Simmons tries to talk to Grif about his "hate glue" remark.


Pairings Beyond Grimmons:

~N/A

Other Notes for This Story:

~Set during Season 15, so there are some SPOILERS for those who haven't seen the whole thing yet.


Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.

Hate Glue

All things considered, Dexter Grif felt rather good about himself as he made his way through the empty base. Sure, he hated giving anything that remotely seemed like a motivational speech, but Tucker sure as fuck seemed motivated now. So, he guessed it counted as a win. Sort of.

Now, they just had to get ready for the trip to Earth. Hopefully the preparations had all been taken care of while he was out talking to Tucker. So, basically, he'd be at a win-win if everything went according to plan.

"Hey, Grif?"

His name was said rather hesitatingly from inside one of the long empty bunkers, and the orange-armored soldier couldn't help but pause at the all-too familiar voice that had uttered it. His gaze traversed until he found the anxiety-riddled source.

Grif was surprised to find Simmons sitting down on one of the threadbare mattresses inside the dark room, his maroon helmet in his hands as if it was attempting to shield his lanky form.

Simmons looked both thoughtful and nervous all at once, which wasn't really too much of a shock. Given recent events, there was quite a bit to both think on and be stressed about. Besides, it was Simmons he was talking about here. When was the nerd not overanalyzing something in his perpetual worried state?

Of course, Grif's brain was still reeling from how close he had been to just blurting out some really awkward things during the last time the two of them had talked. Those "awkward things" would have most likely belonged in the category of Topics That Would Invariably Change Things Between The Two of Them Forever, so Grif really wasn't sure what to make of the current situation.

Grif tried going for his usual sense of levity instead of dwelling all on potential awkward feeling talk, "What's up, Simmons?" he asked, moving his armored hand against the wall to find the light switch, "I thought you would be helping the others instead of sitting in the dark all creepily."

Simmons bristled slightly just as the lone lightbulb flickered to dim light overhead, "I…I have not been sitting here creepily!"

"If you say so." Grif shrugged, not really caring either way, "Still didn't answer my question."

The redhead deflated considerably, looking somewhat apprehensively at the ground for some reason, "Everyone is all set and ready to go." He explained, "Actually, I was…hoping to talk to you. You know, before we left."

Grif tried not to pay any attention to the way his heartrate sped up ever so noticeably at the words coming from Simmons' mouth. The words that were being directed at him. Honestly, if he dwelled on it too much he would just blurt out all of the things that he had been trying to tell Volleyball!Simmons back on the moon.

"Oh?" Grif said as he sauntered into the room as best he could and sat down next to Simmons on the dusty, sand-coated bed, "What about?" He tried to ignore the sense of rightness that sitting or standing side-by-side like this with the maroon-armored soldier always instilled in him.

The still human portion of Simmons' face turned slightly red at the question. The cyborg kept his gaze focused on the helmet resting in his lap, squirming uncomfortably a moment later under Grif's brown gaze, "It's about…what you said before."

"Before?" Grif blinked slowly, trying to piece together what exactly Simmons meant.

"Before, um…you know…" Simmons tried to help jab the heavier set man's memory, but seemed to believe he had failed miserably in his attempt.

Only…he hadn't, not really. Grif knew that because he easily figured out what Simmons was referring to. The redhead was fucking predictable like that.

Simmons was talking about before they had both nearly vocalized something that had been building up between them for fucking years back at the underwater base. Right before Jax had butted in and made things even more awkward between them.

Grif's face warmed slightly at the recollection, but he was something of an expert at ignoring that particular reaction now, "You mean the thing about me being the hate glue for the team?"

Honestly, he had never expected a response to his comment back then. Not really, anyways. He had just been voicing things that had been floating around in his head out loud. The volleyballs never spoke up when he talked about his feelings either.

Besides…

"That conversation is kind of over with now." Grif reminded Simmons, remembering how Jax had pretty much interrupted that moment of intimacy.

Simmons flinched as if he had been physically struck, his face turning even more red right up to his metallic plating, "I—I know that, Grif! I've just been thinking over it and…and you know I freeze when under pressure, and…and…"

Suddenly they weren't just talking about that "hate glue" comment, but about what had happened when Grif had quit before.

But that had been okay too, because Grif knew he hadn't exactly been the nicest person then either. They had already laid everything out on the floor about what happened then between them, in one way or another: with words or otherwise.

