Roo's Heart

a/n: Some avatars fall in love easily. Some avatars fall in love too easily. Roo (Cross) has been completely immune and never worried about that. But there's something about this planet…

Post game, weak spoilers to Ch. 10/12/J-bodies, no swears (see? See? I can do it. Sometimes.) Teenage draaaaaaammmmmmaaaaaaaa, proving that Tatsu is not a complete chump.

All the good stuff, and I mean all of it, belongs to Monolith Soft. (edit 2/14: another acknowledgement at the end)

"I cannot believe this! You are an idiot if you think that this is going to work! Never ever ever! You need to stop right now! Hey! Elma! You need to talk some sense into Roo!"

Elma looked up from her comm device. A half-full mug of tea rested on the table in front of her. The barrack's cat shifted its head from against her knee. The animal blinked twice at Lin and her round companion, gave a feline shrug, and switched dimensions. Elma didn't shrug but she did blink. "So. How was the mission?"

"Fine, fine. I know it's my division, but the Outfitters are really pushing the limits on their resource requests. That's not the point."

"But you were able to collect all the materials?"

"Yes, and that augment is going to be a beaut! You'll see a 40% boost in weapon strength, easy. I'm putting in a preorder now, because it's personal. Going after Yama the Obliviator last week really reminded me how limited the Ares series is. I think it's finally time for me to build that skell I've been dreaming of … wait a minute, I told you, that's not the point! You need to talk to Roo!"

Elma looked down, carefully swiped the screens closed and set the comm device next to her tea. She stood up and turned to look at Lin. "What happened?" Then she looked around the room. "Where is Roo anyway?"

Lin spun around. "He was just following me! Arghh! Tatsu, what did you do with him?"

The waist-high alien looked up cheerfully. "Roo follow Tatsu like he follow follow ball."

"No, he didn't. I don't see him here, do I?"

"Yes, he did. Roo always wandering in the wrong direction."

"And I usually get there anyway," came a gruff voice from the direction of the skell hangar. "Sometimes I even find something interesting." His mouth quirked with the smallest smile and he gave a lazy thumbs up. "Pathfinder pride."

"Pathfinders are loopy. Silly. Deranged," burbled Tatsu before stuttering to a halt. The foursome went silent and shifted uncomfortably. Roo's whole division hadn't quite recovered its heart in the face of … well, it had lost more than just team members in the joint efforts to find the Lifehold. There had been talk of disbanding it, now that all had been settled. Still, FrontierNav probes needed to be maintained and updated, and changes in environments needed to be recorded. Besides, there was no other group quite as adept at getting into tricky locations, with or without skells. Awkward, dangerous, at times unwise locations. A Pathfinder could be useful if you needed to rock climb onto a narrow ledge, even if they were less of a resource once you'd aggro'd the fire-breathing indigen resting there.

"Shut up, Tatsu, or I'll…"

"Wait, wait, Linly! Tatsu has something for this."

Lin's mouth dropped open and her fingers flared wide. "Don't you tell me to shut up!"

But Tatsu was paying no attention. After a moment of rummaging in his rucksack, he pulled out a candy-colored comm device, a snail's swirl in yellow and minty green. "Tatsu develop labor saving app. Call it LittleLin. Tatsu plan to make many credits with it." He waved it proudly as a very clear if small voice emanated from it. Lin Lee Koo's voice. "I'll turn you into pot pie!" Tatsu nodded happily. "It set to randomize so you always get different insult. Save lots of time and thinking. Maybe Linly can focus on something else now." The app offered another sample. "How much of you is dark meat?"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Tatsu sell, hmm hmmm…." He rapidly checked his device. ".. 84 copies of it. L gave it a 5 moon review."

The adults in the room were watching this with amazement. Elma's face was as blank as it had ever been as a mimeosome. Roo's grey head was bent down and he was madly swiping at his comm device.

"Make that 85. LittleLin becoming sensation!" Tatsu bounced with satisfaction.

Lin glared hard at Roo, but before she could say anything, the Pathfinder continued smoothly. "Maybe you can use that extra time to be the one to park the skells for a change." He shrugged.

Lin put her hands on her hips and stomped one foot. "You all are ignoring the real problem. Roo has gone stupid and somebody needs to set him straight. He won't listen to me."

"What happened?" Elma repeated as she looked at the trio.

