#hell nah they covered my boy in glitter glue

[cherrycro]

Stick he leggy out real far

[r0tting-rat]

DCA PROMPTOBER 2024

I KNOW I'M STILL LATE I'M STRUGGLING TO CATCH UP I'M SORRY

Day 2 - Paper Pals

Pairing: Sun x Gender Neutral Reader, romantic Warnings: None Words: 3000+ Summary: While making paper pals with Sun, you begin a game you quickly regret starting.

-Shit, this thing is so ugly,- you grinned, looking down at the paper pal you were working on. You were sitting at one of the colorful plastic tables in the arts & craft area of the daycare, with your fingers sticky with glue and your arms covered in doodles made by the kids. Some of those looked more like scribbles than actual drawings, but when one of the little boys pointed at his masterpiece and said; “-Cow!-” you had no choice but to laugh and say; “-Oh, I love your cow, David, it’s so cute!-”

The only problem was that the “cow” in question was green, it had three… eyes?—you didn’t even know if those were eyes, since you couldn’t understand which was the face and which was the butt—and more legs than you could count. Could it be that the child actually wanted to draw a centipede but didn’t remember its name? Maybe, but unlike the animatronic sitting right beside you, you weren’t an art critic.

-It’s not ugly!- Sun protested, looking at your paper pal, -I think it’s lovely.-

-You also said David’s “cow” was lovely, but that thing looks more like snot,- you laughed, and Sun gave you a dramatic gasp.

-Are you calling me a liar?!- he said, placing a hand over his chest like an old lady clutching her pearls. Grinning even more, you leaned a little closer to the robot. 

-Hell, yes I am.- Your whisper caused Sun’s rays to spin in fake outrage. Luckily for you all the kids were playing in the jungle gyms in the play area, so Sun was allowing you to swear as much as you wanted with no repercussions. Of course, he still twitched and flinched every now and then.

You and Sun had decided to stay there, sitting at the tables, to finish the project of the day which you didn’t have time to work on during the arts & craft hour. Paper Pals! Loyal, cheerful, flat and… horribly ugly little guys which Sun adored with his whole mechanic heart. Well, not all paper pals were ugly, yours surely was, maybe because you couldn’t decide on the theme. You had drawn blue stars on the face, like they were freckles, but changed your mind half-way and tried to fix it by making the entire face blue. The only problem? The blue you were first using had run out, so you had to choose another blue to finish the face, which was of a lighter shade than the previous. 

To add to the list, the silver glitter glue had been spilled the day before and the next batch was not going to come until Monday, so you had no silver glitter glue to make your pal prettier. 

-If you don’t like your paper pal, how about you make another?- asked Sun, looking at you curiously. You shook your head, beginning to draw a brown button-up on your little pal, like those shades of brown and blue didn’t look absolutely hideous together. 

-Nah, he’s ugly, but I like him.- You were so focused on your little guy that you didn’t even look up as you spoke, -He’s like, my ugly son.-

Next to you, Sun wheezed.

-Y-Your ugly son?- he asked, half between a laugh and a question. 

-Yeah! His name is Robert, I love him and I will treasure him forever, even if he’s ugly,- you nodded, -I don’t mind ugly things.-

Something you could pride yourself upon was, in fact, that look didn’t matter to you. Be it animals, people, drawings or paper pals, you didn’t care if they were “ugly”. In fact, you had decided you were going to make your paper pal the ugliest one in the existence of the Mega Pizzaplex, and you were going to love him to death. David’s cow was also coming with you. Was it ugly? Damn right it was. Were you about to do anything you could to let it stay on your skin as long as possible? Fuck yes. 

You grabbed a mouth for your paper pal, one of those with full and soft lips, then colored it so it had bright green lipstick. You glued it on Robert, satisfied, before noticing you had glued it on wrong and that it was slightly tilted to the side. Okay, that… you hadn’t done that on purpose, but oh well. 

-Is that why you like us so much?- Sun asked, and your ears immediately picked on the slight nervousness in his voice. You turned around just to see him working on his own paper pal. 

-What do you mean?- you asked, unsure. 

-You said you don’t mind ugly things,- Sun explained, gluing a leg to his pal, -So I’m wondering if that's why you don’t mind us.-

You stopped working on your project just to turn completely around on the little chair, until you were directly facing the animatronic. Noticing your stance, Sun also stopped working, looking at you with a surprised expression.

-Has something happened?- he asked, like he didn’t just call himself ugly.

-No, just…- you looked at him, like, looked at Sun, up close. You even stood up so you could have a better angle. -Just checking something.-

Wide-eyed, Sun stared at you as you inspected his skin, his features and clothes. He followed your movements as you hummed to yourself, mumbled as you touched the silicone of his hands and clicked your tongue, deep in thought. 

-Mhm, yes, I’m afraid it’s exactly what I suspected,- you spoke out loud after a few seconds. Sun smiled, perplexed. 

-What’s your verdict, doc?- he asked, amused. Satisfied, you sat back down. 

