#mara leafdancer

Walker rubbed at his face as they walked out of the theater. His eyes were drooping and his bones ached. That was the longest first half of ameeting he'd ever sat in, that he could recall anyway.

Roger groaned loudly as he was led out, followed by a Mara who amazingly had lost her own enthusiasm by then. “That was so LONG...”

“I know Roger, it's half over already though...at least we get to eat now?” She tried to keep everyone's spirits up though (even if Walker was too far gone for that.)

“I wanted this to be done by now...” The Grismaran eyed the crowd moving around them. No run-ins with Neil yet. He couldn't relax.

Jacquemont made a whistling noise and bumped into Acorn, who bleeped loudly.

“Walker can we go get food now, I'm hungry.” Roger looked very crabby at this point, and very tired. At the very least they could eat quickly and he could go back to his chair and go to sleep for the remainder of the meeting.

“...Yes, yes, let's go get something to eat, before it gets crowded.” No doubt the cafeteria would be swamped with people in a few minutes.

When they entered the facility, it proved to be just that. They were running out of seats quickly.

“Here- stay here with Mara, go get him something to eat, please- I'll find us a chair...” Or three preferably.

The Aurin nodded and even gave a cheery salute in an attempt to get the spring back in her step. “Right-o, c'mon Roger! Whatcha hungry for? Salad sounds tasty-”

Walker watched them a moment as they left, hesitating. He absolutely refused to let them out of his sight, and somehow he navigated through the mess of people and found a spot in the corner. Something about this table seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Once he sat down however, it all came back to him. He and Liam used to sit there all the time. Somehow he had automatically wandered into the same chair even (no doubt this busted thing's been there for decades.)

He felt his heart skip a few times, welling up with emotion, until he noticed the other two coming back with food. Already? With the line being as long as it was, that was quick. Or was he sitting there longer than he had previously thought?

“Sorry about that! That took forever... Oh you found a nice spot too! I got you some jello if you, wanted it,” Mara set a few plates down onto the table, pulling up a chair and making sure Roger sat in it and didn't go crashing onto the floor. Then she hopped onto her own. The scanbots hovered around the table, blinking at each other and making noises.

Walker shook his head and leaned forward, rubbing at his forehead and closing his eyes. “Thank you...” He looked up and he felt his mood sink even lower. Roger was sitting in Liam's seat. Oh if only he could realize that. He forced himself to stare at his jello afterwards. Even the little colorful cubes of jiggly stuff didn't make him feel better.

Mara practically shoveled food into her mouth. “Oof...I think Nexus has spoiled us, the food down on the surface is a little...fresher at least-” Before she could go on she paused awkwardly. These two never ate anything remotely fresh. Even the Gambler's Ruin ate better than they did. Neither of them seemed to take offense however so she sighed, relieved. “Ahah- how do you like your tacos, Roger?”

As far as either her or Walker was concerned, Roger was scarfing them down. They must have been decent.

The botanist stared at his plate for what seemed like an eternity, picking up a fork but watching it only hit the plate with a faint clink. His hand was shaking more than the jello was.

Liam liked those damned tacos too. Roger was sitting in his seat, they were at the same table. Nothing looked any different, it was as if not a day had passed up here, even though many most certainly had, and then some.

He didn't know why it suddenly bothered him so much.

Was the apartment still where it had been? It must have, it had to be. Suddenly he was dying to know. Anything to get out of this chair and to get away for a moment. Roger was mostly safe with Mara anyway, he could afford to step out for a few minutes, right??

He just didn't want to look at those stupid tacos. Liam always said they were great but he never bothered to taste them.

As his mind reeled faster than an equivar could run, he heard a sound. Something coming straight for them. Quickly he turned to face the source, hand in his coat and ready to pull out his gun if need be. No one else seemed particularly alarmed though.

“WELL HOWDY PARDNERS!”

Roger leaned back against his chair, making some noise of annoyance or displeasure or fear, or all three. Jacquemont shuddered and flew behind Acorn before poking out to see who had come.

