Fry wasn't good enough, so he gave up. He gave up on pursuing Leela. He gave up on going to work. He gave up on trying to peel himself off the couch. He gave up on everything. Well, everything that wasn't lounging around, drinking copious amounts of beer and watching marathons of All My Circuits.
"Come on, buddy," Bender tried, his tone light yet sincere. "If you don't go to work, then Leela'll make me work, and you know that's not how I roll."
"You don't have to go to work either." Fry responded vacantly, his droopy eyes fixed on Calculon as he paced across the screen. His stubble-covered face was illuminated by the TV, as the room had been shielded from natural light by the drawn curtains. He took a sip from his beer can.
"Of course I do." Bender insisted. "You can't have Planet Express without Bender. I'm irreplaceable." He gestured to himself pompously.
"Well, see you later then." Fry mumbled.
Bender turned to the door but hesitated, turning his head to look at Fry. He stood frozen for a few moments, but ultimately made his way out of the door.
Although he left Fry at the apartment, Fry never left Bender's mind.
He hated the daily walk to work without Fry. It was too quiet, even with the noise of the bustling streets of New New York. Hell, he even missed just looking at Fry. Sure, Fry wasn't made of circuits and mechanical components, but he sure was fine for someone made of flesh, bones and blood.
As he entered the Planet Express building, there was no surprise when Bender (once again) strolled through the door without his red-headed companion at his side.
"Still not got him off the couch, huh?" Amy questioned sadly as she idly filed her nails.
Bender took a seat at the table, putting up his feet with two metallic thuds.
"I tried this morning," Bender shrugged nonchalantly. "Just like how I tried yesterday morning, and the morning before that and- Well, you get the point."
Amy was quiet, an expression of sombre consideration on her face. The robot's casual demeanour failed to fool her, and her concern grew for not only Fry but him too.
"Look, Bender," Amy said hesitantly. "Do you really think it's worth trying anymore?"
Bender looked at Amy and folded his arms.
"Of course it is!" Bender insisted. "And, if anyone can get that meatbag to budge, it's me. I'll get him back on his feet in no time."
"Fry's been like this for almost a month," Amy stated. "And, you're so caught up in worrying about him and trying to make him okay again. It's clearly not helped him, and it's not been good for you."
She sighed.
"I just think maybe you shouldn't make yourself responsible for helping Fry get better, y'know? You're just gonna blame yourself when nothing happens."
Bender was silent for a moment, before letting out an indignant scoff.
"I so can help Fry!" Bender exclaimed. He stood up and stormed off to another part of the building, muttering to himself as he went.
As if on cue, Leela strode into the room. She seated herself beside Amy. Meanwhile, Professor Farnsworth shuffled to the table at his own pace.
"Good news, every-"
He peered around and adjusted his glasses.
"I could have sworn I just heard Bender's obnoxious racket." the Professor insisted. "Oh, dear. I must not have taken my anti-deliriousness pills again."
Amy grinned sheepishly.
"No; he was really here a second ago. But, he, uh, kinda left," she explained. "I'm sure he'll be back soon!"
She was right; Bender did come back. However, he had to be dragged by Hermes, Scruffy and Zoidberg, the latter of whom he berated to the point of said Decapoidan uncontrollably wailing and scuttling off.
Bender was of no use on the delivery. The whole time, he was slumped in his seat, arms folded like a petulant child as he continued to irritably mutter to himself. He refused to speak to Amy and mostly grumbled when Leela asked him to do anything (she usually gave up and did it herself). This was much to the annoyance of his captain, who also had to deal with having Amy as Fry's replacement. In all fairness, she was doing a decent job at replacing Fry, but that was because she was just as useless a crewmate as him. Leela may as well have completed the mission without either of them.
Of course, Amy's words hadn't escaped Bender's thoughts.
I just think maybe you shouldn't make yourself responsible for helping Fry get better, y'know? You're just gonna blame yourself when nothing happens.
Who was she to say he couldn't help his best friend?
The three of them (along with the ship) returned to Earth surprisingly unscathed.
Amy and Leela talked amongst themselves as they stepped out of the ship, and Bender trudged behind them.
He didn't bother hanging around the Planet Express building. Instead, he made his way home, kicking every rock and discarded beer can in his path.
There had been no trace of change in the apartment when Bender arrived home, aside from the fact that the pile of beer cans had expanded and Fry's shirt had an additional grease stain on it.
It was the same but worse.
"Hey, buddy." Bender greeted softly, closing the door behind him.
"Hey." Fry mumbled, his voice barely audible over Calculon's.
"Anything your old pal Bender can do for you?" Bender offered.
"No." Fry replied monotonously.
Bender stood silently, his eyes fixed on Fry. Fry didn't look back at him.
"I guess not, huh?" Bender muttered to himself.
Bender sighed and took a seat beside Fry on the couch.
As Bender's weight on the couch cushion shifted Fry a bit, something in Fry's eyes flickered. It was a spark so dim that Bender didn't even notice it.
Bender almost jumped when Fry rested his head on his shoulder. It probably would have felt nicer if Fry hadn't looked so dishevelled and lifeless.
Neither of them said another word. They just sat there watching TV together, a broken man and a robot who couldn't put the pieces back together.
A/N: I decided to make this to be both my AO3 debut and my FFN debut. It's based on my favourite song, Sink to the Bottom, which I heard in How I Met Your Mother.
If you're interested in seeing more of my writing, check out my work on here and/or my AO3 (bowlingforsoph), where I post not only my one-shots but my multichapter fics too. I'm only writing one of the latter at the minute, but there will definitely be more to come.