#brantfrover

Brant wouldn’t admit this to anyone, not even to Rover herself, but overhearing those very words come from her had been his motivation to weather of storm of Rinascita’s seemingly never-ending familial conflicts. No amount of trespassing Fractsidus or empty pockets could come even close to stopping him dead. When Brant ever felt as if he was beginning to lose his footing, the ever-looming thought of marrying Rover sent him right back to balanced on his own two feet.

His unusual merriment was noted by all, even Roccia, who had long since grown accustomed to his eccentric ways. Thus, when she inquired him about his noticeable shift in behavior, Brant merely froze up and made some sort of excuse to not give an honest answer.

It was just Brant being Brant, he hoped they would conclude, but hiding things was futile, when the way he smiled around Rover was unmistakable. Rather easy to come to the conclusion that whatever it was, it had something to do with her. Nobody had to ask, so nobody bothered to ask.

As time went on, the end to all only seemed to be further and further away. Nevertheless, the growing distance to the finish line was not enough to stop Brant from chasing it like an animal. Eventually, Rover’s seemingly came to a conclusion in Rinascita, and suppressing his hope and excitement became a near impossible task. He wanted to nudge her, somehow, but he couldn’t quite figure out a way to do so without alluding to him previously catching on.

On an clear night when the waves were at their calmest, Rover sat upon a cliff looking out over the sea. Happening to catch sight of her as he was passing by, Brant imagined this to be a most opportune moment. Though, he had gone in completely unarmed, and the entirety of his plans would be ad-libbed, he wasn’t about to pass up his chance should it arise within the conversation. Better yet, there was the possibility that Rover had a plan of her own, thus being a contributing factor in her decision to pass the time so distant from the crew. However, Brant mustn’t overexcite himself. At the very least, it would be time to spend with her alone, a treasure in itself.

Before he spoke a single word to her, Brant noted that Rover’s expression was rather somber. One would expect a more celebratory feeling, but perhaps exhaustion was weighing heavily on her. As she sat down on the ground silent, he stood tall besides her, overlooking the moon as it hovered over the sea, its reflection glistening magnificently in the gentle waves.

"Is this not a time for celebration?" Brant asked.

"For you, it might be," Rover said, sparing him a brief glance, "my problems still persist elsewhere in this world."

Brant tilted his head. "Why, whatever do you mean? The waters are calmer than they’ve ever been."

"Here, they may be, but I still have yet to find my answers. Unrest still persists elsewhere."

"...Elsewhere?"

Rover stood up and crossed her arms. "I’m leaving for the New Federation soon. As much as I would like to stay here, I’ll never find out who I really am, and these Tacet Discords will probably never stop coming."

Brant's heart dropped immediately upon hearing the word "leaving." It was as if nothing else she said after that registered in his mind.

"L-leaving?"

Rover nodded her head.

"As in, leaving me? And going away? Forever?"

"Hang on, I didn’t say-"

Rover perhaps should have chosen her words more slowly and carefully. No lies were stated, but Brant had a tendency to get just a little ahead of himself. She quickly turned up to look at him, and was greeted with the very rare yet all the more upsetting sight of the joy being completely drained from Brant’s face.

"W-wait! Tell me what I did wrong! Please!" Brant said, throwing himself down into her

If only she could get a word in. In between his desperate pleas, Brant was unknowingly squeezing her half to death, ignorant of his own physical strength. Rover would be shocked if Abby had yet to wake up after all of that commotion, but it probably learned to keep quiet after putting up with those two for so long.

"Brant..." Rover said, trying to at least wiggle an arm free.

It was hopeless. He was relentless. And he probably couldn’t hear her.

"Brant..." she once again said, louder.

He finally looked up at her. He looked like an absolutely pathetic sobbing mess, half slumped onto her and half on the ground. It was a sorry sight, even for someone like him. She couldn’t help but silently blame herself, in a way.

