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The sun leered over the San Diego County Credit Union Stadium. Golden beams lazily spilled over the towering walls on the West side and painted the East half of the field. The stadium SDSU started the Bowl Game in was built East-West, which while annoying for players, gave the most beautiful sights at sun set.
Brilliant swathes of orange, yellow, pink, and purple filled the sky; the occasional lazy cloud was striped with blues and pinks in the fading sunlight. The fierce yellow hit the turf and caused it to glow, and the yardage markers were clear even at the topmost bleacher. The weather was a pleasant, as almost always with California.
Ten's sneakers fell lightly on the concrete steps as she descended the section of seats. Her skirt swished around her legs as she moved, and her hand traced the guardrail tentatively.
The stadium was empty, with the rows and rows of chairs sitting empty. The setting sun was beating over the section she was walking through, causing her to shield her yes with a raised hand.
The warm ambience of the sun, the picturesque sky, the peaceful desolation of the stadium--it made a beautiful sight. Ten found herself appreciating the view, even if it wasn't the reason why she was here.
She loved sunsets and sunrises, something about how day bled into night was captivating to her, even if there were endless tomorrows.
Yet, she was brought out by something more urgent: Juice.
The three of them were sitting in their kitchen, conversing loosely while Ten and Nine made dinner, when Juice got a work call. Commissioner duties never stopped, even when dropped into an android form.
So, he stepped out to take the call. When he didn't return for 20 minutes, Nine head to check on him, only to find his truck gone.
Whatever. Ten wasn't worried then, maybe he needed to judge a nearby case in person. He was an adult; he could come and go whenever he wanted. The Pioneer siblings kept dinner warm on the stove while they waited for him to come back.
Another hour went by, and still no sign of him. Ten was beginning to grow concerned when Nine got a text. Not from Juice, but from one of the other bowl game officials.
It was over. The Bowl Game was over.
One college had stepped forward with all 111 footballs earlier in the day. The longest, most horrendous college football game in the history of eternity had been brought to its end. As an honorary official, Nine had been requested to keep this information private until the commissioner himself could confirm the information.
Ten hadn't even bothered to ask the name of the college before she grabbed her keys and was out the door--only instructing Nine to eat without them. Nine saluted her, sympathetic towards her urgency.
Throughout her drive, she tried to ring Juice several times. After each and every infuriating ring, the annoying voicemail instructions would blare in her car. Juice wouldn't answer the phone, or his messages, or even their quantum communications.
Even without any contact nor communication, she still had a hunch were he would be. She had parked in the empty lot at SDCCU Stadium, and had jogged inside alone.
It was a jumbled tangle of a thought process. Well, it was related to his game, so he'd want to go somewhere related. The only stadium remotely close was SDSU's, and Ten doubted Juice would just jump on a flight without telling anyone.
She didn't know what kind of state she might find him in. Was he celebrating? Was he trying to contact his player friends? Was he even in this damn stadium?
Ten was beginning to lose hope when she spotted it: a silhouette in one of the seats, whose shadow stretched across the seats behind him.
Ahah! There he was!
She moved with purpose, down the steps and towards the plastic seat he chose to occupy. The glare from the sun was in her eyes, causing her to squint as she approached his row.
"There you are."
Juice jerked upright from his slumped position and whipped around to face her.
His brows were furrowed and his lips were tugged into a pensive wince. His blond synthetic hair was tossed as if he had run his fingers through his locks repeatedly. His shoulders were pulled taut, and one of his hands gripped one of his armrests fiercely. His other hand held his sunglasses by one of the temples. His gaze met hers, and her face softened.
Juice's eyes were widened and glossy. Streaks of a certain sheen ran down his cheeks from his eyes, likely the saline solution that allowed them to cry. His harrowing expression was doused in shadow where he turned away from the sun, while its beams bounced off his head giving the illusion of a fiery glow.
Her mouth hung open. She didn't know what she was preparing for, but it wasn't this.
Just as quickly as he spun to face her, he aggressively swerved to face forward again. He coughed a few times before raising his arms to rest on the seats next to him casually.
