Archive of Our Own

Nani.

created with the purpose of working as a nanny, Nani has all the sweet qualities that a pure metallic heart could carry in its circuits. she is patient, polite, careful and very kind.

wherever the naughty kid Jessie goes, Nani follows her, making sure to keep the girl’s safety at every moment and everywhere.

and wherever Nani goes, she stole people's hearts with his sweetness.

Lawrie is one of those people.

“geez, Lawrie.” he gets startled by his brother's voice behind him “are you still not over her?”

the younger robot – just a few minutes younger, by the way – turns around just to find Larry’s innocent smile “shut up.”

the older brother’s smile widened “bro… you even made a doodle of her… that’s so cute!”

the robot’s eyes follow his brother's index, which points to the sheet drawn on his office desk. it’s a poorly made portrait of Nani that he didn’t even realize he did.

Lawrie immediately turns the sheet and Larry’s giggles rang through the room “you should be writing the report R-T asked you, but instead you’re more busy daydreaming about a robot girl?”

the officer remains serious but he knows Larry isn’t afraid of him at all.

“don’t look at me that way…” Lawrie feels the older twin put his arm around his shoulder trying to cheer him up “you've been into her for a long time, huh, why don't you ask her out right away?”

Lawrie stares blankly “no way.”

the twin breaks the hug “and why not?”

“I just don’t want to.”

Larry crosses his arms and glances at him suspiciously “are you afraid?”

the question makes Lawrie turn his face away in shame “it’s not like that.”

however, his answer does not convince the twin “oh, you are.” Larry giggles annoyingly “who would have thought… the great unshakable police officer is afraid to ask his dream girl out…”

it’s because Lawrie is the complete opposite of Nani.

he isn’t a bad guy actually, but his job requires him to be. it’s not common, but sometimes he needs to arrest and interrogate people, which brings him kind of unwanted ‘bad fame’. and worse, when compared to his childish and naive twin, the contrast between them becomes even more obvious.

but he’s not like he acts. in reality Lawrie is an introvert and chill guy. he doesn’t trust much other people so chooses not to talk with anyone, but deep down he has a good-intentioned heart.

anyways, he supposes that Nani sees him the same way as everyone else sees.

“Nani would never look at me.”

“I don’t think so.” Larry interrupts his self-deprecating thoughts with an empathetic smile “like… who are the other single robots that you would compete against for her heart? like… Darryl? Carl? I mean… who are you afraid that Nani might prefer over you?”

Lawrie wouldn't call his brother's point of view helpful at all “let me see… Stu is the most obvious answer. there’s also Barley, I guess.” he counts on his fingers “Surge is a good choice so is Lou, also- actually we aren't even sure if she likes male or female robots, so even Pearl would be a better choice than me!”

the twin glances at him “you’re making excuses, Lawrie! if you really wanted this, you would have done it already!”

the cop looks away, a scolding from his brother being what he needs least at the memento “just stop meddling in my life, Larry.”

a silence hangs over the room for a full minute, the only sound being the office's ceiling fan. the paper for the report R-T requested remains blank, by the way.

Larry speaks again “if your fear is of being rejected, then make sure that she won’t do it.”

the younger twin tone is ironic as he snaps back "as if there were any way to do so.”

“but there is!”

the other doesn't seem convinced “like what?”

“have you ever heard about the swamp of love?”

for sure, Lawrie has heard a lot about this place. the main reason being the mass complaints that he receives because of the bad pranks that occur there.

he ignores these details, though “yeah, I heard about there.”

“nice! so you must know Angelo…”

and he knows him. Angelo is a epic class sniper that, besides being known for being one of the best snipers of Brawl Stars, he is also famous for the amount of problems that he already caused thanks to a small detail:

Angelo isn’t only a fly, but also a cupid.

there are some reports about him using his cupid license – which expired five months ago – for bad purposes, but most of these reports are unreliable and the stories full of holes, as if no one can remember exactly what happened, but they know things happened and it's Angelo's fault.

he is cruel, to say the least.

Lawrie is unable to hide his discomfort at the memory “I’m not asking for Angelo’s help no matter what!”

surprisingly Larry doesn’t insist “you know better.” he shrugs, heading to the door “but, if I were you, I would ask Nani out with or without Angelo’s help, after all, those who don’t make it happen, see it happening.”

he leaves and Lawrie is alone again.

with a deep sigh, the robot fixes his posture and tries to start writing the inquiry report that R-T ordered. but staring at the blank paper, Lawrie knows he won't be able to concentrate any time soon.

as expected, Lawrie came back on his words.

after spending a whole day having trouble doing his job, the cop decided to give his brother's stupid plan a chance and, after making up a lame excuse to his boss and promising to finish his obligations the next day, he leaves work and makes his way to the swamp of love.

late at night, Larry is probably home while Lawrie ventures alone into the forest in search of the place. despite the darkness and the lack of a map or flashlight, the robot knows the way and relies on the moonlight to illuminate his steps.

suddenly he hears a rustling in a bush behind him, turning quickly with his gun ready to shoot “who is it?”

no answer.

Lawrie thinks it must have been the wind, then he sees a light coming from behind the same bushes and hears some music playing. he approaches, moving some of the leaves aside to find exactly what he was looking for.

there is a large and beautiful lake with a small waterfall and, although the water is not a pretty color – it’s green and full of leaves and bugs floating on its surface –, when reflected by the moonlight it makes the scenery pleasant. the cold night wind blows and the trees sway along with the music coming from the radio on the ground. next to the lake, a blanket is spread on the grass with a picnic basket and candles on top, as if it were a night walk between lovers or something.

the swamp of love.

“oh, hey, look what we got here…” a well-known voice sounds above Lawrie and he looks up only to see the man with a comically big nose and green skin resting on a tree branch with a glass in his hands “if it isn’t the most famous cop from Starr Park…”

Willow, that is swimming in the lake, turns to them spilling a lot of water when talking “so easy to be the most famous if you're the only one.”

Lawrie doesn't know what he hates the most between Willow’s outrageous laughter or the clear tone of mockery in everything Angelo says. he considers turning back around, going home and pretending he never considered asking these two for help in the first place.

however, the thought of Nani keeps him at the place.

“first of all…” Angelo stops him from speaking, flying next to the officer with his little wings to offer him his drink “wine?”

the robot shakes his head “no, thanks. I don’t drink.”

“are you sure, honey? not even a little bit? this one is light, but if you usually don’t drink, you'd get drunk in no time..." the fly jokes amusingly, sitting on the picnic blanket and then patting his side so Lawrie follows "so what brings you here, darling? Willow and I are drinking a little and enjoying this wonderful night! if you want to join us you'll have to drink too..."

Angelo seems to be serious and Lawrie repeats “thank you but I don’t intend to stay.”

“so what is it?” the cupid insists.

Lawrie thinks before saying anything, embarrassed for asking a stupid favor to an even stupider person. he knows that both Angelo and Willow will probably come at him like “ an important officer like you seeking the dirty help of a cupid because is too afraid to ask a woman out? ” and could clearly hear the duo’s laughter in his mind.

however, Lawrie is almost certain that he’s not the first one to ask Angelo for help in these cases, so being just another one among so many desperate people doesn't sound really bad to him. 

“you look like you came here to ask me to be your cupid...” Angelo points out “of course it’s just a guess.”

the robot blinks “how do you know?” 

he gets a bit nervous, but the fly doesn’t seem to notice “well, if you didn’t come to accuse us of committing ‘infractions’ that don’t exist, then you must be here for another reason. if you came to arrest me, you would have already used your handcuffs.” the man’s provocative laugh runs through the robot’s circuits, sending electric shivers through the metal of his body “and then you could do whatever you want to me handcuffed…”

“enough.” Lawrie cut it off before he could even consider the idea, ignoring the mischievous chuckle from the cupid “but that’s it, I want you to be my cupid or whatever.”

“an important officer like you seeking the dirty help of a cupid because is too afraid to ask a woman out?” Willow repeats it the exact way Lawrie thought before and he almost facepalms.

“don’t judge him, Willow…” Angelo warns when Willow comes out of the lake and joins them, Lawrie resisting the urge to look at her body in just a bikini “there’s so many brawlers asking me for the same thing that I even feel like a celebrity…”

what Lawrie wouldn't do to have that list of brawlers.

the duo share a laugh and the robot frowns “will you help me then, Angelo?”

“I’ll think about it.” the fly put his hand on his chin pretending to be thinking “what do I get from this?”

Lawrie blinks “I- I actually didn’t think about it.” he admits and sees Angelo smiles – almost – sweetly “there’s something you could want in return?”

“I actually want nothing from you…” the cupid shakes his wine glass smoothly “this one will be for your hard work, how about it, cop?”

the officer narrows his eyes suspiciously. he knows that Angelo is probably lying to get him in trouble later, but he has no choice but to accept it. 

“fine. it sounds okay.”

“we have a deal then.” the cupid offers his hand with a friendly smile that Lawrie knows it’s fake and they shake hands “so who’s the lucky lady you want that bad?” there’s a teasing tone in Angelo’s voice that doesn’t go unnoticed “it’s Piper? or Amber? maybe Rosa? could it be… me?”

Willow elbows her friend “Angelo, please.”

“c’mon, Willow, he may very well be in love with me… just look at me! I’m a snack!” he admires himself in a mirror that who knows where he got it from.

Lawrie ignores the scene “it’s Nani.”

five seconds of awkward silence.

“oh, honey…” Angelo’s eyebrows rose in a mix of surprise and disagreement “Nani like… that one redhead crybaby’s babysitter?”

the robot nods.

“don’t you think you’re like… kind of…” Willow chimes in, stealing their attention. she gestures something with her hands “too much… for her?”

Angelo nods with a weird face “I’m with Willow on this one, darling. like, honey, look at you!” he extends his arms to Lawrie “if it weren’t for Surge and Stu, you’d be the finest robot we have, so please give yourself some value!”

