Chapter Text
“I told you a million times to stay away from the brute shark Al-an” Robin sassed as the pair entered the SOS facility. But did you listen to me? Noooo. You said and I quote, “Robin, I have maintained enough knowledge of the behavior of this species of shark. I can assure you that I can bypass it without damaging myself.” A flash of yellow and pink radiated from the alien, meaning that annoyance and embarrassment were displaying through Alan’s body.
“My assessment of the animal was inadequate due to me being in storage for long. The species must’ve evolved with equipped speed and strength.”
“Or you could’ve just said you’re right and I should’ve listened to you, my dear Robin.” The rouge Alterran mocked as she smirked and leaned against the computer where the cube where once floating in midair.
Alan glanced down at her smiling form, yellow going into full force as it danced throughout his body. One of his levitating arms hit a button on the computer and the system began rebooting. The pair were scavenging for parts from this facility to repair the homeworld portal. Unfortunately, the brute sharks, a constant thorn to Robin’s side, couldn’t resist such a shiny vessel of Robin and Alan’s. Despite Robin’s warnings, the alien attempted to ward off the creatures with his levitator due to its medium size. However, he miscalculated how much they grew in size and the shark managed to escape on his arms, tearing into the side of his hips. Thanks to the highly dense exoskeleton, Alan managed to escape mostly unharmed, only damaged being a few chips to his skin and his pride.
Disregarding Robin’s smug look, a variety of light green screens floated on top of them, asking Alan what the assessment was and what they could do to help.
“Repair exoskeleton. Bring the necessary ingredients to light, Alan ordered in his stoic tone. Robin gazed at the screen as it displayed a loading screen before showing the components needed for fabrication; four diamonds, three lithiums, and five Kyanite.
Alan heard Robin groaned and crossed her arms.
“Greaaat. Now I have to go back to the Crystal Cave and collect those Kyanites. I do not want to deal with those Shadow Leviathans. They’re a pain in the ass.”
“I do not think they are a “pain in the ass,” Alan stated as he copied Robin’s annoyance. “They have a disintegrating agent in the mouth to digest their prey with ease. No pain would exist because the agent has already neutralized your nervous system for easier digestion.”
“I was being rhetorical Alan. I thought you already knew about sarcasm?”
“They are not the same. It seems as though you need to expand on your own sarcasm Robin.” Alan turned a shade of blue and purple, happy and pride she guessed.
Robin side-glances the smart-ass alien as she approaches the exit, preparing her submarine to go down the caves. Alan was about to follow but was stopped by the human hand.
“Uh-uh. You ain’t going nowhere until you are fully healed. If your information is this outdated from the brute shark, I hate to see what happened with the Shadow leviathans.”
Al-an cocked his head to the side in a questioning position.
“Are you suggesting I should swim to your base instead? I do not have the necessary tools to do my repairs. Plus, it seems as though you are running low on supplies to sustain yourself through this trip. It would be much more efficient if I embarked on your submarine to your base.
Robin huffed at Alan. As usual, the architect was sound in his logic, but she couldn’t help but hear a bit of smugness in his usual professional voice. Robin know dang well she wouldn’t leave the alien alone down here, but she should for being so stubborn and prideful.
“Fiiine.” The human scoffed as she adjusted her oxygen tank, feeling Alan gazing at her form. “But don’t be touching my stuff. I just rearrange the bases to suit my research.”
“Affirmative,” Alan said he as disappeared behind the shimmering air bubble.
He going to touch everything, isn’t he? Robin said disgruntledly as she followed Alan to the Seatruck.
…
Robin arranged her submarine to connect to her moonpool, already hearing music thumping in her base, suggesting that Alan had found her jukebox and cranked the volume to ear-blasting. Robin hauled the materials into the base from her Seatruck, entering the large room that contained her aquarium of various leviathans and a couple of Trivalves. One of the gold ones, Goldstone, rushed toward the tank to greet her owner in small crips and trills.
“Hi sweetie!” Robin greeted as she pressed her face toward the shiny fish to return the greeting. The fish swam around in circles, doing several laps around the tanks to which Robin guessed were fish zoomies. Robin giggled and gently tapped the glass to calm the excited fish.
