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Description
The next chapter is here ^^
In this one both Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon get some time to shine.

I hope you enjoy~

You can read the written portion here:
Working at the Superstar Daycare CH 21Chapter 21: Quiet Conversations Mr. Sun was very particular about how things were to be cleaned. I lost count of how many times I had to clean the same spot because it wasn't done to his liking. I imagined that this would be much easier if he could just come back here. There's the real question. Why couldn't he go back there? I didn't see a reason why. All of the first aid and other supplies were in and behind the desk. Sun had creative ways of accessing them regardless, but still. “Why can't you come back here?” By the time I dared to ask the cleaning was already done. Now I was throwing away all of the used paper towels and disinfecting wipes into the trash. Sun was looking in my direction. His rays would react and sway whenever a child made a noise or moved around. A model multitasker. “Back where, friend?” Sun's face showed question marks. “Behind the desk,” Once I finished my task, Sun swapped the trash bag for a fresh one, pushed the button, and handed the bag to a cleaning bot that was waiting outside. He 'dusted' off his hands and then placed them on his shell where his hips would be if he had any. “To set a good example, of course!” Sun exaggerated his proud stance and his rays spun. “The teachers go back here all the time,” I crouched to open my section of the cabinet, “The kids can understand-” I froze at how close Sun was when I glanced back at him. Right up against the invisible barrier. And with my cubbie being the closest to the end that made him close enough to touch me if he wanted. His was motionless, serious. The intensity of his stare made me stutter. “Y-you know... Like how kids know not to touch the oven?? Uh...” “I am sorry,” Sun's voice was cold and oddly robotic. “I cannot elaborate any further.” “Okay, then...” I continued fiddling with the cubbie door. Sun still hadn't moved. Save for the occasional twitch of a sun ray. Watching. I mentally shook off the thought of Sun acting like one of those killer mannequins I've seen. Most of my media consumption is horror related so I've seen A LOT of those... Moon had his buttons. Who's to say that Sun didn't have his? I didn't want to find out what would happen if I prodded further. So I busied myself analyzing the bag of Moondrops. With Mr. Nico being sent out sick, I might have to use these. I inspected the fine print on the back. The nutritional facts were typical for candies. The calorie count was only so low because of how unrealistic the serving size was. How were you supposed to eat only a third of a hard candy? The ingredient list didn't reveal much. Everything besides the obvious corn syrup and food coloring was in that scientific garble that I couldn't understand. And I didn't feel like looking up those jumbled letters individually. My curiosity about how these work didn't go that far. So I moved on to the directions for use as a sleep aid. 'Take 1 serving 10 to 20 minutes before desired sleep time. Do not exceed three doses within 24 hours'. Huh... So that pretty much means you could only have one candy per day. Either that or tell the kids to spit out the candy once I thought they might have had one-third. Or somehow crack it up into thirds... It was no wonder they were so effective yesterday. They had three doses at once! Man, whoever is in charge was lucky that I had my medication administration training. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to pass these out without getting the daycare in big trouble... Hold on... Thinking about that training reminded me that paperwork is a BIG part of it. They had to be somewhere. “So uh-” I looked up from my crouched position to find Sun was still watching me. Legs bent to be at my level. His face was very close now. I internally jumped. I laughed in response to being spooked. One of my more genuine laughs. My metallic neighbor responded with a curious turn of his head. “Yes?” Mr. Sun's curious tone was small and quiet. Perhaps due to how close he was. But more likely because of the children who were trying to climb on top of him. One had made it up to his back and tuckered himself out. The little one's head rested against the ruffles of Sun's shoulders. Eyes half closed. “Where are the medication logs? For the candies?” I swung the bag in the air to emphasize the subject. Although the weight of it turned this into a fumble to catch it before it fell to the ground. That got a couple of sleepy giggles out of the children. “In here~” Sun tapped his head, “And there~” He flipped his hand around to point at the computers next to me. “So if I need to log that someone took a Moondrop, I do it there?” I analyzed the darkened computer screen. It was dusty near the base. The part where Sun couldn't