He had never even dated anyone before, and it felt completely different from how the captain usually touched him — that was his argument, all while clumsily trying to hide the flush spreading across his face.
The captain swept a hand over his own face as if trying to conceal his expression. His golden eyes, half-hidden behind his fingers, gleamed with an intense light. It was a good thing Luka hadn’t seen it. If he had, he surely would have shouted, “You really are a pervert, aren’t you?”
— Doctor Obel has arrived.
The captain welcomed the well-timed shift in atmosphere without complaint.
“Let him in.”
Obel appeared from beyond the heavy door without so much as a greeting. He narrowed his eyes sharply at the fact that Kai had connected a prosthetic to Luka’s body without his consent.
“You never do anything but cause trouble, do you?”
Kai scratched the back of his head and laughed.
“Hehe, but it worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
“How did it work out? We haven’t even done a proper diagnosis yet.”
Even so, Obel pulled up a holographic pad and checked the prosthetic’s readings. Luka straightened up from where he’d been leaning against the captain.
Like a student waiting for exam results, he tensed and gripped his own thigh tightly with his left hand. Behind the lenses of Obel’s glasses, the corners of his eyes twitched.
“Neural endpoint connection rate, 99.8%… You’re sure this isn’t an error?”
Obel muttered in disbelief as he approached Luka. He examined the prosthetic junction carefully.
He took Luka’s new right hand, cautiously bending and tapping it. Instead of the violent rejection response from the day before, Luka quietly endured the faint pressure wherever Obel’s hands made contact.
“Luka, try tensing the tips of your fingers. I’m going to push against them — hold your ground.”
Luka focused at Obel’s instruction. Beneath the silicone skin, artificial muscles pulled taut and created a firm resistance. Obel’s eyes took on a new light as he observed the process.
“Impressive. Normally at this stage, people vomit or scream from sensory overload. Your mental fortitude is outpacing the prosthetic’s processing speed.”
The captain cut in.
“There is some sensory overload happening.”
“Where?”
“He’s become sensitive.”
And with that, he grabbed the inside of Luka’s thigh again with his hand. Luka’s face turned crimson in an instant.
“Ah—ngh…”
Obel watched him double over with a startled gasp and grunt, then pushed his glasses up with a finger.
“Hm. Hold on.”
He tapped at the pad a few times to confirm, then explained the phenomenon.
“Luka’s brain isn’t used to processing the information coming in through the prosthetic yet. Even very low levels of external pressure or temperature are being amplified thousands of times over by the brain. Even the brush of skin against the junction point will be felt as pain or as an oddly stimulating sensation. Right now, Luka’s nervous system is completely open and unguarded.”
“That explanation sounds indecent.”
“Because it is indecent.”
With that, Obel glanced pointedly at the captain’s hand resting on Luka’s thigh.
“Don’t apply any stimulation to the junction points for the time being. It’ll take at least a week to adjust.”
The captain moved his fingertips ever so slightly, as if lightly grazing the skin. Luka flinched and twisted at the waist.
“He just told you not to…”
“I know, I won’t torment you.”
He pulled his hand away reluctantly. At the same time, Luka, who had been hunched over and groaning, slumped back tiredly against the captain’s chest.
Obel watched the scene with an unsettled expression. He’d been about to point out that it was excessive behavior for a guardian-patient relationship, but stopped himself.
Every crew member aboard the Nautilus already knew that the captain treated Luka with particular, singular attention — there was no point in bringing it up. But a warning was still necessary.
“No strenuous physical activity until the sensory adjustment is complete. Increase activity in thirty-minute increments per day.”
At that, the captain leaned down and whispered in Luka’s ear.
“Told you so.”
Luka only hunched his shoulders slightly in response, offering nothing more. Obel, seeming to lose all further interest in the intimacy between the two, switched off the pad he’d been studying.
Kai, who had been watching anxiously from the side, swallowed hard. Obel adjusted his glasses and declared in his characteristically blunt voice.
“There is some hypersensitivity, but the neural stability readings are normal, and above all, the patient’s willingness to accept is remarkably high. Kai, it doesn’t look like there’s anything more you need to adjust on the prosthetic.”
The moment those words landed, color flooded back into Kai’s face.
“Thank goodness!”
“However.”
Obel added, his tone gravely serious.
