ShellShock

by Omgwtfcouple

Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a single clue where one is. Not that this would be this terrifying for us; the ones who live here are.

21. Admittances

Shell Shock

Writers:

Denny and Leila
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 21

"I admit - I'm impressed that these two gained the upper hand despite that they assumed they would go against two Wrathful." Nefarious let himself fall against the couch and stared up to the ceiling. "And they quickly picked up in their strategy how to deal with them. How boring is that?" In a fit of aggravation he flung his hand into the air and growled audibly.

"Boring?" Lawrence chuckled. "I found it entertaining to watch."

"Are you sure it wasn't entertaining just because it distracted you of your mistake?" Nefarious tilted his head to the side and widened one optic under a grin.

"Before I would let my mistakes get the best of me, I would admit them." Lawrence returned the gesture with an indifferent gaze. "Besides, wasn't it interesting to see that your nemesis can get injured by our staff?"

"If you can count them as staff, that is." Nefarious waved dismissively. "They are so self-centered, I can't control them."

"Well, then let's hope the best for the future." The butler stood up and flattened his coat. "Now, if you excuse me, sir… I shall welcome our efficient staff."

[-]

For some reason the debriefing room felt clammy. He wished the holo-projector still had been standing in the room, just as an object onto which he could hark his whirling emotions on after the fight. Ratchet was rubbing his eyes as Lawrence entered. He consciously rubbed on his ear suddenly, knowing the butler had seen the guard's licking of him.

"Congratulations." Lawrence clapped his hands in approval. "You have done an excellent job. Two stars out of five, since it wasn't as fast as expected and slower than-"

Lawrence found himself rammed against the wall. Amber eyes gleamed at him, just like canines were bared in a snarl.

"You lied to us!" Azimuth shouted. "You said our targets were Wrathful, not freaking Prideful!"

Ratchet just watched impassively. This could lead them into big trouble with Nefarious for threatening Lawrence. He didn't care - he was just too tired. Besides he agreed that the robot deserved a good pummeling by Alister's double-headed wrench.

"I… know. I… made a small mistake." The butler didn't really struggle in the Lombax's grip. He looked almost indifferently at the elder. "This is something… I have to apologize for."

"Apologize?" The organic repeated. "Apologize? Your mistake could have cost our lives!" The elder curled his fingers even more. "Thanks to this we were hit unprepared! Our tactic was rendered useless within seconds! And what is worse…" He pressed his head forward that he nearly touched the robot with his face. "Ratchet could have been killed! The small mistake of yours led to him almost getting paralyzed by those god damn guards all over again!"

"While I understand your anger at my mistake, there is no reason to get worked up about the injuries you sustained." His face grew admonishing, mouth slightly curling. "There's little difference if you fight against a Wrathful or Prideful or a combination of any of the groups even in the light of their different power levels. They are the guards. Shapeshifters, with incredible structural regeneration fueled by the energy infused into them. Creatures that act on a completely different mindset than any organic or robot in this universe, with little regard for either. They care only for their own, if pathetic, idea of them being superior and their need to entertain themselves in any way possible."

At this Azimuth had nothing to say. At a loss of words, he simply growled and shook faintly. Lawrence watched him with a measuring gaze.

"If you let me down now, Azimuth... As much as this experience of being in peril is interesting, I do not wish to live through it any longer."

One more moment the elder hesitated. Then he put the butler back on the ground, retreating his hand and walking back to Ratchet.

Lawrence brushed over the back of his hands and 'straightened' his collar. "Thank you, Alister. Now that I have your attention, I'd like to point out the flaws in your first performance."

Azimuth remained silent. As much as he felt like jumping the robot's throat again, he stayed calm and listened. Swallowing down his anger was imperative to make sure that Ratchet would not get harmed again.

"Your reaction time is far too extended during battle. You react much too slowly at differences." The butler folded his hands behind his back. "If you had changed your tactics any sooner, you would have been able to avoid your injuries."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." A tired wave. "I also had the slip up of forgetting of that the spear of one of them was still part of its body - it felt like it would claw my arm open from the inside." Ratchet blinked, cheeks and mouth twitching as he suppressed a yawn.