"Hold it," she said, sighing and pushing him back, "you’re jumping to conclusions way too quickly. I just said I was leaving for the New Federation, not leaving you. In fact, I didn’t even say anything remotely close to that."

"But you’re still leaving. And…and I cannot be sure if I’ll ever see you again," he said as he was attempting to stand up and straighten out his shirt.

"What makes you think that?" Rover asked, a bit confused at that point. "I’ll come back to see you. Promise. It’s just that I have a bit of divine nonsense that still needs straightened out.”

Which wasn’t an exaggeration, either. All of that "Sentinel" and "Lady Arbiter" talk only raised more questions than answers. Rover knew nothing, but she knew more than enough to blindly believe the claims of this so-called previous incarnation of hers...

Regardless, horse gods and Spectro dragons could wait. She had a more pressing matter to tend to at the moment.

"...You will? Promise?"

"You don’t look very convinced."

Brant shied away, as if he wanted to answer her with confidence but was still in shock from such a misunderstanding. Rover wasn’t exactly sure how she would be able to make amends. This matter was something that only time would be able to assure, but unfortunately, she didn’t have all of the time in the world. Plus, she couldn’t depart from Rinascita leaving Brant with such a feeling of dread.

An idea had occurred to her. But was too soon? At this point, hardly. She had known Brant for practically the entire time she was in Rinascita, and she had no intention of ever letting him go.

“Well,” she said as she started to shift through one of her pockets, “I did initially plan to save this for when things calmed down, but I have a feeling that won’t happen any time soon.”

As Brant anxiously watched her as she shifted through her pockets, a glimmer of worry fell upon Rover that, perhaps, she was rushing things after all, and instead her efforts seemed more desperate than genuine. Then again, would Solaris-3’s most genuine fool even be with her if he didn’t hold faith in her sincerity? If that were the case, then he would be nothing more than that; a fool. Any and all hesitation that was left lingering within her became a concern of the past once she had hooked her fingers around what she was seeking. She pulled it out, and presented her closed fist to Brant.

“…Do you believe me now?” she asked, opening her palm.

Brant looked down at the silver ring she held in the palm of her hand. Then he looked back at her. And back at the ring. And back and forth again. Something told Rover that he didn’t believe him, though this time, for entirely different reasons.

Now she felt as if she was the fool.

“My lady, you couldn’t possibly be asking me what I think you are?” Brant said, utterly bewildered. “There’s no way that Solaris-3’s most precious treasure could be wanting to spend her life with someone who amounts to nothing more than a mere stage performer.”

She nudged her palm up towards him a little closer. “There is a way. I won’t be able to stay in Rinascita much longer for now, but we will be tied together by something greater than the distance that will come between us.”

Brant reached out his hand as if to accept, but something still silently held him back. Rover grabbed his hand and placed it into her palm, or at least to the best of her ability, as his fingers alone were almost bigger than her hand.

“There are some things I dare not joke about,” she continued. “This is one of them”

Taking off his hat to use to hide the flustered expression on his face, Brant turned away and nodded his head. A complete and utter mess he was; a look that Rover never got tired of. He did manage to give her an answer, but it was not quite how she wanted it.

“Can’t hear you,” Rover said, smugly.

“My lady, I-I didn’t quite catch your question,” Brant said, making an obvious attempt to stall.

As much enjoyment as she got out of lovingly toying with him, perhaps this time, it would be best if she spared Brant’s heart health.

“I know you know exactly what I am asking you, but I’ll say it for your sake. Will you let me stand by your side not as your captain for a day, but as your wife, till death do us part?”

Brant closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if it was possible to screw up saying the word “yes.” Though it was him in question, after all, and it was more than possible. Still hiding the lower half of his face, he at least mustered up enough courage to look at her.

“Yes, my dear, with pleasure,” he said.

Rover could feel the nervousness in his hand, and so she was kind enough to aid in sliding the ring onto his finger for him. He glanced down at his hand momentarily in awe, then suddenly threw his arms around Rover and put his hat on her head, pulling it over her eyes so that she could not see the embarrassment that was present on his face. He was proving rather impossible to hold, given his large size, and Rover was using all of her might to keep him from tipping them over the side of the cliff.

