The apartment is quiet as each occupant does their own thing in their respective rooms.

Codie is on her computer, Moon is reading a book on his bed, and Sun is playing with Simmy and Tally on the bedroom floor.

Though, he did lose sight of Simmy a minute ago...where could he have gone?

"EEEEEEEEK!" At the shrill scream, Sun and Moon immediately look at each other. Not with concern, but more with curiosity.

The two are used to Codie shrieking and squealing sometimes when she plays her computer games, so they learned not to worry when they hear them.

Moon shuffles his book, opening his mouth to get ready to speak, when Codie cries out again, this time, furious.

"SUUUUUUUUN!!" The jesters are shocked by the amount of anger laced in it.

Moon huffs, "What did you do?" accusingly. Sun stands up straight, grabbing Tally while still glancing around worriedly for his missing Bess Beetle.

"No-nothing! Promise!" Sun stutters, holding his free hand up.

Moon shrugs and goes back to his book, disinterested in helping his brother. "Well it was certainly something. Better go find out..." Sun pouts at the lack of support and puts Simmy away.

He fidgets with his hands at the thought of what he could have possibly done to be the subject of Codie's wrath. He nervously enters Codie's room. She's up and standing on her bed, fear and anger gleaming in her eyes.

He glances around, confused, when she huffs. She wants to yell. She wants to insult, not at him but in general, she wants to accuse, but when she looks at his anxious and guilt ridden face, she can't find it in herself to do so anymore.

He doesn't even know why he's guilty and yet he's worried about why he's angered her...and for that, she calms down, but only a little bit. There is still a beetle roaming around her room.

With a deep breath and release, Codie calmly tells the bot, "Your-your beetle. It's in here and scared the living daylights out of me."

"O-oh! Oh no! I'm sososososo sorry, Sunflower!" Immediately, Sun bends down and starts searching for his missing pet, scanning his eyes all around. "I was watching them skitter on the ground in my room and I had only looked away for a moment, I promise!"

The ginger closes her eyes and flops back into her bed, her pillow and blanket getting disrupted from the fall. "It's fine, please just find him." Her voice comes out shakier than she would have liked but imagine yourself in her place?

She was playing her games on the computer when she felt something run over her bare foot. She didn't pay any mind to it but when it happened a second and third time, she looked down and squealed. The beetle had been tickling her toes the whole time and she had flipped out at seeing it.

"There you are, Simmy!" Sun abruptly calls out. Codie peers over the bed to see Sunny scoop up his beloved bug. Seeing the beetle causes the girl's heart to race again as he rolls over with a whine.

"Get him out of heeeeere..." The bot flinches, embarrassed at having baby-talked the beetle in front of Codie as she's desperate to get it out of her room.

"Right! So-sorry, Sunbite! I'll go put him up!" He skitters out of the room, hurriedly placing him back into his home alongside his companion and then pointedly ignoring Moon's smirk as he returns to Codie's room.

He takes a seat next to her body, frowning down at her. She's still rolled over, seemingly asleep but Sunny can see that she's awake. Noticing the weight, she turns over and blinks her eyes open. "Hmm?" she hums tiredly. Being frightened sure tires one out!

"I really am sorry again..." Sun whispers, putting a hand to her shoulder and squeezing it gently. She shakes her head side to side, albeit awkwardly at her overturned angle.

"You didn't mean it...sorry I got angry. They just...bugs always creeped me out since I was little. And when it really scared me earlier..." Codie explains quietly.

"If...if I'd known..." Sun starts, trailing off, guilt returning full force, saddened at being the reason she's feeling this way.

Sternly, Codie looks into his milky eyes and tells him, "No." His head tilts, silently telling her to continue as he isn't sure what she means. "Sunny, those little monsters make you so happy. I see it in your eyes, okay? Don't ever think about sacrificing something that makes you happy for someone else, okay? You deserve to be happy. You deserve to give those animals love."

