Summary: During the Incineration of Humanity, Dr. Roman and Da Vinci are in the middle of changing shifts as to who would be monitoring the only Chaldean Master while she's out in Uruk, just for the Master to suddenly ask them both a question. They take a moment to talk together.

Note: This chapter was inspired by the tumblr user the8thsphynx, because his artwork of his Master OC River with Romani gave me lots of feels I wanted to write out. As a friend put it, "the inspiration fairy hit" and I had to honor it (even if it meant writing this in one afternoon's sitting). Not to mention, I got to learn some things about my dad today and it felt fitting to write those in here too.

And hey. If Romani is one of River's love interests to Sphynx, Romani is definitely the closest to a dad for Vy in this story. That's what I wanted to convey with this.

Content warning for slight Babylonia spoilers. Just saying.

The theme for this chapter is Clear by Maaya Sakamoto, the first opening to Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card's anime. It's such a nice song, so I wanted to share it with you all too. For a softer alternative, I'll recommend Platinum also by Maaya Sakamoto from Cardcaptor Sakura's original anime.

Otherwise? Here we go. Please enjoy!

Day 50: Clear Answers

It took Romani a moment too long to realize a steaming mug of coffee was sitting in front of the papers he was sure were untouched when he left his seat at the monitors a second ago. When did that get there?

"Another all-nighter, Romani?" wafts above his head before a hand gently bonks him on the shoulder, and turning around revealed Leonardo staring at him with a matching mug in her hands for her to sip at almost pointedly. "I know it's your job to look after her health, but there's no point in you losing sleep and risking your own stats when mia bella worries about you more."

Mia bella — right. Vy. Romani couldn't stop himself from sighing, shaking his head and ignoring the urge to rub at his eyes with his gloved hands. There were probably permanent eye bags lingering underneath at this point. There was no point in lying about it. "I know, Leonardo," he said tiredly, pretending not to notice the concerned glances of Meunière, Sylvia, Dustin, and the other staff sitting around him for their own late night snacks in the Command Room. "But Vy and Mash are still out there. It's my job as Acting Director to look after them."

When there's no one else now. When it's just me as the highest authority Chaldea has left. Especially when Director Olga Marie couldn't stay after what Flauros did, his brain brought up mournfully. When Director Marisbury didn't give her enough and left her the way he did.

It was not the greatest feeling, reconciling the image of the Master that had summoned Solomon to give him a wish with the distant father who never gave Olga Marie the time of day. Had Marisbury even acknowledged her fears of leading when he died? Romani didn't know.

All he had was Vy as a Master and the ragtag group of Servants and staff around him that shared the same goal of saving Humanity and making sure no one else died. And Vy alone was suffering enough, taking on more than she needed to with her own bad workaholic tendencies that needed daily naps just to put a bandaid on things. He couldn't let her end up like Mash, with her limited life span, or even Olga, who was left alone to the very end.

Even then, with all of his bravado, Da Vinci looked less than impressed, taking another long sip of the drink in her hands as her gaze lingered on the untouched yet still steaming mug sitting on the desk behind him. "And I'm the Eternal Genius, Romani," she said flatly, shaking her head while gesturing with her shoulder towards the mug he had yet to pick up. "And, whatever god help me, you need a break. You're starting to look like Vy when she's had a bad day, and that's saying something."

At that, Romani had the awareness to wince. "Was it… was it the hair?" He instinctively reached up to pat around his ponytail, smoothing down what tangles he could find.

"Partially," Da Vinci allowed, but she still reached up and gently pushed at his shoulder so that he'd be facing away from the central command chair. "But it says something else when Mash was asking over the comms earlier if the good Doctor got his coffee before bed."

Romani pinched the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes. He could smell the mentioned coffee the closer he got to it thanks to Da Vinci's needling, and it was definitely bitter from the scent. "Alright, alright," he muttered, forcing all of his self control so that he wouldn't be looking at the hologram screen that listed off both of Mash and Vy's vitals in ancient Uruk. Worrying about them wouldn't help when he could still picture the disappointed looks on their faces from previous Singularities. "I'll get this coffee and take a break then—"

Strangely, it takes both Romani and Da Vinci a moment too long to hear the quiet voice flickering to life over the comms this time.