Roo shrugged again, and Tatsu bounced expectantly. Lin huffed. "Fine. Make me be the one to explain it all. We were collecting materials, right, in Sylvalum. Then Roo here notices a ping on Frontier Nav."

"A target," Roo added.

"A ping, in a cave, several hexes away. Totally not part of the mission. We could have called it in to some Reclaimers, but oh, no, we have to go check it out."

"It's on the checklist."

"You and your checklist. Who cares if you one hundred percent that stupid made-up checklist?"

"I do." Clearly, this story was going to include regular footnotes from the otherwise close-mouthed Pathfinder.

Elma took a deep sustaining breath. Lin noticed her faint disapproval enough to continue with her story. "Fine. We go see the stupid cave, and it's full to the rafters with enemy. Milsaadi and junk."

"Also some nice tech."

"Milsaadi! Lots of them! In clumps, because they're always in clumps. And with armored grexes to boot. Big ones, with curved tusks the size of Tatsu's hat, and plating from head to haunch. All over the cave, and standing around on ledges, and hanging from stalagmites."

"Friend mean stalactites," offered Tatsu.

"Shut up…"

Tatsu had already tapped his comm device. "I'm going to slice you up and brine the wedges."

Lin snapped her mouth shut and sulked.

"The Curators wanted someone to lay eyes on the target," offered Roo.

Lin burst out of her sulk. "The cave was crawling with hook armed assassins! I don't care about any tech in a place like that."

"I find that hard to believe, coming from an Outfitter," Elma said.

Lin blushed. "It was just environmental junk."

Roo shook his head. "Dedicated terraforming materials. Bidwoi-forming."

Lin looked at Roo blankly, but it was Elma who explained. "Bidwoi is their home planet."

Lin scrunched her eyes at Roo. "Why do you know this … don't tell me, I just want Elma to talk some sense into you! Because you know what he did? Huh? Do you? I'll tell you! He fell in love with a Milsaadi!"

Elma's head twitched. She opened her mouth, closed it again, took another calming breath, and said carefully, "I think I want to hear more of this story."

Roo walked over to the sofa and sat down. The cat rematerialized and butted his hand with its head. He scratched it abstractedly. Two silver haired creatures, content and unconcerned. Same blue eyes, come to think of it.

Lin looked at Roo for a moment, before stamping her foot one more time. But she resumed the story. "We snuck through that minefield, and turned into the side cave that held the signal. As soon as Roo touched the crate, something dropped down on us and started swinging. Practically took Gwin's head off in the first seconds, and scared Celica silly. I'm blasting away at her – and by the way, thanks, Tatsu, for all the support. Not."

Another recording. "Should I bake you or fry you?"

"Stop doing that!"

"You first!" replied Tatsu. His cheeks were a brighter shade of red than normal, and his frown was no longer playful.

"Both of you. Stop. Lin, I'm going to make it an order. Tatsu, put your comm device away." Elma looked at the two of them. "It's been done for a while, Lin, and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop permanently. Tatsu, perhaps you could remove the app from sale. You've proved your point." Both teenagers glared at each other, mouths shut tight. Then Tatsu opened his device and twiddled a few screens. There was a sucking ping, echoed from somewhere on Roo's person.

"App removed."

"People will still use it," muttered Lin.

"App only temporary. Nopon take back loans when done." He sighed dramatically. "Business over. Tatsu going to be poor again."

"I'll cook you something nice. Not you. Something," muttered Lin.

"Berry jammy pancakes?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure."

Another silence rested in the room, but this one was full of kindness and possibly hope. Lin started the story again, with a calmer tone. "So the real team is plugging away at this overgrown ninja and Roo just stands there with a stupid look on his face. Stupider than usual look. It wasn't until Gwin keeled over the third time that Roo actually did something. And all he did was run!" Her voice had risen in the retelling, ending in almost a shout.

"Carrying Gwin. And the tech." Roo didn't stop scratching the cat's chin.

"You didn't engage the enemy at all, Roo! And! And! Get this, Elma! As soon as we were clear, and I could ask him just what was going on, all he said was, 'Did you get a look at her? She's amazing.' Amazing, Elma! She was gonna eviscerate us, and he's talking amazing!"

Elma looked between her two teammates. Roo with his long legs stretched under the table, weathered face with just a hint of a smile but otherwise blank. Lin vibrating with anger, her hair clip askew from the unexpected additional fighting, and wanting Something To Be Resolved. Elma weighed the possibilities, then allowed herself a small smile that resembled Roo's.

