Part two of the MM is awkward, and has staring and honesty issues series. Jk. Here’s the second and final part to my very late birthday fic for Add. Time is not a thing. The first is here~ It can be read alone apart from part one, though. Looking for very awkward DIE and MM interaction? HERE'S YOUR FIC. Also, this fic is dedicated to the lovely DIE, dieabolic-esper. Hope the semiangst ANGRY NOISES to yer liking~
Title Words
Pairing N/A (MMDIE if you look rly hard???)
Words 2416
Summary Mastermind won’t stop staring at Esper. (Bit angsty at the beginning.)
Before, he couldn’t stand to celebrate it.
Not alone anyway, not without his family anymore.
The brawler and scientist before him sat across from one another, jovially arguing about some petty thing or another, as usual.
But now his eyes travelled to them—his new family. No, maybe it would be incorrect to say new. He could never—would never try to replace his actual family with them. They could never mend the cracks that his real family had once filled. But at the same time, they meant just as much to him … they gave him new precious memories, a different kind of joy, new reasons to smile. So, how …
“Hey, Esper!”
The time traveler’s head snapped up at the playful call of his name, eyes wide from not realizing how deep in thought he was.
“Hey,” It was Psyker. His voice softened, dropping an octave and his expression changed. He must have noticed how deep in thought Esper was, as he paused before continuing. “Come on over here. Don’t keep to yourself.”
Esper tightly crossed his arms over his chest. He paused, but only long enough to think and go over his options. He never liked to act on impulse. He always liked to calculate, observe, before making a final choice. And one thing he noticed in his silent observation that would affect his final choice was one researcher, standing off to the side and behind Psyker. Mastermind seemed to be doing his own form of observation because he too was regarding Esper with a silent and precise look of his own.
For some reason, he couldn’t figure out what Mastermind’s staring meant. Did he want him to play along? Was it a look of disappointment
Esper could feel his adrenaline rushing, his body stiffening visibly.
Last time he had tried to escape the birthday festivities, to put a long story short, it ended badly, and the two learned for the first time about how he didn’t cope too well with today. And how he preferred to not have anything to do with today.
Yet, here he was.
(If he were alone, he would certainly have let out a wry laugh at that.)
So, it was entirely possible Psyker seemed to have forgotten about last time? Or maybe he was trying to help ease the pain by reaching out differently than last time. And what of Mastermind? Maybe Mastermind remembered and was silently trying to tell him he understood.
At least, he had hoped so because Mastermind’s staring was starting to unnerve them. He jumped up, bowing his head slightly as to avoid letting them see the probably forced expression now making its way on his face. It gave him enough time to recover and laugh a light laugh—or at least he hoped it was—that finally passed his lips. He then forced out in a chirp as he made way for the table, “Oh, is it cake time? How about presents after?”
“Or presents now,” Psyker replied, a sly look crossing his face as he turned to eye the boxes lined neatly on the table. “Or even better. Both!”
Esper would have turned too but he was watching Mastermind, wondering if he’d ever reply because he was doing the same to him—openly staring. Mastermind held his eyes a few seconds more then a peeved look formed and he slapped a hand on Psyker’s shoulder.
“Cake, or presents. Not both.” He went on normally, as if he hadn’t just stared Esper down, “You’d probably make a mess.”
“Don’t worry.” Well, if that’s how Mastermind wanted to be. At least he wasn’t staring anymore. “We can clean up together.” Esper chimed. “It’ll fine. And more importantly it’ll be fun.”
As long as Mastermind stopped staring…
As long as the focus was off of him.
And as long as they had fun, then it was fine.
--
Esper found himself not in his room but the huge hall that specifically held their own grand piano. It was mostly for decoration, as Mastermind had insisted. Esper had to chuckle to himself for that because little did they know, it certainly had served another purpose than mere decoration.
Footsteps echoed in the empty hall as he leisurely made his way to the all too familiar instrument.
Before the two tried to get him to celebrate this certain day, he preferred to confine himself to this room. He didn’t like to be alone in particular, but he didn’t really want to have anything to do with this day either. However, one day he came across this grand hall and was overtly pleased to find the piano.
He couldn’t bring himself to confide in Psyker—no matter how much he thought he might have wanted to—and certainly not in Mastermind.
So in music he found a sort of solace.
With music, as his fingers gently danced along the keys, his body swaying with whatever song he had memorized for that moment. He would close his eyes and let the music speak all the words trapped, buried, locked away in his heart. He could feel the sound flood his ears, relieving him of his confinements, echoing out, and then gently wrapping around him, extending and dancing to the ceilings and then vibrating against the walls only to envelope him once more.
Tonight was no different. His hands flew across the keys, delicately, but with practiced precision. The tempo of the pieces always started off the same, slow at first. Always slow, always hushed, almost muted. But would eventually come to escalate, in both pace and sound, Esper dancing in almost a flurry with the swift movements against the keys. But not for too long, the tempo dying down and down almost as if the sound had drowned out, muffled, and restrained itself.
His hands lifted up, prepared to go into the next motion of the song. His head raised up too, and he opened his eyes to look down at the keys. Except, a long trail of white caught his attention.
Long .. and white?
His fingers froze, hovering over the keys.
There was some silence, and then, “Who were you expecting? Psyker?” The voice called out, getting closer, stepping from the shadows of the night and making himself fully visible.
Mastermind’s name was stuck in his throat. He couldn’t seem to find his voice at the moment. What was he doing here? How had he known he was even here?
“Who else should I have expected?” Esper eventually heard himself say. “It’s not like you come this way often.” He hesitated, eyes warily regarding Mastermind. He also forego to mention that normally no one came this way. But, ah, details, details.
