***Author’s note: This was intended to be a funny story with some sappy bits thrown in. Upon completion, I discovered it’s the exact opposite. Still, I like it and that’s really all that counts. Luckily for you, Bob and Dot aren’t too hard to characterize when it comes to romance.
***Disclaimer: I do not own ReBoot. Mainframe Entertainment Inc. does. If I owned ReBoot, me and Bob would be in a nice canopy bed with soft music playing. Yeah. Ahem.
***Author’s note 2: I’m rebelling. This story uses regular measurement for everything. 1 hour equals 1 hour. No military time or anything else for clock purposes.
So without further ado, here’s the fic.
Bob and Dot sat together under a tree in Floating Point. They didn’t seem to notice that the area was still wet from the day’s rain and that their clothing was soaked at the rear. People who have just gotten engaged are often like that.
It was almost a scene from the movies. Dot’s head was leaned up against Bob’s shoulder. The two watched the dark sky above them. The silence was only broken by the occasional “hic” from Bob.
Dot quietly twisted the silver band around her finger. “Hey Bob.” Dot lifted her face from Bob’s shoulder.
“Hey what?”
“What was your first kiss like?”
Bob laughed. “Embarrassing.”
“How?”
“It’s *hic* nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“No way.”
“If we’re going to be married we have to be honest.”
That got Bob. “I’ll tell me about mine if you tell me about your first kiss.”
Dot hesitated at that. Then, curiosity won out. “Deal.”
“Well. Her name was Darla. She was a really sweet *hic* girl. At the time we were both cadets at the academy. We had gone out to a movie and then went back to my dorm. I was glad, ‘cause my roommate was out. We were sitting on my bed talking and we leaned closer. Our lips meet.” Bob sighed.
“Go on.” Dot urged him. She thought it was sweet so far.
“Our braces locked. She screamed.” Bob hung his head. Turbo had to come in and pry our braces apart. My orthodontist was mad at me for weeks. I broke like five *hic* brackets.”
Dot gaped. Her lower jaw worked and before she could help herself she was flat out on her back. She laughed her heart out before seeing Bob’s hurt look.
“Ahem. Brutal.” She managed to say. Then, “I’m sorry Bob, I shouldn’t have - ”
“I bet your first kiss was perfect.” Bob muttered. He had totally ignored Dot’s attempted apology.
“Actually, mine was pretty bad itself.” It was Dot’s turn to sigh. She picked at the hem of her navy pantsuit.
“What? Did you have like, nacho breath?” Bob looked up hopefully.
“No way. I’d taken the precaution of bringing gum.”
“Figures.”
“I have onion breath right now, if that makes you feel better.” Dot opened her mouth to show him but Bob shrank back.
“No, no. That’s fine. I’ll take your *hic* word for it. Still, what made your first kiss bad?”
“Well, it was the gum that destroyed me.” She began, “I was in the Twin City with a very sweet and cute guy. I had a big crush on him for ages and he finally noticed I was alive. It was at a jetball game. I knew I had pizza breath so I popped in a piece of gum.”
“And?”
“He leaned in to kiss me and...” Dot winced. “HE SWALLOWED MY GUM.”
“Dude.” Bob scratched his head. “Was he okay?”
Dot buried her head in her hands. “No. I totally freaked out. He had to be rushed to a diagnostic program. It turns out it was lodged in his windpipe. He couldn’t breathe.”
Dot hardly showed an objection when it was Bob’s turn to laugh.. “I guess we both had a pretty bad experience.”
“On a lighter note,” Dot started, desperate to change the topic, “Your hiccups are gone. And it was true. Bob’s sentences were no longer interrupted by the annoying “hic”.
“You’re right!” Bob grinned. “See? Your story cured me.”
“Well I doubt that but it’s sweet of you to say.” Dot lifted her head. “But /our/ first kiss was great.”
“Yeah. We even have a picture.”
“There wasn’t any braces to get in the way.”
“Or gum.” The blue sprite added.
“Exactly.”
But Bob wasn’t done. “You know what else?”
“No, what?”
“I don’t think it would’ve mattered.”
“No it wouldn’t have.” Dot smiled. “Remember our first date?”
At the mention of this the two laughed in remembrance. “I thought it was kind of cute actually...” Dot giggled.