He seemed to be crying. But at least, it was a happy cry.

“…How do you think the rest of the crew is going to take to this?” Rover asked, just then thinking of the new conundrum that had arisen. “Actually, how do you think Roccia is going to feel about this?”

“Ladies and gentlemen! We have returned, and I bring you the most stellar of news in regards to the honorary captain and I!”

Others had hardly bothered to bat an eye, except the few who were morbidly curious. Roccia, though rather used to such tomfoolery, turned to look, as a greeting from Brant of that scale never bought good news.

“Now, what are you up to this time?” she asked, with a deadpan expression.

Taking a brief glance at that theatre kid with his arms raised in the air, she saw a glimmer of silver light on his finger.

“No way, you actually did it,” she said in awe, having quickly come to the correct conclusion.

“Well, technically she did it,” Brant said, nudging Rover, “but, yes! Yes I did, indeed!”

“Is that so?” Roccia said, narrowing her eyes. “If that’s true, then at least half the crew owes me some money...”

Five, going on six, whole bottles of ale. Though he was loud and quite in her way, Rover was secretly thankful that Brant had decided to pull his chair closer to her for some friendly chatter. In the event that he would topple over, someone whose mind was still within the realm of Solaris-3 had to be around to catch him. It wasn’t an unlikely possibility either, as Brant was swaying around in his chair as if he were caught in an ocean storm. Rover, though a little tipsy herself, kept a watchful eye to make sure he didn’t knock his head off of something.

This seemed to be a regular occurrence, judging by the looks of everyone else’s expressions. They chatted ever so quietly while Brant was running his mouth practically announcing his business to the entire world.

"But, my dear friends, if only you were there to witness the moment I singlehandedly wiped out an entire swarm of Tacet Discords with one fell swoop of my blade!" Brant shouted, nearly tumbling forward and holding onto the back of Rover's chair for stability.

The crew nodded their head, pretending to agree with him in order to not drag out the topic any further. Roccia stared in unamused disbelief, but any argument against his claims would more than likely lead to a flamboyant lecture of his. So, she kept her mouth shut, despite clearly having some cruel words for Brant on her mind.

Rover wanted to humor him. It would more than likely result in some rather disgusted looks from the crew towards her for opening her mouth. But it would be funny. Thus, her internal debate was brief.

"Brant,~ " she said, "how about you tell us more about your heroic endeavors?"

As predicted, the entire crew redirected their disgusted gazes towards Rover.

"Anything for you, my dear friend!" Brant said excitedly, taking another hefty sip from the bottle. "Ohh…where to start…where to start…aha! One time, my blade alone managed to tame the likes of an echo the size of a million billion gulpuffs!!"

Rover knew he was certainly exaggerating, but she couldn’t help but crack a smile. The others, however, did not quite share her amusement.

"When I held out my sword," he continued, raising his bottle in sync with his words, "I beckoned to the great beast, 'Is it a challenge with the legendary Captain Brant that you seek?' Its massive eyes stared me down, knowing damn well it could swallow me with looks alone, and I could hear it say, 'I will humor your challenge, but do not be shocked when I strike you down with one fell swoop of my tail!' A cocky little bastard it was, just because it was bigger than me!"

Brant’s inner theater kid was shining through, much to the discontent of others. Roccia, the only one fully sober, might as well be hungover from his words alone. With each and every boast, Rover grew increasingly concerned that she was on the verge of throwing her cup of juice directly at his forehead.

Brant was trying to stand up to continue his performance, if one could call it that, but he could only manage to wobble on his chair. Rover braced herself to catch him, should he make it onto his feet, but he couldn’t quite harness the coordination to do so.

"That bastard, oooooh, was that bastard wrong! WRONG!" he continued, taking yet another drink. "I gave em’ a good ol’ taste of my trusty blade here! Never seen a big-eyed beast so agape with awe! Haha! Boy, did I send em’ runnin’ too. Bowed down in mercy and went swimming away like a good lil’ fishie."

