Authors Note: To an anon who asked for Beck/Paige cuddles at my tumblr. I already planned to write this but they really got me going. Also thanks to infiniteviking and karanes-parnassus on tumblr for telling me about Hyperball and linking to the wiki. My tumblr and AO3 are all under the same name as here.
Characters: Paige, Beck, Tron.
Pairing: Beck/ Paige (though it is more platonic friendship here)
Full Summary: "No, I think you have thoroughly beat me enough in one day. I can see your ego growing from here," he said laughing when she pushed the toe of her shoe into his side.
Paige and Beck play Hyperball and somehow work their way towards a close friendship and even cuddles. Beck realizes he likes Paige, he likes her a lot. Also an incredibly brief segment where Tron is a good friend and mentor.
Beck stumbled with a brief shout of frustration and then groaned as the bell sounded.
"Win Player 2," was the smooth announcement.
"You know, I'm not sure why I suggested this as an activity," he said catching the ball in his cesta and holding it. Paige, who had been dominating the game since an ill-advised comment just smirked and popped a hip out.
"Yes well, I think you over estimated your skill in this game. I mean this is a sad showing for "the best player I'll ever get the honor of being beaten by."
"Hey trash talk is part of the standard dialogue when I play games, and you surprised me. You're a little vicious you know." He said before tossing the ball and rebounding it into Paige's side of the court where she fell short of catching it. She huffed and then catching the ball midair sent it rebounding back viciously. For a awhile the only noise was that of the ball bouncing off the ceiling, the game systems announcements sounding like gibberish in his ears as he jumped and flipped. It was all he could do to keep up, their game picking up until they were both working harder than a "friendly" game really called for. Competitive streak he thought blankly, good to know. Catching the ball and sending it zipping back into her court. Paige was more than ready and in a move almost to fast to see sent it to the back of his court, he threw himself backwards trying to at least catch it but only ended up throwing himself on the floor. His last hexagonal line disappeared and Beck groaned
The bell sounded again, "Win Player 2."
Beck just lay across the floor, exhausted from throwing himself around. Paige leaned over him and smirked, "Best five out of ten?"
"No, I think you have thoroughly beat me enough in one day. I can see your ego growing from here," he said laughing when she pushed the toe of her shoe into his side. He rolled away and into a crouch rising to his feet.
"I never took you for a sore loser Beck, I'll have to remember this for the next time we play," she said as they walked off the court. A few programs stared openly at them, muttering to themselves.
"Nice game," one of the programs called, but Beck was hustling to follow Paige and didn't respond to the friendly overture. She de-rezzed her armor, walking into the small plaza just outside the Hyperball courts. Paige gestured towards a small outside bar, advertising blatantly to Hyperball players with a little line under their sign that read: Energy, always good after a game!"
"Let's get a drink," she said, walking towards the bar.
"That was more of a command than a question. But yes, I don't think I've expended that much energy in a very long time, at least not in any recent cycles." Which was a lie; there was plenty of times where he'd expended a lot of energy, mostly running from Paige and her forces.
"Well get used to losing program, I like winning," she said sitting at the counter and motioning the bartender for two drinks.
"I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time we play a game," Beck said sipping at the drink the bartender had slid in from of them. It was green and a little fizzy, a different mix than what he normally liked but interesting. "Is this your favorite drink?"
"One of my favorites," Paige said brushing her hair back from her face smiling. She saluted him with her drink briefly and then went back to sipping it, the tension slipping from her shoulders. Beck sipped at his drink and hummed trying to get used to the almost tickling fizz of it. He was a pretty basic guy; he'd probably tried the drink at one point but decided he liked the blue energy better. Well if this didn't lead to Paige joining the revolution at least it would apparently expand his horizons. They sat quietly and Paige glanced at him smiling, and Beck could feel himself smiling back. He felt a little like he was floating, a fizzy feeling filling him that had nothing to do with the drink.
They drank and talked, meandering from subjects like work to how city life in Argon was different compared to the other cities Paige had been too, she'd even been to Tron City.
"Most programs that joins Clu's army ends up in Tron City at one point," she said swirling her second drink around her glass. "We may train in different places but that's the center of Clu's operations, a lot of times orders or reassignments, and some of the supplies we don't pull from the city we're stationed at come from there. If we climb high up enough the latter we go can go there with a General and be in the presence of Clu himself," she breathed awe struck.
"Clu himself?" Beck asked, bitter hatred welling up in him for a moment until he pushed it back and down, hiding it all behind a long gulp of his drink.
"Yeah. He can be intimidating but its quite the honor to even be in his presence," she said as she rolled her empty glass between her palms.
"An honor indeed," Beck muttered unable to keep the comment back. Paige looked at him a second suspicious before understanding dawned.
"I know that Renegade has a lot of you convinced that Clu is wrong," she said a hand coming to rest on his arm, "But trust me when I say he is doing his best for the system."
