Spirit Animals Oneshots

Rollan x Karmo - I'll Always Be there for You

A/N -
This is a robot AU...
There's some slightly triggering things in here like bullying and a brief mention on alcoholism, just a warning!
---------------

Rollan's PoV -

It was late at night and I had been working all day but I refused to give up. I was making a robot, I needed one to take with me to school which was only a few days away, nothing quite like waiting till the last minute. I was a junior in high school so being bullied was a big deal for me and sadly a big reality for me too. Over the summer a new trend hit Erdas, robots, everyone had a robot, well nearly everyone who could afford a bot. Sadly I could not afford a robot but I was good with mechanics and could build my own, I knew if I didn't have a robot with me on the first day of school I would be made fun of for being poor or not in the loop of things. I knew my bot may not be as perfect as other students but it was the best I could do and at least I would have a bot, maybe they wouldn't make fun of me then.

So here I was, working on my bot late into the night when I really should have been sleeping. I had the main body of the bot laid out on my bed and the littlest pieces were scattered around my room. I tinkered with his chest for awhile but I must have fallen asleep. I woke laying next to my bot with my head on his chest, with a blush I hurriedly sat up. It's not like anyone had seen me or like my bot was activated yet but still... I had to admit, I kinda did feel safe with my head on my bot's chest, after all, I was building my robot to keep me safe from school's bullies.

I shook myself awake and kept working, chugging coffee when needed. Lightning flashed outside, it was very close, probably on top of my roof. I felt the vibrations in the air from it. I was finally finished with my robot!

He lay peacefully on my bed. I didn't know what to call him yet, maybe he could name himself. I admired my work, which felt wrong to basically be checking my robot out but whatever. He was tall and had handsome southern Nilonian skin, his hair was black and a tad fluffy, perhaps from the added electricity. He was perfect, I had made him just the way I wanted. I may or may not have added all the features I found most attractive in guys. Awkwardly, I walked over to him and felt around for his power button on his lower back. I found it and hurriedly clicked, he came to life immediately. It must have seemed like I was hugging him, because he gently wrapped his arms around me. "You're Rollan, right?" he asked.

I smiled and cuddled into the hug, he might have been metal but he was warm. "Yeah, I'm Rollan, how did you know, I didn't program you to already recognized me?" I looked at him puzzled.

He shrugged, "I know a lot of things," was all he said.

"Like what?" I smiled.

"Like the eighth root of 9, how to hotwire a car, what day the second Monday in January in the year 1709 fell on," the robot laughed, "nah, I'm joking, but I do know how to help you with your math homework."

"What's your name?" I asked next.

"Don't you get to name me?" he shrugged.

"You don't have a name you like more than any other?" I asked.

"Just one, how about Karmo?" Karmo smiled back at me shyly.

"Karmo," I tried his name out, "that sounds perfect!"

I realized I was practically sitting in Karmo's lap and I quickly scrambled away. "You seem way more human-like than any other robot I've ever seen?" I stated in the form of a question.

Karmo shrugged, "I think it was the lightning, probably."

I nodded, it was nice having Karmo around even if I just 'met' him. He gave me someone to talk to and he looked to be pretty compassionate too, he seemed to care about me already. Most importantly, he was my bot and now I wouldn't have the bullies at school making fun of me for how poor I was. Karmo may have not been made out of the most expensive metals but he had more character than any other robot I had ever seen. "You look tired," Karmo stated with a concerned glance at me.