Outside ShadowMan's lair, night had fallen in the Labyrinth. ProtoMan was crouched low over his Spikey's neck, his hair snapping in the breeze. For some time now, they had saved valuable time and energy by riding the large viruses. Glancing over, he spotted Bass; barely visible for the darkness he almost melted into. "Bass! Let's break for the night. I'm beat."

Pulling the viruses to a halt, both Navis slid off them and lay in the dust, staring at the stars.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Curious, the red Navi looked over at Bass, who glanced at him.

"It's a quote by Oscar Wilde. I'm kind of fond of it."

Nodding, ProtoMan stared up at the stars, picking out his favorite constellations in a matter of moments.

"So, are you two dating yet?"

Sputtering, ProtoMan propped himself up on his elbows and gave Bass an incredulous look. "WHAT!"

Rolling onto his side, Bass shook his head. "I'm guessing that's a no then." With a sigh, he stared at his friend. "ProtoMan, I want to know something. You love Starfire with the burning passion of a thousand suns. You love her more than net battling. You would give your life for this girl because you know she'd do the same for you. But what I don't get is if you love her like this, why not go after her? Ask her out!"

Suddenly thankful for the darkness, ProtoMan felt his face grow as red as his helmet. "I…well the thing is…. errm…."

"You're scared to death of asking, aren't you?"

Nodding miserably, ProtoMan was surprised Bass couldn't feel the heat radiating from his face. "The thing is, I've never really been in love before now! I don't know what to do!"

With a sage nod, Bass closed his burgundy eyes. "I know how you feel. Did you know that Star's been in love only once before?"

Curious, ProtoMan shook his head.

"It's true. When we were young still. Navis don't really age, so Cossack gave Star the okay to date and such. Well, she had a crush on this Navi, called himself Nightwing. He had something against me, so when Star asked him out, he figured it was the perfect way to get at me. After they had left, I heard of the plan they had, and set out to find him. By the time I got there, his gang was beating on my little Starry. When I showed up, they scattered. They hurt her, and I was pretty upset. But Star, she was the one who suffered most. Ever since, she's been pretty wary about most guys." Giving Proto a sly glance, Bass cocked an eyebrow. "I'm pretty amazed that she trusts you like she does."

Looking down at the sand, ProtoMan was thoughtful. They did have a good strong bond. He had never given it much thought that in the past Star might not have been like she was now. "I never knew…"

"Yeah. Just do me a favor." Looking directly at the silver Navi, Bass' cherry colored eyes glittered in the dark. "Don't tell Starry I told you. She'd beat me from here to kingdom come."

Laughing, ProtoMan leaned back against his Spikey, which he had mentally named Zero, and stared at the sky again.

For the longest time, both Navis were silent before Bass asked airily, "Um, did you name yours?"

"Yeah"

"What?"

"Zero, why? What's yours?"

"Treble."

Laughing again, both Navis drifted off to sleep.