Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You stretch in your seat. Looking over at the commission you’ve just finished with a smile. You hope your customer is as happy with it as you are, they did seem to like the sample you sent. It was an interesting piece of art, it was fun to draw too, there is a simple beauty to it, the sun reflected in a lake as the moon, they’re using it as a book cover or something. 

You set your stylus down and close your laptop, you’ll probably hear from them tomorrow. 

Your stomach growls… oh yeah food… you get up from the desk in the corner of your bedroom and head to the kitchen. You head back into your room to grab your phone. 

Back in the kitchen you look in the fridge… nothing of interest in there… The cupboards seem promising. Some instant noodles will do for dinner right? 

You flick the kettle on. 

You open your phone, a message from your friend. You sigh, not sure how to reply. You read it again. ‘Wanna come over and hangout? I built something I’d love to show you’

You’ll answer it later. 

You scroll through your phone, memes and art the usual. 

The kettle finishes boiling and you fill the noodle pot to the line and fold the lid back over. Oh what's this? Someone saw another one of those robots roaming the city? 

You chuckle at the second to last comment. They’d adopt one? What a silly notion, they are possibly (but never confirmed) murder robots not pets. You do feel kind of sorry for them though. Ever since that Pizzaplex crumbled in that sinkhole they’ve been showing up all around the city, and no one's done anything about it just like when there were robots free roaming Utah back in 2023, no wonder everyone questioned your sanity when you said you were moving here. 

You finish your pot noodle and toss it in the… you pause over the bin. It’s full, you were supposed to empty it earlier. At least it’s not dark yet. With a heavy sigh you tie the bag and lift the rubbish out of the bin. Slipping on some crocs and heading out your apartment and down the little stairway. 

‘No pets allowed’ posters are plastered all over the backdoor. You push it open grabbing the bat left next to the door, raccoons and wild animals keep getting into the dumpster, you’d never hurt them just scare them off. 

As if on cue you hear a rustling from in the rubbish. 

This is why you should have emptied the bin earlier. You place your bag down and hit the side of the dumpster then step back. 

The rustling stops and from amongst the rubbish emerges a face, a big round robotic face with sharp triangles around it that shrink as it locks eyes with you… 

You stare.

It stares.

It’s pale robotic eyes blink before shifting from side to side.

“Uuh meow?” 

“AAAAAAHHHhh!” 

Bonk. 

It winces back. “Owww.” 

Oh shhhooot what did you just do? 

You just hit the damn murder robot square on the forehead. Your heart sinks, anxiety builds. You just hit a murder robot and it did no damage. 

“Ah uh um… sorry.” you squeak, stepping back. You hit the floor. “Please don’t kill me.” You brandish your weapon.

It’s… laughing?

“Sorry friend I didn’t mean to scare you.”

It smiles as it clambers out of the dumpster and offers you a hand. 

You look at it and cautiously take it’s hand. 

It pulls you up off the bag of rubbish you tripped on and onto your feet.

“Sorry… that I uh…” you hide the bat behind you. 

It sighs. “That's ok, humans do silly things when they’re scared. How about we start over?”

You nod.

“Hi there new friend, My name is Sun!”

“Hi Sun,” You feel a little hint of a smile tug at your lips as you introduce yourself. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” he shakes your hand. 

“Sooo… uh what were you doing… uh… in the rubbish?” You ask.

“Rubbish… oh.” he looks at the dumpster. “I was looking for some parts or tools or anything really.” 

“Oh, are you like broken?” 

“A little, kind of…” 

You think for a second… is this a smart idea? You think back to that post ‘that’s how you die’... 

“Well… I uh… know a person who could maybe fix you up?”

“You do!?” 

“Yeah I dunno if they’ll be up for it but I have a friend who like, builds robots and stuff.” 

“Amazing! Can I meet this friend of yours?” 

“Tomorrow maybe? I’ll uh… have to check if they're free.” You check your pockets for your phone… it’s on the kitchen counter isn’t it.

“Do you uh… want to come in?”

He looks surprised. “I’d Love to! If that’s ok…”

You shrug, “yeah…” 

You turn to head inside and almost trip on your rubbish again. “Oh yeah.” you toss it in the dumpster and then head in and back up the stairs as the lanky robot follows. Is this how you die? He seems kind enough right? But that’s how they get you. What do you have to lose? Just everything.

You open your door and hold it open. “Uh… Welcome to my little flat?”

“Thank you. Oh It’s so cute.” 

“Thanks?” you rub the back of your neck. “You um.. fancy a cuppa?” 

“Cuppa? A cup of tea… uh… No thank you?” Sun giggles. 

“Yeah.. right… force of habit.” you chuckle a little too. “It’s alright if I make one tho right.” 

“Go ahead.”

“Cool um… make yourself at home I guess.” 

You walk past your sofa to your kitchen area. You can still see the robot from here, through the archway that makes your living area almost open plan. 

You turn to the task at hand, a well deserved cup of tea. There’s still water in the kettle from earlier, you tap it carefully and determine it’s not quite hot enough so you pop it back on. 

You reach over to open the upper cabinet.

DONK

“Jeez, I’m sorry.” You swing around to see him.

He holds his very flat nose. “It’s ok…” 

“I didn’t see you there…” How did he even get so close… “Did you need something?” 

“No, I was just curious.” 

You smile. “Wanted to see how a proper cup of tea is made?” 

“Maybe…” he fidgets with his ribbons. 

“Just uh… don’t stand too close alright.” 

“Good idea.” he chuckles. 

You grab your mug from the cabinet. 

You pour just a splash of boiled water into the mug and swirl it around before pouring it down the sink. 

“Was the cup dirty?” Sun asks. 

You shake your head, “no, just cold.” 

You take a tea bag from the pot on the counter and place it in the warm mug, then fill it just over three quarters full. As it brews you go to the fridge and grab some milk. 

Stirring the tea for a moment until it’s the right strength, you then scoop the tea bag out and squish it against the side of the mug before placing it in the tea bag tidy. 

