"That was interesting" commented the tall man with black hair and grey eyes, letting himself all to the sofa inside the Star Rail.
"That was a mess" replied Himeko with a frown, looking at Keith. "I told you to stay silent, why did you have to open your mouth?"
"Hey, he was lying like a rat" the man defended himself, but no trace of worry was present in his eyes even when faced with Himeko's angry stare. "Would you have agreed with that deal?"
"...no" begrudgingly admitted Himeko, sitting in front of him with a resigned expression.
"Why are you angry then?" asked Keith, glancing at her.
"You told him 'If you want money, go whore yourself, we are not selling your shit'" Himeko got angry again. "In front of the whole council of that planet. Even if we wouldn't have accepted the deal, it doesn't mean we need to make more enemies!"
"We were fucked anyway" replied Keith in a calm voice. "You caught the attention of a few of them. You are quite stunning after all."
"..." Himeko looked with her mouth open at Keith, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Keith. "You also think so, I don't think I'm deciphering God's existence."
"I know" Himeko sighed, remembering that Keith had no filters.
He was sincere at best, and brutally honest at worst.
So he was someone you could talk with the security that he wouldn't try to lie or hide things.
Considering that they had been strangers, it was one of the reasons their relationship evolved to what it was now so quickly to the point she considered them to be good friends who shared a vehicle towards their future, nothing more and nothing less. It was impossible for anything else to develop within them, as Keith was still a soul in a puppet.
Himeko didn't see herself going anywhere further than a friendly hug with a puppet.
"Dammit" just as she was thinking about it, Keith cursed. "This damn puppet is breaking down again, I can't move my left arm."
"Did the joint get out of its position again?" inquired Himeko, standing up to help him.
"Yes" Keith said, extending his arm as much as he could to let Himeko put his bone into the socket again. "It's getting more frequent now, but I don't recall getting doing anything taxing."
"You literally arm-wrestled the entire bar yesterday" Himeko deadpanned, sending a blank stare at Keith.
"It wasn't arm-wrestling" Keith fiercely defended himself. "It was a duel to prove our determination, showing who was right."
"About the best ears a woman could have" Himeko blandly said.
"Of course" Keith unashamedly replied. "Those dumbasses were saying dog-eared girls were the best. Heresy, I say."
"Of course, how could I have missed it?" Himeko sarcastically said while trying to align Keith's arm.
"Good that you know it" Keith nodded. "What do you think?"
"That we will need to visit Herta" Himeko mused, fiddling with Keith's arm.
"No woman, I couldn't care less about that" Keith snorted. "What do you think are the most attractive animal ears a girl could have?"
"..." Himeko didn't answer, knowing it would drag her into a swamp without an exit.
"I think cat-girls are great" added Keith. "Come on Himeko, there must be something funny inside your head. Let the world see it."
"Haahhhh" Himeko sighed, knowing that Keith was just not going to stop. "Maybe... fox ears? They seem stylish"
"...what the fuck" Keith looked at Himeko with surprise. "My eyes have opened, sensei. Please, accept me as your disciple!"
"Shut up Keith" replied Himeko with a small smile Keith didn't see.
PLOP
With a loud noise, Keith's arm was reattached correctly.
"I can move it okay now" mused Keith, moving his arm up and down. "These moments make me thank those stingy Aeons that I can't feel pain."
"You wouldn't have these problems if you had a fleshly body" Himeko said, sitting back again.
"True" Keith nodded, adopting a pondering expression. "I really miss going to the toilet."
"What a weird thing to miss" Himeko said in a wry voice. "Do you remember something else?"
"No" Keith sighed shaking his head. "Even after a year I don't remember anything. But at least I started to 'feel' some things."
"Like what?" asked Himeko curiously, as Keith's memories were one of the most interesting things for her.
"Like the fact that I miss a body" pointed out Keith, making Himeko sigh in disappointment. "Hey, I know you like my ability to discern lies and detect feelings a lot, but you could show a bit of happiness for me."
"The moment your 'feelings' let me pay off my debt with Herta will be the moment I throw you a party" replied Himeko.
"What about a kiss?" asked Keith with a smirk and raised eyebrows in a joking manner. "In the cheek of course."
"Sure" Himeko replied back. "Maybe after you get a fleshly body, I'm not going to kiss a piece of metal."