"Hey, lady! A little warning would be nice next time." He jested, staring at the field ahead instead of at her.
Tentatively, she descended the rest of the steps until she was at his row of chairs. He angled his face away from her, but the sunlight still caught the tear streaks on his cheek. "I called you several times."
His faux-casual pose stiffened. "You did?"
"Yeah. I sent several texts too." She gingerly strolled down to the middle of the row, where Juice had sat by himself. She took the seat to his immediate right, where his arm was still draped over the back.
"Psssh. Didn't read 'em. I was busy. He kept looking to his left and away from her as he put his sunglasses back on his face. He also not so subtly wiped his face with his sleeve. "Duty calls, you know?"
As much as she wanted to invade his personal space, she knew that would only do more harm than good. Beneath his sporadic demeanor, he was fickle when it came to his emotions. Too much prodding would do more harm than good.
Instead, she crossed her arms and kept her body parallel to the row of seats. She looked out at the field and the sky--glowing in the golden hour. She had to squint, but the warmth of the sun's rays compensated for any discomfort.
"So. It's over," she stated as indifferently as she could. "Nine told me."
"Yeah."
Silence washed over them. Luckily for her, Ten had more patience than Juice did. If he wanted to be difficult, Ten could hold out longer than he could.
She hummed to herself as she plotted her different conversation choices in her head. "Who won?" Best keep it casual for now.
"Alabama Birmingham." He huffed quietly, and Ten chose to ignore it. "They had zero balls on their field. They kept 'em in their lighthouse, so a big whopping zero on the board."
He cleared his throat. "Those sneaky fuckers ate up all the footballs. Earlier today they fetched every single last one and shot right up!" He tilted his head to better face Ten, his characteristic grin plastered to his face.
"Talk about zeros to heroes!" He whooped as he gestured animatedly with his hands. "Imagine this--you've got zero balls. Everyone and their mom thinks y'all are absolute losers and then--WABAM! All 111 footballs!"
Something was off. He was moving erratically, overdoing the emphasis on certain words; playing himself up like a character.
"Ain't that the biggest 'fuck you' you ever did see? You thought we were just bottom of the barrel players?" He snickered to himself. "Surprise motherfuckers! Who's losing now?"
"Not Birmingham." She couldn't help the small smile on her face as a result of his usual conduct.
"Hell no--not Birmingham!" He cheered, pumping his fists in the air. "I never would'a thought it'd be them."
"Then who did you think would win?"
"Hmm?" Juice leaned back and kicked his legs over the back of the seat in front of him. He crossed his arms behind his neck lazily and bounced his feet distractedly. "Honestly? No clue. Everything was fair game when this started."
Ten leaned back in her seat, parroting Juice's relaxed pose. Something about facing the same direction made this conversation easier. The sun was sinking over the tall, West wall, and soon it would be out of her eyes.
"Any dogs in this fight?"
"Eh, not really. It's anyone's game."
"Really? No one you liked more than the others?"
Juice chewed on his cheek, his facing contorting in his contemplation. "I mean, yeah. I had some favorites."
"Those idiots at University of Georgia were a riot. G' Southern was alright too." He combed his fingers through his hair, pushing the frizzed hairs back smoothly. "Miami of Ohio was entertaining as fuck! And SDSU..."
An expression of self-satisfaction crossed his face, and he tilted his face down to look at the field. He was probably craning his neck to achieve this, but he remained unbothered.
"Glad I put in the OBT rule for them. I wanted to see if they would do anything with it."
Ten nodded thoughtfully. "I remember. Nick and Manny were real good."
They were good, but the two of them weren't good enough. Even though most of the 9 balls ended up at SDSU, they still ended up with Birmingham in the end. Ten didn't tune into Juice's monstrosity often, so she didn't know the details, but she did know Nine and Juice were torn up about it for days.
The cascading sunlight finally sank below her face, allowing her to see clearly. It still beamed down on the seats in front of her, but it was waning rapidly. At this point, if they were to leave right now, they wouldn't make it back until after dark. In a far recess of her mind, she hoped Nine didn't mind their absence.
"So, what happens now that it's over?"
