By your side!

                      The big amount of sugar is kicking his gears back into action. Maybe a little too much. “You have more of that stuff?”

               “… so hungry!”

Rock took the box in both hands, hesitating at first, wondering how he should proceed in the moment. Should he just– take it home, and look at it later, or…? 

No. No, he wanted to open it now. She brought it for him to open here. Rock took a swallow of nervous anticipation, resting the box in one arm and grasping the bottom of the lid. Come to think of it, didn’t this box look like the kind of one that came from a clothing store…? 

He fell silent. 

What lay nestled inside, folded with care, was a complete ensemble. A steely grey coat and pants, a form-fitting black undershirt, thick-soled shoes… He understood the style. He understood it right away; this was… This was a carefully-chosen, direct counterpart for Roll’s own clothes. But what truly got him was what lay on top. 

A hat. A squared-off cap, tall to accommodate for his hair– with a metal plate on the front. 

This wasn’t something she just picked up. No, this was custom-ordered.  Made to look like the hat she’d been left by her father, right there on her head.  That most closely-held item of hers, she wanted to share with him. 

“…I-I…” Huh. His cheek was wet, for some reason. Raising a hand, he wiped it away. “I’m… I’m glad for this. For this just– being what it is. Thanks, Roll.”

He calmly set the hat back down on top, carefully placed the lid back on, and turned away, walking a few paces towards their new property.

“I’ve, uh… I’ve been working towards this for a while. It’s been hard to; I could never seem to get any of my gear back to get started.” He threw his arms out to either side. “Then, you showed up,and suddenly things started coming together for me!” 

Rock let his arms drop, head tilted back towards the sky, letting silence pervade for a good minute or so.

“…Things never really– changed up there, you know?” 

He raised an arm to rub at the other uncomfortably, turning back towards Roll now, eyes cast down. The usual light in his eyes was lacking, for the moment.

“I was just doing my best to get by, on Elysium. Was stuck subsiding on life support all the time. No food, no sunlight, just– nothing.” He bared that embarrassed grin same as usual, chuckling quietly. “Now suddenly, life’s moving for me again. I guess this…goes to show just how much I need you, huh?” 

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he strides towards her abruptly, closing the distance between them. Reaching forward, he seeks out her hands, taking them in his own.

“Listen, Roll – I know that…it bothered you. Seeing me– different, then how you helped make me.” 

He remembered perfectly clear the complicated look on her face, seeing the shifts in his armor, the replaced pack, the adjustments to his Buster; all work that Yuna and Sera had done on him to help last on Elysium, bringing him closer to his original format of Trigger. She did her best to disguise it, but he knew her all too well to be as fooled as he’d pretended to be.

The look on her face, that made it seem like someone had stolen that from her.

“That’s why I…tried to bring a bit of home to this; I just… I just needed you to know that, even after all that’s happened, I never forgot what matters most to me.” He squeezes her hand tightly. “I needed you to know I’m still your R–” 

He cuts himself off almost-instantly, eyes widening and face beginning to turn red as he catches how far he was going. He jerks his head to the side, giving a few forced coughs.

“I, uh…” His voice fades to murmurs, unable to look her in the eye.  “N-Never mind.”

Both surprises evoked a lot of emotion in them. What remained unspoken since Roll’s arrival poured in an instant and to her, it meant more than the entire universe. It pained her knowing the truth behind his stay in Elysium. It wasn’t as pleasant but that was likely obvious, she just didn’t want to think the worst out of it. 

That as long as they could meet eventually, distance didn’t matter because others cared for him.

However, he cut himself and embarrassment crept on his face. Roll wasn’t about to have it. Not now or ever. Didn’t he understand how important this was? That at any moment, all could be lost.

“No, you just can’t start something and take it back! Quit being so unfair! I’ve waited long enough, haven’t I?! I want to hear everything you have to say! You always kept enduring everything by yourself, I felt so guilty not being able to do anything... I just... you were so far away... and now that you’re here, will you still keep your distance?” He was so strong but Roll always understood how overwhelming it could be, having the weight of the world on your shoulders. It was no daily task, not one that he should have been burdened with. 

She was glad that things have improved for him, that her presence influenced positively and offered change. It was mutual in that sense, she was capable of going on because of him. 

