A/N: Have you seen the .gif of Cave and Caroline making out in Propulsion Gel? If you have not, your life is empty and meaningless. Go look now:
i (dot) imgur (dot) com/Oaaqn (dot) gif
It demanded a fic to accompany it, and I supplied. This is the T-rated, FFnet-censor-friendly version - for those interested, the full version is available on LiveJournal (link on my profile, or at the bottom of the page).
.
Slippery When Wet
The clock on the observation room wall said 2:47. Any sane person—and even all the other Aperture employees, who'd left for the night hours before—would say it was time for sleep.
Cave Johnson said it was time for science.
"Okay, Caroline, press the button again."
"Yes sir." Caroline complied with a sigh, releasing another gush of orange fluid from the vent in the ceiling. They'd been testing the new gel all night, with results ranging from unsuccessful to very unsuccessful, and after the long day she was discouraged and exhausted. At last even her boss was getting tired of fiddling with the formula—if this one didn't work, they agreed to leave it for the morning and go home. Just one more test.
"This is the one, kid, mark my words," Cave said determinedly. "Propulsion Gel's gonna blow Black Mesa away once and for all."
"I hope so, Mr. Johnson." She suppressed another sigh—it looked like they were in for another sleepless night, but at least they were doing science. She placed a tentative foot on the slick of orange, half-expecting it to stick to the floor completely after the last dud batch—
And slid.
The woman yelped in alarm as her foot slipped out from under her, fumbling uselessly for balance as momentum shot her across the floor and smacked her into the opposite wall. She caught herself against it and looked over her shoulder at Cave—his astonished face broke into a broad grin. She laughed. "Is that what it's supposed to do, sir?"
"You're damn right it is!"
A step in his direction sent her flying across the room—he held his arms out to catch her, but she barreled into him and sent them both sprawling. They collapsed onto each other in an undignified heap. Giggling and slightly smeared with orange, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked up at him. "I think it worked."
With a victorious laugh, he caught her in a bear hug and crowed, "Science! Science, Caroline!"
"Yes sir, Mr. Johnson." She let him hold her for a long moment, but success had evaporated her fatigue and she wanted to test. She rose to her feet and returned to the slick of gel—more prepared this time, she managed to stay upright as she stepped out, keeping her legs under her, turning an indelicate slide into a graceful arc across the floor. It felt something like ice skating. She pirouetted to a stop and saw him staring in openmouthed amazement.
"Caroline, you are incredible."
She laughed and held her hands out to him. "Come on, sir! It's fun!"
But his first step on the floor was as ungainly as hers had been—he bowled her over and they crashed together into the back wall. He stayed on his feet, just barely, but he realized his weight was crushing her into the wall. "Jeez, sorry Caroline—" he began sheepishly.
She was overcome by a fit of giggles. Sandwiched between her boss and the wall, she looked up at him and grinned. "We did it. We did it!" She planted an impulsive kiss on his lips. "You're brilliant!"
"Nah. We're brilliant." He pulled her into a longer kiss. The one-word correction flooded her with warmth—she melted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed back.
But their feet were still in the Propulsion Gel, and they started to slide. Cave put a hand out to steady them.
His hand found the button instead.
A slimy splash drenched them both in goo. Suddenly much wetter and more orange than before, Caroline blinked orange out of her eyes to see her dumbfounded and very orange boss. Another giggling fit took hold of her—she felt as ridiculous as he looked, and he looked ridiculous, and it was three in the morning, and everything was science. She collapsed against his chest, laughing like a maniac. His confused expression only made it worse. Barely able to catch her breath, she threw herself onto him in a very orange kiss.
It was at that point they discovered that the Propulsion Gel tasted like orange creamsicle.
Caroline broke the kiss as quickly as she'd started it. Her tongue ran thoughtfully across her orange lips in a gesture that went straight to Cave's groin. Then, slowly and devilishly, she grinned.
.
A/N: As I said, this is the T-rated version. You can be classy and stop here, or you can read the rest at my LJ:
fuchsiamae (dot) livejournal (dot) com/6132 (dot) html
There is graphic sex. Graphic and very orange sex.