a/n: Same 'verse as Not Quite a Triumph and all those others. Set some time after Not Quite a Triumph, but before A Lot Like You and Super Astute.

Anyway, a bit of Giripan (well, sort of) for today. Today's date, when written out day/month/year, is 13/12/11. This is the last time that sort of thing will happen for a while, so I thought I might post something.

I apologise terribly for not updating Sailor Sunrise in so long. I have the next chapter all written out, I swear, and all I need to do is type it up, but I haven't had any time lately, what with school and cosplay and the Sherlock fandom, which seems to have eaten me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or Portal. The title for this fic is from a song from the Portal soundtrack.

Enjoy!

Wandering around town, Kiku never expected to find anyone interesting. To him, humans were terribly boring—their minds were so slow, so focussed on unimportant things. He never allowed his distaste to show, of course—he had better control than that. He did talk to people, and he knew other people, humans (he thought—he wasn't too sure about some of them), but he preferred to limit interaction as much as possible.

When Feliciano insisted that he meet someone new, Kiku almost refused. He'd had a long week, he hadn't plugged himself in or oiled his joints in far too long, and he really didn't want to deal with humans at the moment. He still wasn't sure why he agreed.

"Kiku, this is my cousin, Herakles Karpusi," said Feliciano. "Herakles, this is my friend, Kiku Honda."

Kiku bowed politely and hoped he didn't creak. "It is nice to meet you."

The new person, Herakles, blinked sleepily at him. "Nice to meet you, too. Do you like cats?"

With this rather unconventional conversation starter, the two of them ended up talking from nearly two hours on a wide variety of topics. It was the most interesting conversation Kiku had ever had with a human.

Over the next few weeks, they talked more and more about anything and everything—philosophy, engineering, cats, food, current events—and slowly, they became friends. The entire experience was very new for Kiku, and he wondered if he was doing it wrong, but every time he fretted and doubted, Herakles' calm smile chased the worry away like a cat after mice.

Herakles was the strangest human he'd ever met, Kiku decided.

Some weeks into their friendship, Kiku wondered if perhaps he should tell Herakles what he was. He'd never considered the idea for any of his other acquaintances before and he wondered what made Herakles so different.

After a few days of mulling if over—the longest Kiku had ever spent on any problem—the android decided to tell his human friend. He didn't beat around the bush when he did so.

"I'm not human," he began.

Herakles glanced at him curiously. "Mm? What are you, then?"

"An android." Kiku stared fixedly ahead, not wanting to see the rejection that was sure to come—most people didn't feel too kindly towards the nearly-human robots that were still very rare.

Apparently, Herakles was not most people. "That's interesting," he remarked calmly. "What's it like to be an android?"

Kiku was shocked. He'd expected almost any other reaction—anger, disgust, hurt—not this careless acceptance. "It's—well, I don't really have anything else to compare it to," he managed. He was feeling a bit frazzled and he hoped he wouldn't have to reboot—it was a bothersome and time-consuming process.

Herakles laughs, quiet and warm, and it gave Kiku a fizzy feeling like the time he caught a particularly bad virus, only it wasn't a bad fizzy feeling at all.

Herakles, Kiku decided, was definitely not the usual sort of human.