As the visit goes on, half of the cookies end up disappearing. The rest are stored away in a jar, and the hologuise is reactivated. Ratchet's attention is pulled away for a moment; the once thick lines of chalk have mostly faded by now, and the last pieces of it begin to dissolve with the soft light of Zoni magic. "I think our time's about up, buddy."

The robot looks over, noticing what his friend saw. "I understand. This is new to you and Nova, and I do not want either of you to push yourselves too far." Clank pulls Ratchet into the center of the ring, and he gently sits down. They share one last hug, and Clank smiles against his friend's chest. "Thank you so much for visiting, Ratchet. It truly means a lot to me, and it is good to know that you never truly left."

The lombax pats his shoulder, reassuring him. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be around, or with the others, now that I can count on a ticket down here." Scratching his chin, "I know I didn't say it much but...love ya, pal. I'll see you around."

"I love you as well, and I will look forward to your next visit, Ratchet. As long as Nova is safe and willing to do so, of course."

"Same here, buddy." Ratchet offers his friend one last smile, pricking his ears up as a final thought crosses his mind. "Oh, by the way: happy birthday, Clank." With that, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as the last of the chalk chips away and disappears completely.

The static in the air fades, before going as still as the body before him. His companion's chest slowly pulses with quiet breath, and Clank carefully reaches forward. "Nova?"

She gently stirs in response, the focus returning to her eyes as the strain of such deep magic takes its toll. Regardless, she smiles tiredly at the little robot after deactivating the hologuise and placing it to the side. "So…how was your present?"

Silence fills the room as Clank looks inward, searching for the right words. There's so much to say. How does one even answer such a question, after all this?

The markazian knows that look, and her heart drops. "Are you okay? Did something go wrong? Did someone else show? Talk to me, please."

"Nova," Metal hands clasp around organic ones. "You did all of this for me?"

She lets out a sigh of relief. So it did work, that's good. "I felt like it'd give you some closure. So you could see for yourself that he's doing okay instead of indirectly hearing it, you know? I was born with this connection, so I wanted to use it to make you happy."

Her eyes drop in worry, uncertainty replacing excitement once more as she pulls away from Clank. "Wait, was it not what you wanted? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just thought that-"

The markazian's rambling is interrupted by the feeling of metal hands gently pressed to the sides of her face. Green optics look into her eyes, close enough that her breath fogs up his finish.

Clank slowly tucks a stray curl between her eyes back behind her ear. His organic partner's heart skipping a beat pings his internal sensors as he places his mouthpiece against her cheek.

Backing away, the warbot smiles as his palms frame her face. "Tonight has done more for me than you can possibly imagine."

Nova's entire body slackens a bit, melting a thick tension that's weighed on her mind for over a week. "I'm glad. I wanted this to be perfect for you." Clank releases her face, and in turn her fingers graze against the spot where metal once touched. The space still tingles a bit, as if there's residual energy there. "I just-I didn't expect you to, well, this meeting must have meant a lot to you for, um, that."

Clank chuckles, watching as Nova fumbles over her words. He thinks to himself of how often he'd seen others in his life do the same in similar situations, and can't help but wonder; How did I not pick up on this sooner? "While the gift is appreciated, the gesture is to thank you, Nova. It has shown me something I did not consider possible, and I am extremely humbled that you think of me so fondly."

"I do," she carefully adds. "I've been planning this ever since we left the Timekeeper. I know Ratchet meant a lot to you, and I wanted you guys to see each other again if it was within my power to do so."

"He did mean a great deal to me, yes, but so do you, Nova." Metal fingertips trace the soft lines in her palm. "You frightened me that day, terribly so. I was so afraid that I would lose you." The markazian opens her mouth to speak, but a quick flick of Clank's wrist in front of her face stops it. "And before you start to apologize, I will not hear it. A seizure is out of your control."

"My point is this," he continues. "At that moment, I was afraid that I would never hear your laugh again, or your singing. Never watch the focus in your eyes as you bake your favorite desserts, telling stories of Quantos as the dough comes together. I would never have seen how perfect you looked in that dress, or how stunning you were as you held back those Goons-4-Less brutes until I awoke to help."

Nova looks away sheepishly, flipping her hair and scratching the left side of her scalp. "Well, I've tried to make you proud. I want to be the hero that you, Orvus, and Ratchet saw in me."

"Allow me to make one thing very clear." Clank takes her hands once more, pressing them closer to his chest. "You have always been a hero to me. From the moment we met."

His words, spoken with such warmth and sincerity, widen her eyes to pinpricks as a pinkish flush once more spreads across her face. Pure joy and relief rushes over the markazian's very soul, not realizing just how much she wanted, no, needed to hear that very phrase.