Lawrie knows that Angelo and Willow are annoying creatures who like to give their unrequested opinion on everything, so he just ignores them “just do what I’m asking you, Angelo, we have a deal. if I wanted your opinion I would have asked.”

the cupid clicks his tongue in displeasure “you’re so boring, dear.” he gives Willow a sideways glance and they exchange a nod, turning to Lawrie after “fine. I will do it.”

living up to his role as a cupid, the next day Angelo is on top of a tree in the park as he likes to do. from up there, he can watch the brawlers passing by without being seen.

“let me see… mini-Pam is right there.” he talks to himself as he watches Jessie playing with some tools “geez, why doesn't she just play with dolls like girls her age!? Pam must be such a pain in the ass as a mother…” he sighs “I just wish Willow was here now, judging people alone is so boring.”

he keeps looking around “so if the redhead is there… it means Nani is probably nearby…” he squints his eyes to scan the area, but since Angelo has sniper vision it doesn't take long for him to capture the small robotic figure “uh-oh! you better watch out you half robot!” he takes a heart-shaped arrow and aims with his bow.

Nani is standing still, an easy target. Angelo wasn't crowned the best Brawl Stars male and female sniper in vain – both categories because he’s gender neutral and no one cares that Piper said that it is unfair and accused Angelo of using his identity as an excuse to be the best sniper twice.

“I just need to concentrate and…” the fly narrows his eyes, looking directly to Nani “in three, two, on-”

“WATCH OUT FOR THE BALL!”

a scream breaks Angelo out of his concentration, the arrow slipping from his hand when he feels something collide with his face.

“ow!” he drops his equipment to cover his cheek “my pretty face! my enviable features! this can only be the evil eye! ” with his little wings, he flies to the children playing under the tree “which one of you annoying critters threw that ball and dared to ruin my day!?”

Bonnie and Gus point at Leon and a deadly silence hangs in the air as Angelo approaches the boy, but he holds back knowing that it wouldn’t be good for his reputation to be seen cursing a child and his tenth generation in the middle of a sunny day in the park.

the cupid sighs “be more careful next time or I’ll poison those lollipops of yours!” the boy nods in fright and Angelo finally misses his equipment that fell when he was hit “so where’s my bow now?”

“over there!” Bonnie points to Nita, who is holding the object with her teeth.

Angelo’s eyes pop out “hey, hey little bear, don’t do that!”

“my sister’s name is Nita.” Leon warns.

“hey… Nita.” Angelo corrects with venom on his tongue. he particularly doesn’t like children “can I have it back?”

the girl growls like a real animal and Angelo holds back a snort under the threat of getting hit again by Leon – this time with reason. she finally spits out the object and runs to the other children.

“ew.” the cupid picks up the slobbery bow with the tips of his fingers; he can even see Nita’s teeth marks on it “those little demons… they owe me!”

Angelo spends a little more time complaining and gets back to work, however, that’s when he misses his arrow.

he looks around “my arrow… where is it?” his eyes wander to where Nani was before he shot, a sharp pang squeezing his heart when he realizes that she is fine and the object isn’t piercing in her like it should be “oh my- where is it?”

and then, sweeping his sniper eyes over every brawler in sight, Angelo spots what looks like someone lying on the ground.

bingo!

he approaches to be able to see what is happening and then sees his heart-shaped arrow buried in the back of a fainted woman.

he sighs in relief, the fainting being only a side effect when someone gets hit by his love arrows. it’s nothing new and people are probably worried because Angelo is the only one who can see his love arrows, so they probably think the girl passed out suddenly.

“first aider passing! make room!” he lies.

Bea frowns at him “since when? you’re just curious!”

Angelo doesn't take offense, aware that many brawlers don't like him at all; some of them jealous of his gaming skills, some of them because of his toxic personality. to be loved, to be hated, Angelo doesn’t care, in the end he is still being remembered.

he walks past her "my super still heals, right? I can be considered a healer then."

Pam chimes in "but it only heals you, not your team."

"oh, honey..." a tired sigh leaves his lips as he pinches the bridge of his nose "just let me check the girl.”

the fly gets closer and realizes that, out of so many brawlers present in the park at that moment, his arrow hit the K-pop princess, Melodie.

he knows he should feel guilty or at least undo his mistake for not being exactly what Lawrie asked him to do, however, looking at the gorgeous sleeping woman, Angelo wonders if that mistake could have been something good.

“hey, Melodie.” he kneels closer, trying to wake her up and discreetly taking the arrow out from her back “are you okay?”

the woman blinks her fox eyes a few times before sitting down “why was I sleeping on the ground? and why are you guys around me?”

“we just saw you pass out and we got worried.” Bea says and Angelo nods.

“we’re outside in the park.” Pam explains “maybe the sun must be too strong for you, girl.”

“yeah, it could have been that...” she gets up with some difficulty and, standing on her feet, Melodie manages to balance herself and look around, as if looking for something. Angelo follows her eyes and sees some papers scattered on the grass near them “my flyers!”

“what is that for?” the cupid can’t help but ask. at that point, Bea ran back and Pam went to check on his daughter, leaving Angelo alone with Melodie “did they put you in charge of distributing the flyers for the next Brawl Stars championship or something?”

his laugh is a bit toxic, but the man knows that Melodie doesn’t mind because they’re good friends – after Willow and Charlie, Melodie is the girl he’s closest to – and usually mocks eachother like that.

“I would never.” she makes a face that gets another laugh from the cupid “I was just promoting a show I’m doing this weekend.”

“another one? girl, why didn’t you tell me yet? I’m your biggest fan, you know that!”

Melodie shows a smug smile "I’m putting you and Willow on my honor guest list, don’t worry."

despite the overly confident and snobbish persona that Melodie created for promoting her songs, off stage and the spotlight she is a completely different person and Angelo loves her. she is polite, gracious and very dedicated.

that's why he believes that hitting her instead of Nani was a good thing.

thinking about it, Angelo glances at the heart-shaped arrow on the ground, knowing that the effects would start soon "are you feeling okay from the sudden faint?”

Melodie nods "my head still hurts a little, but I'm sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

her smile is so kind that the cupid reciprocates "well, now I have to go because I have so much tea to spill with Willow. stop by the swamp to see us later, darling!”

they say goodbye and Angelo flies away with his little wings, hoping that Lawrie can forgive him.

Lawrie barely slept.

anxious since he got up, the robot thinks about the deal he made with Angelo last night. a part of him feels stupid for trusting someone with a questionable character like that fly, but the other part feels interested that he did something out of his monotonous routine.

not wanting to stress about this again, Lawrie tries to occupy his mind with other things. he reminds himself of the inquiry report that R-T still wants from him and decides it’s about time to finish it.

and after a whole day writing documents, analyzing cases and studying that law stuff, Lawrie is finally free. it’s almost evening and the sun is setting when the twins leave work.

“so I told Kit he was wrong to steal money from Moe but he said it was okay because Moe didn't even see anything and then I remembered that the mouse is blind and-”

Larry excitedly shares about his day, but Lawrie, by the other hand, can’t even listen to him, his thoughts stuck on Angelo and Nani.

“bro?”

the younger twin returns to earth when the other calls “yeah?”

“you’re not even listening…”

the officer sighs “I’m just… thinking too much…”

Larry seems to understand his lack of enthusiasm to talk when he just offers a kind smile and remains quiet. in a comfortable silence they calmly walk through Starr Park streets until they recognize a familiar figure from afar.

Larry realizes first “isn’t that-”

“Nani.” Lawrie speaks over “it’s her.” they exchange a dubious look and the younger twin feels a bit nervous for some reason “we’ll find out now if it worked.”

walking alongside Pam and Jessie as always, Nani isn’t alone, and they seem to be going home. Lawrie felt his excitement increasing the closer he got, thinking about what is going to happen when he and Nani walk though each other. if she’s going to look at him, talk to him. 

however, all they get after walking by them is a polite “good evening” from Pam that Larry responds with his customer service smile.

Lawrie blinks, the other trio walking away “so… that’s it?” it’s Larry who asks.

“maybe…” the officer blinks again, apparently confused “maybe she’s just tired or something… could it be?”

“yeah, who knows.” Larry agrees, but the doubt in his voice is very clear. Lawrie doesn’t blame him, though.

he sighs “let’s just go home.” the twin nods and they walk in silence.

Lawrie feels a bit upset because a part of him really trusted that Angelo would help him, but at the same time he knows that the chance of the cupid not doing anything is high, after all, as the fly himself said, he wouldn't gain anything from that. Lawrie feels like he was deceived anyway.

however, his thoughts are cut off when he feels someone touching his shoulder.

“excuse me.” 

a sweet female voice sounds and Lawrie immediately recognizes it.

“hey-” he turns around and doesn't expect to come face to face with a pair of breasts, after all the girl was tall – or Lawrie was short. embarrassed, he clears his throat and tilts his head up smiling awkwardly "hey… Melodie."

Larry, who hadn't noticed the woman’s presence yet, turns with a delightful smile “Melodie! it’s a pleasure to see you!” he’s lovely as always.

Melodie smiles smoothly “how are you boys doing?”

Larry and Lawrie worked for the singer sometimes, acting as her bodyguards during her shows. however, they had been busy with other things for a while now, so Buzz volunteered to fill that role. now, at every concert of hers, people could hear the dinosaur's annoying whistle blowing over the music every five minutes.

however, Lawrie notices something different in the girl’s smile. call him an observer, but he swears it looks a bit unnatural, maybe because it's been a long time since he's looked at her that closely.

“it was a long day at work and we’re going home now… what are you doing out at this hour, miss?” Larry politely talks to the woman while Lawrie just listens quietly “oh, what are those with you? are these tickets to sell? you know I can help you with it!”

“no, no!” Melodie cuts off before the robot starts talking too much “I was putting up some ads for my concert this weekend… and I just…” the girl shyly looks away “I thought I'd invite you- both of you… after all it’s going to be an important step on my career, you know…”

Larry doesn’t seem to notice anything, but Lawrie’s senses are heightened by Melodie’s sudden shyness and lack of eye contact. she always walks so confidently and, even though she’s a different person offstage, she makes a point of looking someone in the eye when talking to them.

that small detail seems very intriguing to Lawrie, but he doesn’t dare to say anything.