"Splendid that you have realized this, Ratchet. Now, since you have remembered this, don't forget not to give them any injury that they can use to their advantage."

He winced. "I will definitely remember. Alister and I can outmaneuver them but even so they're damn strong and fast. Besides we pissed one off enough that it said it would act against someone's order not to kill us. Seems like the guards want to 'play' with us."

"... Oh?" Lawrence widened his optic. "Is that so? Hm." He tapped his mouth and turned away slightly. "Now that is fitting..."

"Fitting?" Azimuth raised his eyebrow. "How come-"

"I have asked and told you everything I need to. Should I remember anything else, I will contact you, but I doubt anything would slip my mind. As for now, you are dismissed for the day. Nanotech crates are at your disposal – just order some to your room with the VGX-9000. Before you ask, yes I have enhanced it to a control device for some functions within the facility."

"Now just wait a sec." Ratchet jumped from the chair, wincing, stepping in front of the door. "I want some questions answered: How did it come now that we met Prideful instead of Wrathful? And why didn't you contact us, since you know, we have coincidentally these neat communicatorsclipped on our ears?"

"... As I said. I made a mistake." Lawrence narrowed his optics. "I confused the colors, and was busy reconfiguring the whole map. Checking twice if every color was now in place, and checking again. Besides, if I had interrupted you in the middle of the fight, you would have been startled. That would have been even more of a disadvantage and less of a gain."

Ears flapped as Ratchet shook his head. "We were startled anyway once our strategy didn't work. I'd like to know such things in battle so we could have at least changed our strategy faster."

"... I will see what I can do. But for now..." Lawrence turned towards the monitors. "If you excuse me. I have something urgent to take care of."

Graceful, like one wouldn't expect from a robot of his stature, he rounded Ratchet, stepping through the door without another word. As the door slid shut, Ratchet turned around very slowly, hands clenching at his sides. He stood like this for seconds, facing the door as if he wanted to see through.

Then he reared a leg back and kicked with the boot's tip a deep indention into the door.

"… Let's go to our room, Ratchet." Azimuth placed his hand on the younger's shoulder and stepped beside him. "We need to get some rest."

"... Yeah. Rest." Ratchet hung his head, the weight of Alister's hand more than enough to press him down. The hand vanished and he went ahead, not looking back even after they entered their room and the door closed behind Alister.

"... Are you all right?" Worry was in the elder's voice. He followed him as he turned off his armor.

Ratchet just crawled onto the bed, groaning as he lied on his back, arms lying over his eyes. The Thermaflux armor shed crimson light onto the bed covers.

The sound of someone sitting down beside him reached his ears. Then a hand reached to the control pad of his armor, disengaging it. When it was done, the hand lingered on his chest for another moment.
He lifted his own arm and laid his hand on the other. Even through the glove he could feel the warmth emanating from the limb. Unconsciously, he relaxed deeper into the mattress, shoulders loosening.

A smile appeared on Azimuth's lips. He turned his hand around so that his fingers could curl around the younger's. Then he reached back to his storage device and took out an orb of Nanotech, smearing the substance over Ratchet's arm.
He still had something to say to him, and it was about time that he did so.

"Thanks." The young Lombax sighed deeply and lifted his other arm, blinking sticky eyes. He turned his head to Alister, a smile blossoming in response to the other's.

"You're welcome." He raised his hand and reached for Ratchet's cheek, only to hesitate for a moment. This action was going against his pride and values, and this was something he couldn't tolerate… could he?

At that moment the memory of the recent fight came back. He had seen how foolish it was at times to cling to one's pride. Sometimes it was needed to let go, and to accept that not everything would fit into this pattern – rather it was necessary to converge than to remain adamant.

He continued, finally brushed over the younger's cheek. "You made me worry for a second," he whispered.

The younger leant into the touch, too tired as that the doubts would resurface. "About which part were you worried?"

