Avery was minding his own business and swishing a test tube around when his door slid open.
"Feline, err, Avery, I have a question for you." Antauri said hesitantly.
"Well, spit it out, I've got work to do." Avery said, not looking up from his clipboard. Antauri sighed and looked to the ground.
"How did, you know…" He started and stopped. "How did you know that you had romantic interests in Gibson?"
Avery froze, then looked up with a playful grin.
"Did you come in here and interrupt my work to tell me you're in love with my boyfriend, or did you come here to ask for love advice?" Avery was grinning down at Antauri, and the monkey felt it.
"A-Advice?" Antauri said hesitantly.
"Well, it would really depend on the person you've taken a shining to, but the common feelings Gibson and I can both vouch for are shortness of breath, tingles, desire to touch, and actively searching out their affection." Antauri stood beside and pondered what he'd been told.
"Hey guys! The circus is in town again! We have to go back!" Otto screamed down the hall. Antauri was shocked out of his thoughts and left Avery's lab with a nod, passing Gibson on his way out. The wise monkey approached Nova and Sparks.
"Good morning, are you two going to be joining us?" Antauri asked. Sparks looked at Nova, who turned back towards them.
"Huh?" She asked. She looked down the hall to Otto who was dancing down the halls laughing about the circus. "I'll come I guess."
"I'll join, I'd love to see the jungle lady again!" Sparks said. Nova grumbled and marched off. Antauri smiled at Sparks and waved, exiting the Super Robot. He ventured down the leg and out the hatch, catching up with Chiro and Otto.
"Are you ready for clowns 2 Chiro?" Otto asked cheerily. Chiro shuddered and held his stomach.
"Ever again is too soon with clowns." Chiro said.
"I'm excited to hit the food stands again. I've made sure to bring adequate currency for everything." Antauri said with a grin.
"What should we go see first?!" Otto asked excitedly, bouncing off the walls. Antauri inhaled deeply and exhaled, refocusing. They approached the circus and Antauri went straight for the cotton candy. He bought two and double stacked them. He wandered the grounds and greeted the ring master, and visited the people, but he ended up leaving once he finished his snack. The circus simply wasn't the same, even though the others still loved it.
'Oh shoot, the others. I can't ignore them after inviting them.' Antauri turned around and re-entered the fair ground. He found Sparks and Nova fairly quickly and greeted them. They were whispering something to each other and giggled when Antauri approached.
"Greetings, have you enjoyed the festivities?" Antauri asked. They giggled again and Sparks looked up.
"We've had our fun, but the real question isn't about the circus attractions." He said.
"Yeah, we overheard a little something and wanna know, who YOUR attraction is for?" Nova asked. Antauri stiffened and turned his head upwards.
"My training was very specific about not taking personal relations to that extent." Antauri said. Nova giggled again and Sparks laughed with her. "What is so funny?" Antauri demanded.
"You know how we can tell you're lying?" Sparks asked through laughs. Antauri clenched his fist.
"Your tail ALWAYS goes completely rigid!" Nova sputtered out. Antauri was gripping his hands tight now, flushed dark.
"It does not!" Antauri said out loud, consciously relaxing his tail.
"So which of us is it?" Sparks asked with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. Antauri raised an eyebrow.
"What?" He asked.
"Don't play, is it me or SPX77?" Nova asked. Antauri was further confused.
"Maybe it's Gibson or Avery?" Sparks asked.
"Or even Otto?" Nova asked. She and Sparks made eye contact and laughed.
"NAH!" They both exclaimed together. Antauri placed a hand on his forehead.
"I bet it's me." Sparks said quickly. "I don't blame him. Who wouldn't like me?"
"Oh Pa-lease. Dream on Sparky." Nova said. "I'm clearly the better option."
"Antauri!" Jinmay called out. Her and Chiro were approaching the three monkeys. The black monkey sighed out loud and smiled up at the android.
"Hello Jinmay, Chiro. Have you been enjoying the circus?" Antauri asked them.
"Oh yes, it's been so much fun!" Jimbay said with a smile.
"There have been too many clowns for my taste." Chiro said wistfully. Jimbay smiled and grabbed his hand again.
"We're going to see the jungle lady now. Wanna come?" Jinmay asked.
"Yes!" Sparks said, jumping up beside them. Nova grumbled and folded her arms, turning away.
"No, thank you." She said, emphasizing every word.
"Suit yourself." Sparks said, leaving with them. Nova turned back to Antauri with a devilish grin.
"I didn't forget about this. So come on, tell me, who is it?" She asked. Antauri looked around for a distraction but Nova wouldn't relent. She had him cornered.
"I uh, still don't know what you're talking about." Antauri tried. Nova was too smart for that though, and a lot more devious than anyone gave her credit for.
"Antauri, you seem pretty confident when preaching to Chiro about not keeping secrets. I think it's only fair to follow up on that here." Nova said completely serious. Antauri groaned and then grabbed her hand.
"Alright, but not here." He said, dragging the girl off with him. Sparks saw this right as they left the Jungle lady's tent and gasped.
"He's gonna steal my girl!" He shouted. Chiro and Jinmay looked at him confused. Sparks grunted and stormed off. Otto approached the two with Gibson and Avery.
"What's got him all worked up?" Gibson asked. Chiro shrugged and Jinmay shook her head.
