Inbox: Mask or Menace

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"You've reached the comms device of Megaman.EXE. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave a message and I will respond as soon as I am able! Thank you!"

Comments

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[Megaman just nods quietly. There's more to what he meant, but...he's not sure he can say it. There's so much emotional baggage there, and honestly he's still not entirely sure how he feels about it, let alone how to explain.]

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[ This time, Hiro senses the discomfort in Megaman's silence and doesn't push. He fluffs up a bit of data to sit on and lowers himself down onto it. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

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[He looks away, curling in on himself a bit. This time, at least, is less a case of not wanting to talk and more of not knowing how.]

I...I really haven't told anyone else. Not ever.

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[ He nods slowly. ]

Just - just tell me if you want to.

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[He's quiet for a moment, miming a deep breath.]

N-not...not even L-Lan.

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[ Hiro's eyes widen at that. ]

But - I thought you told him everything.

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[He shakes his head.]

I-I couldn't do it. I just...I was scared.

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... It would be scary. That kind of thing.

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I...I wanted to, but...he thought I was normal. Mostly normal. And I...I liked it. He cared about me anyway.

[It meant that he knew that Lan cared about Megaman, not just Hub, and he didn't want to lose it.]

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Without knowing you were his brother?

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Yeah. I was just a navi to him...but I was his navi. [He smiles.] The "best birthday present ever."

[There is so much fondness in his voice when he says it - he's genuinely happy that Lan thinks of him like that. Being Lan's navi means just as much to him as being his brother does, and Lan caring about him as a navi means even more.]

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[ Hiro can't suppress a shudder of horror. He's picturing being presented to Tadashi like some thing, with him having no idea of Hiro's real identity ... ]

Was that ... good?

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Of course! I'd been so afraid he wouldn't even like me, and then he went and said that. I couldn't have been happier.

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... I'm glad, then.

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...Hiro? Is something wrong?

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[ He shakes his head, not wanting to risk another argument. ]

No, not at all. He liked you without even knowing, right?

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Yeah! I just...it meant so much that he did. He liked me for me. We were best friends.

I...I didn't want to ruin that.

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You think telling him would?

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...he knows. Dad had to tell him.

[Things were weird for a while. Still is, kind of; a lot of things are complicated now.]

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...

Was it ruined then?

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I don't know. Everything got all weird all of a sudden. He kept acting like he didn't know how to treat me anymore.

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... Oh. Yeah, that'd probably make it a little strange. But - he had to have gotten better eventually.

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Kind of? I mean, things have kind of gone back to normal, but...it's been almost a year, and it still feels like everything's complicated now.

[That's right - Lan has known for less than a year, they've been together since they were five, and they're currently twelve. Have fun with that math, Hiro.]

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[ That's a hell of a long time to just be a navi to your brother. Hiro opens his mouth to ask a question - and hesitates. He wants to know, but he doesn't want to push... He decides to set it aside for now. ]

Complicated could be better. IF you figure things out.

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Maybe.

[He shrugs and looks away. He's not entirely sure he believes that. As nice as it is that he can actually be brothers with Lan now, it still feels like everything was easier when he didn't know. At least he'd never had to wonder if Lan was saying or doing something just because they're brothers; the ever present fear that he cared about him more now, that being "just" Megaman hadn't been good enough.]