Then you add just the right amount of milk. 

“There, easy peasy.” 

He nods his hand on his chin. “Lemon squeezy?”

“Yeah.” you giggle. “Oh I should message Bolt…” You grab your phone. 

Looking over the message you’d previously ignored. You start typing. ‘Hey yeah that would be great, you free tomorrow? there’s actually something I need to ask if you can maybe fix if you’re up for it?.’

You take your tea and sit on the sofa. 

“So Sun… you’re from that fazbear mall thing right?”

He nods. “Yes, the Pizzaplex.” he sits on the floor crossing his legs.

“Right, the Pizzaplex.” you nod. 

A wash of silence hangs awkwardly in the air. 

“So uh… the weather?”

“The weather?” He tilts his head.

“Yeah it’s um… been nice lately…” 

He sighs a soft smile. “The sky is beaut-i-ful.” he hums. 

Oh… yeah he’s probably been trapped in that building for like ever. 

You nod. 

Your phone buzzes. 

‘Sure thing, bring whatever.’ 

They have no idea what kind of surprise you have in store for them. 

“They say we can go over tomorrow.” 

“Brilliant! Thank you!” 

“Don’t thank me yet, we don’t know if they can even help…” you rub the back of your neck. 

“It’s the thought that counts!” he chimes. “Soo… this friend, what are they like?”

“Yeah, so Bolt is like a tech genius, they’ve been building and fixing allsorts of electronics and robotics stuffs since they were a kid. If they agree to fix you you’ll be in good hands.” 

“Good to know, Good to know.” 

“So… uh you can like, Crash here for the night, do you like… sleep? Do you… need to plug in to charge or anything?”

“No, our battery actually keeps itself charged kind of like a car does.”

“Cool… cuz like I only have one bed so one of us would have had to sleep on the sofa or something.” you chuckle. 

He laughs a little as well. 

You sip your tea… another silence. A faint scent of garbage wafts through the room.

The robot… he smells… shoot how do you deal with this without being rude?

“Um…” he breaks the silence. “I don’t suppose I could… clean myself up?" he rubs the back of his head. “I’ve been rummaging through the trash. I kind of smell…”

“Oh uh… Yeah sure, what do you need?” he’s a robot… he probably can’t shower or bathe… “I have a spare flannel and a towel?” 

He thinks for a moment. “A cloth and some… either dish soap or bubble bath should do.”

“No problem, I can grab some spare clothes and I can chuck yours in the wash.” 

“That would be great.” he beams.

You stand and head to your room. He follows standing in the doorway. 

You dig through your clothes and find an extra long tee and some joggers, that might be a bit short but they’ll do. Next you head to the bathroom. 

You find your spare washcloth and towel and the bubble bath. 

“There, I hope that’ll do. If you need anything I’ll be in the living room.”

“Thank you friend." he chimes. 

You leave him in the bathroom and sit back down with your tea. 

What a weird situation. You must be crazy… at least you’ll be safe if the robot apocalypse comes, wait isn’t this kind of a robot apocalypse? The second one in Hurricane now you think about it. You laugh at the thought. 

You take a moment to scroll through your phone again. Your favourite fictional characters fill your feed, oh hey that fanfic you’ve been reading just updated, you’ll have to read that later. 

You then find some funny videos and soon enough Sun emerges from the bathroom. 

The joggers look like three quarters on him and he’s not wearing the tee? Well he wasn’t exactly wearing a top to begin with, not his thing? Or maybe it blocks a cooling fan or something? 

“Where can I?” He holds a pile of clothes. 

“Yeah, just bring them over here.” you walk to the cupboard and bring out a mostly empty laundry basket. 

He puts an alarming amount of clothes in the basket, for someone not even wearing a top this seems excessive. 

“You can come with or stay it’s up to you.”

“Go where?” 

“To the laundry room. I’ll get these washed for you now.” you grab the laundry sauce and your purse of change. 

“Oh can I come?”

“Sure.” 

You head back down the stairs once again followed by the lanky robot.

The laundry room is empty just like you thought it would be.

You go straight to your favourite washing machine. Why you have a favourite is a mystery but this is just the best one. 

You start loading the clothes. A yellow and red sleeve, a second sleeve, matching trousers, another sleeve… a purple sleeve covered in stars… a matching hat? were these his pjs? Or a change of clothes maybe, where was he keeping these? Under his other clothes? You put them all in the wash anyway, they were just as dirty, that’s what a couple weeks of being out in the elements and in the rubbish does you suppose.

You notice him hovering over you. 

“Sooo… you need something?”

“Sorry no, force of habit.” he lets out a nervous laugh as he steps back.

 You load the flannel and towel and other miscellaneous clothes to get a full load in. 

You pop a cap of detergent in and load in the coins before setting it to the regular wash… that should do right? 

You turn to Sun who is staring at the no pets posters plastered everywhere. 

“So you didn’t fancy the shirt? Where did it end up?”

“Oh no Moon has it.”

“WHO?” 

He turns to you. “Moon… he’s um… My other half?”

“Your husband?” 

He busts out laughing. “Goodness no! He’s a part of me.”

“A part of you?” 

He sighs. “I’ll just show you.”

You watch as he walks over to the light switch and turns it off. 

Mechanical noises fill the room as your eyes adjust. 

You see two red lights staring at you, slowly you see him more clearly, a robot similar to Sun but half of him almost blends into the darkness, stands in his place, he’s wearing just the long t-shirt. 

“Uh… hi?” you mumble…

He waves with a chuckle. “Hell-o.” 

His voice is deeper than Sun’s, slow and kind of crackly? Almost creepy…

“So you’re Moon?” when in the dark they transform? Must be some show trick, they do look like jesters maybe they perform or something?

He nods. 

“So uh the starry clothes must be yours?”

He nods again. 

“Is the uh… T-shirt comfy?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Cool… cool… it’s uh no problem…” 

You were not expecting to meet one robot today, never mind a two in one robot deal. What do you even say?

He sighs and turns away. “Sun’s turn now.”