More importantly, had he been right? Did he read the scientist wrong? Was he actually upset that he hadn’t understood him? Was he mad at him for leaving? Disappointed? He couldn’t exactly justify those ideas, but he couldn’t understand why the scientist would seek him out like this either.
Mastermind made a sound in the back of his throat, then chuckled, “Fair enough.” He made his way over to the piano, standing across from it. “You can play the piano.” He turned to face Esper now, nodding in approval. “And very well, from what I had walked in on, anyway.”
And now Mastermind was complimenting him. The sincere look threw him off too. All Esper could do was drop his gaze down, as he ran his fingers nervously down a couple of keys. He recovered almost immediately, putting on a skittish smile, “Well, I do play a little, yes. But,” And Esper regarded Mastermind, head tilting slightly, “I don’t think you’re here to just compliment my piano skills though.”
The scientist held Esper’s gaze, even when Esper wanted to break eye contact. “Play for me.”
Esper raised an eyebrow, his look questioning, and his curiosity vaguely apparent.
Mastermind must have noticed too because he made another sound in the back of his throat, but this time was different. As if he were trying to cover up something embarrassing. He glanced away. He fidgeted then brought a hand to his mouth as he completely broke the gaze that was lingering on the other.
The dimension traveler took this time to reflect again. He wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that demand just yet, and as he was considering his options he found himself peering calculatingly at Mastermind. He still had a hand over his mouth, eyes darting back and forth, but never looking quite at Esper. He seemed to be mulling something over. Esper watched, fascinated as Mastermind’s reached for part of his ponytail, hands treading through the stands. Was he … nervous?
Mastermind’s eyes finally landed back on Esper, “No, that didn’t come out right at all,” He mumbled. “What I had meant to ask was … would it be alright? If I stayed? And listened to you play?”
Sincere. Esper noticed these habits. These gestures were normally what he saw when Mastermind talked with Psyker. But he was not Psyker. Never could be Psyker, so why? The time traveler regarded Mastermind a few moments more silently, before he gave a tiny shrug of the shoulders, “Suit yourself.” He made to move his hands to start playing again when he felt a sudden presence.
It was Mastermind. He had taken a seat to Esper’s right. A rather close seat even.
If he had to sum up the scientist today, he would have to peg him as strange. It wasn’t that he hated his company, no. It just was so out of character. So different. He made a mental note to talk with the brawler about it later. For now, he’d obliged the scientist. He still wanted to play as well. So he offered a quick smile and began to play again.
His fingertips touched the keys, gently—no, carefully, hesitatingly at first. It had an overall light melody to it for most of the duration. Switching between a low and then high pitch constantly, back and forth, back and forth, but still managing to sound light, chipper. The tempo would increase maybe, but just barely only to return to a steady rhythm again.
Mastermind hummed, a small smile on his lips. He seemed to be pleased by Esper’s performance.
And so Esper went again, playing a similar tune as he did previously.
At the end of song, Mastermind hummed again, but spoke up this time, “That was another nice play.”
“Thank you—”
“But,” The scientist interjected. “I don’t know who you’re trying to fool though. I heard how you were playing before. It sounded wistful, heart wrenching—sad. Don’t change yourself for me, I’m here—I want to listen to you. And if you so happen to be feeling sad now, then don’t … hide that from me. Just be honest.”
Esper froze at that. He stiffly turned so he could look at Mastermind who was watching him so intently. Really, was this how they felt at first when he would almost cut them open, lay them bare and read them as if it were nothing? He resisted the urge to bring a hand to clench at his arm. But what could he do? Mastermind was right. He had failed to even notice how his playing had changed. Yes, he was feeling particularly upset but to be honest about it? His hands fell to his sides as he resisted the urge to cross his arms. “Ah, but don’t you have something better to do?”
And here, Mastermind was honestly curious, “Such as?”
“Your research,” He replied almost instantly. “Didn’t you say you had a lot of research to do?”
Then Mastermind paused and fell into silence.
Esper didn’t like it one bit. He figured it out now. Mastermind really was observing him, trying to figure him out. But why? The question was at the tip of his lips but he didn’t dare ask. To stay collected, he thought about another possibility. Maybe he was just trying to approach Esper carefully since he already knew how sad he felt. But all of it still required reading him. He could feel his arms moving to cross over one another but he abstained. Instead, he felt his lips tug up into a smile that he hoped could fool Mastermind.
Not that it mattered, because Mastermind looked straight ahead, finally speaking up, “You know, I read once that music can serve as a way to put forth feelings and messages that one may not normally be able to put into words.”
Esper sat in silence, opting to look straight ahead now too. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes.
There was a melancholy smile tugging at the scientist’s lips. He was staring at Esper with an unusually soft expression. “You really do keep to yourself,” It was almost a whisper, and if they hadn’t been sitting so close, he may have not heard it at all. After a few moments more of silence, he sighed, standing up. “Well, even if it’s not words, I hope someday I’ll be able to hear you play true to yourself again.” He stood there for a fraction of a second before he whipped around, his hair flowing with him. He shoved his hands into his pockets and briskly began to walk away.
The time traveler remained seated, holding the blank stare straight ahead for one, two, three … and then he looked just in time to see the white of Mastermind’s hair and coat swallowed up by the dark of the night. But he waited, and waited, and waited until he thought it was ample amount of time for Mastermind to be out of earshot distance of his playing. His glance returned to the white and black keys of the piano and felt his hands move on their own.
Maybe they could never be his family that much was true—but they did mean more to him than he could put into words.
