Shell Shock Writers:
Rating: PG-RG
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us. What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.
Chapter 10
Staring. The clicks of the computer continued to click, the lights didn't offline or brighten suddenly, there were no fireworks or the feeling of floating. Ratchet didn't know if he should feel disappointed. To be honest, he didn't know what to feel at all, maybe he didn't even feel anything - his mind had gone outside once Alister had kissed him.
Kissed him.
The moment continued, if only shortly. Azimuth slowly distanced himself from Ratchet, bit by bit. Slight tingling went from his lips over his face, as a faint shiver traveled down his spine. Unlike the first time, unlike when the guards had examined him, it had felt… Pleasant. Different, but pleasant. It could not be compared to other kisses he had shared, even when he had still been with the Lombaxes. It simply was… special.
As it seemed, though, that feeling was one-sided.
Ratchet had not reacted at all at this intimate touch. He hadn't budged or said anything, he wasn't struggling or trying to get away. He simply remained still, eyes widened. For some reason, this was even worse than a gesture of retort.
Azimuth regretted his deed.
Turning away from Ratchet's stare, he lowered his head and rested it against Ratchet's torso, remaining like this without a word uttered. Then, almost too low to hear, his voice broke through the silence.
"I'm sorry. I suppose it didn't work, hm-"
He hadn't time to speak more; the awkward moment was broken apart. Ratchet did that for him as he gripped around his jaw, jerking his head up and smashing their lips together, a gasp escaping his mouth shortly.
Azimuth's eyes snapped open. He had not expected that, not at all. Tension, had there been any, soon left him as he gave in to the kiss. He felt Ratchet's hand holding his head close, refusing to let the moment break apart. Heh, so the distraction had worked, after all. Maybe too well; he felt his values step back into his mind, telling him to stop it. Distraction was distraction, but if he went on, he couldn't excuse it anymore. His values, his honor, they would all crum-
Screw that. For once, the moment matters, not the outcome.
Alister's grip tightened as he pressed the other Lombax against him, slowly taking over the role of the initiator again. He bent over bit by bit and lowered Ratchet at the same time, breaking off the kiss only to catch his breath. Once more he pressed his lips against the other's, teasing the younger as he slightly pulled at his lower lip.
Ratchet let out a muffled noise as he was lowered, the kiss continuing on however. Good. Or else I'd have punched him. He stayed stiff though, unsure of what to do exactly in reciprocation when Alister clearly showed to be leading at the moment. He didn't mind as he had no experience whatsoever - he just wanted to avoid taking a passive role in this. To show his mind that he was still in control.
Taking away one hand from Alister's face he trailed it over his shoulders, once sweeping across the shoulder blades - Damn, why haven't I noticed before how broad they are? - before settling it on the back of his neck. Let's see if that old Lombax liked being stroked beneath the ears.
A low moan escaped Alister, muffled against Ratchet's mouth. As the younger's fingers trailed along the base of his ear, he arched up slightly and let go of the other's lips. Not for long, though - as soon as he felt his arm touch the ground, he got ahold of his prey once more, nibbling slightly at Ratchet's lower lip.
Ratchet grinned smugly at the sound Alister had made. It vanished into a groan on his own as the nibbling began, making him squirm as the light, concentrated touch tickled.
The elder opened his eye to a slit. Heh. So he liked that. Grazing his teeth slightly over Ratchet's lip, he slowly shifted in his position until he towered above the younger.
A low hiss escaped the other Lombax as Azimuth had bitten him a bit too strongly. Whoops. Perhaps he was a tad too eager. With his tongue he licked up the small drips of blood, soothing the damage done.
The wound on his lower lip burned as Alister licked over it. The pleasant sensations of the friction outweighed any discomfort, though; and so Ratchet relaxed back against the ground. Heh, the big guy probably liked towering over him like that, mhm? Well he could offer him something in his position.
Arching his back towards the other Lombax, he closed his eyes half - the groan he made wasn't even pretended as his tongue touched the other's for the first time.
Feeling the Ratchet's body so close to his, Azimuth slowly lost any reservations he might have had. Bit by bit he leant deeper into the kiss, his tongue playfully teasing Ratchet's. He welcomed the close contact, his own body bending down slightly. The fingers behind the younger's head slowly moved down until they could stroke over the cheek.
