“Did you just say Seokmin? As in Lee-”

“Mhm, the city ‘bad boy’ as I’m sure even he calls himself.” Joshua interrupted gently, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry, he may abundantly misbehave but in reality, he can’t do anything outside of a certain perimeter. And while I’m not unfriendly with him, I always stay on my far side of the city.”

“Why do you do business with him then, anyways?” You asked as you showed Joshua your screen.

“Are you judging, dear?” Joshua raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t fazed at all.

“Not really," you shrugged. "I just haven’t seen anything here that could be deemed, uhm, shady yet.”

Joshua didn’t answer at first, he glanced through the order before chuckling. “I never cease to be amazed at how funny Seokmin’s taste is. It’s like he doesn’t even notice that I know it’s him. No, it’s not truly shady. Reputation aside, he’s still one of the Sector’s keystones and I have worked too hard to be the only one without a single broken bridge to sour that now.”

Before he could continue, Sunday's bot hopped into view to relay a message. You just barely heard it say “Subject line ‘urgent’, from ‘Lee Jihoon.’ Would you like me to read it for you?” 

Joshua’s face turned stony in an instant. “Send it to my watch, Sunday. I’ll return shortly.”

He turned to you with the complete opposite expression, startling you. “Apologies, Y/N. Process more orders to your best ability and we will continue our conversation over lunch.”

You nodded quickly as Joshua rose from his chair and left the study swiftly, holding his watch up to his mouth speaking in a hushed voice. A rover bot arrived to pick up Sunday and left too. Trying not to think on it too much, you returned to your desk and went back to your tasks.

About twenty minutes later, you looked at the time. There was still a bit until lunch, so you gave yourself a moment to breathe.

Where is this weird..feeling coming from…?

“Sunday?” You called out tentatively. You didn’t even know if it would work.

“Yes Miss Y/N, I’m here.”

You looked down at your custom task device. A wavy, holographic sphere that resembled a rising sun had emitted from the corner of your screen. This must be Sunday in program form.

“Oh wow, so I can talk to you?”

“But of course Miss, did the master not tell you?”

You decided not to answer that and hoped that said master wasn’t listening. “Sunday, I’m curious, how long has it been since another human has worked here?”

Sunday pulled up a simple visual with a series of dates. “Since the worker lifts were recycled, Miss. The building became fully automated then.”

But that’s after Joshua’s father passed… you thought to yourself.

“If you don’t have any more questions Miss, I have a reminder from the master to begin heading to the kitchen for lunch.”

“Thank you Sunday, let Joshua know what I’ve been able to wrap up.”

“Joshua,” you spoke, the moment the man in question came into view. He had just sat down and looked at you, eyebrows raised. “Will I be punished for using Sunday without permission?”

Joshua blinked hard. “‘Punished?’ My dear you haven’t been misbehaving, have you?”

It took you a second to realize he was making fun of you and you weren’t sure if you were amused or mortified. Joshua gave you another smirk, leaning you more towards mortified. 

“No, you’re not in trouble. Even if it was violating a protocol, I never explicitly said you could or couldn’t talk to Sunday. If you ever do something protocol-violating around him or Wednesday, however, I would know immediately.” He regarded you with the same teasing look in his eyes as you sat down, clearly relishing in how it made you pout a bit.

“In truth Y/N, I had hoped in time I could tell you more and more, but I didn’t want to limit your parameters of interaction in the house. Though to see you can be such a daredevil, well, I’m honestly tempted to keep even more secrets.” You scoffed at the way he shone his teeth at you while putting an elbow on the table, chin up and in one hand.

“So I’m not your prisoner who will be buried with what I do end up being told?” Even with your sarcastic side-smile, you sounded just a tad more serious than you intended.

“My my Y/N, do rope in that imagination. I don’t dispose of people like lil’ Seokmin on the other side of town, nor do I encase anyone like his older brother. You’re free to come and leave however you like, we discussed as much in your contract.”

You were thankful for the food being laid out as Joshua spoke, offering you an excuse to not talk for a little.

You’d interacted with Joshua enough by now to know when he's purposely leaving out other implications to situations.

Some bites in, you finally began the expected topic at hand, letting the atmosphere grow serious.

“I was about fourteen when ‘the incident’ happened. Everyone around me talked about it for years. I was still in a District 9 facility at the time though, so most of what I know, I learned when I was sent here. I was first told that keystones are where what we need comes from, not really the CEOs yourselves. When I spent those two years at a refuge cafe though, I heard about how the huge Lee Family broke apart, all of the rumors surrounding your family, what District 9 really is…”

You had to pause for a minute there. Joshua, not taking his eyes off of you, waved for a bot to bring iced water. He nodded at you kindly when you looked up at him, as you swallowed heavily.

“There were so many people of varying levels of importance, talking in those bars every night as I worked. I heard about a lot of things that seem like they’d be underground, so I admit I’m rather afraid of what isn’t spoken about in broad daylight. But when you offered me this job, I decided that I would go in not assuming a thing. I’ve seen how it can destroy a person.”

Joshua was a good listener, his gaze was calm and revealed nothing of what he was thinking as you spoke about your life. When you were done, he finished his food before he decided to talk.

“Hong Co. is and has always been a family business. Even from the beginning it seemed that family businesses are always doomed to fail, and yet we were able to stay together through the decades. Er, mostly by trying not to have too many children. The Lees are a modern example of the third-generation curse that only grew worse over time. I grew up with the Lee brothers of Sector 17, though, so I don’t believe things would have turned out how they did if it wasn’t for, well,” Joshua didn’t need to finish that sentence.

“Know that you are not obligated to believe everything I say, though you are only hearing everything from me. When our parents were killed, Lee Jihoon and I had barely turned sixteen. Lee Seokmin came out of ‘the incident’ a completely different person, making any reparation plans they had impossible. He ran off to fulfill his own desires, which left Jihoon to take care of their youngest brother, Chan, who is now the regime’s most valued keystone. Jihoon designed the Plaza system not only to give Chan a larger and connected space to grow up in, but also to gather intel in the same way you've heard things; surface level. He particularly likes my Bitty bots for that. Many of the Lee cousins disappeared during ‘the incident’ so Jihoon has always tried to find them again.”

“Has he found any?” You asked through your hands, which had been covering your mouth for a while.

Joshua shook his head. “Every time Jihoon gets close to finding one, he gets sabotaged by Seok. I really couldn’t tell you why but it is the only thing I haven’t been able to help with. Seokmin may buy my home appliances but I have no way of hacking his own tech. He mastered stealth the best out of all of us.”

Your eyes widened at this. “Has he tried to infiltrate here before?”

