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Mortefi would claim that he doesn’t know Rover well, or at least the two of them don’t talk much even when Rover comes to visit. Oftentimes, he thinks that the other resonator is simply here to see Xiangli Yao – it would make sense, he’s the supposed genius who may be able to lend a hand in these matters. After all, the two of them must understand each other well.
However, it doesn’t make him any less jealous.
He tries not to think too much about it, tries not to turn his head when Rover does visit. It’s not like they know each other well. The General has told him what happened against the Dreamless.
What he doesn’t expect, this particular visit, is for Rover to actually come to see him.
“Do you have time?” Rover prompts, his voice warm in a way that reminds Mortefi of the sun that he hasn’t seen in hours. “I’ll buy you coffee afterwards, or lunch, or dinner. Whatever you want– Provided you give me a few chores to run.”
“You could start off by offering to help me with some experiments first, Rover. Or bother some other researchers.”
“Yeah but you’re the easiest one to talk to.”
Mortefi tries not to think too much about what this means. After all, he’s sure anyone would love Rover’s help. There’s a whole line-up that will take him in for some stimulation. It doesn’t answer why Rover is talking to him about it though.
The other resonator snorts. “I’ll literally kill as many TDs as you need me to, Mortefi– Mortefi I’m so bored. ”
At times like this, where Rover slouches over the table as if he’s made out of liquid, the one thing that comes to mind is how much like a cat he is.
“Fine,” he replies back without any heat. Part of him wonders why Rover is offering to help him today of all days. “I do have something for you to test, provided you don’t teach the Midnight Rangers to continue throwing their weapons.”
Rover chokes down a laugh. “I never taught them that, if you wanted to know.”
“Right, because Xiangli Yao finally told me that you finally got yourself an actual sword after throwing out who knows how many before now–”
Now Rover simply looks downright guilty, forget about someone with endless battle knowledge, he looks like one of the newer researchers that Mortefi knows. The ones who get all shy when confronted about their previous ridiculous exploits. Or that time where they forgot to bring paper and had to write on a napkin for their findings instead.
“Technically, it was a gift,” Rover explains.
Mortefi simply turns to him and blinks. “That makes it worse, Rover. You do know that sounds worse right?”
–
It’s not to say that the Midnight Rangers will always end up losing their weapons but given how their training is like, Mortefi believes this weapon is for the best. Nevermind how he’s now keenly aware that those native to Jinzhou fight similarly to Rover.
Which means if Rover finds the weapon easy to use, then he’s solved the majority of the problem. After all, most Midnight Rangers fight in a variation of his style.
“Say,” Rover asks, curious as he swings the blade around then spins it around his wrist as if it’s second nature. “Does Jiyan know you’re making this for the front lines?”
“A bit, but you’re my guinea pig,” Mortefi simply explains. “You’re the only one that I know who spins your blades around that much and keeps on losing the cheaper ones–”
“That was only three times!”
Instead, Mortefi simply hands the blade to Rover without another word. “There’s a hoard of Tacet Discords up ahead. Make sure you don’t lose what I just handed you.”
Rover laughs, his voice echoing around the area like a bell. For a moment, he breathes, tries not to think too much about the sheer havoc that the other man will cause. Instead, he takes out a timer, then his page of statistics so far as he simply follows behind Rover.
It’s only now that Mortefi notices how Rover holds onto a weapon. Unlike the other soldiers – unlike even General Jiyan – Rover holds onto the sword he made like an extension of his own body. Then as they arrive in front of the Tacet Discords, Mortefi already knows that he will be safe as Rover unleashes the spectro that he has channeled into the new blade.
“I think you should stand back, just in case Mortefi,” Rover comments, all business.
He snorts. “And I can take care of myself fine, Rover.”
And so it goes with Mortefi taking notes as the other resonator cleans up every Tacet discord in a few blows. Part of him wonders if Rover has ever gone all out in a fight but Mortefi also doubts it as the TDs vanish into nothing around them.
Then:
“You never told me why you wanted something to do,” he finds himself saying without a second thought. “Weren’t you off at Rinascita?”
The other resonator doesn’t immediately reply. “Mortefi,” Rover then prompts, his voice quiet. “Do you think wiping your memories means you die?”
“That’s philosophical.”
“Well, you’re the most direct person that I know of,” the other resonator explains as he sheaths the blade in one swift motion. “And you’re the person who’ll tell exactly what you think rather than what I would want to hear.”
“Oh.” That means Rover’s basically putting a knife in his hands, because he trusts him. “I suppose it could be argued that it would count as a death but your instincts would stay. It would be very difficult to rewrite those aspects of an individual. You, yourself is a good example of that.”
Rover nods, passing over the new tacitite blade. “Right and what about the memory wipes as a concept?”
“What you did in the past isn’t my business.”
The resonator laughs, light and hollow. “It was so that more people could have a shot at a better future no matter the cost. I don’t know if it was the right choice then.”
A beat.
“Would you do the same knowing what you do now?” Mortefi simply asks. “Toss away the connections that you’ve found here on Solaris-3.”
“I don’t know. More than a few people would take it poorly.”
“You’re overthinking it, everyone does what they think is the best way to get the outcome they want. It’s why I even came to Jinzhou in the first place,” he replies with a shrug. “Plus, why ask me? Why try to ask me to give you something to do, to ask this?”
Silence hangs between them, the buzzing of the bugs is the only thing that can be heard. Then the sound of TDs fighting each other in the distance.
