Hedran's face had drained of it's color. Vivian's eyes were cast downwards. The two of them sat in silence, slowly coming to grips with the cruel reality before them. By tomorrow morning, their best friend/brother would be dead. Daylily, meanwhile, looked contemplative for a moment. As the machine switched from suction to mixing for a cycle, the homunculus broke the silence.
"This would go twice as fast if you helped, Master." Daylily whispered, her tone indicating that she wasn't sure why Vivian wasn't helping already. Hedran didn't hear, but Vivian reacted as if he had. All the outward confidence and good posture she had displayed during the crisis seemed to shrivel inside of her somewhere as she reflexively covered her breasts from Hedran's view.
"Lily! I can't... not, um." Vivian stepped closer and whispered to Daylily. "Not in front of Hedran!"
"Why not?" Daylily asked innocently. "He could help!" Vivian almost fainted at the suggestion.
"What's this now?" Hedran asked. The knight was standing closer than Vivian had realised and she spooked at the sound of him so close. "Vi, why are we even hesitating? If there's a chance to save Hoyt, we have to take it!" Vivian's posture was as reclusive as it had ever been. Her hair fully shielded her face as her head nodded imperceptibly. She raised a trembling finger to point out some containers to Hedran, who eagerly set about collecting them. Vivian grabbed the spare rotational restraint and pushed it into place next to the pumps. As Hedran looked back her way, Vivian seemed to flinch. She quickly directed him to start attaching the various containers to the machines hoses. When Hedran finished with that, Vivian took a deep breath as though steeling herself. Then she took off her robe.
***
Evening 4 Sectem, 515 K.E.
Dear Diary,
I'm sorry if I'm getting tears on you again diary. I just can't stop crying. We worked so hard all day! So many things happened today that I hardly understand. I have to write this down now so I can come back to it when I stop having all these weird feelings.
Master was really hesitant about getting harvested while Sir Wilkes was in the room. I don't really understand why she couldn't just tell him what he needed to do to get the breast milk we needed. Sir Wilkes was acting weird too. Every time I've seen him work at something or spar with Hoyt he's been really good at handling everything. As soon as Master got ready for harvesting he got really clumsy. It was like he was hardly paying attention to what he was doing at all. It took a while for him to get master buckled in. Once he did both of them were breathing really hard and staring at each other. It almost looked like they were about to kiss. I'll have to think about that later, I get the feeling that it's important for some reason.
Sir Wilkes' hands were shaking really hard when he oiled Master's breasts up. He must have been really worried about Hoyt. What a good friend! I could tell master was getting really turned on by having Sir Wilkes around. I wonder if it's like it was for me when I pretended Hoyt was doing the alchemy last time? It took Sir Wilkes several tries to get the cups attached to Master correctly, but once she was started she produced a lot quickly. Master says breast size doesn't matter, but she's always given more milk than I have.
Things went pretty quickly after that. Master and Sir Wilkes were looking each other in the eye the whole time. When Master started getting really aroused, Sir Wilkes held her hand. He even helped Master orgasm when she asked him to touch her down below. She was crying a lot, but Sir Wilkes kept trying to comfort her. I know Master must have been really worried about Hoyt too, but for some reason I don't think that's why she was crying.
We filled the entire tank up with time to spare. It took us a little time to mix in the rest of the ingredients and finish the cleansing tonic, but we got Hoyt to drink it a few hours before sundown. Since everything in his body is still slowed, it will be a while before we know if it worked or not. Some soldiers came by to ask if Hoyt was okay and to get Sir Wilkes back to base so he could report to the Lord what was going on. Master was exhausted and fell asleep on my bed so she could be near the tank.
I'm super tired too, but I'm used to getting harvested a lot longer than that. I don't think I could sleep while Hoyt is like this either. I'm so scared, diary! What if it didn't work? What if he's not the same afterwards? I still don't even know if he feels the same way I do. There's just so much I don't know, and all I can do is wait and cry.
***
Daylily put down her pen and looked back at her tank. Hoyt was still floating in what appeared to be a troubled sleep. While Daylily thought his skin had regained some of it's color, she wondered if it was just some wishful thinking on her part. She snorted an impromptu laugh at herself. She'd only been thinking and desiring for a week and a few days, but she was already resorting to wishes in a battle against fate. Walking over to the tank, she laid her hand next to where Hoyt's hand floated.
"I wonder how you did it. Feeling all this for your whole life. I've only wanted one thing so far, and I might never even get to tell you how I feel. Never mind getting your response. All I can ever remember includes you. I started thinking because I was trying to figure out why you would always do nice things for me. I was just a moving doll, made to assist Master with alchemy, but you never once treated me that way. Even the idea to put you in this tank was based on a memory of you. Do you remember that time I dropped that beaker and it cut you? At the time, I asked you if I should be terminated for disobeying Master's orders not to hurt anyone. You just laughed. Then you asked the question that would bounce around in my head till I learned to think.
'Don't you think we care about you more than that?' You said. It was such a simple question but it took me so long to figure out what you could have meant. Why would anyone care about a tool? You said you cared about me, though. So I must not be a tool. I must be able to have value to people. I can be more than a tool! I have to be more! I have to... because I love you." Daylily finished. Looking up at her first love she was shocked to find his hand pressed to the other side of the glass as hers.
Eyes wide with shock and hope Daylily looked at his face. A sleepy smile was spread across his lips he floated inside the healing liquid. His body wasn't emaciated anymore, and his skin had regained a healthy pallor. As Daylily watched, the same Hoyt that had left that morning began to emerge from his now healthy features.
With an incomprehensible squeal of relief, delight, and affection Daylily hugged the tank in lieu of being able to hug Hoyt directly. Vivian's head shot up from her spot on Daylily's bed. Seeing her move, Hoyt flashed her a smile and a thumbs up before kicking his way to the surface of the tank. The two women helped him out and toweled him off, both crying tears of joy the whole time. Hoyt merely laughed, downplaying the danger he had been in as he put on a pair of pants.
"I knew you'd figure out a way to help me. You're the one that learned all the complicated spells after all." Hoyt said, putting his hand on Vivian's shoulder. The Alchemist returned the gesture but shook her head.
"You've got someone else to thank for that." Vivian explained. The two looked over at Daylily, who had been happily hugging one of Hoyt's arms the whole time. "How did you even come up with that idea Lily?" The homunculus reluctantly stopped nuzzling herself against Hoyt's shoulder.
"Before I started thinking, I accidentally cut Hoyt with some broken glass. According to your orders I was supposed to not hurt anyone and keep them from getting hurt if I could. I asked him if I was going to be terminated. Hoyt said he cared about me more than a little scratch." Daylily snuggled closer to Hoyt as she said this. Hoyt's face turned so red it was almost glowing. Vivian had the same expression someone would make viewing an infant sleeping in a pile of puppies, kittens, ducklings and all the other adorable things someone could think of.
"After that he cast a slowing spell on himself and stuck his cut into my tank to let it heal quickly. That's how I knew it would work." Daylily finished.
The two women helped Hoyt down the hall, ignoring his insistence that he was fine. As they prepared dinner, Hedran came back to check on his friend. Seeing Hoyt up and grinning at the dinner table, the big knight broke into a winning smile of his own. Clapping his friend roughly on the shoulder as the two shared a laugh about another battle survived. Vivian rushed over to stop the male bonding experience.
"Hedran! He's only just recovered! He needs his rest!" Vivian fussed while trying to brush Hedran away from her brother. The knight endured the barrage of soft blows with a bemused expression on his face before an idea made him grin with planned mischief. Catching Vivian's hands he drew her a little closer.
