This is the last one, Sooha thought to himself as he was writing the patient's information into the holographic display.
He squinted, trying to avoid the strain from the sterile lights of the clinic, which, alongside the winter white light outside, made his rose-colored hair appear violet.
The clock on the holo terminal said 17:03; he was already late for the fresh batch of this week's strawberry tarts, and it was Wednesday, the only day of the week they served them.
Unfair, he thought, while frantically trying to type in the last of the data.
Then a sharp knock rang through the aluminum door just as he was finishing up.
"Clinic's closed for today! Come back tomorrow!" Sooha yelled, barely looking up.
The automatic door hissed open. Heavy boots echoing across the clinic tiles.
"Was I not clear?" Sooha turned, ready to stare the intruder out of the room.
It was Luke who entered the clinic, and upon seeing him, Sooha's expression softened.
"Whoa, sweetie? Someone get on your nerves today?" Luke joked, scratching the back of his head.
"Just about… everyone," Sooha muttered, annoyed, shutting down the screen and letting the chair swallow his weight as he leaned back into it.
"Come on, let me give you a kiss and a hug, you will feel better right away!" Luke joked, his emerald eyes and brown curls glowing under the light panel that was above him.
Sooha grumbled in fake protest; he loved this side of Luke.
"I'm going to pick up Maria and her guys. Their vehicle broke down, like half an hour away, so I wanted you to come with me!"
Sooha's gaze avoided Luke's as uncertainty showed on his face.
"Luke, can't someone else go? You know what's been going on lately… and there are strawberry tarts in the cafeteria that I am about to miss!" Worry crept into Sooha's voice.
"Nuh uh, I have to go. I avoided last week's patrol because of this, and nothing happened to the others…" Luke said while cupping Sooha's cheeks from behind the office chair.
Leaning in ever closer, he whispered, "So you're coming with me, right?" he asked, puppy-eyed.
A soft blush crept across Sooha's cheeks. He didn't have the heart to refuse him.
"Okay, okay, I'll go, but so that you know, I expect compensation!" Sooha pouted.
"Worry not! For your Lukey has already snatched the fresh tart for you!" Luke's face lit up with warmth, and he gently tilted Sooha's face upward.
Without hesitation, he leaned in and pressed a kiss on Sooha's lips.
It was exactly what he needed after this long day; the warmth of Luke's lips and the metallic smell of his uniform were oddly comforting.
Later, in the car, the low hum of the engine and soft rock music filled the silence.
The world outside went on in a blur of trees and soft streaks of light passing through the clouds.
Sooha gazed out the window, his eyelids feeling heavy, but before they shut, he saw a glimpse of something.
It was tall, large, and uncanny in a way.
Was it a mutant? Or was his mind playing tricks on him from the long shift?
He looked again, but nothing was there.
If it were a mutant, it would have attacked them by now, he thought.
"Sleepyhead!! How are you feeling?" joked Luke with a subtle laugh.
"I would feel better if you let the sleepyhead sleep; that shift got me wrecked!" Sooha pouted, but his shoulders were tense now.
Should he tell Luke? Not like it would matter, he would just call him paranoid because of the stories.
"But we didn't talk since last night, I may soon get withdrawals," Luke teased with a chuckle as he glanced at Sooha.
"Yeah, sure," Sooha rolled his eyes, glancing one last time into the forest.
Still nothing.
But as Luke's gaze shifted back to the road, he was met with surprise as a person came into his vision—mere meters in front of the vehicle.
The tires screeched as Luke tried braking, but it was futile; in order not to hit the person, he swerved the driving wheel a little too much, sending them flying off the road.
The car slammed into a tree. The horn blared, shrill and endless.
"Luke? Are you okay?" Said Sooha weakly, trying to see what's going on.
No answer, just rustling of the trees and whirring of a dying machine accompanied by a ringing siren that echoed in Sooha's ears for what felt like hundreds of decibels louder than it was.
"Luke!" He yelled through the noise, and still nothing.
Sooha crawled out of the van and went to the other side.
He saw him, unconscious, pale with blood covering half of his face already, the weight of his body pressing the siren.
"No, no, no, no, this can't be you can't die," He muttered frantically while trying to open the beat-up door.
And it opened with a loud creak that sent Sooha flying backwards, but he quickly rushed to Luke's side, pulling him out of the vehicle.
Mistake.
At that moment, a loud squelching noise was heard as the metal sheet left Luke's side and blood spewed out of the fresh wound.
"Oh God no," Sooha said in horror as his hands tried to apply pressure to the wound.
Luke was unconscious, his body going colder by the second.
Sooha had no other choice.
He steadied himself next to the limp man, hands over his wound and chin to his chest, and he focused, thinking to himself.
This better work!
And it did, his bloodied hands started glowing, a faint shade of teal light emanated from them onto the wound, and finally, it started stitching itself up as molecules were controlled, one by one.
Luke's body twitched, and his eyes slowly opened.
"Sooha? How?" He said weakly.
To which he replied, "Like I would ever let you die before eating those strawberry tarts!"
He tried to be enthusiastic, but tears and worry plagued his face. Luke's life was still at risk.
And right after, a loud rustle was heard in the woods, towards which Sooha turned his gaze.
The two men stepped into view, boots crunching against dead leaves and broken glass. Their dark uniforms looked absurdly crisp against the carnage, crested with Elysium's emblem.
Elysian Enforcers recognized Sooha.
In that moment, Sooha's opal eyes instantly flared pink, and his hand leveled with the men, fingertips pointing outwards as a thin hexagonal layer formed outwards from them.
"Get away from us!" he yelled out.