Chapter Text
It had been a few months after Axis had gotten to know The Celestial Family, after randomly stumbling upon the pizzaplex one day, a life-changing moment he didn't even know he was in for.
Axis had been many things over the years; a Poke-protag/trainer, a Digi-protag/tamer, a solo superhero, and a professor/teacher, both in regular Earth settings, and in the Pokemon world. A dimensional hopper, a shadow wizard, a hooded/cloaked psychic mage, a rather mysterious guy with questionable origins (somehow containing bits & traces of Sonic/Mobian heritage, amongst other stuff, something he is super secretive about).
But nowadays, Axis was working freelancing/temping for Celestial Entertainment LLC, spending most of his time in the Celestial Daycare section of the Fazbear Pizzaplex the Celestials worked in.
It was an extreme deviation from his usual familiar knowledge/experience, but Axis was a quick learner, and determined to help out whoever he could, however he could to the best of his abilities.
Off-hours, Axis either spent time around the Celestials in their current home of the McMansion, but occasionally revisited his old actual home...
...in The Dark Continent. A forbidding urban jungle, and a victim of it's own 'success'. Too many cars, too many trucks, too many trains, too many buses, too much having to budget/spend on EVERYTHING. And more often than not, dangers presented themselves in the Dark Continent, whether the usual domestic crimes/wrongdoings, or incidents that usually warranted a broader scale of police intervention, or occasionally even extraordinary dangers that required help from actual superheroes every now & then. This was a life Axis was absolutely over. Luckily, Axis lived somewhere just outside the disgruntled city, but frequently found himself traveling in & out of it, whenever flying via self-levitation or simply teleporting was less than scarce.
In more recent weeks, Axis had started couch-surfing at the Celestial household, and eventually got his own bed very recently. It was a huge relief only needing to briefly teleport back home to The Dark Continent for personal household upkeep, or for daily personal cleanliness.
-----
Axis had eventually been made aware of Moon's lab, particularly the What-If Simulation Machine, and also a glaring recurrence that even the DCAs/animatronics themselves would occasionally dream about either odd scenarios with zero value on what went on in the real world, or their own what-ifs, based on supposedly different outcomes to important events in their lives.
This had piqued the cloaked psychic's interest, as he felt it particularly important to reflect back on what could've been, and how to use that to steer one towards better paths, and brighter futures.
Axis, even with his growing positive rapport with the Celestials, didn't want to get too involved with the history behind their personal/family lives...at least nothing beyond what they had personally felt comfortable discussing with him, or anything that was particularly important.
However, one specific topic of interest that Axis had found not only most interesting, but was noticeably a particularly sensitive point for the others (most especially Sun & Solar)...
..."Nexus Celestial".
Moondrop Celestial's replacement, the Moon V2 who tried to be a better Moon towards Sun.
The Moon...who made a mistake putting his trust in the wrong person (Ruin).
The misunderstood Celestial...who lost someone who meant everything to him...
...and went mad & bad, feeling alone in the sentiment of bringing Solar back to life.
His own self-pride stopping himself from accepting/asking for help from the one exiled Celestial who ultimately redeemed himself in successfully bringing his dimensional double back into the living world.
By the time Solar had returned...
...he was too late.
Nexus had changed his name, sick of living in Old Moon's shadow, and being forced to fit in a shape he no longer wished to conform to, and done with a family who didn't take him seriously, when he felt it mattered most.
Going off on his own, and teaming up with Dark Sun & Ruin...
...and ultimately being turned against the very family who had to make a difficult decision to save themselves.
It had been months after Sun had killed Nexus, and there were no signs of presence of Dark Sun nor Ruin, who had presumably went into hiding after finding out about Nexus' death.
Axis had come into the picture at a relatively calm & quiet time, and was thankful for it, having seen everything the Celestial collective had been through over the years.
But sadly...not everyone had moved on from Nexus.
The only two who found themselves having to grieve quietly in secret...
...each found themselves alone in their distinct sentiments.
Sunrise Celestial...had lost a brother he wish he could've done better to have 'saved' from going bad...even with getting his original brother back, with the help of Monty.
Solar...had lost something MUCH more.
Solar...he couldn't let the others know, in the time he had worked closely together in the pizzaplex & elsewhere...with Nexus, back when he was just New Moon.
Solar wasn't even certain about it.
...but it was very clear, he was in the closet...and he had to silently keep his regrets to himself...
Regrets of not being confident enough that he loved Nexus really deeply as a friend...
...and that maybe, just maybe...
...the two of them could be something more.
-----
It was just another day at the pizzaplex for everyone else, but for Axis...it was a day that would change everything.
Solar had grown rather distant from the Celestial collective, even after having successfully gotten his son Jack rescued from the Creator's captivity/grip, with the help of Sun, Moon, and Axis.
Solar was very quiet, very subtle, very good at hiding secrets...hiding things...and keeping a lot of things secret about himself & Nexus.
Sun & Moon had never even found out...that Solar had shown up to Nexus' location in advance, to try to talk Nexus down...in the hopes of a ceasefire.