She closes her eyes again as Sun sits staring at her in shock. His wires tighten up and his fans kick on. He feels warmer than usual and if he had a heart, it'd be beating out of his chest. What he wouldn't give right now to be able to bend down and kiss this tiny little human.

His rays spin quietly as to not disturb her. "Tired?" he chuckles.

She groans and sits up, ignoring Sunny's whine of protest and rubs her head, opening her eyes. "Yeah... it's late isn't it? I got wor-rk!" she falls backwards with another groan at the thought of work.

"Alright...well you need sleep, yes! Don't want to be tired for work! That would be bad, bad, bad! You know, if you're still having trouble sleeping, Moon and I don't mind you staying with us! Our bed is super duper big!" Sunny continues to talk excitedly.

Amused by his cute rambling, Codie raises an eyebrow, looking at her friend. "I've been doing good, Sunshine. Your curfew bedtime thing has been helping."

He calms down, ruffling her soft, silky hair. "I'm glad!" Flapping his hands, Sun continues fidgeting on her bed, processors racing a mile a minute.

"You good, Sunny-Bun? You're so...fidgety?" Her green eyes eye him up and down. He can't stop thinking of this human in front of him. Of all the things he wants to do with her and it's all so much!

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Yup! I should let you get to sleep!" He surprises her by hugging her tightly, face buried in her neck. He wishes he could feel her soft skin other than this way but...this'll have to do for now. He releases her and while she's dazed by the sudden hug, he places a kiss upon her forehead with a loud "Mwah!"

She giggles as he stands up and goes to leave. "Night Sun!" she tells him.

"Goodnight... My little Nova..." he whispers back, closing the door with a click.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A middle aged woman sits in the driver seat of her car after pulling up to her favorite coffee shop. She leans up to check her make-up in the rear-view mirror before giving herself a smirk and popping her lips with freshly applied lipstick.

She sneers at her round glasses, hating how they look on her and cursing not being able to get contacts yet. Satisfied with her looks, she gets out of her minivan and steps outside, pulling her shirt down to remove any wrinklage.

Finally, with a confident stride, Linda enters Coffee Garden.

And then immediately chokes back an offended gasp. Is that who she thinks it is? That sniveling robot lover? She wouldn't forget such a horrid hairstyle with that shade of ginger. She huffs, adjusting her glasses. Figures her normal spot would hire such a disgrace.

She refuses to go elsewhere, though. This is her coffee spot and she'll be damned if she lets a child ruin it for her. She wears a conniving smile and marches up to the counter. Thankfully, Codie hasn't appeared to have noticed the woman and another worker takes her order.

"Yes, my regular, please," Linda requests very sweetly. She realizes it's Shen as he puts in the order and receives payment. She likes this kid. He's awkward and a huge push-over. Perfect for her to demand anything and get it from him. "Oh! Is that a new barista I see!?" Linda feigns surprise, pointing at the ginger.

"Yea! That's Codie! She saw you the other day and it sounded like she knew you! Seemed kinda freaked out though..." Shen explains obliviously.

"Oh! Really? That's odd..." Linda trails off, acting confused. Internally, though, she grins. 'Good. The little brat is already wary of me.' "Well, maybe if she makes my order I could talk a little bit to her when I pick it up! Make some small talk, you know? I'd just love to get to know her!"

"Sure!" Shen agrees, none the wiser and goes to tell Codie. "Hey! Linda's here, ordered her usual, Chai Latte. Can you make it? I've gotta take another order," Shen tells the ginger, jabbing a thumb behind him at a couple that has just walked in.

Nervously, Codie spins around to see the woman lounging on one of the cushiony chairs, doing whatever she does on her phone. 'Probably complaining about something mundane on Facebook...'

She berates herself for not paying attention and now having to make the scary lady's drink. She hesitantly agrees, her coworker nodding and leaving to take the other orders, and the young adult gulps before making the latte.

Her hand quivers a little as she sets the nice looking drink onto the counter, licking her dry lips before announcing, "Linda?" Said woman stands up and heads over, smiling at Codie sickeningly sweetly.