“His ego is too big. Even if he did though, I mastered security the best. So I focus on keeping Jihoon from going completely insane, for now he hasn't gone farther than paranoid. His business serves as protection for the city, he sends most of the info he gathers to Chan’s side of the city where plans are made and executed. Chan was always the best with combat.”

At that moment, Joshua received a message on his watch. He let out a huff. “My apologies, Y/N, there’s been a change of schedule. I have to leave for a bit and won’t be able to have dinner with you. Continue with your afternoon tasks and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Joshua, see you tomorrow.”

For the rest of the day, you got to experience what Joshua’s home must have felt like for the past decade before you came.

It really was lonesome, even with AI to talk to. Well, more like especially with only the Shubots. No wonder they’d been programmed to be so...peculiar.

That night, dinner was brought to your bedroom with a note that said you would be allowed to sleep in tomorrow if you wanted, and to tell “Annie” when you wanted breakfast. Instead of thinking about how that meant you had no clue what Joshua was up to, you laughed at how funny it was that despite being the most organized human being to exist, he was actually not the best with names.

You thought about writing a letter to your old employer, but you weren’t sure what you could possibly send, to anyone really. Had she forgotten about you by now? All you really did back then was wait tables.

Then again, Joshua of all people had noticed you. Other than awkward, what was it like for him when you two first met? You didn’t even realize who he was until he offered you work for a place to stay.

What was frustrating you the most was that you also couldn’t think of why you were only wondering about it all now. Does it matter why now that you’re already here and know half of his life story?

After you had gotten ready for bed, you took out a keepsake box you hid in among your socks and opened it. Inside were your most precious possessions, many of which held little monetary value but they held the details of your past. The most recent addition was the Pianissimo brooch.

As you ran your fingers along the polished opal designs, you felt a small tear escape your left eye as you tried to ignore the unfamiliar sensation of what felt like a pinch in your heart.

The process of you and Joshua learning more about each other spread across the weeks. The distance between you had long become friendly and Joshua eventually programmed Sunday not to interrupt conversations with you for anything other than emergencies.

Years of only having robots and depressed business people to talk to must have piled on Joshua over time because now that he had another human around, you came to learn that Joshua wasn’t just strange but a rather silly person, too. He could be charming and watching him work was fascinating, as he constantly sketched ideas and swiped at so many holographic screens.

He was not only efficient but afforded the luxury to mess with you a bit too, in extremely high spirits. But still at the same time of maintaining an organized work environment. You pretending to feel offended by his antics only seemed to spur him on more.

Then when you asked him why none of his robots were human sized, he chuckled and said “That would be so creepy, I’d never sleep. Besides, it’s bad for business. A handful of people would splurge on something like that in one place, rather than a bunch returning every so often to buy something smaller.”

When you asked why he only ever wore suits, he said he was only choosing the “hottest attire” from a fashion company sponsor.

And when you asked Joshua why Voira was named that, he said “I think the touch of French can make even a water dispenser sound more appealing, don’t you?” and winked at you the same way he does whenever he catches you staring from across the study.

His casual flirting was what actually drove you crazy. It was almost like he wanted to keep you on your toes all of the time after you grew used to his surprisingly playful nature.

Afternoon tea time in the upper loft only happened on occasion, and it was the only time Joshua was anything but playful.

He looked somber, calculating, and a tiny bit tired as he surveyed the city outside of the windows. Only once did he allow himself to tell you of the burden he felt at times.

“Growing up, I was always the one Hong. In a world of Lees, I stand as the common ground.” And now just about everyone, good or villainous, rich or teeming; Shubots of all kinds are used by them in all walks of life. 

For you, those days served as a reminder of the large world outside of everything you knew within Hong Co. You seldom left the tower to do anything, even though you knew how to take care of yourself in the crowded city due to your own background.

As you got to explore your new home, you came to realize just how much the estate was designed with the intention of housing a small family. You had no idea why the thought always came to you with a little flush to your face.

It was also during tea time that the little pinch in your chest would invade your heart more bit by bit as you got to know each of Joshua’s sides. It was hard for you to show more of yourself at times, so you appreciated the quiet days just as much as the ones with glee.

Before you knew it, you were watching light snow begin to fall outside as you sipped your tea.

Colder months meant new heating designs for Joshua to make, and according to Sunday, less conflicts between the Lee brothers to worry about.

“We basically hibernate until either Seok or Chan randomly gets up to something in Spring,” Joshua joked. “Even though I already stay out of the public eye as it is.”

“Was it always this way?” You asked, aiming to sound broad. Perhaps a month ago, Joshua wouldn’t have answered. But he spoke freely. 

“My father was the least social of all of the men in my family. After my grandfather passed, he no longer had a reason to keep up appearances or go out at all, and then I and the other scions of the city were training up north. I never liked attending conferences with my father anyway, but then suddenly he was gone. I felt terrible letting all of the people he’d hired go, but they served as the foundation for Jihoon’s refuge cafes. And suddenly I had all of the space in the world to build back what I’d been left with. No one watching from the outside or the inside.”

“But no one at all except you,” You didn’t mean to say it out loud, but the look in Joshua’s eyes showed that it was something he always wanted someone to say but there never was anyone else.

“It was the only way I was able to continue my family’s work without sacrificing myself, but that didn’t make me hate it any less. I was never going to be ready to have people around again, though at some point I knew I would have to try. Avoiding how others have failed doesn’t delay your own failure.” When he said that aloud, you could tell that he’d mentally hit a wall. That was probably it for him today, or maybe a while.

You took a deep breath. “I’m glad you were able to try something new, Joshua. For the company, and for yourself.” You put your teacup down and smiled at him, allowing your arm to stretch out to him tentatively.

Maybe it was because he genuinely had no idea what else to say but his hand slowly reached yours. You could tell from Joshua’s flush that warmth was flooding through him, too.

It wasn’t just the first time the two of you touched, it was likely the first time he had touched anyone in a very long time.

Just as his fingers were beginning to wrap around yours, Sunday’s hologram suddenly appeared from Joshua’s watch in between you two, making you jump apart.

“What’s the emergency, Sunday?” Joshua smiled, though you noticed the watchfulness return to his eyes.

“Your heart rate has increased beyond 120 bpm in the past minute, would you like me to send for-”

“No, it's all fine!” Joshua interrupted a bit loudly, completely embarrassed. You doubled over laughing, only making Joshua grow redder.

“Your AI are great,” You said, wiping your eyes. “Maybe I should get a watch, too.”

Joshua scratched the back of his neck in relief that you weren’t judging. “That can be tended to now, let’s head back to the study.”