"…Doctor? Da Vinci-chan? Are you there?"

Vy.

Dr. Roman could feel all of the fatigue immediately leave his body at the mere sound of the Chaldean Master's meek high-pitched voice, and before Da Vinci could say "what," he was already spinning the central command seat around to sit down, facing that cursed hologram screen again to listen closer. "Vy-chan?" The voice that comes out of his throat sounds so soft and fatherly, it nearly makes Romani flinch back from the sudden rush of memories flooding his mind, if not for knowing who needed such a tone to begin with on the other side of the communications line. "Is everything okay?"

"Kinda. I'm just… I-I'm sorry," comes over the comms a few seconds later, as if the girl had paused in whatever she was doing as some shuffling echoed through the speakers at his desk. "I didn't mean to bother you if you were busy."

"I-I'm not busy at the moment, Vy-chan. It's okay." It's not entirely a lie, considering Leonardo was trying to get him to rest a few seconds ago, but he still pretends to not notice the glare the Caster was pointing into his head. Letting her lean into his personal space bubble to listen in anyways, he adds, "What's the matter? Shouldn't it be the middle of the night there for you in Uruk?"

Some static comes through before Vy responds. "It is the middle of the night, aye. Mash is still asleep too, actually. I just…" she pauses, as if gulping down some air as rustling echoes through the speakers. "I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. So, uh… I-I was hoping I could talk to you and Da Vinci-chan about it, if that's okay."

She's asking for help.

Some of the tension that was left in his shoulders seeped out of him in the next relieved exhale of air Romani makes, and he shoots Da Vinci an apologetic smile before opening his mouth. "Of course it's okay, Vy-chan," he whispers, keeping the soft timbre he knows Vy likes in his tone, just because it's all safe without words and it's the least he can do. "Leonardo's already here too, so feel free to talk as much as you want."

"…You sure?"

"I am, cara mia," Leonardo interjects, placing a hand over Romani's gloved one to stop him from interrupting. Shooting the screen a smile brighter than the Mona Lisa, it comes out in her voice as she continues with, "And I can guarantee Romani wouldn't say that kind of cheesy one-liner unless he really means it, and since I'm sitting right next to him, I can confirm he is definitely meaning it!"

Romani can't help the embarrassed shriek that leaves his throat at that point. It might've made him lose some credibility as Chaldea's leader too, but oh well. "Leonardo! I'm not that bad!"

"This coming from the guy who watches digital internet idols in a time like right now?" The grin on Leonardo's face is nothing but shit-eating. "I'd say you are!"

"Darn it…"

Still, quiet giggles start to waft over the comms line that makes Romani's heart melt because he's only heard those giggles in three specific situations before. Before Vy became a Master, when she first met him eating cake in her assigned room; when she first started looking after Mash as a "senpai" after Singularity F (much to Mash's everlasting delight); and when she summoned Robin Hood, Achilles, and Arturia Pendragon. It's honestly nice hearing her giggle like that again, even if it's at his expense, because it means she's opening up. "D-Da Vinci-chan," Vy eventually gets out past her laughing fit, "you don't have to get on Dr. Roman's case. I believe you both, 'bad' or not." There's a smile in her voice nonetheless as she giggles some more. "Hee hee, sorry, Doctor, hee hee, I-I needed that laugh."

Romani rolls his eyes at Leonardo, who chose to stick her tongue out at him while gesturing at his still untouched coffee mug. With a pointed shrug of his shoulders in return, he picked up the mug to sip at it, ignoring the urge to gag at the bitter taste as he kept his attention focused on the screen in front of him. There was business to take care of. "Still, Vy-chan, it's not like you to wake up in the middle of the night. Was it a nightmare? Is that what's bothering you?"

