Disclaimer: I don't own anything Rockman X/Zero/anything else related; therefore no sue I. 'Nuff said.
Author's Note: This came about entirely because there are not enough (if any) X and Phantom fluff fics. Since both I and my good friend Rama Olendris are fans of the pairing, my brain spawned this. If you don't like bishounen ai (even if it's only hinted at), then don't buggering well read this. Otherwise read, enjoy, and please review. Enjoy the musing Phantom damn you! -flail flail-
A dog… That was what so many called him. X's dog, X's hound, X's puppy, X's watch-dog… In the most rude of cases he was sometimes called X's 'lap-dog'. It was amazing the insults one could hear about one's self if they were a master of blending into shadows. Nonetheless Phantom usually ignored such callous and rude remarks. Normally he paid no mind to the insults and didn't bother to remember them. This night however… he'd been alone in the room, playing the piano that the leader of Neo-Arcadia had given to him, and it suddenly had occurred to Phantom that almost every insult directed at him had some canine connotation.
Why a dog?, he had to wonder. Why am I always called a dog? Surely his loyalty to that sweetly angelic X wasn't the only reason. If that were the case, then Leviathan, Fafnir, and Harpuia would be subject to the same insults at the same frequency; yet this wasn't so. Was it perhaps because he was X-sama's bodyguard? Fingers stilled on the piano keys as the dark reploid pondered over the turn of his thoughts. Silence enveloped him at the same time he began analyzing his own behavior to try to determine the root that was the cause of the commonly used insult.
Supposing that his loyalty was a factor, as well as the fact that he was X's bodyguard; was that alone enough to warrant his classification as a 'dog'? It couldn't be how happy and enraptured he was around X. No one knew that! …except Harpuia; but he wouldn't even consider betraying Phantom's confidence by telling anyone. Since Phantom was absolutely certain he'd given no hint of how much he cared for the elder, he felt reasonably confident that he could rule that out. So what then could it be?
Perhaps it simply had to do with Phantom's almost never wavering presence at X's side. That did make a great deal of sense, as it was well known that he rarely left X alone. Taking that into consideration, and the fact of his nightly vigil, that could easily explain the 'puppy' and 'lap-dog' comments. X's would-be attackers knew that Phantom often stayed in X's room at night to protect him, especially those rare few that had dared trying to kill X and had escaped the bodyguard's wrath. In talking to others it wouldn't be hard for those common fools to make a leap in logic and assume that, because Phantom shared X's room at night, that he also shared X's bed.
Satisfied that it all boiled down to his loyalty, protective tendencies, job, and his near-constant presence, Phantom gave a (unbeknownst to him) very dog-like snort. It was a foolish train of thought, and the insults that had caused the inquiry were just as foolish. Shaking his head he turned his attention back to playing the piano, only to pause as a hand rested on his shoulder. Wine red eyes turned to meet the content green gaze of the one to whom he was most loyal and pleased to be near.
"Don't stop," X requested with a smile as he took a seat next to the guard, "I like to hear you play."
Phantom couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips due to the other's words. "As you wish, X-sama," he replied, some of his content emotions spilling over into his voice before continuing. He didn't care if X heard, and judging by the beaming smile X bore, he had. There was no shame in having X know that Phantom cared for him personally rather than professionally; the elder of the two had made that point quite clear years before.
Yet as he played he couldn't help but think, Come to think of it, as happy as I am just seeing X-sama smile, it's no wonder I'm called his dog. Brushing aside the thought irritably, he focused instead on his happiness and the music. After all, if being X's 'dog' meant that he was honestly happy to be around someone he loved rather than being miserable and on his own, what was the harm? If being a dog meant being happy… Then, in X's own reasoning, there was no shame in being a dog.
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V You know you want to review it…