The next time the two of you touched was when Joshua was showing you how to put on a Shu-watch, since you’d never had anything like it before. He specifically touched one up so that Wednesday would primarily care for you, connected to Ani in your room.

“Now Wednesday can embarrass you too whenever she or Sunday wants,” Joshua said cheekily as he showed you some of the regular features.

The next time would be at dinner the next day, when Joshua would get a little more adventurous by pushing a lock of your hair behind your ear. Even though your legs were about to turn to jelly, you decided you couldn’t let him have all the fun.

“Wow some gentleman you are, boss,” you teased, bringing your hand up to your ears to poke his.

He caught on quickly though. “Oh forgive me, my lady,” Joshua gently took your hand before you could react. He bowed his head down to kiss it. “I was fatefully distracted.”

Forcing yourself not to faint, you met his eyes, hoping he couldn’t see right through you in that moment. “Well I suppose that makes sense since you haven’t wiped the crumbs from your face.”

Before Joshua could grab his napkin, you took your own and got up to wipe his mouth yourself. 

The cocky grin on his face when you stepped back was what made you think that at this rate, you were going to physically fall for him before anything else.

The day you did faint wasn’t from a tussle with Joshua, but from dehydration.

The feeling that had built up within you was a source of stress you couldn’t stand after a while. You had finally acknowledged to yourself by then that you didn't want to leave at some point, as was agreed, even if you'd be sent off with everything you could ever need.

You realized that it wasn't what you wanted, and even if you could stay forever, your feelings for Joshua would be there too. For that you couldn't even look at Joshua, even though it wasn't truly his fault you were feeling this way about him.

Quite literally you couldn't stand it; as a distraction, you kept finding reasons to exit the study and poured yourself into tasks, ignoring alerts from your watch about your health. You knew it was wrong not taking the time to figure yourself out but whenever you tried, the feeling in your chest evolved further into a thorough ache.

When you started to feel dizzy one day, you tried to get up from your desk again for the nth time, only to stumble. Joshua noticed from his side of the study, but you shuffled away fast.

Wednesday showed at that moment that Shu-watches are (cleverly) programmed with certain overrides and beeped at you to either rest, or drink some water.

“That’s what I’m on my way to do,” you grumbled, trying to dismiss her.

“Miss Y/N, the nearest beverage machine is in the study, please pause your activity and-”

You hit the floor and vaguely registered the sound of Wednesday sending a message to Joshua about it.

When you were finally at a better state of consciousness, you found yourself in your bed with Voira next to you, holding out a cup of water. Sitting up, you saw Joshua sitting at your desk below.

He looked up at you, looking relieved that you were feeling better again.

“Wednesday, how are Y/N's vitals?” Joshua spoke into his watch.

“Back to normal,” You heard from your own watch. Joshua smiled and got up. To your slight horror, he climbed up halfway to your bed.

“How are you feeling otherwise?” Joshua asked you, his gorgeous face full of concern.

You looked away, still upset with yourself. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been taking care of myself lately.” 

With a thoughtful “Hmm,” Joshua climbed all of the way up and sat right next to you, making you shrink away more.

“Are you afraid of me, Y/N?” That sure was one way to get you to look at him. Joshua's face was passive, but his eyes were filled with worry over what you might say. 

“I...know that you’ve been avoiding me for a bit but I didn’t expect that you would ignore your watch. Poor Wednesday,” he added light-heartedly. Joshua waited patiently for your answer, fighting his own urge to physically reach out.

You let out a dispirited laugh at that. It was hard for you to find words, but you realized that this conversation was going to happen at some point, one way or another.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of you, Joshua…just of...the way I’ve been feeling lately. I am really grateful for everything you’ve done for me and you are a wonderful person to be around, but, well, I…”

You involuntarily reached for Joshua’s hand, and your back straightened at the feeling of his hand accepting yours. You suddenly felt so small but, for the first time, you were safe to say so.

“I’m afraid that I’ve been selfish,” you let out, mellow. “In all of this time I’ve spent around you I keep thinking about everything that makes me different and...unimportant...” You didn’t let him interrupt you there when you felt him shift. 

“And I just…who am I to say that I…that…”

You felt him give your hand a little squeeze. Screw it.

“That I like you a lot? I really do care so much about you…you’re so kind to me and you intrigue me very much. I know that doesn’t mean I should feel this way at all, especially since the contract I’m under is temporary. I’m here to work, to help you, and that’s it. So I tried really hard not to think about it…”

You regretted it the moment you said it all, but it was only for a moment.

Because then Joshua used his other hand to cup your face, making you look at him, giving you a kiss on the forehead.

“Y/N, I am the one who should be saying sorry to you. I think I’ve waited too long to tell you that I want you to extend your stay here. From the moment we met I knew that I would like you, so much that I couldn’t bear to watch you leave. I originally designed a new master bedroom just for you, but then I realized that I don’t just want you to stay, I want you by my side.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You were so stunned, Joshua looked away in fear that this time he had overstepped instead. So you leaned up to kiss his cheek, but given the height difference, it caused you to lose balance and Joshua turned quickly to catch you, and your faces were closer to each other than they ever have been, which at this point said a lot. Joshua swallowed nervously.

“Well, Y/N? Would you like to change your contract to one of marriage someday?”

You were sure at that moment most would have swooned or initiated a makeout session, but you instead laughed, giving Joshua the smile he himself had fallen for.

You had no idea where the confidence was coming from but you’d be lying if you said didn’t it come from Joshua, and just like him, you loved it. “Joshua Hong, you may be one of the most powerful people in the whole world but there really is so very much you do not know about women.”

Joshua blushed immediately, but he held his ground just as hard as he was holding onto you. “As long as it’s you, I will do whatever I can to learn. I want you here, Y/N, truly. You're family now.” 

Family. Something both of you had lived so long without.

“Well call me old-fashioned but aren’t you supposed to date me first?” you both laughed and Joshua poked your nose, making you gasp incredulously.

“Darling, I’m the old-fashioned one here who was planning to take this slow, but then you fell face first before the ‘talking phase’ could even turn into seeing movies~”

The two of you kept the banter and jostling up until you breathlessly grew quiet again.

“That’s why,” Joshua spoke out of the blue.

“What?” You looked at him, and he brought his hand up to your face again.

“Talking with you, laughing with you, seeing you prove that I really am here, with you." Joshua stroked your face so lovingly you could cry.

"For so long I was alone...It was a harsh reality I never wanted to face, but no matter which way I turned it was the truth. Bringing you into my life was the most frightening thing I have ever done, but it remains the one decision I am most sure of. You make me feel like I am worth everything, and now I rest every night knowing I will see your beautiful face the next day. If you accept my offer of making permanence of this, I promise I will always be here for you, too.”