Juice sighed, softly at first, but drew it out to an obnoxious degree. "Tomorrow I fly out to Birmingham's stadium. We gotta actually count the balls and check their tags--make sure they're legit y'know?"
"I thought you had trackers on the footballs? Don't you already know if they have all 111?"
"I mean, yeah, but it's formality. We go through the motions and pat 'em on the back."
"Makes sense."
"After we check and we call game, then I gotta fly back to HQ in Texas and terminate all the legal crap." He scoffed, and despite the sunglasses, Ten could presume he was rolling his eyes. "All of us back at HQ are gonna have a crazy fuckin' party. We're gonna put recordings of the best moments and watch 'em for shits and giggles."
"Hah. I'd imagine you have thousands of hours to sit through."
He grinned, tipping his face up and to the right towards her. "Ooooohhhh yeah. We've got compilations of the best, the worst, and the funniest. You won't believe your eyes when we release those bad boys."
"Let's see... the Bulldozer is too infamous not to include. Locomotive Lateral's a classic. The mystery of the Sharks finally gets out." He hummed to himself, before shooting up in his sitting position. "Shit--did I ever tell you about the Waterfall Jet Sweep?"
Juice was intentionally straying, hoping to distract her. She needed to reign him back in and figure out why he decided to drop off the face of the Earth before dinner.
"How long's your party going to last?"
He pursed his lips, not expecting to be cut off. "No longer than a week. Lady, I'm not that much of a party animal!" He was lying through his teeth.
"And after that?"
"Well... uh..." he sputtered as his hands retracted to rest in the pockets of his jacket. "We have a meeting in one of those fancy ass meeting rooms. Get everybody like, five glasses of drinks and shit-" he was veering again, "and we just go through it all."
"Go through it all?" Juice was a hard nut to crack, but Ten knew how to play him like a fiddle. Meticulously placed words and prompts would have him folding in no time.
"Yeah. Like... gather all the footage and send it off to media crews so they can make shitty movies." The sun dipped lower, lower, until the entire field and stadium was doused in shade. "Wrap things up, clean out the offices, maybe sign some cards."
"Everyone can go back to what they were doin' before."
There. There it was. She had him right where she wanted him.
Ten's brows furrowed in concern; she leaned forward and left towards Juice.
"J..." She spurred cautiously, hoping that he wouldn't clam back up when she was so close.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and closing himself off. He glanced at something to his left, cranking his neck so Ten couldn't see his face. He still hadn't mastered the art of concealing his facial expressions in his android body, and they both knew damn well he turned because he didn't want her reading his face. That was a tell enough.
"I mean, it was already happening before. Players started dropping 'cause they knew they were gonna lose." He snickered to himself forcefully. "Started feeling like less of a football game and more of a waiting game. They stopped trying; some walked off the field and never came back, and nobody bothered to take their place."
"Not that it bugs me. All games gotta end at some point." He shrugged, more of a jerk than anything. "Everyone's gonna go back to their lives now. Actually go places they couldn't go while playing!"
"It's all good, you hear?" Rule number one of lying to someone about emotional distress: Don't reiterate that you're fine, because it becomes really obvious that you're not. Clearly, Juice hadn't picked up on that social rule yet.
"Juice."
Ten leaned all the way forward in her seat so she could get around the armrest. She gingerly rested his hand on his back, feeling the warmth of his internal mechanisms radiating from underneath his synthetic skin.
"What's so bad about that kind of lapse?"
He was tense under her hand, and after a few seconds of silence, she committed herself to rubbing soothing circles on his back.
After a very pregnant pause, he declared decisively: "There's nothing wrong with it."
"I'm happy for them, really!" His volume rose in emphasis, and his usual laid-back lilt returned. "Mimi's finally gonna attend as many sermons as she wants--she's real excited about it! Lacrecia's switching hobbies; now she's gonna try and collect a football card from everyone in the United States who ever played football."
"And you know my two officials, the couple--Lauren and Katya? They're taking an anniversary trip to the plains in Mongolia! And Miller's going backpacking through the Amazon, trying to unplug for the next thousand years. Probably won't hear from him for a while... and you remember Riri, she's... actually, they've all got shit goin' on."
