| Learning |
Hokay, I got a flash of inspiration, and jotted this bit down in about an hour while under the influence of an illegal virus known as the flu. I just thought it was kinda cute. Hope you enjoy! Even if it isn't an epic, it might be good for a few tears.
Regular text is Rommie. Italics are either thoughts or the Andromeda’s main AI. Bold is Holo-Rommie.
~...~
Telemachus Rhade walked down the halls of the Andromeda Ascendant. He had
made his decision, he would tell her. He couldn’t stand all these
feelings pent up inside him anymore.
“If she where a Nietzschean, this wouldn’t be nearly as
much of a problem.” He thought to himself, but then mentally
kicked himself. “If she where a Nietzschean, you wouldn’t
feel the way you do for her. No, I will tell her.”
He turned a corner and nearly ran headlong into the Human Relations Avatar
of the Andromeda, known by her friends as Rommie. The only thing that kept
him from toppling over into her was a strong arm that quickly caught his
shoulder and steadied him.
He blushed painfully. “Or, I could just quietly turn around, go
to the arboretum, and ask Trance to bury my head in the dirt.”
“Commander Rhade.” Rommie greeted him crisply. She was about
to move around him, but he gently put a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Wait. I wanted to talk to you.”
She looked into his eyes with her usual calm, calculating, and completely
forthright stare. She clasped her hands behind her, taking the ‘At
Ease’ stance, apparently waiting for him to continue.
“Uh.”
Telemachus began to mentally give himself very slow, painful torture as
Rommie’s eyebrows moved up in her ‘Surprised-yet-interested’
look.
“It’s a private matter.” He suddenly said, hoping that
a more private setting would help things.
Rommie looked around them. “There is no one here at the moment.”
“Eh, yes.” Telemachus replied, looking down at his shoes for
a moment. He unconsciously copied her stance, legs spread, and hands behind
his back.
“This is difficult for me to say.” He finally said. “As
a Nietzschean, such feelings are… frowned upon.”
Rommie’s eyebrows completely left her head. “Commander, are
you trying to say that you are… attracted to me?”
Telemachus looked up and smiled at her, glad that she had finally caught
on without to much talking on his part. “I came here to learn from
Dylan. Well,” He looked to the side, still smiling. “Perhaps
I haven’t learned to be a hero, but I seem to have picked up few things.”
Rommie flinched visibly, and Telemachus moved his mental torment on to pulling
his fingernails out. The android’s jaw clenched.
“What is that supposed to mean?” She snapped, and began to walk
away without waiting for a reply.
“Rommie!” He called after her. She stopped at his use of her
nickname, and turned around. He sighed. “I’m sorry, Rommie.
I was only saying what I thought was already generally known.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “Dylan and I have… silently…
agreed to not discuss any feelings we may have for each other outside of
our friendship.”
He blushed again, and moved closer to gently place his hands on her shoulders.
Rommie looked at them uncomfortably and tried to step away. “Please,
Commander. From what I have heard, any feelings you might have toward me,
and android, would be quite frowned upon by your people. Do not use me because
you could not get some other.”
Telemachus looked at her with hurt and confusion written all over his features.
Rommie saw this and tried to look away, but he quickly touched her cheek
with his left hand, and softly brought her face around to look into his
eyes again.
“Rommie, what I mean to say is, I have learned something from living
among humans all of the time. I learned to… to love without expecting
anything in return, or for the object of my affections to be able to,”
He gritted his teeth, and continued only with difficulty, “To give
me children. I have learned, to look beyond a woman’s fertility, and
see her for what she truly is, a beautiful, courageous, intelligent, kind
woman.”
Rommie’s full lips trembled. “Me?” She asked softly.
He smiled softly and stroked her cheek. “Yes, you. I love you.”
And he leaned down and gave her the softest possible kiss.
When he withdrew she looked up at him. He was so impossibly tall, almost
as tall as Dylan, and a good seven inches taller then her. But he was so
gentle with her, treating her with the tenderness he would to a human woman.
Rommie felt her feeling jumbling, and wished, for not the first time, that
she didn’t have them. It had been so much easier without them, and
without Rhade.
“I… I have to think about it.” She gasped and quickly
made her way to her sparse quarters.
“Ahem.” She heard the voice of the Andromeda clear
it’s ‘throat’ in her head. And she softly closed her eyes
and was pulled into the cybernetic world of her main AI.
~…~
“What are you going to do?” She asked
herself as soon as she showed up.
“I don’t know.” She replied.
“I don’t see how there can be any question about it.”
The holographic representation of the Andromeda said, joining them. “He
is an organic. We… you are an AI.”
Rommie turned on her ‘sister’ angrily. “No! You are an
AI, I am an android, capable of having feelings, and loving!”
