I wrote part of this for my niece. If it bothers you, fine. Skip it, ignore it, or don't. This one is so she feels seen and loved.
Cold shower.
Definitely need a cold shower.
Not even doing the sane thing in turning on the shower and staring at himself in the mirror, in anguish, or disgust, or even sorrow, like a protagonist would, Brian just went into the bathroom, removed his clothing, stepped into the shower, leaned his head against the wall and turned it on full cold.
Like some kind of monster, he didn't even do that thing you see in vids where the protagonist makes a gasp, or curse. He just… stood there.
The water was, in fact, bracingly cold. Brian could feel his skin goosebumps almost instantly and his nipple went painfully hard. It's…interesting where one's mind focuses in certain situations, going through his still feverish brain.
Naturally, the one part of him. Self he WANTED to shock into submission was having none of it.
It didn't help that his mind kept going over how smooth Hana's skin was. How she had just that right amount of softness, but with a nice firm underneath. That side view of her almost breast… what may have been under that towel….
God dammit Brian! His mind shouted. This is your oldest, best friend!
A best friend that was doing everything but hitting you over the head and dragging you into her bedroom, his inner demon countered skillfully. You didn't seem to have this problem with Bridgette, nor Sombra. So, what's the hang up?
The feelings were different. There was a sense of permanence. Bridgette was traveling the world and just wanted to have fun with a friend. Hell you still message once a week or so to catch up.
"And Sombra…"
"Ayyyy, what about Sombra?" a very familiar voice asked cheerfully as a vid wIndow popped up in front of him, showing the Hispanic woman in question.
"Well, a couple things, I suppose," Brian sighed, with no real reaction. "First off, how is it that you pop up when I happen to be thinking about you?"
"Oh, that's easy," she waved a hand with a bored expression. "I put a neural implant in your head while you slept the first night I visited you. It notifies me when you think about me. I designed it myself, just for you!"
"... I would almost believe it," Brian gave another sigh and closed his eyes. He leaned his forehead against the cold tile of the shower wall again." But you're a better person that that."
"Don't be so sure about that." The dark tone in Sombra's usually cheerful voice brought a chill down his spine that the cold water never could. Not for himself. He trusted her implicitly. But for everybody else.
He opened his mouth, and eyes to speak, then froze. A slow frown forming on his face.
Sombra was.. Sort of.. leaning? Over the edge of the vid screen? Like she was trying to peer down over it. The screen itself was tilting downward to let her see more.
"Oh, there's my boy," she grinned after she saw what she wanted. "pretty nice, even in freezing water…"
"AND SECONDLY…" he cleared his throat drawing her attention back to his face. Not that she had any form of shame. She just looked up. Gave one more quick glance down, gave a silly grin and tilted the screen back up before waiting patiently, like a satisfied cat. "Secondly. How did you get a vid screen into the shower stall?"
"Oh,this house is WIRED up, amigo. Just full of tech. Game systems and vid screen everywhere." To prove her point, Sombra brought up six different views of various places in the house. "As a special service to you, my best friend and loyal employee, and he who gave me the best time of my life," the last she gave with a wiggle of the eyebrow. "I wiped all the bugs in the video and audio systems and put my firewalls in place. Also fixed the polarizing system in the windows. Somebody figured out how to change them from the outside. It would have let them open holes in the peek blinders. Don't worry, it was done this morning and nobody had the chance to use it. "
"I… well, thank you, Sombra," Brian gave her a small warm smile. The one he was very unaware of melting more than one heart. "I really feel honored for you to call me your best friend, even if you are just joking."
Like right now. "I-I.. Yeah.. Sure. Anything for you, amigo…" She blushed mightily, now looking to the side and away from his face, refusing to make eye contact. "Actually, I meant what I said about being my best friend. I-I-I… I mean youaremyonlyrealfriendanyway, okayIgottagonow,by."
Brian blinked as the vid screen cut off. What was that? Did… did she really mean that? He was her only real friend? Well… considering who she worked with… that wasn't such a stretch…
His mind was fairly distracted. Enough so that he didn't notice the shower opening behind him.
"Holy shit Brian!" Hana nearly screamed, Brian spinning around in shock. "How the hell are you standing in such a cold shower?!" Her eyes traveled down his body as her body went pink, despite the cold mist that deflected off his body onto her. "And how are you still so…."
Brian, himself, heard almost none of what she said. His eyes were glued to her body, beads of water misting over her, small drops forming and running down that smooth, soft, toned body.
The cold water didn't work anymore.
"So… let me get this straight," Brian shifted his grip around Hana's waist. "Those little decorative fish bowls all over the place, with those little glass balls… those aren't glass balls?"
"Nope," Hana giggled as she snuggled back into… her boyfriend? Maybe? She wasn't entirely where they stood at this point, but she was happy. She wasn't afraid of how their relationship might, and would, change. At least not right now.
"And… you can just take one, squeeze it and, 'pop', it's lube?"
"Yup!" She giggled again, holding her fingers steeped over her nose. "And not ALL the bowls, just the clear orbs. The colored ones are actually glass, to look pretty. It was 's idea!"
"Well, it's very clever," Brian chuckled and buried his face in her hair, just enjoying her warmth. They hadn't really toweled off, just, kinda falling out of the shower kissing. Somehow they ended up on the couch, and while at least the couch wasn't leather, it was still a bit damp, and they didn't have blankets. "We should take a real shower now, before we freeze to death and somebody has to burst down your door only to find our frozen corpses in a very compromised position."