"Ouch" Keith had a fake hurt expression and theatrically put his hand in the place his heart should have been. "You just made it impossible for me."
"That's why I agreed" added Himeko with an amused smile.
"But seriously" Keith said, donning a serious expression. "I hope I can find a way for me to get a real body, and not this mockery of one."
Himeko looked at Keith's frustrated expression, sighing inwardly.
After a few months, Keith started to feel uncomfortable inside his own body, and it showed. He was always courteous and polite, and he never raised his voice or said anything out of tone, but she was able to feel the restless and somewhat irritable mood.
She opted to let him alone with his thoughts, as he didn't seem to want to talk about it, but she had already started looking for a way to let Keith recover his body.
But it wasn't going well. Not at all.
She had used all her contacts, and even paid for some information behind Keith's back as he would absolutely refuse to drag her down, but even then she got nothing.
Crafting a good body wasn't easy, and her best chance where the members of the Genius Society, but they were extremely reclusive. Even Herta wasn't able to convince them to help her.
Not to say she still needed to pay her for Keith's body, even if it was failing now for some unknown reason.
"What are we going to go now?" asked Keith, looking at Himeko's amber eyes.
"What do you think?" asked Himeko, who learned quite quickly that Keith normally had interesting ideas.
"If you want my suggestion, I have none" Keith shrugged. "The meeting we just escaped from and the deal we rejected was our only plan, so it falls under the captain of this ship to choose the new destination."
"Hmm" Himeko nodded in thought, touching her chin in a pondering expression. "We have 2- no, 3 options."
"I'm listening" said Keith, leaning forward.
"One, we go to the Herta Space Station to get you fixed" proposed Himeko, looking at Keith's grey eyes. "I paid for your body, we-"
"Hey hey" Keith interrupted Himeko with a smile. "I thought you weren't interested in a piece of metal. Now I find out that you have already bough-"
"Okay, I get it" Himeko sighed, realizing that her choice of words was indeed suspicious. "Anyway, we should be able to get more information about why is your body failing so much and so frequently. I don't think Herta would craft such a subpar body."
"It is indeed strange" Keith nodded with a pondering expression. "It feels like the more time it passes, this fuck-...stupid puppet is responding to me less and less."
Himeko glanced at Keith, noting how his frustration was growing even more.
"What are the other options?" Keith asked after sighing to regain his calm.
"We go to Pteruges V" Himeko said, making Keith look at her in surprise. "It is a poor planet that suffered under a Stellaron, so there are people willing to buy just about everything."
"So we can be the middlemen between them and those pompous rich guys from the IPC" Keith nodded, thinking that the idea was quite good. "This second option sounds like money in our strongbox. And the third?"
"We go our way, exploring a new planet" Himeko said with a smile, knowing that Keith liked exploring the unexplored a lot.
Maybe this way he would forget about his malfunctioning body for a while.
"It's not gotten to the point where I will ask you to forget about such an opportunity" said Keith looking at Himeko's eyes. "Thank you for the gesture, but I think we should choose the second option."
"Are you sure?" asked Himeko, seeing Keith's firm nod. "We can also go to Herta's Station."
"Forget it" Keith dismissed Himeko's offer with a wave of his hand. "This chance with Pteruges V is a golden opportunity for you, and for me too I guess."
"If you are sure about that" Himeko nodded gratefully, as he knew Keith was downplaying his discomfort.
But this was a golden chance, as getting in good graces with the IPC, the Interastral Peace Corporation, was a pretty big thing.
"You picked me up, I can't allow you to lose your chances to help me even more" Keith shrugged, resting importance to it.
"Pom-pom" Himeko said, and the little machine approached them with a curious expression.
"Who is my favourite plushie?" Keith asked, jumping to the small creature and rubbing his ears.
"Stop!" the little creature complained, trying to push the tall man with his short arms.
"Keith, we need to go now" Himeko wryly smiled, looking at the now-usual scene.
"Okay" Keith regretfully sighed. "Be thankful, little lovable creature, that the Captain has chosen to spare you."
"Pom-pom, please set sail to Pteruges V" Himeko said before the incensed Pom-pom could start complaining, because he wouldn't end today.
Pom-pom nodded, and left the cabin with a scowl even Himeko found cute.
"Let's go!" said Keith with a raised hand, inviting Himeko to do the same. "To Pteruges V!"