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He didn’t know what time it was, but the youma came prepared. Benitoite had kept his word to inform his partner about the day of the week - Wednesday, the day he would meet with Hydra in the park.

It was important to him to see her weekly, even if it ultimately didn’t matter much to her. Hydra was one of his very few friends aside from Benitoite himself. Bob wasn’t so much a friend as he was a partner-in-crime, the two of them sharing the riches of their very first jewelry heist with the Negaverse senshi. No matter what anyone said, Bazzite never believed Hydra to be corrupt.

She was simply Hydra.

She was someone with a life outside the Negaverse, with hopes and dreams and goals in life, things to achieve. Part of him had lingering jealousies when the pendant was active. He would yearn for the kind of life Hydra could so willingly take part in. Without that psychological freedom that humans possessed, Hydra was simply a good friend - someone who was kind to him, and she smelled of the sea and shampoo and warm skin. Sometimes she would limp from her training and pretend she wasn’t, or she would complain of how long her hair became when she powered up.

He would miss her, dearly.

For now, the youma simply sat beneath the designated tree, sprawled in its shade as Hydra had instructed. The moon hung high in the sky and in the distance, Bazzite could hear the laughter of partygoers. His dry skin enjoyed the moisture of the earth and the grass.

The youma’s tapered ears twitched when he heard her voice, and scrambled to stand from his sitting position beneath the tree. He liked to pick her up and hug her close, and, being so small, it was quite easy to do. ”Hydra! I got the time right. Not bad for… someone that doesn’t carry a watch.” A tinny chuckle and a buzz of his wings later, Bazzite was satisfied knowing Hydra was safe and sound. No Order signatures were nearby that he could feel, save for the scant few base-levels he felt appearing and disappearing on the edges of his perception.

”It’s good to see you, Hydra. How are you? How is school? ...and Bob, too, I guess. He’s not bad when you’re bigger than him, heheh.”

Shoulders shook with the laugh. He knew the Maine Coon had a soft spot for Hydra - who wouldn’t? Hydra smelled like fancy shampoo and was a nice person.

Hydra was the best.

She had a small bag with her, something Bazzite didn’t recognize. Too small to be a lunch bag, and it was too late in the day to be eating lunch anyway. He tilted his head, odd sapphire eyes watching her curiously. ”What’s that, Hydra? Is it potpourri? I’ve seen potpourri in little bags like that. Do I smell bad?” Lifting his arm, Bazzite gave himself a sniff.

Nope, nothing but the smell of earth and stale air, like usual. It was also helpful that Bazzite didn’t sweat - lacking anything resembling human skin definitely helped in that department. ”Maybe it’s for Bob. Does Bob smell bad?”

Bob probably smelled of bourbon and trash cans.

"School is over?" What month was it? Bazzite scratched his chin, idly looking upwards the at sky. It was still warm outside, so it must still be summer. The youma was more proud of the fact that he got the day and time correct. Tracking months and years was even harder. "...don't worry, Hydra. I won't go to college, either. They don't make desks big enough for me. We can not go to college, together."

The youma blinked and a grin slowly grew across his face. "You gave Bob a bath? Hehehe, I wish I could have been there to see that. Does he smell better now? Is he fluffy? He looked kind of matted when I saw him last, but we were too busy for me to say anything about it. I thought about brushing him but he gets mouthy."

He seemed surprised when Hydra pushed the little bag into his huge clawed hands. Turning it over gingerly, Bazzite tilted his head at the Negaverse senshi. Something so small proved somewhat difficult for his fingers, for they did not move in quite the same way that a human's did. With some effort, Bazzite removed the necklace and marveled at it. "It's a portable Hydra!"

He made a noise then, sudden and confused, as the emotion surrounding the gift activated the pendant Benitoite had given to him. A soft blue glow engulfed his form in the blink of an eye and was gone just as quickly. The youma was left bewildered and blinking, looking down at the necklace he'd just been gifted by a dear friend.

His metallic voice lowered in volume and took on a softer tone than was typical. Brows furrowed, ears drooped and his shoulders slumped in a display of emotion he wasn't capable of previously. "...thank you, Hydra. It... means a lot to me. I don't deserve this."

The youma blinked, ears drooping in shame for startling the dear girl. "M'sorry, Hydra. I didn't mean to scare you. It's..."

A clawed hand patted his chest, where the pendant was settled against his chest. Truthfully, Bazzite much preferred Hydra's gift over Benitoite's in this situation. "It's this pendant Beni gave to me. We didn't know how it worked, at first, but... it sometimes goes off, like you saw. It... lets me think, like you do. Like a human."