"Brant. I just think that it didn’t want to put up with your crap," Roccia said, very matter of factly.

"Ahem. Who was there personally face the beast?"

"Who is the one drunk off of his- "

"Exactly!" he shouted, disregarding Roccia’s attempt at a jab at him. "I was there and I know best, meaning I know that my heroic actions are almost unmatched!"

"Almost?" Roccia said smugly.

"Almost! Because nobody can possibly compare to my star! My beautiful, glorious, all powerful star!"

Rover had a most awful feeling she knew who he was referring to. Roccia could see it in Rover’s eyes that she held her suspicions too, and was quite relieved that she wasn’t the direct target of his antics this time around. However, watching Brant loudly declare such things was horribly embarrassing for all around nonetheless. What was worse was that Brant had managed to make it onto his own two feet, and Rover’s eyes went wide with the knowledge that things were about to end badly.

"Nobody, nobody is mightier than my dear Rover! How I would sacrifice everything in my mind, body, and soul for her if she already wasn’t the best!"

"Brant..." Rover said, preparing herself to catch him, "you might want to take a seat. I don’t think you mean to say have of these things- "

"I mean every single word! Every single one!  Would I be so bold as to speak my mind if they were nothing but lies? Haha-urp!"

He was out of his mind and hiccupping like crazy yet still had the guts to take another hefty sip. Rover silently gazed at the others for help, but they had that look as if they were saying, "You’re on your own." Brant was unstable, and had just loudly gone out of his way to declare his love for Rover. Now would have been a perfect time to leave the situation without saying a word more. But she couldn’t just leave him here; the crew would more than likely let him fall on his head.

She kept looking back and forth between the crew and Brant, unsure of what exactly to do in this situation. Before she could come to any sort of conclusion, Brant finally lost his footing, and Rover quickly held out her arms to catch him. He was half-slumped against the chair, but she knew that if she were to let go, he would slide onto the floor like a slippery strand of seaweed. Despite the awkward position he was in, Brant seemingly couldn’t be happier.

"...Could you please excuse us for a moment?" Rover said.

The crew obliged, and took their remaining servings of ale with them. Seemed as if there were no hard feelings, and there was a silent agreement to speak no further on the topic. They were used to and perhaps even amused by his nonsense. Roccia was the only one who didn’t join them immediately. She walked around the other side of the table and helped lift up Brant onto the chair with an impressive amount of strength for her size. Kind of a surprising gesture of kindness after the look on her face earlier.

"Don’t say anything," she said before walking off. "He’s more of my nuisance anyways."

Brant, now comfortably seated on a chair yet still somewhat in Rover’s arms, could not hold himself back from collapsing onto her shoulder. He was beyond half asleep and not entirely with it, so Rover readjusted herself and let him lean against her. That meant she was going to be stuck there for quite some time herself, but it didn’t matter, as she was beginning to doze off from the ale that she drank.

"I told you..." Brant said, dozing off, "they fear me...but they rightfully fear you most..."

"Save it for later before you embarrass yourself further."

Brant’s hat was sliding off of his head. Rover slid it back up, somewhat covering his eyes so that he could rest well.

Some time later, Rover awoke to find that Brant was already awake himself. Quite the surprise, given how he drank astronomically more ale than everyone else combined. He was clutching his head with his hat in his lap, unsurprisingly hungover.

He glanced over at Rover slowly waking in the chair next to him and looked away.

"I...didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?"

"Well for starters," Rover said, "you claimed to be the biggest badass of the sea then slipped in one too many compliments about me."

"Compliments? As in..."

"You’ve straight up admitted to liking me."

"Rats..." Brant said, putting his hat back on and very wobblily standing up, "this isn’t how I wanted you to find out in the slightest.  Apologies, my dear lady."