“Your affections do seem to change rapidly.” Said the
ever-logical computer. “First it was Dylan, then Harper, and now…
how do you feel for him?”
Rommie turned to her, getting more frustrated by the second. “I wasn’t
in love with Harper! It was more like…”
“Worship of the creator?” Andromeda said helpfully.
“Yes!” Rommie said.
“Still, this is unacceptable. We don’t even know if
we can trust him yet.” Was the cold remark.
Rommie looked down, as if defeated, but she was only mustering herself.
She looked at them, her brown eyes flashing. “Don’t we? He wasn’t
lying when he said he loved me, you know he wasn’t. And the fact that
he was willing to say that, to put his feeling at my mercy, that shows that
he trusted me. The least I can do is trust him back.”
Holo-Rommie rolled her eyes. “Ever the trusting Little Sister.”
Rommie gasped as a small tear came down her cheek. “I love him.”
She whispered. “He’s kind to me. Of course, he wasn’t
always like this, but he grew. He learned. And when was the last time you
remember someone doing that for us, just for us, just for me?”
Holo-Rommie and Andromeda looked at each other, then Rommie felt the presence
that always reminded her of the warm arms of a protector wrapping around
her, and the two voices, both identical to her own, chorusing as one. “Our
blessings… Little Sister.” They said.
~…~
Rommie sat up on her couch, which she found she had lain down
on during her tête-à-tête with her ‘other-parts’.
She looked around then found Rhade in his quarters. She quickly ran as fast
as she could, which was pretty darn fast, to his room. She took a deep breath
and used the internal communications to alert him as to her presence. The
doors opened almost to quickly, revealing Rhade looking at her with a half-hopeful,
half-depressed look.
“Might I come in?” Rommie asked, and he gestured her inside.
She sat down on the edge of the easy chair he motioned her to. She looked
around nervously, not sure where to begin.
“Have you thought about it?” He asked her most helpfully.
“Yes.” She replied. She winced. A little to rushed, a little
to emphatic.
“And?” Rommie softly said a prayer of blessing for him to whatever
divine there might be.
“Commander.” Not quite right. “Rhade.” Still not.
“Telemachus.” She finally said. “I have… thought
about what you have said…”
Telemachus smiled and interrupted. “In other words, you discussed
this with all the rest of yourself.”
Rommie frowned. “Oh don’t say it like that. I have enough trouble
with pronouns as it is.”
They both laughed, easing the situation considerably, and Rommie felt it
easier to go on. Before she knew it, everything rushed out like water through
a broken dam. “When I first met you, back on Tarazed, I didn’t
trust you, mostly because of your resemblance to your predecessor, Gaheris.”
Telemachus looked quite hurt for a moment, but Rommie waved a hand. “Wait,
let me finish. What he did… hurt me. He wasn’t just Dylan’s
friend he was mine as well. He didn’t just betray Dylan and the Commonwealth,
he betrayed me. I didn’t have feeling back then, but when I was built,
me the android, I suddenly felt all this hurt and pain, and I couldn’t
cope with it. So I buried it, until I met you. You reminded me of all that
pain. I didn’t really have the chance to deal with it on Tarazed,
so I buried it again. And then you… came here to stay. I realized
that I was going to have to deal with all of my anger, and I have. You reminded
me of what Gaheris used to be, a courageous man, who wanted to do what was
right, but didn’t always know how. You helped me to forgive him.”
He smiled at her, and leaned forward in his chair to pat her hand reassuringly.
“Thank you. That means a lot, coming from you.”
Rommie smiled back. “But there is more. I discovered that as soon
as I stopped feeling hate toward you, I started to feel something else.
I noticed your… your at least apparent interest in Commander Valentine.”
Telemachus’ eyes widened. “Beka? Well, maybe at first but…”
She quickly cut him off with soft fingers over his lips. “Wait. Out
of respect for my friendship with her, I ignored my feeling… again.
When you told me you loved me, they all came back in a rush. But now that
I know that you have no relationship with anyone else, I can finally say
it, I love you too, Telemachus Rhade.”
The Nietzschean’s grin threatened to split off of his face. He pulled
her onto his lap and embraced her close. After a moment he pulled back with
mock seriousness. “Of course, we will have to discuss this with all
of my wives first.”
Rommie laughed. “Telemachus, I know your complete history. You are
not married to anyone.”
He shrugged. “Ah well, it was worth a try. It would have been most
interesting to see your reaction if you had believed me.”
The android playfully slapped him in the shoulder, and then pulled him in
for a deep, passionate kiss.
~...~ THE END ~...~
There you go. I hope that I’ve at least amused
you. If it seems strange or anything, don’t blame me, blame the disease
that hath gripped my very soul. *Faints dramatically*