[MoM] IC CONTACT POST

[microbrobotics]

"Hey, you've reached Hiro Hamada. Text me like a normal person and not a weirdo."

Comments

[microbrobotics]

[ Dammit Megaman you have to be careful. Hiro flinches at the suggestion a bit before he remembers - oh, yeah. Netnavi. ]

ok but only if you stay in my comm

[megabytes]

[But Hiroooooooo he just wants you to be happy...!]

Okay. I promise.

[You are so lucky Megaman doesn't like breaking promises. SO LUCKY.

A couple of minutes later Hiro's comm gains one(1) Concerned Blue Bomber.]

Hey. How are you holding up?

[microbrobotics]

[ Thanks bro, you're the best. He forces himself to smile at the comm, though Megaman can likely tell that he's pretty scared here. ]

Hey. I'm fine, see? No symptoms or anything.

[megabytes]

[Aaaaaaand already he wants to jump out and hug Hiro. Why did you make him promise this he just wants to help you be okay.]

That's good! I'm glad. I bet you'll be out of there in no time.

[There's a brief pause, and then Megaman grins, just a bit. If his experience with Lan being sick has taught him anything, it's that they really need a conversation topic that isn't Hiro's health if he wants to help his mood. And he has been thinking about this for a few days already. Might as well bring it up and see what Hiro thinks.]

And I've got just the thing for us to do together when you do.

[microbrobotics]

[ Just about anything would cheer him up at this point; he's not loving this whole quarantine thing. ]

Huh? What is it?

[megabytes]

You wanna learn how to fight?

[microbrobotics]

[ Well. That definitely brightens his mood. ]

Wait, seriously?

[megabytes]

Of course! I know how to fight hand-to-hand, and we're pretty close to the same size. Shouldn't be too hard to teach you a few things.

[Things like dodging properly and learning how to take hits and other fine tricks for Not Getting Concussed In The Middle Of A Battlefield. Hey, he never said this offer didn't have hidden motivations.]

[microbrobotics]

... Okay, yeah. I'd like that. I mean, I'm more experienced than you'd think, but ...

[megabytes]

[Don't mind him, he's just lighting up like the Fourth of July.]

Really? That's great! [Or, you know. Terrible. Either Hiro's going to come in with a decent base to work off of or Megaman's going to be breaking a lot of bad habits. Or an unholy mix of both. It could easily go either way, so he's taking the optimistic route. Because Plucky Shonen Hero.] Once you're out, you can show me what you know and we'll work from there. We'll just have to find a good place to practice.

[microbrobotics]

[ He doesn't know much about fighting, anyway - just some dodging and weaving on top of Baymax. ]

Okay, deal. We'll figure it out.

[megabytes]

[In that case Hiro is going to learn a great many things. Which may well include multiple variations on getting forcibly introduced to safety mats, who knows.]

I just hope I haven't gotten too rusty. Been a while since I've really had a chance to use what I know.

[His expression flickers briefly at that, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it change. He misses netbattling, he misses Lan, but. Hiro needs him right now. Gotta focus on Hiro.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Eh, it'll do the kid some good. Hiro pauses, not 100% sure if he really saw that flicker in his expression... ]

... Used to doing it all the time then?

[megabytes]

[If Hiro wants to not be a giant mass of bruises and shame then he'll just have to learn fast.]

Well, not all the time. But I am a combat spec, and protecting systems from viruses is one of a navi's basic functions, so I do fight quite a lot. Besides, we didn't become the number one netbattlers in Akihara by just sitting around.

[And there it is again. His smile fades, just for a moment, only this time he sounds a little distant when he speaks, as well. When did it get so hard to ignore that his brother wasn't here...?

No, not now. He can do better than this - he needs to do better.

Focus on Hiro. Hiro is more important.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Sorry Megaman, you can't distract him. He's too cooped up and too bored to deviate from this topic much. ]

"We"?

[megabytes]

[HE WILL STILL TRY VALIANTLY TO REPRESS ALL HIS PROBLEMS TO FOCUS ON HIRO'S OKAY. Witness as he smiles in a way that is totally not at all forced in the slightest, why would you ever think that.]

Yeah, me and Lan. My operator. I wouldn't be nearly as good in a netbattle without him. Wouldn't be much of anything, really.

[microbrobotics]

[ Ah, now he's starting to get it.... ]

But he's not here, is he?

[megabytes]

...no, he's not.

[He opens his mouth to say something else - can't think of anything - closes it, and sighs. This. Is very much not the way he expected this conversation to go. It actually surprises him enough to drop the act, at least for the moment.

He looks so lost.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro hesitates at that. Hates to ask, but - before he can say anything else, he has to know. ]

He's ... alive back home, right?

[megabytes]

What? Yes, of course!

[HE DAMN WELL BETTER BE OR SOMEONE'S GETTING SHOT.

Megaman knows his brother's okay - dad said so when he'd 'rescued' him, said Lan needed a navi so he could start sixth grade. He'd been asleep when they'd gotten home, so he hadn't had a chance to talk to him, but. Lan was there. His baby brother was okay.

(One of the Hikari twins has an obituary and a grave, but it isn't Lan)]

Why would you even ask that?

[microbrobotics]

-- Sorry! I just - you looked really upset, so I wanted to make sure --

I'm really glad he's okay!

[megabytes]

[He does not understand your priorities here at ALL, Hiro.]

No, no, it's okay, I just-- [THE BIGGEST OF SIGHS. What is this conversation becoming he can't even.]

Hiro, I'm upset because he isn't here, that's all. It's...I've been with him since we were five. I can't remember ever being away from him for more than a few hours at most. The longest we've ever been separated was for four months, but I was offline the whole time.

...well, the longest before I came here, anyway.

[microbrobotics]

[ Yep, wincing again then. Somehow Megaman's plan to cheer him up seems to have gone off the rails. In his defense, Hiro brought this on himself. ]

How long here?

[megabytes]

I got here in February, so...coming up on four months now. Heh, feels a lot longer when I'm awake for it.

[microbrobotics]

[ He nods a bit, going quiet again as he thinks. ]

I know no one can replace him, but ... You've made friends, right? I mean - there's gotta people plenty of people out there who'd jump at having a Navi buddy.