OPERATION: Steak Cuts! - A BotBots Fic Series

Starcrossed Sky-Watching - CHAP 2

The night was quiet, the air crisp and cool, the light of the cosmos streaming down into the mall's interior through the skylights.

On nights like these, Burgertron found himself perched atop one of the second floor railings, staring up into space. He had dubbed the spot his "Thinking Ledge", but it was sometimes used less for thinking and more-so gazing at the sky, the pretty white dots gleaming through the glass.
He used to open up the window to see them better, but he wound up accidentally letting a bird... er, "flying abomination"  in, and he was yelled at for it.

He stopped opening the skylight.
But that didn't deter him from sitting atop the railing and looking up into the night. Nothing could part him and the little spots splattered across the near-black ink, and how they glimmered and brought a calm to the chaos that was the mall.

If anything, he really just wished he could share it with someone.
Someone who'd really understand  their beauty, how they shone, how they gave him peace, and how they balanced the raging mayhem of his life with tranquil...

Someone like the bot standing next to him that made him jump once he realized they were standing right next t-- how long had they been there?!

"WAUGH--!" He yelped, quickly moving back. The other bot raised their hands defensively, stepping out from the shadows to reveal none other than his second-in-command, Bonz-Eye.

"Calm down. It's just me." She chuckled lightly. "Oh!! H-hey, Bon!... You scared me, jeez..." The burger-bot rubbed his arms awkwardly. "Fancy seeing you here."
"I know. I don't normally come by this place, but I saw you sitting here and I figured I'd stop to talk." She shrugged. "Oh! That's... really nice of you. Thanks." Burgertron smiled, before patting the space next to him. "You wanna take a seat?"
"I don't see why not." The bonsai sat down next to him, legs crossed. "So, what do you normally do here?"

"Oh, I... look up at the sky!" Burgertron pointed up to the window. "I like looking at the little white dots up there, they're beautiful... Nobody ever really talks about them, but one night I just noticed them, so now I'm here!"
"Is that the only reason you come up here?" Bonz-Eye questioned. "...No. Sometimes I come up here to think too."

"Think about what?"

"Oh, y'know. What to eat for lunch, what to do during the night, what to plan so we can get back in touch with our squads--"
"You're always planning that last part, Burgertron." Bonz-Eye elbowed him playfully. "Ow--!" The leader giggled, rubbing his arm. "I mean... yeah, I am, but like...I dunno. Being up here helps me think better. It's... nice... to have somewhere I can go without worrying about all the noise and the other Bots partying constantly. It's quiet here."

Bonz-Eye nodded, staring up at the stars. "Do you know what those dots of light are, anyway?"
Burgertron perked up. "Oh, yeah, I-I went to one of those flesh being stores, the one where they put books on display. I found this big one, it was called an... En...ency...lo...pedia? I think? And it was about them!" He pointed up to the sky.

"The dots up there, they're called "stars"! They're balls of light that manage to shine bright enough so that we see them all the way down here. And sometimes the flesh beings make shapes out of them too, and those are called... con...const...stella...tions?  Constellations!" He sounded out each big, unfamiliar word, kicking his legs with glee as he explained.

"There's one called the Big Dipper, and then a teeny-tiny one that goes with it that's called the Little Dipper! Apparently they're also supposed to be bears...? I don't get it, but that's what the book told me! And there's another one that's supposed to be what the flesh beings call a crab... There's lots of star shapes out there, it makes me wonder how they even came up with them. I mean you can't just see random white spots clustered together and then make it a shape, y'know--?"

He stopped to stare at his colleague. Her eyes shone, the galaxy reflecting in them like clear water as she looked at him.
He couldn't help but stare back, a silence shared between the two bots.
He felt that burning feeling rise in his chest-- the thrum of his processors speeding up as he slightly flinched away.

"You were saying?" Her voice cut through the silence. "Huh-- Oh! Yeah, I was... Sorry. I got so..." The burger-bot gestured vaguely to her face.
"Hmm?"

"Your eyes. They reflect the stars, kinda." He pointed to one of her optics. "It's no big deal, I just... Got distracted by them." A unfamiliar emotion flashed across the other bot's face as she averted her gaze, holding up an arm to obscure what already little Burgertron could see in the darkness of the mall.
"M-My apologies. I've... been told I have a tendency to stare. I'm still working on it."

"E-Either way, I don't wanna talk your head off, you know? I do that a lot already."  Burgertron shrugged. "Better safe than sorry!" He sheepishly fiddled with his hands.

"Oh. I quite enjoyed hearing you infodump, actually."

"... Wait, really?"

She nodded, before putting her arm back down to face him. "I, too, find myself curious about the world outside our home. if what you say is true, and The Mall is the entire universe, that still leaves a lot of what is beyond such unexplored. To know somebot besides myself is also invested in such a topic..."
There was a slight smile on her face. "It warms my core."

Burgertron stared in stunned silence. "Wow. That... was really profound."
"Thank you. I pride myself in it." Bonz-Eye puffed her chest out proudly.

Burgertron stared down at the ground below before turning back to his co-leader. "Hey, I have an idea. You like learning about space, right?"
Bonz-Eye nodded.
"Then... what if... would it... would you like to, I dunno, come read that cool book I was talking about earlier with me? The one about the stars." He swung his legs anxiously, quickly looking back down at the ground.
He could feel his inner units racing, it felt like he was on fire again.

"That would be nice." Was her response. He could have sworn something inside of him did a backflip. "S-Sick! We can make it a hangout with snacks and everything!" Burgertron grinned ear to ear.
Bonz-Eye must've noticed something was off, because she leaned in far too close for comfort.

"Are you feeling well?"
"Huh? Yeah! I'm-- just really excited! I get kinda sick feeling when something cool happens, but in a good way!" He brushed it off. She simply just looked at him, a concerned grimace on her face. "Again, if you insist, but this is the second time this month you've insisted on things being alright when it doesn't look like it. I'm suspicious at best." Her laugh was dry, yet loving. He forced a laugh with her, trying to hide the fact that he felt like fireworks were going off in his chest.

"...Do you wanna sit here and look at the stars some more?"
"I do."

The two shared witty banter and conversations about what lied beyond the mall's reach until it was time to head back to the Lost and Found.
Burgertron found himself trying to stifle squeals of joy in his nest as he lay on his bed, already planning out the perfect "hangout" for the two of them.

Bonz-Eye transformed into her alt mode, nice and cozy, thinking about the closeness the two shared in that moment. She was never one for delving into her emotions, but for a rare, fleeting moment in time...
The warm feeling of being so near someone who she had grown to enjoy the company of kept her at ease through the day as she slept.

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A/N: Oh hey! Baby's first author's note. Sorry this one took a bit longer than usual to put out there. I've been busy with Artfight and executive dysfunction, plus WP not saving 2 of my drafts for this got to me o__o hopefully the next parts will be out sooner rather than later ! 🧡⚔💚