~~~
“ ‘Frost pink continues to make an appearance this season in a majority of systems.’ ” AndrAIa read from an article in her issue of “Sprite People”. Atop her perch of a pile of pillows, she surveyed Dot’s closet.
“Me in frost pink? I don’t think so.”
“But it looks fine on the model here and she has your color eyes.” The game sprite pointed out.
Dot came over and examined the picture dubiously. “Andy, that model is light blue. Of /course/ she looks good in frost pink. And besides,” Dot went on, “She doesn’t look very old. In fact, I think Enzo has a picture of that very same model in his room.”
AndrAIa rolled her eyes. “I guess you’re right.” she conceded. “Still, you have to have /something/ to wear. What happened to that silver pantsuit?”
“Dry cleaner accident.”
“Ah.” AndrAIa nodded sympathetically. “How about that green skirt?” The sprite pointed to a garment that was shunned to the corner of Dot’s very orderly closet.”
“Ick. It’ll look horrendous.”
“That’s such a strong word. Why’d you buy it?”
“I didn’t. It was a gift.”
“Okay.” The near-sister drummed her fingers against her cheek thoughtfully. “The gray dress you bought for Phong’s birthday party?”
“Either it’s shrunk or I’ve grown since then. I’m hoping for the latter.”
“It would’ve been a little too dressy anyways.” AndrAIa decided. She hopped up and trotted over to where Dot was standing. Together, the two glared at the closet’s contents. They’d been trying to pick out an outfit for Dot’s date for the last hour. Although you’d never know by the progress they’d made.
After only another moments inspection, the younger woman clapped her hands happily. “Found it!”
***
Ten minutes later Dot was dressed in a jean skirt that reached her ankles. Her top was a lavender camisole with a matching cardigan. The sleeves were only three quarters length and they showed off Dot’s wrists. Simple black flats completed the outfit.
“Perfecto.” AndrAIa said happily. “Isn’t that right Enzo?”
Enzo, or Enzo minor to be more precise, regarded Dot solemnly. “It looks a little tight.”
“I told you! I look fat!” Dot’s voice was shrill as AndrAIa attempted to swat the little sprite.
“Ha! No Binome Bunch for you.” AndrAIa half-growled. The two watched the child run off to his room.
Enzo’s hide was saved by the doorbell. It was obviously Bob. One could decide that by the characteristic repetition of ringing the doorbell. It was followed by a beat of knocks in a trademark pattern.
Dot started for the door but was cut off. AndrAIa deftly brushed a bang out of Dot’s eyes and adjusted her silver hoop earrings. She then pushed Dot into a chair and rushed to open the door. Bob stood there, with his fist poised over the door, preparing for yet another series of knocks. Dot peeped over the back of the overstuffed chair at Bob.
“Uh...is Dot ready?” Bob blushed and ran his finger through his hair, which was still damp from a fresh shower. He glanced around the room expectantly. When his eye met Dot’s he offered an embarrassed smile.
“Hi Bob.” Dot got up and walked over to the guardian carefully. “You uh, ready to roll?” Bob was dressed in a simple sports coat and slacks. Dot winced at Bob’s color coordination. She’d have to fix that.
“Yes.” Was all she said for now. She turned to AndrAIa. “There’s meatloaf in the fridge. You can help yourself to whatever you can scrounge up.”
The friend turned baby-sitter saluted Dot and pushed the two out of the door. “Have fun you two.” As the door slammed shut she was left with a starry glaze over her eyes. “Their first date. Wish Phong had went along with his camera.”
***
“So.”
“So.” Dot agreed.
“Look, I’m really sorry about the car. I-”
“No. It’s fine. I mean why drive when you can walk?”
“Right. I mean, it’s not /that/ far to the restaurant.” He turned to look at Dot, who was trying desperately not to limp. “You okay?”
“Yes. It’s just a blister.” Dot smiled. Never, EVER go without socks in these shoes again, she added mentally. In fact, when I get home I should burn them!
“Well, is there something I can do?”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
The guardian looked at Dot doubtfully. He stopped his pace and Dot gratefully followed suit. “I have an idea.”
“What?”
“Piggy-back ride.”
Dot stared. “Are you serious?”
“Sure.” Bob shrugged his shoulders. “Climb on.”
It didn’t take the blister-footed sprite long to make her decision. She very carefully climbed up Bob’s back and wrapped her arms around her ride’s neck.
