Chapter Text
Kip, felt guilty.
Leaving Silver in the Barrens for quite a few years, alone, was taking quite the toll on her consciousness, especially now that she had seen what Silver had been doing all this time. A deck of cards lying abandoned on the table, a journal used as a makeshift dartboard, Silver had obviously gone to great lengths to keep herself entertained.
However, Silver had achieved much. Kip was still reveling in the idea of standing in the living space of a tamed robot. One might say she was enjoying herself too much. She looked at the books perfectly organized, spines completely level with each other, sorted alphabetically by author's last name, and how there wasn't a single speck of dust anywhere. The tables and chairs (apart from the chair Kip had moved earlier), as far as Kip could tell, were centered and rotated perfectly in relation to their surroundings. Everything felt pristine, yet gave off a homely vibe.
In reality though, this room was quite dull. Almost everything was the same color. The only colors that weren't the same blue as the barrens were Silver's flaming red hair, and what color remained in the very dead potted plant. She still wondered about that potted plant.
Despite this, Kip could not think of a way to initiate conversation again. They had completed their chess match, but now things had gone back to being the same awkward as it had been when she had just arrived. Kip had no idea what to say in a situation like this. Would it be right to simply bring up how she was sorry for abandoning Silver? Would this be a good time to apologize? She elected now was... not the time.
Kip took the time to take a good look at Silver for the first time in a few years. Silver, unlike the room around her, was not in as pristine of a condition as Kip expected. Kip noticed the small chips and dents in Silver's plating. Kip noticed a few fasteners that weren't connected as firmly anymore, and even some loose wires that looked as if Silver had tried to hide them from view.
Finally, breaking the awkward silence, Kip spoke. "Silver... You... It looks like this time here has taken a bit of a toll on you."
"You noticed, I see." Silver Sighed.
"Do you want me to take a look? See what I could fix?" Kip asked.
Silver looked away. "It's fine, I don't need any serious attention. Plus, did you even bring any tools with you?"
Kip grinned. "Well funny you should ask."
Kip walked over to the backpack she had dropped on the table earlier, and reaching inside, pulled out a decently large toolbox.
"Huh. I guess that's about what I expect from you." Silver commented.
Kip laughed. "Hah. That's not all I thought to bring, but we'll burn those bridges when we get to them. For now, why don't you sit down so I can take a look."
Silver obliged, realizing she didn't really have much choice, and sat down.
Silver, was not in horrible shape. There was some rust in relatively unimportant places, a few dents that wouldn't be major issues, and some motors that needed to be greased. Kip pulled out a screwdriver and started unscrewing the large panel on Silver's chest. She was warm to the touch, which seemed a bit unusual, but nothing to worry about. Kip added a note to check the coolant system.
"So, uhh, what exactly are you doing?" Silver asked.
"Just some basic maintenance." Kip responded nonchalantly, reaching her hands inside Silver's internals. "Nothing too serious. Just taking a look to see if there's any exposed wiring."
Silver didn't know how Kip was remaining so calm in this scenario. Something about being this close in proximity to Kip, let alone a person at all, was exciting. Her many fans were running at twice the speed they normally did, and her coolant pump was in a similar level of intense work. She tried to recall if she felt this way when she had undergone previous maintenance, but it had been so long ago she did not remember.
However, what Silver didn't realize was that Kip was in a similar state. There was something about digging around in Silver's chest that was... Well, Kip wouldn't deny that she was feeling things she didn't usually feel when doing maintenance on robots. She just hoped she wasn't blushing too much.
"Silver," Kip started, pausing before continuing. "This has been nice."
Silver nodded. "I agree. I wish we could have done this more often."
Kip paused, pulling her hands out of Silver's chest with a slight twinge of regret. "Yeah, about that.."
Silver looked at Kip expectantly.
"Listen, I'm so, so, so, so terribly sorry. I never should have sent you away. I regretted every second of it." Kip rambled. "It was a combination of peer pressure, fear, and well, I didn't want someone to hurt you, but I'm afraid I hurt you in the process. You've been here for 3 years all alone. It must have been terrible. I'm so, very sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."
Silver gasped. "Kip... Oh no, I know you didn't mean it. You didn't hurt me. You couldn't have."
"I know, but still!" Kip exclaimed. "I never should have done it. I should have stayed by you, and supported you, and... and..."
Tears began to run down Kip's face. Almost immediately, Silver got up from the chair, and kneeled down next to kip. "It's ok... You're here now. I don't resent you, I'm just glad you came for me eventually."
Kip leaned over and wrapped her arms around Silver in a hug. Silver froze for a moment, before reciprocating.
"Thanks, Silver..."
Silver, was designed to be as close to human as possible, to assist with taming. Thus, her body is covered in the same types of sensors that a human would have.
Because of this, Silver could feel just how warm Kip was. Just how hard she was hugging. Just how much she didn't want to let go.
Silver didn't want to let go either.
---------
The maintenance continued after this. Kip oiled all of Silver's motors, cleaned off the rust, hammered out some of the dents, so on and so forth. Kip couldn't find anything wrong with the coolant system though. Might just be some freak coincidence.
It was getting late. Kip had arrived nearly mid-day, and had spent nearly the rest of the day performing maintenance.
Kip sighed. "I suppose at this point I can't make the trek back to the Refuge. I don't really want to sleep in the boat."
"Well... you could always stay here." Silver suggested. "Oh, but..."
"What is it?"
"Well... I don't exactly have a place for you to sleep."
Kip looked around. There was a bed in the corner, but it wasn't that big.
"What about that bed?" Kip asked. "Surely you don't need to sleep, do you?"
Silver scoffed. "Well, that's my bed you're asking about. I actually use it."
Kip laughed. "Of course you do. buuuuuuut..."
"You're about to say 'you wouldn't let your guest sleep on the floor, now would you?' Right?"
Kip smiled. "You know me well."
Silver, releasing a deep, obviously fake sigh, conceded "Fine. I suppose... I suppose you can have the bed then."
Kip, in excitement leapt onto the bed.
CLANG
With a now aching rear end, kip flips up the covers to reveal that the bed is made of cold steel. Silver is laughing hysterically.
"You know, on second thought you can have the bed. I don't want it."