Larry, oblivious to the things that his twin observes, cheers up for Melodie with a wide smile “you really came to invite us to your concert personally? it means a lot to us! I’m sure we’ll love going to see you perform!”

as much as the older twin showers Melodie with compliments, the woman’s eyes stare directly at Lawrie, as if seeking approval, so he decides to say something "yeah, as my brother said, we really appreciate your invitation, Melodie."

his voice sounds extremely robotic – even for an actual robot – when he speaks, but it seems to be enough for Melodie when she breaks into a huge smile and pulls them both into a hug "really? I'll be so, so, so happy if you guys come to see me!"

"woah, Melodie!" Larry tries to speak up, embarrassed by having his face crushed in the K-pop star’s breasts. he pushes her away slightly, Lawrie doing the same despite not showing any reaction "I didn't know it meant so much to you, seriously, I'm surprised! you could have told us earlier and we would make sure to see you more often!”

Melodie blinks, looking from one twin to the other until stops at Larry “I also don’t know why I haven’t said it before… I just… I just feel like it now.”

“that’s all right.” this time it’s Lawrie who replies, driven by his instinct saying that something isn’t right “we need to go home now, if you don’t mind-”

“Lawrie!” Larry complains and crosses his arms. he goes to the woman’s side to face his brother “don’t be such a killjoy!”

Melodie gently smiles, though “that’s okay, boys, see you around!”

“awn, fine then!” Larry pouts but agrees “see you, Melodie!” he waves his hand excitedly.

Lawrie, in turn, takes one last look at the girl as he watches her walk away. in a second he turns his head back, he finds Melodie’s eyes staring at him over her shoulder, but when he blinks, she’s no longer staring.

due to Nani not meeting his expectations and Melodie's slightly awkward encounter the day before, Lawrie can't seem to settle down until he gets an answer from Angelo.

the answer he gets isn't the best, though.

“you did WHAT?”

it’s early in the morning when Lawrie is at the swamp of love shaking the cupid by his shoulders. he didn’t sleep again, luckily he’s still a robot so all he needs to do is charge his batteries, to sleep is just a whim. 

“first of all:” Angelo rudely pushes the metallic hands off him “stop yelling at me because it isn't even eight yet. Willow is asleep!” he points to a wooden cabin across the lake, where they probably reside. Angelo, on the other hand, likes to sleep outside in tall tree branches – from where Lawrie knocked him down earlier “and secondly: I already told it was an accident!”

Lawrie tries to stay calm, even all he wants to do at the moment is to drown that dumb fly on the lake “how was this an accident?”

“as I said, the kids hit me with a soccer ball just as I was about to shoot, so the arrow missed Nani and ended up piercing Melodie! that's all!” the cupid got his hands up in surrender and, as much as Lawrie tries to find any sign of lie in his eyes, Angelo is being honest.

the robot sighs heavily “and is there any way to reverse this? or remove the spell, perhaps?” he don’t get any response when a yellow smile adorns the other’s face “no, Angelo, don’t tell me that-”

“no, no, it’s not for life!” the fly hurries up on explaining, flying a few centimeters off the ground when he's nervous “the duration is around five or six days…”

“a week!?” the officer almost chokes “so Melodie is going to be in love with me for a week?”

the cupid nods “basically.”

“and there’s nothing you can do about it?” Lawrie tries to negotiate with the fly “nothing like, like… nothing at all?”

“yeah, I can do nothing, babe. oh, it’s all love!” he answers with no enthusiasm.

“but have you already tried-”

“calm down, robocop!” clearly pissed off, Angelo crosses his arms “I already told you there’s nothing I can do! I've been working as a cupid since I was twelve, I know what I'm talking about!”

“it’s because of “mistakes” like this that you can’t renew your cupid license! I can arrest you for this if I want to, you know?”

“I’m up to date with my documents, if you must know! I just don’t have them here right now..." he rolls his eyes and snorts “still, the love effect will last for about a week, so until then you will have to deal with it!”

“but I didn’t ask for this!” the robot tries to argue “also… it feels wrong to play with people’s feelings like that… Melodie doesn’t even like me and now she kind of believes she does!”

the cupid raises an eyebrow “so playing with Nani's feelings is okay but not Melodie's?

the accusation in Angelo’s gaze and the sarcasm in his voice weigh heavily on Lawrie’s conscience, who opens his mouth several times to defend himself but no words dare come out.

he shrugs, though “I just need to avoid Melodie for a week, it’s no big deal.”

Angelo's nervousness seems to pass in the blink of an eye, giving way to smugness as a wide smile appears on his face "oh, honey, if you think it’s going to be that easy to ignore her..." he laughs, flying around the officer "don’t forget we're talking about magic, dear, something that is beyond our control and understanding.”

already tired enough at the beginning of the day, Lawrie politely thanks the fly for his help and time – even though all he's done is annoy him – and turns his back to leave. on his way out the swamp, he thinks about what Angelo meant by powers that are beyond their control and understanding.

after his talk with Angelo, Lawrie decides not to get worked up about it and follows his routine normally. luckily, on his way to work, the same event from last night doesn’t happen again, so he believes that simply avoiding the girl until next week could be easier than he thought.

when he arrives, Larry and R-T are already getting themselves ready for the day.

there’s a pile of folders on his desk, by the way.

“good morning, I guess…” he approaches his boss “what are all these folders for?”

“I have a very important meeting to go to today and I don't have time to finish analyzing these cases…” he says as he wipes his visor – we call them eyes – with a cloth “so I think you can do it for me.”

the officer blinks “this is-”

“no, it’s not a joke. I’m serious.” R-T’s eyes are friendly and so is his tone, but Lawrie feels the threat behind these words “I want at least five reports finished when I come back. you understand me?” the employee nods “nice! have a good day!” the boss leaves with his hot cup of coffee.

“until he comes back?”

“woah,” Larry, who was also there, sighs “that's tough, lil bro.” he leaves too.

behind his desk, Lawrie lets his head fall and bang on the wood. he knows that, as much as he is a robot and rarely gets tired, he won't be able to finish writing five inquiry reports until his boss comes back. not even two, to begin with.

"ughh…" he complains and picks up the first folder to read "meanwhile Larry is just behind a counter selling tickets... damn it, R-T! I deserve a pay rise!”

half an hour passes until a noise interrupts his reading. it sounds like a bird crashing on the office’s window, which is closed and covered by curtains. Lawrie ignores it, but the sound continues and he decides to get up to see.

he is surprised when pulls the curtains and sees none other than a 1.80 tall K-pop star on the other side of the glass window “Melodie, what the h-”

sporting a huge smile, the woman knocks on the glass and tries to say something.

the robot frowns “I can’t hear you from here.”

she blows on the glass and writes a simple in .

Lawrie has so many questions, but decides to open the window. he remembers what Angelo said about powers that are beyond their control.

maybe that's it.

he pulls the woman inside "how did you get here? did you know we’re on the third floor, right?"

"awn, good morning to you too, cutie!" Melodie hugs him, burying again the robot’s face in her breasts as she always does. she then pushes him away, smiling brightly "I used a ladder I found in a construction area nearby!” 

"Jacky!" Carl yells from a window of some building under construction "I can't get down! someone just stole our ladder!"

eating her lunch, the woman doesn't even bother to turn around to yell back "stop being a crybaby and just use the fucking ladder!" she turns to Dynamike, who is also on his break "if he keeps this up we'll never finish this project..."

the older man nods, feeding his bird with bread crumbs “he’s still young, he'll learn to fend for himself…”

Lawrie coughs “fine.”

he doesn't know how or why Melodie is in his office right now. he doesn't even remember giving her the address of where he works, much less telling her which of the many rooms in the building is his. yet, she managed to find him.

he wonders if the window thing was just plan B because she was barred from the social entrance of the building in plan A.

maybe, who knows.

“anyway…” the robot answers uncertainty, looking at the door and remembering that someone could come in at any moment “what are you here for?”

“I don’t know…” the woman’s cheeks turn pink and she covers her face with her hands like the fanservicing K-pop idol she is “I think I missed you…”

Lawrie, on the other hand, doesn’t know what to say, humming in understanding. he knows that Melodie didn't really missed him and that it’s just the cupid’s arrow messing with her head, so just the fact that he’s accepting her to be there when the woman isn’t in her best mind already seems enough of a bad idea.

“well,” the officer clears his throat, trying to stay professional “i’d love to talk to you but, as you can see, I have a lot of stuff to work on it so-”

“let me help you!” Melodie interrupts him promptly.

the robot blinks “have you ever worked in the police?” she shakes her head “maybe worked as a security guard then?” she denies again “have you at least read a criminal case file before?” one more no. Lawrie snorts “so how exactly do you intend to help me?”

“with anything, come on! I learn quickly, just tell me and I’ll do it!”

Melodie's smile is so big and full of expectation that Lawrie almost feels bad for her. he could very well kick her out of his office and continue his work, but something about the woman's supernatural persistence tells him that trying to get rid of her would be only a waste of time.

the epic brawler sighs "fine. I'll let you help me then.”

"yay!" Melodie celebrates by doing little jumps and Lawrie almost finds it cute. almost.

“so you can start with this file here.” he tosses the folder to the girl, who opens it and starts to quickly look through it. Lawrie turns to get a pen for her “an inquiry report is a document that summarizes the results of a police investigation, highlighting the facts, evidence, statements, and conclusions reached. you need to pay attention to the dates, serial number, make a brief description of the facts that gave rise to the inquiry, make a detailed description of the steps taken during the investigation such as statements, evidence, examinations, and search or seizure warrants, in addition to concluding with an analysis of the facts investigated and the evidence collected and, finally, a suggestion for archiving or continuing with the judicial process if-"

“all done!”

Melodie waves three fully written sheets in her hands when Lawrie calmly turns around hiding his surprise  “excuse me?”

“it’s all done. I’ve read it all and wrote everything you told me.”

the robot blinks, snatching the sheets from the woman’s hand “let me see! this isn’t possible! you don’t even know the scientific terms we use and- oh my… you really did it, Melodie...” his eyes go up from the report to the woman, who returns it with an expectant look, as if expecting praise or approval. he finishes reading “and it turned out really good! how did you even do that?”