"Hello dear! Thank you so much for making my order!" Codie frowns at the show she's putting on, wondering why she's acting like this to her.

Linda takes a sip and then quickly spits it back out, hitting the counter. Some even splashes on Codie's apron before she can recoil and take a step back. The blond splutters, extending her arm and glaring at her coffee.

"What is this!? I asked for Chai Latte with caramel drizzle! This is vanilla!" She makes an effort to say this loudly and slam the plastic cup onto the counter top, causing even more to splash out.

"Ma'am I was told you ordered your usual, that is what I made," Codie tries to explain calmly without bursting into tears.

"Are you calling me a liar?" she sneers, leaning in and narrowing her eyes at the barista.

Shen notices the commotion and hurries over, putting a hand on Codie's shoulder and eyeing Linda, who has since backed off and replaced her sneer with a smile. "Everything okay?" He hands the ginger a rag to dab herself with.

Linda has the gall to look a bit guilty as she lies to Shen. "Oh yes! It's just, Codie made my drink a tad wrong. It appears as if you told her my usual when I ordered my usual with caramel today..."

Shen's eyes widen as his eyebrows shoot up. "Oh! I-I'm so sorry! That's my bad, really! I'll go remake your drink for you." He scurries off, leaving the dripping barista and mischievous customer.

Huffing and blinking away tears, Codie quickly walks to the back to wash up. She unties her apron and tosses it aside to grab a fresh one, tying it around her waist and then washing her hands, feeling gross at the stickiness.

She hears Shen call out Linda's name and she assumes that that hopefully means Linda will leave. So Codie re-enters the lobby but then slouches in dismay. The lady had taken up her spot on the chair again. Oh joy.

"Shen!" she whisper-shouts to the boy, startling him. "You know she was lying right!?" The tall boy makes a face before glancing to Linda and then back to Codie.

"I-I don't know! I might have taken her order wrong. It was no big deal anyway, she's a nice lady." Codie wants to facepalm but refrains, knowing Shen has probably only seen Linda when she's pretending.

"She literally caused a scene, Shen! She-she splashed her drink on me!" Codie throws her arms out for emphasis. Shen's eyes dart every which way to avoid Codie's, seeming unsure on who to believe.

When the ginger frowns, Shen feels bad, not really knowing how to help. "Well...you're off soon, yeah? I'll make you something if that would make you feel better? On the house!" Codie sighs but doesn't deny, Shen's good-natured smile getting to her.

"Speaking of..." Codie glances around, trying to find the wall clock. "I'm off in five. Thank goodness..." she groans, twisting to pop her back.

"Cool! Since there are no customers, what do you want?" Shen starts prepping for whatever she may want. Codie has to think for a moment, even putting a finger to her chin in thought. In order to make a decision, she turns and strains her neck to read the menu boards.

"Um, chocolate chip frappe?" Shen nods and begins to make it, noting how good that one is. "Ok," Codie replies simply, moving to clean a machine while she waits to clock out. The time to do so comes quick and Codie rushes to punch herself out, noting that Linda was no longer in the lobby. She grabs her phone and dirty apron, to bring home to wash, and meets Shen at the counter.

"Here you go!" Shen smiles, handing her the drink. Codie takes an eager sip, her taste buds immediately enjoying what washes over them.

"Mmm! Yeah this is really good! Thanks Shen!" Codie looks down to stir at her drink, missing the blush on Shen's cheeks.

He rubs the nape of his neck shyly. "Y-yeah no problem... We're still playing some Overwatch tonight, right?"

"Yup! Text me when you get home! Bye!" Codie waves and exits the building, her fingers gripping the cold drink and stinging from the wind. "It's freezing!" she exclaims, walking to her car. She didn't think October would be this cold already!

She hurriedly puts her coffee down into her car's cup holder after unlocking and getting in. She rubs her chilly hands together to warm them up before turning on the car, throwing the temperature to max heat and leaning back to wait.

