Hubbard liked the library. It was the least crowded place in the Garden of Eden. All the children chose the playground, and not many liked reading.

     Hubbard always liked to read. Since he was awfully irritable to noises, he didn’t like them, and the other kids always made so much of them. His head often ached, and his ears felt like they were hit with those noises repeatedly. Sometimes he would sleep with his hands covering his ears because he couldn’t bear the noises, and they woke him up. He told his teachers about it, and he had medical checkups, but they didn’t find anything in his ears. ‘It just happens sometimes. Some people have more sensitive senses.’ – they said.

     The boy was disappointed; hence, he began isolating himself, and gradually talking less. At least he didn’t want to make more noise than necessary.

     Now, that he was old enough to go to classes, and his days were spent in the classrooms, it was a bit more bearable, but he still preferred the library.

     He liked to learn about soldiers. He’d read their stories, and imagined himself in their shoes. He also liked reading about guns. He could get completely lost in these topics, and he was interested in the illustrations and blueprints.

     He was almost always alone here, so it happened rarely when his attention was drawn from his favourite books. This was the only time his hearing felt muffled, and he wanted to sink into the feeling.

     Yet, on this day, something had happened.

     No, it happened before, but he never felt it so strongly, and he never caught the source of this feeling.

     He couldn’t possibly use words to describe it. He just “must” look up, and he just “must” see something. Like when someone is unable to resist drowsiness and falls asleep, or when someone has to eat to survive.

     When he first felt it, it ended only in a second. Then, each time it happened, he felt it stronger. At first, it always happened with him in the library, but a few days ago, he sensed it in the classroom too.

     Hubbard cut his look from a blueprint of a grenade launcher, and looked up.

     The library had quite a short ceiling, but the light was very comfortable for reading. There were many shelves, mostly small ones, so any child could reach them, even if they weren’t as tall as Hubbard. A few desks and chairs are scattered around the centre in a large, open area. The furniture was colourful and tiny.

     The genre supply wasn’t very generous. There was a larger portion of fairytale books, some colouring books, some textbooks for the younger, and wider workbooks for the older students. And then history books, literature, or books for mathematics and physics.

     If there was someone else other than him, it was usually some older students, writing their homework. They left him alone, and no one approached him.

     Now, apart from him there was only one boy sitting in the library. He sat far from Hubbard at a desk close to the entrance, and he was reading a similar topic as Hubbard had been reading – actually, he knew the book since he’d already read it. The boy completely engaged with the pages, and turned them slowly, watching the words earnestly.

     Hubbard felt like his eyes were drawn and pinned to him. He was a bit confused. He didn’t remember if he had seen this kid already or not. He wasn’t paying much attention to others around him. It was bothersome to keep friends, because he had to listen to them, or had to talk to them. No one cared that he felt his ears hurting, so he stopped caring for them altogether.

     He could bet on it he’d never seen this boy before, at least, not in kindergarten. But maybe they were classmates, who knows? It was interesting enough for him because not many kids would choose this reading topic at their age. Most of his classmates would prefer fairytale stories.

     He wasn’t sure, if this boy was the source of the waves he felt, but now the magnetic attraction didn’t fade away like before. It was a continuous, infinite presence, slightly pulsating, emitting heat, or so Hubbard thought. He felt warmer.

     It seemed like the other boy felt something too, because after a few minutes, his eyes turned up, and he looked right into Hubbard’s eyes.

     He was an Asian boy. The proportions of his face were immaculate. His almond-shaped eyes were clear white in the corners, and pitch-black in his irises. His eyelashes looked extremely deep black and quite long. But his face was rather pale.

     The strange boy looked away just in a second as if he got scared of Hubbard.

     The waves stopped suddenly. Hubbard didn’t feel anything anymore, and when he looked around, he still couldn’t see anything else that could’ve caused them.

     However, from that point, he paid attention to the weird sensation, and whenever he thought he felt it, he looked up, and searched for this Asian boy.

     Soon, he found out they were classmates indeed, and even slept in the same bedroom. Hubbard felt a bit ashamed when he realised the other boy was sleeping right opposite him; both of their beds were under the window, and they were facing each other. He never realised it before.

     But the strong waves were only coming at him in the library after that day, and when he looked at the boy, who was sitting far away from him, the waves stopped, and the boy often disappeared too.

     Hubbard started losing interest in the books; he caught himself wanting to find the Asian boy every time he went to the library, to the point that when he arrived at the spacious place, he immediately searched for him, and later he often lifted his head to check if he was there or not. He also began going there even more often in the hope of catching the sight of him.