Well indeed right there you did cry. You were so choked up as he wiped your face, trying not to cry himself, that the only way you could respond to him sincerely was by closing the final bit of physical distance between you two.

You could faintly hear the sound of hundreds of the tower's Shubots in a 30 meter radius clapping and cheering as Joshua returned the kiss with passion, holding you close with both arms, your hearts pounding.

Sharing your first ever kiss only marked a pivotal point in the feelings you had begun sharing long before, which would only continue on to fill every desolate corner that could ever appear in this limitless home of yours, and everything you would continue to work for together.

a/n: "And that, kids, is how I met your mother"

Time for a trip to my dentist because my stars writing that might’ve made a hole in my sweet tooth awwwww 💕;w; At a point in this fic I realized I was expanding the world a little too much so I left out the details of “the incident” the reader and Joshua mentions to try and close a love story nicely.  For you all that have reached the end of this amalgamation of my late-night writing, a year in the making, thank you so much and I do hope you’ve enjoyed this fic as much as I had writing it!

[edupunkn00b]

The Beekeepers

Photo by Jenna Lee via Unsplash

Deep space can be boring and lonely. At least, it can be when you're not stationed with the loves of your life.

Written for @tsspromptmonth's Rare Gifts Event. Intruanxceit in a Futuristic AU.

WC: 612 - Rated: G - CW: none (other than a sinking suspicion I'm not going to be able to let go of this AU) -

Hexidecimal characters cascaded down Virgil’s monitor, far faster than any organic could hope to comprehend. Columns and columns of numbers and datasets, an entire tour’s worth of output feeds, soil readings, and diagnostic benchmarks from the depths of the Hydrangea’s databanks.

It had been eleven months since the ship had last docked at the Hive. Eleven months worth of information on the deep space explorer's findings.

“Hm, fresh data!” Remus clapped his shoulder, then catapulted himself onto a clear spot on Virgil’s workstation. He craned his neck to gaze at the screen. “‘Got it memorized?’” he laughed, winking.

“Nearly.” Virgil answered his joking question seriously. “They’ve had a good year. A couple of rough patches.” he pointed at the screen, smirking when Remus nodded as though his eyes could interpret the shifting numbers as quickly as his photoreceptors did.

“I see that.” Remus flashed him the kind of grin that Virgil could spend hours analyzing. “Jannie’ll be pleased he was right to give Captain Sanders a shot at his own ship.”

“Pleased he let you talk him into letting your old buddy take the helm, you mean?” Smiling, Virgil didn’t look up. The uptick in Remus’ heart rate told him he’d guessed correctly.

“Jannie told you?” Still watching the numbers race across the screen, Virgil shook his head. Remus groaned, kicking his feet under the dented metal table. He took Virgil’s hand, though, lacing their fingers together. 

He appreciated the soft gesture, though he’d become acclimated to Remus’ other overdramatic antics. The contrast of this partners' eratically effusive behavior with what he expected based on his training data had been… difficult when he’d first arrived at the space station three years ago.

With exposure, though, he’d come to enjoy the organic's unpredictability.

“If Jannie didn't tell you. then who?” he almost whined, bringing Virgil’s hand up to his heart.

“I believe you just did, my dear,” Janus purred from behind him. Curling around Virgil’s shoulder, he brushed a kiss against the edge of his jaw, then pushed up on his tiptoes to kiss Remus’ cheek. 

“Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky,” Remus laughed and slid down from the workstation. “You never miss a trick, do ya, Vee?”

“Just a whole lotta trial and error whenever you’re in the room,” he muttered, not bothering to hide his smile. The final set of numbers scrolled off the screen and Virgil nodded at the other two. “We’ve got the data. Transmitting the shared library now.”

Janus leaned close to watch the transmission status for a moment before straightening and resting a hand on Remus’ shoulder. Virgil caught a glimpse of his reflection in the monitor and a softness came over his features.

“Have you already seen Captain Sanders off?” he murmured. Virgil could only guess he’d kept his voice low for Remus’ sake. Janus could’ve whispered down the hall and Virgil’s auditory sensors would’ve picked it up as clearly as if he’d fed the message directly to his DPU.

Remus pulled Janus closer until he was half-draped over Virgil’s back. The closeness was unexpected but… reassuring. “Yeah, Jannie, I did.” They shared a small kiss and then Remus hummed, reaching with his other arm to stroke Virgil’s hair. “I’ll be okay. I can always prank call him once they get past the Outer Nebula.”

“I’ll help you hide the source of the transmission.” Virgil smiled when Remus barked out a sudden laugh, shoulders shaking and eyes approaching their usual life.

“I didn’t hear that,” Janus said with a sternness that might have triggered Virgil’s defensive protocols when he’d first arrived at the Hive.

Now, Virgil merely shrugged. “Hear what?”

[miziubai]

hehYYy. HEEEEEEEEEY i made an AU :) again.

I wasn't entirely sure if i wanted to call this one a. cyberpunk one? or a futuristic one? i guess i'll go for the second bc it's kind of it.

I guess this ties in with my regular line for COTL, and the Aftermath AU (an AU of the AU???) this takes thousands of years into the future where all the gods, including Lamb, have died and reincarnated.

Leshy was kind of the reason I made this to begin with bc i was drawing him (points to the lesh) and i was suddenly struck with the idea HSBDAHSHH,, AAAAAA.

as always more info under cut if you're interested :> enjoy.

Sheepkin was "restored" by Lamb and Narinder in their original encarnations. Given this branches off of my Aftermath AU, the worst case scenario happened and Nike started slowly losing their mind. Warning Narinder of this, they made a blood ritual where they used the blood of both and all the power of the Red Crown to create around ten to twenty lambs. The immortality of both immediately wore off and while Nike's mind was still clear, they asked their cultists to make a coffin for both them and Nari, then were buried under the temple in their last day along the Red Crown and rotted away. The next two generations of sheep could repeat this process with whoever they wished, until the power faded away. Fast forward a few thousand years and its almost like they weren't one number away from extinction.

The Red Crown recovered its power and the other crowns are also on their full capacity, but are inactive and calling for their rightful owners. The camp and Temple are however completely abandoned and not many dare enter it. This will be expanded on later :)

Narinder and Lamb are both adopted, by Forneus and Ratau respectively, as they were both abandoned by their biological parents in different ways. Forneus and Ratau know eachother, so they meet pretty early into their lives.

ALL 'bishops' have remains of their power from their past lives. Magic is still very much a thing in this world but is mostly overriden by technology, so most people don't suspect they're special in some way.