“Of course I was jealous that you were so different when I saw you but as long as you were fine I could manage and I’m so grateful! Honestly, I owe your other friends a lot for keeping you safe and supporting you while I couldn’t!” Placing her own achievements as a mechanic aside, it was nothing that troubled her as deeply and it did not overshadow her happiness. Meeting him again was all that concerned her these last years. Sometimes guilt plagued her, it was painful to realise how much she had missed from his life. 

Bits and pieces they would never get back. A lifetime spent together and it was taken from them, so meaningless when seeing the bigger picture. Roll took back his hands into hers, squeezing them to provide reassurance. 

“Rock, no matter what happens I’ll always be here for you! I would go to the moon or anywhere else to be at your side! Or go against everything if I gotta, ‘coz I mean it when I say that I love you!”

Silence. 

Roll wasn’t processing what was going around and even more what her mouth was spouting,  although spoken with the most sincerity in her heart -- it was not properly planned, merely said in the heat of the moment. Her feelings were flowing so freely that her words matched the raw intensity of her heart.

So much for demanding he saw her eye to eye. 

📚  Oh, so that made two of them. “I’ve started to study the languages and cultures all over this place.” Sure, they’re not interested in the same field of studies, but he can certainly relate to her passion. “Its weapons are all hidden inside it.“ He’s stepping closer to the doll now and looks at the visible markings.

“Hm. These do look like runes by the Nornir.” He carefully removes some dust from the lower parts. “— but to decipher these will take some time.”

Did she say digger? Is she digging for treasures? A thought starts to form in Dortin’s mind, but he quickly dismisses it again. No. It wouldn’t be right to make use of this situation.

“Well— it could definitely protect you from these that use magic, assuming magic truly works the same way in all different places. I guess— I could figure out how to turn it on, but— these things are dangerous and I can hardly say what will happen IF we manage to turn it on.” Would it acknowledge us as its masters? I doubt it would. It IS a little tempting though. “I— can give the text a try at least, if you want? Maybe the runes will tell us where the doll comes from.”

Finding other’s with such avid curiosity wasn’t as hard but Roll had a difficult time in settling down for a second with all the work she tried to do. In this case, he had her full attention as someone with more knowledge and gave her the opportunity to listen carefully. 

“Woaaah! So it’s also equipped to fight. They didn’t lose a chance at making it very deadly and useful.” Her eyes grew wider, observing with detail the parts of the killing doll. What else it could do?! She needed to see it firsthand and if he knew how to work around this device, it meant that they could dissemble eventually. However, Roll wanted to find out how to make it work first before destroying any part. 

“If you know, then it’s time to put those skills into use. Show me what you got.”

She was going to be a very willing participant and to watch very closely how he did it. 

“What are we waiting for? Start the magic! We’ll figure out later what to do!”

“No, nothing’s wrong! I just didn’t–” ‘Didn’t expect it’, yeah that would play well. Even if he had reason for that mindset. He cuts himself off with a throat clearing, gesturing her along. “–let’s, uh, let’s just keep going.”

Rock continued leading her down the sidewalk, heading about halfway down the block– before abruptly stopping, and turning to the left. What lay beyond was a pathway leading up a slight hill incline, a moderately-sized building sitting in the middle of the lot. Two stories, with a larger first floor, and what appeared to be a garage leading in from the eastern side, with plenty of room to work in. 

Obviously, it was a newly-acquired lot for a private business. At first, Roll might be confused by why exactly Rock would be showing her this…but once she had a better look at it, there was a detail she surely should notice: 

The place was painted to look like the Flutter.  This was theirs.

“Ehehe…” And there was that innocent sheepishness right on cue, Rock rubbing the back of his head. “S-Surprise?”

“Surprise!? That’s all you’re saying?! Look at all of this! This is more than just a simple surprise! Geez, how could you keep it to yourself for so long!? What else have you hidden from me!” In a short instant, she had already thrown her arms around his shoulders in a very eager hug. Shaking him as she jumped up and down, unable to stay still. Her hug barely lasted, as she had to admire even closer the finer details. Despite how she spoke as if lecturing him, it was obvious how happiness was pouring out of her voice. 

“Rock, you--....!!” Speechless, Roll continued motioning at everything with one hand as if he had not seen it already. Her eyes couldn’t believe themselves as of yet, her heart swelling from joy and amazement at the same time. It was such a huge place, all for them. 

