AN: The worst time for me to write is when I haven't got an idea for a plot. Unfortunately, this has been the case for a long time, and I've grown irritated enough with my MIA muse that I decided to just sit down and write something. Ideas are picking at my brain, so I think that if I'm stubborn, I'll be able to shape this into something worthwhile in future chapters without it being too inane. Even if it's just to practice characterization. Meh. Apologies, anyway.

Disclaimer: I'm writing on the only thing I own that's worth anything, so please don't sue me. I don't own Lazy Town or have anything to do with it in any meaningful way. If anyone wants to give it to me, though, I'm good with that. Really.

Stephanie knocked her heels against the brick wall, her hands grasping its edge for balance. The brick still radiated the heat of the summer day despite the evening's cool breeze, and she was comfortably warm as she waited for the stars to peek out, one by one.

A blue shape caught her eye, and she took a moment to watch Sportacus' ship meander across the sky. She barely noticed it anymore, just taking it for granted that it would be there, like the sun or the moon. She figured that it was almost eight o'clock . Would Sportacus be getting ready for bed? she wondered. Surely he didn't wear his uniform to bed.

She giggled, imagining Sportacus in a set of blue pajamas. Or maybe he wore--

"Quit that, you pink palfrey," snapped a voice from behind her.

Stephanie squeaked and, sliding off the wall, whirled around to see who had sneaked up to her. Robbie Rotten met her gaze and glared back, his chin raised in haughty disdain. His clothes were disheveled, his face smeared with soot, and his normally-perfect hair was standing straight up in some places.

"I've been listening to you bang on that wall for half an hour. You just ruined an important experiment," Robbie grumbled. "Isn't it eight-oh-eight yet? I thought you all powered down your obnoxious selves then."

"No, it's not bedtime yet," Stephanie said. She hopped back up onto the wall so that she was closer to Robbie's eye-level. It was hard to look up at him all the time. Sportacus wasn't so tall, she realized.Sportacus also never looked so irritated.

"Yes, well, it's impossible to invent things with all this racket," Robbie said with a sniff. "Even for a genius like me. Now quit...quit..." He paused, and looked more closely at her. "What were you doing, anyway? Why aren't you--" he waggled his fingers in the air and rolled his eyes, "--exercising?"

Stephanie pointed up at the sky. Sportacus' ship had moved to one side now, and a fair number of stars were now visible. "I'm stargazing. It's pretty out tonight."

"An excuse for the pink platypus to harass me both night and day now," Robbie groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. "At this rate, I'll never have peace even if I do get rid of Sportacus."

"What's a platypus?" Stephanie asked.

Robbie opened his mouth to explain, but his brows furrowed fiercely, and no sound came out. Stephanie suspected that he wasn't sure either, and was about to tell him as much when he stammered, "It's an adult thing. Not for children. Now, go to bed, and quit your infernal hammering."

He paused, looking as if he were about to stomp back home, but a different idea seemed to occur to him. After a moment's thought he instead removed a small blue flower from an inner pocket of his vest. He studied it briefly, and then, as if deciding something, he offered it to Stephanie with a slow smile. She looked at it, then at him, her face radiating wariness.

His smile broadened painfully, and his voice became oily and coaxing. "Perhaps I was too harsh. You're only a..." he twisted his head to one side, as if he were fighting to speak, "...cute. Little. Girl. I was going to give this to someone else, but...here. Take it as a peace offering."

Stephanie's gaze slid down to the flower. It was pretty, and she had never seen anything like it before. Like a peony and a daisy, with a bit of poppy thrown in...and blue, how did he get it to be blue? Plans of splicing stems and planting more of them danced behind her eyes as she looked back up at Robbie. "Wow, thanks, Robbie!" she exclaimed, and reached out for the flower.

He jerked it back, and leaned close to her, still smiling. "Don't forget to put it right beside your bed," he said, startling her with his sudden intimacy. "It gets...lonely. You wouldn't want it to get lonely, would you?"

Stephanie blinked as Robbie again offered her the flower. After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and grasped the stem carefully. This time he let her take it. "I'll take good care of it," she promised him. "And I really am sorry to have bothered you."

Robbie gave her another smile, his upper lip twitching with the effort. "Quite all right," he said. He bowed stiffly to her in friendly farewell, and with that, whirled around to march off toward the billboard that loomed in the distance.

Stephanie giggled with released tension once he was far enough away. Robbie certainly was odd, but maybe he wasn't so bad after all. All of her friends knew that Stephanie liked flowers, but she didn't think that Robbie had ever noticed. She tucked the flower into her headband, where it wouldn't get lost.

The streetlight above her flicked on, causing Stephanie to look up in surprise. It was later than she had thought, and she was pretty sure that it was past her bedtime by now.

Stephanie looked up at Sportacus' ship, which was now hovering over the town hall. She waved hugely and shouted, "Good night, Sportacus!" With a hop and a spin, Stephanie skipped toward home, the blue flower bobbing merrily in her hair.