“Oh ok,” the lights flicker back on. “Bye-”

“So yeah that’s Moon!” 

“You’re like two different robots in one huh?”

“Exactly.” he chimes. 

“He doesn’t like me does he…” it slipped out before you could filter it. Man you must be tired.

“What? No he’s just… uh… not much of a talker.” That nervous laugh again. “He’s very nice I promise.” 

“Yeah…” sure…

“So um… these posters? They’re everywhere. . .” he looks back to the posters. 

“Yeah the landlord is pretty adamant we don’t have pets.” 

“That’s a shame… that must get lonely…” he gives you a sad smile. 

“What?”

“You live alone right? No people, no pets…” 

“Well… yeah but I’m alright.” 

“I could never…” he mumbles, you almost didn’t catch it.

Was he projecting? Can a robot do that? Can they even feel emotions? He does seem really emotive… is this all a sympathy play? Get your guard down?

A chime made you jump. The washing was done. Was that quick? Or have you really been down here that long? Well it wasn’t like washing machines ever tell the truth about how long they’ll take.

You load the basket with the wet clothes. You could pop them in the dryer but that would take another age or two… they should dry on the airer right? It’ll do, it’s getting late. 

“Alright.” you hum as you make your way out. 

“Do you want me to carry that?” he asks.

“No it’s ok.” you start climbing the stairs.

“But… it looks heavy…” he follows. 

“It’s ok.” it was a little awkward but not overly heavy, you do this all the time, plus it’s not like there were that many flights of stairs. It is a pretty small apartment building afterall.

You enter your apartment and take out the airer and start hanging his clothes. 

“They should be dry by the morning.” despite the padding in them you’re about 80% sure they’ll be dry.

“Great.” he chimes. 

You hang the last of it. “I think I’ll head to bed now…” 

“Good idea it’s getting late, wouldn’t want to stay up past your bedtime.” 

You can’t help a little chuckle. Maybe you’re over tired but the notion of a bedtime at your age just seems funny. 

“Goodnight.” you turn the lights off. 

“Nighty night~” Moon said in a sing-song tune. 

Chapter Text

You turn over as you wake up… Wait? Why does it smell like toast? Are you having a stroke? Is your apartment on fire? Surely it wouldn’t smell this good if it was the latter… 

You drag yourself out of bed, you should check just in case, probably about time you got up anyway. 

You try to open your door but it won’t budge? Oh yeah you locked it because you invited a strange robot over. Wait, did the robot set fire to your house because he couldn’t get in to murder you last night? 

No you’ve already established it smells like toast not burning a building… 

You unlock the door and venture out. You hear the kettle boiling? Did the robot help someone break in? 

You cautiously peak into the kitchen. The robot, the sunny one, He’s still in your pair of joggers and is just standing there… menacingly? No…?

The kettle finishes and he puts a splash into a cup, rinses it and pops a tea bag in, fills with water then turns toward the fridge. 

“Oh good morning!” 

You jump. “Morning?” 

“I’ve made you breakfast.” he chimes. 

“Oh… you uh… didn’t have to do that.” 

“No, of course I did. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality and in advance for well, today.” His smile is genuine and charming even. 

“Well… thank you.” When was the last time someone made you breakfast?

He pours just the right amount of milk into the tea and puts it on the table alongside a plate of toast. 

“Come, eat.”

You wipe the sleep out of your eyes and sit at the little table in your kitchen. 

The toast is pretty much perfect and the tea even more so, he’s a fast learner. 

There is something about food and especially tea being made for you, you feel all warm and cozy and cared for, it was a simple breakfast but a good one. 

“Thank you Sun, this was a really nice surprise.” 

“You’re welcome.” he chimes as he cleans up. 

Maybe he just wanted to put a rush on this morning so he could get fixed quicker or something but right now whatever ulterior motives he may have it didn’t matter… unless he was trying to poison you? You look at your half eaten food and half drunk tea… too late now might as well enjoy it.

You finish your toast and he takes the plate to wash as you sip your tea.

“Sleep well?” He asks.

“Not bad actually.” surprisingly well for having a strange robot in your flat.

“Good.” he hums. 

Wait, has he washed all your dishes from yesterday? You look around. You peak into the living room. Everything is spotless, as tidy as can be, now the toast smell is wearing off, there is an extremely fresh and clean smell throughout the house. 

“Have you cleaned my whole apartment?” 

He nods. “Everything except your room. Is that ok?” 

“Yeah… I’m uh… shell shocked. Thank you.” you scratch your cheek. “This is all too much.” 

“No it’s not enough! You’ve been so kind, I wanted to do a few things for you. It’s the least I could do.” 

You don’t know what to say… You chug the rest of your tea. 

“Alright! I’ll get ready and we’ll go right away.”

You didn’t wait for a reply, you just got up and headed to your room to get your clothes. 

You got ready as quickly as you could and hurried back.

“Oh stars! Sorry!” You turn away. He’s getting changed in the middle of the living room.

“Oh don’t worry, there’s nothing to hide. I’m built like a Ken doll.” 

You snort a laugh still not turning around. You are not verifying that claim, plus it’s the principle. 

You hear him shuffling around for a moment. 

“That will do.” he hums. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready if you are.” you cautiously turn around. 

He lets out a little chuckle. He is thankfully now fully clothed, by that you mean he has trousers on. 

“No sleeves?” 

He shakes his head. “They’re great for dishing out hugs, not so great for maintenance, they get in the way.”  

“Dishing out hugs? Was that part of your job?” You grab your bag and head out.

“Yes of course.”

“What kind of job was that?”

“Cheif hug giver of course.” You can hear a little jest in his voice.

“No way that’s a real job.” you chuckle. 

“It absolutely is.” he retorts. 

You head down the stairs. “Is not.”

“Is too!” 

You can’t help but laugh as you exit through the front door. 

Oh yeah, people exist… But… They don’t seem to notice the robot towering over you. You make your way down the street. 

“Oh come on, chief hug giver is not a job.” 