Walker's lip curled instinctively and suddenly his brow knitted on their own accord. “Hermes WHAT ON NEXUS ARE YOU DOING HERE-”

The faulty scanbot sputtered loudly and sparked, glitching out briefly. “WoAH- Well I heard ya'll were gonna be in a meetin' SO I caught one'a dem shuttles ta meet up wit'ch'all here! Surprise!” He twitched hard.

“How did you even catch a shuttle...you need an ID and clearance to even get up here-”

“HOL'ON darlin' lemme finish. Now see I KNOW alla that...but uh, HEH, when yer me ya know exactly how to uh...let'say 'sneak aboard'. Funny right??”

Walker sat there, trying to imagine such a thing. Maybe he snuck into one of the storage compartments, though, HOW? It wasn't like Hermes had any HANDS to help him...

“Well I don't CARE how you got here, get OUT of here and GO HOME- BACK TO THAYD-” He didn't want that ragtag vigilante-scanbot hanging around on their yard again. “I WON'T tell you AGAIN-”

Hermes whirled around and sparked again. Mara squeaked, ducked and covered her head. “YOU my friend need ta COOL YER JETS. I just came ta visit! I hardly do! C'moonnnn, we should walk aroun' the deck fer old time's sake amigo! Hey yella, how 'bout it?” He hovered closer towards Jacquemont, who only seemed to move AWAY from him. “Aw you too? I ain' THAT bad fer stars' sake- I washed today!!-”

“Well now, it seems I've stumbled upon the reject table.”

They all collectively froze.

The botanist felt like he was on the verge of exploding at this point. He had been wondering where Neil had gotten off to. There he was.

“I'm rather surprised to see YOU sitting here though, Ms. Leafdancer.” The doctor gave a disapproving scowl, staring down at the little Aurin.

“I ah- ahaha- well uh I was just...making friends!” Mara nervously wrung her hands, trying to focus on her salad.

“With the wrong sort I'm afraid. Well, that's up to you.”

Walker felt his face metaphorically light itself on fire again. Oh he wanted to just push Neil down with all his might onto the floor, yell at him in front of everyone, let him have it and let him have it GOOD.

“Well we do have a short break, I just wanted to see how you were doing with those analysis reports I requested on the Strain. Do you have them prepared?”

“I do.” It took everything in him not to outright growl like a dagun. Weeks earlier Neil had piled yet another mountain of work on him, most of it collaborative this time, however. Contact with the other botany groups had been minimal at best, considering everyone was in over their heads, maybe even literally with how much paper had to be passed around. He had barely managed to scrape up enough to file a decent report; a lot of information was missing. “Do you need it now?” At the very least he had his datacron with him. He could deliver it and be done with it. Neil would be out of his hair until next week.

“Oh I had a much better idea. I want you to present it on behalf of the department when we come back from break. I think you could manage.”

He felt his blood pressure rise significantly in only a few short moments. A speech after lunch? On a whim? What was he, mad?? No, just spiteful.

“I- But I can't- It's not-”

“GOOD, good, I'm glad you agree. I, as well as the others, will be looking forward to it. Why, due to recent circumstances with all that's going on in Grimvault it's actually the HIGHLIGHT of the ENTIRE gathering. Among other things of course. Please DO do a good job will you? Lives depend on it.” The doctor smirked, his cold grey eyes drilling holes into the poor Grismaran. “I should leave you to your lunch, good luck. You'll do WONDERFULLY.” He turned and reached over to mess up Roger's hair before leaving. Roger whined loudly and huffed.

Walker stood up suddenly, almost rocketing out of his seat. He wanted to throttle the doctor and throw him out a window so badly, but he couldn't. And now he had this impromptu SPEECH on top of everything else to worry about.“I need to-” He blinked rapidly and looked around for an escape. He had to let off some steam; there was a door not too far from them. “Mara- can you stay-” For some reason the words were catching in his throat.

“Walker are you ok?? What's wrong?” Mara's ears perked up as did her tail, concerned. “Do you need help? I can help you think of something-”

Even Roger took noticed and watched the display, confused. “Walker??”

“I-I'm fine- I just need- I'll be back,” He stumbled away from the table before regaining his composure and quickly walking out. Just a moment, any moment at all.