He nodded mostly for the redhead's benefit, knowing that this was clearly an important topic to Simmons all the same, "It's okay, Simmons. What did you need to say?"

Simmons stopped his inner rambling then. He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he took in a deep breath through his artificial lungs. When he turned to look at Grif, with one green eye and the other an artificial red color, he let said breath out and spoke quietly, "What you said isn't true."

"Come again?" Grif asked, raising a dark eyebrow in curiosity.

Damn it, this was getting all emotional again. Thank fuck Donut wasn't around just then.

"It…it isn't, you know." Simmons said in practically a whisper, looking down at the helmet he gripped tightly, "I mean…I can't speak for everyone, obviously. B—but you're part of the team, and a…a friend." His face was taking on the hue of a tomato as he turned to look at Grif with a desperate expression clouding over his features, "There's…there's more than just hate there, Grif. There's got to be!"

Grif remained silent, mulling over the cyborg's words.

Simmons seemed to take that silence as a cue to continue, his voice getting lower and lower as he tried to rush all of the words out in a near panic, "I mean…I—I definitely don't hate you. At all!" Simmons squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his helmet to the floor as he tried to shakily stand up so that he could make a quick escape from what he no doubt felt was a hopelessly embarrassing situation for the both of them, "Um…so that's-all-I-wanted-to-say. Gotta-go-bye!"

Grif reached up and grabbed Simmons' arm before the lankier man could speed away in a frantic cloud of kicked up dust, the expression on his tanned face unreadable as he pulled a stunned Simmons back down onto the bed next to him.

"I know that." Grif stated calmly a few minutes later, when he was sure that Simmons wasn't going to try bolting once more, his hand still locked around the maroon-armored lower arm.

"H—huh?" Simmons questioned, blinking at the chubbier man in open-mouthed surprise.

When Grif looked over towards Simmons again, he had the beginning of an oddly fond smile on his face, "That you don't hate me."

"Y—you do?" Simmons blinked once more, his eyes wide.

"Why do you think I didn't fucking mention you when I was talking about everyone else, Simmons?" Grif asked him, inwardly amazed that a geek like Simmons could be so stupid sometimes.

"Um…"

Grif was seriously starting to wonder if maybe even attempting this conversation had somehow broken the poor nerd's brain. "For the record, I don't hate you either." He smirked playfully as he continued, "At all."

Simmons' face went bright red once more, but he couldn't keep from rolling his eyes all the same at the fondly mocking tone evident in Grif's voice, "…Jackass."

"Oh, come on! You walked right into that one!" Grif informed him jokingly. Still, he smiled all the same, "But thanks for all the other stuff you said too. I guess. If we're getting sappy here."

"Oh!" Simmons fidgeted nervously again, looking at the ground once more, "You're…ah, welcome."

Grif didn't even care if it was true or not in the eyes of everyone else. Hearing Simmons say that oh-so-eloquently worded counterargument to his "hate glue" comment made him feel a little bit better about the role he had decided to accept for himself as part of their team.

Though, knowing that Simmons in particular definitely did not hate him was all the icing he needed for a very delicious cake. …Shit, he was hungry now. But, he currently didn't really want to move from this particular spot either to get food.

The two lapsed into silence, and Grif did not even notice when his hand slid down to rest on top of Simmons' on the mattress. Simmons did not comment on the sudden turn of events either, the beginnings of a slight smile dimpling his still warm cheeks.

They turned to look into the other's eyes once again at the same moment. Simmons opened his mouth to speak first, though he seemed rather reluctant to do so, "So, um, we should..."

"Probably, yeah." Grif replied since he also knew that they should most likely be going despite how he just wanted to continue sitting there with the redhead.

Suddenly, there was a white and blue helmet crammed directly in between their faces, "You guys really need to just kiss and get it over with already! I've been recording this out in the hallway for forever!"

…When Dylan Andrews came looking for her young cameraman a few minutes later, she found him lying on the ground once again. A rather red-faced Grif and Simmons were quick to inform her that Jax Jonez just happened to be really, really clumsy.


Author's Notes: Just an idea that had been floating around in my head for a missing scene of sorts set during Season 15. :) I hope it was an all right read. Season 15 has given me so many awesome Grimmons feels, I will probably be doing a few more response fics for it too! :D