reach to clean. Odd that he didn't ask me to clean that... “Oh, I take care of that~ Not need to worry about it!” Sun twiddled his fingers playfully toward himself. “Just tell me and I'll handle the rest! You can also ask me to recite the records for you! The computers are there if you are more of a visual learner~” Sun adjusted his arm to steady the child on his back before he slid off. I might not need to worry about those candies after all. “That's nice,” I may have had the training, but all of the regulations around it always made me nervous that I would mess it up. An animatronic would never make a mistake that a human would. And that is very reassuring when it came to medications. I stood up and Sun followed me with his face, “How many kids are here again?” “Six,” Sun replied immediately where a fleshly employee may have had to think about it for a moment first. I hummed a thank you and pocked that many candies in my apron. Just in case. I planned to use them only if a child was having a hard time resting. “ATTENTION Pizzaplex patrons!” The announcer's voice, the owner of which I didn't know yet, rang out around us. The suddenness of it made the little stowaway Sun had jolt in surprise. I couldn't blame the boy. I did it, too. “Nap time will begin in ten minutes. The lights will be off in this area until closing. It is recommended that you pick up your children and/or enjoy another part of our establishment.” “Oh!” I scooted past the little crowd that had gathered near Sun. “We need to do bathrooms. Uh-” I braced my voice to give the command. I never liked being the one in charge. But I could do it if I had to. “Superstars!” Sun called out at a restrained volume. Almost everyone was already here after all, “Bathroom break before nap time! Let's go~” I let the breath I had gathered to give the instruction slip away through the side of my mouth. Unused. Well, that works out. Little feet dragged their bodies to the bathroom door. There were a couple of children who had either a pull-up or a diaper that needed to be changed. Quick and easy. We were done and ready for bed well before the ten minutes were up. “Have a good rest, superstars~” Sun waved us goodnight. He hadn't even asked if I wanted him to pass out drops this time. He did, however, step away from the quiet corner while our small group headed down the ramp. I heard the whirring sound again once I closed the curtain. With the light blocked we were completely submerged in the star filled sky. Even in the darkness I could tell that the walls in the small hallway looked... shinier? The daycare attendant must have cleaned in here, too. The children went down easy. I only had to give a candy to one of the more hyper children. After the others had fallen asleep, of course. Didn't want the wave of 'I want one! Can I have one?' to disrupt anyone's falling asleep progress. Thank goodness that it was so easy. I don't think I could've emotionally handled it if it wasn't. I guessed that it was a combination of there being fewer children and their lack of sleep. I wasn't about to complain about it, though. Since everyone was off to dreamland, I took this opportunity to sneak up the ramp. With Mr. Nico gone, I couldn't leave the room. Not without breaking state regulations. But I have peeked my head out of a room without getting in trouble before. I figured this would be no different. I searched the vast, empty room beyond the curtains. I couldn't make out much of anything. It was too dark and the angle I had was mostly taken up by one of the jungle gyms. I had hoped to see a robotic figure lurking nearby, but I wasn't lucky enough this time. “Mr. Moon?” I called out. Not so quiet enough to be a whisper, but not as loud as my normal speaking voice. I paused, waited for a response. I was told that speaking outside of the quiet corner was allowed. From the man in the moon himself, no less. I just wasn't sure if peeking my head out was enough to use that loophole or not. After receiving the answer of silence I tried again, “Mr. Moon? Can I talk to you?” Silence. My shoulders fell. Was the night-themed jester mad at me? Maybe... Mr. Moon might have seen the conversation I had with Sun and how much Sun had done to cheer me up. But that didn't mean Moon couldn't have his own feelings about the situation. A nag at the back of my head demanded I check on the children again. I gave in and scuttled down the ramp. I scanned the room. Made sure each kid was breathing steadily and deeply. All good. I hummed to myself. Should I try again? Well, what else was I going to do? I was unceremoniously promoted to closer with my coworker out sick. I was going to be here longer than scheduled anyway. I'd might as well give it another shot. Plus Mr. Sun has already wormed his way into my heart. I still didn't understand how, but it's what happened. I considered him a friend or someone who I wanted to be friends with. So Even if I didn't have a soft spot for Moon already I