All to continue their work, their dreams. And he put every bit of home here.

“....You’re too much! Seriously, how did you do it!? I-- It’s great! No, it’s incredible! I--” Allowing a cool down moment, the mechanic let out a long sigh so she could gather her thoughts. That was a whole looot to take in. Her flustered face had yet to decide how to express her excitement. There were not enough words to properly display how happy she was, the best option was to use the regular way of conveying gratitude: “Thank you.”

It wasn’t a competition and she had no reason to compare both but next time, she’ll definitively repay him tenfold. Thankfully, she hadn’t thrown away the box a moment ago. Clothes were useful, weren’t they? An outfit to match her own, carefully picked out with that in mind. It was a tad embarrassing to admit but she had written even worse in her diary, so it was fine to let her affection slip. 

A broad smile crossed Rock’s face as he saw Roll hurriedly making her way over. True, they’d spent plenty of time together since she arrived, but this was the first he was seeing her after everything had died down… It was relieving, getting to have this without worry again. 

“Nah, I actually was taking care of something a couple minutes ago!”  He stood from the bench, meeting her halfway there. “I was worried about being late, to be honest!”

“…Oh? You–?” He blinked in surprise, pointing towards her inquisitively. “You have something?”

Well, this was a bit awkward… He didn’t really want Roll to feel inadequate or anything compared to what he had in store! Well…either way, they were already this far into it, so… 

“Alright, I guess we can see about that afterwards!” He began walking back down the way he’d came, motioning for her to follow along. “For now, I have that thing I need to show you! We’ll just need to walk from here, is all.”

A sigh of relief left her lips, if only she had the capacity of arrive faster... Times like these made her miss terribly the support car, which would have come in handy more than ever. Public transport wasn’t as fun when you were in a hurry!  

He was closer to the area than Roll but he still worried of arriving late, it was painfully cute and she couldn’t hold back a giggle. That’s Rock for you.

“Yes, something for you. Is that wrong?” He didn’t respond in a way she would have expected. Roll tilted her head, a bit confused in his reaction. What was he hiding? Only one way to find out! Placing his present under her arm, she took in his hand.

“Alright, you show me first then. Lead the way.”

@rollchanic​

Rock backup up from the entrance, having finished his third inspection of the building, sizing it up with a puffed chest of pride. In terms of size, it wasn’t a terribly big place at all– but that was fine. It was bigger than the Flutter, and that’s all he and Roll had needed in the past, right? 

Speaking of which… Shoot, he only had a couple of minutes to get over there. It was all good though, everything was put into place!

With a leisurely gait, Rock strolled his way down the street, eventually arriving at the bus stop at the end of the block, sitting himself down on the bench there. Now, all he had to do was wait for her to show up… Ahhh, this was gonna be so great–!

It was with her brightest smile that she went outside today, her patience was running thin and exploding from the wait might occur if she didn’t deliver her surprise to Rock as soon as possible. Somehow, she managed throughout the entire ride even if arriving felt like ages. 

“Rooock!” A hand waved as she dropped off the bus, the mechanic running toward her childhood friend with her common eagerness.

✔  REPOST!           ✘  don’t reblog.          ➤   BOLD  what applies to your muse.

DAISY: wears their heart on their sleeve. soft voice. minimalist clothing. laying in a field of tall grass. walking barefoot. puts other people’s happiness above their own.

BELLFLOWER: very consistent friend. happy face with sad eyes. careful touches. hiding a blush. light giggles. makes friends easily. knows how to make you smile.

PROTEA: proud. big gestures. blushes easily. tries to look tough but is really just a big softie. content where they are. doesn’t love easily, but always deeply.

MOONFLOWER: knowing smiles. doesn’t open up easily. late night. tired eyes. soft skin. not as innocent as they seem. loose clothing.

BLEEDING HEART: hopeless romantic. still laughs at dirty jokes. believes they can change the world. caring looks. dyed hair. kisses on the cheek.

SUNFLOWER: big smiles. always looking for the positive. lots of friends. warm afternoons. basking in the sun. stares off into space a lot. sitting in comfortable silence.

“So tell your boyfriend, if he says he’s got beef…”

“THAT I’M A VEGETARIAN, AND I… EAT…LEAF!”

“What if you didn’t start off on the best foot with them?”