The More Things Stay the Same

BassRock week: May 17 - Amends

With every passing year, each wild plot for world domination, each day heroically saved, they fell into a routine. Going through the motions. Keeping up appearances.

"This time I'll show you! I'm the strongest robot there is!"

"We don't have to do this! I don't want to fight you!"

The same old song and dance. For who, exactly— for themselves?

For their creators?

Dr. Light knew. He'd been concerned about this… whatever it was they had. But by then, Bass had a long enough history of 'doing the right thing' (or some approximation of it), and so Dr. Light held his tongue. He reassured Rock that he loved him no matter what, and he could always come to him for anything— anything at all.

Dr. Wily didn't know. Well, he probably did. But he never said anything, and neither did Bass, and they both went on acting like his rivalry with Mega Man was still nothing more than an ongoing competition.

Each time they fought, it was a little less intense and a little less real. Not to say either of them held back, it was more like…

…they'd changed over from actual brawling to a choreographed performance. Moves intended to be flashy, to entertain, to show off.

Over time Mega Man stopped feeling so frustrated about having to fight Bass. And as much as he hated faking it, Bass seemed to do better with the fact that his losses were staged. He hadn't really been beaten, no, they'd thrown the fight. Afterwards, Mega Man would try to soothe his ego further by complimenting on some impressive-looking 'attack' he'd made.

The more things stayed the same, as it turned out, the more they changed.

It was surprisingly easy to find time to be alone together. Proto Man was kind enough to help Bass dupe Wily's tracking transmitter, so they didn't have to worry about the villain spying in on them. Sometimes they'd dress casually and head into the city, other times they hung out at Light Labs— the residential section only (Dr. Light was understanding but not taking any chances). Then, there were days they'd go to some secluded spot that Proto Man had taken them to before.

Today was an exceptionally nice day out, and the quiet lakeside was nothing short of perfect.

Rock chose the best pebbles, broad and flat, the right shape and the right weight. He expertly slung them so that they skipped over the surface of the water for yards on end, leaving a series of ripples slowly expanding outwards. Bass just nabbed whatever stones were closest, and aggressively hurled them into the lake, as if his only goal was to get the loudest, biggest splash possible.

"You're supposed to throw them at an angle," Rock said. "Otherwise they won't skip."

"Psh. That's your thing, I don't give a crap." He chucked another stone. "Stupid lake."

With a mischievous grin, Rock leaned over, throwing an arm over Bass' shoulders and going in for a kiss. "You're getting better at this," he teased.

"Yeah," Bass replied with a shrug. "I was practicing."

He pulled away, equal parts amused and surprised. "Practicing? Wh— how?"

Bass grew a little sheepish at that point, realizing too late that maybe he didn't want Rock to know about this. "Well… you know…" He was keenly aware just how bad he was at mushy romantic things like kissing. He'd never been interested in 'sexy stuff' and struggled with the most basic displays of affection…

…but it was important to Rock, and which made it important to him. Bass wasn't actually opposed to any of it, so the need to be the best kicked in, and that had taken him some strange places.

"I figured Quint was you from another timeline, so—"

"Quint!?" Rock burst into laughter. Just what had Bass gotten himself into? What he wouldn't give to have been a fly on the wall when that happened.

Bass scowled, and Rock did his best to compose himself.

"He's not you, by the way. He's just programmed to think that."

"How do you know?"

"'Cause. I could tell."

A quizzical look crept across Rock's features, and he tilted his head slightly. "…when you smooched him?"

"Yeah."

"Aww."

He was tickled by the fact that despite how much trouble Bass had with intimacy, they were close enough now that he could tell the difference between kissing Rock and a duplicate. Bass, on the other hand, was confused by how Rock could possibly find that charming.

"A-anyway. I beat him up after, so he thinks it was some kinda weird prank or something." He paused, then shook his head. "It didn't work with Copy Bot, though. That got pretty weird."

"Wait, you made out with Copy Bot too?"

"It wasn't— I told you! It was practice!"

Rock started laughing again. "Weird how, exactly?"

"Ugh." Bass hid his face in his hands. "Man, I don't wanna talk about it."

Words had been exchanged. Copy had called him a 'tease', and he'd had to ask Proto Man what that meant. To make matters worse, Copy acted strange around him ever since, so Bass now found himself avoiding the other Wily 'bot. All around it was a humiliating mess that he genuinely regretted.

Still chuckling, Rock pulled him into an embrace. "Okay." Then he flopped onto the ground, pulling Bass down with him.

They laid there in silence for a while, Rock stretched out on his back, absently twirling a lock of Bass' hair between his fingers; Bass resting his head on Rock's chest and hand on his waist.

"Sorry."

Rock lifted his head slightly, glancing down at Bass. "Huh? For what?"

"For… for pretending to be your friend."

"I— what? What are you talking about?"

"Way back, when we first met. I pretended to be your friend and then betrayed you."

For a few moments Rock was stunned silent. "Oh. Well. Uh, th-thanks? I forgave you a long time ago. You know that, right?"

"I know, but…" If there was one thing Bass was all too familiar with, it was betrayal. Heaven only knows how many times he and Wily had stabbed each other in the back. Deceit, on the other hand? "I don't like— being fake like that." He still didn't care for it, with their pretend fights, going through the motions… but that— that he'd do forever if he had to. "It was Wily's plan and it worked, but it never sat right with me, yeah? Even when we were still like enemies for real." Bracing himself on one arm, he sat up just enough to look Rock in the eyes. "I, I couldn't apologize before, 'cause… uh…"

Grinning, Rock grabbed Bass by the shoulders and pulled him back towards him, planting a quick kiss on his forehead. "Because you were too proud?" Then he laughed. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

"Sh-shut up." Despite the weak protest, he buried his face in the crook between Rock's neck and shoulder.

They stayed there the rest of the afternoon, Rock wishing it could always be like this, and Bass wondering how much time they had before things went wrong.

- A/N: This is loosely a sequel to "Precipitation". Skipping stones by the lake was definitely inspired by Lou's fanart (wave-man · tumblr · com).

What about self-deception, huh, Bass?