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Though Diamond City had always been quieter than the pre-War Boston that would occasionally pass through Nick's mind, it had recently occurred to him just how noisy the settlement could really be.
In fact, it was downright startling when he found himself sitting on the bench atop Acadia’s roof. Apart from the rustling of the wind in the trees and the occasional howl of a wolf, the place was damn near silent.
And God, the stars.
If he'd thought the view in the Commonwealth to be glorious, well…
Nick could see why some people managed to cling to their faith, even now.
“Astounding, isn't it, brother? The only thing the Institute could never really recreate.”
Nick almost jumped out of his synthetic skin.
“Christ alive. Warn a fella before you sneak up on him, would ya?”
DiMA chuckled softly as he approached.
“My apologies. It wasn't too bright of me to assume your detection calibration systems has fared any better than my own, I suppose.”
He nodded towards the space on the bench next to the detective.
“Mind if I sit?”
Nick hummed noncommittally.
“No, no. Go ahead, DiMA, I won't stop you.”
DiMA sat, seeming comfortable despite the numerous wires, vacuum tubes, fuses, and the like decorating his back. It struck Nick that, once upon a time, the two of them had been identical. What a difference a century made.
“I wonder,” DiMA began quietly, his pale eyes trained on the smattering of stars above, “do you recall when they let us into the stellarium? It felt like we could just exist for the first time, exist without their scientists and engineers trying to force some new bit of research on us.”
He smiled softly, then sadly.
“We'd go there whenever one of their personality imprints didn't stick to you. It… seemed to calm you.”
DiMA glanced over to Nick.
“Do you remember?”
Nick, for his part, looked like he'd just watched a puppy be punted across the Commonwealth.
He didn't remember a goddamn thing.
DiMA let out a quiet “ah” once he noticed Nick's expression.
“Please, don't worry. I remember far more than either of us were ever intended to.”
The synth detective sighed quietly.
“No, I know. I just… I know how it feels to be the odd one out. I wish I could remember it, too. Make it feel like an actual shared experience. I'm sorry, DiMA.”
“Don't be.” DiMA smiled, an almost comical picture of benevolence that made Nick chuckle.
“Just… Indulge me, would you, brother? I haven't had too much of a chance to look back on our Institute days.”
Nick took an unneeded breath of the frigid January air. He'd never thought he'd want to hear about his time spent in the Institute. Hell, for the better part of God only knew how long, he'd thought they had thrown him out with the trash. It was still a hard pill to swallow that it had been his brother who had gotten him out. Not a disposal, an escape.
“You know, you're…” DiMA hesitated, “possibly the only person who could really understand. Even if you don't remember.”
Well, that was too right.
“Go on, then.” Nick hummed, watching as a shooting star flitted across his view. “Let's hear it. What was it like, back when we were all fresh-faced and shiny?”
The pale-eyed synth laughed at that, a true, genuine laugh that made Nick pause. He hoped they'd gotten along this easily back then, too.
“They'd play classical music constantly, you know. You always had your favourite - Clair de Lune. Before the personality imprint stuck, you'd always look so excited when you heard the first notes play. You always sat me down for Clair de Lune, and I did the same for Gymnopedie No. 1. We were a real pair, Nick.”
DiMA had a fond smile on his face as he spoke, watching the sky above the repurposed observatory.
Nick found his mind wandering back to the stellarium his brother had mentioned. Then, to a dusty memory of him– no, of the real Nick, Jenny, and a planetarium back in Chicago. Back before the Eddie Winters case. Back before the two were anything more than sweethearts.
“The, ah… the original Nick Valentine wasn't too much of a star enthusiast, but I… I remember going out with– him going out with Jenny this one time. She told him all about the constellations and planets. How you could tell which were planets, ‘cause they didn't twinkle when you stared at ‘em.”
There was quiet for a moment between the brothers.
“Did she have a favourite?”
Nick looked up.
“Hm?”
“A favourite constellation.” DiMA clarified quietly. “Did your Jennifer have one?”
Almost involuntarily, Nick felt himself smile. Your Jennifer. It was a kindness DiMA didn't have to grant - he knew better than anyone that Jenny Lands had never been Nick ‘synth detective’ Valentine’s girl.
And yet.
“Ursa Major.” Nick nodded quietly. “Jenny loved Ursa Major.”
For a long moment in the clear winter night, DiMA was completely silent. Then, softly,
“Nick, I… I hope you know Acadia is always open to you. Even if you decide not to stay, even when you go back to Diamond City, it's always here for you to visit. I'm always here.”
DiMA rested his skeletal left hand - the opposite to his own, Nick noticed - on Nick's shoulder.
“If nothing else, I can listen.”
“I…” Nick sighed, looking up. Polaris, the North Star, looked back down on him.
“I know, DiMA. Thank you.”