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Their eyes meet for the first time at the Vernal Conclave. Rowan is by Scythe Faraday's side with Citra. The two of them are looking at Scythe Goddard's group of followers when one of them turns briefly. The citrines on his yellow robe reflect the light in the hall right into Rowan's eyes and he squints. The scythe meets his gaze, just for a second, before his attention is pulled back to whatever Scythe Goddard is talking about. Rowan is just glad he didn't attract any unwanted attention and quickly forgets about it, distracted by the rest of the scythedom buzzing around him.
They meet properly once Scythe Goddard takes Rowan under his wing. It's a forced 'hello' on both sides, no particular happiness or disdain from either of them. Rowan is tired of being introduced to these new order scythes. Volta just seems tired in general. The boy can't help but notice how much that stands out in the energetic atmosphere of the party, but he doesn't comment on it. Now is not the time to be pissing off anyone.
Except that Rowan can't stop noticing it, the slouch in Volta's shoulders, the way he always seems so tired, and the complete indifference he seems to have settled for when it comes to interacting with the other scythes. Rowan meets a new side of him while he's recovering without his nanites after that first 'training'. He's the only one that comes to take care of him, but it doesn't appear begrudging as he would have expected. Volta seems genuinely compassionate and it intrigues Rowan to no end. He wonders what brought someone like him to this hellhole of a mansion, with these people who act like they are gods. It almost makes him want to fight for the scythe position, if only to figure out this mystery.
"Call me Alessandro." Volta says. Rowan does.
They meet again and again in the corridors of the estate and in its big rooms, polite greetings and small smiles that don't quite reach their eyes. They keep meeting and they grow to like it. They meet in shared eyerolls at Goddard's latest antics and in quiet jokes only they know. Rowan starts calling him his friend in his mind, but every time he does he remembers the limited time he has left. So he keeps meeting, but he never lingers.
It's only coincidence that their first significant meeting even happens, but it does. It's a result of many things - slightly open doors and not quite muffled sobs, but it happens nonetheless. The waves of Volta's pent up anger and resentment towards his own life hit Rowan like a storm, but he doesn't move. An unstoppable meets an immovable object and they coexist. Only then, in the small confined space of Volta's bedroom but it's enough. Something changes and the snowball starts rolling down the hill without either of them realising it.
They keep meeting, this time deliberately, in the darkest nights. The nights when the shadows creep a bit too close for comfort, when the intrusive thoughts overstay their welcome. They hold on to each other and slowly but surely, they start healing. They start doing other things too, shy hands meeting each other in the darkness, soft whispers and softer kisses. They want to leave. They want to live. All of these things are secrets, existing only in these late night meetings.
They meet, for what Rowan assumes to be the last time, in the fiery madness of the Tonist cloister. He turns the corner just in time to see Volta put his scythe ring on the finger of a corpse lying against the wall. It's covered in his bloodstained yellow robe. Volta looks up and holds Rowan's gaze.
"Come with me." He says and Rowan has never wanted to do anything in his life this much.
"I can't."
Volta nods, and a fleeting kiss later, he's gone. Rowan picks up his sword. He hears Scythe Chomsky's maniacal cackling nearby. It's a start.
They don't meet again for a long time and Rowan is glad. He knows that what he's doing is not exactly morally acceptable, but it's necessary. Still, he's slightly ashamed of Scythe Lucifer. He knows what the scythedom thinks of him and he wonders if Volta shares that opinion. He doesn't like thinking about that. And then, Rand flies back into his life like a tornado, sweeping up him and Tyger. Rowan is more afraid than ever in that house, watching his friend's newfound strength go to his head. Before he knows it, Goddard is back and Tyger is gone. Rowan is tired, he's scared, and he's lost.
Volta finds him and Rowan can't quite bring himself to believe he's real. But when they make it out, safe and alive, when he feels the wind on his face again, he believes it.