“Who says chivalry is dead?” Bob demanded as he carried the sprite off.
“It’s alive and kicking.” Dot said with a smile.
***
The two had made an interesting procession. Bob gave his date a piggy-back ride the full twenty blocks to their destination. A few binomes actually stopped their daily routines to watch them pass. A small amount of residents passed over large amounts of money to others who had smug looks on their faces.
Although the evening had started off on a bad foot, it was looking up. The couple arrived at the restaurant in good time. They were seated without any mishaps and looked over their menus quite contentedly.
“I’ll probably have the baked potato.” Dot said decisively. “With bacon bits and cheese on top of it of course.” She added.
“I didn’t know you liked potatoes.” Bob was surprised to learn this.
“Sure. The skins are good for you.” Dot set her menu down. “What are you having?”
“Just the plain old turkey breast. With an extra order of biscuits.” Bob grinned. “I like to mash everything together with my spoon and then cover it in gravy.”
“I’ll have to try that.” Dot said, hiding her face with her menu.
“Yeah. It’s real good.”
As the two were discussing, an incredibly chipper looking sprite trotted over. “Hi! My name is Jesse, it’s my first day, and I’ll be your server.”
While Dot fought back a laugh, Bob leaned over to the girl. She couldn’t have been much older than nineteen.
“So Jesse. Are you sure this is the smoke-free section of this restaurant?”
“Positively positive!”
“There’s not a single pack of cigarettes within twenty feet of this zone?”
“Uh...”
“What would you do if the food you served to us had a long, five foot ten, purple lock of curly hair in it? Is there a procedure for that?”
“Uh...”
“What about spills. Are you fully prepared for radioactive chemicals to say, spill out of my pockets? Is that in the manual they gave you?”
“Manual?”
Bob gasped and leaned forward. Then, in a stage whisper, “You mean you didn’t get the manual?”
“No.” The quickly paling waitress barely squeaked out her words.
Bob smiled and patted her shoulder. “You’re a good kid. Now, my date would like a baked potato.”
No one but Bob and Dot saw the girl faint.
"You are incorrigible, you know that?"
"Incor-what?" Bob scratched his head.
"Never mind." Dot grinned.
***
“Mmm. Delicious and nutritious, it tastes just like chicken.”
“But it’s turkey.” Dot pointed this out over a mouthful of baked potato.
“Same difference.”
Dot shot a glance at Bob’s dish. Just like Bob had described, he mashed all the pieces of his meal together. It certainly made for an interesting looking creation. Bob seemed to be enjoying it however, so Dot said nothing.
“Want a taste?” Dot looked at Bob to see that he was offering a forkful of the goopy turkey breast. “It tastes better than it looks.” Bob added hurriedly. He had seen the look of half-horror on Dot’s face. He wondered if he had made a date boo-boo.
The sprite on the other side of the fork considered her options. Bob obviously was trying to be nice, and it wasn’t like it was pickles and soy milk. “Sure.” She said carefully. Bob passed her the fork and she tried the food on it.
Bob grinned. “Like it?”
Dot chewed carefully. After swallowing she returned the grin. “That’s pretty good Bob.” She spooned up some of her potatoes and made her own offering. “Want a try of this?”
Bob took Dot’s spoon and noticed that Dot had taken care to have lots of cheese and bacon on it. Before taking a bite, he reached over to the squirt bottle of mustard. Dot watched with mixed fascination and disgust as he slathered the small piece of potato with the yellow condiment.
“Uh Bob? Would you like some potato to go with that mustard.” Bob just smiled at the joke and ate his piece. He returned the spoon to Dot
“Yum.” The guardian gave a thumbs up. He then returned to his meal. Dot looked at her date carefully, then did the same.
***
Exactly five thousand, one hundred, twenty-seven bites of food later, Bob and Dot walked carefully out of the dark restaurant.
“Anything you want to do?” Bob asked, not really wanting the date to end.
“Let’s just sit by the fountain.” Dot nodded towards the fountain that was only a little ways off.
“Did you need another ride there?” Bob asked, only half-joking.
Dot smiled and shook her head. She took her shoes off and held them by their laces. “This is so much more convinent.”