His oft-tinny and metallic voice had softened considerably, and perhaps Hydra could see and sense what affection the youma had for her. His monstrous psychology simply didn't allow him to analyze, feel and express it. "It's... hard, sometimes, since I don't really care, most of the time. Kill and eat and take orders and sleep in the cold dark. Don't care about how much time has passed, don't care about the sun and food and a roof over your head. I don't remember much of being human... Most of the time, I don't care. I can't care, but... when the necklace works, I care too much."

The irony was the youma couldn't cry, despite wishing desperately for that release. Instead, he sighed very deeply and shifted to don Hydra's gift. "I like yours better, Hydra. But... I have a confession to make. I don't like to lie, and I don't, unless a General orders me to."

He lifted a clawed hand and flexed his three fingers over and over slowly. At one point, he had four fingers, and a home, and a family. He had skin that could feel temperatures. "...but... I... have to go away, for a long time. Maybe forever, I don't know. But... even if I die, I'll still miss you, Hydra. You're... one of the best people I've ever met. You treat me like a person, and not a monster. Most everyone in the Negaverse doesn't even know I used to be a Captain. They just treat me like a troop, and I have no choice but to obey. I don't... want to live like that anymore."

Without so much as another word, the insectoid youma moved to encircle Hydra in a tender hug. Though his skin was dry and cool to the touch, and he had no tears to give to her despite desperately wishing to. A clawed hand tenderly caressed her head with as much love as a monster could muster.

"...I'm sorry, Hydra." he wheezed, breath hitching in his throat from the overwhelming emotion. He swallowed thickly. "I don't want go away, but... I want to hold you and feel your skin and smell your hair and hold your hand and stand in the sun, and not worry about having to eat someone to stay up here... I don't want to live like that anymore..."

You have what I don't, and I didn't realize it until now.

You have a life.

If, ultimately, fate decided to end his existence rather than removing the curse from his body, then... so be it. The creature was desperate for relief and would take it wherever it could be found.

"If it works, if... if I become human again, I'll find you, and I'll take you out for real food. Food that... I could eat, too. And... maybe I'll bring Bob a beer, if that's okay with you. I... want you to still be my friend, Hydra. If... that's okay."

His ears drooped and the youma knelt back down into the Earth, defeated. "...really? You don't... want to be my friend anymore? If I get a life again, I would like you to be a part of it. But," With a deep, wheezing sigh, Bazzite's shoulders dropped and his blue eyes were cast downward. "I know what it's like to not... be able to choose. I would rather you have the choice."

The youma hadn't the slightest inkling into what was happening in Hydra's life. He knew that everyone in the Negaverse led two lives. Hydra had a home and parents and friends and things to do. She could see the sun whenever she wanted; she could sleep in a warm bed with a roof over her head. She could eat whatever food she wanted, could feel the breeze brushing across her skin. The youma lacked the poetry to describe it.

Without knowing what it was like to live as a slave, an unfeeling and monstrous creature, how could he describe it?

"I'm sorry to make you cry, Hydra. I would cry with you, too, but... my eyes won't let me..."

Ears drooping, Bazzite was starting to realize how much he was asking of Hydra, and how little either one of them knew what the future would look like. Truth be told, Bazzite would be happy to simply die, away from Hydra's beautiful eyes. Without the pendant, he wouldn't even have a reaction to her distress. But now? Now he felt terribly guilty for saying something in the first place.

But he knew he couldn't live with himself if he suddenly disappeared without saying something to her first.

"...okay." came a quiet admission. "I don't know what it's going to cost... but... I wanted to tell you, before something happened. You've been the closest to a best friend I've ever had, Hydra. It probably doesn't mean much, coming from a monster like me, but... you're the best, Hydra. If I live through it, I want to come back here, and see you again. And maybe... go out for ice cream..."

It was a sad smile, full of shame and self-loathing, that the youma tried to present to the senshi. He knew, ultimately, it didn't matter. He broke her heart all the same. Perhaps it was best now to go, before he said something that made everything that much worse. "...I won't ask for any promises, Hydra. You don't owe something like me anything at all. May I... at least, hug you, before I go...?"

"....okay, Hydra." No hugs, no extended goodbyes. He understood, in this moment, why she didn't wish for him to leave. It carried the possibility that that may never see one another again, but Bazzite simply didn't believe that to be true. The youma, for what he was worth, believed strongly that they would see one another again someday, no matter what form he might take in the future.

Lowering himself onto all fours, the youma started backing away slowly. It was a physical apology for breaking her heart, in a way. To prostrate himself before her was not unlike an animal doing so before the alpha. "...I should go, I think... I'll see you again, Hydra. I promise."

Even if he didn't know whether he would survive this future... Bazzite knew, if he did, he would let her know, somehow. The will to be human again transcended anything he could think or feel in that moment, and he hoped, someday, Hydra would understand. Turning away, the locust beast slunk off into the darkness like the monster he was, returning to the Rift to sleep a dreamless sleep in the cold and lightless abyss.