Mara pulled at her eyes and made a noise of distress. “Oh for stars' sakes,”

“HOL' ON, I CAN FIX EVERYTHIN'-” Hermes interrupted, once again producing a small shower of sparks. “AMIGO WAIT- WALKER- WAAIIT-” He flew straight for the door and smacked into the wall instead. “Woahh, HOL' ON WALKER I'M COMIN'-” And again, before finally finding the door.

Roger rubbed at his eyes, moving to get out of his chair before Mara stopped him. “No- no Roger he'll be back...are you done eating? We should go back and sit down ok? You can take a nap if you want.”

“I wanna go home, this is boring,” He complained, glancing up to look at the nearby doorway. “And there are all these people-” It was bothering him. He didn't know any of them.

“I know, I know, c'mon. Get your plate, Walker'll be back soon.”

____________________

Walker paced to and fro, unable to get a grip. Everything was spinning and he couldn't settle on one thought. What was he going to say to everyone? He'd never given a presentation in front of THIS many people before. What would Neil do if he couldn't do a good job? Would he finally have a reason to humiliate and fire him in front of the whole academy?

It wouldn't have been so bad if the doctor were ONLY known for making idle threats. But he knew he'd do it. He'd smash him on stage under his boot and make everyone watch and laugh. He'd rub it in for YEARS after that, until one of them finally keeled over.

His hands came up to his hair and he gripped at the rubber tubes tightly, almost threatening to tear them out completely. What would Liam do, he'd never throw this on Walker even on a bad day. Why on NEXUS couldn't Neil be like his father? Life would have been drastically different.

Eventually he sat down, back to the lower railing of one of the view ports. Even the spectacular sight of space and the stars before him couldn't help him now.

Everything hit him like a great weight all at once. Stars above he was so tired...

“WALKER! WAALKERR-” If peace existed at all, it was definitely not here in this empty side hall. No one would ever leave him alone long enough to stew in his worry. It was actually kind of irritating. Why didn't they just leave him be? ESPECIALLY that stupid scanbot Hermes.

Slowly he tried to get up but he couldn't. His legs wouldn't.

“THERE ya are, I been lookin' all over fer ya! C'mon buddy we'll help ya figure somethin' out an' everythin'll be dandy-”

“NO, IT WON'T, don't you GET IT? It NEVER WILL BE.” Walker snapped, bringing his knees up to hug them, not something he typically did. He just wanted to make himself small, hoping that the world would somehow forget about him and go bother someone else. “...I'm just...so tired... I don't want to do this anymore, I'm so TIRED...” As he went on his voice grew weaker and shakier, like he was about to have another melt down. “Why did Roger have to-” Then a hiccup, “Why did Roger have to...to get tacos,” They had a million other things to eat but he just HAD to have those stupid tacos.

Hermes stared at him, silent for once. Maybe he was unsure of what to say, Walker would never know. How could a robot be unsure??

“Well...I mean-”

“THEY DON'T EVEN LOOK THAT GOOD TO BEGIN WITH, I BET THEY TASTE TERRIBLE!” Walker buried his face and hugged his knees tighter, sitting there quietly and trembling.

“...Now I know this ain' about no tacos...” Hermes wafted down lower to the ground, eventually landing with a soft clunk.

“Why...why does he do this- Why doesn't he STOP?... What did I EVER do to HIM?! I just wanted- I just- I TRIED to be nice to him but he spit on EVERY attempt- And- And LIAM DIDN'T do ANYTHING about it-” Walker had tried so hard to get Neil to like him, but even as a child, the boy just hated him. Hated him and his guts, and whatever else he was made of. If he hated all Mordesh, he only made it very evident with Walker in particular.

Why didn't Liam set him straight? Why did he let him behave that way and grow up to be like this?? How dare Neil smudge his name and his legacy by being so cruel.

The scanbot continued to lay there next to the Grismaran, taking it all in and listening very carefully. “...Can't always figure how yer kids'll turn out, ya know.”

“It's called DISCIPLINE-” He would have never allowed Ana to act out like that. Never. Still, doubt gnawed at his mind. Maybe she would have changed at some point as she grew older too. His thoughts went on a tangent.