would have tried to make it work for Sun's sake at the very least. And if it doesn't work out I could just draw or something. I scooted back up the ramp and peeked through the curtains again. “Mr. Moon? Are you there?” A red light caught my attention. It reflected off the mats on the floor. It looked to be coming from my right periphery. I turned my head and jumped in surprise. A crescent face was inches from my own. Hunched and low to the ground, hugging the wall like a child trying to hide in plain sight. The red light was from his response. YES. “Oh! You surprised me,” I chuckled softly at the little spook. Which was my usual response, but I also hoped it would show Moon that I was fine. No need for calming assistance. The crescent clicked from side to side. Hesitant. Confused maybe. YOU CALLED ME. “Y-yeah I did, um-” I lowered my volume. Just to be safe. He hadn't shushed me yet, but I wasn't going to push it. “I wanted to... talk to you. About what happened... earlier. If it's okay.” I used the curtain to fidget with my fingers. Wrapped little spirals of the fabric around one of them and watched it fall. The soft glow-in-the-dark stars spun and danced as gravity took hold. I twisted my finger to do it again. This time I noticed the tell tale signs of stitching in the fabric. Huh... When did it get repaired-, Jingle Jingle Oh right, I need to look at him to see his answer. Oops... Moon had his hand up by my face. Wrist twisting to make the gentle sound. He lowered it to the ground when he confirmed my attention was on him. I breathed out another slight chuckle, “Sorry...” YOU HAVE ALREADY APOLOGIZED. “Not to you, though,” I saw Moon visibly shrink. I didn't think he could make himself any smaller, but he managed. His head did a full spin then a few more clicks to be tilted quizzically. His eyes displayed small red lights. Not preparing another message. Looking at me. Listening. Cautious. I continued before he changed his mind, “I'm sorry that I couldn't get the kids to sleep. That they screamed at you... And you had to run away like that...” The red dots were burning into my vision. Moon hadn't moved yet. The memory of his frantic state earlier flashed in my mind for the millionth time. No... Don't work yourself up. I don't want to see Mr. Moon's reaction to someone crying again. “I just... feel like a failure...” HOW? I said that last part out loud? Uh- “I- I didn't do my job- And I said you could come in and-” MY ACTIONS ARE NOT YOUR FAULT. THEY ARE MINE. “But-” I let the rest of that response transform into a sigh. I wasn't here to argue with an AI. Plus I had other things to say. “What I really want you to know is that I'll do better. And I don't want you to feel like you have to stay away... But... maybe I can give you a signal or something when the kids are sleeping. Cause I still stand by what I said yesterday. I don't mind working with you-” I stopped myself before the rambling became a tangent. It was somehow... easy to talk to him. Maybe it was the dark or maybe it was how quiet he was. Or it may have been the fact that he wasn't a human. Yeah, I think that was the real reason. Moon's eyes wavered. The lights pointed down refracting off of the bells on his feet. He was stiff. Statue like. In the quiet of the dark, I heard a sound like a fan spinning. Or a CD player reading. He was doing that 'thinking' thing Sun did this morning. I gave him time to do his processing. I briefly daydreamed about what the thoughts of a robot would look like. Code? Binary? A series of texts maybe? It was silent for a while. But we had time. A couple hours of time before the daycare closed. I knelt and rested my knees on the ramp floor. The nagging feeling got a hold of me again. I should check on the kids. “I'll be right back,” I whispered before letting myself slide down the ramp. Which was an action that seemed cooler in my head. It was more scooting than sliding in the end. I scanned the beds again. Everyone was still sleeping. A few had turned in their dreams but that was it. My eyes landed on my bag. Oh, that's right! I still had one more paper to hand out. When I made one for everyone I meant everyone. Including Moon. This would technically mean that the daycare robot got two gifts today, but I would confuse myself if I thought about that for too long. The last paper was taken along with me on my journey back. A peek through the curtains showed that Moon hadn't moved. At all. Was that good? Uh... “Mr. Moon?” No response. I noticed that the lights were gone from his eyes. It appeared that he had turned off. He is an animatronic so he could do that. But I didn't know if that happened randomly... Maybe this was in my favor. I could just slip him the paper and it could be a little surprise. And I might avoid that little glitch he had yesterday... I flattened the paper by his feet, “I made you this.” The reaction was immediate. The little red lights honed in on the offering. Blue-tipped fingers twitched and