Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. The prompt list I am following is "fluffuary 2020" by hannapogton on Twitter. FandomGeek (GeekOfFandoms) picked the prompt for me to follow.

I finally have an excuse to break out this song for a ship *dabs*. I also maybe changed the prompt a bit to "dancing in the moonlight" bc my brain and hands wrote this all out before I realized I literally didn't include that much walking.

Dancing in the Moonlight

Outside the Galactic Annual Fundraiser and Charity Ball, the night sky danced with stars. Constellations hung over the vineyard manor the large party took place in, and the moon illuminated the manicured gardens behind the house.

Just beyond the manor's gardens stretched the numerous acres of grapes, but Talwyn had a suspicion that he hadn't gone that far away from the party.

Her short heels clicked against the cobblestone. A cool breeze, a refreshing break from the humid summer air, ruffled the dress hem at her knees. Fingers lifted to tuck her tiny braid behind her ear, and her eyes roamed over the brick pathway and shrubs in front of her.

Nefarious definitely wasn't one for parties, but he also wasn't one to drift too far away from his friends. The last time he had, several assassins had ambushed him. A stroke of sheer luck was the only reason he was still around, and the robot was not one to let it happen again.

"Where are you, doc?" Talwyn murmured. She cocked her head to the side as she turned another corner. A frown pulled at her mouth.

She kept walking, settling her hands at her hips with each minute Nefarious eluded her.

"Come on… I know you're here…"

The path led on, branching out into a three-pronged fork. Talwyn paused in her walk, ran through what she already knew about the gardens, then walked along the right-most path. If she had remembered the layout of the gardens correctly, that meant that a balcony-like patio just over the vineyards would be just ahead-

The cobblestones expanded out, broadening the path into a large rectangle. Patio furniture littered the space artfully, perfect for graceful leisure, and ornate metal rails protected the patio from a drop-off to the miles of grape plants below.

And leaning against the metal rails, his elbows taking most of his weight, was the exact robot she had been looking for.

Talwyn breathed a sigh of relief, cast a quick glance around the area in case of any unwanted company, then took a step forward.

The sound her heels made against the cobblestone didn't alert him, which meant that Nefarious was very deep in thought.

She drew close to him, careful not to make a movement that would startle him. With a gentle move of her arm, her fingers reached out and pressed against his left shoulder. "Hey, doc, you okay?"

Nefarious nearly jumped a foot in the air.

"APOGEE! YES! I'M HERE!" He straightened to full height, and there was little hiding the nervousness in his body language. "I was… just… out here…" The scientist forced a smile, optics shifting around. "…You aren't here to drag me back to the party, are you?"

Talwyn chuckled and shook her head. "No, I'm not here to do that."

Nefarious relaxed, shoulders slumping as he turned back to the rail. He leaned against it, grumbling as his arms settled back in their previous positions. "Good. Those morons are insufferable."

"I won't argue with that one." Talwyn matched his pose, leaning her body against the rail. "Qwark's actually been on his best behavior for once, but if Justine talks to me one more time about how I need to force more embargos on galactic trade, I'm going to punch someone."

Nefarious looked at her, one brow lifted in confusion. "Which one was that one again? I didn't bother learning anyone's names."

"The Cazar one? The one with the really big hairstyle and with a toga that's covered in fake diamonds."

"Oh!" Nefarious rolled his optics, shaking his head. "Oh. Yeah, I remember them. They cornered me at the beginning of the whole thing and demanded to know if I had any evil plans that I was planning on executing during the party." He mimicked a huff. "The stupid squishy did everything to get me to admit that I was up to something, and I wasn't able to get away until Ratchet and his boyfriend had to fight them back."

A sly smile pulled at Talwyn's mouth. "I'm surprised. Usually, Ratchet's enough to get people to get away from you."

"I know." Nefarious shrugged. "Guess this squishy had something on me."

"I think if we were counting all the people that had something against you, they'd have to get in line."

The robot cackled softly, the strain from his smile easing away. "I'd send that moron straight to the back."

Both chuckled at the idea, then fell quiet.

After a moment of letting the night's atmosphere settle between them, Talwyn spoke. "So, what's the reason you bailed from the party? I know you handle people's accusations pretty well."

Nefarious froze, and for a couple beats, his mouthpiece moved with little sound coming out. He waved his hands, twirling his claws over the rail, and scrunched up his face in thought before mimicking a sigh. "Do you really want to know, Apogee squishy?"