"Fuck..." He murmured under his breath, bringing his hand up to his face to rub at his eyes. Rub at his eyes and discretely attempt to hide his face.
Ten took that as her cue to pull Juice towards her. She snaked the hand she had on his back around his shoulder blades and tugged him closer until he was pressed against her side. He slumped over and bent his neck down, trying to hide his face. She let him have some decency in his vulnerability. "Oh, J..."
"You're upset because they've got stuff going on?" She murmured rhetorically--not that she got a response anyway. "You wanna talk about it, hun?"
He hummed in acknowledgment, quite sourly in fact, but refused to say anything else.
That was fine, she could wait until he came to her.
She tilted her head to rest on his, feeling his synthetic hair against her cheek as she gazed out at the empty field below her. The warmer tones in the sky were fading, replaced by deeper, sorrowful blues, purples, and indigos of twilight. A few stray clouds drifted lazily in the sky, capturing the glow of the city and reflecting it back down onto Earth. With the dimmet came a temperature drop, and the pleasant weather of the day gave way to a slight chill of night.
The stadium lights flickered on, illuminating the field and the seats in a harsh, neutral light. The turf and field markers remained as pristine as ever, now highlighted by intense LED's. Very few ever came to this field, and Ten doubted anyone would come here to celebrate in the upcoming days.
A game with one winner, and one hundred ten losers. A game with low odds and high rewards that would eat up thousands of years. A game that stretched coast to coast, with endlessly taxing journeys without a real prize. Play for the sake of play: a game.
Not to Juice. It meant a lot to him, no wonder he was upset; his venture--one that nearly lasted 10,000 years--had come to a close. Occasionally, Juice's shoulders would tense and hitch, and he'd make a pitchy hum through pursed lips.
Ten kept her arm wrapped tightly across his shoulder blades, keeping him still in the unlikely event he tried to escape. She kept her cheek pressed to his hair, only shifting ever so slightly when he leaned further into her.
She felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, not that he needed it, but the motions felt natural. He kept his sunglasses on, even though the sun had already set, and day had dissolved into night.
He swallowed thickly and sighed. "Everyone's got plans after this."
Ten hummed, still staring at the field below. "Yeah?"
"They'll go back to whatever crap they had before this. Some of them might never play shitty football again."
"Yeah."
"It's over now. They're leavin'."
There it is. Took him a while, but he got there in the end.
"You know, it's the end of the game, but it's not the end of everything else." She turned her face to press kisses to his crown, before moving further to kiss his forehead. Gracefully, she ignored the way his fans whirred in response.
"It's over now, but everything you created will not go with it. Did you really think they're not going to talk to you again just because you're done being commissioner?"
He shrugged, nudging his shoulder against her chest. Now that they had been sitting together for quite a while, Ten realized that their position was really freaking uncomfortable, partially due to the armrest between the two of them. Stadium seats were good for watching football games, not so much for cuddling.
Ten sighed, and after a few moments of contemplation, repositioned her arms in a way that allowed her to scoop Juice closer.
"Woah! What're you doing?!" He squeaked as she dragged him out of his seat and onto her lap--like he was some little kid! "Ay--quit it! This is fuckin' embarrassing!"
"J, there's no one else around except for us." She smoothly cut him off. "Let yourself have this, okay? Now you listen to me." She raised the hand supporting his back to comb through his hair, before nudging his head down and back against her shoulder. He had to hunch over and curl inwards to make their awkward pose work, but Juice complied with only mild humiliated grumbling.
"They're not going to stop being your friends just because they don't have official reason to talk to you. They're leaving the game, not leaving you."
Juice grumbled something, still humiliated over Ten handling him and putting his mortifying inner thoughts into words. Ten huffed, but kept playing with his hair.
"Don't you dare argue with me. You need to hear this."
"People care about you, Juice. Nobody's gonna forget you, or ditch you, or whatever you think's going to happen." She didn't intend to take on a mean, teasing tone, but sometimes the best way to reach him was to get on his level. "You'll see them again, you'll catch up and make new memories. You've literally got until the end of time."
