They still called him Glitch. The surgeons had done their best, but reinsertion of the removed half of a brain had never been attempted before, and even with DG and Azkedellia's magic to help, many of the synapses and nerves between the two halves of Glitch's brain had died, leaving Glitch in a situation only marginally better then his previous one.
"At least I remember the Queen's name now" He had remarked with a smile, but Queen's name or no, Glitch still had a tendency to blurt out whatever strange thought crossed his disjointed mind, which was exactly why a certain former Tin Man was currently staring at Glitch in bewilderment.
"I'm a what now?" Wyatt Cain asked; his eyebrow raised in confusion.
"You're a knight in tarnished armour." Glitch repeated; his trademarked lopsided grin on his face.
"You're glitching again. You mean a knight in shining armour."
"No, I mean tarnished. Who wants a knight in shining armour? They're useless."
"Have you never read a fairytale? The ones that shine are always the heroes." Wyatt shook his head mentally at himself. He could not believe he was arguing fairytales with Glitch.
"Fairytales are lies. Come on, I'll show you." Glitch grabbed Cain's hand and pulled, half running, half stumbling through the palace on a path that Cain recognized as leading towards the armoury. They arrived in a huff, Glitch dropping Cain's hand, leaning over on his knees and panting.
"You're out of shape scarecrow." Cain teased, adjusting his trademark hat.
"You're just too heavy to pull." Glitch responded, smirking at the suddenly glaring man.
"Just show me what you dragged me here for; I've got places to be."
"What, brooding in your room?" Glitch retorted. "You've got to get into the sun Tin Man; you'll rust away in your dank dark hidey hole. And rusting is almost as bad as shining."
Before Cain could reply, Glitch grabbed his hand again, pulling him further into the armoury, to where the older suits of armour where kept, after their previous owners had passed away. He stopped in front of a seemingly random one, the metal duller then those around it.
"Tell me about the man who owned this." Glitch demanded. "Tell me what this armour tells you about him."
Cain raised his eyebrow sceptically, but Glitch just nodded encouragingly. The Tin Man turned to the old armour, glancing an appraising eye over it. It was plate armour, very well made. It had obviously seen much use, scratch marks that couldn't be polished out, little dings and dents that were easier to leave alone then beat back into place, links missing on the edges of the chain mail underneath. Despite this abuse though, the plate armour was well cared for. There was no rust, no corroded areas, and Cain would have had no problems putting this armour on himself and marching off to a war. He turned to tell Glitch that, but the head case held up his hand to silence him.
"First look at the one next to it, and compare it to the first suit."
Cain, sighing, obliged. The suit of armour beside him was almost identical in make. Brand new the two must have looked identical, and, indeed the one in front of him seemed to be brand new even now. It was shiny and bright, reflective enough that Cain could see his face in it. There were no dings, no dents, in fact, the armour showed no signs of use at all.
"The man who owned this suit of armour never wore it in battle. He polished it to a shine, but it was never used. The suit was for display only." Cain said quietly, Glitch nodding along. "The man who owned the first suit was careful about his things, but they were well used. He obviously had experience with fighting, and wanted to make sure all his equipment was the best it could be to help him survive that fighting."
"See Wyatt?" Glitch said when the Tin Man was done. "Shining knights are useless. You're my knight in tarnished armour."
"Who said I was yours head case? And since when do you call me Wyatt?" Cain asked, eyebrow raised again. Glitch hesitantly moved closer to him.
"I said you were mine" He whispered, and, leaning up on his tippy-toes, he pressed his lips gently to the Tinman's own. Cain jumped back with a start, his eyes wide as he stared at Glitch. The scarecrow watched him with a wary expression; his eyes were guarded as he judged Cain's reaction, and obviously he didn't find what he was looking for.
"I'm sorry" He whispered, turning away. "I shouldn't have done that." Cain heard the catch in Glitch's voice, and knew that the scarecrow was about to cry. He watched as he started to hurry away, torn between running after him and running away, but his braver side won out.
"Glitch, wait." Cain moved swiftly, catching up and grabbing Glitch's arm, swinging him around to face him. Glitch stared up in fear, obviously expecting anger and hatred, but instead, Cain pressed his own lips to Glitch's, mirroring his previous move. The difference was that Glitch did not jump away, but instead his arms snaked around Cain's neck, eagerly pressing back against Wyatt Cain. When the Tinman drew away gently, Glitch smiled at him.
"My knight in tarnished armour." He whispered, and Cain smiled.
"My scatterbrained scarecrow." He replied, leaning down to kiss his Glitch again.