Chapter Text
Buzz cringed a little as they tried to gently set down another empty energy drink can in the pile. It was well into the early morning and Bug would probably be pissed if they found Buzz still up, so they tried to move quietly without waking the person in bed next to them.
It was unusual for Buzz to be static in front of a screen. Their mile a minute typing was absent in the blue dark of Bug's basement apartment made only slightly brighter by the screen. Buzz was staring intently at what appeared to be a live stream of rolling ocean waves with crisp numbers measuring wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and coordinates superimposed over the video feed. The Atlas drone was headed for a moor less than a mile from this sleepy coastal village at 35km per hour. She was flying unaided on nothing but her own internal instruments and guided by a program that Buzz knew for certain was absolutely watertight. They'd wrought it's code into existence and then put it through its paces for over a year. But testing a drone on the company green with a human at the controller ready to course correct on a clear, windless day was hardly a test at all. A fully unmanned and uncharted voyage would put proof to principal and justify all the money that corporate investors had sunk into this program.
Atlas was launched from Chesapeake Bay on a direct course to aim for across the Atlantic with no gps guidance of any sort. She'd survive the journey and meet her target with probably the most complex piece of navigational equipment being a magnetic compass.
So Buzz found themself in the comfortable, dark clutter of Bug's basement apartment in Galway, waiting for the numbers on the screen to indicate that Atlas was closing in on the targeting beacon they and the rest of the project leads had set up. The whole team had booked space at a local Inn for the waiting game they were all playing, but Buzz opted to take the opportunity to room up with their closest friend. They'd been able to meet only a handful of times before, one of which was under their dad's nose and had earned Buzz some absolutely justified rage from Mr. Helinski, and every time they saw each other the days would stretch on. Buzz would spend the nights in crowded music venues with sticky floors and smoke filled air while Bug handled all the nitty gritty of managing their own crust punk band and heading the musicians, and by day Buzz would be able to actually sit with their longest friend and jabber at them at a mile a minute.
It seemed like every time they said goodbye Buzz forgot just how much of a tactile person Bug was IRL until they saw each other again and was suddenly lifted off the ground by six plus feet of towering goth in the middle of the airport. Bug never said it was because they knew just how little Buzz's family did physical affection, but Bug never exactly needed to. Bug was probably the most intuitive person Buzz knew, and it honestly scared them a little.
The first time they did meet saw Buzz at 16, looking over their shoulder constantly. Afraid their dad would materialize out of thin air between waves of travelers and flight attendants to drag them home. They'd certainly earned some kind of punishment for lying about visiting granny Carol only to hop on a plane bound for Ireland instead of Texas. But when they'd spotted Bug by the baggage claim, tall and dark and not nearly as baby faced as Buzz, they decided it was fucking worth it to meet their best friend of four years face to face. The way their mouth curled into a smile was a million times better in person than the ghost of it they'd caught over a grainy webcam all these years, and the way Buzz tripped over their words was less to do with nerves and more overwhelming excitement.
Later that same night they were having their first real sleepover and sharing a cramped twin bed as Bug idly played with the fingers on Buzz's left hand. Bug looked at them through their bleached bangs and said- "I knew you'd be a lefty."
Buzz had flushed and stuttered until they ended up hitting Bug with a pillow as they laughed.
That night, kept awake by their own manic energy all Buzz could think was 'you thought of me? You thought of me so much you'd even think of my hands?'
Buzz was startled out of their absent thoughts when a bony arm slung around their waist and a sharp chin rested on their shoulder. They were so lost they hadn't heard Bug shifting on the mattress behind them.
"Did you sleep at fuckin all?"
"I-l mean- yeah a little. I've only been up for a few minutes"
Buzz could hear the smile in their voice as they called them a liar. The room was plunged into darkness with a sharp klat as Bug reached around them to shut the laptop and Buzz was left reeling as they tried to blink the after image of endless blue from their eyes. They stung. How long had they been staring at the screen?
Before Buzz could turn on their friend with a complaint they were met with a pillow to the face and manhandled back under the covers. Bug settled in their preferred koala like clinging with their head resting on Buzz's chest while they sputtered to get Bugs long black hair out of their mouth.
"Maybe I was busy???? Ever think of that??"
"Mmmmmmn no you weren't. You've been talkin 'bout that drone so much that even I know that there isn't anythin you can do while she's out there."
Buzz knew they were right. Hovering over the feed wouldn't change anything about the maiden voyage of the Atlas. All that Buzz could have done to make it a success was done months before they'd even set a launch date. Agonizing over every storm report or pressure shift or piece of fucking driftwood that floated in front of the screen would do nothing but drive them nuts. But still….. the thought of being gone when she might have run an error or encountered a rogue wave felt too much to them like abandonment. It made them feel sick and hot with anger at something they didn't know how to name.
So for now they ran their fingers through Bug's hair as they slept, warm and blind in the dark. And when they got the notification that Atlas was less than ten miles out from the beacon Buzz was there to meet her.