You only get a few weird looks. 

“Well you don’t have to believe me.” 

Is this some kind of pretty privilege in action? He’s all cleaned up and not digging through the trash so he’s ok? Or do they think this is some kind of cosplay or a street performer? 

“Let me guess. A light bulb changer.” you giggle.

“Har har, just because I'm tall.”

“Um… a comedian?” 

“I wish.” 

“Ok in all seriousness a performer?”

“In another life.” he sighs.

“Ok fine tell me.”

“Cheif hug giver obviously.” he laughs.

“Yes obviously.” you roll your eyes.

After a couple blocks you stop at a small house. 

“Well this is our stop.” 

“Oh.” 

You knock on the door. 

“One minute,” sounds through the speaker by the door. 

A moment passes before the door swings open.

“Hi!.... Oh…” Bolt freezes.

“Hi…” you give a little wave. 

Their eyes seem to sparkle. “Come in! Come in!”

You, followed by Sun, come in and follow them to their workshop.

“Forget whatever I wanted to show you. Who do we have here!?”

“Hi new friend, I’m Sun.” 

They smile brightly. “Amazing!! And in good condition…” 

“Do you think you can fix him?” you ask.

“Can I ever! This is Fazbear tech! Of course I can!”

“Brilliant.” Sun chimes. 

They clear the table and pat it. “Please sit.”

Sun does as they say and sits on the table. 

“Mind if we shut you off for some maintenance?” 

“Only if you pinky promise to turn me back on after.” he frowns. 

“Yeah of course.” They hold their pinky out.

“I’ll make sure they do.” You reassure him. 

“Fine.” They shake pinkies. 

They take a strange looking tool and pops it into the back of his head and he shuts down. 

“So… where did you find this masterpiece?” 

“The dumpster behind my building.” 

“No way!?”

“Yes way.” 

“This is going to be fun.” they chime.

“So what’s wrong with him?”

“They just need a little maintenance is all.” 

“They… how did you…”

They tap their nose as they walk to their computer. 

They open up a folder. You catch a bunch of names as they scroll. Montgomery, DJ Musicman, Mapbot, Giga-monty, Roxanne, Freddy, Chica, Bonnie… They then stop at Daycare attendant and open it up. 

Oh so he works at the daycare? That tracks.

“May I ask… How and why do you even have these folders?”

“Well… I applied to work at the pizzaplex as a techie a few years back and they denied my application saying I was too young.” they humph. 

“So you hacked them?” 

“Exactly! Their security was so bad even an amateur could have breached it.” 

“Right…”

“Hey If I got Hired and if art hadn’t worked out and you went into childcare like your backup was maybe we would have wound up working there together.” 

“Maybe in another life.” 

Wait… Has he been hovering over you because he’s used to or rather programmed to supervise children? Does he think you’re a child?

“Alright I’ll show you how to do maintenance on this thing.” Bolt chimes.

“Wait what? Me? No, you're the maintenance person.” 

“I’m not coming around and maintaining him every other week.”

“What makes you think I’m keeping him.”

“You found him, You’re stuck with him, It’s the robot distribution system baby.”

“That is not a thing… He’s not a Cat.” 

They laugh.

“Can’t we just fix him up and send him back into the wild?” 

“This is no injured bird.” They shake their head. “That would be like taking a free kitten from those boxes, feeding it one meal and sending it off to die.”

“I’m… Well… theres… it’s… Where I live it’s No pets allowed..”

“Well how about a robot? Plus you said yourself like two seconds ago he’s not a pet.”

You puff your cheeks… they have you there.

“Aye checkmate!” 

“Well… its um… his choice if he stays…” 

“Oh so he’s an outdoor cat then?” 

“Stop with the cat metaphors.” 

“Alright.” 

They then take you step by step through maintaining the two robots, even turning the lights out and fixing Moon by torch light. They also printed out the sections of the files they have on maintenance for you. It was a swirl of information you weren't ready for. Something about tightening this bolt, loosening these, checking these wires, be careful or he’ll wake up and decapitate you. You’re not sure if that was a joke or not…  It was all a bit much to say the least…  Do you really have to do this? 

“And done.” They chime. 

“Really?” you feel like you missed like half of that. 

“I don’t know if I’m qualified for this.” 

“You’ll get the hang of it.” 

“What if I don’t? Or I don’t fast enough, What if I cause more damage then good?”

“You’ll be fine, I believe in you. But if it makes you feel better you can video call me or something the first few times.” 

“What if I break him?”

“Then you can bring him here and I’ll fix him.”

“But…”

“You’ll be fine.” 

You’re not so sure, how can they be so confident in your abilities? It’s easy for them to say they’re some kind of genius, they’re well practiced, you’ve never fixed a robot before. 

“Come on, we both went to uni for robotics.”

"Yeah but I flunked it and ended up dropping out and switched to design remember?"

"No you were great at it, you messed up one test and bailed, here is for redemption."

You take a deep breath and cross your arms, what choice do you have, Bolt is going to be as stubborn as ever. 

“Alright I’m gonna re-activate him.”

They do whatever they did before but backwards. 

“Rebooting…” 

He comes to life slowly. 

“So how do you feel?” Bolt asks.

“Great!” Sun chimes. “So much better. Thank you.” 

You find yourself smiling, it’s a relief to know Bolt at least knows what they’re doing.

“How do I look?” he asks you. 

“Um… the same?” you answer. 

He pouts. “Couldn’t even humour me?”  

“Sorry, You look fabulous darling.” you chuckle. 

“Better.” 

“Alright you two, You can scram.” 

“Huh…” you look to Bolt. 

“What? I’m a busy person and my work here is done.”

“Oh… alright…” 

 You leave a little shook, they didn’t even show you what they built. Peopled out maybe?

What to do now? 

A walk might be nice? Some shops since you’re already out and about. 

“Fancy popping to the shops?” You ask. 

“Sure, I’ve never been shopping before.” he sends you a smile.

