#bluewire

Jay straightened his tie for probably the twentieth time. Tonight was the night. Prom. He’d passed by the leisure deck a little earlier, and things were really starting to look good. His date...wasn’t who he had been hoping it would be. Getting up the courage to ask Nya had ended up being nearly impossible, and his mom had ended up setting him up with someone else insead.

Pixal was somewhat of an oddity to him. She had transferred to the Zircon-4 just a month ago, from Echo fleet. Which was wild since Echo fleet was like, the best of the best. On top of that, she was Gamma-Class Elite. So really, he wondered what she was doing here at all. It was also a little strange to know his date was a recon droid, but one of his best friends was also a droid so maybe it wasn’t that weird. Not that any of it mattered in the end since he was only doing this because his mom had asked and it was just as friends anyways. No need to sweat the details.

Finally! Prom night was here and Pixal could not be more excited. She didn’t really know much about her date...other than his name was Jay and he was human. They had met a few times since she’d gotten here, and he was pretty funny. Pixal really liked him. However, she also had to remember that he was totally in love with Nya. But all the boys seemed to be in love with Nya, and she couldn’t really blame him. Nya was pretty cute. No matter how much she wished it could be true, she and Jay just weren't compatible. As long as she kept that in mind, the night would still be fun.

Jay is waiting for her outside the door to his apartment. Dressed in a sharp blue suit, and a tie that matched, it was hard to deny how attractive he was.

“Hey Pixal! You ready to go?” He asks cheerily. He gives her a soft smile, before averting his eyes.

“Yes. We can leave whenever you are ready.” She responds, trying really hard not to let disappointment flood her voice at the fact that he wouldn’t even look at her. That was a signal that she was more than capable of reading. That more than anything nailed home their directives for tonight really didn’t align. ‘Just get through the night Pixal,’ She thinks to herself. This was nothing more than a routine social function. Just like the hundreds of others she had attended before. Tonight was going to be fine.

In the short time Jay had known her, he had never realized just how beautiful Pixal was. It was incredibly obvious now though. She was wearing a silky purple dress that complemented the silver tone of her skin. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and fixed in place with a matching purple butterfly clip. When he looked closely, he also spotted cute little butterfly earrings. There was no doubting it. Jay was utterly and completely enchanted. He tries not to stare, and the only way he can seem to accomplish that is by not looking at her at all. Guilt flooded him. Come on Jay. Get it together. Just a friend thing, remember? You like Nya, not Pixal. Just get through the night, have fun, and everything would be fine.

Jay’s mom stops them for a quick set of photos, and then they are on their way. Dozens of other couples are heading the same way as them, congregating on the leisure deck. An usher of some sort points them to a table, and they take their seats.

“I heard that Kai was gonna try and use a cloaking ray to try and sneak in some booze.” Jay starts, an awkward attempt to make conversation. She feels him turn to look at her. “And uhhh...I like your earrings.”

“Oh! Thank you.” Pixal feels her thoughts going a little haywire at the compliment. What does she even say? “I like your shoes.” Jay lets out a nervous little laugh. ‘Okay. Wow. Of all the compliments, you decided to tell him you like his shoes? Why would you say that?’ Pixal berates herself internally.

“Oh hey! Food’s here! Wanna try some of this biopaste? I swear it’s good.” Jay grasps at the new opportunity to try and dispel a little of the awkwardness.

“Oh, sure! Let me just flip on the flavor sensor and…” Pixal takes a bite of the strange blue goo Jay was offering her. That certainly wasn't something she had ever seen back on Echo fleet. “Oh wow! That’s actually really good!”

“You can turn on your taste receptors on and off at will?” Pixal almost balks at Jay’s unexpected question.

“Yes. Did that make you uncomfortable? I apologize-” she starts, but the look Jay is giving her has her stopping short. He looks very impressed.

“Man, that’s so cool! I wish I could do that. Do you know how many terrible dinners that would have saved me from?” And just like that, the awkwardness is broken. They fall into an easy conversation, and Pixal finds they have several shared interests.