“I’ll let you out in a minute Goldie. Momma gotta stash this cash towards the stubborn alien who thinks he can do anything he wants.” She mocked as she walked towards where the center of the music, Survive, was drumming through glass archways to the other large room. She entered and was met with Alan chilling on her double bed, messing with a futuristic Rubix cube she made with silver, diamond, and an ion cube with his levitator and second pair of hands. Blue, purple, and silver gleamed through the square cubes through Alan’s lights and danced through her surrounding windows. His body seems to be turned with the beats of the music, similar to how the jukeboxe. With a grunt, Robin set the materials down near Alan, stopping him from his gaze with the shining object.
“Robin, I am happy you managed to receive the necessary material for my form. And I’m glad you are in good health as well.”
“I’m happy I got them for you because I made sure to get enough to never venture down there again.” She stated as she flopped down on the bed beside Alan, stretching her back from the long trip, hearing cracks and pops on her strained spine. One of the Shadow leviathans got ahold of her Seatruck and began disintegrating her glass shield. She zapped the creature with her defense systems and fled the caves with the materials in her cargo, cussing at herself and Alan for making this voyage down here.
“I do apologize for the inconvenience I caused,” Alan replied with a sad tinge in his voice. None of this would’ve happened If I had listened to your warnings. I wanted to prove that nothing has changed even since the others put me away for storage.”
Robin sighed and patted his thigh, earning a shiver that wasn’t noticeable to the human.
“I get it, Alan. I hate change just as much as you do. But we have to adapt to it otherwise we get left behind.”
“Are you suggesting that if we don’t update ourselves to know the newest version of “change”, we will become discarded and forgotten?”
Waves of orange and yellow flashed through his body of the thought he had to adapt.
“No Alan, not like that. Robin waved off as she stood up to face him. “It’s more of like when something changes for the better and some people prefer to be stuck in the past because they’re are afraid of something different. Like a new relationship or a new house. They like to be in a routine and, it may take time to adjust to the new changes.”
Alan nodded at her reasonings, shifting his hue from orange to peach and pink. “Perhaps people who wish not to change is because of the memories they cherish will be dissipated.”
“While that may be true, it takes a community and effort to cherish those memories, so they are never forgotten.”
Alan hummed at the thought and shifted his body towards the human, closing the distance between the two. Robin chuckled as she stroked his lower back for the receiving affection.
“Getting a little close there bud. Are you feeling sentimental?” She teased as she scratched a certain spot on Alan’s back, feeling the smooth-like skin on his gloved hands. The centaur reacted by arching his back, relief flooding his system as the itch was finally settled.
“My senses have been… heightened, ever since the attack of the brute shark. It seems as though I must attend to my injuries or it will spread.” Highlights of deep pink and purple coursed through his body at the mention of heightened senses.
“Is there infection present?” Robin asked, worry clouding her voice as she reached for the material to attend to her friend.
“No. I scanned my system and it showed no symptoms of an infection present.”
Robin breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up with the materials in hand, heading toward a modified fabricator to set up the skin patch.
“I swear Alan, you’re going to give me a heart attack,” Robin remarked as she set the material in the fabricator.
“That is not possible. There are several reasons for a heart attack to be present in the body. But I don’t think I am one of them.”
Robin groaned as the ding of the new skin was made.
“Again Alan, that was rhetorical.” She then approached him and sat in front of him on her knees, readying to patch the artificial skin on his injured hip with the repair tool. Robin modified this tool to be more for medical emergencies than for damaged submarines. Lord knows how many times she used this after being punched by a Rockgrub when exploring for diamonds.
“Alright, Alan. I’m going to need you to sit still so I can apply this patch to you. Shouldn’t take long since it’s a small bite wound, but I need to be precise with it otherwise the adhesive will fall off. Let me know if this is too much for you ok?” She glanced up at the alien face for confirmation, studying how the colors shifted and gradient each other like a lava lamp.
“I trust you, Robin” Alan affirmed as pinks and purples settled into a deeper hue as if he was blushing.
Robin averted her flustered gaze and she sent to work on Alan’s injury. While it’s rare for Alan to be emotional, whenever he is he feels like he's speaking to her in a poetic language. She started working with the spark of her repair tool and melted the artificial skin to Alan’s. A jolt went through the alien body as the first adhesive was placed.