Would Roger change? Would Mara change? Hermes? Jacquemont?? He was so tired of everything and everyone changing so quickly, he could barely keep up. How he had managed to get this far was a complete mystery, even to him. Perhaps it was just dumb luck. Dumb, dumb, cruel luck.

“Everyone's their own person Walker, can't do nothin' much about that unfortunately. Besides ya know-”

“AND YOU!-” The botanist scooted away from the scanbot, disgusted. “After EVERYONE was gone even YOU didn't stick around, why did you even BOTHER coming back NOW?! HOW DARE YOU! GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“HEY now- I never-”

“YOU LEFT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!-” It was so hard to push the words out but somehow he managed, even if they sounded like an animal dying on the side of the road. He couldn't hold back anymore, and he felt a few hot tears well in his eyes. Slowly he sunk back down again, curling up once more. “...I can't do it... I can't... Just make it stop, I'm too tired and I don't want to DO this anymore.” He had his gun in his pocket, what the hell was stopping him from shoving it down his throat and pulling the trigger?

Hermes floated upwards again and hovered in front of the Grismaran, 'staring' hard at him. “Now you listen here an' you listen good. I NEVER, EVER left you, Walker.” For once he didn't sound like his careless, happy-go-lucky and whimsical self. Instead, he sounded very offended, or at least extremely irritated. “Ya know what happened ta ME? I don't know if YOU saw it but as soon as everythin' started goin' haywire I RUSHED ta get to you, but NEIL got ta me first. He deactivated me and then had me shipped off ta th' scrapheap before I could even TELL YOU anythin'. All those assets he kept from ya? I was going ta TELL YOU about them, ya woulda had ME as proof and there woulda been nothing he could do about it! Selfish bastard didn't LET ME though. I ain't givin' it as no excuse but ya know it DAMN WELL PISSES ME OFF THAT'CHA THINK THAT ABOUT ME.” He turned away, a jet of steam rushing out of one of the small pipes sticking out of his light blue metallic body.

Walker didn't respond for an age. He didn't know what to make of everything he had just heard. Was Hermes telling the truth? ...Well, why would a scanbot lie? That wouldn't make any sense...

“...But-”

“Ain't no BUTS about it. If I coulda turned myself back on I WOULDA, Walker. In a micro-millisecond. But I couldn't. I didn't LEAVE you cuz I wanted ta. And I never woulda. So I'm here NOW.”

For a moment his voice sounded eerily like Liam's, but the botanist couldn't be sure. His ears were ringing and he had a massive headache. Still, it would have been like him to say something like this. Hermes and Asclepius DID share the man's personality (aspects of it anyway) among other things.

Suddenly he felt the weight of metal push against his knee. Hermes was right in his face but in a non-threatening way. “I'm here now, and I ain't bein' forcibly decommissioned if I got any say in it.” What an odd thing for a robot to say. But as far as Walker was concerned, he was just alive as anyone else, maybe even a little more so.

He sniffed loudly and sighed through his nose, trying to calm down. Stars why couldn't he stop crying? “...” He opened his mouth but nothing came out at first. “...I...I'm sorry-” He really was. “I'm sorry...”

Thankfully for him, Hermes was rather forgiving. “Hey c'mon amigo, they din' say you couldn't have no help with that stupid-ass speech ya gotta do anyway. Let me help fer once.” It was at least worth a try. How badly could a glitchy scanbot mess up a presentation?

Walker nodded slowly, unsure and afraid, but...it was better than nothing at all. He wiped his eyes with a sleeve and stood up, feeling like molasses. “...How long do we have?...”

“Like, thirty minutes. 'S good enough ta throw somethin' together.”

He swallowed nervously, feeling like he couldn't get enough air. Thirty minutes would have to be enough.

“Do ya need a tissue?”

Roger stared at the view port with his mouth hanging open. He had never recalled seeing space before, so to him this was the first time. He couldn’t wrap his mind around how vast it really was.

Jacquemont whirled around in circles, spinning in mid air and rolling from side to side making excited bleeps. His antenna stood straight up in the air blinking as he flapped his little wings.

