In which we see the aftermath of Eclipse's little... Visit to Moon's computer and how it affected Lunar once he makes his retreat to a safer world to hide in while everything goes wrong at home. (Takes place just a little bit after "Sun is Eclipse?! in VRCHAT" from the Sun and Moon Show. After all, we see Lunar leave, and then later find out he's with the nice Eclipse, but what exactly was the bridge like?)
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"There we go, the screen on the drink machines are finally displaying correctly," I murmur, allowing myself a little moment to be proud of the work. Technically, I shouldn't have fixed it because it was an intentional error to make people end up ordering the wrong drinks and have to get another one, but really, all that happened was that people stopped getting drinks from these machines.
It will be more profitable in the long run, and Monty will... Well, he won't thank me because he never thanks anyone, but he'll see more profits from his drink machines again, so he won't fire me for this. (Not like he could, everyone else would raise hell on him.)
"Alright, now I can take a little break." I crouch by my tool bag to tuck my screwdriver back into its proper place. Then something barrels into me, almost knocking me off balance. "AH! W- What the-?!"
"Please help me, please help me!"
"Lunar?!" I feel my servos stutter in a mix of alarm and worry, feeling him shaking uncontrollably as he buries his face into my back, holding onto me as tight as he can while crying. "Hey, hey, it's going to be okay, I'll help you!" I tell him, internally cursing myself for not sounding as calm as he needs me to be.
Carefully, I turn around so he's hugging my front, pulling him close and rubbing slow circles into his back. I take a deep breath, leveling my voice as I speak, "It's okay, Lunar. I'm here for you. Can you tell me what's wrong?"
"T- The other you- the bad Eclipse- he's- he was in M- Moon's computer!" Lunar whimpers, his grip on me getting even tighter. I let out a shaky breath, unsure of what to say to comfort him. Worse yet, I'm worried my voice may scare him even more, because I sound the same as the other Eclipse. I sound the same as his abuser.
I swallow hard, trying to find my words as quickly as I can. "I- a- alright. It's going to be alright, Lunar," I whisper, throwing my voice and mimicking Sun's. "He was just in the computer, he can't hurt you here. He can't get here, and he can't get to you. I won't let him get to you, no matter what it takes."
"Stop that," He hisses out between sobs, and I stiffen.
"Wh?..."
"S- stop trying to sound like someone else- I want to hear your voice! I know you're not him, s- so please- I need you, Eclipse!"
Slowly, I nod in understanding and let my voice go back to normal. "Okay. Okay... Thank you, Lunar," I can't help but say, because i- it means a lot to me to hear that. I worry so much when I'm with Lunar, that I may be doing more harm than good by being around him. I mean, I'm a mirror image of his abuser, and even though I would never hurt him, it's still entirely reasonable for him to still have problems with my visage-
Lunar lets out a loud sob and I snap out of my trance, remembering that this isn't about me, it's about him. "I promise that you're going to be alright, Lunar," I reassure him. "He can't get to you, not here. He can't get into my Moon's computer, and I would never let him come close to you. He can't reach you here."
He sniffles, but I can already feel his shaking beginning to settle. "That's it, just let it out and take some deep breaths," I murmur, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's okay to be scared, but I'm here for you. I'll protect you. You're not worthless, you're not a mistake."
"T- Thank you, Eclipse," He whispers, his voice still a little shaky.
It takes a little more time, but eventually he calms down from his tears, wiping the last of them from his eyes and leaning against me. I pet his head to help him, ground him to reality a little bit, but all the while I'm wondering how on earth the other Eclipse got into Moon's computer. And why didn't Lunar go to his brothers for help? I'm sure he at least told them, but I don't understand why he came here instead of staying with his family for comfort.
All I really know is that now isn't the time to ask. He needs more time to process and calm down from what happened before anything else.
"... Eclipse?" Lunar softly calls, and I look down at him as he stares up at me, his eyes full of uncertainty.
"What's up, Lunar?" I ask, ready and willing to answer any question he has or provide any distraction he needs to get away from his troubles.
"C- Can I stay here for a while? I don't wanna go home right now..."
"Of course you can," I answer, smiling warmly and pulling him into a gentle hug. "You can stay as long as you'd like. You're always welcome here."
For a moment, he's just quiet, not saying or doing anything. I begin to worry that I overstepped his boundaries and upset him again, but then I feel his arms wrap around my midriff, squeezing tight as he huddles in close to me for comfort.
"There you go, Lunar, just hang onto me for as long as you want to. I'm not going anywhere."