Fry and Leela, who were bored lounging, immediately turned their heads hearing the ultramodern door open.
"Bender!" Fry dashed to his robot friend, readying to leap into his arms. The robot sidestepped, causing Fry to collapse onto the ground face first.
"Not today, meatbag." He grouched, walking away. "I need a drink."
"G-glad to see you back, Crow." The ginger's hand staggered, pointing to the exhausted lemming. Leela handed Crow an ice-cold bottle of water, the condensation wetting his hand.
"What on earth happened to you?" The captain wondered.
"Uhhh…" Crow hesitated, taking a cautious sip, looking everywhere but where Leela was facing him. He was never the type to lie about his whereabouts to his friends, but it wasn't worth the chance of being interrogated. Bender quickly returned to Crow's side, drinking a frothing can of beer. More at ease, Crow expelled a breathy laugh, which Bender picked up as a cue for him to take the wheel.
"Long story short: I jumped off a cliff." Bender vocalized nonchalantly.
"It's okay though!" Crow hopped in, extending and contracting his arms. "He made it out in one piece."
"That doesn't explain why you look like you ran a marathon, Crow." Leela raised a brow, skeptical of her co-worker's retelling.
"I tripped and fell down the path trying to see if Bender was okay." He fibbed, self-assuredly. "You already know I'm a bit clumsy." Convinced by Crow's clever lie, Leela brushed off her suspicions.
"Just be more careful next time." Crow diligently nodded his head.
"Leela, wait—" The 21st-century man grunted, picking himself up. "Tell Crow about your idea."
"What idea?" Bender and Crow quickly asked in unison, the near-empty beer can slipping out of the machine's clutches, plummeting to the floor.
"The professor gave us the day off tomorrow, and we wanted to know if you'd like to go out for dinner and drinks. Fry hasn't figured out a place to go yet," Leela clarified, bitterly eying her colleague. "so the game plan is that we'll all meet up here at 7:30 tomorrow."
"Amy, Hermes, and Dr. Zoidberg will be there too, along with the professor," Fry added. "It'll be a full house!"
"I'd love that! Thanks for including me." Crow ecstatically accepted the young lady's courteous invitation.
"Heh." Bender cracked his metal digits mischievously. "Gives me enough time to find myself a hot date." While it wasn't out of character for Bender to be a salacious playboy, being reminded of it made Crow's heart sink, his feelings for the robot now at the forefront. Sulking, he quietly retrieved his phone from the couch cushion.
"I should get going," he hurriedly walked to the exit. "It's dark already."
"You're walking by yourself?" Fry progressed to the person second closest to the exit—Bender. The bending unit's head quickly turned, watching his friend despondently look at his cell phone. "You know, Bender and I can—" The robot roughly elbowed his human friend in the ribs. "The hell was that for?" Fry yowled, rubbing the side of his chest.
"Sorry, Fry. Didn't see you there." Bender dissimulated.
"It's fine, really. My apartment building is walking distance from here." Crow diffused, not wanting to make the situation bigger than it really was.
"Alright, then. Have a good night, Crow!" Fry cordially waved goodbye.
"Get home safely! We'll see you tomorrow!" Leela bid farewell.
While the two employees watched Crow step out of the building, Bender walked away, resentful and unhappy with himself. He took refuge in the far corners of the corporate building, downheartedly igniting his cigar with the click of his fingers. Crow's feelings were hurt, and it was nobody's fault but his own. Crow didn't have to follow him when he ran to the Palisades. He didn't have to remind him of the parachute and he certainly didn't have to put his sorry ass back together when he fell into pieces. It disturbed him to his very depths because he predicted Crow would leave him behind, as he always regarded others, including his friends, as expendable and unreliable. A dismal slipstream of cigar smoke flowed upwards through his mouth.