"Nova Albedo, you are irreplaceable to me," he continues. "You are worth so much more to me than your powers, your attachment to Ratchet, or our current place in the universe as heroes."

Every bit of this moment soaks in, and it takes every bit of meditation the fongoids have ever taught her to keep her thoughts collected. "I tried to tell you, right before those Goons crashed the party. When I said I wanted to go home, I wasn't talking about Quantos. After this is over, I want to keep the bakery. I want to travel the galaxy, hells, the multiverse too! Wherever fate takes me, and I want you to be there too. If you'll have me, of course."

Clank blinks, his optics growing brighter as her confession hits him. He watches as her entire body slackens a bit, as if a weight has been lifted from her very soul to say it. "It has taken me time to realize this, but I feel the same. To me, you are something truly extraordinary. Like Time itself, your presence is something powerful, beautiful, and perhaps cruel at first. Before we met, I had resigned myself to an eternity of my duties to the Great Clock. Every day, since the day we met, you remind me of what it is like to truly live, rather than simply exist for a predetermined purpose."

The caretaker's frame is quickly scooped up into Nova's arms, and she hugs him tighter than ever before. He takes in the sound of her heartbeat, thumping proudly against his audio receptors.

Her grip loosens, and she pulls back to see his face. Mirroring the robot's earlier touch, thin fingertips carefully wrap around his face. Soft lips press against his mouthpiece, and she lets out a sigh. "I've wanted to do that for a while now."

"Really now?" A light and playful tone accompanies his grin. "Is that why Courtney Gears left Qwark's party with an impressive dent in her face?"

"Oh, absolutely," Nova chuckles. "And I'll gladly dent the other side to match it if she makes you uncomfortable."

With a smile, he rubs her left palm with his thumb. "I have no doubt about that. If I am being honest, I wish that this moment could have happened at the party."

"Actually, I wanted to say something. Even before the fireworks; I couldn't go through with it," Nova begins. "I was going to march right over to Gears while she was dancing with you, and shove a bag of bolts in her face for a song request. She was there on business anyway, so she couldn't refuse. But then Al and I got to talking and…"

Nova recalls the smug grin on the fembot's face as they danced, and pouts at the memory. "That night was too important for me to let some bubblegum pop star distract me. I had to give Al the fur scrap for the, well, you saw it."

"I see. I commend you for your attention to detail, and I can assure you that everything went well. Back to the party, is the song all you had planned?"

"The rest of it, well, I'd rather show you." Standing up once more, the markazian offers a hand to her partner. "May I?"

"I would love nothing more."

Pulling out her phone, she scrolls through it to find a song. It's slow, soft spoken, and she leads Clank into a dance. Her own voice mixes with the music that now fills the room; low enough to not overpower the song itself. Their height difference is a bit awkward, but they both look at each other as if it's where they were always meant to be.

The music picks up a bit, and Nova's quiet humming stops as she moves her focus to scanning the room for some kind of makeshift step stool. She locks onto her target: a small pile of boxes that were left to the side from her moving into the garage. Leading Clank to the top, she gently presses her fingers into his hex mount's space, cradling the back of his head with the other hand.

His organic partner slowly leans in, leaving him in shock as she places her lips to his mouthpiece. As she pulls away, the robot's optics seem to glow even brighter for a moment. A stray thought bubbles to the surface of her mind, and it brings forth a chuckle. "You kinda taste like confectioner's sugar."

With a blink, Clank's eyes dim back down to normal levels. The giggle that follows shakes his smaller frame, and his antenna blinks faster as the laughter continues. "I do hope that is not a problem."

"Not at all!" She scoops him up into her arms, peppering short kisses over his face as he continues to giggle at the contact.

Nova abruptly stops, her attention snapped to the lamp on Ratchet's workbench that suddenly flickers to life. "Hey, did you turn that on?"

"I did not."

"Huh." The markazian gently sets Clank down to the ground before stepping forward, cautiously approaching the lamp. An eyebrow is raised in curiosity as the device is brought closer, revealing that the switch is already clicked into the 'off' position. "Maybe it's busted?"

"Perhaps it could be taken apart and checked later," the warbot suggests. His mind reels from the emotional whiplash of today, recounting every detail with a smile on his face. After a moment of silence, his markazian companion calls his name. "I am fine," he assures. "And quite content, but I just recalled something." Memory calls him to check his personal stash, revealing the same folded paper Nova used before to send a message to the lombax.

Nova's head tilts a bit with a curious hum, but ultimately ends up taking the note. Sure enough, there's more text now. The font is much larger than her own, a bit neater, and with a much shorter and more certain message to tell:

Thanks for everything, kid. Take care of my buddy, won't ya?

-Ratchet

With a soft grin, Nova drags a thumb over the corner of the note. "I will."