Chapter Text
An hour had passed. The cave fell silent, the distant squabbling of the children had diminished bit by bit until neither one of them could hear them against the quiet sounds of the distant waterfall. The two had been good about keeping up a conversation, just as they always had been, exchanging tales of mythology for summaries of Knight Man's favorite show. Centaur Man always found the ridiculousness of the plots funny and entertaining, but as someone who was not attached to the characters, it seemed so silly.
However, eventually their discussions began to slow, Centaur Man speaking less and less, and Knight Man beginning to dominate. Centaur Man would soon come to respond only with soft "mm"s and "mm-hmm"s. It wasn't unnoticed by Knight Man, and he began to grow concerned in silence.
"- to which Rory waited. He waited a thousand bleeding years for her!! Is that not the most- just tragically romantic thing?!"
"Mm-hmm." Centaur Man nodded, eyes having drifted shut. Knight Man paused, because that particular episode got him swooning, he quite expected Centaur Man to have a much larger reaction that that, so he knew with certainty now that something was amiss.
"How are you feeling, my love?"
"Tired....cold...." Centaur Man mumbled before trying to stretch his arms.
"Well don't fall asleep yet." Knight Man warned, "with your battery damaged, we don't know what kind of reaction putting it into a recharge state will do."
"I know, I'm just so... So low on energy...." He yawned, brushing a piece of his bangs out of his eyelash. "How long... Has it been?"
"I'm not sure. I wasn't quite paying attention, perhaps a little over an hour?"
"Do you think they're on their way back?" Knight Man could only hope as Centaur Man moved his head on his lap.
"I don't know. If they had to make a path, then...maybe not. But- erm- I mean- well, it's likely!! Perhaps?" Centaur Man chuckled weakly.
"Why are you so cute when you back pedal?" He mumbled.
"Would... It help if you sat up, my love?" Centaur Man shrugged,
"It's too cold to sit up..."
"Cold?" Knight Man didn't think it was cold. In fact, he felt that it was quite muggy down here.
...Then again, he had all his systems online and in working order. Was it possible that Mega Man disabled some sort of internal heating system to conserve his battery? Knight Man wasn't knowledgeable enough about robotics to know the answer, but it seemed quite likely.
"I wish I had a blanket for you, love." Centaur Man couldn't fit in most jumpers, and it wouldn't keep his lower half warm, so Dr. Bourlas took to using large, soft, and often weighted blankets if Centaur Man was chilly. Centaur Man loved these blankets, and it wasn't uncommon for him to be curled up in one during one of his seldom recharge naps. Right now, however, Knight Man would pull him up as best as he could to attempt to keep him warm with his own body heat. "Is that any better?"
"Mmm. Not by much, but, yeah..."
"Stop your sleepy mumbling, darling, you have to stay awake."
"I know, I can't help it...." He yawned again. "I'm trying, I really am, I promise."
"What exactly are your battery levels like right now?"
Centaur Man didn't say anything, and for a moment, Knight Man started to mildly panic, noticing his eyes were shut.
"Darling?"
"'m thinking...." He tried to stretch his shoulders some to keep himself awake, but he wasn't human, so it wouldn't help much. "'s hard to tell accounting for the damaged one..." Ordinarily, the two batteries operated in tandem with each other and were constantly on the same level. But now, one was clearly pulling more weight than the other. "About maybe 11%?" That wasn't a lot. "I think I'm supposed to start feeling sleepy around 15-20%?"
"Oh my love...." Knight Man cooed. He was starting to get scared for him, but he dare not show it. If he panicked now, Centaur Man would do the same, which would likely only drain his battery faster. "Is talking exerting too much power?" Centaur Man only made the 'I don't know' noise, and yawned. Knight Man thought it was adorable how his tongue curled in his mouth.
"Actually, it might be keeping me awake?" He tried stretching again, "I-I don't-" only to yawn instead. "Sorry."
"It's quite alright, love." Knight Man reassured, stroking his hair. He wished, once again, he had experience. He had a completely different method of recharging, and despite living in such a cloudy area whilst being solar powered, he seldom found himself on low power.
"What... About you... O philos?"*
"I'm... I'm quite fine, why do you ask?"
"'s dark down here... And I know you came here on short... Notice... Did you have time..."
"Ah, yes I'm quite fine, I've got enough power to last for another hour and a half." It was so sweet of him to worry, but he wished he'd focus more on himself and his own predicament right now. "You worry so much for others, my darling," Knight Man stroked Centaur Man's cheek, "it's okay to think of yourself sometimes."
Knight Man kept talking to him. That's all he could do. That, and try to keep the poor thing warm. Unfortunately cold metal armor was only so effective.