-You’re stunning.- Was your reply. As soon as those words left your mouth, Sun’s eyes widened even more and his fans turned on, working to keep his internals cool. The robot looked at you for a few seconds, mouth wide open, baffled by your response. He had expected so many things, but not… not this one! 

-Y-You don’t mean that…- he whined, but immediately regretted saying those words, because they betrayed how flustered he truly was. Sun suddenly felt the urge to hide his face behind his paper pal. 

-Are you calling me a liar?!- you gasped, echoing the same words he had spoken just a few minutes before. You even copied the way he had clutched his chest.

-Yes!- Sun replied with another whine, -Look at me, I’m…-

-Beautiful? Pretty? Perfectly detailed, amazingly shaped?- you suggested, looking at the jester with a grin and an amused look in your eyes. Sun’s fans whirred louder, reminding you of the sound of your old pc when you tried to run The Sims 4 on it, along with all the mods you had downloaded. Sun was overheating, and if the circumstances had been different you would have suggested he take off his blouse to let his fans do their job, but you were afraid that would have actually caused him to implode before anything could be done. 

Sun’s fingers were twitching and he was keeping his eyes closed, like not seeing your smug expression would have helped with cooling off. 

-I’m… f-full of those craters, and… and my pain is chipping off,- he tried to argue, like you weren’t ready to prove him wrong. 

-Those craters are absolutely adorable,- you pointed at the little dots on his face, which reminded you of freckles, -They make your smile stand out. But you’re right on the last part, we should get you re-painted, so you can glow even more than you do now!-

Your smile widened when Sun grabbed his rays and hid his face on his knees, groaning.

-S-S-Stop!- his voicebox was glitching, adding a static-y layer to his voice which made him sound even more desperate than he actually was. 

-You’re like the actual sun, Sunny,- you leaned closer, grinning viciously.

-Impossible to look at?- he sniffled, still refusing to look up.

-No, a true hottie.-

☆

You immediately had to call maintenance to get them to bring Sun down to Parts & Service. After all, you had to look after the kids at the daycare, so you couldn’t leave, as much as you wished to. Apparently you had gone too far with your teasing, causing Sun to enter a reboot and drop unconscious on the table where you and him had been doing arts & craft. You had worried a lot when it first happened, but as soon as you checked that everything was alright you breathed a sigh of relief and began to laugh. Shit, you didn’t know that could happen. Oh well. 

The security guard on duty explained to you how to open up Sun’s chest cavity from the outside, giving his internal components the opportunity to cool off, then told you what to do in case Sun woke back up without a mechanic nearby. You listened carefully, just in case something like that happened again, but when the guard asked you the reason why Sun had overheated you struggled to stifle a laugh. 

-I, uhm… I complimented his… paper pal.- Yeah, sure, that could do. 

Not gonna lie, guilt was beginning to creep up on you. Maybe you should have been more careful, and not just because overheating could cause problems to Sun’s internal wiring, but also because there was a possibility you were overstepping his boundaries. Just the thought of making your friend uncomfortable was painful to you, so you decided you were going to apologize as soon as you saw him. 

Fortunately, not too much time passed before Sun was brought back up from Parts & Service, maybe just an hour. The mechanic told you that he was in tip-top shape and that there was nothing to worry about, but as soon as he left Sun turned his back to you and began to pout like a child. 

-Sunnyyy,- you called, prolonging the y as much as you could. The kids were playing Simon Says and by your prediction you still had a few minutes before any of them decided to randomly bite someone else or take off their pants, so you were fine. -Sunny boy?-

-Don’t call me that!- replied Sun with a huff, -You don’t want to make me overheat again, do you?!-

You smiled, but then apologized, gently asking your friend to turn around. 

-Sorry for what i said,- you began once he was finally looking your way, -It won’t happen again. I hope I didn’t say anything inappropriate and made you uncomfortable, that was not my intention.-

Sun was still pouting, and his eyes switched constantly between you, the floor and the ceiling, like he didn’t know where to look. 

-You won’t do it again?- he asked, and you nodded. 

-I won’t.-

-Ever, ever, ever again?- Sun repeated, like he wanted to make sure. 

-I promise I will never tease you again,- you swore, holding one of your hands over your heart and the other in the air. 

-...Oh.- 

Your brows furrowed. Sun seemed… disappointed? Wait, did he…? A grin opened on your face.

-...Unless,- you began to say, and the animatronic looked at you with hopeful eyes, -Unless you wanted me to tease you.-

Your smile was as large as your face, opening from ear to ear in an unsettling manner.

-Is this what you’re after? Praises? If that’s so, I don’t mind, I’ll tell you how adorable you are all day long.- Your voice ran smooth, dripping with honey, and it had the desired effect when you noticed Sun shuddering. He stared at you in disbelief, like he just realized that you meant every word you said, and his rays spun around his head. Something told you that, if he could have blushed, his entire face would have been red.

-T-This is a game we both can play, Friend!- Sun replied, sounding like he was reprimanding you. The stern expression on his face made you feel like that, at least.

-Then play with me, Sunny boy.-

You and Sun spent the following days teasing each other, fake-bantering like a couple of idiots, but quickly you realized that your robotic friend didn't lie to you when he claimed to be way better at this new game than you had first predicted.