the nightcap swayed with each creaky movement of the moon face. He snapped to look at me. The red turned on and off sporadically. I saw little sip bits of letters being interrupted by fickle light displays. The bells at his wrists vibrated. A batch of shaking had started. Uh oh... I ducked behind the curtain like some kind of shield. Only peeking out to see when it would be safe again. Why did I think something new would happen this time? So dumb! Moon's red eyes focused on something in the distance. His trembling slowed. The lights widened until red filled up the entire display. A pair of white specks soon appeared in the sea of red. The bright irises darted from place to place until landing on the paper again. His hands snatched it up like it was attempting to run away. Put it close to himself. Guarding it. “You like it?” I whispered. That little fit didn't last long at all. But those eyes were new. They were so bright that I could see red reflect off of the ceiling lights. Moon was still a bit stiff and twitchy but he directed his face to me and zeroed the white dots at me. The irises would falter and flicker in odd patterns. But in a familiar rhythm... “I'm sorry, I can't read your message.” Mr. Moon straightened up. His head spun around in confusion. I poked myself out of my hiding spot to explain further, “Your eyes. They're all red. I can't read red text on a red background.” I laughed a bit to release the tension I was holding. With a twitch of his head and a sharp buzzing sound, Moon's eyes went dark again. He returned to his default crouching position. Paper still in hand. He displayed the text again. WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THIS? “Because,” I began to say and paused. It wouldn't be very nice to say that his gift was an afterthought. Only being made because it wouldn't be fair if everyone but Moon got one. At least that is what I was thinking this morning. But now, “It's uh- a token of goodwill? I guess. Like, there's no hard feelings.” ELABORATE. “Well,” I pushed past the curtains a bit more, “It's to show that I forgive you. And you taking it means you... forgive me. Like, we can be friends.” Moon's response was delayed. I almost started to panic that I broke him again. When it did show it was slow. Each letter crept across his face at a snail's pace. FRIENDS? “Yeah,” I made my voice as casual as possible. I kept my hands on the ground to hide their shaking. Moon had a subtle wave of jitters of his own before responding again. UNDERSTOOD.

Description
The next chapter is here ^^
In this one both Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon get some time to shine.

I hope you enjoy~

You can read the written portion here:
Working at the Superstar Daycare CH 21Chapter 21: Quiet Conversations Mr. Sun was very particular about how things were to be cleaned. I lost count of how many times I had to clean the same spot because it wasn't done to his liking. I imagined that this would be much easier if he could just come back here. There's the real question. Why couldn't he go back there? I didn't see a reason why. All of the first aid and other supplies were in and behind the desk. Sun had creative ways of accessing them regardless, but still. “Why can't you come back here?” By the time I dared to ask the cleaning was already done. Now I was throwing away all of the used paper towels and disinfecting wipes into the trash. Sun was looking in my direction. His rays would react and sway whenever a child made a noise or moved around. A model multitasker. “Back where, friend?” Sun's face showed question marks. “Behind the desk,” Once I finished my task, Sun swapped the trash bag for a fresh one, pushed the button, and handed the bag to a cleaning bot that was waiting outside. He 'dusted' off his hands and then placed them on his shell where his hips would be if he had any. “To set a good example, of course!” Sun exaggerated his proud stance and his rays spun. “The teachers go back here all the time,” I crouched to open my section of the cabinet, “The kids can understand-” I froze at how close Sun was when I glanced back at him. Right up against the invisible barrier. And with my cubbie being the closest to the end that made him close enough to touch me if he wanted. His was motionless, serious. The intensity of his stare made me stutter. “Y-you know... Like how kids know not to touch the oven?? Uh...” “I am sorry,” Sun's voice was cold and oddly robotic. “I cannot elaborate any further.” “Okay, then...” I continued fiddling with the cubbie door. Sun still hadn't moved. Save for the occasional twitch of a sun ray. Watching. I mentally shook off the thought of Sun acting like one of those killer mannequins I've seen. Most of my media consumption is horror related so I've seen A LOT of those... Moon had his buttons. Who's to say that Sun didn't have his? I didn't want to find out what would happen if I prodded further. So I busied myself analyzing the bag of Moondrops. With Mr. Nico being sent out sick, I might have to use these. I inspected the fine print on the back. The nutritional facts were typical for candies. The calorie count was only so low because of how unrealistic the serving size was. How were you supposed to eat only a third of a hard candy? The ingredient list didn't reveal much. Everything besides the obvious corn syrup and food coloring was in that scientific garble that I couldn't understand. And I didn't feel like looking up those jumbled letters individually. My curiosity about how these work didn't go that far. So I moved on to the directions for use as a sleep aid. 