“oh, it’s nothing special!”

Melodie waves his hands full of shyness and modesty, but Lawrie still wants an answer “no, seriously, Melodie… where did you learn to write like that?”

the smile never leaves the K-pop star’s face “I don’t know either… I just thought that…” she hesitates, biting his soft lips “if you need me, then I could learn anything if it helps you… it wasn’t that hard and I hope it made you happy…”

happy isn’t exactly the word, scared is. Lawrie is scared not of Melodie, but of how strong the cupid’s love arrow could manipulate someone's mind and abilities. maybe that's why the love swamp duo likes to play with it so much.

with Melodie still looking at him like a puppy, Lawrie offers a forced smile "yeah. that made me very happy, for sure.”

"really?" she asks with the sweetest voice possible and Lawrie can’t say anything but nod.

silent, the robot can look at Melodie carefully. she is beautiful indeed, very attractive in every way, be it her beautiful body, her strong persona on stage and cute off it, her gracious face with young and well-preserved features despite her age, even her height doesn’t look like a problem for real.

however, upon noticing his thoughts, Lawrie feels embarrassed, realizing then that the woman was still staring at him as she slowly approached.

“Lawrie!”

Larry suddenly opens the door, stopping when he sees his brother standing with an awkward smile.

the younger twin clears his throat “yes?”

“why are you standing there if you can do your job sitting down?” the older one asks and Lawrie rolls his eyes instead of answering “anyway… did you see my rule book? I’m pretty sure I left it in the drawer behind your desk and-” Larry approaches the desk, but Lawrie stops him with his arm. the older twin blinks “what’s wrong, Lawrie? can’t I just come by and pick up my book now?”

“I’ll get it for you.” he offers a tense smile – which Larry probably doesn’t suspect at all – and quickly opens the drawer and takes out the book “here is it.” he hands it to his brother.

Larry suspiciously stares at him for a few seconds, and if Lawrie wasn’t a robot he would be sweating. in the end, the older twin opens an innocent smile “thank you, bro! see you after work!”

“it’s nothing. see you.” 

Lawrie watches his older brother leave the room hugging his book and humming things about the rule book being his secret weapon. he sighs in relief when the door slams, eyes falling to under the desk where he sees Melodie hiding. he still has the option to kick her out, but he really needs to finish those inquiry reports and sees no better alternative than using Melodie to do so.

Angelo put Lawrie in a bad situation so at least he has to get something good out of it so he can apologize to himself later.

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m impressed.” 

later, R-T has just arrived and sees that his favorite employee – after Larry – has done what he told him and a bit more.

Lawrie smiles modestly "it was no big deal, you know…" he raises his head up "I'm just doing my job.”

after R-T finishes showering Lawrie with compliments, he leaves the room and the robot goes straight to the window. he opens the curtains and finds Melodie sitting on the windowsill.

"why haven't you come down yet?" he asks and then realizes that there’s no ladder there "and where's the ladder you used to come up?"

Melodie doesn't say anything, just points around. following her index, Lawrie sees the ladder and, at the top of it, something that looks like Mico peering out a window.

the robot tilts his head “isn’t this Charlie's apartment?”

“it is.” the singer confirms and calls Mico out from a short distance "hey! you pervert!”

the monkey turns around "go mind your own business, brat." and continues peering.

“I have a cop with me!” she shouts back.

it seems to have an effect as Mico turns back and starts to quickly descend the stairs "I'll give it back, just a minute! but I wasn't doing anything wrong, I swear! she hasn't even taken her clothes off yet!”

Lawrie sighs. that’s just the first day.

since Lawrie is still a brawler and doesn't live in Starr Park for free, the next day he plays – after all, he still has a contract with Brawl Stars where the salary and life insurance aren't bad at all –, actually is Larry who plays, but Lawrie is always there to help when his brother is in trouble.

in other words, when Larry gets his super charged and can spawn him.

obviously they use this ability in casual contexts, and it proved to be very useful when Larry one day forgot his credit card and teleported his brother to pay the bill for him. it would have been comical but understandable if it had been the grocery bill, not the dinner bill of a date between Larry and Max. it was so embarrassing that neither of the twins talks about it and to this day Lawrie has never seen his brother and Max interacting again.

back to the games, Lawrie doesn't mind being a kind of side-brawler, he even thinks it's better than participating in the entire match. he just makes his grand entrance with the teleporter, helps Larry as much as he can, and when his life runs out, he gets eliminated.

it’s no big deal.

TIME FOR SOME REAL ACTION.

when Lawrie materializes himself, he sees his brother and Piper. it’s a duo showdown match and they are hiding in a bush. the first thing he notices is that the duo is safe and sound and there's no enemies nearby.

“why am I here? you guys aren’t even in danger.”

Larry opens up a yellow smile “used super by accident.” 

the twin lowers his gun, not surprised at all “third.”

Larry blinks “what?”

“third time this season.”

the older brother is ready to argue but Piper speaks over them “we still have four teams to eliminate.” they hear some shots followed by a snort from her “I can’t hit no one from here.”

seconds later, the duo – or trio – sees Sandy idly passing through the battlefield all alone, so Larry and Lawrie decide to go after him. however, before the younger twin could even hit the legendary brawler, he is knocked down. not eliminated – he didn't suffer any damage – but literally knocked down to the ground.

“Lawrie!”

he recognizes the sweet and excited voice and isn’t really surprised with who he sees when opens his eyes “Melodie?”

“Melodie?” Larry questions the same.

Sandy yawns “did I do something?”

“Larry!” Piper shouts from where she is hiding “eliminate her now!”

the older twin seems to consider attacking Melodie, but realizes that she is not even attacking his brother – actually holding him, kind of hugging him or something – and doesn't know what to do “Lawrie, get out of there!”

“let me go, Melodie!” the officer asks, trying to push the girl away. they’re in the middle of the field and could be eliminated at any moment “we’re not even on the same team”

the woman weeps as she holds him even tighter “but I just want to help you!”

“Melodie, what the hell is this?” Draco, apparently her duo, comes out of a bush with his guitar, the confusion on his face very clear “are you teaming up with these guys?” he keeps a safe distance from them, prepared to attack at any moment.

“we’re not!” Larry is the one who answers, raising his hands in surrender “teaming up is against the rules! me and my brother would never do that!”

Draco raises an eyebrow, pointing at the other two “why isn’t your brother attacking Melodie then?”

“I can’t even pick up my gun.” Lawrie complains from Melodie’s tight embrace.

the woman squeezes him even tighter “that’s okay, I’ll protect yo-”

her speech is interrupted when a quick and distant arrow hits Melodie and eliminates her in a single shot. the three – Sandy is sleeping – turn around and the cupid appears from afar, sporting a smug smile as he flies over a small lake.

“Angelo…” Piper whispers with disgust from the bush she is in.

“you better stop flirting and start fighting, darling.” no one but Lawrie understands what he meant “or me and my duo will come out on top in this match.”

Byron comes out of a bush behind the epic brawler and everyone runs away.

due to the small confusion, the duos of Larry and Piper and Draco and Melodie are soon eliminated. outside the battlegrounds, Draco is obviously complaining.

“god damn it, Melodie! if you wanted to play alongside Larry and Lawrie you should have just said before and we would play another game instead of trying to team up in showdown!”

the woman has her head down, embarrassed “but I didn’t know I wanted to until… until I saw him there…”

confused, Draco exchanges a look with Lawrie. Larry and Piper are also staring at him, seeming to be waiting for an answer.

he plays fool “what?”

“what do you two have, huh?” Draco asks harshly, pointing his guitar to the officer “answer me, you robocop.”

“there’s nothing going on between me and Melodie.” Lawrie defends himself “we have nothing and I don’t even know why she went after me like that!”

Draco snorts, pinching his nose bridge “gosh, she acted just like that weird girl… Colette, I guess. Melodie isn’t like that.”

Piper turns to the woman “what about you, Melodie?”

“I… I guess I was just a little excited to see you- you two! I’ve missed playing together!” she shyly says.

Larry blinks “have we ever played together before?”

“it’s a good time to start!”

she shouts excitedly and, before any of them could react, Melodie is dragging them into a coop game, specifically gem grab. Piper stays behind, probably confused by what’s going on.

in fact, everyone there understands nothing except Lawrie and Angelo, the only ones who know the reason for Melodie's sudden silly, immature and impulsive behavior.

surprisingly, the trio gem grab match is going very well. the enemy team's brawlers barely being able to get out of their own base.

“ total party kill, haha! ” Draco celebrates as he eliminates two enemies in a roll “we're finishing them off!”

“it's so easy that I didn't even need to spawn Lawrie!” Larry says while they play, hitting his shots over the wall.

“you could at least use your super…” Melodie rambles in a whisper to herself while gathering the gems back there.

it's Draco who answers “Larry only teleports Lawrie in emergencies, Melodie. or do you think we're in danger now? we're cooking!”

the woman snorts and neither Larry nor Draco can stop her when she ignores everything and goes to the enemy base with all the gems.

“Melodie!” Larry tries to call her as he realizes what she is doing.

Draco, on the other hand, seems pissed off “are you going to make us lose another one?”

the guitarist uses his dragon to advance and try to protect her, but Melodie seems to put herself in even more danger, getting closer and closer to Rosa and Doug on the rival team. Sprout wasn't much of a problem, though.

“Melodie, get out of there right now or you’re going to die!” the rockstar yells at the teammate while fighting Rosa to stop her from reaching Melodie, Larry attacking Doug and Sprout from a distance.

“this is an emergency, right?”

SAY HELLO TO THE BAD COP.

“what?” Larry’s eyes widen as his twin appears “but I didn’t even use my super.”

Lawrie sighs “someone has to do something.”

even though he’s more fragile in combat than his brother or Draco, Lawrie doesn’t take long to approach the enemy base and, with the cover of his teammates, he finishes off the enemies with his gun and reaches Melodie.

“come on.” he calls, knowing that they must retreat before the enemies respawn. no response “come on, Melodie, let’s get out of here.”

the woman doesn't even move, her fox eyes showing a glow that Lawrie knows very well it’s Angelo's fault "you saved me…”

realizing that he doesn't have time to waste, Lawrie sighs and picks the girl up in his arms. Melodie is startled at first, but clings to the robot when she realizes what's happening.