The bishops aren't family anymore.

Heket (not pictured) was the first to figure out she had special powers, but is unaware that she is special in some way.

None of them have memories of their past lives either. Shamura (also not pictured) however, has had visions of these past lives and became obsessed with them, and after being isolated by their family, they slowly figured out what the Old Faith was.

Shamura and Narinder met when Narinder was still a kid and were good friends, until Shamura disappeared, which led Narinder to think they died.

Leshy was the second Narinder met, and by extension Lamb, and now the three mostly tag along together.

Leshy was not born entirely blind but is pretty much legally blind, so he uses special glasses (Still can't see whack)

In addition to having remains of their power, they also feel a connection and a sense of nostalgia when they meet.

Kallamar and Heket both also know Shamura but don't know where they are either. They're friends and trying to look for the "rest" of them, since they know they're missing something, or someone.

that's it for now

[cupidford]

Spare Parts by Raina_at

Futuristic sci-fi au, 24th century. On the Planet Titan, Sherlock comes back from the dead after two years. While figuring out why the biggest manufacturer or synthetic limbs in the System is going after veterans, Sherlock and John also need to find out whether there's a way to fix what's broken between them.

Johnlock Love Letters #2302

[havarija]

I’ll start with a series of sketches that are helping me brainstorm through the final chapter of act 1 for the ffxiv story aptly named ‘Out of Order’ (and for a good reason I assure you), and with the main man himself.

I’m trying to keep these loose and simple, so not to get lost in details that do not truly matter.

[astraldynastykrp]

Dear gentle reader,

The King of Astral has officially announced the start of the premiere Festival. All citizens were invited to celebrate in the Noble Circle. Which we all know was a surprise. But I can tell you, that is was just another smart move of the King to hold it in the Noble Circle close to his castle. Listen close when I tell you of the reason:

The rumors say that the King could this way, put up more knights around his castle and keep a better eye on his volk. Believe me when I say that nothing the King done is done by him being generous. But now let me you of the event.

Bursting with vibrant colors, captivating performances, and an atmosphere that will ignite your imagination. Experience the thrill of jousting tournaments, where gallant knights will showcase their bravery and skill, as they clash on horseback with lances poised for victory. Be spellbound by mesmerizing fire dancers, who will dazzle you with their daring displays of flames that dance through the night sky. Indulge your senses with the mouthwatering scents of delectable treats sizzling on open grills, as the air is filled with the aroma of roasted turkey legs, hearty stews, and freshly baked bread. Quench your thirst with our selection of fine ales, crafted using age-old recipes, as you toast to new friendships and unforgettable adventures. Let your inner child run wild as you try your hand at traditional medieval games, from archery to axe-throwing – a chance to test your accuracy and channel the bravery of the knights of yore.

Find yourself captivated by troubadours and minstrels, their melodies sweeping you away to a time of enchantment and romanticism. Watch as people engage with dazzling magicians, playful jugglers, and captivating storytellers, leaving lasting memories etched in their hearts.

Come, all ye lords and ladies, knights and common folk, to celebrate the grand opening of our medieval streets festival. A day filled with merriment, magic, and mirth awaits! Don your finest attire, grab your families and friends, for a truly unforgettable experience with fireworks adorning the heavens. Join us in embracing the spirit, where chivalry reigns and adventure awaits around every corner.

It sounds exciting doesn't it? The King surely has his reasons behind the event. I wonder though, which reason it really is?

Yours truly.

[ronni-right]

luv the premise abt daemyra futuristic!au both of them hiding away from those who are after her 😍 maybe daemon helps the resistance to infiltrate one of the companies and destroy it, sooner or later some of them will trust him

daemon doesn't know anything about human intimacy so it is understandable why rhaenyra would be the one to initiate the kiss. after all, all he does before going rogue is to fight and kill

for now they just kissed and they were experimenting on it 🤭 i hope their relationship grows later on

O, lovely AU is back ☺️

Yeah, Daemon proves everyone his is on their side, even though mostly he doesn't act like human, but mostly like a soldier on guard. But he tries his best to acclimatize and accept his human part. He is a human after all.

Rhaenyra is defective one to initiate everything between them, but she is patient enough with him, asking about how he feels, ready to stop when he doesn't feeling right.

But Daemon loves the intimacy they share

[master-k0hga]

" Ay ay Captain "

. Art © Me . DON’T RE-POST .

| I'm going to ramble cuz jonathon do I have an idea..... Anyways, it's under the cut:

Also who's jonathon

Now this is not what you think, this is not actually THE Kohga we know but a Kohga of a relatively futuristic time like eons after the Wild era/Calamity timeline where the Yiga and Sheikah have practically ""combined" into one category while also having and respecting their own boundaries.. Also "role reversed" in a sense due to close connections and trust bonds; This is Kogga and she is pretty much the "advisor" for the "King" of a new era Hyrule and is also a captain of a defence squad.

Captain "Keeta" Kogga she is in fact referred to, or "Captain Keeta" for short, or "Kogi" to her husband and other close friends and family. Her squad are mostly of Yiga and some Sheikah, though her best fighters (and also closest friends) who are also part of her squad, are; A Goron Leader by the name of Durani, a Zora Prince by the name of Rapho, a Gerudo Queen by the name of Nibiza, and a noble Rito Soldier by the name of Revvi. As time went on it also seems the majority of the Sheikah sector have taken the roll of a rebellious group who takes matters of the "laws of correction" into their own hands; Becoming a harmful resistance lead by the Sheikah Leader; Iimpaz.. strangely enough, they are relentless and not to be messed with... Even though their unhinged and unacceptable actions, they do bring a form of balance... It just needs to be controlled to an extent.

Anyways some couple other things about Mrs Kogga:

Married to: Link, or Sir Linkoln (Yes with a "K". He is not a child in this era but in fact they are both roughly in their mid to late 30's. He is still mute though but not brought up in a way to suppress emotion, and is a Lieutenant and works closely with the King. Hence how Kogga and Link met )

Child: Suppi (Not a direct descendant of Sooga but the resemblance is there. 3 years old and takes on Link's blonde hair however with black tips while keeping Kogga's distinctive Sheikah red eyes)

Zelda and Kogga don't really seem to get along as they potentially could be in competition with their work... Or a secret other thing... (fighting for the guy they both clearly like despite literally one of them having a kid with him already- Rumoured to be a playful rivalry however as they have been seen on multiple occasions hanging out laughing and having a drink together)

Kogga wears a a full on space suit suitable for agility and one to one combat for but depending on the emotion she conveys while wearing it (as it's blood fused so she can command upon it anytime, the bodysuit underneath materialises onto her in a sense) it's blue when she's calm, content and doing her normal thing (like almost all the time), but turns red when she's mad, vengeful, or just overall pissed right the fuck off... Her weapon is a take on the Demon Carver but obviously more advanced, when sheathed in the hilt it looks like a normal small rod, but once unsheathed and activated it's like a beam blade (or however you call those types of weapons, all I know Halo has a sword that does the same thing when you use it but I forgot what it's called.... Laser sword?? Idk!)