Instead of replying immediately, Rover closes his hand on Mortefi’s wrist. It’s out of nowhere and it doesn’t stop him from flinching at the touch. He’s never been one for affection, this isn’t any different. But he doesn’t shove Rover’s hand off of his skin.
“I trust you,” Rover repeats. “I trust you to judge me fairly more than anyone else in Jinzhou. After what happened, I can’t say that I trust myself to see myself from humanity’s perspective.”
Mortefi feels like an executioner instead, one somehow holding the knife when he doesn’t want to. It doesn’t matter if he can tell Rover what is the closest objective perspective because he doesn’t want to do it.
He pulls Rover close instead because he doesn’t know what to say. “Then you should stay. Instead of rushing to save the world.”
“I’m quite bad at doing that.”
Yet that somehow cascades into this. Somehow, through his comment, Rover starts visiting him more. And it’s surprisingly romantic all things considered – though their occasional tacet discord trips are the ones that Mortefi are the most fond of. The data he gathers is fascinating.
How Rover thinks during a fight are more things for him to consider and it’s interesting. Unlike Jiyan who fights with a bit of foresight as well as strategy, Rover doesn’t.
Then, how attuned Rover inherently seems attuned to whatever weapon Mortefi hands him to test out.
–
“So how much would I have to pay you so I can use the prototype a bit longer–”
“That’s a rectifier, Rover.”
“Mortefi, I throw anything hard enough that the TDs will die on impact anyways–”
“Give it back if you’re going to do that.”
“Mortefi!”
–
Then at some point, Rover starts taking him out for dinner when he comes to visit. Apparently the room which the Magistrate comes with a kitchen and well–
“I like cooking for other people,” Rover explains. “At least that way it means no one’s buying me food constantly like Zani back in Rinascita.”
“Hey, free food is free food,” Mortefi points out with a grin as he sits down at the small table. Really, he’s not sure how they got to this in whatever they have going on. “You’re not supposed to say no to your co-worker’s offer. In the New Federation that’d be considered poor etiquette.”
“We’re not co-workers though. I don’t work for the Montellis.”
“The sentiment still stands. Maybe you should give her a homemade pizza at some point. No one turns down free food.”
Rover snorts. “Is that also why you also accepted my invite? For free food?”
“I’m not the one cooking so it’s a bonus,” Mortefi replies back without any heat. It’s not the fact that he can’t cook with his own fusion abilities, it’s the sheer fact that he would love to if work wasn’t so draining.
(There’s only so much of Xiangli Yao one can tolerate before it becomes headache inducing.)
“Plus, I think you’d invite someone like Xiangli Yao,” he remarks as he flips his lighter about. “He looks closer to your age.”
Rover promptly walks into the closest opened cabinet door. When he backs away there’s a look of absolute confusion on his face. “He’s absolutely not someone my age, Mortefi. He calls me an old man for how I act– I like hanging out with you more because I don’t feel as old.”
“Or you could just say that you like my company more,” Mortefi offers.
“Let’s go with that then.”
Before he knows it, there’s food on the table as Rover pulls out the chair across from him. If Mortefi wished to lie to himself, he would say that this place feels like a home, a small one but it’s safe here. He doesn’t know if Rover feels the same, rather, he wonders if Rover has ever felt like he belonged anywhere.
But here? Here they’re just a wanderer and a scientist.
And the food that Rover makes is something else entirely, it’s the best that he’s had in a while that even reminds him of what the maids back in the New Federation made.
Then:
“So what is it that you want out of this relationship?” he finds himself asking over the dishes that Rover has made. All of them are Jinzhou’s speciality dishes with a few Rinascita tossed in.
“I don’t know,” Rover admits. It’s probably the closest thing to the truth, they’re both two blind fools stumbling around in the dark when it comes to feelings except Mortefi knows what he wants.
But he also knows that Rover will always choose Solaris-3 over whoever he chooses to stay with. After all, the Lament is still ongoing. He’s also still a weapon developer so that humanity can stand a chance but all the same–
“And I know what I want.” Because Mortefi is nothing if not direct even if Rover seemingly looks away. For someone who should be avoiding connecting with others, the other resonator seemingly is one who can’t turn away from humanity at all.
It’s like everyone who live here in Jinzhou and on Solaris-3 are a flame that Rover ends up flying towards when he shouldn’t. But at the same time, it’s like he can’t stop himself.
“I want you in my life,” he continues easily. He’s not like the others around Rover, Mortefi refuses to be that type of person who can’t spit out what they feel. At least this way, they’ll end this conversation without the ‘what ifs’ haunting them into tomorrow. “As a partner or as someone you trust, frankly I don’t care but I want you.”
“Even if I’m awful at this whole partner business?” Rover asks, awkward. “Mortefi, I can’t stay in one place when the rest of Solaris-3 needs help. It’s not that I don’t trust you–”
“I’m not asking you to.” Frankly, he doesn’t care what happens in the other regions on this damned planet. “I just want you to come back here whenever you need to get out of your head or else you’re going to want to off yourself if you keep it all locked in that head of yours.”
“I can take care of myself.”
It comes out of Rover’s mouth like a lie, one that he’s been telling himself for a long time and Mortefi can’t stop himself from taking Rover’s hands into his own.
“Tell me what’s been going on then.”
A beat.
And for the first time, Rover finally opens his mouth to admit what’s wrong– what’s been haunting him for all of these months that looms over him like a whole boulder that he’s carrying on his body.