"It’s so BIG, WALKER! WALKER LOOK AT THE STARS!!" Roger hopped around excitedly, reaching for the botanist’s sleeve and yanking him back.

Walker grumbled and plucked Roger’s hand off his coat. “I know, Roger, I know. C’mon now, don’t get lost. This place is really large and I don’t want to lose sight of you.” He pulled his assistant closer towards him before moving him in front. They kept walking.

The Gambler’s Ruin was high above Nexus’ atmosphere, hovering over the planet, though this month it had come down lower. Many of the scientists from the academy were to regroup and have this massive meeting on stars knew what. Progress and future projects perhaps. 

Walker had been invited on behalf of representing his dying (or dead) research group, the Azure Branch, but as far as he knew, he and Roger would be the only ones there from that sector. Many of the other botanists had been moved to other research groups and facilities long ago. Maybe they’d finally place them with another team.

The Grismaran bit his lip as he thought to himself. He hadn’t been back to the ark ship in almost a year. Nothing about it had changed very much. The ship remained as enormous as it had always been, constantly in a state of disrepair. There were always mechanics and soldiers, scientists, civilians, people from all walks of life moving down its corridors. Even if a majority of them had left to the planet’s surface, many still remained up here keeping the Gambler’s Ruin in working order, as much as they could anyway.

"Are we gonna see more scientists?" Roger asked, reaching for Walker’s arm and almost beginning to skip as they continued towards their destination. "Will Mara be there?? What about Acorn? And other scanbots??? What about other people who plant flowers and take care of gardens-"

"YES, yes, Roger. We’re going to see many of the scientists in the academy. Mara will most likely be there as well." Walker cringed as he gently removed Roger’s hands from his arm once again. Mara would be there, and so would Neil. "I need to concentrate… so try to not talk so much when the meeting begins, alright? Jacquemont will entertain you if you get bored." Never would he make Roger wait outside alone. As far as he was concerned, he was going to bring him inside and have him sit right next to him the entire time.

Roger looked back at the little yellow scanbot and yanked him out of the air, still hopping around like a jabbit. “I’ll be quiet. I promise.”

Walker nodded in return. That much was taken care of at the very least, or so he hoped.

"What’s it gonna look like Walker?"

"Well, we’ll be going into an auditorium of sorts. Or… rather it’s more like a theater… there’s a stage in front, and many rows of seats, each row is higher than the one in front of it so everyone can see. Usually the really important scientists and doctors talk to everyone like that." He remembered Neil’s father Liam standing on that platform so many times before, sharing his research and his opinions and theories as well as his projects. After he had passed on, Walker hadn’t set foot in there once. 

This time he was required to attend because of their landing on Nexus (that and Neil made SURE to invite him. He remembered receiving THAT email.) It was going to be an extremely long meeting. In the back of his mind he worried constantly over Roger growing bored and throwing a fit, as well as being able to rush out of there should the place burst into flames for any reason.

As they came near the theater, they saw more and more people hanging around in groups, talking or finishing last minute entries on datacrons.

Roger moved closer towards the botanist and became quiet, hugging Jacquemont tighter. Walker was accustomed to this; Roger would always get very nervous and shy around people he didn’t know.

They weren’t letting anyone inside yet it seemed. They’d have to wait. “Here… over here,” He shuffled over towards an empty corner, positioning Roger between himself and the wall. “We have to wait now. It shouldn’t be long.”

While they stood around, the Mordesh glanced over at the others. Every so often they would look back at him, raising brows or completely indifferent, but no one approached him. He didn’t want them to anyway.

Who would want to stand next to someone who nearly got himself locked away in prison for attempting to murder Lazarin? At least HE was far too busy to show up to the ship.

"Walker!! Roger!" A high pitched voice startled him out of his trance. He looked down and saw a pair of purple ears and a curly-haired ponytail bouncing their way. It was Mara.

"I’m so happy I found you!" She jumped up a few times, messenger bag bumping against her hip and tail swishing back and forth quickly. Behind her hovered the dull green and brown scanbot, Acorn.