"About the life part." His thumb kept circling over Ratchet's cheek. "Just seeing you in their grasp again drove me nearly into frenzy. Yet to speak of the moment when you were pierced by them." A pause. "It frightened me."

Ratchet tensed up. "I was terrified. When it touched me, I was sure I was gonna die. It was disgusting as it licked my ear and connected to my mind."

Azimuth stopped for a moment. He bit his lip, his mind imagining things of what those guards could do to their thoughts if they wanted to. Then he turned back to Ratchet and smiled faintly. "You're safe now." He let himself fall beside the younger and pulled the hand back from the cheek. The hand holding onto Ratchet's remained there, however.

These words were only said for his and Alister's comfort, but still... Despite his sigh, he smiled genuinely at the other Lombax. "I guess - we're behind the force field, so I don't have to think about them crawling around here."

"Exactly." Azimuth looked into Ratchet's eyes before he evaded the gaze. It seemed like he still had something to tell him, but was struggling to find the right words.

"Alister? Are youokay?" Memories of the fight were currently blurred by exhaustion, but he did remember that Alister had suffered from some injuries by the hands of the guards, too. Ratchet just didn't remember where he sustained them anymore. Maybe that's why Alister was acting so weird?

The elder blinked. "N... No. I'm okay." He had forgotten about cuts in his face, most likely because of the numbing sensation coming from them.

"Your face has scratches. Don't you feel them?" To prove his point, he slowly thumbed one of the several wounds.

"A-ah…" Azimuth was startled. He stared into Ratchet's eyes, ears flicking in surprise. "I… must have forgotten them. They… aren't important." The younger's warmth was seeping through the glove…

"Don't you even feel them? They look kinda deep." His thumb, carefully, brushed a lip of one cut a bit which made Alister hiss lowly.

"… I suppose they are." The elder closed his eyes. "But I feel too tired to take care of them right now." Besides, he still needed to tell Ratchet something – and that was more important than breaking down the moment and healing petty wounds.

"Urg, you're so goddamn stubborn." With a defeated smirk, Ratchet rolled up and around to the bed's edge, leaving Alister staring after him. Ratchet just staggered to crates with nanotech - so lucky Alister had taken some into their room - and reached into one to get a handful of orbs. Then he staggered back to the other Lombax waiting for him.

"I'm not stubborn, Ratchet… I just did not want to move for a moment." The elder frowned, but could not suppress a smile. "It wasn't so severe that I should be worried about it."

The younger just stepped in front of the elder, peering into amber eyes. He laid all orbs but two onto the bed and crashed one each in his hands. The nanotech flowed out in a great gush, staying dormant as Ratchet was at full health except for exhaustion and that the nanotech couldn't heal. He curled his glowing-blue palms so he could cup them around the angles of Alister's face.

Azimuth closed his eyes and hummed lowly at the soothing sensation. Leaning into Ratchet's palms, he let him rub in the Nanotech.

First, he rubbed in a big sweep up the high cheek arches and smoothened then out in trail to the ears. The thumbs slowly moved the nanotech along, then over the cuts while the other eight fingers massaged the rest into the skin.

Azimuth's ears folded back. This felt heavenly, really heavenly. He leant forward, almost resting his head against Ratchet's chest. "Perhaps it was a good idea to heal those cuts."

"Perhaps?" Playfully he knocked on his forehead. "You remember these wounds were inflicted by the guards? Nothing with them is ever good."

"True." Azimuth chuckled lowly before he let his head fall against Ratchet. "Nothing good spawns from them directly."

"Directly?"

"Directly." A pause. He nuzzled his head against the younger. "Indirectly is still up to debate."

Ratchet slung his hands around the other's neck. "And the 'indirect' results would be?"

"Certain... Changes. Moments." Azimuth looked up to him and smirked. "Of the pleasant type."

"Oooooohhh." That got him a smirk back.

The elder chuckled lowly. Then, hesitantly, he put his arms around the younger's waist. "Ratchet... I have to apologize to you."

"Apologize?" Golden ears fell. "For what?" He had a good idea what the elder meant, but he wanted him to speak it out.

