The following morning, Dutch sat in his typical seat in the Lagoon Company office with a magazine in his lap.
Rock and Revy came through the door and without even looking, Dutch ordered, "You two; sit."
The businessman in Rock instantly felt as though he was about to sit through a termination speech. He and Revy took a seat opposite Dutch as the boss dropped his magazine to his side.
While Rock couldn't have been more nervous, Revy wasted no time being her, "Well?"
"Last night, you two almost put a black mark on my business history. I don't give a fuck what the hell the two of you do on your own time; as soon as it comes to the office, that's when I've got a problem," Dutch replied calmly.
"Dutch, I--"
"I wasn't done, Rock," Dutch interrupted.
"Sorry," Rock replied.
"You two want to fuck each other silly, go ahead and be my guests. But if either one of you puts me in that position again because of some personal bullshit, there won't be a job here for either of you; understand?" Dutch finished.
Neither of them could deny that they had fucked up at the Yellow Flag. Revy's head sank and she folded her arms in a huff as she replied, "Yeah, yeah."
Dutch knew that would be the most he could hope for from Two-Hands and turned to face Rock who quickly offered his reply, "Yes sir."
Dutch smiled as he let his guard down, "Don't sir me, Rock. Like I said, you two want to do whatever it is you're doing, color me happy for the both of you. But when you're on the clock, I need you to be Rock, and I need you to be Revy. Soon as you walk out that door for the night, you can be Rock and Revy till your heart's content."
Rock and Revy nodded in agreement as the boss of the Lagoon Company placed a sheet of paper on the table between them, "Now; onto business."
-
Three days later, the Lagoon Company returned to Roanapur looking more than a bit rundown. Rock's tie was undone and his shirt was half-tucked, Revy's hair was falling out of its ponytail, Dutch's glasses were cracked and Benny's shirt was unbuttoned lower than usual. They took a seat in their office at the docks and slowly but surely began to fix their appearances.
"Please tell me that was worth out trouble, Dutch?" Rock said, breaking the ice.
"Work for Balalaika might be hell, but she pays better than anyone in this town," Dutch replied.
"Good," Revy replied. "I'm outta mags and bullets ain't cheap."
"Well, on the plus side, the new hardware I've been sorting out worked like a fuckin' charm," Benny added from his seat.
"You do good work, Benny boy," Dutch replied with a smile.
Benny exhaled on his fingernails before rubbing them against his shirt, "It was nothing."
"So what do you say, friends?" Dutch asked, "Drink our pain away?"
Revy looked to Rock who just so happened to look to her. They smiled briefly and Rock replied for the both of them, "I think we're going to get home."
They stood from the couch and Dutch smiled as he bid them farewell, "Good night you two, good work."
Benny turned to Dutch as Rock and Revy walked out of the office, "So we're still going to get fucked up, right Dutch?"
"Of course," Dutch replied.
-
At Rock's apartment, Revy and Rock lay sans apparel in the aftermath of a steamy bout of passion. Revy lie with her back to Rock, his arm draped across her, holding her tight to him. Her fingers wrapped his forearm, almost as she had clutched her pillow several nights earlier.
"This is nice," Revy said with a smile on her face.
Rock placed a kiss on her tattooed shoulder and replied, "Sure is."
He traced her tattoo with his finger bringing about a squeal of laughter as he came across a ticklish spot on her arm.
"Oh I'm sorry does this…" Rock's words dropped off as his hands dug in just below her ribs. Immediately Revy let out an ear-piercing yelp as her body quivered from his incessant tickling.
"ROCK!!!" She shouted before getting lost in another cry of anguish.
His hands slid down to her thighs and Rock continued to attack every ticklish spot he could find.
She continued to shriek in agony as she begged with a wide smile, "UNCLE, UNCLE!!!"
Rock finally obliged her and ceased his onslaught; the tension in Revy's body melting away instantly. She fell back to the bed exhausted and out of breath, and to think; all he'd done was tickle her.
"Remind me again, why the fuck did I agree to this?" Revy asked in between gasps for air.
Rock smiled as he once again wrapped her gently in his arms. He leaned down to her and delicately placed his lips on hers. Her hands rose to pull him closer to her, adding to the warmth of their embrace. The overwhelming feeling of emptiness that had tortured her on a daily basis was finally gone.
He pulled away from her a few seconds later and she was completely calm as she replied with closed eyes, and a slight smile, "Never mind; I got it."
And that's that. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)
To me, this feels like the story 'Revy fix Rock fix Revy' should have been. No clue if I'm right about that, but that's how I feel anyway.
-jm
