Comfort (Sequel to Experience)
As Nos was passing by while reading his notes, he heard whimpering and soft sobbing nearby. He turned to find XR sitting at a table at the outdoor area of the Big Donut, his face buried into his arms and his body shaking with each sob.
XR? Why is he crying?
Concerned for his Little One, Nos floated over to XR to make sure he's alright.
"XR?" The smaller robot lifted up his head and turned to the Energy Vampire, revealing to him the tear streaks staining his face. Now Nos is worried about him.
"XR, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to him. "What happened?" XR then wiped away his tears.
"N-Nos," he stuttered, trying to get his "breathing" under control. "I-I'm sorry. I…I didn't see you." Nos only caressed his golden cheek with his thumb claw.
"XR, please tell me what's wrong." XR still kept on frowning.
"It's…It's Buzz…we got into a…a fight."
"What kind of a fight?"
"He wanted to take you down…claimed you 'brainwashed' the Gems into trusting you. I told him you'd do no such thing…that you've changed. He refused to believe it…said you've brainwashed me too by making me more popular than him. I thought he's doing this out of jealousy towards me and accused him of it."
"XR, that's enough to make him furious," Nos protested, shocked that his beloved would insult his team leader like that.
"Yeah, and I learned that mistake the hard way when he…" XR started to get choked up again.
"Did Lightyear hit you?!" Nos asked with fear in his optics.
"Worse," XR whimpered. "He called me a freak!" Nos felt a weight in his "stomach" as XR broke down crying. "He didn't really say 'freak'; I just don't wanna say it! Buzz realized his mistake and tried to apologize, but I was so angry I hit him and ran off."
"How hard…did you hit him?" asked Nos hesitantly.
"Hard enough to leave a nasty black eye," his Little One whimpered, causing his lover to wince. "Why did Buzz have to be a scumbag?" Nos only wrapped his arm around the smaller bot.
"He probably didn't know what else to say. You just need to give him some time."
"I don't feel like giving him time, let alone forgiveness," XR whimpered into his chest. Nos only hugged him gently and kissed his head in comfort.
Unbeknownst to the robot couple, Buzz was eavesdropping on them from a shadowed part of the Big Donut. He was looking for XR to give him a piece o his mind for hitting him in front of Booster and Mira. But upon finding him with NOS-4-A2 and hearing everything, he reconsidered hesitantly. The throbbing pain from the black/blue/purple shiner worsened as he listened to XR cry and tell Nos what happened.
Buzz feels like an idiot right now. He didn't mean to call XR…well, that! He just lost it when XR brought up his jealousy, which Buzz had been denying although it's all true.
Wait…did Buzz just admit to himself that he is jealous o XR's popularity over him?
The Space Ranger facepalmed in defeat. He could only hope the robot couple doesn't tell the Gems. Otherwise, he's dead meat with Garnet and Jasper.