'Take 1 serving 10 to 20 minutes before desired sleep time. Do not exceed three doses within 24 hours'. Huh... So that pretty much means you could only have one candy per day. Either that or tell the kids to spit out the candy once I thought they might have had one-third. Or somehow crack it up into thirds... It was no wonder they were so effective yesterday. They had three doses at once! Man, whoever is in charge was lucky that I had my medication administration training. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to pass these out without getting the daycare in big trouble... Hold on... Thinking about that training reminded me that paperwork is a BIG part of it. They had to be somewhere. “So uh-” I looked up from my crouched position to find Sun was still watching me. Legs bent to be at my level. His face was very close now. I internally jumped. I laughed in response to being spooked. One of my more genuine laughs. My metallic neighbor responded with a curious turn of his head. “Yes?” Mr. Sun's curious tone was small and quiet. Perhaps due to how close he was. But more likely because of the children who were trying to climb on top of him. One had made it up to his back and tuckered himself out. The little one's head rested against the ruffles of Sun's shoulders. Eyes half closed. “Where are the medication logs? For the candies?” I swung the bag in the air to emphasize the subject. Although the weight of it turned this into a fumble to catch it before it fell to the ground. That got a couple of sleepy giggles out of the children. “In here~” Sun tapped his head, “And there~” He flipped his hand around to point at the computers next to me. “So if I need to log that someone took a Moondrop, I do it there?” I analyzed the darkened computer screen. It was dusty near the base. The part where Sun couldn't reach to clean. Odd that he didn't ask me to clean that... “Oh, I take care of that~ Not need to worry about it!” Sun twiddled his fingers playfully toward himself. “Just tell me and I'll handle the rest! You can also ask me to recite the records for you! The computers are there if you are more of a visual learner~” Sun adjusted his arm to steady the child on his back before he slid off. I might not need to worry about those candies after all. “That's nice,” I may have had the training, but all of the regulations around it always made me nervous that I would mess it up. An animatronic would never make a mistake that a human would. And that is very reassuring when it came to medications. I stood up and Sun followed me with his face, “How many kids are here again?” “Six,” Sun replied immediately where a fleshly employee may have had to think about it for a moment first. I hummed a thank you and pocked that many candies in my apron. Just in case. I planned to use them only if a child was having a hard time resting. “ATTENTION Pizzaplex patrons!” The announcer's voice, the owner of which I didn't know yet, rang out around us. The suddenness of it made the little stowaway Sun had jolt in surprise. I couldn't blame the boy. I did it, too. “Nap time will begin in ten minutes. The lights will be off in this area until closing. It is recommended that you pick up your children and/or enjoy another part of our establishment.” “Oh!” I scooted past the little crowd that had gathered near Sun. “We need to do bathrooms. Uh-” I braced my voice to give the command. I never liked being the one in charge. But I could do it if I had to. “Superstars!” Sun called out at a restrained volume. Almost everyone was already here after all, “Bathroom break before nap time! Let's go~” I let the breath I had gathered to give the instruction slip away through the side of my mouth. Unused. Well, that works out. Little feet dragged their bodies to the bathroom door. There were a couple of children who had either a pull-up or a diaper that needed to be changed. Quick and easy. We were done and ready for bed well before the ten minutes were up. “Have a good rest, superstars~” Sun waved us goodnight. He hadn't even asked if I wanted him to pass out drops this time. He did, however, step away from the quiet corner while our small group headed down the ramp. I heard the whirring sound again once I closed the curtain. With the light blocked we were completely submerged in the star filled sky. Even in the darkness I