A purr. Ratchet really purred at the attention paid to his face, especially his mouth and lips. If he had known that kissing could be that enjoyable, he would have tried it with Sasha before their relationship had tapered off into friendship. He sneaked a hand around the other's back, pressing lightly along the line of the spine down.
The sensation made the elder halt for a moment. Now it was his turn to let out a low purr, bending beneath the fingers trailing down his spine. His hand traveled up to Ratchet's ear, digits slowly pushing into the skin while moving back and forth. Then he returned his attention to the younger's mouth, letting his tongue flick slightly against the canines.
This could get better with one more thing.
Alister should just come the fuck down so he could feel him properly. With that in mind a plan formed in Ratchet's head that could only work - nonwithstanding the air might get pushed out of him the first few seconds. Considering Ratchet had survived some heavy punches from thugs harder and bigger than Alister could ever weigh, he should be able to endure that more than well; and that meant that the elder should survive this then even moreso. The fact that Alister was still holding himself up with one arm while he used his free hand to caress Ratchet's face fitted into his plans perfectly, too.
Slowly, all the way teasing, he trailed his fingers back up the other's side, then down his arm to where the elbow rested slightly on the ground. A mischievous smirk against his lips was the only warning Alister got as his support was stolen rather suddenly away from him.
Surprise had the elder as he found himself lying on Ratchet, just as much as pain rushed through his body. He immediately pulled back and drew a sharp breath as he bent his body, only to fall to the side. While the arm beneath the younger's head remained where it was, the other one wrapped around his stomach. He hadn't expected that sudden jolt, even less that it would cause so much pain. He grimaced, a low hiss leaving him.
"Alister?"
Damn.
Damn.
DAMN IT ALL! He wanted to rip the fur out of the skin from his head. Why couldn't anything go right when they interacted this closely with each other?
"I'm... I'm all right. Don't worry." One eye shut, one narrowly open, he took another deep breath before he attempted to go on. "I... just need some Nanotech." His arm slipped away from Ratchet as he tried to get up. With one hand he held onto the computers and stood up, still crouched and grimacing. "Urgh."
As upset as he was, he still heard the pain clearly out of Alister's voice. While it diminished his aggravation only slightly the worry won over - to be honest, worry wasn't strong enough to convey what he felt at the other's reaction. It had been uncomfortable as he had landed on him but not enough to hurt, and Alister was the sturdier one of them two. Ratchet's ear flew up when the elder doubled over to support himself on all fours, his heavy panting grown to chocked heaving.
Ugh. How had he ignored this pain all this time now? A hiss left Alister as he moved along the consoles. There had to be nanotech somewhere, anywhere. Perhaps its location was stored in the computer? It was worth a try. As soon as he reached the controls, he looked at the different options offered by the system. Hm. A barrier against the guards, a folder for card games... Oh why, there was a folder with employee data. Azimuth would look into this later on. But where were the maps for this facility-
"... What the." The last option listed up was a delivery of Nanotech right into the computer room. That was a joke, right? It couldn't be that obvious. Then again, a map of nanotech locations wouldn't have been any better. The elder sighed. He couldn't have cared less right now anyway - and so he pressed the enter key.
As the teleportation light came down from the ceiling, Ratchet certainly didn't jump almost out of his fur. He instead landed on his behind, Constructo Pistol in hand which he let slip several times and jugged before he could hold on it again.
He would deny that part later too.
A short chuckle soon stifled by coughs filled the room. Azimuth pushed himself away from the consoles and towards the nanotech boxes in the middle of the room. His glance strode over the ground. Blue, just like the rest, only that there were several dark red smears on the ground. Dried blood, huh. Not very surprising.
Soon he reached the nanotech containers and supported his torso on them. Faint panting left him before he opened the lid and reached inside, taking one of the small pulsating orbs out of the crate. Then he pressed it against his torso until the light shell broke and released the energy within. Azimuth sighed, evidently more at ease. Good. He felt like his insides were at least correctly arranged now.
