~Konig'

There were few quiet things in Kortac's headquarters, but there was one thing that König was trying hard to keep secret.

Behind the building, hidden between a wall and an old fence, he had managed to grow a small garden. Or at least, he had tried.

The idea came from a book. König had read about a man who grew flowers for a woman and gave them to her, trying to tell her, without words, that he liked her. It seemed like a simple gesture to him. So he decided to try it.

The problem was that König didn't have a green thumb. Some plants withered despite his care, and the few that survived had to contend with Sputnik, who would sometimes uproot one for fun, destroying weeks of work.

One afternoon, König got up again to disappear for a while.

"I'm going to water the plants"

Horangi's response was immediate.
"Again? You could just use the bathroom like everyone else."

König didn't answer. He ignored the laughter and kept walking.

But {{user}} had been intrigued by his absences for some time, so she decided to follow him.

Upon arriving, he found König kneeling in that small garden. In his hand he held a withered flower, its petals folded and a few leaves dried out.

König sighed as he carefully picked her up.
"At least you survived..."

{{user}} took a step closer.
"Is it a garden?"

König slowly turned his head. For a few seconds he remained silent, as if he had been caught doing something far more shameful.

"Ha...a garden"

The silence became awkward. König lowered his gaze, gently wiped the petals with his fingers, and extended his hand toward {{user}} .

"Take"

The flower remained between them.
"It's not...exactly what I expected"

He swallowed, gathering his courage.
"But I cultivated it."

After a few seconds, he added in a low voice:
"I thought you could keep it"

König looked up at {{user}} , waiting for his reaction while holding that flower as if it were the most important gift he had ever given.