She's somewhat more "serious" than the Kohga we know, actually focuses on the task at hand yet still has her "clumsy" moments like her veeeeery old ancestors, she loves banana pudding and milkshake, overall she still has that amount of competence that actually makes her enemies or monsters uneasy... Speaking of Monsters

Her boss is literally a sentient and fully British humanoid moblin, to which is strange as he is the only one who doesn't seem to share the same brainwave as the monsters who work for the "Eater of Worlds". His name is Antonio, or "Dr Anton" for short (cuz he's a genius and he has SOOO many PHDs.. He is also a Doctor though soooo...), he tends to belittle Kogga more than anyone else and will literally throw the "Missy" or the "Any objections, Lady?" bullshit at her (Other M reference because of course why the fuck not-)... There's a level of respect for each other somewhere however so they're obviously doing something right.. Kogga of course doesn't exactly hate him as Antonio was the one who managed to fix her up one time during a fatal attack that almost blew her to bits; He doesn't have the advanced tech to completely replace people lost limbs, skin and so on yet but he did use his very up to par hospitality bots to give her a cool looking eye! To which at any time she can use as a type of visor; Detecting temperature changes or hazardous environments, somewhat "downloading" information and other things about monsters/ plants animals and other wildlife (kinda like the scan mechanic in the Metroid Prime franchise-... Wait )/ and it's even useful cuz Antonio managed to do something where it gives coordinates too.. There has been however been a couple months where it almost fried her brain but we'll get to that another time, so there's still some work to do..

-

Also yeah a quick summary Zelda herself and what role she plays in this era of Hyrule (to which is a form of space station built and expanded upon as a city since the actual old age kingdom of Hyrule stopped being safe to inhabit for over 200 years now due to a strange infectious-to-their-world outbreak that left it in a very severely inhabitable state.. Which I'll get to more later if I remember or can be asked to):

Although Zelda is the daughter of the King of this era, she is actually very active in maintaining peace and to hopefully prevent the resurrection of the "Eater of Worlds", who in this case is this era's version of Ganondorf; And although he is referred to as such, he does not in fact eat worlds as soon as he wrecks havoc and destroys them.. His bio mechanic ship does that

+

Idk what brought up this idea but I think music might've influenced this to randomly pop up on my brain or if my body was kind of getting sick of the whole medieval/fantasy thing and finally wanted to go for something more sc-fi... Despite literally most of my OCs mostly being relevant to that bubble of; Space, dimensional hopping, other worlds and so on... But oh well it's here now and doubt I'll ever expand on that AU idea despite it being very interesting and I actually enjoy the thought entirely!

It's somewhat being it's own thing while having some relation to the franchise in a sense with just reference to characters and the races that obviously already reside in the franchise of LoZ !.......... But oh well whatever I'll come back to this after I finish off with more OC related works and the other projects I need to properly work on/severely need to re-work and stuff..

[auideas]

So, I found you a while ago and thought you guys would never resurface

But I was proven wrong

So I got this story I'm trying to write, yeah? Fantasy magical dystopian, got any ideas you could shoot my way?

Hey, we live to defy expectations! We'd be more than happy to help.

Fantasy magical dystopian prompts is incredibly specific, but AMAZING. Let's get it started:

No one knows why some people lived while others died when the apocalypse came; they suddenly vanished, almost before their very eyes. With 95% of the population gone, the remaining survivors simply attempted to keep living and moving forward. Small communities were built in the ruin of their old world, later to be called “villages.” After some months of establishing the new world order, strange happenings began to take place: weird weather, objects moving on their own, and other such oddities. It’s only on that day when Character A looked up from their dry garden to the heavens, raised an arm, and pulled down with the intent of a god did rain fall from a cloudless sky. Seemingly impossible, the remaining survivors of the human race may have not been human at all, but something more.

The world was perfect. The complicated and seemingly impossible concept of utopia had been achieved. Waste had been reduced to near nothing, energy was renewable, the economy was saved from collapse -- the human race was thriving for the first time in centuries. As it always seems with perfect things, it was too good to be true. This new world isn’t without a massive, dark flaw: to create this utopia, influential humans have enslaved those with the gift of magic, using them to achieve their nefarious means. The concept of “utopia” had been completely bastardized for their own gain. Humans...they never change.

When you live in a dystopia, you learn to use what you can find. Scavenging wasn’t just a side gig now, but a way of life, and this wasn’t more true than for magical botanists and potion-makers. Because they lacked access to their previous supply chains (damn them for shutting down the internet and its associated conveniences), they had to find other creative ways to source materials. Defunct fabric stores, joke shops, herbalists in Chinatown -- you name it, they’d scavenged it. All seemed well and good until some of their spells had, well, unexpected effects due to poor quality substitutions.

History repeats itself, and the world heals in cycles...at least, that’s what they all said when the climate took a turn for the worse. Everything was thrown out of whack in a mere 20 years, and few people could discover the truth of what seemed to be happening. The new world felt almost apocalyptic, but it turns out the world wasn’t ending, but merging. Two planes of existence were slowing melding together: one our own and the other...horrendously fantastic. No one believed the ravings of Character A until the first dragon ripped the sky open and rained fire down from the heavens.

Being a part of a coven after the world all but ended was difficult enough, but having that life be all someone knows makes it just that much harder when they have to leave it. As a part of a coming of age ceremony, Characters A, B, and C are sent on a quest across the country to source materials from the old world: The Munich Manual. However, they were refused reasoning as to why the elders needed the ancient script, citing it as “none of their business” and that they “weren’t old enough to know the truth.” Well, Characters A, B, and C are officially adults now, right? Who’s to say they can’t just open the manual find out for themselves?

The “wall of fish” trending on TikTok some time ago seemed like it was too strange to be true; so many people ignored it and simply kept it in their back pocket as a fun fact to bring up at parties. After all, what’s a better ice breaker than “you heard about those floor fish??” No one expected anything to come of it, simply writing it off as another secret the sea kept hidden. It wasn’t until this wall of fish completely disappeared did anyone take notice, because what it left behind was ten times worse. In this world, sea creatures are connected by a hive mind, and this in combination with morphic fields allowed the creatures to simultaneously alter their body chemistry and release a strong, deadly acid that poisoned almost every water source on Earth, eating the land and leaving little behind. Within five years, the only humans remaining on planet earth are the mountain tribes, sustained through the magical manipulation of their own morphic fields.