"You're pulling her leg, aren't you."

"Yup."

"Whaaaaaaaat?! He… he…"

"It seems obvious to me," said Elma calmly. "This is totally uncharacteristic for him. I'll admit that he can be random, but the emotion that drives him is curiosity. Unless…" Elma walked over and gave Roo's ear a solid twist.

"Hey!"

"Not a Definian. Their illusions can't overcome contact."

Roo rubbed his ear and grinned. "Definitely not. Definian-tly not." Elma and the cat growled softly in unison, but Roo shrugged another of his casual shrugs.

"You let me think that you were …" stuttered Lin.

"And you fell for it."

"But you didn't engage the enemy!" wailed Lin.

"She's on the checklist. The ECP is interested in Milsaadi now, and she's unique. I wanted to get data, not a body count. Maybe later."

"But Gwin…"

"… got beat up. Nothing new, nothing permanent. You're fine, Celica's fine, and we got out. With the tech." He scratched the bridge of his nose, under his slim glasses, and added as an afterthought, "Tatsu's fine too."

You almost had to pity Lin. She looked pretty close to tears. Tatsu waddled closer to her, and piped up. "Tatsu fooled too, and Tatsu adult."

"You're the same age as me," she snapped down at him, but weakly.

"Age not same as adult. Look at Roo."

Roo spread his arms wide along the back of the sofa, but his smile stayed slight. "You jumped to a conclusion, and I let you. Sorry. It seemed funny at the time."

"You let me think that you were in love with a Ganglion."

"I kept expecting you to figure it out."

"Roo!" Lin turned her face away, and said in a voice as tiny as the LittleLin app. "I thought you might be leaving us."

Roo slowly sat upright, hands moving to his sides. He somehow managed to peer down his long nose while still sitting on the sofa, a head below Lin. "Not that. You'd know if I was. Trust me. You'd know." He pulled out his comm device and swiped a little. "Sorry to worry you. And sorry your business went bust, Tatsu. Take my share of the mission instead, okay?"

A contented ping sounded from Tatsu's backpack.

"Hey! Why does he get the extra credits?" whined Lin.

"Because he's buying the ingredients for supper. Berry pancakes, right?"

"Berry jammy pancakes. Coldberry in season now, very refreshing," suggested Tatsu.

"Whatever. You're still on my scut list, Roo," said Lin, shaking her index finger at him. "You don't fool friends like that!"

Elma had sat down again, in front of her cooling tea, across from Roo. She watched as the teenagers left the barracks, but only Roo gave them an unhurried wave. As the doors slid closed, they heard Lin beginning to consider the possible taste treat formed by interaction of warm pancakes and super cooled jam.

"So. You were fooling Lin."

"No." Roo may have been slouched back, but his eyes were clear and battle sharp. Both wore the best of all possible poker faces.

It seemed she could only repeat herself. "What happened, Roo?"

"Just about what Lin said. We found the cave, and when the Milsaadi woman dropped on us, I stopped. I only moved when I realized I'd otherwise have to explain to Rock why we were short a teammate. Or Irina."

Elma let a shadow of a frown cross her face. "I'm disappointed. I thought Evans was improving."

"That first hit he took was meant for Celica. She'd have died. He just got a little ineffective after he blocked it. He did good."

"Love at first sight," said Elma, as if reading the ingredients for pancake mix. "I thought that was just a story for humans."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not sure what it was."

"You know this is just as impossible as Lin said."

"And Ga Jiarg isn't our ally, maybe." If Roo looked any more relaxed, he'd fall asleep. Behind his glasses, his eyes glimmered softly.

"That's different."

"And Erio."

"If I say that's different too, you'll have a response."

"Slovity Pagus."

Elma sighed and shifted her mug a few degrees. She knew Roo could list several other xenos that had transferred their loyalty from the Ganglion to the human cause. "Milsaadi are not going to become allies. This enemy you fought is not going to become our friend."

"I don't want her as a friend. And I didn't fight her."

"What happened?" Elma repeated for the umpteenth time.

"I saw something. I saw her. Elma, she was beautiful. She moved like nothing I've ever seen. I want her, and I want her to know that."

"You can't make this kind of thing real by wanting."

"You're right. But I can let her know. I will let her know, as many times as necessary."

"You can't wear a person down."

