Day 2 Part 1 - Trying To Find Out

As Lan walked back to SciLab the next day, he couldn't help but think about Mayl. Over the past weeks, she had become very distant. In fact, and maybe he was just being overprotective, but he thought he saw the faintest of rings around her eyes. When he had popped in earlier that morning, she had still been asleep. Roll was somewhat up though; she drowsily said she would let Mayl know that he stopped by. Lan wasn't actually too confident in the navi's abilities to remember while she was half asleep though.

Despite seeing her actually getting some rest, he still thought something was bugging her. However, she hadn't given him any kind of idea about what could be wrong. He was as blind as everyone else, which for him was disturbing. They had been dating for two years. They had been neighbors and friends for as long as he could remember. For him not to be able to read her was like not being able to recall a book you had read over a thousand times. It just didn't make sense.

"Hey, Lan. You okay?" Megaman asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about Mayl. Is it me or has she been not herself recently?" Lan said, concern in his voice.

"Hmm. Come to think of it, she's been quieter than usually over the past three weeks. But, I'm sure it's nothing to serious. Maybe she's just coming down with something? It has been getting colder recently," Megaman offered.

"Maybe, but that seems like something that she would tell me about."

"Lan, she doesn't have to tell you everything in her life immediately when it happens. Give her some time, she'll tell you eventually."

"Perhaps… Hey Megaman, what did Dad what me to do today at SciLab?"

"Oh, he wanted to show you some of the schematics for the new security navis. I think you're just looking though. The programming for them is already done; I think he just wants to show you how one is coded."

Lan smirked, "Good, so that mean I won't be needing you today."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Megaman asked, somewhat offended that his brother would say that.

"How would you respond if I requested you, my helpful brother, to go ask Roll what was bugging Mayl?"

Megaman rolled his eyes, "I would say that you're crazy. Going around Mayl still doesn't make it right to snoop in her business."

"Hub, I just want to make sure that she's okay."

"Lan, you still need to be respectful of her privacy."

"I suppose," he said with his down trodden look…for a brief couple of seconds. He suddenly picked his head back up and began smiling at Megaman, which sort of freaked the blue navi out, "So, you want the pillow snuggling picture sent to Gutsman or Protoman?"

Megaman's eyes widened, "Hold on, wait what! I got rid of that thing when you upgraded the PET! I deleted it myself!"

"Back ups bro. I'm smarter now than when I was when I was eleven. So, are you going to choose or will I have to? I'm thinking this would go well in a nice little baby picture frame."

"Fine…you win." Megaman sighed. Lan walked into SciLab and jacked him into the Net through a terminal. Once his brother had disappeared, Lan smirked as he walked to his father's office. It was too easy to trick Megaman sometimes. Lan took a breath and gave a genuine smile. With his brother "helping" him out, he would finally be able to think about something else other than Mayl for the next few hours.

Megaman walked back and forth in front of Roll's portal. Why did Lan just have to have a copy of that shot? Wait? Why did he even care so much? Oh right, cause Protoman and Gutsman would never allow him to live it down. He knew he was being somewhat shallow, but the idea of being endlessly teased for weeks didn't bode well for him either.

As he entered into the PC space, he saw Roll barely staying awake. Of course, with her operator still asleep, she didn't have a reason to be awake. It was a Saturday morning during winter break after all. Although she had been up earlier, she hadn't been too coherent. Even though she normally laid down before she went to sleep, sometimes Roll would simply go to sleep standing up, fall down onto the floor, and stay asleep. Megaman had caught her on a few of those unplanned trust falls when Lan sent Mayl important emails about projects early in the morning back when they were in high school.

He walked up to the drowsy navi and covered her eyes. He was hoping that the sudden darkness would jolt her awake; besides, he would finally be able to use on of her favorite games on her for a change! Of course, since she wasn't really awake, Roll thought she had just merely fallen asleep and her body went into free fall. Even though in the back of her mind, something told her that her landing should not have been as soft as it was. Roll paid no attention to it; she was grateful for it. Whatever this new material that covered her floor was, it was comfortable and perfect for sleeping on. Unfortunately, her nap was interrupted by never ending poking.