Supplies are hard to come by when the world has gone to shit, and that couldn’t be any more true of the world without UPS. The sourcing of rare materials was left for only the most brave and capable. These requirements made Character A’s trips along the New Silk Road that much more bewildering, given their small stature. Perhaps it had to do with the materials they were carrying...it seemed like an awful lot of bottles filled with weird colors, bones, and insect wings for such a little thing.

Being a plain non-magical human in a group of tightly-knit survivors trying to live in the slums of a dystopian city isn’t exactly a cake walk, but if they thought Character A was also magical because they could somehow convince neighboring groups to accept impossibly unfair trades for their own gain, who was Character A to correct them on their mistake? After all, it’s not like Character A would willingly admit that they were just in debate club in high school, not a silver tongued sorcerer.

Not everyone is cut out for living in an apocalyptic situation. Jobs that fit your skills are hard to come by, especially for a mute academic (and a linguist at that). In an effort to pull their weight, Character A becomes an archivist and logs information as best they can from members of the community to document how the old world can inform the new. They decide to start with the elderly who speak a myriad of languages (most were ones Character A could also speak, thank god). As Character A records their stories and words, they fail to realize that what they’re recording aren’t just stories, but spells and incantations with the ability to release something much, much darker if spoken by the right person.

Everyone thought the creatures were destroying the world of their own accord. “It’s simply in their nature,” they’d say. “They can’t control themselves.” Well, that was a bit true in part: someone else was calling the shots, and they certainly didn’t have everyone’s best interest at heart. Who’s to say someone else can’t pull their strings, though?

These should give you a great start, but I’ll be honest in saying that I could have kept going forever! Maybe we’ll have more AUs along the same lines as these in the future~

- Admin M  x

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

The Aching of His Bones

Whumpcember 2022 Day 3!

Summary: Written for Whumpcember 2022 Day 3. Set in my Space Dragons AU, pre-A Calling For A Healing. Hiccup has a particular dislike for the summer months. They’re hot, uncomfortable, and stormy. He can’t sleep during stormy nights.

Warning: /

Rating: General

Characters: Hiccup, Stoick

Pairing: /

Words: 1 042

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Prompt: Storm

Whumpee: Hiccup, Stoick

Author’s Notes: Actually the only prompt fic that I actually took the time to look through for a second time. Set quite a while before the events of "A Calling For A Healing".

[stopitlight]

AU set in 2072 where Wilbur recovers an abandoned robot named T0M, and attempts to restore it. After many months of hard work, T0M returns to its original functional state. And with the way T0M was programmed, he befriends Wilbur quickly.

One night, Wilbur comes home from work in a rush, panicked. He rushes to pack a bag, and grabs only the necessitys. He then turns to T0M, teary eyed, and tells it that he can't bring it with him where he's going. It'd be too suspicious, and it'd only get wrecked. That it deserved better. And with that, Wilbur turns and runs, never to be seen again. Never by the goverment, nor T0M itself.

At first, T0M is hopeful - if thats an emotion it can even feel. Wilbur fixed him, gave him meaning. He couldn't just leave him that easily, could he? He'd have to come and visit. But days pass. Then months, and then years. Once the first year is up, he knows to stop hoping for his return. T0M, ruthlessly programmed to feel, becomes angry and confused. How dare Wilbur, after all these months, leave it behind. In a fit of rage and helplessness, T0M turns itself off. It is better off unaware.

In 2079, roughly 7 years from its initial restoration, T0M is recovered by none other than local trouble makers Toby Smith and Ran Wilson. T0M, a piece of technology that has been sought for by the government for nearly 7 years in a last ditch effort to locate and condemn the hidden criminal Wilbur Soot. Unfortunately for them, Toby and Ran are not the type to cooperate with government officials...

[criesinmultifandommess]

AUS that got lost in the sauce

alternatively, AUs that don’t have enough info to be a separate post :V

Futuristic Dream SMP

Dream having a mask that displays a digital smiley face

the builders and redstone users of the DSMP are important (ex. Foolish, Tubbo, Sam, Eret)

Boxing AU

Dream owning a boxing ring, the L’Manbergians breaking off and buying their own ring

mm the wars are bouts (idk if that’s the right word)

Martial Arts AU

Same idea as the boxing au, but with dojos (?)

Elemental AU

basically the premise is everyone has an elemental affinity

you can be born with any natural affinity; ex: earth, fire, water, air, wind, ice, electricity, etc.

your affinity can switch when you undergo a major change; ex: Wilbur’s spiral (wind to fire)

you can lose your affinity (? does not have to be used)

Sleepy bois as gods of the wind

Boreas/Aquilo, north, winter: Techno

Zephyrus/Favonius, west, light spring & early summer: Phil

Notus/Auster, south, late summer & autumn: Wilbur

Eurus/Vulturnus, east, wind of storm: Tommy

Karlnapity adopting the Las Nevadas kids, Sam and Foolish are babysitters-ish

in a better version of the DSMP where they stayed husbands or a modern AU

[vexedstars]

RETROGRADE - CHILDE/KAEYA

Summary:

“I can clean and cook for you as well. It is well within my programming to do so. You may tell me what I can assist you with.”

Kaeya takes a sip of his coffee before he answers. “For one, please don’t talk like that. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Childe blinks at him and then adopts an expression of confusion. “Like what?” 

“Like an android.” Kaeya gestures to Childe’s whole body with his hands. “Like you have no feelings.” 

He doesn't understand. “I am an android though, I do not have any feelings.”

Childe is the new android model: A11, customizable to suit each household. He meets Kaeya who seems in need of a roommate.

Genre: android au, set in the future but domestic, roommates, yearning, romance, unreliable narrator, hurt/comfort, angst

Rating: N/A

Word Count: 4.3k

[miziubai]

"We Belong Together"

Quick Narilamb thing I made for my Aftermath/Futuristic AU involving the Blood Ritual and their subsequent deaths/reincarnations.

Contains: Explicit injury, somewhat implicit death, angst obviously, weird childbirth???? nonbinary lamb and likely ooc nari but i don't quite care (?) Forneus and Ratau are there at the very end

I apologize in advance for my terrible grammar, i love english as a second language fanfic /j

R-REMINDER THAT MY LAMB'S NAME IS NIKE TO AVOID CONFUSION

Word count: 1,143

------------------------------------------

Never had silence been so deafening for Nike, besides the silence that followed their beheading a thousand years ago.