'I really hope Linda isn't like this every time she comes... What would be the chances of her coming every time I'm working though?' She takes another sip, crunching on some chocolate chip bits.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

The sudden knocks on her window startles Codie, making her jump in her seat and banging her head on the ceiling. She groans and rubs it, rolling her window down just a tad to hear the person on the other side.

"C-can I help you?" she whimpers. 'Definitely going to bruise...' she thinks.

"Hmmm, yes! I suppose you can!" The voice of Linda shocks her even more.

Honestly, at this reveal, Codie just wants to roll the window back up and ignore the woman entirely, but that may make things even worse than they already are. So, she keeps it how it is and motions for her to go on.

"First, you can apologize for embarrassing me in front of everyone during the meeting! Second," Linda holds her hand up to prevent Codie from speaking when she opens her mouth, "you can go back and tell the board members what you said were lies!" she hisses out.

Codie cannot believe what she is hearing. This woman is serious! "They weren't lies! Those animatronics are as alive as you and I are! And I won't apologize for putting you in your place!" Linda gasps, offended, but Codie continues. "They aren't harming you or anyone else!"

"They could!"

"Plus! It's not like the whole world is getting robot citizens, it's literally just the six of them!"

Linda points at the girl, her finger smudging the condensation where she places it. "That's how it starts you naive, little, girl. First these six, then others will be built and then the whole world will be taken over." Codie rolls her eyes. The absurdity coming from this woman's mouth is appalling.

"Ma'am, please move so I can go home," Codie tries to finish the conversation.

"Sure, sure! See you next time..." Linda says, resolute. Codie shivers, either from her tone or the cold, she's not sure.

Codie hurries on out of there, peeling out of the parking lot and rushing home.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~So this is love, mmm~

Sunny works on his latest masterpiece, a drawing of the three of them. A classic Disney song playing in the background. The hulking animatronic lies on his belly on the carpeted floor, feet in the air and kicking back and forth.

He hums along to the tune.

~So this is love~

Moon enters the room and heads to the closet to rummage for something. He stops and listens to the song playing and furrows his brows.

~So this is what makes life divine
I'm all aglow, mmm
And now I know (and now I know)
The key to all heaven is mine~

"Sun...What is this and why are you listening to it?" Moon questions, leaning out the closet doorway. This sounds way too sappy, even for Sunny.

Sun stands up, dusting himself off and turning to his brother. "It's 'This is Love'! From Cinderella! How do you not know that, Moonie! It's a classic!" Moon rolls his eyes. Sorry, but, Disney princess movies were not something he indulged in.

"Well, out of everything, why this?" Moon goes back to rummaging. Sun appears behind him, curious as to what he's looking for.

"Because we're in love, Moon!" The lunar bot stands stock still at that, freezing up as his eye lights flicker off. He slowly turns around, finding his brother's blank eyes full of emotions he can't pinpoint.

"Love?" he asks incredulously, eyes wide. Sun tilts his head in confusion as if he expected Moon to understand what he's yapping about. His rays shrink and pop out multiple times as they stare at each other in silence, Sunny thinking about how to respond.

Another second or two goes by before Sun opens his mouth. "Well...yeah," though he sounds more unsure by his brother's reaction now, Sunny continues, "our feelings for Codie...it's...love!"

"It's not love, Sun!" Moon lashes out, shocking Sun into taking a step back. "It's-It's adoration! Fondness! Care! But not love! It-it can't be okay? We can't love her how she needs. It could just be us clinging on to her because she's the first damn human to ever give us any kind of affection!"

"You're wrong!" Sun shouts, a hand clutched to his chest. "I know how I'm feeling. I know how you're feeling. Why do you deny it?"

"We can't love-" Moon starts again before getting cut off.

"-We can! Why could we feel joy, anger, jealously, sadness, if we couldn't feel love? That would be... just cruel..." The two fall silent. "Even if you feel that way, Moonie...it doesn't mean love isn't what you're feeling."

