Infinite Voices Telling Infinite Tales

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17349083

(The problem with that is that most of the people I would have asked went inactive long ago, or we don’t get along, and the few that haven’t either agree and then nothing happens for months even when I try to encourage things along, or expect me to come up with all the ideas and don’t contribute any of their own, or… I don’t know. Branching out is hard for me. I can’t just approach new people, even if I could find them. The few times I have they’ve fitted into one of the above categories anyway.

“We both could’ve been fancy but oh well to that!” If she had known that they were going to celebrate big she definitely would’ve put on a nice dress. But for now they were just going to go as they were to a nice place to eat nice food. “We can order a few things off the menu and you can try it all, okay?”

And she of course would pay for it. No way she was going to lead her friend to a fancy restaurant and then make her pay for it when she had her own family to worry about. Candela didn’t have to help support Lux and her in the apartments since the law enforcement department helped pay the bills for them. She would gladly spend the money on Lily to celebrate her getting a wonderful gift.

“And we’ll have to get dessert!”

“Of course we’ll get dessert,” Lily agreed, wondering what type of treats she would be able to choose from. The thought was exciting. She had never been to a fancy restaurant before, mostly because her parents and Beetle hadn’t wanted her to feel left out since she would be stuck with liquids only. This would be an entirely new experience in more ways than one.

There was a flicker of worry as she wondered how much this would cost. She would at least do her best to cover her half of the bill. Although she had a feeling they would end up disagreeing on that.

“Oh man pizza is pretty good.” She had to admit it would be delicious for her to eat. However she gave a bit of a hum and a tilt of her head as she thought about it. If this was going to be her first taste of real food that wasn’t mushed up and processed she should eat something good.

“Let’s go to a restaurant.” It didn’t matter if they were dressed up for the occasion or not. She was sure a fancy meal would be great as a first taste with her new mouth. Not to mention Candela was sure Lily would appreciate a warm place. “I know a good one. One with like, super nice hamburgers or steak.”

When Candela tilted her head Lily unconsciously matched the gesture, wondering what she was thinking about. When she spoke again Lily was startled for a moment, although she soon nodded in agreement. “Sure! Maybe I should’ve worn something more fancy...”

Was this a date? That was the thought that kept going through her mind as she let Candela lead the way. Of course she had made sure to specify before their night together that it was only casual, but despite that there had been many occasions where she thought about dating Candela. She seemed far more relaxed than Ant had been, not as likely to get upset over Lily having other friends or as determined to track her every movement. Much more affectionate as well.

Candela paused when she spotted her friend’s wings before quickly walking up to her. She matched Lily’s smile with her own before excitement took over. “Oh my God you have teeth!” There was a laugh as she hugged her friend.

Lily had talked about asking her parents for a proper mouth. They would of course. Candela already knew they loved their robotic creations dearly and would do their best to make them happy. It was strange to see teeth on her friend, but she was happy to know Lily got her wish. “We have to celebrate by eating, right? That just makes sense to me.”

The laugh Lily returned was full of excitement as she returned the hug. “They only just finished it earlier today! I had to be shut down for a day because of it, but my parents had the week off work to build it and decided to install it now as an early Christmas present for me.”

She was still smiling when she withdrew from the hug and took Candy’s hand. The teeth felt very awkward and she had bitten her proboscis a few times, but she was sure she could get used to it. Other robots seemed to manage just fine, after all.

[Text] Sure! Where do you want to meet up?

If there had been one thing Candela had been enjoying lately was hanging out with her friends. Her life was slowly started to be rebuilt and it helped having her friends around to chill with her on days she didn’t have gigs. She especially valued the time considering it was becoming the season where the number of jobs she had went up tremendously. 

Candela unfortunately would be a little harder to see since she was wearing a bit more winter gear than usual. She had some earmuffs resting on her head, and a coat on her body. However her face still glowed as she made her way around the park, her eyes scanning for the familiar wings of her moth friend.

Lily suppressed another shiver and attempted to wrap the scarf around her arms as much as possible, wishing she knew how to make her own clothes. She would love something that had sleeves as well as an open back. Perhaps that was something to learn now that the snow and ice was impeding her ability to study bugs.

[Text to Candela] Are you free this evening? There’s something I want to show you!

Hours after that message and the resulting conversation about where and when to meet, Lily found herself sitting on a park bench and gazing up into the sky. The sun had set early and she was sure the city would be a blaze of light if she looked out over it from above. Perhaps tonight she would ask Candela to join her in looking down on it.

There was a chill in the air that her thick scarf could not entirely chase away. A part of her wished she could wear a warm winter coat like so many of the humans she saw, but even if she cut holes in the back she was sure it would still feel too tight around her wings. It was going to be a difficult winter for her now that she had a quiet indoor job rather than an active one to keep her warm.

“Don’t think it hasn’t crossed our minds before. In fact we were perfectly ready to do that in order to save him when he was captured. But after the way he escaped...”