"Lamb." 

Narinder's voice took them out from that sea of empty thoughts, only then raising their head to listen to their lover. 

"Are you ready?" He asks, his voice softer than ever. 

Perhaps it was the thought that they would both die not long after the ritual, but Nike's condition had worsened as of late. The Red Crown's power has been taking a toll on the lamb for a while now, but only realized when intrusive thoughts of sacrificing followers who tried to even talk to them rose out of nowhere.

Narinder realized things had been changing as the thought of dissenters and  competition, ideas that usually meant nothing to Nike, became a source of worry and doubt. And even if just a little, it reminded Narinder a lot of himself when he was still a God, how he also lost his sanity but to loneliness and rejection. 

The Lamb doesn't respond to their lover's question at first, and only looks down once again. Before the cat could repeat his question, Nike murmurs.

"I am. Let us not lose any more time." 

The Blood Ritual was performed by just the two of them all alone in the Temple.

Nike had pretty much begged for all the cultists to stay out of the Temple and wait for the bells to ring, mostly so to control themself, and for the sake of privacy.

Some of them were sleeping and some waited patiently outside, everything happening in the middle of the night. The Lamb also requested for the ones who are or were once parents to be first in line. 

"It's just so…bizarre, Nari." Nike hovered their wrist over the goblet, and Narinder held the hand carefully from under, holding the ritual knife in his other hand.

"Why did this happen?" Lamb continues.

Narinder ponders for a moment, and carefully places the sharp side of the knife in the Lamb's wrist. He hesitates, but knows that it must be done.

"I don't know." He answers solemnly. 

The Lamb's lips purse and they wince in pain, but lets the blood flow down into the goblet nonetheless. When a quarter of it is filled, they grabbed a clean piece of cloth and wrapped the injury. 

"Back when it happened to me, It was because I doubted my siblings and myself." Narinder continues, placing his wrist over the goblet as well.

Nike looked up to him and started to think.

"Maybe it stemmed from my own doubt." 

It took hundreds of years for it to happen, but because the Crown originally belonged to Narinder, Lamb started doubting the direction things would go for them both. The seed of doubt and fear was planted the second Nike questioned their own leadership.

Reluctantly, Nike slits Narinder's wrist, but is relieved by the fact he doesn't physically react to it. Narinder was always more resilient to pain after all. 

The Lamb hands him the other piece of cloth  to wrap the injury once his part is done. 

Nike finally takes off the Red Crown and sighs.

"Nari," they whisper. "After all of this is done, I need you to make another promise to me."

The cat's ears twitch in curiosity slightly and he looks over, not saying a word, expression being enough to ask. 

The Lamb continues to stare at the Crown for a moment, but then shakes their head.

"Nevermind, I will tell you later." 

The Red Crown is placed in the goblet, Narinder and Nike both kneeling down in front of it. It blinks and they clasp their hands together. It glows and they pray, light pouring out their eyes and mouths, the red glow of the Crown creating a pillar that rises up to the sky.

The cultists on the outside stare in awe, some of them show concern and some surprise. After a few minutes, the firsts in line  hurry into the Temple's grounds as the bells sound and resonate.

And much to their shock, there are now fourteen little Lambs, laying by the altar.

The goblet is broken and the blood spilled down, the Crown's eye is closed and Nike has shrunk. 

"My flock and brethren, I have something to beg from you." They listen sound and clear to Nike's tired voice. "Take care of these children and raise them in my stead, for my other half and I do not have much time left."

The women gather around the lambs and carefully carry them into their arms. Some bleat weakly and some remain in silence, and Nike's eyes are filled with silent tears as Narinder helps them up to their feet, even when he struggles to stand up himself.

Nike grabs the Crown from the floor and stares at it, already feeling their neck weak.

"Make a coffin and bury us under these grounds. Let that be my last order, and my first wish to all of you."

It felt weird for both, when they lay down in that coffin together days later, still breathing. Everyone around them cry and lament that their leaders are rotting away, and their only solace is that they feel no pain.

That noise slowly muffles out as the cultists nail the coffin shut, and in a group effort, lift it up and bring it down to the basement in the Temple. The Crown hovers over Nike's head, its eye closed and its power drained. 

Nike holds Narinder in their arms, their mind hazy and vision cloudy by now, but still able to talk, they whisper.

"Nari…I need you to make another promise to me."

Narinder's eyes open slowly, holding Nike the best he can. He doesn't look up, but he still answers.

"What is it, love?"

"...Promise me that we will be together again in the next life."

"...It is a promise."

And with that, their eyes close, to never open again. 

( … )

"Yes, Forneus! You heard me clear. Someone left this Lamb on adoption, and sure- I had to fight a little for the papers, but they are my child now." Ratau has been talking nonstop to everyone he knows about the Lamb he adopted.

The Lamb in question sat quietly by the other side of the room, holding a cup of hot chocolate in their hands and a blanket over their shoulders. They're no older than maybe five or six. 

They take a sip of the hot chocolate and then they hear Forneus call someone.

"Narinder, sweetie! I want you to meet someone! Come over!"

Nike eyes the corridor briefly, but their eyes open wide when they see Narinder approach- who doesn't walk up to his adoptive mother and instead, walks right up to them.

They meet eyes in silence. Unbeknownst to them, they've finally found each other again. 

[polypromptsmybeloved]

I’m the historical prompt person, and you got exactly what I was hoping for. So, let’s try the opposite end of things. Sci-fi/futuristic triad

I'm so glad it was what you were looking for! I enjoy these asks (and they help give idea for future prompts so thank you). Once again if I get it wrong appologise in advance, but I like this prompt idea!

Person A is a scientist who makes all new types of devices. They occationally bring back some of them to their partners to test it out (consensually). One particular decice is a teleportation device, a beta of sorts. They often use the device to travel to new places (for free!).

In their free time the three of them can be found in their home all together. Despite having a big house they all enjoy being in eachothers company.

Person B is a bit scared of all the futuristic stuff (lets say they watched to many "robots taking over earth movies) so their partners are more than happy to help them calm down/protect them incase anything goes wrong.

One of their favorite things to do at night is power down the house/everything inside of it and climb to the roof. Then they cuddle while looking at the stars. Something, not even the newest technology, can replace

Person C is a pirater, they spend their free times pirating the new homing systems/movies/games/ect. Person A is always the one looking out for C and making sure that they don't go jail for their actions.

One of them is allergic to animals, but yet they really want a pet. To compromise, they have a robotic one. It's not the same, but atleast they don't have to worry about feeding it. And it looks exactly like the original animals, not very metal-ly. (Alternatively: One of their beloved pets passed away and they cloned it :])