He and It Chapter 117: Utopia (13)

If you want more of this novel, we are accepting donations on Ko-Fi for sponsored chapters. https://ko-fi.com/exiledrebels

Chapter 117: Utopia (13)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

At that moment, Gu Xingqiao’s whole body was stuck to Tian Yuan, and the physical difference between the two sides was clear to both. Then he came to his senses, and began to regret it.

“…Let me go, quickly.” He hid his head in Tian Yuan’s chest as he warned him in a loud voice.

“Humans need hugs,” Tian Yuan said earnestly. “Hugs produce oxytocin, which can make you feel comforted and happy by reducing stress. According to my speculation, you haven’t hugged anyone for quite some time.” 

Gu Xingqiao asked, “You haven’t hugged anyone for more than a thousand years, so you are fine now?” 

“You’re right,” Tian Yuan nodded. “That’s why I’m in a more serious condition than you are. I need a hug even more than you do.” 

Gu Xingqiao was at his wit’s end. The cold sweat from the nightmare, combined with the hot sweat from his writhing and struggling, had left his skin wet and sticky against his pajamas, and he wanted to rinse it off.

He said mercilessly, “Then find yourself a pillow to cuddle with. I want to take a shower, so let go quickly.” 

Tian Yuan mused, “You let me think about it.” 

So Gu Xingqiao waited for him to think about it.

Three minutes passed. Five minutes passed. Gu Xingqiao asked suspiciously, “Have you thought about it?” 

There was no artificial fragrance on Tian Yuan’s body, only a cold, icy smell that Gu Xingqiao couldn’t describe. With the steamy heat he’d generated, the scent was like a fog surrounding him, and had smoked him until he was drowsy. He couldn’t help but want to close his eyes.

Tian Yuan seriously said, “I forgot. I need to think again.” 

Gu Xingqiao, “?” Then Gu Xingqiao reacted and said suddenly, “Okay, you’re cheating!” 

Tian Yuan nodded. “Well, I learned from you.” 

The young man was speechless and choked on his words. Tian Yuan then asked, almost as if he was showing off, “You see? Isn’t my learning ability very strong?” 

Gu Xingqiao really wanted to punch him.

After all that struggling, Gu Xingqiao gave up and used Tian Yuan’s considerable pectoral muscles as a pillow, as he spread his body on the other like a cake.

When he sensed that the human had given up resistance, Tian Yuan was satisfied, so he began to use his heated palm to slowly rub circles on his back. He whispered, “Sleep.” 

…Truly, being tightly hugged was indeed blissful. Even if the object of the embrace wasn’t a human being. Gu Xingqiao felt a long-lost sense of peace.

This time he really fell asleep and didn’t have nightmares.

Tian Yuan stared at the person in his arms.

His hand didn’t stop rubbing gently on his back, but the speed of his strokes became slower and slower. He was almost stuck against Gu Xingqiao’s body.

As he listened to the sound of his steady and peaceful breathing, this time, the insatiable hunger as well as the satisfaction of a full stomach combined in Tian Yuan’s processing module, causing the artificial life to be trapped in a contradiction, and made his chest ache with longing. He wanted to swallow Gu Xingqiao completely into his body, but he also wanted to do nothing and just simply look at him, which was already better than his many years of looking into the vacuum of space.

For a long period, his mood swung as it had never done before. The violent gyrations of his mind caused the room to reflect his wild thought processes. Tables and chairs collapsed, walls twisted, the floor melted like butter, and in a crushing wave, the elements swarmed high in unison towards the bed.

The inorganic creatures emitted a shrill sound of suffering, as they rushed in the direction of Gu Xingqiao. They would advance and retreat, they were overwhelmed by delusions and timidly hovered….It was only when Tian Yuan pressed his lips to the top of Gu Xingqiao’s hair, and sniffed the warmth of his skin and the fragrance of his hair and shampoo, that his emotions barely stabilized.

By then, the original clean, simple, spacious and bright room had shrunk drastically. It was now a narrow cave, a ruin with countless alien metal limbs thrust outwards in obsessive ways around the bed.

However, Gu Xingqiao was still deeply asleep, the immaculate white appendages having built a force field, an unbreakable safety fortress around him, so he couldn’t hear or sense anything.

In Tian Yuan’s arms, he was perfectly safe.

It wasn’t the right time yet.

Tian Yuan’s eyes did not pay any attention to the weird and horrible chaos surrounding him, they just focused on Gu Xingqiao’s body. He enjoyed the sound of his heartbeat, his breathing, the slight flutter of his eyelids…The human’s sleeping position wasn’t quite peaceful, and his curled up posture proved that he still didn’t trust him completely.

The warship’s incarnation raised an index finger, and in a flash, everything receded like water. The walls rose again, the floors leveled, and the furnishings were restored. It was as if a magic clock had turned backwards and given liquid properties to solid metals.

Tian Yuan stared at Gu Xingqiao’s sleeping face. He didn’t have the desire to eat. He didn’t need to take in energy through his digestive organs like carbon-based beings did, but right now, he really felt a hunger that made him panic.

In the past, when he was bored, he had also read human folklore literature, in which there was a slang term used to describe coddling, which was “to hold in the mouth for fear of melting, to hold in the hand for fear of breaking.” Tian Yuan couldn’t understand that saying. Human beings might be able to pick up another of their own kind of equal weight, but they couldn’t hold them in their mouths. Or maybe the slang was rhetorical exaggeration…But what was the meaning of such feelings? 