The closest supermarket is probably Lin's Market… It’s probably about maybe just under half an hour's walk, that's not too bad, it was a lovely day afterall.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there’s a nice breeze. Plus it would be a pain to walk back just to get the car and be just as far might as well make the most of it, plus what better way to spend your sunday?

You walk in quiet company with your robot friend. A few more blocks down you hear the cheers and laughter of kids playing in the local park. You soon see said park as you walk past.

You hear a loud gasp. 

“It’s Mr. Sun!!!!” A small voice yells. 

A second of silence washes over the park before a hoard of kids crowd at the park's fence. Panic flashes over a few concerned parents' faces.

“Hello friends!" he cheers back. 

“When can we come to your house again Mr. Sun?”

“I wanna play hide and go seek with Mr. Moon Again.”

“I’m sorry friends but the daycare is broken.”

“Can we come over when it’s fixed?”

A tap on the shoulder pulls you away from his conversation.

“Is he safe…?” 

You look over to Sun then back to the parent. 

“Him? Yeah he wouldn’t hurt a fly, Plus we just got him all fixed.” You reassure them only about sixty, seventy percent sure yourself, but he’s yet to show you any signs otherwise. 

“That’s a relief.” 

You tune back in. 

“Can you come play with us?” one kid chimes.

He looks to you and then all the parents at the park… he sighs. 

“I’m sorry little ones but Mr. Sun is really busy with boring grown up things.”  

“Eeww.” One kid chimes. “Grown up stuff.” 

“Awwww.” 

“Maybe next time friends.” he gives them a sweet smile. “Buh-Bye for now.” 

“Bye Bye Mr.Sun!” Most of the kids chime back. 

He then walks over and passes you. 

You catch up. 

“Am I boring now?”

“W-What!? You? No.”

“Oh really?” You giggle.

“That’s just what you tell kids when you’re too busy to play…” he sighs. 

“I’m just pulling on your leg.” You laugh again. “It was really sweet seeing you with those kids.” 

“Huh… me? Sweet?” he fidgets with the ribbons around his wrist. “No… that was just my job…” he lets out a nervous giggle as he turns away. 

“Oh sure.” 

You pass a few little shops and businesses. A hardware store, a mechanic, real estate agents and a handful of others scattered around. You also pass a museum, that might be a cool place to check out? It’s closed unfortunately, maybe another day, you notice it has a help wanted sign, oh it’s for a night guard not really your style, maybe if your hours in the office got cut or the rent raised again but things were good enough to not need to go to those kind of desperate measures especially with your commissions going so well. 

You then pass a DollarTree, that might be fun, and it’s still open. 

You nod to Sun to say how about it? 

“DollarTree? That sounds fun.” 

You head in and have a look around, the usual stuff is on the shelves, what interests you the most is the arts and craft, yes they’re cheap but they are cheerful and a great way to experience a new medium without the expense. 

You have a look, hey that sketchpad actually doesn’t look too bad quality as long as you only sketch in it not paint. 

Sun pauses looking at something…

“Something caught your eye?”

He lets a little sigh out… “They have paint by numbers.” a small but sad smile. “They make all the hard colour choices for you.” he whispers. 

“Do you want some?” 

He sighs. “No it’s silly…” he walks off down the next aisle. 

You look at them… it’s been forever since you’ve done paint by numbers… You grab a few, who knows it might be fun.

You grab a few other things and head to the register to pay. 

You walk out with a smile that was fun. Next stop is Lin's Market for some groceries. 

Chapter Text

A blaring alarm woke you up. Wait, that's your alarm? But your alarm only goes off… on work days! 

“It’s Monday!? Already?"

You climb out of bed, You’ve already missed three alarms this is your I'm going to be late alarm Shoot. 

You get ready as quickly as you can and head to the kitchen.

Sun places a plate of toast and a cup of tea on the table. 

“Thanks Sun.” You chug your tea.

“No problem, Sunshine.” 

“Stars, I'm going to be late.” You grab a paper plate to carry your toast. 

“Late for?” 

“Work,”

“Oh…”

“I’ll be back about four-ish, feel free to watch TV, read some books? or I have some art supplies in that cupboard if you get bored.” 

“Okay… Well Have a good day…” 

“I’ll try, thanks.” 

With a plate of toast in one hand and your bag in the other you head down the stairs. 

“Good morning.” The Lady who lives in the apartment on the ground floor waves.

“Morning Ms. Jones.” you chime as you exit the building in a hurry. 

"Running late again?"

"Don't you know it."

You then head to the car park and get in your car. 

It wasn’t a long drive to work but it wasn’t short either, if it was closer you’d totally walk. 

You eat your toast on the way. 

Once your car is parked you brush the crumbs off and head inside.

“Hey Luca,” you hum as you enter the lift with your coworker.

“Hey, you also forget it was Monday?" He pushes the button for floor four. 

“Maybe…” 

“Idea, if you make me a coffee I'll clock you in?”

“Coffee? What am I an intern?”

He rolls his eyes. “Alright then I'll make you a tea, while you clock us in?” 

You frown, “Yeah no… I'll make drinks.” 

He laughs. “That's what I thought.” He holds out a fist as the lift dings as it arrives at your floor.

You give him a fist pump and head to the kitchen… you say kitchen but it really was more of a cabinet with a few appliances in the break room, one of such appliances was your kettle that you brought yourself after suffering a week on only coffee. You get it out of the cupboard and fill it before turning it on.

You pour a coffee with cream for Luca just as Patrick leaves the room nodding his head at you. 

To be honest the coffee here is OK but life has no meaning without tea. You chuckle to yourself knowing that would be a completely bonkers notion to everyone else here yet the most normal thing back home. You basically live off tea.

You make your tea and stop at Luca’s desk to drop off his coffee. 

“Thanks,” he chimes. “Oh and the other day I fixed that computer thing you emailed about.”

“Thanks Luca.”

You make your way to your little desk, It wasn’t much but you only worked here once or twice a week anyway, every Monday and some Wednesdays in the office the rest of your work got handled at home, the joys of remote work. You used to be full time but that was when the business was getting stated.