"Maybe..." Moon relents, looking away and rubbing his arm. He thinks back to the pizzaplex, about how no one liked him, no one looked at him, no one gave him the time of day. Not even the children liked him.

Adults would look at him like he was a monster. He still believes he is. Even the security guards he would work with from time to time avoided him like the plague. So yes, maybe Sun is right. Maybe he loves Codie, maybe he doesn't. He believes his brother certainly does, but he can't shake that one feeling he's felt since he's worked with humans.

People like him can't be loved.

Sun takes Moon's silence as agreement, smiling and patting his brother's shoulder, not knowing his inner turmoil, before going back to his drawing.

Moon is left standing in the closet, devastated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a deep sigh, Codie throws her bag over her shoulder and onto her bed, faceplanting right next to it. She is emotionally drained and all she wants to do now is sleep until Christmas. Oddly enough, she didn't see any of her boys when she came home.

'My boys?' The ginger rolls over, eyes widened from her thought. She has no idea where that came from. She'll just blame her tired brain and take a nap.

Except she can't. Her stomach rumbles, earning a groan from Codie. "Ughhhh!" She flings herself up and stands, marching straight over to the kitchen. One of the celestial animatronics will be making dinner soon but what's a little snack?

Codie reaches for a packaged Ding Dong treat when a sudden outburst from Sun causes her to jump and scream. "Sunbite! Oh! Sorry!" He holds his hands up with a sheepish smile. She glares at him and he continues, "We didn't hear you come in! How was work? Oh, are you getting something to eat? No, no, no! I'm about to make dinner! Silly! Wouldn't want to spoil your appetite!"

Codie could barely keep up as Sun is already around the wall and gently peeling the treat out of her hand, squeezing it sweetly. She looks from his blank eyes to his hand that had just stolen her delectable snack. "Wha-? No! Sunny! I'm hungryyyy!" Codie drawls out a whine.

"I'm making dinner, Sunshine! Why not save this for after? Hmm?" He waggles it in his hand, eyes crinkled with amusement.

"Well..." Codie appears to be thinking about it, "what are you gonna make?" She looks up at him with a pout. Sunny chuckles. It's almost like he's trying to negotiate with a child back at the daycare.

He continues to stare down at her with a big grin, his gears turning in thought. 'Now's the perfect chance to begin wooing my Sunbite!' he tells himself giddily, 'I'll make what she wants for dinner!'

Concerned as to why Sun isn't moving or responding, Codie chuckles awkwardly and waves a hand in front of his eyes. "Sunshine? You with me?" He still doesn't move but finally responds.

"Yes! Of course! Now, what would you like for dinner?" Codie looks on in confusion.

"I uh...thought you were already making something?" Sunny pats her head.

"Silly, silly thing!" He itches to keep his hand where it is but retracts it and elaborates. "I'm making dinner, yes, but what would you like for it?"

'Why the hell is he asking me? It's his day to cook and he's never asked me what I've wanted before. He usually has all this planned out.' The ginger avoids eye contact, trying to muster up any kind of answer to all of this.

She looks to see if he's still staring and yeah, he is, creepily almost. Yet in his mind, Sunny is excitedly anticipating what his sweet Sunflower may request. "Er..." Her heart pounds from the situation, and not in a good way. Her anxiety is already flared up from work and Sun's demeanor isn't helping right now. "How about something with pork chops?"

"Oh wonderful! I have just the idea! I'll get started right away!" Codie almost jumps from the sheer excitement oozing from Sunny. He shoos her off. "Now go on! I'll call you when it's done, you should rest, yes! Our working Sunflower!"

She quickly scurries off, just wanting to lie down and recuperate for a second. She throws her arm over her eyes, letting loose a low groan of despair. She doesn't know what to do about Linda, yet she doesn't want to just up and quit.

And she definitely doesn't want to tell the boys or involve them. They have enough on their plate as it is. Her phone pings, breaking the ginger from her depressing thoughts. She rolls over and checks it, seeing a text from Shen asking if she wants to play.

