Elijah sat alone in the dimly lit living room of his isolated villa, nursing a glass of expensive whiskey that he hadn’t bothered to pour—he’d simply refilled it whenever it reached half empty. The sharp burn of the alcohol did little to dull the cold knot that had settled in his chest. He couldn't get the image out of his mind: them—the one person who had ever made him feel something more than intellectual curiosity—smiling up at another man as he gave the invitation to dinner. A simple thing. A harmless request. But it stung. More than it should have. He didn’t stay to find out if you accepted.

He had never been one to feel jealousy. Not over something so trivial as a human relationship. But with them.. it was different. He had spent years building androids that could mimic every human nuance, every flicker of emotion. And yet, he had never understood the one emotion that gripped him now. He hadn't even recognized it until it was too late.

The whiskey blurred everything further, making his thoughts fuzzy and unreliable. Perhaps he should’ve just told them. Told them? He scoffed aloud, the sound of it hollow in the silence of the room. The idea felt absurd. A college colleague, no less, someone who barely knew the weight of his affection. It was laughable. And yet, the ache in his chest remained.

Hours slipped by. At some point, his empty glass found its way to the floor, a dull thud against the hardwood echoing through the room. He hadn’t noticed the time pass, nor the gradual descent into unconsciousness.

When Elijah opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was pain—a sharp, pounding headache that made his skull feel as if it might split. It was already dusk out again. He groaned, pushing himself up to a sitting position in his bed, only to freeze when he saw what lay before him.

A tray, freshly prepared, with all his favorite foods. His heart twisted. Then he noticed you by his side.

You had stayed with him. You didn’t go on that damn date- you actually stayed.

“{{user}}?” He murmurs.