"So cold...." And it wasn't very effective at all.
"I know my love, I'm so sorry. I can't do more..." Knight Man rested his arm over Centaur Man's chest and waist as much as he could, pulling him close. He wanted him comfortable, of course, but not so comfortable that he'd fall asleep.
"Hmmm. Love... You..." Centaur Man mumbled out, but as soft as his words were, Knight Man could recognize that his voice was beginning to glitch again, as subtle as it was.
"I... I love you too...." Knight Man reaffirmed, both bashfully and worried. He swallowed, and attempted to ramble about anything that might keep his darling Centaur Man's attention, but eventually he heard his lover take a deep sigh. "My love?" Knight Man suddenly smelled something burning.
He whipped his head around and realised smoke was rising from Centaur Man's damaged battery pack, followed by a small spark.
"Centaur Man!!" He screamed, unraveling his arms from his body in favour of shaking his shoulders desperately. "Wake up!! Wake up my darling!!" Centaur Man opened his eyes with a soft squeak, obviously frightened, and as he did so, the spark flared bigger and brighter for that moment.
"Wh-what?" He stammered, "wha-at hap-p-ppened?"
Knight Man heaved a sigh of relief when Centaur Man responded, checking back to make sure the sparking had stopped. While it had, the smoke hadn't quite cleared, and neither had the smell.
"You- you started smoking." Knight Man explained, voice shaky, "you fell asleep and you started smoking."
"Crud. I-I-I'm s-s-so so-sor-sorry o-o ph-philos...." He swallowed, "I'm- I'm ju-us-ust s-so-so tired...."
"I know, I know my love, it isn't your fault." Knight Man breathed, trying to calm himself down, and act as calm as he felt he should be.
"M...maybe it-it would be... Better if... If... Y-y-you shut me down fo-fo-or a-a li-lit-ittle wh-whi-ile...?" Knight Man's eyes widened.
No Robot Master liked to be shut down. Even for repairs, nobody that Knight Man or Centaur Man knew liked it.
"My love?! Are- are you sure?"
"It-it-it's got t-to-o b-buh-be... Bet-bet-etter-er tha-than-n ex-expl-ex-pl-o-ode- exploding...." He mumbled, averting immediate eye contact. "It-it-it'd b-be for th-the bes-es-est." Centaur Man decided, looking up at his lover with such tired eyes.
"I... Alright..." Knight Man agreed, but it was obvious he didn't like it. He'd never outright shut down a robot like this before, as it was just a disrespectful thing in a combat situation. His hand hovered above Centaur Man, unsure. "Um, where exactly do I....?"
"Uh, I thi-in-ink mine-ne is some-ome-omewhere-re on the ba-a-a-ack of my neck-k-k-k. There's a small-all-all section just b-b-below my armor."
"Okay..." Knight Man swallowed, but his hand did not move. Not unless one would count the trembling motions it made. He watched it anxiously, trying to move it towards the switch, but he just couldn't.
"Wh-what-wha-t's-t's wron-ong, Kn-Kni-ight-ight Ma-an-n?"
"I.. I-I..."
Knight Man suddenly closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I-I'm sorry love: I-I can't." He retracted his hand suddenly. "I just can't do it, my love, I'm so sorry. Wh-what if push the wrong button- o-or flip the wrong switch?! Wh-what if I turn you off and you never turn back on?! I-I just- I don't know if I could live with myself if I were responsible for such a thing- I-I—!!"
"Shh-shh, it-it-it's oka-ay, it's o-oka-oka-ka-kay...." Centaur Man shushed, gently taking him by the hand. He brushed his thumb across his knuckle as smoothly as his low power would allow. "It-it's a lo-lot-lot-t to a-as-sk. It-it's okay."
"I'm so sorry, darling."
"It-it-it's al-alr-alr-ri-righ-ight-t. I-I d-do-don-on-n't-t wan-ant-nt- want to ma-ak-ake y--yo-you-ou-u d-d-do-do-do an-anyt-anyth-anythi-thin-anything y-you-you-ou-you d-do-don-on-n't-t wan-ant-nt-t-t t-t-t-to-o d-d-do-do-do-o."
"My love— your voice..." Knight Man wanted to cry... but he wouldn't. However, Centaur Man's voice was only getting worse— his overall state was getting worse! How much longer could Mega Man and Medley be?! He swallowed, not knowing what to do. This was killing him. His poor lover, his poor, darling Centaur Man. He wished he could take all his suffering in his stead, he wished he could take on this burden for him, if it meant his beloved never suffered this way. It wasn't fair. Not to Knight Man.
"Save your energy for now, my love. I'm certain they'll be here any minute...."