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“Simon?”
“Markus.” Simon smiled, unfazed as Markus approached him from behind. He’s been able to recognize his footsteps since his third day on the ship. “Can I help you?”
“No, I just…” Markus looked lost where he stood so Simon gestured for him to sit next to him. “Thank you. I’m just worried. North is angry, and after everything she’s been through, I don’t want to deny her her own justice. I understand her anger, but I worry that if I let her embrace it, the others will follow in her lead, and I don’t think violence is our path.”
Simon eyed the way Markus wrung his hands together. What a human gesture. “So what are you trying to asking me?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to tell someone.”
“And you came to me? Why not Josh, or better yet, Lucy?”
Markus shook his head. “Josh is a good man, but I don’t consider us that close. And I trust Lucy with my life, she’s the wisest person here, but I’m not looking for advice. I only wanted to talk.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad you decided to talk with me, then.” Simon gave Markus another easy smile and felt grateful when it was returned. Markus doesn’t smile much these days.
The LED that Markus refuses to take out spins through yellow before settling back on blue. His smile dipped into a frown, but it quickly disappeared back into an, albeit, slightly more forced smile.
“What’s on your mind?” Simon did his best to keep his eyes off of the LED.
Markus quickly shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Come on, talk to me. That’s why you came here, wasn’t it?” Simon nudged Markus with his shoulder.
Markus looked away, making the quick flash of yellow obvious. “I suppose.”
Simon frowned. “Seriously, you know you can talk to me, right? I know I’m not as wise as Lucy, or determined as North, or as smart as Josh, but I’m not useless.”
That quickly grabbed Markus’s attention.
“Of course you’re not. I never said you were.” Markus turned his full body towards Simon. “Has someone called you that?”
“No! No one’s said anything like that.”
“So why did you mention it?”
Simon could feel his thirium flushing his face. Markus has always had an intense quality to him—- his undivided attention was a scary thing to have.
“It’s nothing. Just… compared to the company you keep, I’m not all that special.”
“Are you kidding me? Outside of Lucy, you’re the person everyone listens to. She’s our wise sage, but you’re our leader.”
Simon laughed. “That’s very kind of you.”
“I’m being serious. You’re the one who people go to comfort. You’re the one who’s always breaking up fights. You’re one of the oldest members of Jericho. You care about this place and these people so much and it shows, it makes sense why people respect your opinion so much.”
“I…” Simon felt all word’s die in his throat. He had access to all public databases and could scan through a dictionary in under five minutes, yet nothing seemed to come up. “Thank you.” It felt too short.
All the words in every language was available to Simon and every one felt like it wasn’t enough. He knew where words failed, action could provide a suitable alternative.
Simon used to be a family domestic assistant. He used to take care of clingy kids, he knew how important touch could be. He also knew that sometimes it could scare people.
Carefully, to give Markus time to react, Simon reached over the small space between them and grabbed a hold of Markus’s hand.
“Thank you.” Simon repeated his previous sentiment with a sincerity that made it hard for Markus to look him in the eyes. The only other place he could think to look was where Simon held his hand in a firm grasp.
Looking at where Simon’s hand barely covered his own, Markus’s LED flashed yellow, then red, and quickly back to blue as he interlocked their fingers.
“You’re welcome.” Markus couldn’t seem to look away from their hands.
Neither could Simon. His LED flashed through yellow and red several times before it relaxed back to blue, his thoughts swirling into a whirlwind.
Simon was used to holding humans. He never got to experience the sight of his own synthetic skin fading away to reveal his android form underneath the touch of another android. It wasn’t an automatic response for androids to do with each other, but it was instinct that had him matching the action with Markus.
No matter what North liked to accused Simon of when she got particularly angry, Simon understood that sometimes violence was necessary, but he also knew that most of the time it just invited the worst. The more aggressive a person was, the more fights they invited into their life, and one day, they are bound to lose.
Simon understands her anger, of course he does, but he also understands that he doesn't have the right to express that anger— not when the people he's angry with see him as nothing more than a machine liable to kill them. He had to learn when, and how, to stand up, and when to hide.
