- I'd Lie -

"And if you asked me if I love him, I'd lie"

- Taylor Swift -

Note: Alternate universe where Lockon lives - sure, Lyle is there too. Just to humor.

The day was dragging a bit, and there wasn't much to do aboard an idle ship. Ptolemy was interesting, but could sway to the boring side during its downtime.

While she sat numbly poking at the table in front of her, a small orange robot drifted into the room.

"Hello, Haro," she greeted, catching him as he fell into her hands.

"Feldt, Feldt!" the robot chanted to her happily, and she found herself smiling. It was simple things like this that she truly enjoyed.

"Haro, leave the poor girl alone," a playful voice chided. Looking up, she found herself gazing at the handsome blue-eyed owner of the small creature. In response to his owner's mock scolding, Haro fluttered up and over to Lockon.

"Haro likes Feldt!"

"Is that so?" The man smiled happily at his robotic companion, eying him out of his peripheral while making himself a cup of coffee. "I'm assuming it's mutual."

At that, he turned and flashed her a charming smile, causing her to flush slightly. Her infatuation with him was something she wished she could outgrow, but even after five years it had yet to fade much, if at all.

"Not quite, not quite!" Haro replied, followed by a chanting that made her tense up on the spot. "Feldt likes Lockon! Feldt likes Lockon!"

All Feldt desired at that moment was to not-so-subtly slide under the table and bury her face into her hands. For such a smart bundle of wires and metal, Haro failed at censoring his thoughts and opinions.

After a moment's silence, she could hear light-hearted laughter emanating from the man across the room. While it was relieving, it did nothing to soothe the stinging embarrassment she felt.

"Really now? I'm flattered."

Even though he was smiling, a mischievous glint in his eyes, Feldt still found herself dying inside. If it wouldn't cause more of an unnecessary commotion, she would have yelled at the small robot hovering beside said object of her affections.

It was dumb, really, but all she could think to do was press her face into her hands and hope this moment would just go away. Lockon was too nice to flat-out reject her if he was opposed to the idea of a nineteen-year-old being enamored with him, but she would have much preferred he didn't blatantly know that.

Too engrossed in her thoughts about wanting to go hide in the darkest corner of the ship to focus on anything else, the feeling of hands on her shoulders startled her. The sound of a voice vaguely close startled her more.

"Cute."

That was the only word he said, but it made her face grow hotter. The turning point of it all was the feeling of his hands tightening on her shoulders affectionately while he kissed the top of her head.

That did not just happen; Feldt found it hard to believe it had. Yet Neil Dylandy was walking past her towards the door, waving casually and winking in her direction.

No. No, this hadn't just happened. She was nothing shy of delusional.

"Lockon likes Feldt!"

At that abrupt statement from the orange sphere, Feldt reached breaking point. Her voice came out a high-pitched squeak rather than a stern warning.

"Haro!"

Even though he had to be a ways down the hall by now, she could hear him laughing. Despite how mortified she still was about it, the sound made her happy.

All of it did.

I ship them so hard. You have no idea.

Yes, I borrowed the "Feldt likes Lockon!" line from season 2, but it would be much more fun to see Haro say it to the proper Lockon.

Reviews are adored~