AN: hey y'all i'm back! sorry for the kinda late chappie, i had a lot of family stuff come up, as well as dealing with a stressful job, and couldn't find time to write. hope you enjoy this one though!
this chapter is wholly dedicated to pattercake ! thank you so so unbelievably much for leaving such positive reviews, i've been grinning all day! it's really motivated me to write more!
P.S. i'm so sorry the chapters are so short, i am a horrible, no good, very bad, impatient person who writes one scene and posts it immediately, because i'm cool like that
"I'll be with you the whole time, Lore, don't be nervous."
"I'm not nervous," Lore spat at Troi, as they waited for Data to appear.
Deanna shook her head but said nothing.
Not even 30 seconds passed before the doors slid open with a quiet whoosh, and the android of the hour appeared, an orange tabby trailing behind him.
"Data!" Deanna stood and greeted, foregoing formalities in the hopes to make the atmosphere more friendly. She beckoned for Data to take the seat she had just vacated, directly across from Lore. She's found that it's easier to forgive someone when you can see their face.
Data took the offered seat and Spot immediately jumped into his lap, rubbing her face against his shoulders and chest. He ran his fingers through her fur, expression carefully schooled.
Deanna had known Data for quite awhile, and knew that- even though he supposedly did not have emotions- he still had little tics and mannerisms. When he was in an agitating situation, such as this one, he would find comfort in stroking Spot.
Lore was much less put together as Data; he was having one of the worst facial spasms Troi had ever seen him have, and his nostrils flared with barely concealed anger. He had never looked more human than in this moment.
Several moments of silence ensued, as the two brothers stared at each other, unblinking. Lore grew more and more tense, his face twitching more frequently. Finally, he exploded.
He surged up from the chair he was sitting in and pointed an accusing finger at Data.
"It was your fault!" he cried, voice breaking. Spot jumped from Data's lap, spooked by the sudden noise.
Data looked minutely surprised, as if he hadn't expected Lore to say that. He opened his mouth the reply but Lore barrelled on.
"You're the reason father abandoned me and dismantled me and left me all alone! He loved me! But then you came along and took all of the love! He didn't need me anymore!" He let out in one breath, chest heaving. He looked completely and utterly undone.
Deanna could recognize when someone had been holding in something for so long that they inevitably burst.
Lore was a textbook example.
Still, she did not intervene. This was between Lore and Data.
Data seemed to consider his reply carefully, while Spot found her way back to his lap.
"Lore," he said carefully. His brother met his eyes, a manic look in his own. "When our father made me, I had not even known you existed."
Lore's face froze, and he staggered backwards into his chair, gripping the sides with enough strength to splinter them.
"He never told you about me?" he whispered. Data slowly shook his head.
Lore sat, stunned, his world completely upturned.
"I am sorry," Data offered after a moment, worrying that he had said something wrong.
Lore let out a short, dark laugh and absentmindedly brushed away hair that had fallen into his face.
"He never told you about me," he murmured again, this time with a tone of finality.
Data glanced at Deanna, a questioning look on his face. He never had been good at the whole "emotions" thing.
The counselor cleared her throat to catch Lore's attention. The frazzled android looked up at her, and she was shocked by the empty look she saw in his eyes. A stark contrast from the enraged madman she had seen only moments ago. And she knew what he was really saying. He didn't truly believe that Data was to blame, he just needed someone to point fingers at. Because he couldn't admit the fact that he believed himself to be responsible.
"Lore," she said as softly as she could, striding to crouch down in front of him, "no father is a perfect man, as they would have their children believe, and your father was no exception. He had many flaws and one of those flaws was his ego. He created you and Data in his own likeness and he emotionally ostracized you to the point that you thought he was the only one that loved you. That could love you. And when you no longer fit into his idea of you, he replaced you."
She smiled gently up at him, and swore she saw a glint of gold in his eyes.
"It was not your fault."
Lore let out a choked sob, and his shoulders seemed to collapse in on themselves. Tears of gold were rolling down his face and staining his black uniform.
Deanna put a soothing hand on his knee and said nothing else. He had been holding this in for much too long, and he needed to let it out.
The counselor simply rubbed her hand on Lore's knee as his figure shook with gasps of breath.
A meow behind Troi reminded her to Data's presence. She kept her hand circling on Lore's knee and turned her head to his brother. Without uttering a sound, she mouthed "best to leave us alone," knowing that he would read her lips and understand. He nodded and stood as silently as he could, bundling Spot up in his arms, as he vacated the quarters, doors sliding shut behind him.