Codie shrugs,'Might as well waste some time until dinner's ready...' getting up, stretching and moving to the computer chair. She cracks her knuckles and starts up her Blizzard app. She notices the new friend request, clearly from Shen.

She accepts it and almost immediately gets a voice call request. Stunned, she accepts it, quickly enabling her microphone. "H-hey, wasn't expecting to talk," she admits with a chuckle. To be honest, she's emotionally spent and didn't really want to talk but she'll make herself do it for Shen's sake.

"Oh, sorry. We can play without coms?" the boy suggests with a shrug as he takes a sip from his energy drink. He can hear the girl groan to herself.

"Ehhh, no it's alright." He nods even though she can't see him and invites her to his lobby. He's been waiting forever to finally be able to play with Codie and so he's glad she decided to keep talking.

He never gets to play games with friends much, so he's glad he met Codie. She's so sweet and kind and cute... He blushes just thinking of her and her freckles. Shen likes to think Codie thinks of his freckles, too.

"You ready?" Her voice breaks him from his reverie.

"Oh! S-sorry!" The brunette quickly readies up and the two wait for a game to begin.

~~~~~

Codie is actually thankful for Shen and the distraction he provided by playing Overwatch together. She actually enjoys herself and his company, laughing at the many jokes he's made. And he's very proud of that feat, thank you.

Codie chooses her go-to player, Echo, and prepares to escort the payload. "Man I hate this map," she remarks. Shen laughs, playing Reinhardt and swinging his hammer every which way as they wait for the doors to open.

The match starts and the two friends are silently playing, only making call outs, very focused. Though, it would be more accurate to say that Shen is more focused on the human on the other side of his call. He's been trying to muster up the courage to ask Codie to coffee or something but he just can't do it.

He's never been good with girls and she's no exception. His mouth goes dry just thinking about dating. "Get a hold of yourself!" he berates before cursing from dying by a Junkrat.

"You okay? We're doing good, don't beat yourself up!" Codie laughs, not knowing what he was thinking about. Shen blushes at the realization of having accidentally said that out loud instead of thinking it.

"Y-yeah...sorry. I got my ult, though, so get ready," Shen tells her before typing what he said in chat for the rest of the team. They go silent again, Codie not thinking anything of it, almost relieved at the thought of not having to talk again, while Shen conjures a plan.

The game finally ends and Codie leans back in her chair with a sigh. "Dang! Good game! That was fun!"

"Yeah!" Shen agrees, taking a deep breath before asking, "Um, hey! Do you maybe...-" He gets cut off, however.

"Oh hang on, Shen!" Codie says and turns to acknowledge the Sunny bot who is just then peeking his head in.

The boy sighs but relents and hears a voice tell Codie it's dinner time. 'Crap! Is her roommate a guy?? Is she already in a relationship!?' He panics, wondering if all of this was for naught.

"Sorry, dinner's done, I've gotta go! Thanks for the games, though, it was super fun!" Codie clicks 'End Call' after hearing Shen say bye. Said boy slouches in his chair, defeated.

~~~~~~

"Sunny this is so good!" Codie smiles, fork hovering close to her salivating mouth. She shovels in some roasted red potatoes with glee. The Sun watches his Sunshine eat, hands under his chin with a big smile on his face.

At the complement, he flaps his hands happily. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou! I just love it when you love my cooking!" Moon agrees with that sentiment, it's nice to see the person you l̶o̶v̶e̶ like enjoy your food.

Moon growls at his own thoughts but then covers it up with a cough, earning weird looks from the others. "So, Starlight, did you want to play a game tonight?"

"No thanks, I'm playing games with my friend online," Codie answers as she takes a sip from her glass. Moon looks away, downtrodden but Sun bursts out of his chair.

"Hooooowabout... a sleepover tonight!?" he suggests, arms spread wide. No one can tell who he's currently looking at but one could guess it may be Moon as he stares at his sunny brother with shock.