“Remember this, Luka. There’s no guarantee you’re safe yet. If you feel any pain, you need to remove the prosthetic from your body immediately. Understood?”
It was the captain who answered in his place.
“I’ll manage it.”
“You’re busy, though.”
“I can make plenty of time for Luka.”
“Ha…”
“Since it’s come up — from now on, Luka will be staying in my quarters. The treatment room isn’t exactly comfortable to live in.”
At the mention of giving up even his own captain’s quarters, Obel finally moved to say something, then held back. If there was a problem, Ivelynsia, as vice captain, would be the one to step forward and raise it — his role ended here.
“Well, that’s for you to judge.”
“Alright. Both of you have worked hard this past month. Return to your regular duties now. I’ll give you both a special reward later.”
The two of them, having received the captain’s promise, both broke into relieved smiles.
“I’ll be expecting a vacation.”
“And better parts for me!”
Each voicing their own separate demands, the two filed out of the captain’s quarters. Kai’s playful banter and Obel’s exasperated scolding at Kai’s antics could still be heard from beyond the closed door for a while before fading away.
Only after the storm-like commotion had settled did the captain look quietly down at Luka, who was catching his breath. Perhaps due to the hypersensitive reaction from earlier, the back of Luka’s neck was still flushed a rosy red.
The captain carefully wrapped an arm around Luka’s shoulders.
“I made the decision for you to live here without even asking your opinion. If it bothers you, you can go back to the treatment room right now.”
At those words, Luka lifted his head sharply. It was close enough that he nearly grazed the captain’s chin, yet Luka didn’t pull away. Instead, he met the captain’s gaze directly and smiled — bright and radiant, a smile he had never shown before. It was a face filled with nothing but hope. No wariness, no venom, no sorrow.
“No, it’s fine. Really. I’ll stay here — that’s okay, right?”
Luka raised his new mechanical hand and, one by one, curled and uncurled his fingers. The faint mechanical sound of metal joints interlocking seemed almost like a cheerful little melody.
“You didn’t give up on me. You gave me these arms and legs. So…”
Luka glanced down shyly for a moment, then looked back up at the captain with a grin.
“I’ll get used to it quickly. I’ll try not to be a burden to you. Thank you. Truly.”
The captain felt, for a moment, as if his breath had stopped. Who would have thought that sincerity spoken from Luka’s mouth — always blunt, always sharp — could sound this sweet.
Pride in Luka for standing on his own two feet, a deep sense of admiration, and beneath it all, a dense, carefully hidden affection — it all swirled together inside him. He couldn’t bring himself to lay all of that feeling bare. He simply cradled Luka’s cheek gently in his large hand.
“Yeah. I knew you’d get there quickly. Don’t rush yourself. I’ll be right here beside you.”
“Ah, but you keep touching me, so…”
“If things still haven’t settled down there, want me to help?”
“Ugh, no thank you—!”
“If you’re an adult, you should be able to show that to others, Luka.”
“Wh-what is that supposed to mean?! If you touch me again, I won’t let it go!”
Even as he made the threat, Luka nuzzled his face slightly into the warmth of the captain’s palm and let out a soft giggle. The captain couldn’t tear his eyes away from that smile, brighter than any he’d seen before. It was the one and only expression he had so desperately wanted to see.
Luka’s rehabilitation was one continuous ordeal. At first, he struggled to endure even thirty minutes with the prosthetic attached.
“Hh— ugh…”
The sensation that had once felt indecent was short-lived. As sensory saturation set in, every stimulus turned to pain. He would hold on for as long as he could, and when it became utterly unbearable, he’d collapse with tears streaming down his face. Every time, the captain would come to him, detach the prosthetic, and hold his small, exhausted body close to soothe him.
“You did well. You held on longer than yesterday.”
“…Hh— ngh…”
“It’s okay, Luka. You’re adapting beautifully.”
Thanks to the captain endlessly pouring courage into him, Luka was able to keep from giving up. The attachment time he could barely sustain for thirty minutes a day gradually stretched to an hour, then an hour and a half. Now, when the pain became more than he could bear, instead of simply bursting into tears, he would first reach out to the captain for help.
“Luka, help me.”
Calling the captain by his same name, he reached out his hand toward him.
“Detach the prosthetic. I’m at my limit.”
He had come to clearly recognize his own limits. He had learned to detach the prosthetic just before the pain brought him to tears, and to allow his exhausted body to rest.