He wanted to escort Crow back to his apartment, not only to make sure he got there safely but to embrace him one last time. He wanted to ask Crow to stay with him, to tell him he loved him as much as a robot could ever love somebody, and most of all, he wanted—he needed— to know if he loved him, too. Sighing pensively, he returned from his brief isolation to his two conversing friends. "C'mon, Fry." He rasped, exiting Planet Express's premises with heavy steps.
"Gimme a sec," Fry told his robotic companion.
"Is it just me, or is something wrong with Bender?" Leela wondered.
"I was thinking that, too. I could've sworn he looked more beat up earlier today…" Fry placed his hand under his chin contemplatively.
"You don't think…?" Leela cut herself off. "Nah."
"What were you gonna say?"
"Well, I was going to say that maybe Crow gave him a well-deserved touch-up."
"Don't be ridiculous." The delivery boy scoffed. "He's very particular about that kinda stuff."
"Well, whoever did it, they did a better job than the professor."
While sitting on his living room couch picking at a soggy bowl of cereal, Crow heard the buzzing of his apartment's doorbell. Setting the bowl on his water-damaged coffee table, he approached the door and opened it. To his surprise, there stood Bender, his square pupils darting in every direction, one of his arms resting behind his back.
"Bender? How did you—who told you where I lived?" Crow jerked his head back and forth trying to comprehend how he got to his residence.
"Fry did. I asked him for your address." He answered straightforwardly, struggling to make eye contact with the lemming.
"...Sorry for looking like a complete mess." Crow apologized, scratching the back of his head nervously. He wore a baggy shirt and long pants with the Slurm logo patterned all over it. His hair was more frizzy on the left side of his head from sleeping on his stomach. "I woke up half an hour ago, and according to Fry you usually sleep in until two."
"Eh, Leela's looked worse than that on her bad days. You're fine." Bender reassured.
"So what brings you here so early? Are you coming to return something you stole from me in the past?" Crow jokingly interrogated.
"No, but it's something better. At least, I think it is."
"Huh?"
"Remember how yesterday I told you that 'If you pull a stunt like what happened earlier ever again, you're gonna get it?'" He recalled, nibbling his free hand uneasily.
"Uh-huh, why'd you ask?" Mustering up the courage, Bender made eye contact with his object of affection and revealed his concealed arm, which sported a bouquet of freshly cut red roses. He held them out in bated breath, waiting for Crow to accept them.
"This is for everything you've done for me, not only for yesterday but since we've been friends. Thanks for saving my ass and sticking around." Crow clasped the flowers safely in his hand, his heart rapidly pounding in his chest in elation.
"Bender, this is really thoughtful of you." He shyly moved a lock of his hair out of his blushed face, his smile progressively becoming wider and wider. "Thank you so much! I have an empty vase that I've been meaning to use, so I'll put these in there as soon as possible."
"I spent my own money on 'em, so you better like it." He winked.
"Are you kidding?" Crow laughed. "I love them!" Fully processing that Crow enjoyed his gift, Bender began to cackle alongside the lemming. Eventually simmering down, he studied the robot tenderly with shimmering eyes.
"I should probably get going now before Fry gets suspicious. Bye, Crow!" He cheerfully waltzed down the hall.
"Bender, wait!" Crow beckoned urgently. The robot instantly walked back to where he was standing previously. "I'm… looking forward to having dinner with you tonight."
"What do you know? So am I." While internally astonished, Bender's reply was as suave as it could be.
"See you later!" Crow waved his hand energetically.
"No, I'll be seeing you later!" He pointed to Crow with both of his hands, exiting the space between the door of Crow's apartment and into the hall. His back leaning against the wall, he slowly tiptoed down the corridor until he heard Crow's door slam shut. Once the coast was clear, he hollered victoriously, jumping and frolicking for joy. "I still got it!" He repeated jubilantly, skipping down the long hallway.
It's funny how situations have their own, unanticipated way of working out in the end. The story of how Crow and Bender fell in love was no different.