Ratchet eased himself up, rubbing his behind. His eyes fell to the floor, noticing the many dark stains there; his mouth fell open, his stomach knotting tightly together as he looked at Alister's back. The elder had lagged on one leg on which he noticed a cut through the trousers to the flesh underneath the fur. It was hard to say due to the dark material of the armor - but there was- a large irregular, darker form around the wound.
One more orb shattered around Azimuth's torso. Now he felt not that sickened anymore, at least. The next one vanished against his throat, and the last orb he took out was pressed against the cut at his leg. Perfect, now he was back to normal. A satisfied grin appeared on his lips as he stretched his body, evidently enjoying this. "Much better." He sighed satisfiedly. "Very much so."
The blood on the floor formed a trail which he followed visually from the door through the room to the consoles. Where they both had been lying earlier was now a large spot collected on the floor, dark the edges of the dried-in pool. Red-brown lines led up against the console, forming into hand prints on the edges, some broken into dots that sprinkled all over the monitors and the keyboard. Ratchet kneeled down while Alister was healing himself and reached out to one of the stains on the ground. He stopped right before it, though, drawing his hand away as he gnawed on his lip; then he slowly reached out again. Stopping once more a mere centi-cubit away, he finally pushed himself to touch it – he nearly didn't dare to drag his finger through the blood to himself.
It was dry. Inspecting his finger, he rubbed the tip against the one of his middle finger to find no different texture. Looking up he noticed then Alister staring at him. He stared right back. More accurately: He stared at Alister's neck where some of his fur was still knotted together with blood.
For moments there was only a gaze exchanged. Azimuth reached up to his neck, the fur rustling. He rubbed it to clean it as far as he could before he connected the parts of his armor again. Then the elder reached into the nanotech crate and took out three orbs, carrying them to Ratchet. He kneeled on the ground, gaze lowered. "Stretch out your legs."
Ratchet carefully settled back yet with a groan - short as it had been, his propped-up leg from kneeling felt numb while the other tingled also already. He settled his attention back on the other as he groaned again under the assault of uncomfortable sensation of an honest-to-Orvus cramp in his feet.
Azimuth took one of the orbs and shattered the shell around it. The Nanotech revolving around his hand was smeared over Ratchet's thigh, then over his shin. "I'm not sure if that will work, but I hope that the numbness will go away with that."
The hiss escaping him was hard to place - somewhere between relief that he felt this part of his leg again and pain from nerves reactivated frantically firing signals. The leg twitched at which Alister settled from his foot next to his side.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't try to throw me over. Thank you." He watched how the nanotech vanished beneath the armor before he switched sides again and repeated the procedure at the other leg. No point in getting knocked over. At the next hiss reaching his ear he looked at Ratchet with a grin. "If it hurts so much you are welcome to hold onto me." A chuckle followed.
And hold onto he did. Quicker than one would have thought he was in that condition, Ratchet pushed himself with one arm up, enough to turn a bit on the sole of his feet. He landed on Alister with an 'oof' to wrap himself fast around his torso.
A muffled "umph" left the elder. He nearly fell over, too surprised to keep balance at first. When he was no longer endangered to fall over, he looked at the Lombax on him. "Um… Are you all right, Ratchet?"
"... Just making sure you're not gonna crumble if a fly settles on you." The murmur was almost lost against the armor. It still made Alister raise an eyebrow.
" Why should I crumble all of a sudden?"
"Because," he glared up the elder. "The last time you fell on me, you began coughing up blood. I saw how many crates you needed..."
"You mean how many orbs." While his eyebrows rose, his gaze turned slightly heavy-lidded. "But either way, I'm all right again. I haven't crumbled into pieces, now have I?" A smirk hushed over his lips as he looked at the younger. "So don't worry about me. I can handle whatever is coming now."
"Even when the guards decide to 'play' with you again?" The snarl came unexpected but it wasn't directed at the elder. Far from it, as Ratchet spit out 'guards' like the most bitter taste. He balled the fabric of the armor into his fists, face scrunching up at the memories of the creatures torturing Alister for fun.
"Better me than you." A sigh left him as he looked aside. One of his hands closed around Ratchet's and loosened the grip. "They seem to have taken peculiar interest in us, no. Especially in you," he continued as he opened the other's hand finger by finger. "And I would hate to see them catching you again."