You spent your free time at home thinking about more ways to get him to fluster, and he did the same after he was done cleaning the daycare after a long day. You whispered praises when there were no kids nearby, you dropped random compliments during normal conversations, but more often than not you and Sun ended up actually flirting with each other, and hard.

-You look absolutely splendid today, Sun. Have you polished your rays?-

-Friend, today you smell absolutely delicious, is it a new shampoo?-

-What a flatterer! You truly have a way with words, Sunny.-

-Oh, shame I can’t eat, you would have made a great snack, Friend.-

That particular last sentence made you choke on your water when you first heard it. Shit, you couldn’t let Sun see how flustered he could get you! It was almost like, the more you complimented him, the bolder he got, and it was beginning to have quite the effect on you. Multiple times during the day you had to slip in the bathrooms just to splash cold water on your face, but each time you did Sun teased you to no end. Your little game had long turned into a war which you had no intention to lose, but unfortunately for you, one day the worst thing happened.

-Friend?- Sun called you after finishing a game of tag with the kids, -We ran out of glitter glue, will you come with me to grab some?- 

His tone was completely innocent, but still you refused to let yourself be fooled. The last time you went with him in the supplies closet he had locked the door with you inside until you agreed with him that you were terribly handsome.

-I don’t know,- you said, looking at him suspiciously, -Can I trust you?-

Sun nodded, eagerly. 

-Of course you can! I’m not in the mood for playing today, I will leave you alone,- he promised, looking like a happy dog with that cheerful expression. You looked at the robot up and down, unsure, but eventually you decided he looked honest enough. You sighed and nodded, following the jester in his cheerful steps across the daycare, but not before asking the security guard on duty to keep an eye on the kids while you were away.

You and him headed for the supplies closet then went past it, much to your surprise. All the while, Sun didn’t stop skipping and humming the daycare tune.

-Wait, shouldn’t we…?- you began to ask, turning to look at the closet door.

-No, no, Friend! The glitter glue is up in my room,- Sun explained, -Follow me.-

Doubtful, you still tagged along, following the animatronic past a secret passage, a set of stairs and eventually the door to his room. You stopped before entering, hesitating. You had never seen Sun’s room, and even if it only made sense for them to have a private space all for themselves you had never really thought about it. You didn’t know what to expect, but even if you did expect something, what met your eyes was completely different from anything you could have come up with. The little space was messy, covered in kids drawings, old plushies and other stuff you were sure the animatronic wasn’t supposed to have up there. Random boxes were stacked around and used as tables or something of the sort, although many of them had a thin layer of dust covering them, like Sun never bothered to move them around or even just tidy the place a little. The robot held a hand on your shoulders and turned you the other way when you tried to look at a mass of metallic arms and… staff bot heads? Did you see that right? When you asked more about it, he avoided the question.

The jester asked you to grab a specific box on the side of the door, then went to grab two more himself. You cracked it open, seeing many packages of glitter glue stacked inside, while your friend began to tell you about something that happened with one of the kids that morning. Apparently Jimmy had tried to eat a red crayon, but after just a few seconds something caught your eye and you stopped listening. Hanging from one of the walls were some paper pals, all grouped together like they were friends holding hands, and between them you recognized some of the pals made by the kids a few days prior. They were messy, the colors had no harmony and many kids had glued eyes and mouths upside down, but they were the loveliest paper pals you had ever seen. What caught your eye however was your paper pal, in all of his blue, brown and green glory, kept on the wall next to something that looked like a makeshift bed made with various pillows and blankets. You were left speechless, unable to form a word, wondering how your paper pal had managed to grow legs and crawl all the way into Sun’s room.

-Ah, you saw Robert,- Sun chimed in. He was exactly behind you, -I hope you don’t mind I took him, I just thought he could… be friends with my paper pal.-

Next to Robert, in fact, was another paper pal. Its blouse was the same color of your uniform, the eyes were the same shade of yours and the expression drawn on it—a mischievous smirk—felt oddly familiar.

-Is that… me?- you asked, pointing at Sun’s paper pal. The animatronic laughed.

-Oh, no, silly. They are my new friend,- he replied, smug, -Aren’t they just lovely?-

You swallowed, then nodded.

-What’s their name?- you asked after a few seconds of silence. As you expected, your own name fell from Sun’s silicone lips. -I see.-

The hands of the two paper pals, yours and Sunny’s, were glued together, and they stood very close to one another, like they were the best of friends. You suddenly felt Sun’s presence a lot more than before, you could hear the little mechanisms moving inside his metallic body, you could hear the soft whirring of his cooling system, you could feel his eyes on the back of your head and his huge frame looming over you. 

-I’m happy to see Robert has made a friend,- you commented with a smile. 

-Agree. They are the best friend one could ask for.- 

As soon as those words left Sun, you immediately covered your reddening face with your hands, and in that exact moment you knew that you had lost the game. Shit, shit, shit. You had lost, and the blush covering your face, ears and neck was so deep you could feel your skin burning under your hands. All because of some paper pals.