It had seemed as if Solar was actually getting through to Nexus...
...but then Sun & Moon showed up, and it was on sight.
Too scared to take action, blow his cover, allow all the secrets to get out, and too reluctant to choose a side...
...Solar had let things play out the way they did.
However...even with the Celestials & the rest of the pizzaplex remaining very much unaware or ignorant...
...Axis knew. He could sense it somehow. Not just through his psychic abilities, but through noticing Solar's behavior & a gradual but noticeable shift in his demeanor & attitude on a daily basis.
Axis was on generally good terms with the Celestials & the others throughout the pizzaplex & the daycare.
But...Solar was different.
Solar was someone Axis could feel especially close to, as a friend.
Axis knew, Solar would be more likely to confide in him, than he ever would to the others.
Even Earth was not fully informed of Solar's innermost thoughts & secrets.
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Solar was wrapping up everything in the theater, after the last showing of the night concluded. Cleanup bots were taking care of everything in the auditorium, while Solar was taking care of the concession stand & the counter/cashier area.
Axis, who was assigned to the downstairs arcade for the day, had just finished closing up shop, and decided to head upstairs to catch up with Solar.
"Hey, everything went smoothly up here today, Solar?"
"Oh, hey Axis. Yeah...the usual, can't complain...much."
"Hmm. Well...everything alright with you?"
"..."
Solar had suddenly gone still, and Axis could hear the breathing sounds coming out of him.
It was exasperated about the day at best...
...but hiding something much more, at worst.
"Listen, man. I trust you, and I know you trust me, Solar."
"I know...it's just..."
"Just...what?"
"..."
"Solar?"
"I...you...never got to know him, or see him while he was still alive."
"Who now?"
"Nexus..."
"Oh, right. Him..."
"I meant a lot to him, and...he meant just as much to me."
"Despite everything...do you...miss him?"
Solar had to look around briefly to make sure no one was nearby.
"Honestly, Axis? I do..."
By this point, Axis could already sense Solar's emotions shifting towards something not sound...
The emotions...of someone forced to grieve in silence...someone who may as well not even be allowed to grieve outright.
Regrets...of important decisions never committed to.
This much, Axis understood well enough.
While Axis never got to know Nexus, he knew this was enough to work with.
"The others...I can tell...they're glad to be rid of him, huh Solar?"
"Unfortunately..."
"But...Sun...I can tell, Solar...he misses Nexus too..."
"I can...only imagine..."
Axis approached Solar a bit more closely, so that he could talk more quietly.
"You know...you don't have to deal with this alone, Solar. And I don't mean this in a therapy approach sort of way, or having a session with Earth sort of deal."
"Axis...you've been very welcoming, very helpful, extremely patient with all of us, and just overall...very compassionate, caring, understanding, and open-minded."
"Aww, thank you, Solar. I appreciate that. I hope you see me as the safespace I always allow myself to be."
"I...I do, Axis. I...don't see myself particularly close with the others nowadays, beyond just family friend. But, I don't consider myself anything much more than that, and honestly, Axis..."
"Hmm?"
"I've never been the biggest fan of any sort of familial titles the others usually try to throw at me. I'm...not from here, Axis. I'm sure you remember."
"Yeah, I remember very well, Solar. Daydream & Prickdrop, right? They were YOUR Sun & Moon, YOUR brothers, correct?"
"Yep...Daydream, I...also miss very dearly to this day. Prickdrop...not so much."
"I understand, Solar."
Solar felt himself feeling a bit less tense, and a bit more relaxed, knowing that he could at least vent his frustrations healthily towards a good friend, someone who had grown trustworthy rather quickly.
"Say...want to stop by somewhere on the way home later, Solar? Just you and me, two friends just hanging out. You don't have to go straight home with the others, if you don't want to. We can leave right now, if you want, and the others probably won't even notice."
"Yeah...I'd like that, Axis. Thank you..."
"Sure thing, dude. Lemme help you finish cleaning up & putting everything away, so that we can get out of here sooner."
Solar gave Axis a nod, and a soft smile, a rarity in his emoting abilities he didn't usually show the others, save for Jack, or Earth. If only he could've saved Nexus...
...the one person Solar felt he could truly be himself around, and show his emotional honesty to.
-----
Axis & Solar left the pizzaplex, teleporting out to head elsewhere for the rest of the evening, just to help Solar take his mind off everything.
Sun, Lunar, Earth, and Jack were all in the daycare, cleaning up for the night.
Unfortunately for them, there had been a lot more kids than usual who showed up for the day, and with the daily fun calendar's activities being particularly hands-on & emphasizing on arts & crafts, it had sent Sun's cleaning protocols into overdrive by the time the last of the daycare kids had left for the day with their parents.
The Celestials were gonna be busy cleaning for a while, and Moon was busy upstairs running the payroll for everyone. So no one had noticed Solar in his current state, nor Solar having already left work for the night, with Axis. To their luck, the theater & arcade had both just so happened to be less busy than usual for the day, so it was off to wherever they had decided to unwind & de-stress for the night.