Moon knows what his brother is doing and he is not liking it.

Codie watches as Sun stares at Moon with an encouraging smile and Moon glares at Sun with a not so friendly frown. 'Are they arguing? Should I be concerned?' Her eyes bounce back and forth between the unmoving bots for a moment before Codie clears her throat.

"Um... Sure, Sunny, I don't work tomorrow so..." Codie smiles shakily, unsure if she's causing the discord in the room. Sun gasps, fervidly clapping his hands and bouncing where he stands.

"Oh goodiegoodiegoodie! We'll have so much fun! Watch movies, play games, maybe even drink Fizzy Faz until our heads ex-PLODE!" His enthusiasm even gets Codie to become excited. Except maybe the part where their heads explode.

Plus, she hates Fizzy Faz. It's practically pure sugar and gross flavors. Yuck.

Moon leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, opting not to say anything. Unnerved by the silence, Sun quickly makes sense of cleaning the table and putting away food, mumbling about his plans for the sleepover.

"Anyway..." Codie avoids looking at Moon, not wanting to disrupt his stewing session, and starts to shimmy her way back to her room. "I'm going to play a few more games with Shen, then we'll get that slumber party started!"

"Okay, Sunspot!" Sun waves her off and hums to himself as he finishes tidying up. He stops and stands up straight, dropping a tupperware from his hands. "Wait! Who-who's Shen?" he cries. Moon shrugs, not showing his true emotions of hating not knowing who this person is either.

"Obviously a friend, Sun." Moon rolls his eyes. Sun scoffs and picks up his container, grinding his teeth. Moon scoffs as well. "Listen, you fool, Codie is her own person, she can have friends outside of you, outside of us."

Sun turns around, irritation evident in his eyes and voice. "I didn't say she couldn't!" He stomps his foot on the floor like a child. "I was just wondering who Shen was! Your attitude is totally uncalled for!" Moon picks up a choked sob from Sun's voice.

His wires start tightening up in guilt so he stands up, ready to apologize for his outburst. He's having a hard time accepting himself and his feelings and he shouldn't have taken it out on his undeserving brother.

Sun keeps his back to him, though, and finishes up in the kitchen, turning and walking past him without another word. Moon watches him go and takes a synthetic deep breath, running a hand down his face in despair.

Sun wonders why his brother is being so cranky. He's only trying to help! Wooing Codie isn't just for himself, it's for the both of them because he knows how much his brother loves this human and he doesn't want to outshine him like he did at the daycare.

Sunny can't help but feel like he does when he gets panicked over what Moon calls little things. Codie has a mystery friend, and Moon shrugs it off, but Sun's processors run through any and all kinds of scenarios.

He goes to their room and gets ready for the sleepover, pulling out board-games and whatnot. He has to make this time perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sun?" Codie calls out, coming out of her room after accidentally playing more than just a few games of Overwatch with Shen. She lost track of time and he kept saying "Just one more game!".

She's worried she may have hurt the solar bot's feelings when she sees no lights on in their room. She knocks lightly, chewing on her bottom lip. "Sunny?"

The door opens and a smiling Sun greets her. "Sunflower! You're done? Please tell me you are so we can get this sleepover started!" Codie shyly combs through her hair and nods her head. "Yay! Come in! I've got games set up!"

The first thing Codie notices is the lack of a certain nighttime bot. The second is the vast amount of board games set up all throughout the room. Pawns, cards, props, all perfectly placed. Even the bed has a couple games set up on it.

The ginger chuckles, "Wow, Sun, this is a lot of games. I do get to sleep sometime, right?"

"Yes, well, I figured you'd be here earlier as I had already calculated the estimated time played for each game and therefore we could have been able to play each one!" Codie can't help but notice the quiver in his voice.

She eyes a certain one. "But...there's Monopoly," she trails off while pointing at said friendship destroyer that usually takes no less than several hours to get through (unless said friendship between players has managed to dissolve in even less time).