You boot up your computer and… the screen is upside down of course it is, Luca is such a child —amusing yes— but such a child, so much for being tech support. You click Ctrl, Alt and the up key on your keyboard to turn it the right way around.

This is your day job, working for a small tech company, you had the not so bad job of ‘tech design’, very vague but included designing websites and logos and anything the clients or bosses needed designs for really, from templates to letter heads and anything in between as well as whatever extra work your bosses could slap on your desk. Was it your dream job? No, but it was alright. 

You do a little work before the first meeting of the day, that was the big weekly company meeting.

Then you grab some lunch at the Sooubway down the block and spend the rest of the day in a team meeting. You email yourself everything you need for a weeks work at home and finally you can pack up and go home. 

You listened to a few songs on the drive home. It was as peaceful as traffic can get you suppose.

You enter your building with the code and immediately a smell of food, cafeteria food? No it smells like school lunch. One of the neighbors must be cooking.

It could be Mrs. Jones… or maybe it was the single mum with Two kids, Jasmine? you doubt it was the kid on the top floor, he was the type to live on nothing but instant ramen and whatever the most trendy gamer drink was at the moment.

You make your way up the stairs —the smell only intensifies— You get to your apartment and unlock the door.

It's dark… That would have been normal once upon a time. Except you left a sunny robot at home.

"Sun? or um… Moon?"

You take your shoes off stepping into the apartment.

"Anyone home?"

"Kitchen." A rasp voice replied.

That must have been Moon… You make your way to the kitchen in the dark.

He's stood over the cooker. You can hear water boiling. He's cooking? The school lunch smell was him cooking.

"You're cooking?"

The bells on his hat jingles as he nods. "You were at work, we… well… we got board." he humphed.

That was actually really sweet, even if it was out of boredom.

"It's pretty dark… would lighting some candles affect your transforming thing?"

He shakes his head as he stirs a pot of what you think must be a tomato based sauce, or that's what it smells like.

You grab your emergency candles, which is basically just a handful of tealights and a box of matches.

You light a few on the table… you realize what you've done too late. You sit at the table with a little regret.

Moon places a plate of tomato pasta in-front of you and a small bowl of carrot sticks an the side, before sitting across from you.

The candles flicker softly, emitting a warm glow over his face and over the dinner. Why are your cheeks warm… This is not a candle lit dinner; it's just dinner, with candles that someone made for you… after you had a long day at work.

You look down at the dinner. It was so nice to have dinner waiting at home for you. You didn't make a move.

These two really were spoiling you. They're always so nice.

He tilted his head looking at you. "Oh cheese. You want cheese?"

He wakes you from your thoughts. "Oh… um sure…" You tuck your hair behind our ear.

He gets up and opens the fridge.

"It's on the top shelf, it's new we bought it yesterday." you say.

He nods bringing the cheese over and sprinkling a little over your food as you eat a carrot stick.

"Thank you Moon, This is so sweet."

He shrugs as he sits back down. "Use to cook for kids, Missed it."

You take your first bite. It was a little bland, catering to a child's pallet you suppose. But it was nothing to complain about in fact it was really tasty. The cheese really made it though.

To be honest you're surprised a big corporation would have cooked meals at their daycare. But well they did serve a lot of food, their whole gimmick was food.

"Is good?" He tilted his head. It reminded you of how a dog tilts their head.

"Yeah, it's really good." You hum.

"Good." He nodded. "Been long time."

"Since you've cooked?" The mall hadn't collapsed that long ago…

He nodded. "Was made to Stop cooking at nap-time in favor of PB and J."

"Oh." Yeah no, that makes sense, cheap sandwiches over cooked meals are way more profitable. "Do you like cooking?"

He nods enthusiastically.

Robots can have hobbies, noted. You can't help a little smile. Maybe Sun was right; maybe you are lonely.

You finished your food in relative silence. It was only slightly unnerving to have a robot watch you as you eat.

You then go to pick up your plate. His hand covers yours, his hand is so much bigger then yours. You look up at each other for a moment. Both holding the plate. Your eyes meet his. The way the red glow mixes with the flickering candles is mesmerizing.

"I'll clean up." He breaks the silence.

"No." You clear your throat. "You cooked I should do the dishes."

"I can clean." He protests.

"No, that's not fair."

His face plate spins 90° left, then right then corrects it's self.

Not fair… he'd heard that sentence a million times from the kids. Usually it's not fair I don't want to nap, or It's not fair I wanted that toy. He'd never heard it said towards him like that. He was a robot, made to entertain, made to serve, made to care. What was fair to them never mattered.

"Moon? Are you OK?"

He nodded. "What's not fair?"

"Making you do all the work. Sun's done so much cleaning, you made dinner. All I've done is go to work. It's not fair for you to do the dishes too." You rambled on.

No one cared if it was fair to them to give them so much work. Nothing could be unfair to them… they were just a tool made to work. It was never unfair to give them too many kids to care for then they could handle. Not unfair when they had to clean up everything in the daycare all the time. No one cared… Why did you care? Why were you nice?

"What if I wash you dry?"

He nods. "Deal."

You were different. You made him curious.

You look to the plate. Your hands still under his.

He lets go swiftly.

You miss the warmth. Why was a robots hands warm? A feature for handling kids maybe? You shake your head.

You put the plate in the sink and start filling it with water.

Moon gets a tea towel from the drawer, he already knew where they were.

You pop on some rubber gloves and start washing the dishes.

It was quiet, but comfortable this time as you both worked together.

You washed the plate, bowl, two pans and all the utensils. Moon dried each of them quickly finding their place in the cupboards and drawers.

You finished up and smiled.

"Team work." You held your hand up high.

Moons eyes squinted happily as he gave you a high five.

You then filled the kettle and switched it on. Any and all hard work obviously deserves a good old cuppa.

"Oh Sun has something for you."

"Oh? really?"

"Yeah, I'll um… let him get it." he walked into the living room turning the light on.

He transformed effortlessly into his sunny version. He went deeper into the room.

