Work Text:
"Merry Christmas!" Virgil shouted cheerfully, making you throw your morning coffee across the maintenance waiting room; your favorite mug smashing. You stared at the shards of the cup on the ground before snapping your gaze to Virgil who stood in place with a nervous expression. "I'll… get you a new one. Eh-heh." His golden orange eyes were glued to the tiled floor, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly guilty of spooking you and making you destroy your most favorite cup.
"I… I guess I should have gotten you a new cup instead of getting you a silly shirt, huh?" In his hands that were now extended out to you, holding a nicely wrapped gift with a very shiny bow that you couldn't resist. You slowly started to reach out for it but stopped half way and looked at Virgil as if to ask. He nodded, and that was enough to let you quickly but gently grab the box, unwrapping it with excitement.
In the box was a black t-shirt with text on the front saying "I love nerds". You took it out and put it on, not knowing why Virgil got you this shirt in particular.
In the background, you could hear Virgil struggling with something. So you turned to see what was happening and noticed his hair was more of a mess than usual. "Pfft! Your hair is a mess! What happened? Did you fight a tornado?" He snorted. "Of course not! Do you like your shirt, by the way?" He crouched down to let you fix his hair, not even bothering to ask if you notice a difference.
By the time you were done, you had fixed his gentle curls. You gave the android man a kind and caring hug. That's when you saw it.
"hold on a second," You carefully checked to see if his shirt had a tag at the back, and there was. He wasn't wearing this shirt when he startled you. "Are you wearing another shirt?" You weakly pushed him back to see what he was wearing.
You read the text on the shirt and you squint your eyes at Virgil before softening the look into a knowing, silly grin.
"You know what it says, say it." You chortled as you saw his face changing to a subtle shade of red against his darker synthetic skin, though it got a bit harder to see when he stood up.
It was quite impressive how they designed the robots.
Virgil started playing with the hem of his shirt. He's usually not like this, unless he's embarrassed or feeling shy. You reached up to put one of your hands onto Virgil's, his actions ceased immediately before nervously glancing at you, then back to the floor.
He stayed silent for about a minute before you broke the quiet. "You know, I would have found out sooner or later, you silly, adorable robot man." He bit his lip, taking a deep breath, and letting it out a little loudly.
"It, um… it s-says…" Virgil sputtered, pouting but kept a weary smile. "It's okay. Take your time, V." He smiled. He loved how patient you were with him, even when you were irritated about something, you always stayed patient around him. Virgil wonders how he got through his daily life as a robot—even before he became an android—how he dealt with life without someone as nice and cheerful as you.
Virgil closed his glowing eyes for a brief moment and opened his mouth, his eyebrows knitted together. "'I am a nerd'."
"Yeah, you are a nerd, V." His eyes snapped open with disbelief. "What?! I didn't call myself a nerd, I just said what my shirt said!" You burst out laughing at his defense.
"Well, you got that shirt for yourself , right?" Virgil stared, mildly confused. " Y-yeah?" You held back a snort. "Then you called yourself a nerd without meaning to. Oh, that is hilarious!" You fell to the ground, holding your side while laughing your ass off.
After a few moments, your laughs had slowly come to a stop, finally letting you catch your breath. Virgil watched as you carefully stood up to stand beside him.
"But do you know what?" You smiled sweetly at the taller robot. "What?" You gave him a tight hug before sighing.
"You are my nerd."