Maybe this night wasn’t going to be such a waste afterall.

By the time dinner is over, Jay finds he is becoming more and more attracted to his companion for the night. He is no longer dreading having to dance with her. She was cute and smart and in all honesty, he wanted to spend more time just talking with her. Good thing there would be plenty of time for that while they were dancing. Pushing back from the table, he moved to stand in front of her, offering a hand.

“Pixal, may I have this dance?” He asks. She smiles wildly.

“Yes. Yes you may.”

Jay leads her over to the dance floor. The music was spunky and upbeat, not great for a slow dance. That didn’t seem to bother Pixal though. She kept up with all of his movements, and had near perfect rhythm.

Several songs pass before something that really worked for slow dancing played. Taking up a dance position with her, Jay is once again struck by just how beautiful she is. He can see his own face reflected in her eyes, and god does he look love struck. Because maybe, just maybe, he is. All other outside distractions fade away until it felt like he and Pixal were the only people in the whole universe. He could stay here forever, swaying to the music out in the depths of outer space…

A soft tap on his shoulder brings Jay out of his trance. Breaking away from Pixal, he finds it’s Nya who has gotten his attention. Nya!

“Hey Jay. Mind if I steal you for just one dance?” Jay’s heart leaps into his throat. Nya wants to dance with him. Him!

“Is that okay with you Pixal? It’ll just be one dance.” He asks his date.

“Oh...Okay.” PIxal’s hesitancy goes right over his head, he’s so excited by the fact his crush actually wants to dance with him. This was his chance!

“Thanks Pix! I’ll be back, I promise!” He’s already taking Nya’s hand, and leading her away. Which means he misses the absolute devastation on Pixal’s face.

When she had been dancing with Jay, Pixal had felt like she was on top of the world. The way he had been looking at her. She had almost felt human. Almost wanted to be human, if only to be able to understand Jay just a little bit better. Then Nya had shown up and it was like Jay completely forgot about Pixal.

Watching them walk away, laughing nervously, had been a harsh snap back to reality. Right. This was only supposed to be a friend thing. Nothing else. He didn’t really want to be with her. Now that Nya was here, Jay didn’t need Pixal around. She didn’t fit with him and that was it. No point in analysing it any further.

Pixal makes sure she has her charger before turning and sprinting away. Screw being human.

Jay should have been over the moon. He and Nya swayed together, his head resting in her hair and hands settled delicately on her dress. Nya pulled him as close as she could. He should be happy. This is what he wanted. Expect apparently it wasn’t. Because the only thing he can think about is Pixal. Pixal, Pixal, Pixal.

“That was fun. Want to keep dancing?” Nya asks hopefully as the song ends, but Jay is already pulling away.

“Sorry, I can’t. I really need to go find Pixal.” He apologizes. He rushes back to where he and Pixal had been sitting, but she isn’t there. Her bright silver form isn’t visible in the crowd either. She had mentioned wanting to go down to the hanger bay before the night was over…

Suddenly he’s sprinting. Maybe she was there. He prays she is. Man, he had messed up so bad. Hopefully she would be there and he would be able to apologize, and tell her everything that had been going through his head that night.

The door hisses open, startling Pixal out of her thoughts. What startles her even more though, is who’d come through the door.

“Jay? What are you doing here?” Hope swells inside her.

“I wanted to dance with you one more time before the night is over. I hope I’m not too late?” He rubs his head sheepishly. Pixal’s heart soars.

“Ask me. I won’t hesitate,” She finds herself answering, mouth running ten steps ahead of her thoughts. Jay steps forward, taking her hand gently.

“Just one dance though. Then I’d hit the breaks if I were you. You really don’t want to fall for me. Us humans...we really tend to be pretty lousy flakes.” He twirls her around, then pulls her close. They sway gently to non-existent music. Screw human tendencies. Pixal knew what she wanted.

“Jay?”

“Yeah?” he breaths, ticking her hair.