Work Text:
The tapping at Equius' window came at its usual time. He looked up from the tiny robot he was working on, and sighed. He crossed the bedroom and opened his window, and a grinning Vriska stuck her head in.
"Hi," she said. "Come on out!"
Equius assumed a stern expression. "Vriska, I warned you not to climb onto the roof anymore. You're going to fall and hurt yourself."
Vriska stuck her tongue out at him, then clasped her spindly fingers around his thick wrist. "Just come out here," she pleaded, tugging him to the window. "The stars are gorgeous tonight."
Equius pretended there was even a chance he would have refused as he slipped out the window and onto the roof. Sure enough, the stars glittered like grains of sugar scattered on a vast expanse of dark silk. Just above the horizon, the moon was beginning its ascent among the multitude of stars. The beauty of the night sky never failed to take Equius's breath away--Vriska had taught him long ago to be curious about its secrets.
"Fantastic, isn't it?" she asked, watching him taking it all in.
"Yes," he breathed, still blown away by it all, even though he'd seen it a thousand times before.
Vriska grinned at him, and pulled her knees up to her chest, her arms circling her legs like a wreath. She looked up at the sky as well, long black hair tumbling down her back. As Equius glanced at her, he could see goosebumps up and down her long legs. Vriska tugged at her shorts absentmindedly; then, seeing his gaze on her, she caught his eye and grinned. For the hundredth time he felt his eyes drawn to the small crescent-shaped scar on her lower lip, the result of a childhood faceplant when she'd insisted the nearby playground castle was her pirate ship, and gotten too enthusiastic swinging from structure to structure in the heat of imaginary battle.
"Better than robots, right?" she said.
Equius nodded, unable to stop the smile that grew on his face, as he watched the moon gracefully highlight his childhood friend's face.