I don’t have a title so lets call it Pain
When X returned home from his night out with Umbran he was met with a rather foreboding Zero. Standing there down the long corridor leading to his room was the red hunter, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. In that moment X wanted to just turn around and head back outside but that wasn't an option when he heard Zero call out to him.
"Hey X, where have been all night I was lookin' for ya." Zero asked rushing over to other reploid with a smile. For now he seemed happy, almost worried about X and that fact actually made the blue hunter relieved.
"You're not usually out this late, were you on a mission? Signas didn't tell me about it if you were." Zero began asking more and more questions. Slowly this was starting to become uncomfortable. Quickly X tried to get himself out of this situation.
"It was nowhere really just a small walk around town." X replied trying to step around the taller reploid but Zero made sure to keep him backed up moving to block X. He knew if he let X escape now no questions would answered.
Stretching his arm out against the wall nearest the blue reploid he asked again, this time with a playful chuckle. "Come on, tell me where you went? You're not usually in civilian mode often, plus you weren't at your usual hangouts either." Zero went on to say.
X squinted at that last part. Usual hangouts? Was he...stalking him? No that was unlike Zero, maybe he just really wanted to talk? "Heh, you caught me. I was out with a friend, you must've really wanted to talk to me about something since you're asking all of this?" X tried to play all this off. Answer Zero's question and move on. Only problem was when X mentioned that he was out with a friend Zero's gaze upon him sharpened.
"What kind of friend X? Somebody I know?" Zero asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone. X stared back at Zero a little annoyed himself and with a confident eye roll he managed to push past Zero while replying, "Wow, paranoid aren't we? Calm down Zero, it was just a friend ok not like it matters. He invited me out for drinks a few drinks."
"What! Drinks?" Zero all but barked in response to X's answer. He was following behind him now, X could hear the frustrated thrum of his own core and before he could speak Zero was already on him again with incriminating questions. "Who were they X. Were you with a maverick, it was Vile wasn't it, the booze hound." Zero grumbled behind him.
This was all really starting to give the blue hunter a headache. "Look it wasn't Vile ok, not everything is about Vile! And even if he was we’re just friends Zero, just like you and me right now." X retorted back at Zero in annoyance but he never stopped moving towards his room. He didn't dare look back at Zero, right now he was focused on getting away.
And that was his biggest mistake.
X didn't see when Zero reached out to grab his wrist, but he certainly felt the strong grip and the tug that jerked him to a halt. It was the same Umbran had defensively grabbed before "So who was it then X? If it wasn't Vile than who were you hanging out with?" Zero growled. Anger welling up in the red hunter and he didn't realize he was all but twisting X's wrist now.
X grunted in a bit of discomfort, lucky for Zero he was a masochistic but even still he didn't enjoy being grabbed so forcefully. "Let go of my wrist Zero. It was no one important." X growled trying to pull his arm away. Try as he might Zero's grip held fast, in fact X could feel him squeezing uncomfortably tighter. "If they're so unimportant than just tell me?" Zero hissed.
"Why should I, you don't need to know about everything I do!" X barked back.
"Why shouldn't I, you've been gone for hours with some random guy!"
"So, that's my business, back off Zero!"
"Not until you tell me who they were!"
"Why can't you just take no for an answer!?"
"Because taking no is how I ended up in this mess to begin with. Who were they X!"
Zero was squeezing X's wrist tighter, a faint pop from his joints told him he was at his limit. X let out a whimper of pain, and not the good kind. "Zero let go of my wrist, you're hurting me." X warned. "Why, I thought you liked pain X? I bet you got a lot of this from whoever you were with didn't you?" Zero demanded accusingly. He pulled tighter purposefully twisting his whole arm now.
A sharp pain shot through X and he looked up at Zero with tears in his eyes. Not because he was scared or anything but because that twisting bloody well fucking hurt. "I'm only trying to protect you X. Just tell me who they were and I'll let go?" Zero stated simply, he was slowly pulling X closer and closer to himself. As if it was that easy. If X even mentioned the fact that he was with Umbran let alone any maverick in general he might lose his whole arm at this rate. What was worse Zero would never let him out of his sight if he ever discovered Umbran’s little present to X on his lower neck.
So he did the only thing he could think of. Without any kind of warning X turned around in spite of the pain sparking through him and punched Zero point blank in the face. It was a hard enough punch to knock the taller hunter backwards onto his ass. Zero let out his own hiss of pain as his hand quickly went to cover his face.
"You're such a jerk Zero!" X yelled before rushing down the hall to his room, wishing he could slam the automatic door behind himself.
Zero laid there on his back for a moment staring up at the ceiling, as he slammed his fist against the floor in silent anger. "I...I just want to keep you safe X...Those Mavericks aren't good for you." He muttered to himself.
He knew he'd really screwed up this time.