You blew out the candles and turned the kitchen light on.

"There." he seemed to have found what he was looking for and bounded over.

"It's A Paper-Pal!" he exclaimed, showing you the piece of art in his hands, it was two paper plates stapled together with card for arms and legs. Zigzags cut out of the top plate made sun rays and it was painted to look like a self portrait of him. "Paper-pals will be your friend for ever and ever and ever." he chimed sing song like.

"It's so cute!" You went to take it.

"Wait." he stopped you. "I have to show you the best part."

He turned the project to the other side and it was painted like Moon. He turned a paper hat from over his face to on his head, it was connected by a split pin you'd forgotten you had.

He handed it to you. "Now it's Moony." he clapped.

"It's amazing Sun." You turn to the kitchen. "I know just where it belongs.

He gasped. "The fridge!" his voice full of excitement.

"Exactly." You stuck it to the fridge with a magnet.

"My arts on the fridge." he did a little happy dance.

"Thank you Sun. It's beautiful."

"You're welcome Sunshine."

Sunshine… he called you that earlier… didn't he? it… it must be a per-programed nickname… teachers do that all the time, silly nicknames for their kids… why does it make you feel… like this? Stop it. Stop reading into these things, the robots are just being nice. Count your blessings. They're being nice and not murdering you, be grateful.

"I'm so glad you like it." he hums.

"Why wouldn't I it's so nice."

"Oh, Oh I wanted to ask." he fidgets with the ribbons around his wrist. "What days you have work? just… just so we know."

"Oh yeah, So every Monday I go in to the office, and some times on Wednesdays but not this week… other then that I work from home every other day for a half day, except weekends; I don't work weekends."

"Cool, good to know." He seemed happy with that answer.

"Oh." you just remembered. "I was going to make a tea."

Written by a human in Ellipsus.

Chapter Text

You quickly became familiar with this dance. This routine you were building over these weeks.

You'd wake up, have breakfast with Sun. Then you'd go into your room to work for a few hours. Have a quick lunch, spend the afternoon with Sun, mostly doing arts and crafts or even just chatting.

Have dinner with Moon, watch a show or movie. Go to bed. And… Maybe get up in the middle of the night to get told off by your sleep obsessed friend.

Rinse and repeat.

That's why you were surprised when today didn't quite follow this pattern exactly.

Work was all finished for the day. You left your desk, empty mug in hand and entered the living room.

There stood your robot friend leaning over an ironing board… He was in an apron, ironing? You didn't have an iron… and yet? There he was.

"What you doing?" you ask heading to the kitchen.

He looked to you, then the flowery ironing board as he folded the sheet. "Ironing?"

"Yeah?" you laugh. "Where did you get all that."

You pop the kettle on and lean in the doorway.

"Oh, well long story short, I was doing your laundry and bumped into the lady down stairs Mrs. Jones. She was struggling with her own laundry and I offered to help, she admitted that ironing her bedding was getting to be a little too much so I offered to help —she's a lovely lady you know— and well now I'm here borrowing her iron and board. And ironing her linens." he gave you a proud smile.

So they'll help everyone…

"That's really nice Sun." You turn to make a tea and quick sandwich.

There's a small niggling feeling in the back of your brain. You're not that special. No.

You're being really silly, it's ironing for a lovely old lady. You shake the feeling away as you sit at the couch with your lunch.

"You really like being helpful don't you Sun?" You mentally face palm.

"Well, of course I do. It's um… it's in my programming to help. Yeah my programming."

His programming… is everything he does just programming? There you go again. Anthropomorphizing the robot, yet again. How lonely have you been?

"Your programming must be really complicated then, huh."

"Oh definitely! Super complicated it unnerves some how human it seems." he starts ironing the next item.

"So do you have like emotions programmed in as well?" You sip your tea. Your curiosity now getting the better of you.

"We do. We feel happy, sad, angry, anxious, We feel a lot of emotions." He folds the sheet, "We also have an actively learning Intelligent code that helps us react to new things just like how your mind does."

"Well… are they real though?" the words slipped past your lips before you could catch them. This week must have warn you out. "I-I Uh… I mean if it's like programmed. like um…." you chuckled nervously.

He stopped what he was doing. "I… I like to think so." he leaned on the ironing board. "It- It feels real…" The sheet crinkled under his hands. "Y-your emotions are programmed too…you, you know? by-by chemicals rather then code but…" He looked down. "does that make it any less real?"

"No… I… guess it's not so different." You clear your throat. "I'm sorry for asking."

He relaxes and sends you a bright smile. "No, don't be silly, you're just curious. We get curious too." He irons the crinkles back out.

"Really?"

"Yeah, not so different remember."

"Of course." You smile back.

You chatted about this and that nothing deep just surface level stuff; barely above small talk, as ate your lunch. You scrolled on your phone and he ironed the rest of the laundry. It wasn't a massive disruption to your day but enough to throw you off slightly.

"Well. I'm done here." He fold the last sheet.

"Would you like a hand delivering them?" You ask finishing your tea. Your not going to lie you are just a little curious on how Mrs. Jones feel about your robot roomie.

"That would be wonderful."

He packs the linens into a bag carefully and hands it over.

He carries the board and iron.

You both head out of the door and down the stairs.

Apartment one, it was the only apartment on the first floor, the other room was utilities and laundry. It was very convenient for an older lady like Mrs. Jones.

You knock on the door, it was painted pink with a flower wreath hanging on it.

You wait patiently for a moment. You hear a shout of "Coming. One moment."

She opens the door cheerfully. "Oh hello, done so soon?" she chimes.

"Yes, I didn't want to keep you waiting." Sun chimes back.

"Well thank you very much, Would you be a dear and bring them in?" She patted your hand.

"Of course, it's no problem." you hum.

She opened the door and stepped aside letting you both in.

"Where would you like these?" You ask.

"Oh if you wouldn't mind bringing them through to my room so I can put them away." She turns to Sun. "Could you please put those in the cupboard back where you found them?"

