Nuju sighed boredly as he idly drummed his fingers on his work desk, blue eyes showing nothing but disdain for the situation. Of all the things that could happen, his precious telescope was broken; the outer lens was now cracked badly after some bird rahi decided it was worth crashing into. How was he supposed to stargaze without his telescope? And to make matters worse, it was going to take a week to get new parts made, fitted, and installed! What was he supposed to do with a week of no work?! Even with the free pass he got so the vahki would leave him alone it was a nuisance, and he couldn't just up and borrow someone else's equipment; his was custom-made! Every small knob and adjuster was tailored to his preference and specifications, no other telescope would be near as easy to work with! It would take a week just to try and adjust to using inferior tools!

An agitated huff escaped him as the disgruntled Ko-Matoran threw himself back in his seat and let it roll a foot or two away from his desk. What use was a stargazer who couldn't stargaze?!

"Sheesh, this really has you ruffled, doesn't it?"

Nuju jumped so badly he nearly fell off his chair, spinning 'round to regard the owner of the voice. "Oh. Hello Navak." He sighed as he rubbed his mask with his hands in an attempt to calm his nerves before answering his predominately sand-blue companion "Yes, it is absolute torture to just sit her with nothing to do but go over my notes and calculations. I've only been off work for three hours and I'm already going mad with boredom! How do people even handle this kind of listless drudgery? It's murder on one's very sanity!"

Navak laughed and shook his head. "Good grief, Nuju, do you even know what a break is? No wonder you're so high-strung! C'mon, let's go get lunch; I know this great spot for relaxing at."

"But-" the more studious of the pair cut himself off with a comical squawk as his best friend grabbed his arm and pulled, his chair wheeling along easily on the glassy floor. "Navak you're going to hurt someone!"

"Then someone better get off his chair, huh?"

Nuju huffed as he got up and hurried along after his friend. "Remind me why I didn't get you a recommendation in someone else's tower?" He groused, though it was only a half-hearted complaint at best. The truth of the matter was that, despite and perhaps because of their differences, Navak was a breath of fresh air that the slightly shorter matoran constantly found himself enjoying regardless of how much he griped. He was a reminder that there was more to life than work, always showing up any time Nuju began to forget. It almost made him wonder if his friend had a supernatural knack for gauging when the habit was getting out of control. Perhaps he'd have to ask about it later; there had to be an explanation somewhere.

Soon enough the pair of matoran found themselves outside, the suns shining down on them and making the whole district glow with dancing reflections and starry dreams. The scene was, in a word, breathtaking, but there was one small problem.

"Navak why are we on the roof?"

The larger matoran grinned as he looked around, gesturing to the scenery. "Because the view is gorgeous! And it's quiet up here; no droning or muttering about work to interrupt anything."

"We aren't supposed to be up here."

"Bah, trivialities." He argued dismissively. "Nobody really cares as long as we aren't making a lot of noise. Besides, being out here is kinda freeing, is it not? Come on Nuju; take a deep breath and let yourself live in the now for a while. Don't just look at it, see it. Breathe it. Enjoy it. Actually live it."

Nuju had heard similar sentiments from his best friend before, but he had never listened, not to the point where it fully stuck. Sure he had tried it once or twice, but the lesson never held. Still, he may as well try to humor him, and as such he drew in a deep breath and looked around again as he slowly let it out. Strange… had Ko-Metru always been this beautiful, or was it just the right lighting today? For several long moments all he could do was stare around them in wonderment. It was as though he was seeing his home district for the first time, even though he had been there all his life.

"Navak…" He asked finally, a note of mild awe in his voice. "Does… has Ko-Metru always looked like this? How did I not see it before?"

The matoran in question laughed as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "You were so busy looking for the future that you completely missed what was right in front of you. Got yourself so sidetracked by work that you've been missing out on… well, everything." He grinned. "Glad you're finally able to see what I enjoy every day."

Nuju couldn't help but chuckle a little as he nodded, smiling as he remarked. "How you find the time to work and enjoy this sort of view all the time is beyond me."

"For starters I actually take a lunch break more than once a week." The larger of the pair teased. "I've caught you working and eating at the same time waaaay too often to be healthy." Idly he strode a little closer to the edge and looked down, grinning again as he commented. "I think I see Skua."

Nuju scoffed at the name. "If anyone ought to be removed from their position for abuse of power, it's him." He grumbled. "I'm still not happy about how hard we had to fight with him to get your last promotion." He turned to regard his friend, just in time to see Navak hurl a snowball as hard as he could into the street below. Not long after, the hard-packed orb found its mark and was crashing against the head of the previously-mentioned matoran below, yielding a yelp of alarm and a long string of questionable exclamations. Nuju stared for several dumbstruck moments, blinking in utter bewilderment and shock. "D-did you just…?"

The fact that Navak was laughing was more than enough of an answer, but Nuju still couldn't believe it had happened. And his friend even got away with it! "How did you…?" He blinked as a snowball was put in his hand.

"Go ahead," Navak encouraged cheerfully. "pick someone. It's immensely good stress relief."

Nuju hesitated, his gaze roaming from his comrade to his snowball. Was this really wise? What would the repercussions be?

His questioning was interrupted by movement below, wild enough that it caught his eye. It looked as though an altercation was forming between a Ko-Matoran messenger and a Le-Matoran driver with no concept of speed regulations. Nobody seemed to be hurt, thankfully, but judging by the mess of packages strewn across the ground it had been a remarkably narrow miss. As far as could be told, the Le-Metru native seemed to be blaming the messenger for the incident, which only made the situation more aggravating. Ko-Metru messengers were always very meticulous and careful; it was hard to be efficient if chaos followed at their heels. Speed and order was key, and they had it down to a science. An affront like this simply would not be allowed to stand.

The snowball hit so hard that – when coupled with the rather dramatic reaction – the Le-Matoran fell over, flailing comically as the messenger he'd been arguing with merely stepped over him and continued on his way. Nuju actually grinned. It felt good to help out a fellow Ko-Matoran along with getting some relief from his own state of stuckness regarding work. Who knew something as mundane as a snowball could bring about so much happy justice?

Beside him, Navak was doubled over with laughter, and actually backed away from being anywhere near the edge just in case he fell over from a lack of proper balance. "That… th-that was awesome!" He gasped out, coughing quietly as he struggled to breathe between explosions of mirth. "Nuju y-you knocked that guy over! And the racket he made! Ooh I should have brought you out here weeks ago!"

Nuju laughed quietly and shook his head as he looked over at his friend. "How often do you do this?"

"E-every few days. Why?"

Nuju's lost grin returned. "Bring me along more; I think it might do me some good to help dispense more snowy justice on the world."

"You've got yourself a deal!"