Rover still had enough coordination to stand up and grab his sleeve before he could walk off. Brant, still feeling the effects of his binge prior, stumbled backwards.

"Find out? You couldn’t make it more obvious if you tried. I don’t think any mere friends quite say the things that you do."

"S-sorry," Brant said, mind still groggy and unable to form the proper words.

"I didn’t say I was mad," she said with a giggle, "I just think you’re an idiot sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Just sometimes. Like now. You should really be laying down instead of trying to hobble off on your own."

"And also for the fact that I even thought I had a chance with you, right?"

"No, you’re an idiot for assuming that I didn’t like you in return.”

Brant looked at her, absolutely baffled. He couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol in his system playing tricks on his mind or if she really, truthfully...

He lost his footing, but Rover was close enough by to stabilize him and wrap his arm around her shoulder.

Brant, relieved of the pressure of balancing himself, turned to Rover and said, "Thank you, my dear lady. I hardly deserve the likes of you."

"That’s like saying I don’t deserve greatest hero on the seas," she said with a smile.

"Huh? Where did that come from?"

"You’ve been awfully quiet," Rover said.

"Hm? I am merely enjoying a rare moment of a peaceful sea breeze. Nothing that should be a cause for your concern, my dear," Brant said, his gaze still seemingly lost amongst the waves.

"Peaceful and Brant do not belong together," Rover said. "You hungover or something?"

Brant shook his head. "It has been a... few days since I've last indulged myself in such. I assure you, that is not the case."

"Odd," she said, scratching her chin. "You sure you’re feeling okay?"

"Stellar as always, dear."

"I don’t believe it, you’re a liar."

"Since when would I ever lie to you?"

"Since now, apparently," Rover said, sliding down and sitting back-to-back with him. "You can tell me. You should know that I won’t be upset with you."

Silence was once more laid down thick between the two of them. Brant debated his next words carefully, attempting to figure out how to formulate his thoughts without inflicting too much worry or misunderstanding upon Rover. At the very least, he knew that carelessness was not to be called for in such a situation, as one can break themselves free of jail time and again but cannot escape a broken heart shattered into dust.

Too many directions that he could go. Brant decided to simply be frank with her.

"Do you...believe in anything I say, actually?" he asked.

"Of course," Rover said, briefly looking over her shoulder at him. "What bought this on, all of a sudden?"

"Don’t you find my mannerisms a bit...redundant? Irritating, even?"

"Why do you think that?"

"There’s only so much of a show one needs to put on for another. Overdo it, and an act will become nothing more than, well, just that."

"Act? I thought that you were just like that."

Brant hesitated for a moment.

"Throw around your words too recklessly, and all meaning they once held will be lost. To say one thing to a mere crewmate only to turn around and declare the same to the love of my life, wouldn’t that carry the implication that my words bear no weight?"

"I have no reason to believe that you have been anything but sincere to me. For a performer of your standing, you genuinely suck at faking your emotions."

"Nonsense!" Brant said, turning to look at her with a halfhearted smile. "Had I not said a world, you wouldn’t know any better upon seeing me just now!"

Rover once more turned her head to look back at him. Brant's smile was as big as ever, but there was no denying that lingering glint of sadness in his eyes.

"I know you too well. Those beautiful eyes of yours could never lie."

Defeated right out of the gate, Brant’s smile quickly faded as he turned back around and slumped against Rover’s back.

"Ah...so nothing really does get past you," he said with a hefty sigh. "That must mean that, if you do see everything, then surely you must know."

"Know what?"

"That every little thing I say to you, I mean from the bottom of my heart. My words to you do not carry the purpose of serenading you into a trap, but rather, they serve as a declaration of my honest feelings."

"What’s got you worked up about this all of a sudden?" Rover asked, a little confused. "Was Roccia picking on you again?"

"Oh, I worry not about her. She hardly has a say in such thoughts of mine. It’s more of like...the more that I spend time with you, the more that it solidifies my desire to make you a permanent part of my crew."