Talwyn bumped her hip against his and flashed the scientist a comforting grin. "Course, Nef. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark aren't the only people that care about how you feel."

A bashful look appeared on Nefarious' face. He pulled back from the rail, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's stupid," he muttered. "You'd think it was dumb."

Talwyn turned, leaning her lower back against the rail. "Try me."

The arms dropped, and one hand lifted up to rub at the back of a metal neck. "I left… because when the whole 'ballroom dance' thing happened…" he looked everywhere but to Talwyn "…no one wanted to dance with me. I got flashbacks to being picked last for gym class and other memories where people didn't want to be around me, so I left."

He quickly backpedaled, tucking in on himself. "I told you it was stupid. Let's just go back to the dumb party and pretend that I never left-"

"Hey."

Nefarious looked back up to her, pausing in his backpedal.

Talwyn closed in the distance between them, reaching out a hand. "Would you like to dance with me, doc?"

Nefarious scoffed. "That's not going to fix everything," he murmured, barely any emotion in his words.

"I know." Talwyn tilted her head to the side, shrugging her shoulders and softening her smile. "But I would be honored if you would dance with me under these beautiful stars…"

The robot slowly sagged with the weight of defeat, then gently laid his claws in her outstretched hand.

Talwyn pulled him close, setting up their positions for a simple ballroom dance. Her free hand lifted up to rest on the black-suited shoulder, smoothing down the creases in the tuxedo. His claws settled just above her hip, sinking into the pink ruffles swathing diagonally across her dress.

She hummed a song, and with a gentle nod of her head, they began a slow waltz.

With each move, Nefarious' skittish energy drained away. Improv and exaggerations slipped into his movements, joy bringing back the animated motions he was known for.

Talwyn laughed as he dipped her, and a tiny laugh echoed from him. With every second he looked at her face, his motions became more playful and teasing.

It wasn't long before the two gave up the structures of the waltz and broke apart to dance in their own ways.

Nefarious threw in moves Talwyn had seen him do while under the influence of the Groovatron, and she matched them as he did them. She twirled, and he mimed a lasso pulling her close.

She hopped to him, rolling her eyes with each matching movement to his fake lasso pull, and laughed with the joining of their hands.

The world around them slowed. Without the influence of other party-goers, it felt like they were the only two on the planet. Silly dance moves and cheesy joking jabs came from both the Markazian and the robot.

By the time both centered back on reality, they both looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Talwyn relaxed first, calming down from her funky chicken dance to straighten her posture and check the small watch on her left wrist. The ghost of her loud laugh fell away, and the Markazian looked back to Nefarious.

"It's been a while since we left the party," she said, showing her watch to the robot. "Do you want to head back now?"

Nefarious softened, keeping his optics to her. "Actually, Apogee…" he started, drawing out the words. He shuffled on his feet, tucking his hands in his pant pockets. "It's really nice outside, what with the… stars and all… Do you wanna… I don't know…"

She grinned, siding beside him and bumping her elbow to his. "You want to walk around the gardens with me for a little while, don't you?"

Nefarious chuckled, then looked down to her. "You know, Apogee, you aren't so bad."

"Who was saying that I was bad?" she joked, lifting a brow.

"Oh, no one. I just figured you wouldn't like me all too much and would treat me like a lot of the others do."

Talwyn scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. "If you were just starting out in the Defense Force, maybe. But it's been like three years since you've switched to being good, and you've done a ton to better yourself in that time alone. If people can't see that you're trying to be better than you used to be, then that's on them."

Nefarious smiled, something that looked genuine and happy. "…Thank you, Apogee…" The bashful look from earlier reappeared. "…Can't believe it's taken me three years to really get to know you."

She hooked her arm under his and winked. "Well, we can start making up for lost time. How about going on that walk?"

Nefarious' grin brightened to full intensity. "I'd be honored for a walk, Apogee…"

Song Inspos: "Dancing in the Moonlight" (the Ashley Tisdale cover) and "Call Me By Your Name" by Lil Nas X.

Got another one of these done, and for now I'm just playing around with different dynamics for Talarious. I like to imagine that Nef's slightly nervous around her at first because he doesn't know how she'll treat him, talks with her regularly when he warms up to her, then goes hard on being a nervous mess once he realizes that he's in love with her. I like when guys get flustered around their crushes, and FGHJ Nef being flustered is something that I really like to write ;-;.

Thank you all so much for reading and supporting! :D I'll try to write some more Talarious as soon as I can!