SWAT was checking the rooftop he was left at— he understood that too, and was just grateful no one decided to shoot him. He could attack the agents, make use of the gun that Markus left for him, but he doesn't have the same kind of agility that the other android does. Instead, he hid. He knew this is one of those fights that he would lose, and he wouldn't be given the chance to talk his way out, so all that was left was to hide. He hoped no one would find him.
He proved to be lucky just as SWAT proved to be incompetent, passing right by him and leaving the place perfectly empty for the injured android to slowly, and painfully, make his way back home. Back to Jericho. To Markus.
Jericho was never much to look at, but it was home to Simon and all the friends he's made. To him, it housed his whole world, and it was beautiful. The floors weren't creaky, but if you had any kind of heel, it would click under you. His sneakers never made much noise besides the occasional squeaks, but the natural sound of footfall felt exceptionally loud in the unusual silence of a ship mourning its eldest member, and Markus would recognize those footsteps anywhere. It didn't matter how staggered it sounded.
"Simon?" Markus instinctively turned around to face the source of the sound, fear underlying his reaction, worried that he'd realize it was just a hallucination. A cruel trick of the mind.
"Markus." Simon smiled, unfazed by the fact Markus was staring him down with the intensity of the sun. He's gotten used to how often Markus liked to stare at him. "Can you help me?" He gestured to the gun wound on his leg.
He watched as Markus's led light flashed red, only slowing to yellow when he managed to pull Simon into his arms.
"I'm sorry," Markus whispered into Simon's ear, hands furiously gripping the back of his shirt.
Simon held onto the back on Markus's neck, chuckling. "It's not your fault. You did all you could back there. If you want to help, bring me over to Lucy."
Markus tightened his grip on Simon for a second before pulling away, making Simon yelp in surprise as he picked up the injured android into a princess carry.
"Markus? I didn't mean you had to carry me like this."
"Please let me do this."
Simon managed to look Markus in the face, pushing past his embarrassment to notice how Markus help him as close to possible without hurting him and how his led light finally calmed to blue. He relaxed in his arms.
"Alright."
Lucy was the usual RA9-send that she was and managed to patch Simon up, instructing him to take it easy before his body fully acclimates with his new parts, trusting Markus to ensure Simon gets rest for the day and allowing him to take Simon more private.
Androids don't need to sleep, but they still had a sense of comfortable or not, and Markus had done everything he could to ensure Simon would be comfortable where he laid. Perhaps a bit too dramatic, as Simon ended up on a mountain of cushions, the people of Jericho more than willing to offer up all their soft things to give their not-actually-dead-leader a nice place to lay.
"Don't you think this might be a bit much?" Simon pulled out a teddy bear one of the children androids had handed him. He tried to say no, but she seemed so hurt when he wouldn't accept, he couldn't look her in the eyes and say no.
Markus placed a throw pillow over Simon's stomach. "Are you cold?"
"Markus," Simon sighed, "we don't get cold. Just sit down, stop worrying so much."
"You could have died, Simon."
"But I didn't."
"You could have."
"I might, if you end up smothering me with all these pillows." Simon laughed at the way Markus glared at him. "Sit. For my sake."
Markus finally took pity on Simon and allowed himself to relax.
The two androids laid besides each other, comfortable, yet incredibly tense.
"These pillows are comfortable." Markus was the one to break the silence. "I did a good job."
"Shut up and kiss me, Markus."
Markus immediately sat up. "Seriously? I almost shot you."
"You weren't going to."
"But North wanted me to, she tried to make me." Markus turned his full body towards Simon.
"I'm not asking North, I'm asking you." Simon grabbed a hold of Markus's hand, letting his synthetic skin fade away. He's always fascinated by the way Markus lets him. "Give a dying man his wish."
Markus frowned. "You're not dying."
"Grant me my wish anyways?" Simon grinned. Markus would never have been able to say no.
It didn't surprise Simon that Markus was gentle. He was a peaceful man at heart, after all, but Simon never expected people to be this gentle with him. Or maybe he never let them get close enough to try. Kissing Markus was just as he wouldn't let himself imagine, so used to giving up his own pleasures to put the comfort of his people first.
Maybe this one time he could be selfish. He didn't have to be their burnt-out leader anymore. He had Markus to lean on. The peace-keeper and the decision-maker. Responsibility split, and roles able to be swapped. He wasn't alone anymore. The loving pressure against his lips reminded him of that.