"Just a couple more minutes," Hana asked quietly, rubbing her cheek on his arm. "I only get to have you as US when we are here. I want to savor all of it I can. Is… is that okay?"
Brian gave her a sad smile before his expression went more serious. "Hana… I need to ask you something."
"O-okay," she gave a small worried nod, seemingly to curl in on herself a little.
"What… what were you arguing with Dae-Hyun about? I Ieft the room because I assumed it had to do with your job and I wasn't supposed to hear that kinda stuff. But then I heard you yelling something."
"Oh, yeah," Hana curled in more, almost bringing her knees to her chest. "He seems determined to get in our way. Like, everytime I think of something, he tells me I'm stupid for wanting to be with you, because you're 'just the security nobody from Numbani'."
Brian was quiet for a moment. "Are you two…"
"NO!" Hana shouted, cutting him off. "No, Brian! I'd never be chest on… er, I mean… be with anybody else… fuck, this is awkward." Hana bit her finger for a moment, a dark frown on her face.
Brian wrapped her in his arms again and pulled her tight against him, and settled back, deeper into the couch.
"Thanks," Hana sighed, tossing a short lived smile over her shoulder. "Um, when I said I was with two boys… that wasn't completely accurate, I suppose. We met online when I had just started transitioning. Dae-Hyun and I knew each other a while before that. Well… just after I started getting popular, and after I stopped answering your messages, like the fucked up bitch I am… "
" No, you're not," Brian kissed the back of her head. Don't say things like that."
"Well, it's true," she almost shouted, sniffling. "I stopped talking to you because I was getting a little bit popular. Then I started to get… lonely. The only people that talked to me wanted something. Money, leech off my fame, get extra clout or something? I don't even know. But… I didn't have the guts to go back to you at the time. I-it…wore me down, ya know?" Now Hana was fighting through the tears. " I was pretty low when Dae-Hyun asked me out. We went to a nice place, dodged most of the paparazzi and bizarre fans somehow. It was a nice time. We went back to my place in the Meka Base. We got some drinks in us and… stuff just… kinda happened. Sort of. "
"Sort of?" Brian ran a comforting hand through her hair.
"Mmm, well," Hana snickered at the absurd memory even as it cut at her heart. "He.. He couldn't handle me."
"huh?" Brian asked, stupidly.
"You know…" she said vaguely and waved a hand around her lower regions. "You know.. Me."
"Ah, gotcha. He was intimidated by your beauty, power, and was jealous due to his own shortcomings."
*sniff* "Heh, maybe," Hana giggled a little. "I don't really blame him, though, ya know? We never talked about that kinda thing. We didn't plan anything, at least, I didn't, and we had a bit to drink."
"something tells me I'm gonna get mad at what you tell me next."
Hana pulled a face and turned away, staring at the black reflection on the TV. She looked at her own reflection, and Brian behind her.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "That… was the wrong thing to say. It was unkind and not helping you when you hurt."
She smiled slightly. Not many people really understood her the way Brian did. He made her WANT to talk to him. She always felt he could make her feel better. That was one of the traits that kept her from reaching out until she hit her lowest. She didn't feel like she deserved it.
"If it makes you feel any better, I forgive you. But, I do understand. You want to protect me. You make me feel… safe. Safe enough to tell you my story."
"It does make me feel better and I want to hear your story. I promise I will do my best not to interrupt."
"..." She bit her lip. She didn't want to tell him this. He… might feel less of her. Or badly of her. Even though she knew he wouldn't do either of those things.
"Well, after that he started bragging about… being… with me," her voice hitched a little. "He kept the paparazzi away by promising interviews about me as a kid and growing up and stuff. I was… I'm still not comfortable being open with it
My… transition. I… it really hurt me, Brian," now her face twisted as she spun her body over. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. " I wasn't ready. Not for the ridicule. Or the rumors. All the pictures of me from… before. My dead name… everywhere."
Brian just held her. He stroked her hair. He knew there was nothing he could really say. All he could do was be there.
"I honestly thought it was over. I had nobody left except the Meka team, but we weren't that close then. The last person I trusted betrayed me, even if that wasn't what they meant to do. I… I was ready to be… done." Brian's grip tightened around her. "But…just when I thought about you, I saw a message pop up. I realized I missed you. I didn't want it to end without saying I was sorry. Or goodbye. Then I saw the log. Everything I missed, I figured out what happened to you and your family. And we talked again. You acted like nothing changed. Like I never abandoned you. You didn't ask for anything. Not even to play again. You just wanted to know how I was. And I…just wanted to talk to you. And…I fell in love with you."
Her voice caught in her throat a little bit as she hesitantly looked up at him. This time he heard her. She was sure. She said it right to him. Literally right at his heart.
And he smiled down at her. That warm, caring smile that made her weak in the knees and tighten in her belly.
"I love you Hana," he chuckled. "I didn't want to say it because I was afraid it would change things if you didn't think of me that way. But, after what happened in Numbani, how my daring little Meka pilot came out of the blue to save me from literally being crush by a building and kidnapped by an evil terrorist organization determined to rule the world…I got a bigger perspective."
"Didn't get to save you myself though," Hana pouted resting her chin on his chest.
"Well, you saved my heart," he said with a bright warm smile, kissing her on the forehead.
Hana could feel her body go bright red. She smashed her face into his chest to suppress the combination of moan and squeal that erupted from her. She had never been so turned on in her life.
So she did something about it.