"Oh well, shall we get popcorn?" Gibson asked Avery, who nodded and followed the blue monkey.
"So where's Antauri? There's a psychic and I wanna see if he's the real deal or a bunch of monkey business." Otto said.
"I don't know. He was talking to Nova the last time we saw him." Chiro said. "Maybe they went back to the super robot?"
"We should probably go back too. It's getting kind of late." Jinmay said.
"I'm going to stay for the big show and then I'll come back." Otto said, heading towards the large tent. As he was walking he tripped over Nova's tail, which was sitting around the corner.
"Ouch!" Nova shouted, jumping into the air. Antauri slid around the corner to see Otto on his rear.
"Are you both alright?" He asked, helping Otto up. Nova held her tail and squinted her eyes.
"I'm just fine." She said. "I'm going home though."
"I'm going to stay for the final show." Antauri said. "I'll return once it's finished."
"We should go now then! I wanna get good seats!" Otto said, dragging Antauri towards the line. Nova waved and skipped her way home. When she arrived she saw Sparks at the door.
"So, did that enlightened buffoon try anything?" He asked her. Nova rolled her eyes and walked back towards their room.
"As if. Besides, he doesn't like either of us." Nova said.
"What do you mean? This is two feet 80 lbs. of Prime Robotic Monkey right here!" Sparks said indignantly.
"Maybe if he were color blind." Nova said with a snicker.
"What do you mean by that?!" Sparks demanded. Nova giggled a little more and lay down in her bed.
"Just come and cuddle." She said. Sparks begrudgingly sat down beside her before she yanked him down. He curled up against her and she patted his head gently.
"I'm still mad you called me ugly." He said.
"I did not!" Nova said, exasperated.
"You said Antauri would need to be blind to like me!" Sparks said loudly. Neither had noticed Gibson enter the room.
"I said he needed to be COLOR BLIND!" Nova said. Gibson snickered and loudly opened the pod. The other two shot up and looked at him, embarrassed.
"So from what you've said, Antauri has a crush on one of us. Since I've already spoken with Avery, and from what Nova just said, the logical conclusion is-"
"What's up guys?" Otto asked, walking towards the other three. Gibson shut his mouth and Sparks' dropped open.
"No, fricken, way." Sparks said. Nova elbowed him and stood up.
"Nothing, how was the show?" She asked, trying to change the subject quickly.
"Oh my gosh! It was so cool! There was this part where the trapeze artists were like WHOOOoOOooooSH! And then the lions did this thing that was like Rrghhnananana, and then-" While Otto continued to explain to Nova the various sounds they made, Gibson leaned over to Sparks.
"I'll bet you a full refresh of your fist fighter's systems that Otto never finds out." Gibson said with a twinkle to his eye.
"I'll take that. If he doesn't I'll clean your lab after experiments for a month." Sparks said.
"Deal." And they shook hands. Sparks didn't hesitate 0.5 seconds.
"HEY OTTO!" He shouted. Suddenly a fuzzy paw clapped over Sparks' mouth and Gibson's shoulder, and yanked them behind the door.
"Do NOT!" Avery said loudly. Gibson and Sparks looked on in dead silence. Avery exhaled and pulled his hand off of Sparks' mouth.
"But Avery," Gibson whined. Avery rolled his eyes.
"Oh forget it. I did my good deed of the day." Avery said, walking away. "If you guys want to ruin what could be Antauri's only chance at normalcy go for it."
Sparks turned to Gibson once the blue monkey's boyfriend was out of earshot.
"So the bet's still on right?" He asked. Gibson chuckled devilishly.
"Oh it's on, but we need to change the stakes." Gibson said, ushering Sparks to his lab.
"So what's changing?" Sparks asked once the door was solidly shut.
"We need to change it all. This has to be more, concealed than we planned." Gibson said, pacing against the chalk board.
"So should we speak only in hushed whispers under the cover of night?" Sparks asked sarcastically.
"No no, we mostly have to be aw-Wait, you're making fun of me, aren't you?" He asked.
"Just a little. Come on Gibson, these are our friends, not political espionage. We don't have to keep this under cloak and dagger." Sparks said. Gibson sighed and put his forehead to his hand.
"I get the feeling that Antauri won't take kindly to us betting on his love life. Also, it involves Otto so he can't find out either, or the bet is null." Gibson explained. "Not to mention what Nova and Avery would do to us if they found out."
Sparks shuddered and held his arms.
"Yeah, it would be a bad scene." Sparks said.
"Avery does not waste words, I'd rather not find out what he's capable of when provoked." Gibson said. Sparks looked out the door to make sure nobody was watching or listening.
"Alright, what are the official stakes?" He said quickly and hushed.
"If Otto is told about Antauri's feelings, you'll clean my lab after experiments for a month. If he figures it out, I'll do a full reboot and update of your fist fighter WITH upgrades." Gibson said. Sparks smiled and leaned back with a shit eating grin on his face.
"I like that. I'll collect upon completion, so what are the rules?" He asked.
"Neither of us can tell Otto ourselves, we can't tell someone else to tell him, we can't influence Antauri. We do not speak of this bet until fruition." Gibson said back quickly. Sparks checked the hall again and then shook Gibson's hand.
"Deal."