"And hell, knowing you, you're probably just going to spit out another terrible game in a few years anyways!" He twitched with suppressed laughter, which brought a fond smile to her face.
"How dare you. I'm an artist, Babe, and this is my art."
"You claiming to be an artist is not only an insult to real art and artists across the globe, but also to football." She joshed, nudging him ever so slightly.
"You just don't get it," he retorted, his usual liveliness slowly returning. "You don't get my genius!"
"Genius? It's insanity!"
Their shared laughter echoed through the stadium and Juice eased in Ten's lap. Overhead, the first and brightest stars were beginning to shine, piercing the inky blackness above. Juice was beginning to feel better and lighten up, but before Ten could consider her mission finished, she had to hammer the point home.
"Juice... I promise you, you'll never be alone again."
"I know why you created this game, and I'm sorry I hibernated for so long."
"Nah, not your fault." He immediately tried to brush it off, much to her chagrin.
"Hush." She commanded swiftly.
"I know you; you know that I know you." She gently tilted his head back up and away from her shoulder. Cupping his face in her hands, she brushed the remnants of the saline solution from his cheeks. Those charming eyes were locked onto hers, bringing a smile to her face.
"We're down here now, and we'll never have to hibernate again. Nine and I aren't going anywhere."
"Heh. What happened to tryin' to get rid o' me?"
Ten scoffed and her face fell, causing Juice to snicker. "I tried! You just kept coming back and now I couldn't drop you if I tried."
"Awwww, Lady..." He purred smugly--god, that stupid content grin of his! "You make it sound like you love me!" He chirped in sarcastic delight.
She rolled her eyes and let her gaze harden. You know what? Now that he was feeling better, she was going to put him in his place; she wasn't going to let him win this.
"Somehow, I do love you, and I'm not going to leave you alone if I can help it." She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his lips and closing her eyes in satisfaction.
Juice shuddered in surprise, but very quickly reciprocated, grabbing onto her shirt with his hands for stability. Juice's whirring picked up into a dull roar, and his internal temperatures climbed by a few degrees. He hummed contently, incredibly happy and at home in Ten's lap, despite his initial protest.
He was okay with the people he loved. Even if one chapter came to a close, his family would be a constant. All alone in a massive stadium with his universe with him, he decided that for now, he would be okay.
Ten beamed, pleased with herself when they broke. Meanwhile, Juice wore the dopiest grin and a dazed expression. His fans were still whirring strongly, and if his android could blush, his face would be aflame. Secretly, Ten hoped he never learned how to better conceal what he was feeling, because bashful Juice was quite the sight.
She pat Juice's thighs a couple times with her hand and cleared her throat. "Alright sport, we need to head out. We've been here long enough."
Juice snapped out of his daze with an awkward chuckle. In a few moments, he stumbled off of Ten's lap and into the aisle of seats. He shoved his hands into his pockets casually, but his face still wore that handsome, sheepish grin.
Ten stood up and dusted herself off before stretching her limbs out. Thousands of years, and stadium seats were still uncomfortable to sit in for long periods of time. Curse cheap plastic, and its ability to be easily mass produced.
Her footsteps echoed as she meandered out of the aisle into the stairway, heading up towards the indoor part of the stadium.
"Come on," she called to Juice behind her, "let's head home and have dinner so we can pack."
Juice's footsteps rang out behind her as he bounded up the steps. "We?" He parroted, and while her back was turned, she could perfectly imagine the smug expression to match the lilt in his voice.
"Yes, we." She scoffed at the playful arrogance. "I need to meet the poor souls that made your smorgasbord of a game work."
"Hah." He fell into line beside her as they strolled through the empty stadium. It wouldn't be empty much longer, because with the end of the Bowl Game, regular college football would resume. "Hey, Tenny, wanna race home?"
"What!? Fuck no!"
"Awwwwww." He drawled dramatically, pouting to himself.
The stepped out into the parking lot, the dark sky contrasting with the twinkling brilliance of SoCal's suburban sprawl. Tomorrow, America was going to see the end of an era, but tonight, the commissioner was at peace.
"Love you too."