As the three Planet Express employees walked down the ever-dark passageway, a strange light began to shine ahead of them, reflecting their faces. Bender reached the end first and saw that it was an electronic lamp sticking into the side of the rock; illuminating the fork in the path they had come to. The left side would lead them to the elevator. Turning to the left with a small twirl and salute he continued and the other two could hear his feet clanking against the ground after he had disappeared from sight.
Leela stopped once she arrived at the fork and waited for Fry to catch her up. Giving him a reassuring smile, she was sad to see he kept the customary sad expression on, briefly attempted to look happy for her, before the look faded into oblivion once more and he turned back towards the ground.
Disheartened to what she considered one of her best friends behaviour, she tried to uncover the source of his sorrow.
"It's not like you Fry," she said quietly.
He looked up, a little confused.
"What isn't?"
"To be so glum all the time. What's wrong?"
His head drooped and he wistfully replied 'Nothing'.
"That's what I mean! Is your problem so great that you can't even share it with your best friend?" she cupped his face in her hands in an attempt to make him look at her. A few weeks ago, he would have wanted nothing more than this sort of attention from Leela, but after constant rejection, he had given up.
"I can't… I… It's complicated…," he ended lamely, trying to pull away from her grip.
"Well then, if you can't talk to me about it, then why not Bender?" A brief look crossed his face that was somewhere between longing and forlornness but it passed as quickly as it had come.
"I can't. It's something I can't share with anyone…" his voice drifted off towards the end so she had to listen carefully to register it.
"I just don't understand what could be so bad that would make you act like this! You… you're supposed to be the cheerful one, always a smile on your face and something to say!" She was beginning to get frustrated with him.
"… We should finish that delivery," he whispered and walked in the direction Bender had left, leaving Leela feeling annoyed and concerned at the same time.
"Fry…" she sighed, before following him disappear into the darkness.
The next light they saw revealed the location of the elevator they were seeking, Bender already standing next to it in mock anger.
"Will youse twos hurry it up?! Come on…" although there was a frown on his face, it softened slightly when he saw Fry's demeanour.
Saying nothing, the three of them piled into the elevator. There were no buttons on the wall so they waited for the doors to close smoothly behind them, before the elevator set off jerkily, nearly throwing Bender off his feet. Fry instinctively reached out to help his friend, but withdrew his hand when Bender righted himself, tentatively hiding it inside his pocket.
Bender, completely unaware of the recent transaction, whistled merrily to himself and waited for the ride to be over.