Roger peeked out from behind Walker and gave a little wave with a nervous smile. Jacquemont whistled as his antenna blinked rapidly.

"Hi Roger! Hi Jacquemont!"

"Hello Mara," Walker’s ear twitched, "Do you know how long until-" He watched Acorn cautiously fly closer, scanning them with a bright blue light.  "Do you know how long it will be until this meeting is underway?" The sooner it was over, the sooner they could go home. He wasn’t allowed to bring his gun with him, but he had hidden it away in his coat anyway just incase.

"Maybe ten minutes. I’ve been out here a while… We should all sit together!"

The Mordesh thought about it. She’d be able to keep Roger quiet easily. And she could sit next to him and take up the seat rather than someone he didn’t know.

Roger perked up at the suggestion. “Can we Walker? Please?” In his mind, this was going to be exciting and possibly fun. It would be even more so with friends.

"Alright… I don’t think they’re using those tickets anymore anyway…"

"Not anymore at least. A few of the older doctors told me they USED to do it like that to keep everyone organized, but now that a bunch of people are on Nexus, there should be plenty of room."

Before Walker could respond, he glanced up, catching sight of Neil not so far away. Immediately he froze, feeling his face do quite the opposite. It burned, and so did his gut. He swallowed his anger however and forced himself to look away shortly afterwards.

Mara held her breath and stood still, noticing the sudden change in demeanor. She knew what that look meant. Once Walker relaxed faintly, so did she. “… You knew he’d be here…”

"I know. It was inevitable. He invited me." To spite him no doubt.

Roger eyed them both cluelessly before turning to face the same direction Walker had looked in. What had he been staring at? What was this place?? “Walker? What’re we doing here?”

Before the botanist could answer him, the doors opened and people began to move into the theater. “Come on,” He took the man’s hand and led him to the entrance, followed by Mara.

After a bit of searching they found three seats near the back edge of the room. No one would bother them up there.

Roger sat in between them with Jacquemont and Acorn in his lap. It was almost dark, the entire room being only dimly lit. Maybe they were going to watch a movie. 

Walker shifted in his seat uncomfortably, waiting as everyone found their chairs and settled down. He scanned the place but he couldn’t see Neil anywhere, and it worried him. He looked behind himself; there was no one worthy of note. That snake would show up sooner or later.

While they waited he marked the exits and vents, as well as how many people he’d have to shove out of the way in case of an emergency.

Mara swung her feet back and forth before leaning over to whisper something to Roger. He nodded a few times as she pointed towards the stage below and the giant monitor on the wall.

Walker glanced down at Jacquemont. The yellow bot looked up at him and wiggled his wings like he wanted to be held, so he took him into his arms.

“Can we color pictures instead?” He asked, turning away and scratching his nose. “Jacquemont???” He called out, looking around for the scanbot.

Mara's tail swished back and forth slowly out the back of the plastic chair. “Yeah, we can draw if you want to. That's always fun! You did really good today too!” She reached forward, collected all the cards and wrapped a rubber band around them, tossing them into her pack shortly afterwards. “Got any paper?

Roger got up, went into the other room and came back with a folder of the stuff and a box of markers (the really big ones no less.) Jacquemont followed him, humming loudly and making little loops in the air. “Here!”

The Aurin smiled and pulled a sheet of paper over to herself, grabbing a marker at the same time. “These are nice! Did Walker get them for you?” She asked.

The human nodded. “Mhm! He did. I like them a lot,” He answered, uncapping a few and clumsily drawing out crude shapes with them.

As Roger moved his hands Mara made sure to keep note. “Having problems with your hands lately? Are they hard to move sometimes?”

The man looked up. “My hands?” He paused and stared at them, flexing his fingers carefully. “No? They're ok.”

“That's good. Make sure you stretch 'em out and such every now and then ok?” Mara explained as she drew a big circle. “What're you going to draw?”

“I dunno,”

“I'm gonna draw Acorn!”

Roger glanced over at her paper. “Acorn?” Jacquemont also bleeped questioningly, turning his entire body to show it.

