The Most Important Gear

Chapter 18

you couldn't even form words at how flustered you became, your heart beating frantically in your chest. the logical side of you was questioning why you were being so nervous, but your heart took over and you rationalized yourself. my heart remembers.

"i'm glad your heart remembers me," he said, removing his hand off your wrist and moving it to your neck, feeling your pulse under his fingertips. "but it doesn't matter if your heart forgot."

you gasped when he leaned into you, his lips right over his ear as he spoke, "i'll engrave it deep inside of your soul so you'll never forget."

"scaramouche..."

he leaned back, seeing your flushed face and rosy cheeks. the photo of you and him kissing came to mind, and a part of him was so upset that he didn't have a kamera to try and repeat history. but what did it matter? you had the rest of your life with him anyways.

you were half expecting him to kiss you, so you mentally braced yourself, but he decided to move away from you and stepped back. a part of you was surprised, and another part of you was... disappointed?

why am i disappointed? i don't even remember anything...

"what's with the sad face," he asked with a cocky look on his face. "did you want a kiss?"

"w-what?!" your face exploded with blush, feeling your ears turn hot. "n-no! why would i think of anything like-"

you were interrupted when his lips met yours in a passionate kiss. his lips fit perfectly over yours, and you couldn't help but close your eyes and respond to it. he held your waist in his hands with a firm and commanding grip, feeling your arms wrap around his neck tenderly. you wanted to know what internal force compelled you to keep trying to stay connected to him, but at the moment what did it matter?

the kiss ended, and he moved away from you. your lips were slightly puffy, and he felt elated when he saw the blush tinting your cheeks and watching you try to regain your breath.

"if you wanted one, you could have just asked. don't give me a desperate face like that."

you nodded, moving away from him and grabbing the gears again. "o-okay."

he laughed, and you couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. "and there you go, right back to work as expected. well, it doesn't really matter anyways. you're stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

all of a sudden after he said the last phrase, you felt your head hurt. you dropped the gear in your hand and clutched your head. "agh!"

he rushed over to where you were standing, holding you up. "{name}? {name}?!"

"it-it hurts," you stammered out. "my head..."

"take a deep breath," he instructed you, hugging you and holding the back of your head. even while you were hurting, you tried to follow his lead and took several deep - yet shaky - breaths to try and calm down.

"what's all the commotion? are you all bothering {name}?"

"don't worry cyno! al haitham and kaveh just came by to drop off a gift."

"and who's he?"

"hmph, you don't need to know my name. who's this kid?"

"kid? me? hah, yeah sure, as if you don't look like one yourself."

"guys let's not fight please! not in my office. you're all free to do that on your own time."

scaramouche realized what was happening: bits and pieces of your memory were coming back. a part of him wondered what caused it, but for now he had to worry about you.

"she'll be with me. she won't need to worry."

"alright. i won't keep you any longer. have a safe journey."

"bye!"

then, all of a sudden, the pain stopped. all the voices in your head began to dissipate one by one, and you wondered what the hell actually happened. however, you began to remember certain things. it was the small 4-way fight that happened right before you left for fontaine which took place in your office.

"{name}?"

you looked at scaramouche, who still held you close to him. "yes?"

"are you alright?"

"i-i'm fine," you said. "i remembered some things."

"what did you remember?"

he pulled away from you, looking at you curiously. "that time in the office... when you, kaveh, al haitham, and cyno ended up fighting. it was right before we left for fontaine."

"i see," he said. "well... that's a start. hopefully you'll regain more as we make up for lost time."

"alright," you said.

"do you uhm..." he cleared his throat, looking away from you as he spoke. "that photo... the one i took of us together..."

you thought for a moment, then you flushed red. "o-oh... that one... i know what you're talking about."

"i want to recreate it," he said, walking off. you could hear his voice echo in the hallway from the tinkering room where you were left overheating. "where's your kamera?"

"scaramouche!"