"But I’m already part of your crew, aren’t it?"

Brant took off his hat and started fanning himself with it.

"Ah...well...it’s like, different than what you think I mean. Probably. When I say those kind of things to you, the feeling I get is much different than that from the friendly banter with my crewmates. And, I am not going to lie, my dear lady, it has me wondering about the weight that my words truly bear.”

To hear Brant be so thoughtful, yet so distressed compared to his normally flamboyant ways was rather disheartening to Rover. She couldn’t help but wonder if an offhand comment from Roccia triggered this downwards spiral after all, despite his claims.

“You’re speaking theatrical nonsense. Tell me, what’s really on your mind? It’s not like you to beat around the bush like this.”

Hat still in hand, Brant turned himself around and threw his arms around Rover’s shoulders. He nudged his face against hers, like a pathetic puppy begging for attention. There was nothing fake about the look of sadness in his eyes. There was no way one could fake such a blush, either.

“Rover, dear, y-you do know that I really love you, right? Like, I mean it! Every single word! I just wish I could express it better!”

“…Express it better?”

“I wouldn’t even believe myself with such choice of words. But please believe me!”

Noticing that he was on the verge of tears, Rover rested her palm against the side of his face and stroked it gently with her thumb to try and bring some sort of comfort to him. He relaxed against the side of her head, but was still looking at her with desperation.

“Dear Brant, I never for a moment thought that you were faking it. For a dedicated performer, you’re truly a sincere man. I don’t think that anyone who was faking it would turn into such a flustered mess like you are right now.”

“Ah…” he said, the realization of how stupid he had made himself look in front of her just finally starting to hit.

“Cheer up,” she said, “No need to change yourself for me. And it’s not right seeing you look like that. You’re going to make me sad as well.”

With a smile and a tight squeeze on her body, Brant nodded his head. “You do indeed make a most valid point. I deeply apologize if I have caused you any worry, but more importantly I thank you for…for everything, actually.”

“No need for thanks,” Rover said, leaning her head in closer into his. “Don’t you think that the sea is a little too quiet? Isn’t there a show that must go on?”

A glint of light shone in Brant’s eyes. “You’re right…you’re right actually! Ha! How could I be so stupid? All of this grand stretch of water is my stage, and I’m wasting it weeping around? Should’ve thrown this almighty ocean hero overboard to teach him a lesson or two!”

Almost accidentally throwing Rover out of his hold, Brant stood up and turned around, taking a huge step towards the front of the gondola. He flung his arms up and open with such force, causing the Echo to sway. Rover grabbed onto the edges of it for dear life as the Echo screeched in distress, afraid that she was going to be flipped into the seawater. She turned around to see him, unsurprisingly, balancing as perfectly as ever.

“…Don’t flip me overboard!” she said.

“Haha, do you really think I would allow for such to happen? Should this creature find itself belly-up, not a single drop of seawater will dare taint your skin!”

“Now that’s one thing that I don’t believe you on, but also am not willing to test you on.”

“Is that a challenge, my dear?” Brant said, turning around with a smug smile.

Rover shook her head no, but that wasn’t enough to stop him. Brant shook the gondola and signaled for it to flip over at his command. Rover didn’t have enough time to brace herself for what was to come, but before she could realize what was happening, she was whisked out of her seat in a split second and found herself in his arms. Brant looked at her smugly.

“What did I say? Not a single drop.”

On the curved surface of the Echo’s stomach, somehow Brant had managed to balance perfectly without sliding off or once more flipping over the gondola. He held her in one arm, with his other hand outstretched in a most grandiose display.

“Flip your poor Echo over,” Rover said.

“As you wish, my lady,” Brant said, as smug as ever.

With a stomp of his foot, the Echo flipped right side up, screeching in distress. Somehow, Brant had landed perfectly on his feet while holding Rover securely in his arm. How he managed such, she couldn’t quite deduce his methods, and looked at him in complete bewilderment. Brant had nothing to say for himself, and he simply winked at her with a smile.