"Well if I can trust anybody I guess it would be you Paige," Beck said, conceding to the fact that she truly believed Clu was doing well. But Clu wasn't. It was obvious from the corrupted Black Guard to even the city of Purgos. The system was meant to be perfect, but it felt more and more like Clu's idea of a perfect system was something incredibly micro-managed. They were slinking further and further from perfection, systems slowly decaying without a User to truly dive into the system and fix whatever underlying problems existed. At least that was what Tron had said, staring at Argon city in the distance. The only program to even have an idea of what the Grid was supposed to be other than Clu, and Clu had warped the Grid according to Tron. But that was all he would say, the program reluctant to talk about the past except for when he absolutely had to.
Paige having no idea of his seditious thoughts just smiled and tapped his arm with her knuckles.
"Is there anything else you'd like to do this cycle?" She asked, hovering over her drink and waving the bartender away when he approached to see if they needed a refill.
"No, nothing I can think of," he said sliding his glass towards the bartender and standing up. They exited the building and Beck checked the time, relieved to see that there was still quite some time until curfew. Paige followed him and started to say something before hesitating. She gave his arm a quick pat and started to pull away.
"Hey I'll message you next off cycle I have," she said already moving away. Beck feeling ill equipped to handle the potential pit falls that came with trying to nudge her towards the rebellion nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, next time I'll have to obliterate you at Hyperball," he said waving goodbye. Paige just rolled her eyes and rezzing her light cycle taking off for the command ship currently hovering over the city. Beck watched her go, and deciding that the tight feeling in his chest was not to be ignored rezzed his own cycle. Immediately he made for the cities borders. He needed to talk to Tron. His mentor might not agree with his hopes to recruit Paige but hopefully that didn't mean the other program would leave him completely high and dry. Right now Beck needed to interact with another program, one who didn't really need anything other than what he could contribute to the rebellion and their fairly straightforward relationship.
Walking into the main floor of Tron's home Beck hesitated, suddenly unsure. He didn't really want to talk about Paige anymore. In fact he wasn't sure what he thought coming to Tron's would do. The program was highly unlikely to be helpful; he'd probably just make smart quips about "dates." He had decided that maybe he should go home instead when Tron's voice carried across the space.
"Dates not going well?" He asked exiting the room where his healing chamber was kept.
"I don't really want to talk about that right now," Beck said, "How would you feel about some sparring or running some simulations?"
"Hm, what's with the sudden intense need to train?" Tron asked, obviously unwilling to let Beck have the peace he desired. Beck ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"I don't know, I just need to busy with something, not think for awhile," he said shifting his weight across his feet trying not to fidget too much and watching Tron's expression. The other program just stared at him considering and then nodded decisively.
"Fine, but don't think just because your having issues, I'll go easy on you," he said already walking towards the training area. Beck rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," he said voice wry and warm with fondness.
"You lose program," Paige said mockingly, sauntering across the courts to Beck who was admittedly nursing a bruised ego.
"Yes, no need to rub it in. I should have realized you wouldn't be letting that winning streak go," he said. He'd held is own, at least he thought he'd been pretty good, bringing it down to a tie breaking game.
"I'd say lets go another round but I hear it's bad etiquette to keep a court too long," Paige said leading them out and past a collection of programs who were either watching their game or waiting for the court. They'd gotten a little competitive again, and Paige had been working hard for the win. He thought briefly that maybe this was the only place she was really winning anything, because more often than not he got away when he was playing Renegade. He hadn't gotten much information about the occupation but what he had gotten seemed to speak of a highly competitive and stressful job.
They derezzed their armor and exiting the building hovered a little outside the doorway. He wasn't low on energy and the bar seemed a little too crowded when he glanced over it.
"Seems a little busy," Paige said staring at the bar, a frown marring her face.
"Well I know it probably isn't as nice a view as the bridge but we could go to my place?" Beck offered nervously. It was a little strange to be opening his home up to Paige; she was an entirely new experience for him. Beck didn't have crushes often, not like Zed who had crushes on and off. The guy just liked girls and really wanted one who liked him as much as he liked her. Zed was little desperate for love. Beck though had never felt the drive to have someone exclusively, nor had he ever really wanted anyone to love romantically. He'd found programs aesthetically pleasing before, and he'd cared for them as friends dearly. But there had never been this overwhelming urge to be close like with Paige, to know her the best out of everyone and hold her close not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
Paige considered his offer silently, one hand on her hip as the other came up to brush at the hair out of her face briefly. Beck stewed in his thoughts and feelings, trying not to hunch in on himself as more and more time passed. He was about to awkwardly retract his invitation when Paige nodded and grabbed the baton off her hip.
"That sounds acceptable, what are the coordinates," she asked staring at him intently, on a mission. He muttered off the coordinates and grabbing his own baton, rezzing his bike as Paige was gliding ahead. They arrived out the building quickly and derezzing his cycle Beck gestured Paige into his elevator and activated it.
"It's not really big, but I think its pretty nice," he said nervously running his hands through his hair. Realizing he'd messed his hair in an unruly disaray he quickly swept it back up into its usual shape. Paige was just watching him, obviously entertained but instead of laughing at him just smiled softly.
