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“So… you like Cube?”
Minimus stared blankly back at the minibot.
Eject let out a heavy breath, then seemed to gain the will to try again. “You know, Cube? The sport?” When he saw no recognition in Minimus’s optics, he waved the bartender over and asked, “Hey, there’s a Cube game on channel 7, could you switch to it? Thanks dude!”
Once the screen hanging at the corner of the bar had switched to a sports channel showing a heated game between Vos and Kaon’s teams, Eject turned back to Minimus and gestured to it.
Minimus studied the bots racing around on the screen, tackling each other in ways that seemed exceedingly violent. “Ah… I suppose it’s rather interesting.” While he had tried to inject any kind of interest into his voice, it was clear it hadn’t worked when Eject seemed to droop. How he managed to look discouraged with a visor and mask, Minimus didn’t know, but he did it well. Minimus internally reflected on why he had let Dominus talk him into this.
When his brother had brought up a few hours ago that he was going to be going out with Rewind, Minimus hadn’t thought much of it. When he had made sure to mention that Rewind’s brother Eject was going to be there, Minimus became suspicious.
“This is not another one of those times where we go out and then you and Rewind conveniently disappear, leaving me alone with a bot I barely even know, is it?”
Dominus pressed his hands together and pointed them at Minimus, taking a few seconds before finally saying, “...No?”
Minimus sighed. “I am not interested, Dominus.”
“But you haven’t even met Eject!”
Minimus raised an eyebrow at him. “Is one of his major interests typography?”
“Well.... ah...” Dominus hummed. “Oh- brother, I just want you to meet people with similar interests, get out of the house once in a while. Give it a chance!”
Minimus leveled him with a glare, then looked back down at his datapad of poetry. “No.”
“...Even if I got you a volume of poetry from that one miner? Mettaton or something?”
Minimus stopped, closed his optics, then got up. “Fine. I will come.”
“Splendid!” Dominus clapped. “I’ll get you the datapad by next week.”
Thinking back on it, Minimus wished he had demanded the poetry by tomorrow. While Dominus and Rewind were still technically nearby, they were caught up in their own little world, making eyes at each other between bouts of conversation with fans of Dominus’s work. Meanwhile, Minimus was stuck here listening to Eject, who was trying and failing to explain how Cube was played.
“So like, two dudes gotta stay in vehicle mode at all times, and cause they can’t really catch the cube that way, they mostly ram into the other team!” Eject demonstrated this with a particularly forceful gesture. Minimus winced.
The minibot seemed to notice Minimus’s not-so-positive reaction and deflated a bit. “And… uh, yeah, it’s pretty.. pretty fun.”
Minimus stared down at his lap where he had balled his hands into fists against his thighs, feeling guilty for ruining the other bot’s mood. Suddenly, he felt incredibly frustrated with himself. He wouldn’t be in this situation if he was just better at talking to people! If only he had more normal interests – if only he could make conversation about things besides typefaces and formatting, then maybe he would actually have… friends. Minimus sighed. It was time for him to discard this charade of a date.
“I should… this is not working.” Minimus grimaced as he stared into his drink. He had barely taken a sip of the now-lukewarm engex. “I apologize if you were expecting someone like my brother. I am… not much like him, unfortunately.”
Eject perked up. “Hey dude, don’t sweat it! It’s, uh… it’s actually kinda the same with me and Rewind.” The minibot gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. “Like, I wouldn’t say Rewind has it good, but like… he’s got his thing with documenting history, so he’s really important in that way. All I’m good for is-” he lamely motioned to the game of Cube on the monitor, “-sports.”
Minimus wasn’t sure what to say at first. This was the first thing Eject had said that night without sound effects. “I- well. While my interests do not exactly cross over with yours, you are passionate about them. And… I think there is something to be admired in that.” He mustered up a small smile.
Eject gaped at him (or, well, looked as surprised as a bot with a no mouth can be). Then, his visor flashed warmly. “Same to you. Y’know… maybe Rewind wasn’t all wrong with this whole date thi-” Suddenly, the minibot slammed his hands on the counter. “Oh SHIT did you see that tackle?! Oh my primus that was- that was amazing!”
From the floor, Minimus rubbed his head, having hit it when he fell off his stool. “I think just friends is good for now,” he sighed.