Doug’s mouth drops open "what the hell, dude? is that even allowed?"

"Kit does the same!" Draco shouts.

"geez, Lawrie." Larry watches the twin run with Melodie and all ten gems to their base "you've got to be crazy..."

safe in their base, Melodie is placed on the ground and the countdown begins.

"I have to go now." Lawrie tries to go back to help the team in the last fifteen seconds of combat, but the grab on his wrist stop him "Melo-"

"thank you, my hero."

the battle around Lawrie no longer exists when he gets surprised with a kiss on the cheek. he's a robot and doesn't feel much – he doesn't even know if it was good for Melodie to touch her beautiful and delicate lips to pure metal –, but even with so many buts and buts, he can swear he feel the sweetness of that small gesture.

his circuits in the area of ​​his face heats up. or, in human language, he blushes.

"Melodie."

she smiles as she looks him deep in the eyes "Lawrie, I really-”

and only then do they notice Rosa right behind the robot.

" weed ’em and reap, darling! ”

“and… they lost another one.” Angelo comments as he watches the quartet leave the battlefield after a ugly defeat “and what a comeback, honey! Rosa played smart on taking advantage of the lovebirds to steal the gems…”

Willow laughs evilly “that’s why I say romance is a stumbling block!”

the fly sideways glances at his best friend “that is if it’s not the imaginary romance you have with Mortis…”

she glares “you’ll see, Angelo. he’ll be mine!”

“my love arrows are here if you need them.” Angelo jokes and blows a kiss. Willow gives him his middle finger.

from afar, the cupid sees Draco arguing with Melodie over losing trophies, Larry trying to calm down their argument and Lawrie walking a little behind in silence. he bets the robot is thinking about the moment he had with Melodie.

“these two…” he muses to himself, but Willow looks at him curiously “I never make a mistake...”

the next day Lawrie is surprised when his boss walks into his office holding a bouquet of red roses.

the officer’s eyes widen and Larry, who is nearby, sobs "R-T... you..." he gets emotional and pretends to be wiping a tear "I didn't know you felt this way about my brother... I don't even know what to say, but I promise to support you both and-"

"this isn't mine, you idiot." the boss snaps back in a bad mood and throws the bouquet on Lawrie's desk "it was at the reception when I arrived, has your name on it.”

the short robot leaves and Larry doesn't wait to tease his brother "woah, Lawrie…” he whistles “I didn't know you were coveted among men too!”

"what?" he blinks "just because it's a bouquet doesn't mean a man gave me this!"

Larry shrugs "what woman would ever buy a guy roses?"

the younger twin ignores his brother. he had two assumptions: either it was a gift from Melodie to win him over, or it was a gift from Angelo to tease him; both being equally bad.

he took the flowers and read the little card attached:

Lawrie.

today is a beautiful day, but not as beautiful as you. would you allow me to have your gracious company for a night walk?

with love from your future girlfriend, Melodie.

“I’m happy you found someone who flirts worse than you, but apparently you're the one who's going to wear the wedding dress.”

the officer startles at his brother’s voice right behind him, quickly hiding the card “go mind your business, Larry.”

“but I’m curious…” the older one tries to convince Lawrie with his puppy eyes “why don’t you tell me what is going on between you and Melodie?”

“what do you mean by ‘what is going on’? there’s nothing going on.”

Larry’s posture is mocking as he crosses his arms and replies “seriously, bro? that thing yesterday was weird and even Draco said that Melodie isn’t like that. she always treated us with respect and professionalism and then she’s suddenly head over heels in love with you and trying at all costs to get your attention. does it looks normal to you!?”

Lawrie doesn’t answer.

“you’re having an affair, aren’t you?”

“what?” he blinks “no.”

but Larry insists “did you have sex?”

the twin frowns “no, Larry! we didn’t have sex! what even makes you even consider that?”

the older brother shrugs “she looks unnaturally in love, it happens.” and continues “but you’re really not going to tell me?”

“it’s just that there’s nothing actually happening.”

Larry squints “nothing, you say.”

“yes, nothing.” Lawrie sighs “there’s nothing, but… at the same time there’s something that is…” he pinches his nose bridge, tired of this situation “It’s kinda hard to explain right now, but I promise I’ll talk to you when we have time…”

the other robot looks at him suspiciously, but nods “I hope so.”

in the evening, Melodie's presence surprises the twins as they leave work. she is wearing some casual clothes, different from the uniform she wears every day, then Lawrie remembers the note attached on the bouquet.

"hey, Melodie." Larry greets her with his usual friendliness.

"Larry, Lawrie." she politely greets both.

"how are you doin-" the older twin is about to start a conversation but stops, probably remembering about the note too "uh, actually… I would love to talk to you now but I just remembered I have some work to finish at home…” 

Lawrie glances at him “Larry…”

“seriously, I have so much to do! everything is due tomorrow! I don't know how R-T can give me so much work… I think he should value me a little more…” he surreptitiously blinks to Lawrie, who tries not to call his brother stupid "the sooner I finish my stuff, the sooner I can go to sleep." Larry clearly fakes a yawn that the other robot has no doubt that even Melodie has seen through the shameless lie "see you at home?”

the younger twin holds not to facepalm "fine. save some of your dinner for me."

“of course!” Larry smiles innocently “see you, Melodie!”

the woman raises an eyebrow, confused “uh, see you… I guess…”

the ‘original’ twin walks away and it’s just Lawrie and Melodie. there’s an awkward silence in the first seconds and the robot feels like turning off his own circuits and shutting down right there.

“Melodie, I-”

“Lawrie-”

they look at each other “please,” the robot apologizes “ladies first.”

Melodie’s giggles are sweet “did you like the flowers?”

“oh, I was just going to talk about that-”

“I didn’t know which one to choose, really!” she rambles nervously, playing with her thin and soft fingers “I thought of yellow roses because they match your… color. but I found out that yellow roses are a symbol of friendship and that’s not what I want to convey…” the woman’s face slowly blushes “so I thought of the white ones, but they seem too much like a wedding… so I chose red roses anyway. I didn't want something so cliché, but it was so pretty that I felt like I would die if I didn't buy you them!”

“Melodie-”

“I hope you liked the roses, but if you don't, that's okay… you can just return it if you want, I still have the card from the flower shop! I just… I would get really sad if you did that because even if red roses aren’t your favorites, I put some effort to make something special for you so-”

“Melodie,” he silences the girl by gently grabbing her restless arm “I like the flowers and gifting me was really nice of you. also I’m not returning it, so don't worry.”

“oh, really?” the woman's voice comes out in a weep “did you really like it?”

“yeah.” he answers simply, not sure what to say. however, Lawrie is forced to improvise something when Melodie keeps looking at him with puppy dog ​​eyes “they’re beautiful and red roses are my favorite.”

“yay! I knew you would like it!”

Lawrie almost finds it adorable, almost smiles, but his mind is flooded with guilt when he remembers that Melodie is only acting like this because she was hit by the cupid’s love arrow.

this wasn’t real. she didn’t want to give him that bouquet at all, nor did she care what those flowers may or may not mean, if it’s Lawrie's favorites or not.

Melodie is simply being controlled by a greater force and Lawrie should keep that in mind.

"what about the note I left?"

the robot is taken out of his thoughts by the woman's excited question. he reasons his question before answering "oh, yeah… a night walk, is that it?"

"yeah!”

Lawrie really wants to deny it, but he knows he can’t simply get away from Melodie and it’s better just to go out with her than see what happens if he doesn't "do you have any plan?”

the singer smiles sweetly "I was hoping that we could go to the Stunt Show!”

the idea isn't bad. in fact, Starr Park is huge so choosing something to do can be a little difficult sometimes, however, Melodie hit the nail on the head when she suggested one of Lawrie's favorite attractions.

it would be a shame if she hadn't gotten it right thanks to Angelo and his magic.

"sounds good." Lawrie shrugs, then remembering a small detail "oh, but we don’t have to go if you don’t want to because, you know, Janet is going to perform there. she’s part of the show.”

Melodie's face goes from sweetness to sour at the rival’s name "isn’t a lie that I hate her." she speaks bitterly, but soon seems happy again "but I know you like watching that acrobatics stuff, so I'm doing it for you!”

the robot smiles uncomfortably, wondering if Melodie will remember anything after the spell wears off. if so, then she will be very ashamed.

don’t get Lawrie wrong, it's not that Melodie hitting on him, instead of the reverse, hurts his masculinity or something. this insecurity is more common among real men, he is a robot and is grateful that he was not “raised” believing useless gender roles and empty beliefs.

real men can be too fragile over stupid things sometimes.

however, he still knows that real men have the simple advantage over him just of being human. as in the case of Melodie that only fell in love with Lawrie because of the cupid's arrow. in fair conditions, Lawrie knows that he would not be the woman's choice under any circumstances simply because he is a robot.

not that he wants Melodie, but if he did, at least he knows he would never have a chance.

maybe, because of these insecurities, Lawrie considers Nani as the only viable option. maybe he doesn’t even like her – or never ever liked to begin with –, but finds in the nanny robot a chance to be romantically loved by someone who is similar to him.

someone who lives the same reality and understands his limits.

“shall we go?”

Lawrie blinks when the sweet voice interrupts his train of thought. he wants to thank her, because he doesn't like the conclusion he was about to reach. he sees Melodie's peaceful smile and smiles back, letting her hold his hand and guide them.

everything will be fine, he just needs to stop overthinking.

surprisingly they have a fun night.

they arrive on time to get good seats and some snacks before the show. being always discreet about his personal life, Lawrie pretends not to care or be too excited for the show, but it becomes a bit difficult when he’s secretly a big – if not biggest – fan of Stu and has to hold back every scream every time the robot pulls off another amazing trick.

besides Lawrie, Melodie also seems to be having fun, he notices, even though watching her rival putting on a great show and getting rivers and rivers of screams and applause.

the whole time Lawrie is having fun, and it's been a while since he felt this lively, the great show distracting his mind from the problems he'd been facing the last few days – one of the them right next to him – and giving him at least a little variety in his usually monotonous routine.

when the show is over, they’re obviously backstage to get an autograph from the big star, Stu.