"I will wait. If she never accepts, that's fine. But she'll know she can."

"Roo, this sounds a little …"

"Deranged?"

"Like stalking."

Roo sighed. He twisted his head a centimeter and flicked a look to the corner with a small smile. When he returned his gaze to Elma, his eyes were determined. "Lin said it herself: the Milsaadi always come in clumps. This woman was alone. Which means she's unique. That was the first thing I realized, after I got over the shock of it. There is a space for her to be different."

He leaned forward, moving his hands gracefully in the air. Elma realized he was mimicking the attacks he had watched. "We didn't get out of that cave because we were more skilled. We got out because she wasn't intent on slaughtering us. She was trying to figure us out too. I'm hoping … maybe I'm dreaming, but I want it to be because she felt something about me."

"Or maybe she was charmed by Gwin," Elma said in a wry voice.

"She backhanded him some, but she kept her target on me. Testing me. I didn't draw out my guns, just held my sword and parried a little. Even that wasn't serious, not exactly."

"Milsaadi are not going to become our allies. They have a long connection with the Ganglion, longer than the Wrothians. They're respected and ..." Elma argued.

"She felt pain," interrupted Roo.

"Impossible."

"She did. All Milsaadi can, Elma, but they turn it off. She didn't."

"That doesn't change anything."

"I've been changed. I'm going to act on it."

Elma tried one last argument. "The Milsaadi aren't above using bait to trap us."

Roo nodded in agreement. "Smart, to use what's most important. If this is a trap, well, they've chosen well."

Elma's cool began to slip. "This isn't like you, Roo. I wasn't wrong when I said that you've always been motivated by curiosity. How can you change like this?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Roo stood up and stretched, then smiled broadly down at Elma. "You know me, everybody's friend. Not my friend? That's cool too. You and Lin are the closest that I'll ever have to family, probably, but dear though you are, I don't need to be special to you. I'm grateful, absolutely, and glad, but I could accept being outside just as easily. But not with her. I can't tell you why.

"I know I'm not supposed to talk about it, but that checklist, when it's done, I'm probably done too. I was made to help NLA."

"Roo…" Elma said in warning tones.

"Right, not supposed to talk about it, not supposed to even know about it. Maybe I'm wrong. Am I?"

Elma crossed her arms but said nothing.

"With her, I can imagine a whole new list, and a whole new future. It wouldn't have to end. So, maybe it's just me being selfish." He shrugged broadly, a loose rolling of his shoulders and a swing of his arm, and another gentle grin. "I don't need help on this. In the future, I'll go back alone."

"She'll kill you, eventually."

"Nope. I know which one of us is better. If it comes to that. I hope it doesn't."

"They'll kill you, then."

"Oh, sure, that can happen." He gave a rueful laugh. "Plenty true, that. You and me got hauled back from Dadaan in pretty bad shape, right, after he whistled up his squad? But I'll be going back. We always return to what's important, to who's important, don't we?"

He swung out of the room, long legged and tireless, leaving Elma with a stone cold cup of tea and an imaginary cat.

a/n: Nopon business culture inspired by Avatar of Wurms' "Convergence" (so good, now that's a writer who can nail a battle scene, new chapter just gone up, whoo!).

(edit) I realized I had a second inspiration, regarding what it feels like for Cross when the player 100 percents the game. I went a fluffy way, because my guy is King of Happy, but you should check out the one-shot "Lonesome Road" by The Mook Is Loose for a darker alternative.

I may have been farming Yama recently, for materials to make custom weapon-attk XX (ah ha ha ha, I have to write it out long, or fanfiction thinks I'm putting in a web address, hee hee hee), using a squad that included two completely useless Ares. He's one of my favorite tyrants. Shameless plug: see my "Noctilum Picnic" for some more slylooth vs Ares love. Also Doug vs the Dog Squad.

The events in this story actually happened to me in-game. The squad went into a cave, located the hex-clearing target, and suddenly my avatar refused to do anything. You could say it was because I was too busy, madly trying to keep the camera locked on the amazing form of Layli the Lustrous, to bother pushing the A button. But I know differently. He just stood there like a dolt, as Gwin's health bar slowly sank into the red, staring slack mouthed at the amazing form of that Milsaadi tyrant.

Happy Valentine's Day Week!
Remember, candy goes on sale on February 15th ;-)
Otherwise, bring flowers.
Pink ones.