This is not my usual work at all. Oh well, happy V-Day guys. And remember, it's not always about the romance.

gimp666

Valentine

Rock sighed, sitting amidst a hurricane of papers of every size and colour. Valentine's Day was tomorrow, and he still had so many cards to do. "Roll, could you pass me the purple paper, please? I want to make a special border around this one."

Roll smiled, passing it to him. "Here you go!" She passed it over, sparing a glance at his work. "Ooh, that looks so nice! Who is it for?" She couldn't help but feel a little surprised, Rock was good at many things, but visual arts was not one of them. He must have put a lot of work into this one, it showed in all the small details on the card. She returned to her work, snipping paper to make a string of connected hearts to use as her own border.

Rock paused mid-snip, blinking at her. "Oh, this? It's for Blues. We hardly ever get to see him, so I thought I'd do something nice for him." He grabbed the glue, pasting the border around a big heart centered on the card and held it up What do you think? Looks like a real store bought card, huh?"

Roll looked it over scrupilously, appraising it. I think he'll love it. Do you know his address, then?" She couldn't be bothered to keep up with that information; Blues changed houses the way people changed their clothing. She never knew where he'd be living, week to week, month to month. Rock always seemed to stay on top of that information though, something she found both exasperating and cute at the same time.

Rock nodded slightly. "Of course I do, he's been at this place for awhile now, almost three weeks." He couldn't resist a small smile. "It's actually not that far from here. I think he moved there to keep an eye on us secretly. He hasn't stayed in one place that long for awhile now." He paused momentarily, looking the card over thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll bring it to him in person. If I went right now, I could probably beat him home from work and slip it under his door. What do you think?"

Roll nodded a little, smiling. "I think that's a great idea." It was good, she thought, for Rock to have a good friend he could see now and again. Especially after the ruse Forte had put him through. Rock had finally met a friend – A frobot just like him. But that had turned out to be a sham, and Forte had ended up being (unsurprisingly, in her eyes) a Wily bot.

Rock smiled and tucked the card into an envellope. "Do you have any glitter? I want to make a special signature in it for him." She shook her head and he sighed. "Well.. I suppose I'll just have to go get some. Might as well bring it with me so I can just do it there." He smiled, slipping his coat and a pair of shoes on. "I'll be back in a few hours, okay? I want to pick up something for dessert."

Roll smiled and nodded, returning to her cards.

whooooo!

Rock hummed quietly, trudging through the snow. It was beautiful, but always came at such a high price. He imagined a human's feet would probably be numb by now, his own weren't too far themselves. Sure, he could just call his armor on, and the climate control would have him feeling toasty in no time, but Rock was trying to go with something a little more... low key. As he headed toward the art shop downtown, he couldn't help but notice the boy.

He was tucked away into a corner, curled up tight and shivering heartily. Rock stared in disbelief. The poor boy was wearing a faded t-shirt and worn jeans, but nothing else. It was a wonder he wasn't dead already.

"Oh!" He gasped, abandoning the shovelled sidewalk and mass of people doing last minute shopping for their sweethearts. None of them threw so much as a glance in either of their directions. "You must be freezing!" He exclaimed, grabbing the boy's hand and pulling him to his feet. The boy's fingers were stiff and frozen looking. "Come on, there's a cafe a few doors over, I'll get.. you... some..." He broke off quietly, staring down at the boy.

The boy looked puzzled, grateful, and outraged, all at once. "...O...okay..." He got up awkwardly, half frozen, and followed him cautiously. He stared at Rock, showing no sense of recognition.

Rock was grateful for that. Oh god, why did he always get himself in these messes. The boy standing before him was none other than Forte, that much he was sure of. The purple stripes on his cheeks had been covered or removed somehow, but there was no disguising those eyes. In fact, it looked like he hadn't even tried. There they were, red as rubies and with a look as hard as them too. No, it was definitely Forte – that much he was sure of. Still, he was accepting his act of kindness, and he did look cold...

squee!

Forte stared up at him quietly from over his cinnamon flavoured hot chocolate with heart shaped marshmallows; a festive special. It was warm, at least. And free. This, however, also made him a little nervous. There was no disputing that saying 'There's no such thing as a free meal', because he'd never come across one yet. It always came at some price, he just hoped that such a nice looking kid wouldn't want anything too out to lunch from him.

Rock, meanwhile, was being his usual chatty self, telling all about the flowers he'd bought in secret for his sister, and how surprised he thought she'd be to find them. "Oh!" He touched his lips lightly, as if signalling himself to stop talking so much. "What are you doing for Valentine's Day? It's tomorrow, you know. Are you doing anything with your loved ones?" Forte had a lot of brothers, he had to have something planned.

Forte glanced up a little, looking surprised. "...no." He paused, sipping his hot chocolate. "I have no loved ones."

This surprised Rock. Out of all those Wily bots, he didn't have one... not one single friend? "Not one? Not even a little? Surely you have friends--"

"I have no friends." Forte frowned a little. The boy was prying.

"Surely there's someone you love, even a-"

"I don't believe in love."

Rock stopped, taken aback by that. That was a conversation killing statement, alright. That had stopped the conversational flow dead in its tracks. "... what... what do you mean?" He chuckled, but it was nervous sounding, he'd been thrown off his groove with that. "I mean.. that's like saying you don't believe in... in... forests... or dogs... How can you not believe in something that clearly exists?"

Forte cocked his head to the side slightly. "What proof is there that love exists? You can't touch it, or feel it. You can't even categorize it clearly, because it means different things to different people. Love is just a foolish concept that people created so they wouldn't have to feel lonely."

"Are you lonely?"

Forte scoffed at that a little. "I don't have time to worry about emotions like that."

Rock sighed. That meant yes. He stood up, smiling a little, and unravelled the scarf from around his neck, draping it around Forte's. He pushed his gloves across the table to him and slid his coat off, dropping it over Forte's shoulders. "You don't have to feel lonely anymore. You never know where you might find people who care about you." He turned to leave, then blinked. Blues... Blues would understand. It was the right thing to do, after all. "Happy Valentine's Day, Forte." He set the card down in front of him and left quickly, calling his armor on as he went out the door.

Forte stared on in bewildered silence. "Rock... Rock...man?" He jumped to his feet suddenly, ready to attack on instinct, then blinked slowly. It was warm... and the hot chocolate was good. He'd get him next time, for sure. Slowly he settled back down. Besides, he had a valentime to make, didn't he?

Epilogue

Rock sat amidst the litter of cards he'd received for Valentine's day. Some were from fans, some from friends, and a few more important ones were from family. He glanced over at Roll, smile widening. She was sniffing her roses, she'd adored them, as he knew she would. In fact, everyone had loved their stuff, even Blues, even though the card he'd given him had been considerably plainer.

He was just polishing off his box of chocolates when he heard a slight noise from outside. Someone was slipping a card through the mail slot. He got up quickly, curious, and caught it as it fell in the room, opening the door. It was addressed to him.

He tore the envelope open eagerly, reading over what lay inside.

Rockman,

Happy Valentine's Day.

You left yourself wide open, you know. You're just lucky I'm nice. I knew it was you the whole time. Thanks for the winter gear, hope you're not expecting it back.

Forte.

P.S – Maybe I believe a little...

Rock grinned and threw the door open quickly, looking around. No one was there. Unsurprising, really. He should have opened the door sooner. There were, however, a sole set of footprints, leading to, then away from the door. He stepped out onto the porch more and called out in the direction they left.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Forte!!"