"I'm a big fan.” even feeling his heart jumping out of his chest, Lawrie tries not to look too emotional “your shows are amazing and I admire you a lot.”

Stu's chuckle makes it clear that he’s hearing words like that every day "I can tell you’re a big fan.” he speaks absently as he signs Lawrie's police document – he doesn’t anything better with him where the star could sign his autograph on "you look like you're going to cry at any moment."

the officer blinks "what?"

"just messing with you, kid." he hears Stu and Melodie's laughter mixed together and turns his face away in embarrassment "should I sign an autograph to your girl too?"

Lawrie almost chokes at the way Stu refers to Melodie "she isn’t my-”

"yes, thank you!" the woman speaks over the top and holds out her arm for him to sign.

the stuntman laughs at the younger robot's expression "don't worry, kid, I’m not stealing your girl.” he looks directly at Melodie and the girl giggles "but I can…”

Lawrie feels something at this. not jealousy, but envy. he knows and has always known that cool robots like Stu, Surge and Rico will always be better than him and doesn't need to be reminded of that fact.

also Stu is the epitome of a successful robot, and since Lawrie has always felt diminished by not being human, he feels that Stu "equals" real men – or is even superior to some of them – and secretly wishes he could be like him.

“you seem to have enjoyed it…” Melodie brings it up as they’re alone again.

the duo walk in a comfortable silence as they leave the event, a few other brawlers around leaving as well.

“kind of.” Lawrie shrugs, still embarrassed for almost crying in front of his idol “it’s not like I don’t see Stu every brawl ball or showdown matches Larry joins.”

Melodie lets out a soft giggle and Lawrie joins it. calm moments like this are his favorite ones.

“can I call what we had today a date?” the woman suddenly asks, making the robot stop his walk.

Lawrie thinks about ignoring the question, but it's hard when Melodie just stands there waiting for an answer “I think it’s up to you.” he answers uncertainty “if you think it is date, then it is.”

the robot chooses his words methodically, not wanting to give an out-of-her-mind Melodie any hope for a romance but also not wanting to be rude.

“it was our first date then.” she smiles sweetly.

Lawrie isn’t dumb so he knows what the tone of voice and the way Melodie is looking at him means. she’s clearly expecting something. and he knows what it is, but he isn’t fulfilling her desires.

“good night, Melodie.” the robot offers a typical friend hug, knowing that it’s the best he can do to not deceive or hurt the woman “rest well.”

the woman seems speechless for a few seconds “good night…”

on his way home, the robot’s mind is flooded with thoughts about.

Lawrie spent the entire night avoiding any advances from Melodie, whether during the show or afterward, and at the end of the night, when she was clearly expecting a kiss, he cut her off. he thinks he might be being too harsh, but he knows it's better to keep his cool than to do something Melodie will regret after she regains consciousness.

as hard as it may be, Lawrie knows he's doing what's best for both of them. for her and for him.

at least that's what he wants to believe.

it's the twins' day off, but Lawrie can barely do his breakfast without being interrogated by his brother – which is ironic because that is actually what Lawrie does, or used to do, at work.

"what about our talk?”

"good morning to you too, Larry." he responds with irony, walking past him and heading to the kitchen.

Lawrie isn't really surprised when Larry follows him "what about Melodie?" he ignores "don't ignore me, Lawrie. you promised you'd tell me!"

the younger twin doesn't even bother looking at him "can I at least have some coffee and something to eat first?"

"you're a robot, you don't even need to eat."

"but I still do it on a whim, okay?" he turns just to blow a kiss to Larry "now leave me alone, Larry. if I said I'm going to tell you, I'm going to. be patient."

the older one crosses his arms “why not telling me right now?”

"I just woke up."

"I just woke up too. what’s your excuse?”

the younger twin snorts. after years and years living with his brother, he should have known that Larry is invincible in a competition of persistence.

“alright. just sit down and be quiet so I’ll tell you what is ‘happening’ between me and the K-pop princess.” he makes air quotes with his fingers.

in a conversation that lasts about forty minutes – because Larry insists on interrupting it every five seconds to ask for more details –, Lawrie tells the whole situation, from his crush on Nani – something his twin was already aware of – to their ‘date’ the previous night.

at the end, Larry seems so impressed that he doesn’t even touch his cup of coffee “so you two went to Stunt Show?” the younger twin nods “and did you tell her that you used to defend Stu on twitter against the alcoholic father allegations?”

Lawrie blinks "very nice, Larry, is that all you have to say after making me tell you this whole story?”

“man, you’re so lucky.”

he almost spits out his coffee “excuse me?”

“you have every guy's dream girl, and even other women’, at your feet.” he says as if it is obvious “and you’re still complaining… like why?”

the way Larry talks makes the situation seem a million times simpler, but Lawrie knows better “you know it’s not like that, Larry. Melodie doesn’t even really like me.”

the twin shrugs, finally taking a sip from his cup “true love or not, you still have the girl.”

Lawrie frowns at the speech “are you hearing what you’re just saying, Larry? don’t get me wrong, Melodie is breathtaking and a dream girl indeed, but I’m not taking advantage of her situation, bro.”

Larry seems to wake up to that “yeah, you’re right. I guess I’m hanging out with the guys more than I should...” he smiles embarrassedly and Lawrie wonders what kind of things about women guys like Colt and Fang are teaching his brother “so… what are you going to do about it? there are still two days left until the love spell wears off…”

“two days…” he sighs, burying his face in his hands.

as much as it seems, Lawrie doesn't actually hate spending time with Melodie. he noticed the girl seems calmer as the days go by and, although she still tries to kiss him, touch him and flirt with, at least she isn't acting childishly and causing a scene in front of everyone no more – that time in showdown was enough.

however, the situation itself isn't better. Lawrie could never feel more pressured knowing that everywhere he goes Melodie will suddenly appear to ask him to do something or simply stick to him for the rest of the day. in addition, there's also the pressure of meeting her expectations, reciprocating her affection and not hurting her feelings – even though they aren't real.

the girl is pretty, but not worth the hassle.

he returns to their talk “well, until it ends I’ll try to do what Melodie wants. I have no choice because Angelo said avoiding her would be worse, and see what happens.”

Larry hums in understanding “but you know that tonight she’s doing that concert we promised to go, right?”

Lawrie facepalms. he completely forgot about the show.

“so don’t even think about staying home.” Larry warns before he can say anything, as if he knows Lawrie has an excuse on the tip of his tongue “we’re going.”

“but-”

“and that’s it. you can get through this, bro!” the older twin winks “just for today and tomorrow and then you’re free.”

Lawrie sighs. he has bad feelings about this concert.

at dusk, the twins go to the stadium. it’s full but since they’re Brawl Stars’ brawlers, important security personnel at Starr Park and also – and more important – Melodie's guests of honor, they don’t have to wait in line and go straight to the VIP area.

Lawrie finds his place by a sign with his name on it. only his has hearts around it, by the way, Melodie thing.

his brother obviously doesn't miss the chance to tease “how cute, we have VIP access thanks to you! If you still don't want to end up with a rich and successful K-pop singer, tell Angelo to pass the spell on to me next time.”

“Larry…” he grits his teeth.

during the minutes of waiting, the twins engage in ordinary conversations with some brawlers they met – only Melodie's favorites are in the VIP area –, like Draco, Bibi, the EMZ and Poco couple, among others.

Lawrie is spilling the tea with Mandy when Angelo appears.

“look at her over there.” he whispers to the queen and discreetly points to Janet in a corner wearing a completely different outfit, probably trying not to be recognized “and they still pretend they hate each other.”

Mandy chuckles softly “I know what kind of hate this is…”

“hello, sweet creatures.”

the robot and the queen are giggling together when the cupid approaches, flying a few inches off the ground with his little wings. Willow is around talking to Lola and Gray. 

Lawrie doesn’t have a good feeling from Angelo being here.

“Angelo!” the Candyland’s queen smiles brightly and they exchange a kiss on the cheek.

“Angelo.” the robot greets with no emotion, but the other doesn’t let it slide.

“come here and greet me properly, mr. robocop!” Angelo pulls him and gives him a kiss on his metallic cheek “how are things around here?”

“the show should start soon.” Mandy says excitedly.

“where’s your clown boytoy anyway, Mandy?” Angelo looks around.

“Chester?” the fly nods and the queen rolls her eyes “Melodie didn't invite him. she doesn't like Chester at all, but he’s nothing but trouble so I don't blame her.”

Angelo hums in understanding and suddenly turns to Lawrie “I’m surprised to see you here, Lawrie.” he says in that mocking way that the robot hates “I didn’t know you and Melodie were friends…”

his wish is to tell Angelo to go to hell, but he holds back because of Mandy looking at him curiously “yeah, we’re good acquaintances.”

the cupid lets out a mischievous chuckle “I can guess.” 

Mandy seems confused and opens her mouth to ask, but fortunately she is interrupted by a voice announcing that Melodie would be coming in soon. Lawrie returns to his seat and for a moment he considers thanking Angelo for missing the arrow because he had never been to a show as a VIP before and just having a privileged view of the stage, a place to sit and not being forced to stay in the middle of the crowd was reason enough to rethink everything he said before about being attached Melodie.

“there are a lot of people today.” Larry comments next to him.

the twin agrees “the show is open to the public, so it’s not just us from Brawl Stars here, but also the general public.”

“yeah.” Larry nods, absently looking at the crowd below “I didn’t know Melodie was that famous.”

Lawrie didn’t know either. he only heard one of her songs – not counting the ones he heard her singing randomly while working as her bodyguard in the past – and still he doesn't find it that good. maybe K-pop isn’t his thing.

when Melodie gets on stage she looks amazing. in fact, she’s wearing the same outfit as always and the little musical notes still swing and jump around her like small pets, but she looks breathtaking anyway. it’s probably her presence and the energy she’s exuding right now, but Lawrie feels his metallic heart race for some reason.

