socrowdedinhere | (no subject) (Reply)

Maru: *almost doesn't dare believe . . . j-just . . . studies Kage, torn between EMBRACING him a-and…walking away before he can be hurt by the deception…*

Kage: *trembling faintly. Afraid Maru will turn away in disbelief, /aching/ to close the distance and hold his brother. His voice is soft, it's the only way he can speak with /static/ choking his voice.* It's really me, brother. I remember the time we hid the engineering team's tool kits, *a smile twitches his lips* so we could finish a movie uninterrupted. It didn't work. And I...I remember you on the submarine, ready to go down with what was left of me, but I wanted you to live... I watched over you...for so long after that, a shadow in truth then. *he manages to pull his gaze from Maru to look at DB for a moment.* I saw so much that happened...the friends you made. *he give DB a grateful little smile, then looks back at Maru.* Until the last three years. I was frustrated, I couldn't help you, and then I realized someone could see me. I-it was the hardest choice I made, leaving you. I couldn't do anything for you, and I...saw possibility. Starscream could see me, he could hear me, when no one else for decades had been able to. He found one of the AI chips originally used for all of us, and was able to...to download me into it. *he shrugs, not sure he gets well enough what Stars did to be able to explain it.* After that he rebuilt my body based on the designs I gave him, and I've spent the last year hoping to find you again. *a brief pause and then he reaches a hand towards Maru, hopeful and longing.* It really is me.

Maru: *gaping at him the whole time – if /nothing/ else convinces him, it's…it's the comment about hiding the engineers' tools that one time, practically /nobody/ but them and the few who'd been around that night knew about that . . . finally he sways a bit, catching himself against the door jamb* K-kagerou . . . *voice /broken/ with static*

Deckard: */grinning/ . . . if Kage doesn't move on his own, he'll give the ninja's shoulder a light push*

Kage: *it does take a light push, and then he's to Maru, arms /tight/ around his brother. He's shaking softly, and the faint sound of something like a sob will escape him.* Shadowmaru. I'm so sorry.

Maru: *a faint squawk of surprise is the only protest before he's HUGGING back, static like sobs scratching from his vocalizer* Oh, /gods/ . . . Kagerou . . . you're /back/! You're really back . . . */sobbing/ as much as a robot can*

Kage: I'm back. I'm really back. I'm sorry I left you. I won't leave again. *murmuring the same sort of things over and over.* I love you. *finally goes quiet and just /clings/.*

Maru: *face buried against Kage's shoulder* I failed you . . . I'm so sorry . . . I failed . . . I-I should have…s-should . . . */buzzes/ and falls quiet too, /clinging/ and trembling*

DB: ………….. *a little worried, to be honest, shifts over to Deckard* Are they going to be okay?

Deckard: *wraps an arm around him, snugging him close* Yes, I think so.

DB: *settles easily against Deckard*

Kage: *shakes his head, and will finally push Mari away enough to look at him.* No. /You/ never failed me. What happened was /not/ your fault. So many things went wrong, /you/ are not responsible for that, or for the choices I made, or the choices the board had decided for us, or what /anyone/ else did. /You/. Did not. Fail. Me. *gripping Maru's shoulders and...will pull him back into a /hug/*

Maru: *has lived with that guilt and grief for FAR too long to just accept that, plus still stinging from and processing the failure to protect and rescue DB . . . j-just . . . just keens softly, CLINGING to Kage*

Kage: *composed now, clinging and being the support for his brother like he's wanted to be so many times over the years.*