Roll lazily opened her eyes again to identify just who would interrupt her from going to sleep. A quick check revealed that it was just Megaman trying to get up from underneath her. Huh, that's why her landing was so soft. She would have to convince Lan to come over more often so she could use Mega as a pillow. He was perfect for sleeping on.

Wait…

"AHH!" Roll yelled, snapping awake and jumping up into the air, "MEGA! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?"

"Shhh. Just a few seconds ago. Do you really need to shout?" he asked, as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Oh sorry, but you snuck up on me! Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be with Lan and your dad all day."

"Slight change in plans. Um…okay, there really isn't any good way of saying this, so I'm just going to say it. Lan's worried about Mayl. He thinks that she's upset about something but she's not telling him. So, do you know what's wrong?"

Roll's gaze narrowed, "So, you expect me to rat out my best friend's feelings for what reason?"

"So Protoman or Gutsman don't see an embarrassing picture of me?" he squeaked. Even though he was her boyfriend, everyone knew that Roll could get overprotective about people she cared about. While this loop included Megaman, it also contained Mayl as well. Roll closed her eyes and for a second she seemed to even be in favor of it. Megaman almost felt himself beginning to relax. But then she brought down a menu and killed her link to the Net. And Lan was busy with navi designs and codes. Which meant that he would be unable to jack out. Uh oh.

"Hub Hikari." She said, pulling out an icy stare.

Megaman tried to avoid all eye contact. Sure she was cute, but she could kill with her stares sometimes. 'Stare at anything else but her eyes. Hey, that floor looks pretty.' Megaman knew one look at Roll and he would be done for. It was like his mom looking at Lan when he did something wrong as a kid. No amount of begging could save you unless you were five with a cute pudgy face and puppy dog eyes. Megaman waited about one minute before taking a quick peek back at his irritated girlfriend. Immediately he was glad he did.

The pink navi had puffed up her checks in an attempt to show her annoyance. But to Megaman, it looked like she was just trying to make herself cuter, which caused him to laugh. Angry and cute were a deadly combination that could only result in amusement. Roll sighed as she dropped the face and looked at her boyfriend as he laughed. She knew it would have only been a matter of time before he had figured out to get around her; maybe she should ask Mayl for some ideas.

Realizing she was beat, the pink navi merely walked over to Megaman, who finally calmed down, and poked him in the stomach, "Don't you know you're not supposed to laugh at a girl when she's upset at you?"

"Stop trying to be mad while making a cute face. The combination is just too funny." He breathed before hugging the navi. It was clear that he would be out of danger for a while.

"It's sweet of Lan. Though your reasons are a little less than to be desired, Hub." She said.

"Sorry, I told him that she would tell him eventually."

"Mega," Roll paused for a bit, "you know if Mayl told me not to tell anyone about what she was going through I wouldn't unless her life depended on it right?"

"I figured as much."

"Tell Lan he's going to have to find out for himself. Personally, I really hope he does; she won't tell me anything either."

"What?" Megaman was surprised. There wasn't a single thing he knew about Mayl that Roll hadn't known. For her not know what was going on with Mayl...it just didn't make any sense.

"Yeah, it's weird. I don't know why she's being so secretive. She got an email some weeks ago, but she wouldn't let me read it. I've been fighting the temptation to go into the PET's systems and look at it for myself. I'm pretty sure she hasn't deleted it yet. But she's been trying to do the same thing over and over again. Wake up at this time. Eat only this specific menu. It's getting ridiculous! And every time I try to talk to her, she just gives me this sad look and tells me that she's alright. And it kills me because I know she's not," the pink navi huffed in frustration, "Why would she lie to me? I'm her best friend! I just don't understand. We've told each other everything. Why doesn't she just talk to me again?" she said as tears had started to form in her eyes. She felt Megaman's hold tighten around her.

"I don't know, Roll. But maybe this whole thing is more serious than we all thought."

"For once, Hub, I really hope you're not right," her voice turned into a whisper as the two navi just stayed there in their embrace.

Edit 5/22/14: Minor changes to structure/dialogue organization.