     He was still reluctant to contact him, despite they’d been in the same class, sleeping in the same room. He eventually heard his name in the classroom – Tang Lan – but that was all he knew.

     It seemed like Tang Lan was interested in the same genre as Hubbard. The boy usually chose the books that Hubbard had already finished.

     There was a sudden, fleeting urge from time to time in Hubbard’s heart. He wanted to go there, and recommend some books, or he felt the need to hear Tang Lan’s opinion about the books. He felt confused because he never wanted to ask anyone about anything before this.

     He resisted the feeling for a while, but as the days passed, and it had been a dozen weeks already since he noticed Tang Lan in the library, the interference seemed to be increasing in a fast pace.

     The weird waves he was feeling seemed to get stronger and stronger over time. Now, he was sure that Tang Lan was the source of it. Hubbard always wanted to look at him, and was almost unable to look away from him. In addition… it seemed like his hearing calmed down. His ears started being less and less irritated, and the noises weren’t so sharp anymore. He didn’t know, if it was also because of the waves or not. The doctors said, he could grow out of his condition eventually.

     He wanted to connect with the boy, and talk to him, and he felt like he wouldn’t mind hearing Tang Lan speak.

     But something held him back from taking that step. He didn’t really know, how to start a conversation.

     He began choosing other desks in the library, gradually approaching the place where Tang Lan sat at the entrance. Tang Lan never moved away from that spot, just like how Hubbard had his own favourite place, but he was willing to give that up to stay closer to the other boy.

     Tang Lan seemed ignorant of these events, which filled Hubbard with a bit of annoyance, but with relief as well. He didn’t want to interrupt anyone, so that was good, that the boy didn’t go away, but he also wanted him to notice the change.

     Then, the unimaginable happened.

     One day, when it was already late and the curfew approached, Hubbard was still trying to force himself to get up and go over the boy. This was a weekend, so they had no classes, and they both spent almost all day here… this was the longest time they’ve ever been together without other people’s presence.

     Time was ticking, and Hubbard almost convinced himself he could try it next time because it was too late anyway.

     A small, paper airplane fell on his opened book. Previously he was staring at the pages without even knowing the context of the book, and now his eyes widened.

     The origami plane was a bit cracked, but it still reached its goal, and landed perfectly in the centre. It was a lined paper; it had been torn out of a notebook, clearly.

     Hubbard looked up, right over Tang Lan, who was only sitting two desks away. Usually, when their eyes locked, Tang Lan always turned his eyes or head from him, but now, he resisted his instinct, and reciprocated Hubbard’s look for… well, he got lost in this moment; he had no idea of how long it was, but it felt long and short at the same time.

     Tang Lan’s black eyes meaningfully turned towards the plane, before he looked up again.

     It was very hard for Hubbard to do the same and look away. He had to force himself again, and when he did, he once again began observing the origami vehicle. He carefully started unfolding it.

“Hi.”

     This was written on the inside of the plane. It was very succinct. Hubbard felt a strange urge to laugh or smile, but then began wondering about his answer. He searched for his pen, and wrote a small message back.

“Hello.”

     Then, he threw the plane, and sent it back to Tang Lan. Tang Lan opened it up right away, and bit on his lips, but before he did, a stifled laugh was heard. After that, the boy excitedly started to write something much longer than his first message, and Hubbard elbowed on his book, looking at him attentively.

     The plane almost hit his face this time, but he caught it before the accident could happen.

“Do you want to go back to the dormitory with me? Do you want to read together tomorrow?”

     It seemed like Tang Lan calculated if Hubbard would say no to the first question, he should ask the second one, just to be sure he wouldn’t miss his chance. Hubbard was thinking a lot before he answered. Not because he didn’t want to do those things, but because he didn’t know, if Tang Lan would really like him if they began to do things together. Even when Hubbard had more connections, he was always somewhat different from others. He couldn’t pinpoint why, and no one could tell him, he just felt it. However, he unexpectedly yearned to try out with Tang Lan.

“Yes.”

     So, Tang Lan and he went back to their dormitory together. They didn’t say a single word to each other, giving Hubbard a slight relief. It was very peaceful. Just like their next day together. The only thing that changed was that Tang Lan wasn’t sitting at the entrance anymore. They went to the library together after breakfast, and the Asian boy just followed Hubbard to his favourite place. They sat down, and started reading.

     They still didn’t say a single word to each other.