And just like that, the giggles disappear as quickly as they arrived. What then comes out through the comms is subdued and gentle like the high pitched voice Romani's gotten to know from the Vy who's overworked herself in the simulator one too many times, but it's still aware as the Chaldean Master exhales. "Sort of?" The sentence comes off as more of a statement than a legitimate question, and then Romani can hear more rustling. Was Vy moving out of bed? "It at least wasn't my usual zombie-filled stress dreams, so you don't have to worry about that."

It took all of Romani's self control to not spit out his mouthful of coffee. What was this about zombies?

"…Zombies?" Leonardo voices for him, sipping at her mug rather delicately. "Cara mia, what do you mean by 'zombies'?"

"Blame middle school me somehow finding an anime known as 'Highschool of the Dead' through my big brother and being scarred by bloody gore, guns, and giant gravity-defying boobs ever since, excuse my language," Vy deadpanned and even without any video feed, the crackling through the comms has Romani imagining the young woman shaking her head vigorously. It certainly explained her unease at Minamoto-no-Raikou's initial appearance when she was summoned a few months back. He decides to put in a mental tally for later: just look up that anime to inform the other Servants back on base to not bring up that topic when in Vy's presence. "Zombies seem to like coming into my unconscious brain when I'm stressed out every now and then. But that's not the point I was trying to get at." Vy exhales again, a bit shakier this time, and Romani can't help himself from leaning in closer towards the speakers. "It's just… I had a dream of the Demonic Beasts overrunning Chaldea," she confesses. Romani doesn't miss how Da Vinci freezes behind him, nor how the other staff in the Command Room stop whatever hushed conversations they're having in the background to listen in too. "Where they hurt you, Doctor, and Da Vinci-chan, and Meunière, Sylvia, Dustin — everybody. All clawed up, bloodied and… I… I got scared. More so after seeing so many beasts still lurking beyond Uruk's walls."

"Vy…" Romani whispers.

"Is it… is it okay to be scared?" Vy admits over the comms line, and it's brief, but to Romani's trained ear, it's obvious Vy's holding back the urge to cry. "Is it okay… to be worried about you and everyone else back there in Chaldea? Because I am and…" She sniffles. "I don't want to see you all get hurt. I wanna do my best out here, for Mash, for Achi, for Chiron, for Big Robin, for Art-san, for Ere-chan, for Marie, for d'Eon, for Dia, for Medea, for Shirou, for Da Vinci, for you, I'm just—"

I don't want you to be hurt like Mommy and Daddy.

The unspoken sentiment is strong even through a comms line.

"Vy," Romani repeats, keeping his voice in the same soft tone as before so that she could stop rambling. So that she could possibly not cry, because he knows it won't just hurt her this time. "It's absolutely okay to be scared. I am too, a lot of the time in fact."

There's another sniffle. "…Really?"

"Yes." It feels like Romani took off his gloves for all to see when saying it, to the point of feeling awkward as all heck, but he doesn't regret it either. "Vy, you might not be able to see it from where you are, but all of Chaldea has been in a crisis since Singularity F. You've been in one life-threatening situation after another to help us, facing literal demons at every turn." He can't help the self-deprecating laugh that leaves his lips. "Why wouldn't I be scared for you when I know this wasn't what you asked for when signing up?"

"O-Oh…" Vy exhales. "I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't know."

"It's okay, Vy, I didn't say it to ask for an apology. I was just stating the truth." Romani still smiles towards the speakers behind the hologram screen in front of him, hoping it carried over his voice transmitting through the comms to where Vy was as one small reassurance. "Being scared is a part of being human. There's nothing shameful in it."

"Besides, mia bella," Da Vinci pulled out a handkerchief to fake-sniff for a moment, winking at Romani while facing the hologram screen. "I'm here guarding Chaldea along with the other Servants. We won't go down that easily, even if our enemies are beasts from the Age of Gods. Yet you're already worrying about us getting beaten that easily?" There's a little choking noise that has Romani tempted to laugh from how fake it sounded. "The lack of faith is definitely discouraging."

"I-I didn't mean it like that, Da Vinci—!" But there's a bit of brightness coming back into Vy's voice nonetheless, and Romani smiles again.