As the couple made their way to the fountain they were stopped. A zero binome with a harmonica winked at the two and started playing and signing,
“Tomdachi no toki ni wa ki ni sezu
Nanigenaku hanashite ita kedo
Anata dake ni naru shungan ga atta no”
Bob whispered worriedly in Dot’s ear. “/What/ is she singing?”
“I haven’t the slightest clue.”
Bob gently guided Dot by the elbow, in an attempt to get away. The binome simply side-stepped back in front of them and continued her performance. The two actually found themselves enjoying the song. The binome /did/ have a nice voice.
“Ashita wa totemo ii koto ga
Okorisou na ki ga suru wa
Koi suru to nanika ga kawaru ne.”
“It’s kinda pretty, I wonder what it means.” Dot reached for Bob’s hand cautiously. Bob nervously squeezed the slender hand, but not before wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Me wo tojite tashi kamete
Dakishimeta toki meki sono mama
Kono omoi tsutaetai.”
The performer dropped the harmonica and saw that her audience was now holding hands. With a satisfied smile she took a small bow and ambled off. She paused, only to call over her shoulder, “A love song always makes the shy hold hands.” With another wink, she was on her way.
“Somehow, I have the feeling that was planned.” Bob said quietly.
“Yeah. What do you think she was singing?”
The guardian could only shake his head. “Nonsense?”
“Hmm.” Dot shot a glance at their intertwined fingers. Bob followed her gaze. With an embarrassed blush on both sides, they dropped their hands and hurried over to the fountain. Dot didn’t even notice that she stubbed her toe.
***
It was late now, and Dot looked at her watch. It read eleven o’clock, and the sprite was disappointed that the time had passed so fast.
The fountain was perhaps, the best part of Mainframe at night, Dot decided. The lights under the water allowed you to see the hundreds of coins little binomes had thrown in. Dot swing her body around so she could kick some of the coins around the shallow pool of water. With a grin, she splashed Bob, just getting the bottoms of his slacks wet.
Bob gaped at the wet clothing and returned the splash. Not only did it get the hem of her skirt wet, but drenched the rest of it as well.
“Whoops.” The blue sprite blushed, he hadn’t meant to get Dot /that/ wet.
“Bob!” Dot jumped up. A little belatedly, she noticed that her feet were still in the fountain. She slipped, fell, and brought her date down with her.
“We’re in hot water now!” Bob yelled. They couldn’t help but laugh at the pun.
“Actually, it’s more lukewarm than it is hot.” Dot pointed out. The guardian rolled his eyes and used one of his shoes to scoop water up. While Dot shrieked and was chased around the fountain, Bob followed in close pursuit with a soggy loafer. With a gentle arc, he hit the command.com with a small splash of the water.
“You’re asking for it!” Dot shook a fist at Bob. Without warning, she made a leap and had tackled Bob down and under the shallow water. After a few seconds she let him surface.
Bob’s eyes met a red lipped smirk. The game wasn’t over yet. “Hey Dot, what happened to your other earring?” The wet sprite motioned to his own ear. Dot’s violet eyes widened as she jerked a hand to check her earlobes. Now it was Bob’s turn to smirk. While Dot was distracted, he pushed against the water. The force created a good sized wave and got Dot in the face.
“Oh!” Dot fell back to her bottom. Then, using her legs and feet she brought small but numerous waves of water into Bob’s surprised face. When she stopped the attack, she leaned against the low wall of the fountain to catch her breath. Bob followed suit and picked all the stray hair out of his face.
“Didn’t know you were such a water bug.” Bob managed to gasp out.
“My grandparents had a pool. We’d always go over there and I just picked it up. You had to be quick in the water when putting up with a brother like Enzo.”
“Point.” Bob conceded.
“Although, I think I ruined my skirt.” Dot looked down disdainfully at the garment.
“Looks all right to me. I’m sure you have lots of other nice clothes.” Bob grinned.
Dot blushed. “Not really.” She said softly as she tried to control the flush sweeping up her cheeks.
“Hey. Guess what?”
“What?” Dot looked up.
“We’re sitting in a fountain, in the middle of Mainframe, soaking wet, half-barefoot, and we’re - ”
“ - Having a great night.”
“Exactly.” Bob casually put an arm around Dot’s shoulder. “I didn’t know you could live on the edge like this Dot. You’re being so...unpredictable.”
“Well I’m glad you approve. I guess I have been around you for too long ‘eh?”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not at all.”
“Me neither.”