The Aurin nodded, “Yeah! Acorn is my scanbot! He's not here today though, he's back at the lab keeping watch for me...on some uh...important experiments!” In truth, Acorn was watching out for Dr. McPhearson. If he of all people caught on that Mara had been coming here weekly, it wouldn't end very well. He and Walker HATED each other to the bone, maybe even further than that.

“Oh! Yeah...you're a scientist!” Roger added, grinning. “Just like Walker!”

“Yes!” Mara nodded, “I am! I'm so happy you remembered!” Her ears twitched and her tail puffed up. So far so good, Roger was improving. He even told her what he had for breakfast this morning, something he usually forgot. “Walker'll be pleased to hear that, you know?”

Roger's eyes lit up. “Really...? You really think so??” Just the thought of hearing Walker being remotely HAPPY about something in turn made HIM very happy. Excited even.

“Yeah! He just wants you to remember things is all. Since you have a hard time with it sometimes...Not that that's bad! You're getting better quicker than I thought you would, so that's really good!”

The human leaned back in his chair and looked up at Jacquemont, who was making what sounded like happy beeps and boops. Even the end of his antenna was lighting up brightly and sticking straight up in the air.

While Roger didn't recall being so forgetful, ironically, he did know something was wrong with him. It just didn't feel right. Walker was always so unhappy about whatever it was too, he could see it on his face. Walker would always talk about it in passing, wondering aloud why Roger wouldn't ever pay attention or sit still, much less remember what was going on, scolding him for it at times even though he knew it would do no good.

Roger remembered some of these things yes...Every day it'd be just a little more. Either way, it all made him feel ashamed of himself from time to time.

After a moment of thinking, he sighed, slouching in his chair. “...I don't want Walker to be so mad at me...” He muttered.

Mara stopped and looked up from her picture. “Mad? Walker's not mad at you Roger. What's wrong?”

“Yes he is,” Walker was always grouchy about everything and he wasn't helping the situation. “...He's never really happy.”

Mara tilted her head. “It's not because of you Roger, honest. He's just got a lot of work to do and when he finishes, he has even more work to do...it's like....pretend you just finished planting seeds outside...Well, imagine someone told you that you had to do ANOTHER garden-full of seeds, plant them that is. And then another when you were finished, and then another and another and suddenly you have so much to do.”

Roger thought about it carefully. Mara had a point. Who wouldn't get angry at that? Was that what Walker was dealing with? He never was outside planting as much as he used to... “...It's not me though?” He asked sheepishly.

“No, he really likes you Roger. He gets frustrated is all, with everything, and he's tired. That's probably why he got sick recently remember?”

That was right. Roger recalled seeing Walker sniffling a lot more and coughing, moaning and groaning and looking even worse than usual. He tried to get Walker to do stuff with him but the Mordesh was never really in the mood for it, and understandably so now.

“Really likes,” He repeated slowly. “...He does?” Just the thought made him feel funny again. Warm and tickly even.

“Mhm,” Mara nodded, watching him. “If he didn't you'd know, ahah. He's really...clear about that much I'd say.” If Walker hated you he'd be polite about it at first, at least until you were out of the room.

“Ooh...OH! Oh, that's good, I'm glad,” Roger smiled, returning to his own drawing. It was the garden, and a whole lot of flowers, and Jacquemont flying around like a little bee. “I really like him too.”

“Yeah?” Mara giggled a little bit. “Well it's a good thing you work for him then. He probably couldn't take care of the garden outside if he were all by himself you know. So I'm sure he appreciates it.” While she did wonder just how far Roger DID like Walker and vice versa, it was a pointless venture at this time. Not to mention none of her business. Just so long as nothing bad was happening.

“Say,” She started, “You seem to really like scanbots don't you?”

Roger nodded, and put his hand on Jacque, who was sitting on the table watching him draw by now. “Mhm! They're nice, just like Jacque, but they're not yellow like him so he's special.”

The little yellow bot turned away shyly and hid his face with his wing flaps briefly.

Mara always did enjoy watching them interact. Too gosh darn cute. “Yellow's a good color for him I'll give ya that! You ever think about being a scientist too? Everyone gets their own scanbot you know.”