"Besides, Vy," he interrupted quietly, raising a hand in Leonardo's direction so she could stop the crocodile tears act. "Fear is something that's just part of life as a whole. I think what matters in the end, for you and the journey you're taking with Mash, is what you plan to do with it. I think that's what is most important." With one more smile, he leans in closer towards the screen. "And in my opinion, you've been doing great."

"…You think so?"

"You resolved six Singularities up to this point, Vy," Romani admitted, feeling the pride swell up in his veins as the words left his lips. "Add in all the Servants you've already enhanced, the many Grails we have in our storage, and the events we've had to resolve—" Romani chose to ignore Da Vinci's suspicious cough of "deserted island and weird GudaGuda stuff included" to finish with a softer, "—you've really grown and I'm proud of you. Just as much as Leonardo and the rest of the staff here are." Glancing past the hologram revealed the other staff staring up at him with matching grins, and meeting their gazes had them all nod their heads at him. "So don't worry."

At first, what answers his heartfelt statements is silence. Then, after a few seconds more, Romani could hear the beginnings of giggles. Not the same as the ones from before, but more vulnerable, as if some tears were mixed in. "Th-That's a tall order, considering worrying is in my blood," Vy said slowly, "but I'll do my best, Doctor."

Romani raised his head to meet Leonardo's gaze, and the Caster grinned while leaning past his shoulder to raise her voice towards the speakers. "Your best is good enough. Just, do you feel a little better now, cara mia?"

"Y-Yeah." There's another sniffle as more rustling echoes through the comms. "T-Tempted to cry a little, but it's happy tears, not sad ones this time." Romani found himself exhaling at the sound of Vy giggling again, but it doesn't prepare him for what she says next. "When I get back to Chaldea, would you two be okay with me baking a tiramisu cake for you?"

"Tira—" Romani blinks. "Tiramisu?"

"As thanks for listening to me ramble. It's a coffee cake I learned from the internet back before I was a Master. With coffee liquor, cake mix, and just the right amount of sugar — I made it a lot for daddy when it was his birthday, and he always loved it with his coffee," Vy elaborates over the comms, a smile bright and clear in her voice. "A-And I know you and Da Vinci drink a lot of black coffee when watching over Mash and I while Rayshifting, so I thought a homemade coffee cake with homemade heavy cream frosting would be good to swallow the bitterness down… that is, if you two are okay with it?"

Romani glances past the hologram screen to meet the eyes of the other staff, and he can't miss how Menuière, Sylvia, and Dustin give him encouraging smiles as Da Vinci laughs over his shoulder. Taking a sip of his own mug, the bitterness doesn't taste as bad as he turns back to the comms with a grin of his own. "Once your journey is done, Vy-chan," he whispers softly, "I'd be more than happy to have your homemade tiramisu when you tell me what you've learned from your journey."

The heartfelt "Aye!" over the comms makes the weight on his shoulders feel all the more lighter afterwards.

"What'cha making there, Boss?"

Vy tossed her head back to look up at the Servant who addressed her, this time being Kintoki in the outfit from what she remembered of Heian-kyo, his blue eyes flashing with curiosity. "Tiramisu, 'Toki," she smiles, glancing back to her mixing bowl and slowly withdrawing the stand mixer whisks to reveal soft peaks in the cream sitting inside. "A type of cake."

"Hm…?" Kintoki's gaze still looms over her head, his shadow darting back and forth between her shoulders as if he's studying her from what she could make out from the Wandering Sea's lighting. "Not that your baking is bad, but this is still rare for you," he says quietly. "Is it for some kind of special occasion, Boss?"

Tossing in some cocoa powder, Vy nodded her head, taking a deep breath. "Kinda." With one more breath, she turned her head to give the confused Kintoki the warmest smile she could muster. "It's for a doctor I wish I could've talked to more. Da Vinci Caster's with the other Grailed, so she needs this just as much as I do."

Because someone had to keep Dr. Roman's spirit of eating cake for stress relief alive. Someone, somewhere, even in the Wandering Sea of a Bleached world.