"Could you meet me at the simulation room?"  Was the message that set off all sorts of suspicions, especially since it was coming from Eight. Even considering the last incident that happened between the two of them in the simulation room. 

There were no other words of interest that caused more suspicions, other than the one sentence that explained he wanted to train with Seven in a simulation. 

But, that sounded like a steaming load of bullshit to her anyway. 

Something inside of her contemplated that she should just decline his offer, but maybe this time she should see if he was being dead serious about his offer. So, as she hovered her fingers over the keyboard she began typing the acceptance to his offer. 

▬▬▬

The sounds of footsteps echoed across the changeless pathways of PHASe, the female operative swerving past other operatives, researchers, high-ranks and administrative staff. Once arriving at her destination, Seven lingered her hands over the handle of the door to the simulation room. 

"Would this play out the same as last time...?" Seven thought to herself, biting her lips before sighing. If it was, then she can just flip off Eight and exit the room whenever her heart sees right. If not, what a surprise. 

 As she announced her arrival in the simulation room, to her surprise but not really, there were barely any other PHASe workers in there. But the pink bastard was sitting on a barstool, the sound of the ice in his drink clinking against his glass.

Seven knocked on the wall, all the clarity granted to her was that Eight was looking distracted. "Hi," She greeted plainly, tilting her head to the side.

Nothing. No answer. 

Seven arched her brow, narrowing her eyes at Eight before walking over to him with some hints of caution. When she approached Eight closely, briefly, she decided to take a glance at him. He still had the same swoopy hair, eyes boring into his cup that was still swirling around with ice.

Her cheeks lightly flush with bubblegum, sucking the air through her teeth, Seven was reminded of how in the earth she had gained a crush on Eight. 

Yeah, he was kind of an asshole most of the time but if you uncover more to that flirtatious appearance he was a pretty sweet guy. 

Realizing that Eight still wasn't aware of her arrival in the simulation room, she exited her bubble of thoughts and tapped him on the shoulder. Ultimately, Eight reacts to the faint gesture. Resulting in him tumbling off the barstool, but his drink was alright, on the counter with a few spills of liquid near it. 

The misfortune that she saw play out causes Seven to snort, "Nerd," she thought to herself. A hand clamped over her mouth to confine the laughter that was forming while her other hand extended towards him. 

 "Took you long enough," Seven snickered, her lips curling into another smile. 

The Siren grumbled faintly, flushing as he intertwined his fingers around Seven's while she holstered him up. "So, is this what you call training?" The Psion teased, seating herself on the barstool. 

Eight rolled his eyes, resting his cheek on his palm. "I like to consider this pre-training," He defends weakly. 

Seven scoffed, "That was a lame comeback, usually you give something bolder."

The male's face coats into a deep shade of pink as he looks away while flapping his hand, trying to avoid the female looking at his flushed facial features. "I'm just not feeling it today," He lied with a chuckle. 

Those words sparked some curiosity, "Something wrong?" 

"I-" Eight cuts himself off, clasping his glass as he grits his teeth a little. "Would you judge me if I told you?" He questioned, swivelling his seat in Seven's direction. 

Tilting her head to the side, keeping her gaze fixated on him, Seven comfortingly smiles. "Promise I won't," she assured him. 

Vacantly, Eight stares at the glass that he holds in front of him. Swishing the ice cubes in it as Seven awkwardly and patiently waited for his response, hands resting on her lap with a raised brow. 

Internally, Eight's thoughts were hazy as he continued to absent-mindedly whirl his drink around. He was trying to collect his thoughts, trying to make sense to the woman in front of him. When he thought he had it all huddle together, the moment he spoke those thoughts aloud was a mess. 

A mumbo jumbo of a confession sprawls outs of his lips, leaving him realizing what he said and panicking mentally as he refrains from breaking his composure. 

There was a heavy silence frolicking freely in the atmosphere, collectively making this moment tense and awkward. 

Breaking the silence was Seven's voice, laced with a soft tone as she eyed Eight with a faint gleam in her light brown hues. "Wait...Don't take this wrong way, but if I'm getting this right...You...Like me?" She questioned Eight, asking for reassurance from the man. This felt like such an odd dream that she was in, Seven was so tempted to outright pinch herself.

"Yes." It was a shockingly fast reply, with so much eagerness and nervousness embodied in his voice. 

 "Eight...I-" The woman cut herself off, her eyes punctured into Eight softly for a second. A sigh left her lips as she then sat up from her seat and pulled him close. Roughly, Seven pulled his mesh top in both of her hands as her lips met his. 

It takes him by surprise, he never expected for this to happen. So, he was panicking a little bit while Seven was still kissing him. Though, he settles into it as he kisses back. 

For what felt like minutes, the two both parted as Eight tenderly cupped Seven's cheek. 

"I'm surprised that Five or anyone else hasn't shown up yet," Seven joked, a faint tint of bubblegum on her cheeks. Butterflies freely fluttering around in her stomach, making her thoughts a bit obscure. 

Eight snorted at her remark, "Me too." 

"But, Eight," Sevens tone dripped from humorous to a more serious one, "You know the rules, what are we even gonna do?" 

"We can hide it, hide it well," He told her. "I promise, I just wanna be with you." 

Seven convulsed forward, laughter parting out of her lips as a grin took formed on her lips. "That was so cheesy!" She teased him, pointing her index finger at him as she clenched her stomach with her other hand.

He rolled his eyes, flailing his arms upwards. "WHAT!" He exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face also, "I'm just saying what's on my mind!" 

"Whatever, whatever," Seven swayed her hand forward, hand on her hip, "But, I think we can do this." 

Eight smiles at her, planting a forehead kiss cheekily, "I love you."

"Love you too, you asshole," Seven teased again. 

▬▬▬

[ Okay, this is an author apology note honestly. I'm so sorry that these aren't as good as they usually were. Genuinely, I'm so tired and I wanna provide good content for you all because I love y'all. But, I don't feel like I'm doing good enough and am just being cliche or having poor writing. Which I'm so sorry for again, I hope you can understand. ]