midnight burger fandom, I am grabbing you by the shoulders, because WHY THE FUCK no one talks about how tragic Leif/Verge/BertBert are??
Leif and BertBert are literally soulmates, doesn't matter platonic or romantic. In most of the universes, Leif leaves the Earth, and in most of the universes, his first alien friend is BertBert. Whatever happens next doesn't matter - they will continuously bump into each other. They send each other messages even when they are on different planet systems. They ask each other for help even if they haven't talked for years. BertBert calls Leif for help when captured by science priests, even though before that, Leif had left her. Leif calls BertBert because she is the only one he trusts to help the remaining humans. They love each other: they may disagree with each other and their life choices, but the love is there. Leif stopped being just an article topic for BertBert a long time ago. Despite how many times BertBert tried to find out Leif's secrets, she is still his friend. What led them apart were the decisions they made, and despite that, they are still important to each other. BertBert's kids know about Leif and call him "space uncle". Leif visits them regularly, no matter what timeline or parallel universe it is.
Leif and Verge had something really good for a while before it came to an end. It came to an end suddenly and abruptly, and neither got the closure they needed. And it sucked, but there is nothing you can do, apart from move on. But that doesn't mean that what they had wasn't precious. Verge was with someone who didn't care about them being a Vapian, but also did. He saw Verge for who they were, which was a Vapian, as it was one of the core elements of their identity. And despite all the "warnings" about Vapians, he still stayed and loved Verge. This act by itself was a middle finger towards the Triad, who, despite claiming to be oh-so-much-better than Earth, were still as bad as it is. He saw Verge for who they were, and that was more than Verge ever wished to have. Verge for Leif for the embodiment of freedom and space. They traveled together, fought together, robbed and stole, and done crimes together. Leif craved freedom and adventure, and the literal feeling of being out there in the void - and Verge was that. They loved each other - through it all, they did. Maybe it wasn't meant to last long, maybe it was just a question of time when something else would take Leif's attention from being a small space criminal, but through it all, love was there.
BertBert and Verge are both people who loved the same guy and then this same guy left them, forever changed. BertBert calls Verge "the friend you call when shit hits the fan", KNOWING that Verge will help her. When Leif and Verge learn that BertBert was kidnapped by the science priests - the ones who are the most advocates for the prejudice against Vapians - Verge immediately agrees that they have to save her. They risk their life trying to get her out of the science temple. And then BertBert gives Verge her old Tinkle, because she is scared for him and wants to stay in touch. They care about each other, despite not even knowing each other well. They share this love for Leif, and they understand what the other is going through and they sympathize with that and they care. Also, Verge, upon seeing BertBert immediately went flirting with her??? And BertBert wasn't that against this??? Yeah, they definitely fucked, AT LEAST once.
They are so doomed together............Pollyamory would not fix them, but make them worse. Random AU, where BertBert joins Verge and Leif and they become a Crime Trouple and then Leif founds Midnight Burger and he stays there, while BertBert and Verge visit him often.