Precipitation

BassRock week: May 16 - Rain

i.

Slow and steady, each fat raindrop splattered against his armor like a single punctuation mark.

The storm had come on suddenly. It'd been a perfectly clear day— at least, it was when he'd reached Wily's fortress hours before. Normally he hated to leave once he was in. It wasn't like he could teleport back to where he had left off, and the longer he was away, the more annoying minions would find their way into the zones he'd already cleared.

But Mega Man was happy to make an exception for this.

"I don't understand," he said, casting a wary look at Duo.

The towering alien robot didn't so much as glance his way. Instead, he knelt besides Bass, his attention focused on the damaged Wily 'bot.

"I mean, he can teleport within the Skull Fortress, and we were already there, and Wily's in there somewhere, too…"

"Navigation system is shot," Duo said. If the coordinates or passkey were wrong, the forcefield would have kicked Bass right outside the barrier. His expression was stern, but there was an underlying thread of regret. "You are correct, he is infected."

"So, what do we do?"

His massive left hand curled into a fist, and Duo drew back his arm. "Prevent it from spreading."

"Wait!" Without thinking, Mega Man threw himself between Duo and Bass. "Wait! You— you can't!"

Sagging, Duo shook his head. "It's not that I want to. This is what must be done. There is more at stake than any one of us—"

"Please. There's got to be some other way of clearing out the evil energy without… destroying its host."

For a moment the two stared each other down, silent but for the persistent rainfall, until Bass started twitching and groaning.

"Please," Mega Man repeated.

Duo frowned.

"If what you said is true, he is a villain who willingly used evil energy in order to attack you. There is no reason to—"

"You just have to trust me, Duo. Please, I— I know… I mean, I don't know how I know, but I know that he can change—"

With a sigh, he relented, holding up his hand in a 'stop' gesture. Then, reaching out, he took hold of Mega Man's arm and guided him out of the way. Opening a small panel in his gauntlet, he drew out a coaxial cable, and after a brief search opened Bass' access panel. Duo set up a one-to-one network connection, quietly commented that his kind could do this wirelessly, and set to work.

Mega Man watched, alternating between weaving his fingers together and rubbing his wrists. He tried not to start pacing, and tried harder not to worry, and especially tried not to think about how droplets of water had beaded up on Bass' armor, midnight black and glistening in the rain.

After a few minutes Duo finished and disconnected.

"An evil energy infection can never be fully erased. It will be up to him to continue fighting it." He gave Mega Man a curious look. "You love him."

"Wh-what? No. I mean… y-e— maybe? I— He pretended to be my friend, but…" Face flushed, he lowered his head. "I don't know. I felt a… I felt something. It could become that, some day, I guess…"

With a dismissive grunt, Duo got to his feet. Then, after a moment of hesitation, placed his massive left hand on Mega Man's head, his touch one of solidarity. "I've been there before, and I do not envy you. But I hope you are correct."

ii.

The rain came down in a heavy downpour, an endless barrage of sharp, stinging raindrops.

It had been a few weeks, but Mega Man was still exhausted from his last conflict with Dr. Wily. It wasn't a physical exhaustion, of course, but an emotional one.

"Yo."

"Uagh!" Startled, Mega Man started pinwheeling his arms in an effort to keep from falling.

Standing by a scenic cliffside to contemplate life was Proto Man's shtick, and honestly, he should have left it to his brother. Sure, the valley below was stunningly beautiful, even in the rain. But Bass had just appeared out of nowhere, possibly— likely— to fight him, and would've won without firing off a single shot because Mega Man nearly fell off the edge of a cliff.

Bass grabbed Mega Man's arm to steady him, then jerked him back away from the edge. "Idiot."

"If you're here for a fight, you're a little late."

"Tsk. What, for Wily? We're on the outs right now."

"Oh."

Crossing his arms, Bass glanced over at the valley. "Nice, but it's better when it's not raining. You picked a lousy day."

There was an uneasy silence.

"How'd you know to find me here?"

"I wasn't looking for you, stupid. You're not the only one your obnoxious brother drags out into the middle of nowhere to 'meditate' or whatever the heck he calls it."

"Oh. Right." Then he started putting two and two together. "…You're out here because— it's because of Wily, isn't it?"

Bass made a sound of disgust.

Then sat down, letting his legs hang off the cliff. "That scumbag tried to reprogram me."

"…Oh."

"Do you say anything else?"

"Of course I do, I just, um… I don't want to say the wrong thing."

