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There was a softness to Cooper’s features while he slept. Not that he wasn’t soft all of the time, especially compared to BT. Perhaps it was that BT often saw him in the helmet, which hid his frequent smile and kind eyes. He still can’t see the eyes, but even in sleep, Cooper’s lips are tilted a little at the corner. A natural quirk, no doubt, but one that makes him look... BT searches for the word, stalling, and finally settles on “boyish.” His hair is getting long, curling over his forehead and under his ears. Standing sentry over his pilot, BT watches him breathe easily through a deep sleep.
He’s certainly earned it after the day they’ve had in the field. He’d peeled away his armor before sleep, after BT had gently reminded him the last time he slept in it he complained for the next 72 hours about the aches it left. The underlying jumpsuit still betrays the shape of the armor in patches that mud has not reached. In the same vein, the mud stops at Cooper’s chin. They’d had to separate for a fight, and Cooper had unfortunately had to trudge through a load of sludge. And now he lies underneath BT, snoring softly, more at peace than BT has seen him in weeks. He doesn’t always understand Cooper’s behavior, though he knows the man has been struggling for sleep as of late. It eases BT to see him this way.
The Titan looks away from the sleeping man. The place they’ve found to hole up is peaceful enough. Enough for BT to consider the nature of his own thoughts. Lastimosa had known for some time, and they’d had a silent agreement to not talk about it. They worked well together. Who cared if BT thought?
Would Cooper?
Though he’s proven himself an admirable partner and Pilot, BT can’t help but find him woefully undereducated in the nuance of aforementioned partnership. It’s... charming, actually. Cooper treats him like... like a friend. Is that right? Like a pal, rather than a tool. Since BT had come back, the Titan has witnessed how the other Pilots give the man curious looks. He spends entirely too much time chatting BT up, personally looking after him where hangar mechanics could do an equal, if not better, job.
Yes, this planet is much too peaceful. BT finds himself considering the idea that Cooper would very much indeed care that BT had thoughts; that he might like it.
Between his feet, the man in question stirs. He rubs at his face sleepily, then slurs, without opening his eyes, “‘s the time?”
“0437.” BT replies.
“Uggghhhhhhh.” He turns over onto his front. BT believes that’s the end to that, but after a few moments Cooper gets up and slouches off into the underbrush.
“Would you like to get an early start? Might I recommend embarking, and you can sleep while I-“
“Gotta piss.” Comes his voice through the leaves.
“You do not have to go so far.”
Cooper doesn’t respond, not until he’s padding back toward their little camp. He’s fiddling with the zip on his flight suit and frowning. “I don’t...” He clears his throat, and flushes. “It feels rude to do it in front of you.”
BT feels such an unexpected rush of affection, it’s impossible to pin it down. Cooper throws him an incredulous look and stops dead in his tracks.
“What was that?”
Damned neural link.
“Would you like to embark?” BT opens the cockpit door. “There are still over two hours until sunrise.”
Cooper looks ready to object, but then shakes his head and looks guilty to his feet. BT can feel a sense of confusion and... something else. Too complex for BT’s still, frankly, juvenile understanding of emotion. His Pilot scoops up the pieces of his armor then clambers up BT’s chassis, making the last awkward step into the cockpit with the help of a nudge from BT’s finger.
“Don’t let me sleep too long.” He discards most of the armor loose along the floorboard of the cockpit, and only loops his arms through the harness. BT watches him only a short moment through the interior camera, as he settles himself into the chair and leans his head back. Satisfied his pilot is resting comfortably, he sets off at a manageable trot. The rendezvous point is still some distance away, and it will be hours before they even get close.
Should he tell him? He’d been dangerously close to just... letting it slip, before. When Cooper so frequently treated BT with such unexpected respect, it was hard not to let completely loose. And he didn’t fail to notice that the behavior had only increased since they had been reunited. Yet his friend had also been more melancholy, his end of the Link cloudy with dark emotions that bubbled over and troubled BT in more ways than one. He wouldn’t delve deeper, but he found himself... tempted. And that was a curious thing in and of itself: the desire to see what Cooper was hiding. The concern for him, running a mite further than Protocol 3. Desire and concern, in any measure, were wholly new.
He’d fully intended to disobey his Pilot and let him sleep until they drew closer to the extraction point. Yet, as day broke over the horizon, BT’s scanners alerted him to Cooper’s pulse jumping and his respirations rising. He tuned back into the interior camera to find the man squirming in the drop seat, one arm trapped awkwardly in the harness, face twitching. BT slowed his pace, and, in lieu of speaking, reached tentatively across the Neural Link and attempted to ease Cooper’s mind.
The man shuddered in his sleep. BT could feel the roiling tension, and treaded it like choppy water. Cooper made a tiny noise, barely audible to the microphones within the small space, and then fell still. Now the Titan stopped fully, and spoke up, “Cooper. It is almost daylight.”
“Mngh.” BT watches him wince as he uncurls his arm from the harness and stretches. He blinks and rubs a hand over the accumulated growth on his face- it, too, has grown much longer. Cooper looks around, glass-eyed, and starts pulling his armor back on.
“Lemme out.” There is an edge to his voice, so BT obliges him without argument. Satisfied with his armor, Cooper hoists himself out of the cockpit. Instead of hopping to the ground, though, he starts to climb up the chassis, until he’s settling atop BT’s shoulder. He leans forward to nudge the canopy.