      For a week, they just did this. But there were other changes too. Since they were both in the same class, they started eating together. They didn’t talk about it; they just approached each other on the way to the dining hall, and sat together. And then, they did this during their lunch break, and then when it was dinner time. By the next weekend, they were even going to the bathroom at the same time before bedtime.

     At the weekend, Tang Lan suddenly sent him another paper plane. Well, he didn’t need to send it, he just tossed it on Hubbard’s book again. They were sitting right next to each other. Hubbard looked up, but Tang Lan continued his reading.

“Have you read this book? Did you like it? I like it very much. Do you want to talk about it?”

     When he noticed that Hubbard had read the message, he showed a history book about the beginning of the war with the monsters and the following technological breakthroughs that prevented human extinction.

     “Yes,” Hubbard said, and this was the first time he ever spoke to Tang Lan.

~�HxT�~

     When he woke up, he was once again lying on the bed. This time he got a blanket from somewhere, and his pants were adjusted on him, his skin dry and clean. The sun painted their whole room red. Hubbard was staring at the ceiling, still thinking about his dream. That long forgotten childhood they had in the Eden, and their first connections. He truly forgot them. He also forgot that his sensitive hearing only stopped being sensitive, when he met Tang Lan. When he felt those strange, hot waves, attracting his attention to the boy, and urged him to get close to someone for the first time of his life. He was five or six? He couldn’t even remember.

     While he was looking at the walls wondering about his past, a vision came to him again. This time, there was no pain or any dramatic fanfare; he just saw it, like how he saw everything else in the sunset-bathed room. He was with Tang Lan, and they were at the Research Institute.

     It only lasted for a moment, and it went away.

     Turning his head, he found Tang Lan on the chair again. He remembered now: this was the place Tang Lan got his chair from, there were two of them. He only brought home one.

     The man didn’t wear his shirt now, but he also cleaned himself, and seemed much more relaxed, than he was when Hubbard first opened his eyes. However, he didn’t even watch him this time around; he was focusing on some packages with all of his attention. Hubbard recognised them right away: instant foods. It seemed like Tang Lan was having a hard time opening them up. Hubbard only noticed then, that on his right shoulder, there was a thin bandage. The posture Tang Lan was sitting in blocked its view from him until now. The bandage soaked in blood a bit, but it didn’t seem to be fresh. Regardless of this, the wound could be deep, and most certainly hadn’t been healed yet, just like the wounds on his face, and assumably caused him pain. His right hand fell onto his lap multiple times.

   “Bring them here.”

     Tang Lan was startled, but when he looked up, his dark eyes softened. After a moment of hesitation, he stood up, and brought the bags over him. Hubbard also couldn’t use his right hand, which he kept close to his stomach, but he could grip the wrapping with his left, and with Tang Lan’s good hand, they opened up the sac together.

   “Is it better if you have your wings out?”

   “Mn…”

   “Then no need to hide them. Just let them out.”

     Tang Lan sighed, and let his wings come out again. Hubbard observed his face intently.

   “Is it painful?”

   “Like if I want to squeeze myself into a shirt I’d worn when I was ten. It’s too tight. But only painful during transformation. It’s worse now that my wing is broken.”

   “Leave them out.” Hubbard once again tried to sit up, and he succeeded before Tang Lan could offer his help. “How much time passed since we left the Highland Research Institute?”

   “This was the fifth day.” Tang Lan not only found food, but water and a wide wok or pan too, which he used as a fireplace. He got some small wooden blocks, and placed them in the pan. He lit up the fire, and began boiling the water, using an oddly shaped rack to support the bowl on it.

     Hubbard frowned while he watched the diligent chef. Fifth day.

   “Then I don’t think I will turn into a monster. Even the Flatlands don’t need five days to spread the pollution. And we came from the Abyss in the first place.”

   “Yes… actually… I just figured out an hour ago that this is the case.” Tang Lan reluctantly sighed. “I caught on a radio wave of the base for a second.”

     Hubbard raised his eyebrows, leaning back to the backrest, trying to move his body slightly, pushing himself to get used to the pain.

   “Have you contacted them?”

   “No, I just overheard a conversation… it was disrupted.” Soon, the room was filled with the aroma of the instant soup that Tang Lan was cooking. He got two bowls in which he divided the soup. “It seems like… they found a frequency that stopped the infections and distortion. You were right… it seems like you would not turn into a monster anymore. Even if I bleed on you again. Or… mn… exchange other fluids…”

     Hubbard’s mouth twitched, and he smiled lightly when he saw the pink colour spreading under Tang Lan’s eyes. The shade was not as strong as before, but Hubbard still liked it.