If that was supposed to make him feel better, it did hell of a crap. With a sigh under which his brow knitted unhappily together, he let his fingers be splayed, even though he didn't help with the task.
Azimuth held Ratchet's hand for a moment. His gaze rested on the younger's face, a frown slowly appearing over his eyes. Letting go, he placed his hand on Ratchet's head and stroked over it. "Don't worry," he hushed.
That at least helped a bit. Maybe it was the familiar gesture, maybe the motion simply soothed Lombaxes. Ratchet didn't care, his body all but slumping in itself - he felt so wary all of a sudden. Was this maybe an after-effect of the guards' 'examination'? He surely hoped not. As he wondered he noticed the other concentrating on him, eyes focused on his and almost as close as when they had been kissing.
Kissing.
The lightbulb went on again inside Ratchet's head, the heat rushing to the tips of his ears. If Alister didn't feel that his hand was likely either numb or dead.
Azimuth raised his raised his eyebrow faintly, but didn't say anything. He figured why Ratchet was tensed up again, probably because of what they had been doing prior to that moment. The elder halted briefly, brows twitching as he recalled.
… Oh by Orvus. He hadn't really done that, had he?
Despite his inner conflict, Azimuth remained calm. He stroked over Ratchet's head over and over again, sometimes slower, sometimes faster. The only thing that changed was that he looked aside now, no longer into Ratchet's eyes.
Ratchet felt awkward and he guessed the other did as well. That still didn't stop the disappointment as the other looked away from him, though still stroking his head.
A rather disquieted "chrrmm" left Azimuth. He glanced back to Ratchet, even if only for a moment before he looked somewhere else again. "You know. Maybe we should go and look for information. I believe there are some interesting files stored in these computers." He turned his head back to the younger. "What do you say?"
"... Fine. But don't think I'll forget about this!" He pushed a finger into Alister's face who withdrew a bit. Ratchet's eyes burned with determination. Then with a huff, he pushed himself up, offering his hand to the elder.
Azimuth blinked, more or less perplexed, before he grabbed the last nanotech orb with one and the offered help with the other hand. "I didn't expect you to."As soon as he was on his feet, he headed to the control panel, pulling Ratchet with him.
Ratchet went to the left side of the console, while Alister occupied the other. The elder typed in the master password - "Really?" Ratchet groaned - and the whole database of the facility was laid open for them.
"Yes, really." A smirk cracked on Azimuth's lips. "I'm astounded that I've found this ridiculous password at all." His fingers slid over the keys and searched through the files. "What piece of information shall we look for first?"
"Where we are exactly. We only know that we still are in Polaris, but not in which system." A feeling in his stomach made Ratchet look over his shoulder, then back to the monitors, typing on the keyboard on this side himself.
"Hm…" Azimuth looked through the files. "Location, location… Ah! There." He pulled out a folder from the database and opened it. The file spread over the screen before them until it filled it all out. An image of the whole planet was visible, right beside the respective data.
Planet: Location: Brief:
Pliadon
Alemni-Sector
"Alemni Sector? Where the hell is that?" No matter how much he wrecked his memory, he couldn't remember how and why they had come to this planet.
"It's the one beside the Korthos sector." The elder frowned. "I don't know why we have landed here... But perhaps we've come off the road? It is rare that this happens. Still, it is an option." Azimuth tapped his chin. "I wonder how that happened, though. Perihelion and Aphelion wouldn't stride off the route that far, would they?"
This got him a shake, not as a negative response but that something else bothered Ratchet. "I can't even remember that we landed here. The last planet we were on was Lumos after we found the Obsidian Eye, then we were on the way to Zanifar..." He shook his head again. "Look if there's more about the planet and the sector, maybe this clears things a bit up."
"Hm... Let me try." Azimuth scrolled down, past the unnecessary information about the creation of Pliadon. "Hm... It seems like there is an extremely strong and irregular magnetic field around this planet that disturbs navigation systems." He frowned. "I am surprised that we've come off the road so much, though."
"Maybe we were looking into a trail we had found to see where it'd lead us to?" That still didn't explain why the name of the sector didn't ring any recognition either in him, or even in Alister as to why they went here. He explained his doubts to Alister who frowned. He otherwise didn't show much emotion with his face, but the way his tail was picking up swinging he had to feel unsure himself.
