Kosma scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat hesitantly at Dystopia, who was picking things out not far away, then put the item in his hand back.
"Eh? What did you buy? Let me see."
A hand shot out quickly from beside him and snatched the item away. Kosma hadn't even seen it clearly. He frantically tried to dodge. But he seemed to have forgotten that on the shelf, there were at least dozens, if not scores, of this item...
The hand directly took an identical product and held it before its eyes for a close look. Then, those two teasing eyes fixed on the downcast Kosma.
"A hair clip, huh..." Lin swung the cute bear hair clip in his hand meaningfully.
He actually felt a bit helpless. Kosma really could only send this kind of thing—full of the innocent temperament of a blank-slate boy. After all, he was a child who liked to act mature. But he knew that as long as it was a gift from Kosma, Dystopia couldn't possibly dislike it, so he didn't criticize the hair clip further.
"Not buying it?"
Kosma was a bit afraid to look into Lin eyes, pursing his lips as if afraid a word might accidentally leak out.
"Speak up, talk." Lin grabbed his cheeks and rubbed them up and down, giving a couple of weird laughs. "If you don't speak, how will others know what you're thinking?"
And what Kosma was thinking...
This person isn't Lin. He's someone else pretending. The real Lin is definitely more steady and won't speak unless necessary.
Of course, he wouldn't do something as childish as buying gifts.
The reason he's looking for me is... right, he definitely wants to establish a friendly relationship. If he says later he doesn't want to give Lin back, I must firmly insist he returns him.
Don't talk... don't talk... no matter what he does...
"If you still don't talk, I'll buy this and give it to Dystopia myself."
"No."
Lin smirked at the reluctantly vocal Kosma. His face, so beautiful its gender was indiscernible, was full of mischievous joy.
"This is too... ordinary." Kosma eyes kept darting around, as if there was nowhere to rest them. "But I can't find anything better..."
"Oh..."
I see. He realized the problem himself. He probably felt this kind of hair clip was everywhere, not fresh at all, and wouldn't be a surprise even if given. No matter how cute something is, after seeing it a lot, it starts to look ugly.
"Can you..."
"No~pe~" Lin flatly rejected Kosma idea. He held up a finger before Kosma eyes. "Remember, this is you picking a gift for her, not me!"
"But as long as I don't say anything, she won't know."
"...Hehe." Lin shook his head with a wry smile.
She won't know if you don't say?
"Kosma, before... back when I was still in my own world, I also gave someone a gift. It was for a girl who looked careless but was actually very perceptive. But the gift was actually picked by her best friend, and I just delivered it."
"The gift was very much to her taste, and she was very happy when she received it. But she knew instantly that the gift couldn't have been picked by me."
"Because I couldn't pick a gift that fit her heart so perfectly."
Lin rested a hand on Kosma shoulder, then pointed at the hair clip in his hand. "Understand? She doesn't want something 'special,' she wants something you gave."
...
"What is it? If you want to hit someone, I saw a boxing machine back there. You can go communicate with your kin about your high-class pugilism that beats humans until they crawl."
Prometheus walked to Lin, who was picking the last item, staying exactly five meters away and staring at him with a bizarre look.
"...If you have something to say, don't stay so far away."
"Getting too close to you causes pregnancy."
"When did I get that kind of setting?" Lin put down a small jar of green flakes, complaining as he picked up a ball of a similar color from nearby. "Besides, you're an android, right? A clockwork girl gets pregnant? What era is this that people are still using that trope?"
"What are you buying?"
Prometheus scanned the goods on the shelf and found they were all cat supplies.
Isn't he buying gifts for others? Why buy cat stuff? Her memory bank showed no one at HQ kept a cat.
"Catnip. Not a gift, but for Lin to use later."
"...?"
For Lin? Lin knew Prometheus had glitched the moment her logic hit a dead end. He explained with a smile: "Lin is going to keep a cat later, so I'm buying catnip for him in advance. This can make that little cat behave better."
"Keep a... cat? Then why not buy cat food?" She only saw Lin picking through the catnip section.
"Because that cat doesn't eat cat food. Uh, actually, with her appetite and lazy personality, she'd probably eat cat food too. After all, humans can eat cat food..."
BAM!
A fist whistled past Lin smiling cheek. Cold sweat began to form on his forehead. In the common tongue, "he," "it," and "she" have distinct pronunciations. Clearly, Lin had fully exposed his "creepy" intentions.
"Oops, Miss Prometheus, calm down, calm down. I was just joking. Who would want to huff catnip?" Lin quickly stuffed the ball-shaped catnip into the cart, putting on his worthless smile and rubbing his hands. "Is there something you need me for? No problem, ask away."
Prometheus gave him a cold look before withdrawing her fist. Since most of her body had been replaced with Soul Steel, her output was no less than a Titan's. She could wrestle with a Chariot-class Honkai Beast. Considering this was Lin body, she had been holding back.
However, after withdrawing her fist, she rareley shut off her vocal system and just stared straight at Lin, making his back go cold and his skin crawl.
"Hehe..." he laughed dryly.
"What does... Lin like?"
"Ah?" Lin didn't understand immediately. Only after seeing Prometheus's murderous gaze did he react. "Oh, oh! Wait a second, let me look through his memory!"
"Complete within three seconds."
"Are you sane?"
Lin racked his brain to stabilize Prometheus. But when she asked what "Lin" liked...
"Just as I thought..."
"..."
Lin nodded with confidence. "Just as I thought, Lin likes girls."
...
"What's that?"
On the return trip, Dystopia stared curiously at a certain "thing" that no longer looked human and only had faint breathing. She asked the expressionless Prometheus standing nearby.
"This is a new species," Prometheus replied coldly. "The Scum-type."
"...Eh?"
"A hybrid organism of scum and creep."
"..."