"It will probably be better than even my quarters," she assured him, "We try not to waste space on the command ship. Stop worrying so much." She rested a hand briefly on his arm, but then just as quickly pulled it away. For a second she pulled away entirely, shoulders straightening and hands coming to rest behind her back in a parade rest.
"I feel that we have some things to discuss," she said almost sharply, pronouncing each consonant sharply, punching them out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Beck glanced away, suddenly incredibly nervous, thinking frantically back, wondering what had given him away.
"Uh, w-what do we have to discuss specifically?" He asked stepping out of the elevator and walking down the hallway, he paused outside his door unsure. What if she had realized he was part of the revolution, or the Renegade? He thought, panicked. He glanced at Paige and she looked regretful, her hand came up to touch his arm reassuringly again and she hesitated before bringing it back down to her side.
"Don't worry Beck, it's nothing really bad, you haven't offended more or anything it's just," she paused, "Something we need to talk about is all." Beck let out a quick relieved sigh, so it probably wasn't about the rebellion he was trying to start. Or maybe, he thought, it's that she wants to join the rebellion. No, he was getting ahead of himself, he needed to concentrate on the now and not what could be. The door swung open, the lights blinking on. Beck felt himself relax an increment more, there was nothing like coming home even if it was with a friend who could potentially kill you.
Paige was looking around, and she paused briefly on his frankly lavish bed set and crossing the apartment stood staring at it. Beck could feel himself working up to a glitch with how embarrassed he suddenly was, delete him, he forgot how that might look. He wasn't sure where Paige had come from but his bed was a pretty good indicator that Beck really liked to company. It felt embarrassing now but it had just been practicality with Zed, Mara and Bodhi at the time. Interspaced with random programs he had met at the club who were always up for cuddles. He was actually a very tactile program when it came down to it. It technically wasn't something to be ashamed of, not really but still he wanted so badly to impress Paige that even the thought that she might somehow (bizarrely) disagree with his free sharing status was already driving him to gesturing awkwardly and stuttering.
"O-oh y-you like my bed set? I uh, I had to trade a couple favors for it, I um, really like my comfort," he said. Fortunately Paige was turned away from him so she couldn't see him clench his fists and roll his eyes up to the ceiling despairing at his ability to somehow make things worse. Paige who was still considering his bed set swiftly turned around and looked at him, face set in a cool mask. Beck shifted, trying to stand taller, expression set in a nervous sort of pout and kept shifting his gaze between the floor and her. Paige sat on the bed and crossing her legs, she leaned back considering him. Finally the blank look cracked and she smiled at him.
"So, if I'm reading this right your pretty tactile," she said.
"Uh, well, yes. That would be correct," Beck admitted, still trying to look Paige in the face and failing to do it for more than even a millisecond.
"Hey Beck," Paige said softly, Beck looked up to find Paige was staring at the far wall. "The thing I wanted to discuss was, well, see when you join the army there's a lot of stuff you have to let go." She was still staring at the wall, though now her look was sad, she inhaled deeply. Her shoulders stiffened a little and she stretched out a bit trying to make herself bigger, trying to seem tougher, " And well I lost a lot, and I let a lot go, and I think I'd like to have some part of that back."
She placed a hand on the bed and leaned back, lip looking him in the face and Beck compelled did not look away. She inhaled her through her nose and Beck could see her struggling with getting the words out, "I don't want you to get any idea this means anything," she said sharply, eyes glancing away briefly before she suddenly softened entire demeanor opening up, utterly vulnerable, "But, could you hold me?"
Paige leaned forward and uncrossing legs opened her arms, a beseeching gesture that went down to the Beck's very base code. He wanted to look away for a moment, suddenly and intensely sad at the amount of needy anguish that Paige was emitting. Instead he climbed on the bed, straddling Paige and enveloping her in his arms. Gently he tilted them back and to the side. They lay on the bed, their legs hanging awkwardly off the edge and just clung to each other. Beck wasn't sure how much time passed but his legs were starting to hurt, he scooted them up and over so they were laying on the bed properly. They just laid there for a long time, one of Beck's hands sweeping up and down Paige's back comforting her as she clung to him, fingers clutching hard at his back, breathing slightly ragged but otherwise silent. Eventually she relaxed, slowly releasing the tension that filled her. Her hand that wasn't trapped under him started to run down his back, following his circuits down and then sweeping upwards before starting all over.
"Hm, quick warning," she said interrupting Beck's languid peace. He tried to gather the energy to speak but just made a vague grunt noise, utterly content and warm, Paige's energy pulsing over him. "If you tickle me I will probably punch you so hard that you need repairs."
"Noted," He said before going back to kind of nuzzling Paige while she did the same to his shoulder and collarbone. He shivered briefly when she brought her hand over and pressed it against his chest, following the circuits of his chest. Deciding that she wanted to do the same with her arm under him she started wriggling it and he shifted letting her curl her arms against his chest.
Silence filled the room and they silently drifted along their thoughts utterly content and pressed as close together as possible.