"It is appalling that both of us have forgotten." The elder bit his lip. "The odds are confusing. Maybe an amnesia-inducing substance was used on us, but I doubt that it would only erase this little bit of memory and last that long…?" He looked at Ratchet who had lowered his gaze just a bit. Azimuth wondered for a moment, as he saw the other's tail swinging back and forth unsettledly. The urge to pat the other on his head came up, only to be suppressed once more. As odd as it was, Alister felt like such an action was inappropriate. And still… That face disquieted him. What should he do?
His gaze fell onto the nanotech orb beside him. An idea came to him; perhaps obvious actions were inappropriate, but not necessarily the subtle ones. He took the orb and crushed it in his hand, the energy pulsating around his fingers. Then he reached out for Ratchet's chin and lifted it, his thumb brushing over the younger's mouth. At the confused stare he didn't react with a gesture, but with words. "I recall that your lips were also affected by the guards." The nanotech found its way into the wounds and beneath the fur, mending the damage done. "… It wouldn't be good if we left that untreated."
"Thanks..." Ratchet averted his eyes. He still felt shaky as soon as the memory of the guard came up who had-
Letting his eyes close, he sighed out to release the tension he felt in his shoulders. "It seems to help, the tingling was the worst here." He lowered his gaze. Alister still had his hand around his chin...
"If it helps, it's good." A smile cracked on Azimuth's lips, fading away again as the moment passed. Slowly his hand wandered around until it cupped the other's cheek. His thumb stroked over the other's fur over and over again. The last bits of Nanotech vanished beneath Ratchet's skin, unlike the hand that still remained as it was.
The younger stepped back from the touch. As nice as it felt, it was also too much too soon after his little episode minutes ago and he rather wanted space in the moment. Just to show that the gesture was appreciated Ratchet leant against the hand before he turned back to the console.
"If our last location was indeed on this planet, we might find this substance here too." He typed 'dangerous substances' in the search bar and entered.
Splayed out fingers curled. Azimuth pulled his limb back before he returned his attention to the monitors, looking at how the search was progressing. Slight astonishment overcame the elder as he saw how many files were checked; so many that he could divert his thoughts for a moment. His eyes trailed over to Ratchet, then back to the monitor. His tongue idly flicked over his lips as he opened his mouth to catch a breath. As it seemed, his body was more keen than him on remembering what he would have rather pushed aside, even moreso now. Misconception was something he could not need in their current situation.
A light sound echoed in the room, followed by a female voice which announced the completion of the search. Several files included "dangerous" - one being about a particular scientist, but not without a lovely 'unpredictable' added -, and a few had both 'dangerous' and 'substance' to themselves. As it seemed, most of those articles were about the native tribe of Voligs inhabited on Pliadon, and one about... 'Shapeshifters'?
Not now. First the information we need. Azimuth looked further. One article had a header which seemed the most related to their search.
Caution of the inhabitants' particular anatomy - physical discretion strongly advised or you will forget your work in the facility. Which would make Dr Nefarious mad, and we don't want him mad, now do we?
"Sounds about right." Ratchet clicked the link.
The Voligs are a species of amphibian nature which has developed in the tropical waters of Pliadon. Findings of fossils at the ground of the oceans suggest a maritime origin; their current preference for non-oceanic environments imply, however, that their evolution led to a weakness against salt water. Although the only sentient species on Pliadon, their cognitive capacity as well as their physical structure is limited due to an unusually small brain and maritime body unsuitable for terrestrial movements. Nutrition preferences:
"Oh no. Thank you. Let's skip this." Azimuth groaned and scrolled further down until he reached the bullet point 'exceptional features'.
The strangest trait of their anatomy lies within the special qualities of the secretion the glands in their skin release. The toxic substance disassembles molecules momentarily, thus disabling the prey from using the affected areas. If hit at the base of the head, temporary memory loss is possible.
"... You can't be serious." A gloved hand was hiding Ratchet's expression as he muttered these words.
"Seems like we've found the source of our memory loss." Azimuth massaged the bridge of his nose. "Splendid. But how does this add up? If they were the ones that caused this memory loss, why are we down here?"
"That is because they threw you down here. Quite obvious, isn't it, sirs?"