Melodie sings several songs that Lawrie swears he has never heard before. his brother, on the other hand, apparently knows the idol’s entire discography since he sings along with Willow and Charlie in a language that definitely isn’t korean.

even though he doesn't know the lyrics, Lawrie enjoys the show lost in the beautiful figure on stage. maybe it's the atmosphere of the event, the loud music and the joy of the other brawlers around him, but the robot swears he has never seen Melodie like that before, showing so much confidence and energy on stage. like Melodie is being herself there. under no arrow spell or magic love; just being the real Melodie.

Lawrie likes that Melodie.

it's a shame that the Melodie who likes him is a different one.

however, coming to the end of the concert, Melodie finishes one of his songs and takes her time looking out at the large audience with a wide pride smile adorning his face.

“are my Melodians having some fun?" she greets the crowd from the middle of the big stage. her fans go crazy “my last song is a love song I wrote and composed this week and would like to dedicate it to someone very special who is here today…”

Lawrie’s mechanical heart skips a beat and he feels like asking his brother to cut his cables with scissors and disconnect him forever.

Melodie can’t be talking about him, no way she is. she wouldn’t do that, not to him.

“Law…” Larry whispers next to his face, probably aware of his increasing anxiety “don’t tell me she’s going to…”

Lawrie’s terrible, scary and catastrophic suspicions are confirmed when he hears Angelo’s giggles from behind him “it’s now, Willow.”

Angelo is wrong. he has to be wrong. Melodie would never do this.

being an atheist all his life, Lawrie now finds himself praying for some supreme entity to hear his prayers and not let Melodie do something that will embarrass them for the rest of their lives.

“lights, please.” Melodie orders calmly.

Lawrie is startled when all the stage lights go out, except for one that shines on Melodie, and considers pretending to faint when a bright white spotlight shines right on top of him, illuminating him for the entire stadium to see.

with the rest of heart he still has, the robot lifts his head to see his own face on a huge screen behind the stage. if he doesn't pretend to faint yet, then he's going to faint for real now.

"my love, Lawrie." the singer announces and the crowd goes wild, including the other brawlers in the VIP right next to him.

the murmurs behind him begin.

"since when have they been dating?" Charlie asks.

"that's why Melodie acts weird around him like that day..." Draco mutters.

"she's too much for him!" Lola says with disdain.

"and what do you know about love?" Willow argues “they’re a good match!”

"oh my god! my mutuals will love to know that!" EMZ celebrates as she types on her phone.

“Melodie is crazy…” Angelo laughs.

the discussion between the VIP brawlers mixed with the sound of the concert euphoric audience makes Lawrie dizzy. he turns his face away, wanting to hide or disappear, but it’s no use when his face is displayed on a giant screen for everyone to see.

“bro?” Larry sweetly calls him, the only one truly concerned – since he knows the real situation.

“get… get me out of here-” he tries to ask but is interrupted when Melodie speaks again into her mic.

“don’t be shy, baby!” she jokes “let my Melodians see your face! we want to see your reaction when I sing for you!”

Lawrie doesn’t want to. he wants to get down and pretend he’s not there. in fact, he wants to run away, so far away where Melodie won’t be able to find him.

if he moves his eyes to the side, in the middle of so many brawlers, he can see Angelo looking at him as a warning or something.

he knows that trying to avoid things will be worse, the cupid warned him a million times. these are supernatural powers, beyond the control of any of them, so there is no reason to try to escape from what cannot. 

he decides to face it then. after all, it’s just one more day and he’s free again.

gathering all his dignity, Lawrie raises his head up and smiles. hiding his discomfort, he hears the excited crowd as he watches his own face on the huge screen. the robot hates being under pressure, hates having people's attention on him and hates this whole situation.

he has no choice, though.

"yay! that's the spirit, baby!" Lawrie would find Melodie's smile and little jumps the cutest thing if he wasn't going through the most embarrassing moment of his life "now silence, Melodians..."

and then the longest three minutes of the robot's life start. Melodie sings some korean love song, of his own authorship, with so much passion and intensity that for a moment it felt like a real feeling not the consequence of an arrow in the middle of the back.

Lawrie obviously wanted to evaporate during the whole song. having the eyes of thousands of people on him while a 1.80 tall K-pop star dedicates a love song to him isn’t a pleasant scenario at all.

in fact, having a 1.80 tall K-pop star in love with him seemed to be trouble enough to Lawrie, but of course things can always get worse.

not just get worse, but get that worse.

despite that, he stands firm, trying hard not to let his discomfort show while mentally counts the seconds until the torture ends. behind him, the other brawlers seem to be moved by the song – even though they probably don't understand anything that is being sung – and he can even hear EMZ and Lola sobbing from behind.

as the song ends, Melodie is greeted by applause and Lawrie lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. he keeps smiling, though.

"I hope you liked it, my love, I wrote and composed it just for you." even from a good few meters away, Melodie is looking at him and Lawrie knows that the woman's eyes probably have that expectant glow that they usually have when he’s around "now, I'd like to ask one last thing..."

and when he thinks it's over, life makes sure to show Lawrie that humiliation is never too much.

"be mine forever?"

at this moment Lawrie's circuit crashes. he can feel every wire, every spark of energy and every gear in his body fail for a single second – like a robot heart attack. his eyes involuntarily closed with his wanting to disappear from this world as quickly as possible.

this isn’t only embarrassing, but also humiliating, besides putting pressure on him like never before. he don’t know what to answer, no way. he can say no, but is too afraid of hurting Melodie and things getting even worse, but saying yes is also out of the question because he isn’t assuming feelings that he doesn’t even have, that doesn’t even exist.

Melodie is already doing it anyway. Lawrie doesn't need to join in on this lie.

so he says nothing.

the audience is silent and so is the VIP. everyone seems to be expecting an answer from him that will not come.

“I see… well…” Melodie's voice breaks at every word, as if she's about to cry “it’s okay! I can’t force you to do anything… but… I just thought that I… that we…”

Lawrie sadly stares at the girl on stage. a Melodie he’s never seen before; heartbroken.

“lights, camera… the show’s over.”

the lights go out and silence reigns.

Lawrie knows he screwed things up.

ever since last night, when Melodie ended the show because of him, the other brawlers had been giving Lawrie disappointing looks. he felt so ashamed that didn’t even dare to look for the girl after the show to apologize or at least say anything to her.

like a coward he is, he left.

on his way home, Lawrie was surprised by his brother's silence, probably as shocked as he was. the younger twin expected anything. advice, comforting words, at least a scold, since Larry is someone who always has something to say. good or bad, he always has something to add.

however, all Lawrie received from his brother was a "good night" before each of them went to their own rooms.

the officer obviously didn't sleep, spending the night awake thinking about what he had done. he isn’t obligated to reciprocate Melodie's illusory feelings, but all of that was his fault in the first place. if he hadn't asked Angelo to shoot Nani none of that would have happened and Melodie wouldn't be hurt by him. besides, even though the girl's feelings aren't real it doesn't mean that Lawrie or anyone else is free to disrespect them.

he felt stupid all night, thinking about everything he could have said, or, if he couldn't lie to Melodie, at least gave her a smile or showed gratitude. it wasn't just about feelings – which weren't even real –, but about appreciating her effort. she wrote, composed and sung a song for Lawrie in front of thousands of people and he didn't even smile at him genuinely. of course Lawrie can't pretend to feel something he doesn't, but he feels like he could have at least been a little polite.

either way, he hurt Melodie and that fact kept Lawrie up all night. in the morning, when the first ray of sunlight enters through the bedroom curtains, Lawrie is determined and knows what he is going to do.

he is going to fix things.

“gosh… who thinks they have the right to disturb my beauty sleep so early?” more knocks “just give me a damn second!” irritated mutterings are heard before Angelo opens the door, disheveled and wearing a Hannah Montana pajamas “oh yeah, the heartbreaker bad boy…”

the robot sighs at the nickname “I need your help.” Angelo tries to close the door but Lawrie pushes it with his hand "and don't you dare deny it because you’re the one who put me in this situation.”

the cupid pretends to be offended "I would never deny help to a friend!" the way he says ‘friend’ is venomous, but makes room anyways "come in.”

despite the slight suspicion, the robot doesn't question it and goes in, following the fly to sit at the table.

"where’s Willow?" Lawrie doesn't even know why he asks. politeness, maybe.

"sleeping." Angelo explains as he takes a cup for himself "this lazy girl only wakes up after noon. it’s always like this." he offers a cup to the robot "tea?”

because of his job, Lawrie has acquired the very bad habit of paranoia, so he never accepts any drinks from strangers.

however, he left home without having breakfast today, so he’d like to give it a try. after all, it's just tea. just to accept a sip and that's it. it doesn't mean much.

on the other hand, if he doesn't take the risk, he'll be safe. but what does he lose by doing so, for keeping safe?

a delicious cup of tea, perhaps.

he's thinking about the tea , right?

he denies anyways “thanks, I’m okay.”

“it’s nothing.” the cupid smiles gently for the first time, taking a sip of his tea before saying “you really hurt Melodie last night.”

“I didn’t know what to say.” the robot looks down.

“I know, right? the fear was obvious on your face the whole time.” Angelo points out, but not in a mocking way “but a smile would be nice, or just a ‘thank you’ would make a difference, you know?”

Lawrie nods “yeah, I thought about it, but it’s just…” he hesitates, nervously playing with his fingers, but the cupid’s empathetic gaze prompts him to continue – he’s also kind of surprised by this side of Angelo “I didn’t want to lie.” a weight lifts from his shoulders as he admits “I know it would be better, but I couldn’t. in fact, all this time she’s been circling me, showing up wherever I go and looking for me, offering to help me, trying to get my attention, inviting me to do things, doing… doing things for me and I… I’m still trying to keep my distance…”

Angelo stares “why keeping distance?”

"I don't know." the robot answers confused, hands on the sides of his head "I didn't want to take advantage of her, I didn't want to play with her feelings... I..."

it takes all of Lawrie's strength to hold back the urge to cry and stay composed, but despite his best efforts, Angelo seems to see through him "you can say it if you want to, if it makes you feel better.”