could tell that the walls in the small hallway looked... shinier? The daycare attendant must have cleaned in here, too. The children went down easy. I only had to give a candy to one of the more hyper children. After the others had fallen asleep, of course. Didn't want the wave of 'I want one! Can I have one?' to disrupt anyone's falling asleep progress. Thank goodness that it was so easy. I don't think I could've emotionally handled it if it wasn't. I guessed that it was a combination of there being fewer children and their lack of sleep. I wasn't about to complain about it, though. Since everyone was off to dreamland, I took this opportunity to sneak up the ramp. With Mr. Nico gone, I couldn't leave the room. Not without breaking state regulations. But I have peeked my head out of a room without getting in trouble before. I figured this would be no different. I searched the vast, empty room beyond the curtains. I couldn't make out much of anything. It was too dark and the angle I had was mostly taken up by one of the jungle gyms. I had hoped to see a robotic figure lurking nearby, but I wasn't lucky enough this time. “Mr. Moon?” I called out. Not so quiet enough to be a whisper, but not as loud as my normal speaking voice. I paused, waited for a response. I was told that speaking outside of the quiet corner was allowed. From the man in the moon himself, no less. I just wasn't sure if peeking my head out was enough to use that loophole or not. After receiving the answer of silence I tried again, “Mr. Moon? Can I talk to you?” Silence. My shoulders fell. Was the night-themed jester mad at me? Maybe... Mr. Moon might have seen the conversation I had with Sun and how much Sun had done to cheer me up. But that didn't mean Moon couldn't have his own feelings about the situation. A nag at the back of my head demanded I check on the children again. I gave in and scuttled down the ramp. I scanned the room. Made sure each kid was breathing steadily and deeply. All good. I hummed to myself. Should I try again? Well, what else was I going to do? I was unceremoniously promoted to closer with my coworker out sick. I was going to be here longer than scheduled anyway. I'd might as well give it another shot. Plus Mr. Sun has already wormed his way into my heart. I still didn't understand how, but it's what happened. I considered him a friend or someone who I wanted to be friends with. So Even if I didn't have a soft spot for Moon already I would have tried to make it work for Sun's sake at the very least. And if it doesn't work out I could just draw or something. I scooted back up the ramp and peeked through the curtains again. “Mr. Moon? Are you there?” A red light caught my attention. It reflected off the mats on the floor. It looked to be coming from my right periphery. I turned my head and jumped in surprise. A crescent face was inches from my own. Hunched and low to the ground, hugging the wall like a child trying to hide in plain sight. The red light was from his response. YES. “Oh! You surprised me,” I chuckled softly at the little spook. Which was my usual response, but I also hoped it would show Moon that I was fine. No need for calming assistance. The crescent clicked from side to side. Hesitant. Confused maybe. YOU CALLED ME. “Y-yeah I did, um-” I lowered my volume. Just to be safe. He hadn't shushed me yet, but I wasn't going to push it. “I wanted to... talk to you. About what happened... earlier. If it's okay.” I used the curtain to fidget with my fingers. Wrapped little spirals of the fabric around one of them and watched it fall. The soft glow-in-the-dark stars spun and danced as gravity took hold. I twisted my finger to do it again. This time I noticed the tell tale signs of stitching in the fabric. Huh... When did it get repaired-, Jingle Jingle Oh right, I need to look at him to see his answer. Oops... Moon had his hand up by my face. Wrist twisting to make the gentle sound. He lowered it to the ground when he confirmed my attention was on him. I breathed out another slight chuckle, “Sorry...” YOU HAVE ALREADY APOLOGIZED. “Not to you, though,” I saw Moon visibly shrink. I didn't think he could make himself any smaller, but he managed. His head did a full spin then a few more clicks to be tilted quizzically. His eyes displayed small red lights. Not preparing another message. Looking at me. Listening. Cautious. I continued before he changed his mind, “I'm sorry that I couldn't get the kids to sleep. That they screamed at you... And you had to run away like that...” The red dots were burning into my vision. Moon hadn't moved yet. The memory of his frantic state earlier flashed in my mind for the millionth time. No... Don't work yourself up. I don't want to see Mr. Moon's reaction to someone crying again. “I just... feel like a failure...” HOW? I said that last part out loud? Uh- “I- I didn't do my job- And I said you could come in and-” MY ACTIONS ARE NOT YOUR FAULT. THEY ARE MINE. “But-” I let the