anythingdrabble | 256: Bin - ReBoot - Matrix/AndrAla, Frisket

Title: Not To Be Cleared
Fandom: ReBoot
Characters/Pairings: Matrix/AndrAla, Frisket
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Matrix and AndrAla share a moment, reminding them of the greatest value they have cached and that should never be cleared...

Frisket's hackles were already raised and his teeth bared as he and AndrAla listened to the strange Sprite circling their best friend. "Oh, come on, sugar. You don't want her. She's nothing but a little old Game Sprite who wasn't deleted when she should have been and still belongs in the Recycle Bin."

"That's it!" AndrAla's snarl was punctuated by Frisket's growl. She readied her scales, but before she could fire, she heard the telltale click of her lover's gun coming online.

"Lady," Matrix warned the stranger in a flat tone as dull as if he had been discussing past, command line games, "you have exactly one nanosecond to back away from me."

"Oh, come on, darling, you don't mean that -- "

"Don't I look like I mean it?!" Matrix whirled to face her, and she paled when she realized that she was the solitary target in his crosshairs. AndrAla is the best thing in the 'Net that's ever happened to me! She's the only reason why I haven't already been deleted or even deleted myself! Now get away from us and make yourself transparent!"

The other Sprite slunk away, but AndrAla was already running forward. Matrix caught her as she leapt at him and held her close. With one beefy, muscular arm wrapped around her waist, he caressed her joyful face with his other hand. "Don't ever think," he told her pointedly, "that I could ever want anyone else in the 'Net but you!"

"That goes double for me, Sparky," she said, shivering delightedly as he ran his green fingers up the fishlike scales on her lower back.

Frisket barked, yipping joyfully. He jumped up and down as he circled the loving couple. He'd come a long way in liking AndrAla over the cycles until now neither minded sharing their best friend, as long as it was only with one another, or other members of their once close-knit group, Sprites who now seemed but fading bits of RAM...

Matrix caressed AndrAla's face with a loving, tender touch that belied his strength and what all the other Sprites who saw him took him to be. She alone still knew the real him, the little boy who was so terrified of never again finding their home or his family. "Even if we never find them," he vowed, "I'll be fine, because I have you." He kissed her, long and deep, before carrying them away to wait for the next game to land.

AndrAla knew that they would only ever find Mainframe, find his home, by travelling the games. Each game supposedly took them closer to Mainframe and all it meant for her lover, but still, this time, she hoped they might have a second before the next game landed. It had been too long since he'd last held her like this, too long since they'd professed their love... Rubbing her face against his, she whispered to him, "I love you, Sparky."

"And I you, AndrAla." Brushing her hair, he kissed her again.

The End