“Either.” Dot corrected. “Or: Neither am I.”
Dot’s English lesson was responded to by yet another splash in the face. The two were off again, acting like complete children. Several families stumbled out of their beds to peer out into the night at the couple. Several considered calling in city officials but then realized Bob and Dot were in charge of the city officials. So they just whipped out their polaroids instead.
***
Two very tired, wet, and sore-footed sprites stood at Dot’s door.
“I really had a nice time Bob.” Dot smiled and brushed all her wet hair out off her face. She then watched it all fall back in front of her eyes.
“Me too. I uh...” Bob reached over to tuck the lose hair behind Dot’s ears. “I think it’d be nice to do this again some time. Bob blushed oh-so-slightly If that is, you want to.” He added hastily.
Dot looked down at her feet and chuckled. “I think I’d like that.” She said softly. “How about next week?”
“Well, you /know/ I’m so busy living on the edge, doing things on the fly.” Bob teased.
“I’ll clear my book if you clear yours.” Dot grinned and raised her head to look Bob in the face.
“Good deal.” Bob concluded. “So I guess I’ll see you then.”
“Or before.”
“Huh?”
“You practically live at the diner. I’m sure I’ll see you before next week.”
“Oh yeah.” The guardian shifted on his feet nervously. He glanced around the hall that led to the back room of the diner. “Um...”
“You can kiss me good night if you want to.” Dot blurted. Bob’s head snapped up and both party’s flush returned.
“Uh...Sure.” Bob stepped closer and leaned over when he saw Dot get on her tippy-toes. The two shared a tight-lipped kiss and then a more careful one. As they pulled apart, Bob thrust a pair of soggy shoes in Dot’s face.
“Your shoes.”
“You can burn them if you’d like. I was planning on doing it myself.” Dot said taking the shoes.
“Let’s save that for next week.” Bob suggested. Dot had to agree.
As Bob turned to leave Dot raised a hand and tinked her fingers lightly at him.
“See you later.” Bob said as he closed the door to the outside.
“’Till then.” Dot smiled back.
***
As the door opened into Dot’s living room, she was greeted with the brightness of a table lamp. AndrAIa was sitting cross-legged on a blue love seat, reading a rather thick book. The television was on “mute” and it displayed a newscaster giving the late night news.
When the door shut, AndrAIa looked up with a grin. However, the grin quickly slid away when she saw Dot’s dripping clothes and tangled hair.
“WHAT did he DO to you?” The shocked game sprite had jumped up, knocking the volume in her hand to the ground.
“Nothing.” Dot ran a hand through her hair defensively.
“Well, how did you get so wet? Did Mr. Pearson turn the hose on you?”
Dot laughed. “Of course not. Let’s just say the fountain downtown is a lot more fun than I originally thought.” Dot started for her bedroom, or more specifically, the master bathroom. “Dre, remind me to look into getting a community pool for Mainframe.”
“Okay.” AndrAIa shook her head. “Enzo’s in bed, and um...”
“What?” Dot turned back to face the sprite.
“Don’t look in the den until you’ve had a good night’s sleep.”
Drowsiness had struck the commander. She was too drained to even wonder what AndrAIa had meant. “Sure. I’ll see you around.”
“Right.” AndrAIa quickly grabbed her sweatshirt and slipped out. Dot stumbled into her room and drew a bath.
“I really need to get out more often.” The woman confided to her rubber ducky.
~~~
“I guess that date wasn’t as bad as it seems.” Bob stood up and watched Dot do the same.
“You’re right. Besides, we learned a lot from that date.”
“Like to always carry a zip board, even when you plan to drive?” Bob grinned.
“Precisely.” Dot nodded her head and the two headed off in the night.
“Hic.” Bob commented.
“Oi-vey.” Dot returned.
END
Ashita wa totemo ii koto ga (Tommorow is a wonderful thing, yet)
Okorisou na ki ga suru wa (I feel like it’s the beginning)
Koi suru to nanika ga kawaru ne (When I fall in love, something changes)
Me wo tojite tashi kamete (I close my eyes and make sure of it)
Dakishimeta toki meki sono mama (I hugged you, and my [heart] pounded hard)
Kono omoi tsutaetai (I want to tell you about this feeling)
~ Heart Moving - Satou Kazuo (Composed, arranged) and Tsushima Yoshiaki (Lyrics)