"I..." even with his eyes squeezed shut, a little oil – or robot's tears – leaked out of the corners, making a mess on the robot's face "I didn't want to feed something that doesn't exist. I didn't want to get used to it. I didn't want to like it. I didn't want to end up falling under the same spell and believing that I can be loved someday only for this magic to simply end and the rug to be pulled out from under me… I don't want to hurt her but I… I also don’t want to get hurt too.”

"you're already hurt, dear."

Angelo's voice is sweet and calm, there is no mocking tone, and yet Lawrie can't hold it in and cries. he cries and cries, until the smell of oil suffocates them in that cabin.

with a gentle touch of the cupid’s hands on his cheeks, Lawrie looks up. he looks straight ahead, even though he can't see anything through his blurred vision “listen honey. I know you don't want to get hurt and you don't want to hurt Melodie either. I understand your point. you’re right and you’re a good man.” it’s the first time he hears a genuine compliment come out of Angelo's lips “however, you know that all of this is your fault, so you should take responsibility for the consequences and do your best not to hurt her at such a sensitive time where her feelings are on edge.” he explains calmly but seriously “everything, Lawrie, everything is too much. a simple smile, a touch, a look, whether good or bad, everything will be too much for her. the passion that the love arrow awakens is not a normal passion, as I have said a thousand times, it is a power that is beyond our understanding and control. so, as much as I understand your side of not wanting to get hurt, you are the one responsible for this and you need to make sure that Melodie doesn't get hurt first.”

calmer, Lawrie engraves the words carefully, sobbing before asking "what should I do now?"

despite all of Angelo's patience that morning, he rolls his eyes at the question "isn't it obvious?" Lawrie doesn't answer and Cupid sighs "first, apologize to Melodie. it shouldn't be that hard since she's still head over heels, so just be nice and it'll work out. after that, go about your day normally in her company.” the robot nods, wiping away his last tears “according to my calculations, today is the last day of the love arrow’s spell, so it'll probably be the calmest. the peak has probably passed already…”

Lawrie thinks about the last sentence. the last few days have been ups and downs. when he and his brother met Melodie outside that night after work, she seemed different, but nothing alarming. 

at work, when she stole a ladder to get into Lawrie's office through the window, it was weird, but at least she helped him do his job.

then, at the games, it was really bad. she was so in love, being childish and reckless just to get Lawrie's attention. Larry, Piper and Draco lost trophies because of it.

however, the next day at the Stunt Show, when he received roses in the morning, Melodie seemed so calm that he had no idea that the next day the girl would embarrass him in the middle of her concert.

these were the weirdest days of Lawrie's life, and he never wanted to go back to his monotonous life so much.

the robot shakes his head to clear the thoughts "alright. I'll apologize to her."

Angelo nods "it’s just for today and then tomorrow the same old Melodie will be back and you'll be free."

he can't help but smile "that’s great!”

“ready to lose your VIP privileges at shows?” the cupid jokes and Lawrie tries not to hit him.

it’s still morning, Lawrie is in the park. out in the open air, he thinks about what he'll say to Melodie when he sees her. some brawlers walk by him; some greet him, others ignore him. he understands why and doesn't worry about it.

the sun is weak and the cold breeze blows against his metallic body. he’s a robot and isn’t sensitive to the cold, but he swears he can feel a slight satisfaction with that smooth wind.

Lawrie comes out of his thoughts when someone sits down next to him "excuse me-" he turns to look and his words die when he sees exactly who he's been thinking about all morning.

unmistakable fox eyes stare at him and, as much as the woman seems to try to act normal, Lawrie can see the hurt hidden behind these beautiful orbs "is it stupid that I can't stay away from you?”

Lawrie knows why, but ignores that detail “that’s okay.”

Melodie doesn't respond with more than a sad humm. she doesn't even look at him, her head turned away.

“I…” the robot starts, but there is a lump in his throat. he would like to say something that would get a smile and forgiveness from Melodie, but he is scared. he doesn’t have to lie, he has to be honest and everything will be fine “I’m sorry about yesterday, Melodie. I was surprised the moment you confessed to me and I didn’t know what to say.”

"but do you like me?" she gets straight to the point and he's not surprised at all "do you feel the same way about me?"

“I…” these expectant eyes are looking at him once more and Lawrie forces himself to be strong “I don’t know, Melodie…”

“why?” the woman’s tone is slightly sad, as if she’s about to break down again “how you don’t know?”

Lawrie starts, insecure “I… I think there are different ways to like someone. I mean, besides family love, friendship love and romantic love… I think that in some people the feeling blooms faster... like you." he knows that's not exactly it, but he can't just tell the whole truth "but for other people it's slower... I guess I'm one of these..." the robot sighs. there's a lot of pain behind his words "love has no rules and it comes differently for each person, but in the end it's a process, and just like everything else it needs time and dedication to evolve and become something solid.” he thinks better before continuing “I think I like you too, but…”

“but?”

“but I’m still figuring all this out… I mean, this is something new for me and I’m a little awkward with this kind of thing and don’t really know how to deal with my feelings yet…” he composes his own heart before continuing, looking deep into the woman’s eyes “I’ve been confused, I’ve in doubt… and I think that, in the end, you’ve always been all I really needed to realize what was hurting me inside myself was only me… it’s not your fault, not at all. I just hope you can understand my side and have some patience with me and I promise that, when I’m not broken anymore, I’ll be able to show you how I feel.” he smiles, whispering the last part more to himself than to Melodie “even if you don’t feel the same…”

the words come naturally and Lawrie realizes he doesn't have to lie. not anymore.

and maybe, just maybe, there's a little bit of his own heart in his speech. not just his heart, but a little bit of his fears, his doubts, his feelings and his discoveries.

there’s a little bit of him, a little bit of Lawrie, and he hopes with all his heart that Melodie likes that side of him.

all the girl offers him is a sweet smile “it seems true.”

Lawrie smiles back, knowing it’s nothing but true.

Melodie never used the words “I forgive you,” just as Lawrie never exactly said “I’m sorry,” yet they don’t seem to need words when the truth is right in front of them.

as Angelo said, the last day tends to be a quiet one.

no words are needed when their eyes meet, when they touch each other, when they talk, when they hold hands and take a walk. no words are needed on a beautiful day like this, walking under the cloudy sky and feeling the light cool breeze hit their faces like a gentle kiss from mother nature.

no words are needed in each other’s presence, when they play together, when they run and fall in the grass, when they make a flower crown for each other, when they pluck the petals of a flower and ask if they love me or love me not, when they carve their names into a tree.

maybe they’re going too fast, but they can, because time is too precious and they wanna see each other again tomorrow.

no words are needed when time passes faster and night falls. not when the sky darkens and the stars appear, tonight, more visible than ever. not when the full moon lights up the sky.

as full as their hearts are full of love.

“the moon is so beautiful today.”

Melodie is the one who points it out in the silence of the empty park. it’s late and everyone is gone, all you can hear are the crickets. they, however, are in no hurry and take their time lying on the grass in comfortable silence, sometimes admiring the sky, sometimes admiring each other.

sometimes reflecting alone in their own minds.

“you know what…” Lawrie blurts out, feeling lighter next to Melodie after his confession. the woman whispers for him to continue “I’m afraid no one will ever really like me… because I’m a robot…”

still lying on the grass, Melodie turns to the side to look at the other “but I like you.” she says as if it were obvious.

Lawrie, however, remains looking up “I know, but…” but you don’t really like me and you’ll find out tomorrow , he wanted to answer, but hold back “but you’re making me realize that there are other ways of seeing this and that, maybe, I can be loved one day.”

whether it’s a lie or the truth, Lawrie can’t tell.

even though he’s looking up at the dark sky, he sees the smile in Melodie’s words “I’m glad to hear it.”

he’s then surprised when the woman places herself on top of him and steals a kiss. he doesn’t feel the need to run away, not anymore , so he surrenders himself to Melodie’s sweet, soft lips.

and they kiss for so long under the moonlight. it’s innocent and sweet. it’s romantic. everything is perfect if not for the little voice in the back of Lawrie’s mind reminding him that it will all be over tomorrow.

he ignores it, though. he’ll be fine. they will be.

Angelo is deep in thought and has barely touched his food. Willow seems to notice as she asks "what are you thinking about so much?” she glances at his plate still full “if you're not going to eat your steak, at least give it to me instead of throwing it away."

the pair are outside the cabin, in the open air of the swamp of love as they like it.

“do you remember about Lawrie and Melodie?” she nods “the spell of the love arrow ends tomorrow and today he went to apologize to Melodie. however, I ended up not telling him that Melodie, him and everyone else, excluding me and you, will lose all memories of the events caused by the spell tomorrow.”

the woman raises her eyebrows in surprise, taking more food with her spoon “so why don’t you tell him now?” she says with her mouth full “you still have time, Angelo.”

and it's true. if Angelo had just given Lawrie that detail, the robot wouldn't have lost his temper so many times the last five days.

however, Angelo believes that Lawrie needed it somehow.

"I know." the cupid admits as he looks up at the moon. it’s a beautiful night "but something tells me they'll be okay."

Lawrie wakes up feeling uncomfortable with the grass touching his body, the dark sky of dawn being the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes. he slowly sits up and looks around. he is in the park, lying on the grass – apparently he slept there – and he doesn't know what time is it or how and why he got there.

looking around, a sigh escapes when he sees the female figure next to him. it is Melodie, a mythic brawler, also a K-pop star for whom he and his brother worked as bodyguards a few times.

her face is calm and her breathing is serene as she sleeps, an involuntary smile escaping as Lawrie admires her.

he feels something, but he doesn't know what. the lack of something he never had, perhaps. or a new perception that escapes him at the moment. he just feels something when looking at her, but can’t tell what it certainly is, what it feels like.

as if it is there, on the bottom of his mind, but he can't bring it up, can’t just figure it out. as the words on the tip of his tongue that he can't just say, can’t speak and spell.

in any case, he intends to ask Melodie if she knows something when she wakes up. after all, the sun should rise soon.

until then, Lawrie will stay and wait for the woman to wake up, for some reason wanting to stay by her side.

even if he doesn’t know why.