   “I see.” He led his thoughts back to the topic. “So the world is safe now.”

     Tang Lan’s eyes went unfocused, as he looked out the window. The sun was setting, the red circle reached the top of the mountains, and slowly but surely sank behind them. The sky was scarlet and orange for a longer time, but the room gradually fell into shadows, and soon the dancing flames in the wok became the strongest light source. By that time, their food was done.

     Tang Lan sat beside Hubbard after he gave him one of the bowls. The soup was okay; Hubbard didn’t like it very much, but not as if they had any choice, he just ate it silently. He was thinking about the last meal that Tang Lan cooked for him, or he cooked for Tang Lan, and he confirmed that both of them could make better food than this one.

   “So, what do you want to do now, Boss?”

     Tang Lan was slurping from time to time, not looking towards Hubbard. Hubbard looked at their thighs, which pressed together in their sitting.

   “I saw a vision again.”

     The man immediately looked up from his bowl, his eyes sharpened in the dim, fluctuating light, and his body stiffened.

   “What was it about?”

   “Nothing bad this time. Just you and me at the Institute.” Hubbard paused. “In the past, I disliked all of my visions. But I don’t dislike this one. Did you like that place? If so, we can go back.”

     Tang Lan just stared at him. His alertness eased, but his face looked too stunned, and he forgot to drink out the last few drops of soup. Hubbard raised one of his eyebrows questioningly; he didn’t say anything, in his opinion, which could be so unexpected.

   “Now, I’m getting scared of your visions.”

   “Scared? Why?”

     Tang Lan’s surprise faded, and he sighed deeply, frowning and looking at his bowl. His fingers stroked the edge of it as he was thinking of something. Hubbard finished his own meal, and put the bowl aside already when his friend began talking.

   “I was just thinking about it… if I want to go back or not.” It really seemed he was suffering to put his thoughts into words, which Hubbard could relate to, so he didn’t urge him. “I loved that place… I would die for the people there. Mr Pauli… I think there isn’t anyone nicer and more caring than him. I admire him very much, and… and I’m very happy, that he succeeded in his research, and seems like he saved the world in the end. They… they are my second family, after our mercenary team.”

     Hubbard just hummed. He was interested in learning about Tang Lan’s experience with those xenogenics, but he didn’t ask directly, and waited for the other to explain himself. When it didn’t happen after a pause, he replied.

   “You made some really good friends then. I also made one.”

     This time, Tang Lan raised one of his eyebrows, looking at him with doubt.

   “You? Making friends?” He asked sarcastically. “Have they lost their mind or you did?”

     Hubbard contemplated his answer very earnestly.

   “Maybe both.” He concluded. Tang Lan snorted mockingly. “It’s Lu Feng.”

Tang Lan’s low laugh halted, and once again he was completely dumbfounded.

   “Lu Feng… you mean, the Arbiter?” He asked back, and Hubbard just nodded. “Are you kidding me?”

   “I was his comrade while we went to the Underground City Base,” Hubbard explained. “We worked very well together. He was a reliable partner. Perhaps he wouldn’t call me his friend… and maybe calling him one is a stretch. But it doesn’t matter, what happened between us in the past. The old system is gone. I think he had no intentions of throwing me in jail for stealing his information to begin with. Maybe it has something to do with that boy, An Zhe…”

   “Hold… hold up, can you slow down, you jerk?” Tang Lan suddenly exclaimed. Hubbard thought the bowl was about to be placed on his head like a hat. “What about An Zhe? Do you know him? What did you steal again? And what did you do at the Underground City Base?! Man, do you remember that I wasn’t with you the whole time? Can you elaborate, please? And don’t you dare to say, you don’t like to talk, I need to hear everything!”

     In fact, Hubbard was already tired of speaking, and was about to finish his part, especially, since Tang Lan had not finished his answer yet. He wondered about his options here; he really wanted to cut back on the occasions when he made Tang Lan too angry before he could make him happy, and speaking was never a good idea to reach his goals. So telling him that he is not going to explain it right now would be definitely a bad decision.

     The idea just popped up in his head all of a sudden, and he acted on it immediately. His shoulder didn’t thank him when he leaned towards Tang Lan sideways, but he suppressed the pain, stayed in that posture, and kissed him without the slightest shiver. The man’s lips opened up immediately, and let him invade his mouth deeply, firmly, yet slowly – preferably long enough for Tang Lan to forget the topic.

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