"Absolutely." He headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Your apartment and hers were almost identical in layout. Hers though was filled with cottage style and rustic furniture covered in flower prints. You both have the only two, one bedroom apartments in this small building. Probably squeezed in as extra to get as many tenants in as possible.

You followed her into her room setting the bag of linens on the flowery bed.

"Your boyfriend is such a lovely young man." she takes the first set of linens.

You freeze for a moment, you're about to disagree when you realise… Does she think he's a human…? also your apartment only has one bedroom. You could say he's sleeping on the couch… or explain how it's complicated, but do you really want to get into it like that with your neighbour? That really you barely know?

You opt for humming in agreement as you grab the next set of folded laundry.

"He's a real keeper he is." She continues. "So kind and his fashion is so flamboyant and colourful, reminds me of the good old days." she chuckles to herself.

You helped her put away all her bedding as she nattered on about this and that. You listened, chiming in occasionally with a "No way," and "Tell me more."

Soon enough everything was put away in the cupboard. You joined Sun back at the entrance.

"Thank you again you two, you were very sweet."

"It's no problem. You know where we are if you need anymore help." Sun assured.

"Thank you, You are too kind, please take this." She shoved a handful of dollar bills into Sun's hand.

"Oh no there's no need for that."

"No I insist. Please, it's the least I can do to say thank you."

"Well thank you." he sent her a sweet smile. "And really if you need any more help."

You bid her farewell and headed back upstairs.

"Hey look." You mused. "Your first payday. Maybe you could save up for your own place." You jest as open the door to let him in.

"Oh…" Sun faltered. "I suppose… that's um a good idea." He forced a smile, it didn't reach his eyes.

Regret tugged at your heart… "I Uh… was joking… I mean you can stay as long as you want… it was just…" You Itched the back of your neck. "An idea… if you wanted though." You've backtracked to far.

"Yeah no… Um… Oh look at the time, it's about time for Moon to start dinner. Let me get the lights."

"Wait Sun…?" you muttered.

He flicked the lights off.

"What do you want?" Moon huffed.

"Huh?"

"For dinner." He crossed his arms.

"Oh um… You don't have to…" You rubbed your arm heading to the kitchen.

He grabbed your shoulder. "Sit!" he demanded.

You sat crossing your arms too.

"Want to." he looked away.

"Well… Just ramen then… please." You looked to the ground.

You sat there on the couch. You can hear him clattering around the kitchen. You can't help but feel guilty. Why did you say that? You thought maybe that's what they would want right? or was it just a joke…

You can't take it much longer. You have to… do something; Say something.

You make your way to the kitchen.

"Hey… um… Moon?"

He gave you a little "hum?" as he filled the pot with water.

"Are You and Sun okay? I didn't mean it like- I've not upset you… have I?"

"Yes." he shook his head. "No…" He sighs. "We're fine."

"Okay... cool…" You feel maybe slightly better. "Do you need any help?"

He shakes his head. "You just, find something fun for us to watch."

"Okay…" You muttered.

You sat on the sofa flicking through your favoured streaming site for something, anything, before you stopped at your comfort show, yeah that could work.

It wasn't long before Moon came over with a hot bowl of soupy ramen, it had an egg and veggies on the top and everything.

"Thank you Moon, this looks amazing." You put on the show and hug the hot bowl of deliciousness.

You slurped your noodles as you watched. Moon sat next to you seemingly unbothered to begin with but as the next episode played you couldn't help the happy feeling and a slight smile as he became more and more invested.

You sipped at the soup until the bowl was empty. You were content, full of soup and happy. But also… so very sleepy. You hoped your robotic friend didn't mind but your head was just so heavy and leaning it on his shoulder was so very comfortable. You yawned as your eyes felt heavy. You watched your favourite characters doing their usual shenanigans on your screen.

It had been a long and exciting couple weeks huh. Slumber called, and you answered. You felt yourself drift off.

Moon sat on the sofa alone, his knees to his chest. He ran what had just happened through his head.

He had stiffened when your head flopped onto his shoulder. It had taken him out of the fictional work the show had dragged him into. So unexpected. He kept still for a moment until he'd realised you'd fallen asleep.

He sighed. He then turned the TV off and carefully picked you up. You were so sleepy and… cute. He done this maybe a million times for the kids at nap-time but this felt special for some reason.

He then placed you on your bed and tucked you in. He brushed a strand of hair from your face. So peaceful, so calm. As if by a pre-programmed autopilot he left a kiss on your forehead.

He froze at the realisation… That was weird, you're an adult… not one of his daycare kids. He then swiftly took his leave.

And now he was sat on the sofa. His system overheating as he tried to wrap his head around what he'd just done, and why it made him feel this way. Would you know? You're going to know. How would you know? You're going to know and think he's a weirdo.

"I wouldn't worry about it Moony." Sun chimed in.

"But…" he sighed. Why did he feel so embarrassed?

"I would be more worried about them not wanting us to stay…" Sun mumbled.

"That's… That's not true." Moon replied not completely sure.

"Then why do they want us to get our own place?"

"They… they're just looking out for what They think We want…"

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then we just need to make them want us to stay." Moon nodded reassuring mostly himself.

"How do we do that?" Sun questioned.

"We keep doing things for them, if we're helpful, then we're useful. Then they'll keep us around."

"We're cooking and cleaning… what else can we do?"

Moon thought for a moment, "why do people have roommates? for some company? help with chores? Rent! help with rent." he exclaimed. "I know just what we can do."

You woke… it was still dark; still night. You don't remember going to bed how odd… Your mouth is dry. Yeah you need a drink.

You climber out of bed. You're still in your cloths not your pyjamas. You must have been really tired?

You make your way to the kitchen in the dark. "Don't be mad Moon, I'm just getting a drink."

No reply… not a noise.

You look around the room, then the kitchen. Your star clad friend was no were to be found.

A cold draft caught your attention.

The curtain blowing in the breeze of an open window.

Your heart sank.

Did… did they leave?

Written by a human in Ellipsus.