Moonbound

by Robin Sloan

“Worry is a form of pride.

It helped that the espresso machine was so beautiful.

On Earth, everything was chaos. The wolves lost their howl. The eels revealed their secret breeding ground at last. Lactobacillus turned sweet.

in its return it had bested me, because it was ready with a great annunciatory jam.

If the robot had opened the way with kindness, then they had sealed the deal with the essential glue of friendship: long hours together, doing nothing much.