Even though Add was in a fragile state right then, (y/n) knew that he had not lied to her. His tears were real. His pain was real. His feelings were real too. What she didn't understand was why Add thought that she didn't reciprocate those feelings, but she decided not to dwell on that fact.

        Knowing that Add was still waiting on an answer, (y/n) reached over and hugged him. She remained in his personal space when she let him go. There she leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek while he watched it all in surprise. (Y/n) lifted his bangs out of his face to see both his eyes clearly and smiled at him before she spoke. "I love you more than I even know. I want to see you happy, prideful, and functioning in a healthy mental state. I'd kiss you more, so much more, but you don't need that right now. Instead, I'll give you my support and hope that you feel comfortable telling me these things more often," she spoke in elvish. Every word was foreign to Add's ears. (Y/n) gently trailed her hand down the side of his face to wipe away a few stray tears. She then traced her thumb over the scar beneath his eye. "I will always make sure that you feel loved. I will always be here."

        Although he couldn't tell what she was saying, Add did understand the connotations of her words. The way his face bloomed in hues of pink told her so. Out of curiosity, (y/n) moved her hand to place it over Add's heart. Feeling its rhythm had her briefly smiling again for a short moment. There was a pressing matter that she needed to address which caused her smile to fade.

        Her words were spoken in a language he could understand this time. "I'm sorry that I don't have any words to offer that can help with your current problems, but I want you to know that we will get through this. I have no idea how or when, but I don't plan on giving up. You're a genius, Add. I'll keep telling you time and time again. You don't have to be strong enough or smart enough all of the time. I know you'll figure this out. I trust in you and your abilities, but you have to do the same. You don't have to do all of this by yourself anymore. You are not alone. Telling me everything on your mind just now was a good start."

        Add had finally calmed down now. The light in his eyes, almost literally, returned. If only (y/n) could read minds. She would have liked to have known what thoughts went through Add's head. His breathing had slowed to normal indicated by the steadied rise and fall of his chest. He looked at her rather intently, searching for something in her eyes. Hesitantly, his arms wrapped around her to bring her closer as he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes in content. Unexpectedly, Add leaned backwards and brought (y/n) with him. They laid there in a comfortable silence for a moment merely enjoying one another's presence.

        "You aren't going to tell me what it was that you said?"

        "Nope." She gave him back his personal space so that they could get up. "I'll tell you one day when I understand my own feelings a little more. I just wanted to sound cool," she admitted.

        Add did not so easily drop the topic. "You won't even translate one sentence? Don't make me learn elvish just to find out. I will do it." It was good to see him returning to his usual again. "How come you've never spoken your language to me before?"

        "You clearly don't understand elvish," she stated with a laugh. The memory involved behind the real reason briefly clouded her current happiness. She used to speak elvish all the time before losing her father. "I save it for special moments like this one."

        Add thoughtfully hummed at her explaination and laid himself across her lap, which (y/n) allowed. "You are still very much a mystery to me."

        "I won't be for long." She knew what he was referring to. "When things settle down a bit more, I'll tell you everything you want to know. For now, we'll focus on you. If there's anything else bothering you, I'm here to listen." They were left in a short moment of silence as Add gathered his thoughts.

        "I still need to come up with a solution to our current problem." (Y/n) was afraid he'd go back to that. It was urgent, so she had expected him to bring it up again at some point. "Dynamo will sacrifice himself if he sees it as the only logical option. He's done it before, so I know he'd do it again." Add flinched when (y/n) began to play with his hair, but he continued speaking. "I took that core to see if it could be used to locate their creator. It's damaged, but I left it mostly intact and functioning. Whoever is after me wants all traces of nasods to vanish, so I wouldn't be surprised if they sought to destroy their own creations as a means to achieve that goal. I can't let my guard down for even a moment."

        "Is it possible to build a new chip for Dynamo?"

        "No. I could always use his old one, but I've modified it so much that it would take far too long to undo the process. They'd close in on us before I could even finish. The resources I'd need to build a new chip entirely just aren't avaliable to me." He gave the still sleeping nasod servant a calculative stare. "I don't know what his current chip will do to him either. He's functioning properly now, but I still feel like it was a bit of a mistake to use someone else's technology to fix him." He turned his attention back to her. "There's also been an occurrence that's been irritating me about that island floating over the desert. It feels different from everything else."

        "You can feel something from it?" It wasn't unbelievable. (Y/n) could sometimes feel things related to nature. The wind in particular spoke to her in its own way. There was nothing stopping Add from having an ability of a similar sense.

        "Something like that. It's emitting  a faint signal. Dynamo told me that he noticed it too, so it must be specific to nasods. Yet I can feel it too," he explained. "There is a secret on that floating island, one that could put us in danger if we found out about it. The fact that I'm so drawn to it must mean that it's nasod related. Is it wrong that I still want to know what that secret is?" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My thirst for knowledge keeps driving me forward into situations that are beginning to pose a threat to my life."

        "It sounds like you really don't want to give up your nasod research. Why did you try to force yourself to? Can't you study both nasods and humans?"

        "Heh...if it were that simple, I'd have never been hunted to begin with. I was practically raised to seek out the nasod race and it's secrets. I will not lie, I certainly took a liking to the topic, but the path was chosen for me long before I was even born. It's hard to simply let go of it even though I truly want to. My mother was a nasod researcher as well, yet she traveled down a path for humanity." His frowned despite his eyes still being closed. "I don't share the compassion she had for humans. People do not deserve the cures she created. Far too many of them act with their own desires in mind, and I am no different. It doesn't matter to me. I will do whatever is necessary to achieve my goals." He opened his eyes once more. "I just don't know what that goal is right now. It's taking everything I have just to survive."

        "We'll survive together then. Not much else to do for now. Then when the time comes, we'll be able to choose a path that we'll want to follow for ourselves. As for me, I'm fine with whatever you choose. It's not like I have much to say about humans or elves. To me, neither side is any good although, that's a story for another time."

        "You sure do keep a lot about yourself hidden, don't you? I didn't even know you could speak elvish until today. It wouldn't have changed anything, but I would have at least known," Add slightly complained. (Y/n) could make out traces of a pout. It brought a giggle out of her.

        "With everything that you have on your mind, the last thing I want to do it increase your worries. When there is time, I will tell you."

        "Hmph." He slowly blinked a couple times more than necessary. "Do as you wish. I'm going to get some sleep. Bethma's sick and ill can go a day without me. It's not like they can't follow the simple instructions that I gave them."

        "Oh? I was wondering when I'd hear one of those smart comments of yours again. Took you long enough," (y/n) teased.

        Add's smirk didn't go unnoticed. "You shouldn't say things like that so carelessly. You'll get more than you asked for."

        "What's that supposed to be? A threat?" (Y/n) watched him rise up from her lap and look for a place among the sheets to rest his head instead.

        "Go on. Keep that up and you'll find out." His voice began to display how drowsy he really was. Add made himself comfortable on her side of the bed, most likely on purpose. "Take care of things for me today. I'll trust you to do that. Don't let me down." Even as he spoke, he began to drift off to sleep.
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Until next time you spectacular readers!