Mega Man sat down next to him— but not too close.

"I want to say it didn't take, but actually? Wily didn't like the changes. So, I guess the good thing is he won't try that crap again."

"Sorry."

Leaning back on his palms, Bass kicked idly. "Yeah, well."

They drifted into silence, and Mega Man took a chance. A stupid chance, perhaps, but he wasn't sure when he'd get another shot. Shifting his weight and trying to look as casual as possible, he slid his hand over until his pinky brushed up against Bass' hand.

Nothing happened. There was no protest, but also no sign of approval. Bass seemed to ignore the gesture, which really was probably the best he could hope for.

But a few moments later, without comment or fanfare, Bass placed his hand over Mega Man's.

iii.

It had been drizzling on and off all morning, leaving the air thick and hazy. The sun was out and it was humid, but still cool enough that it wasn't oppressive, just…

…soft. A dreamy mist that blanketed everything.

Rock actually hadn't expected any of this, but Blues had strolled into the lab, slyly hinting that he should head out to the ruins of the Gear Fortress. Then, when he had shifted in preparation to armor up, Blues had cut him off. 'No, go like you are now.'

As soon as he arrived it became obvious why. Rock could count on one hand the times he'd seen Bass dressed casually. It was hard enough for the Wily 'bot to let his guard down and go anywhere without armor. That went double for anytime Rock was around. Blues'd had much more luck there, and Rock would've been lying to himself if he said he wasn't a little bit envious.

He'd been out here for a while, judging by how damp his shirt was. Dark hair slicked back in contrast to Rock's perpetual messy helmet hair, or Blues' meticulously coiffed pompadour. The purple warpaint on his face trailed down his neck and arms, which Rock had seen before, but generally pushed out of his mind because otherwise he couldn't help but wonder just how far… well…

"What do you want?" Bass asked, irate.

"Nothing. Blues said you were here, so I came—"

"To hang out? Have some tea, share the latest gossip? I'm not your friend, numbskull, and I don't need you hanging around."

Rock wilted slightly, gripping his arm anxiously, but didn't let Bass drive him away. "Could've used your help with this last round," he said, kicking at a hunk of concrete.

"Yeah, well. When Wily wouldn't give me that stupid double-gear— whatever. I just didn't feel like getting involved one way or another."

For a few moments neither said anything.

"You know, with Dr. Wily in jail," Rock started, "you… I… you don't… what I mean is…"

"He'll bust out sooner or later. It's only a matter of time and you know it."

"Yeah but you don't have to—"

Bass scowled.

"Let me stop you right there. Proto Dweeb is always trying to pressure me with that crap, too. I've told him over and over, I'm not ditching Wily. I mean, I ditch him all the time, but— not, like… forever." He leaned forward to grab a piece of the rubble, and then flung it, watching as it shattered against a partially collapsed wall. "He built me. He may be a jerkwad, but he's still my dad."

Shifting, Rock looked away, then back up. "You deserve better."

That went ignored. "The stupid part is, he'll never be happy no matter what I do. The only thing he wants is for me to destroy you. I want— I'm going to beat you, just y'know, to prove I can. But I'm not going to… I wouldn't… anyway, Wily doesn't care if I'm the strongest or the best or anything. He just cares if you're dead or not. And I'm stuck. Just— stuck."

"If there's anything—" he paused, then changed his mind. "I'm sorry." Rock found himself focusing less on what Bass said, and more on the things that had gone unsaid. Hesitant, he asked, "Do you… do you like me?"

"No."

Rock's face fell. But then Bass grabbed him, tilting his head to the side, before leaning forward and kissing him. His actions were aggressive but clumsy, the stolen kiss uncertain, almost timid. The whole thing was pretty awkward, but Rock was stunned anyway. He drew back in surprise, fingers brushing against his lips.

"That was stupid. Crap! That was really, unbelievably stupid." Stepping back, Bass ran his hands through his hair and tried to gather his wits. "Ugggghhh, that was a mistake."

Only there was no taking it back now. Rock, not sure how to convince him it wasn't, did the first thing that came to mind: he threw his arms around Bass' neck, planting a quick, chaste kiss on his cheek, then another on his nose, and a third on his chin, before going in for a decidedly less chaste kiss on the lips. Rock's attempt was every bit as fumbling and inept as Bass' had been.

…but it worked. Bass' look of distress and confusion changed to one of relief.

"This is a disaster! What're we going to do?"

With a giddy laugh, Rock shook his head. "No idea. But we'll figure it out."