Roger's eyes widened. “OH no! No, no I don't wanna be a scientist,” He shook his head. “I don't want another scanbot. I wanna go explore, just like Dorian Walker... His name's Walker too, it's funny.” That was probably the only reason he even remembered the man, other than the fact that he practically worshipped him and the other explorers running around Nexus. Especially the Roan Ranger, fictional as he was. “Walker- uh...this one- he's taken me to his museum before!” And while he didn't remember what was there, he did remember going up to the highest plateau in the city and seeing all of Thayd. He wanted to climb even higher but Walker told him not to (or rather, physically kept him from doing so.)

“Has he? It's really nice! You know, I've seen you climbing around on the ship outside sometimes, you're really good at it! You could be a good explorer I bet.” A thousand times Walker asked Mara not to plant ideas into the boy's head but...with that puppy-dog look? She just couldn't help it. Maybe once he got better he could do what he always dreamed of. Have adventures on Nexus just like so many other people were.

“You think so?? I want to.” Roger nodded, looking very excited again. He glanced down at his drawing and held it up, satisfied with it. “I'm finished!”

“Oh let me see!” Mara hopped off her chair and moved around the table to get a better look. “Aw! That's Jacque! And Bell too!”

“I should show Walker-”

“Ah- maybe later, I think he's sleeping downstairs.” Which was beyond good for him at this point. “Want to watch a movie? I brought something you might like.”

Roger set his picture down gently and wipes his marker-stained hands on his pants. “Movie?”

“Mhm! C'mon!”

“Can we have popcorn?”

“How about some fruit instead? I brought all kinds of snacks.”

As the television played some corny movie about hoogles upstairs, Walker opened one eye, face still glued on his work-space. Stars above he was so tired. But at least Roger was taken care of upstairs.

“...Explorers,” He snorted. Jacquemont came hovering down the stairs and plopped down next to him on the table with a soft kerplunk. “...What's she telling him?” He mumbled, sniffing loudly and wiping at his nose some more. If only this damned cold would go away.

Jacque rolled around happily before flapping his little wings in response, antenna blinking.

“Hmph...” Slowly the Mordesh sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He'd only dozed off for about an hour and a half, but still, it was a lot better than not sleeping at all.

Upon looking to the side, he spotted a note sitting on his desk. So he picked it up. It was Mara's handwriting alright. She certainly was becoming a medical doctor like she wanted to be; the words were barely legible and looked more like long scribbles. Something about soup and vegetables and the fridge. It sounded like she'd brought more food for them and was telling Walker to make himself something to eat if he could, though, if that wasn't what it said, then it was anyone's guess.

Soup sounded pretty good right now anyway, even if he couldn't taste very much of it.

As for all that talk about exploring and Roger? He sat there for a while, thinking on it, before finally setting the note down and putting his head down again as well.

Roger would just forget. No big deal. He always said he wanted to be an explorer but he wouldn't go out and actually DO it if only BECAUSE he'd forget to. He wouldn't go anywhere and he'd be safe here on the house lot, away from all the dangerous things like Ravenous and...more Ravenous.

In the back of the botanist's mind though, it did bug him, at least a little. What if Roger did suddenly remember everything? What if he wanted to leave after that? What if he wanted to go get himself into trouble? That much he wasn't doubting at this point. That boy could wander off damn near anywhere and not be afraid if he were distracted enough.

And to make matters worse, well, Mara was making it worse actually. She didn't have bad intentions, he knew that. But still.

No...he'd have to be cautious and put a stop to it fast. No more dreams about exploring. No more nonsense about going out into dangerous places only to either be eaten by wild animals, mad Ravenous or blown up by the Dominion. Roger was NOT going ANYWHERE.

“...Gonna hafta...tell her,” He muttered again, closing his eyes and inhaling slowly. His nose was all stuffed up again. “...Later.”

Jacque watched as the Mordesh slowly and uneasily fell back asleep.

He had no idea what Walker was so worried about. Didn't he ever watch the Roan Ranger? The best explorer on television? Nothing bad ever happened to him, so it wouldn't happen to Roger either.