“Sorry Sorry.! Did that hurt?” Robin frantically asked and she immediately removed the tool away from him.
Alan shook his head before replying; “Just sensitive. My exoskeleton has been heightened due to the exposed nerves from the wound. I shall lower the pain sensitivity to let you continue without interruption.”
A few clicks and whirrs were heard as Alan lowered his nervous system.
“Assessment complete. You may continue with the repairs.”
Robin blew a breath as she hesitantly reached to place her tool once again on Alan’s body, making sure to set the temperature to a comfortable setting to hurt him again.
She resumed her work, finding a rhythm by the hum of the tool and the beat of the jukebox, having been changed to Jukebox One as she drilled the adhesive on Alan’s skin so it would look natural after it wore off. Robin noticed that Alan’s lights were flashing a little faster than normal, indicating his heart had sped up after wiping away the glue that stuck out of his skin.
“You doing okay Alan,” Robin checked in on him after drilling in on the eighth hole, noticing that his head was bowed down towards her and breathing heavily.
“Yes,” Alan responded hotly, sending a shiver down Robin’s spine as if he was trying to contain his emotions. “Just… resume with the repairs.”
Robin hesitated before continuing. His voice sounded like it was trying to keep its composure from falling apart. If he really is in pain…
Alan, I’m not continuing if you are uncomfortable. You’re feelings matter you know? So stop acting all prideful and tell me what the problem is!
Instead of responding, Alan turned his gaze away from her, arms rubbing against each other out of embarrassment while his floating one cross over each other for stubbornness.
“I will not confess my feelings while you are in repairs. It would be inefficient for both of us if I slowed down our progress with my… pain.” He quoted as a shade of rose and peach circled his face and neck.
“Feeling pain will not hinder my progress, Alan!” Robin scoffed as she flicked a finger at him in irritation. “Just because you feel something doesn’t mean you should ignore it! We can find ways that are less distressing to you. Now tell me what going or I’ll just let you do it yourself.”
“I’m afraid you will not let yourself do that to me,” Alan stated coldly. You care too much for my safety and my health. While leaving me to my own devices is adequate with me, you feel as though you need to take care of me after the accident took place.”
Robin’s anger grew with intensity. Not because he was right, but because he won’t admit he needed help and pretty much saying Well fine I can do this by myself but you will feel bad about it. Both she and Alan stared down at each other, hearing the sound of the rain pitter-patter on the glass above them and the hum of Alan’s breathing going ragged.
“Fine. Robin scoffed. “You want to play this game, I’ll play it.”
“There is no game going to be played, only…” Alan’s voice cracked as Robin pressed the repair tool down on his skin. The woman made a know-it-all face at him before continuing her work on the stubborn alien, wanting to be efficient but still wanting to test his patience.
She’s not sure why but she wants Alan to beg for forgiveness with whatever she doing to him. Robin guesses that she’s tired of the bullshit and stubbornness that she had to go through with Alan today. Rather than just letting her help him with his physical or emotional well-being, he just sucks it up and does it on his own.
Persistent bastard, Robin thinks angrily as she is about to finish the last of the repairs before suddenly being yanked by Alan’s floating hands from the ground and slammed onto the double bed, bouncing slightly on the plush cover. “What on earth do you thin…
“Enough” Alan’s voice shook as he stood over her bed, hands bound on top of her as he leaned down, face inches from hers as deep pink was casting down on the diver, whose face was wrapped in shock and worry.
“I can’t… asses this… you’re making me want to… His voice box choked on the meaning as he dropped down the bed and put his face into her chest, being careful not to squish her and the furniture.
Shit shit shit shit, Robin cussed as she rationalized what was going on with her friend. If she pushes something in him, she needs to talk to him about it no matter how much it’s a turn-on for her.
“Alan, Robin spoke in a soft voice, gently detangling herself from Alan’s floating arms and caressing his face. “You want to tell me what going on?”
Silence fell for a moment as Alan rationalized how he should tell Robin about the weird sensation she was causing him. After several moments had gone by, Alan decided he just be blunt about it.
“It is not pain that I am experiencing, rather it’s pleasure.”