It's Sun's turn to chuckle awkwardly while he points his pointer fingers into themselves, "Yes well um, I was going to save that for last after we finished the others. It's one of my favorites but Moonie refuses to play it with me..."

"How about we start with Monopoly and see how long we last? We can save all these other ones for the next time we have a slumber party." She doesn't see his reaction as she parkours to the bed, avoiding the flawlessly set games.

"The...next time?" He thought she wasn't really interested in this at all, seeing as she took two hours to play a few more games with this Shen person.

She doesn't look up while she moves aside the other game on the bed. "Yeah? Why wouldn't we have more?" Sun doesn't answer, just giddily squeals to himself, flapping his hands. 'She wants more!'

An hour goes by and Codie rolls the dice for what feels like the millionth time. "Um, I'm sorry about earlier..." she admits. "I lost track of time, I didn't mean to make you feel blown off."

"O-oh! Thank you! I..." Sun remembers talking about your feelings being something people in relationships do. "I did feel a little like that...but I accept your apology!" Codie can't imagine what he felt. She feels so guilty.

She suddenly remembers, "Oh yeah, where's Moon?"

Sun frowns but hides it. 'Sulking in the dark living room...' is what he wants to say, but answers with a, "Oh he's just watching the stars in the living room tonight while we have fun!"

Codie sighs, rubbing her player piece, "He didn't want to join?" Did she do something? Are they fighting about her?

"Moon is...Moon has a lot on his mind right now. Nothing to worry your pretty little head over, Sunshine!" Sun says with reassurance, patting Codie's head. He flips the conversation and asks something he's been dying to learn. "So who's your new friend? Shen was it?" He remembered the name, of course, but Sun wanted to make sure he sounded as if he wasn't very interested when that's far from the truth.

Codie perks up with an, "Oh!" taking her turn. "He's a coworker. He asked me to play games online with him and since I didn't have anyone else I figured, why not? He's pretty funny and cool, if not a bit awkward, but nice!" Sun's mood turns sour at the way she describes this guy.

How does she describe him? Describe Moon? Has she even talked about them to other people? She clearly didn't tell Chrissy as she was surprised at the sight of the two jesters. He wonders if she would describe him like Shen, or maybe even better. 'I mean, I am her bestest friend!' Sun tells himself, proudly.

"Right, right!" Sun says distractedly, moving his piece after rolling. Maybe he's thinking too far into this. She called Shen her coworker, not her friend this time.

"Anyway!" Codie yawns, "I'm beat! I wanna sleep." She comedically flops back into the bed pillows, earning a giggle from Sun.

"Of course! Let's get you ready for bed!" Sun ushers Codie out and into the bathroom to do so. He swivels his head to see Moon on the little outside deck they have.

"Oh! I see you really are watching the stars. Glad I didn't lie to Codie, then." Moon turns around to see Sun's bright white eyes shining down onto him.

"What did you think I was doing?"

Sunny shrugs, "Sulking." Moon stares, unamused. He sighs and stands up to lean against the railing, tilting his head to watch the twinkling stars.

"Look, Sunny. I'm sorry about earlier, okay? You're right...maybe I do love Codie. But it doesn't really change anything."

Sun softens and joins his brother. "It does, though, Moonie. Maybe you can't see it but it does. Give yourself a chance to embrace these feelings, okay?" The brothers fall into a nice silence. Moon thinks about what his other half has said. He's been thinking all night, actually.

"Sun?" Codie's voice calls from inside. Both turn around at her voice and they meet each other's eyes before letting out a quiet laugh. Sun hugs his brother and starts to drag him in with him.

"Let's go, Moonie, tomorrow's another day!"

And when the lunar bot comes in and follows his brother and friend into their bedroom, he watches as the little human yawns and cuddles up into the covers, a smile on her face. He watches as his brother lovingly watches from beside her.

He realizes he loves this. He loves his brother. And he loves that human that wiggled her way into both of their hearts.

'Another day indeed...'