“Were you digging around in my head?” He asks, as BT closes up and begins walking. The Titan valiantly overcomes the rush of shock that hits him and keeps trucking forward.
“Certainly not- that would be against protocol.”
“Right.” Cooper’s voice is dry. “I was having... the strangest dream.” His voice turns uncertain, and then he falls quiet.
“Scans did indicate a disturbance. Are you well, Pilot?”
“I’m fine.” He knocks his knuckles against the hull. “It wasn’t bad.”
Sunlight is spreading across the skyline, now, coloring the world a soft amber. This planet is marshy and dense with flora, and BT has been taking care to tread in the water where he can. Outside of battle, he sees no reason to trample down everything in his path. He takes in the sight of the beautiful morning, the small sun becoming visible the further north he travels. Water rises as he walks, and Cooper pulls his legs up further to avoid the splash back. BT waits for him to speak his mind, aware of his anxiety.
“I was dreaming about you.” He finally admits. “Usually that’s not so good... but this time it was nice. We...” He stammers. BT has never known Cooper to withhold even the most embarrassing of commentary. “It was nice.” The man says again, lamely.
They’re about 60 klicks south of the rendezvous; BT stops. He’s surrounded by water on all sides that would come up to Cooper’s waist, likely with sucking mud beneath. Math doesn’t seem appropriate, all things considered- the human mind is a fragile thing. Best to just go for it, then.
“Cooper.”
“Everything alright, buddy?” He swings down before BT can say anything, torso blocking the entirety of his optic, readying himself to embark. “You notice something?”
“No.” He curls his fingers around the man, and Cooper goes pliant, settling an easy hand on his thumb. “There is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”
“Uh. Shoot. I mean, go for it.” There’d been some confusion in the past with his colloquialisms.
“I have been experiencing… software diversions.” The Titan pulls Cooper away so he can see his face. A spike of concern washes over his features, his eyebrows furrowing. He pushes his hair back away from his face, and holds it there, peering up at BT.
“Is it something I can help with? I don’t have all the programming shit down yet, but-”
“No. They do not interfere with my function.” White lie. “They have been occurring since shortly before we became partners.”
“Oh.” He cocks his head. “So nothing I need to be worried about?” He curls his hand around BT’s thumb, and the Titan tracks the movement with his optic. His nails are worried down to the quick.
“That depends.”
“Kinda freaking me out, buddy.” One of his feet comes up into the cradle of BT’s palm and takes some of his weight. The other one swings forward and back. BT looks over his head, across the expanse of murky swamp water. Only a few hours until pick up. It will take him less than one to get them there. He looks back at Cooper, who is openly staring at him, still kicking his foot.
“I have been having emotions.”
The foot stops swinging, first, and then his other leg falls limp beside its brother. He veritably sags in BT’s grip, though his knuckles go white where he’s still gripping the soft, textured material of his thumb.
“Come again?”
“I have been feeling things, as it were.” He pauses. “As I said before, this has been happening since before you were my Pilot. Due to the extent of our partnership, I thought it best to tell you.”
“You thought?” Cooper parrots, and BT notices he’s quite pale.
“…Yes.”
There is a long stretch of silence where they stare at one another. Performing a cursory scan informs him that Cooper’s heart rate is through the roof. He lifts his other hand to cup it under his fist, and the Pilot’s legs shake when he has something steady underneath them. The link is fuzzy with an unchecked, overwhelming feeling that threatens to creep over BT.
“Tai and I had a mutual understanding.” BT finally breaks the silence. “We did not speak of it.”
“But he knew?” Cooper sinks to his knees. Some of his hair slides into his face, and he doesn’t push it out of the way.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He exhales deeply, and looks at his hands. Cooper presses one palm into the center of BT’s own, deliberately, and stares as he does. The Titan watches his face run through several complicated expressions before it settles. “Then… thank you, for telling me. For trusting me. I guess… you had to know there was a risk, huh?” His voice is soft.
Not with you, is BT’s private, revelatory thought. BT had made up his mind about Cooper a long time ago, approximately the moment he was forced to fling him into space. “I calculated it to be minimal.”
Cooper smiles up at him. “Did the math, did you?”
“You ask a lot of questions, Pilot.”
A wry chuckle is his response. “Isn’t that why you love me?”
BT considers the human in his hand. “Yes, I suppose.”
Mouth still open on a smile, Cooper’s eyebrows jump up, and he curls his fingers against BT. Once again his limbs seem to fail him, and he slumps to his ass, knees bent awkwardly. “Oh.” Then, “Really?” and, before BT can formulate a proper response to that question, “Me too.”
“Yes.” BT bleats, and feels an uncontrollable urge to look away. The sun is fully up, now, and the water is throwing intricate shadows across his chassis. “That is… good to know, Pilot.”
“Cooper. Or… even, Jack.” The man reminds him, and BT looks around to watch him get up. He reaches up, and BT lets the canopy spring open, gently stuffing him inside.
“That is good to know, Jack.”
“We’re going to have to work on your conversation skills.” He loops both hands through the harness and tugs the buckle tight. BT starts to wade through the marsh again, though he’s still paying attention to Cooper, too. The man throws him a sunny smile, directly into the camera, like he’s fully aware of it.
“But first, let’s go home BT.”