rest of that response transform into a sigh. I wasn't here to argue with an AI. Plus I had other things to say. “What I really want you to know is that I'll do better. And I don't want you to feel like you have to stay away... But... maybe I can give you a signal or something when the kids are sleeping. Cause I still stand by what I said yesterday. I don't mind working with you-” I stopped myself before the rambling became a tangent. It was somehow... easy to talk to him. Maybe it was the dark or maybe it was how quiet he was. Or it may have been the fact that he wasn't a human. Yeah, I think that was the real reason. Moon's eyes wavered. The lights pointed down refracting off of the bells on his feet. He was stiff. Statue like. In the quiet of the dark, I heard a sound like a fan spinning. Or a CD player reading. He was doing that 'thinking' thing Sun did this morning. I gave him time to do his processing. I briefly daydreamed about what the thoughts of a robot would look like. Code? Binary? A series of texts maybe? It was silent for a while. But we had time. A couple hours of time before the daycare closed. I knelt and rested my knees on the ramp floor. The nagging feeling got a hold of me again. I should check on the kids. “I'll be right back,” I whispered before letting myself slide down the ramp. Which was an action that seemed cooler in my head. It was more scooting than sliding in the end. I scanned the beds again. Everyone was still sleeping. A few had turned in their dreams but that was it. My eyes landed on my bag. Oh, that's right! I still had one more paper to hand out. When I made one for everyone I meant everyone. Including Moon. This would technically mean that the daycare robot got two gifts today, but I would confuse myself if I thought about that for too long. The last paper was taken along with me on my journey back. A peek through the curtains showed that Moon hadn't moved. At all. Was that good? Uh... “Mr. Moon?” No response. I noticed that the lights were gone from his eyes. It appeared that he had turned off. He is an animatronic so he could do that. But I didn't know if that happened randomly... Maybe this was in my favor. I could just slip him the paper and it could be a little surprise. And I might avoid that little glitch he had yesterday... I flattened the paper by his feet, “I made you this.” The reaction was immediate. The little red lights honed in on the offering. Blue-tipped fingers twitched and the nightcap swayed with each creaky movement of the moon face. He snapped to look at me. The red turned on and off sporadically. I saw little sip bits of letters being interrupted by fickle light displays. The bells at his wrists vibrated. A batch of shaking had started. Uh oh... I ducked behind the curtain like some kind of shield. Only peeking out to see when it would be safe again. Why did I think something new would happen this time? So dumb! Moon's red eyes focused on something in the distance. His trembling slowed. The lights widened until red filled up the entire display. A pair of white specks soon appeared in the sea of red. The bright irises darted from place to place until landing on the paper again. His hands snatched it up like it was attempting to run away. Put it close to himself. Guarding it. “You like it?” I whispered. That little fit didn't last long at all. But those eyes were new. They were so bright that I could see red reflect off of the ceiling lights. Moon was still a bit stiff and twitchy but he directed his face to me and zeroed the white dots at me. The irises would falter and flicker in odd patterns. But in a familiar rhythm... “I'm sorry, I can't read your message.” Mr. Moon straightened up. His head spun around in confusion. I poked myself out of my hiding spot to explain further, “Your eyes. They're all red. I can't read red text on a red background.” I laughed a bit to release the tension I was holding. With a twitch of his head and a sharp buzzing sound, Moon's eyes went dark again. He returned to his default crouching position. Paper still in hand. He displayed the text again. WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THIS? “Because,” I began to say and paused. It wouldn't be very nice to say that his gift was an afterthought. Only being made because it wouldn't be fair if everyone but Moon got one. At least that is what I was thinking this morning. But now, “It's uh- a token of goodwill? I guess. Like, there's no hard feelings.” ELABORATE. “Well,” I pushed past the curtains a bit more, “It's to show that I forgive you. And you taking it means you... forgive me. Like, we can be friends.” Moon's response was delayed. I almost started to panic that I broke him again. When it did show it was slow. Each letter crept across his face at a snail's pace. FRIENDS? “Yeah,” I made my voice as casual as possible. I kept my hands on the ground to hide their shaking. Moon had a subtle wave of jitters of his own before responding again. UNDERSTOOD.