Sparx slowly poked his head into Gibson's lab. The lab had grown larger and larger for the past several years. Gibson was very pleased with the expansion, adding several different stations to complete many of his experiments.

Beginning last year, Gibson and Sparx had started dating. Despite Sparx's quick nature, Gibson managed to slow him down, keeping the relationship at a steady pace so that it wouldn't get too out of hand. So far, the relationship was mostly successful and Sparx and Gibson were happy with each other's company.

Most of the time.

Sparx walked through the large room and eventually saw his boyfriend sitting at a desk, tinkering with a small device in front of him. Sparx sneaked forward in an effort to not disturb him until he got right behind Gibson. When he did so, he slowly wrapped his arms around Gibson's and brought himself closer. "How is my favorite scientist?"

Gibson was initially startled by the intrusion, but he calmed down after a few moments. He put down his device and placed one of his hands on Sparx's arms. "He is doing quite well, thank you for asking. I am making a device that will more efficiently detect any dangerous anomalies in my room. With how many experiments I have, this will surely be handy when something goes wrong and I need to evacuate."

"Well, that sounds good," Sparx said, resting his head on top of Gibson's. "I'd rather not carry you out of here again because you nearly poisoned yourself. You're getting very good at that."

"Perhaps I need to be more careful," Gibson said. "But doing science always has its risks. I understand those risks."

"Right," Sparx said. "Well Mr. Hal Gibson, you've locked yourself in here long enough with your precious experiments. Why don't we celebrate your new invention with some fresh air and maybe some ice cream?"

"No no no," Gibson said, removing Sparx's arm from his collar. "I've made so much progress; I can't stop now. I just need a couple more hours to calibrate this and make sure that it is complete."

"Gibson, it's just a silly piece of metal," Sparx said as he walked to Gibson's side. "It'll still be there and it'll still be a silly piece of metal when you get back. You need to have a break."

"But I will not have the mentality to return to it," Gibson said, looking up at Sparx with a frustrated look. "And it's not just a silly piece of metal. I'm not moving from this spot until I am finished."

"Stop getting yourself tied up in all of your experiments, Gibson," Sparx said, getting frustrated. "It's all getting to your head. None of them mean anything, anyways."

Gibson's expression remained blank, then he sighed. "Do you really mean that?" Gibson asked in a subdued voice.

Sparx looked down to the side. "N-no. I didn't mean that. I was just getting mad. Gibson, ple-…"

"Just get out," Gibson said, pointing to the door. "I need to finish my meaningless experiment."

"Gibson, come on." Sparx tried to prod Gibson further, but Gibson had already returned his attention back to his device. "Alright." Sparx slowly walked out of the lab, returning to his room by himself.

About five hours later, Sparx went over to Gibson's room and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked on it several more times. Again. No answer. "Either he's mad at me still or he's still in his lab," Sparx whispered to himself. "But it's almost midnight. He shouldn't still be in there."

Sparx walked down the hallway and entered into Gibson's lab. He saw Gibson's shadow reflect off of the wall on the other side of the room. Sparx took a deep breath, then smiled. "Still the busy bee, aren't you?"

There was no response.

Sparx sighed, frowning again. "Listen Gibson, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I really don't think that your experiments are meaningless. They're actually really cool and they mean a lot to me." Sparx turned around the corner towards Gibson's desk. "It's just that you've been spending a lot of time in here and I wanted to…"

Sparx looked onto the desk and noticed that Gibson was hunched over it. Sparx could hear very light breaths coming from him as he slept. Sparx chuckled a bit. "Oh, Gibson," he whispered. "You always know how to overwork yourself."

Sparx approached Gibson and slowly removed the device from Gibson's hand. He then brought his own hand around Gibson's legs, then his other hand around Gibson's back, and picked him up out of the chair. He slowly carried the sleeping scientist back to his room. Once he entered, he walked to Gibson's bed and slowly set him down. He brought his blue blanket over him and planted a small kiss on his forehead. "I'll surprise you with something tomorrow, Gibson," Sparx said. "To show how sorry I am."

Sparx waited for a moment, watching Gibson breathe in and out in his sleep. Sparx then leaned over and kissed Gibson on the lips. "I love you, Gibson," Sparx whispered. That had been the first time that Sparx said that to Gibson. Even though Gibson wasn't awake to hear it, Sparx felt good saying it. Sparx smiled, then turned around to exit Gibson's room.

Behind him, though, Gibson was smiling. He waited a few moments before saying, "I love you too, Sparx."

Sparx stopped in his tracks, the slightest blush on his face. He chuckled. He wanted to hide how happy he was to hear that. "Good night, Gibson," he whispered. He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.