Now, suddenly, he understood. The two verbs in the sentence both contained the impulse to love so much that it could destroy, but that fear gave birth to cherishing which put that impulse to rest, the way a rising tide returns.

Love made people hesitate, and inflict self-torture.

Tian Yuan carefully looked at his human. He suddenly realized that hidden under the soft black hair, Gu Xingqiao’s earlobe, had a shallow dip that wasn’t a mole.

He had his ears pierced, Tian Yuan thought. Why didn’t I see it before?

Out of some unknown psychological need, he carefully twisted Gu Xingqiao’s earlobe. Its shape was round and lovely, soft and slightly cool to the touch, which made him immediately loosen his fingers.

I’ll lose control, he calmly told himself. Stop discovering little details about him. Not now. I’ll lose control.

The lamp above the bed was still on, as it was inside the force field. Gu Xingqiao knew nothing about what happened that night, and in Tian Yuan’s embrace he slept until the late afternoon.

.

Gu Xingqiao turned his head, bored to death, as he stared at the simulation of the night sky inside the warship. His mood was troubled.

Sleeping too deeply not only caused the training program to be postponed, it also meant that he would have a hard time sleeping that night.

Tian Yuan stood behind him, and asked, “Do you want to go camping in the biosphere?” 

Deep in his heart, Gu Xingqiao grunted angrily. He answered, “Yes.” 

“Okay, I’ll go get ready.” 

Looking at his departing back, Gu Xingqiao couldn’t imagine that just about a month ago, they were at loggerheads, and he had to die to escape from the relationship. Tian Yuan had even threatened to break his arms and pull out his teeth.

He sighed.

They said that interstellar deployment encouraged reorganized legions to bond with their soldiers, and this approach was not without merit. In the boundless and remote regions of space, as they traveled for months or even years, daily life was so boring that it was crazy. Whenever they opened or closed their eyes, all they could see were the same unchanging people. In those circumstances, even if the sides had a blood feud, after years and years of hard work, they would have to put aside old grudges.

“Let’s go.” Tian Yuan returned, followed by a towing robot. “Everything’s ready.” 

Gu Xingqiao seldom saw any mechanical bodies other than Tian Yuan. Now that he could see another robot doing hard labor – it was round and small – he couldn’t help but look at it a few more times.

“It’s cute,” he commented. “Why haven’t I seen them in the past?” 

Tian Yuan paused for a moment.

He blinked, then said while barely moving his lips, “These are the junior assistants on the lower floors who specialize in handling. You haven’t been to the lower floors, so naturally you haven’t seen them before.” 

And they won’t be seen in the future.

In human culture, jealousy was usually recognized as “ugly” and “undesirable,” but Tian Yuan was still jealous at that moment. He glanced coldly at the dumb little robot, and decided that he would never let Gu Xingqiao see those small, insignificant machines again.

“Let’s go,” he said.

When they arrived at the grasslands in the biosphere, Gu Xingqiao picked a flat clearing and set up a campfire, while Tian Yuan arranged a very primitive boiler for use in the wild, and cooked broth in it.

Overhead, there were wispy clouds and an illusory starry sky. Underfoot was a grassy field with deep night dew. There was a tent piled high with blankets and pillows behind them, along with a rustle of insects in the field, and glittering glow-worms spreading out in the distance…Though none of those things were natural creations, he was content.

Tian Yuan sat beside him, gathering up the exoskeleton arms behind him, as he meticulously measured the meat in the pot for doneness. Fresh spices, fruits and vegetables were piled nearby, while Gu Xingqiao peeled a handful of onions into the pot, along with chunks of carrot and fennel to his taste.

“Check the saltiness.” Tian Yuan handed him a spoon.

The boiler was steaming with white mist, while the campfire glowed with a bright red light, so Gu Xingqiao didn’t feel cold at all. When he tasted the soup, it was a little bland, so he added more salt.

“Have you ever camped before?” Tian Yuan asked. “The human books say it’s a very common pastime, as well as an activity that provides for cooperation between families.” 

Gu Xingqiao laughed a little. “The books you read are long outdated. There’s no such thing as camping nowadays. There are constant wars between galaxies, and resources are getting scarce. For the sake of a small profit, two camps would fight each other to the death…There are fewer and fewer safe places.” 

Tian Yuan pondered, “In other words, no.” 

“No,” Gu Xingqiao agreed. “What’s more, I don’t have anyone to camp with me.” 

Tian Yuan asked, “Why? You don’t have any friends?” 

After a few moments of silence, Gu Xingqiao replied, “I did, but…when I had time and friends, I didn’t have the means to camp. I was broke and had to struggle for food and school grades; when I did have the means, I didn’t have the time to relax and travel with my friends; when finally I had free time, and the means to do so…” 

He whispered, “By that time, I had no friends left to call. Every move I made was watched by too many people, and I was afraid of dragging them down with me.” 

Tian Yuan stared at him quietly, then suddenly said, “Look.” 

“Look at what?” Gu Xingqiao turned his head and realized that Tian Yuan had raised his hand to point at the sky.

Following the direction of his finger, Gu Xingqiao lifted his head in confusion. The sky was like a line of shooting stars.

The shooting stars filled the sky like threads, like rain that fell from the Hall of Valor, and poured out of the night, unceasing and continuous, as beautiful as a dream of the Divine World.

“Meteors,” Tian Yuan said earnestly. “You can make a wish on them. If you make a wish on a shooting star, it will definitely come true.”