"... Yes. For this morning." Azimuth halted for a moment. Admitting mistakes was difficult. "I was unreasonable and rude. I shouldn't have spoken about your friend like this."

"Um, you mean Sasha?"

The elder nodded. "I am sorry that I talked like this over her."

Ratchet only sighed.

Azimuth bit his lip. It seemed like sorry wasn't enough. Did he really have to admit that much to resolve it?

"You have to see it from my point of view." Ratchet continued. "Your attitude suddenly became vicious because of just one more detail you got to know about her - namely having been my girlfriend for some time. While we stayed on the friendship 'plane', we have been and still are good friends. And I hate it when people speak badly of my friends - even if said persons are other friends of mine."

Azimuth winced. What could he say?

"It's just... You don't even know her and yet you reacted like that!" He lowered his head. "I told you it reminded me how people also tended to badmouth Sasha and the tone you used just sounded like them."

"I'm sorry." Azimuth looked aside. His ears flicked slightly. "It was wrong of me. I shouldn't have turned jealous of her..." Suddenly his eyes widened. He pulled back, blinking as he realized what he had said.

Alister wanted to sink under Ratchet's two brows being raised at him. "Jealous? Because she was my girlfriend?"

"I said nothing!" Alister shook his head wildly, the embarrassment in his eyes more than apparent. "Why would I be jealous of your prior girlfriend? I mean... I have... Well maybe I do, but it's nonwithstandingly unimportant- I mean, I have no reason to..."
Dear lord, he was making things worse and worse for himself.

"Gosh!" Ratchet threw his arms up in the air.

Oh, not again. Not again. Azimuth could have hit himself square in the face. Again he could not say out loud the truth - and why was that?

Because of his god damn pride.

It was infuriating. Why couldn't he simply say the truth? Was it really this hard? He had gotten over his reluctance to admit his mistake, so wouldn't this one step be possible as well?

As it seemed, though, it was not. Azimuth simply couldn't say it, and thus ended up grabbing his head and shaking it in anger.

A growl had him snapping up his head what the younger used to his advantage to crush their lips together.

A surprised noise left Azimuth. He blinked, completely startled by the sudden approach. His shock did not last for long, however - he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Ratchet and pulled him closer, not letting the kiss break off.

Their lips lingered on each other for another moment; more long, heated kisses followed; neither spoke. Ratchet's arms were put around Azimuth's neck as he wanted to pull the elder closer, make him drop all thoughts aside – and he succeeded.
The general pressed against his lips, fingers trailing along his back. He certainly seemed to have pushed aside his values for now, and to be focusing only on him. The long-drawn kisses made it clear that the elder was more than reluctant to let go.

Ratchet did that for him for a moment, half gasp half growl. He still had to make his stance clear, after all. "Lie to me that way again and I'm gonna throw you into Nefar-"

Alister curled a hand around his head and brought their lips back together. He wouldn't let the younger continue. If he did, his mindset would snap back in immediately and this he admittedly wanted the least right now. He closed his lips over Ratchet's eagerly and did not let him go.

The next moment he had a lap full of Lombax, the move making him huff in surprise; and now, said Lombax was busily kneading the muscles of his back.

The elder let out a muffled moan against the younger's mouth. He slowly leant back, one elbow supporting his torso while his free hand rested at the base of Ratchet's neck, holding him close.

With the biggest reluctance Ratchet separated himself from the other, but only to trail licks and nibbles along his jaw.

Azimuth let out a surprised gasp. He tensed up at the unfamiliar, but not unpleasant sensation and leant his head back a bit, giving Ratchet better access. His ears flicked as he moaned lowly beneath the other's touches.

Continuing the trail with his tongue, his body followed up, lifting both legs onto the bed so that he was kneeling over Alister. Bent down to an ear he licked along the edge up to the tip where he applied a little nip.

The elder gasped, shivering under the sensation. " Ratchet..." He inhaled slowly, not stopping the younger.

"Mmh?" He had moved his mouth to the other ear's tip while massaging both ears at their bases connecting to the head.

The elder's breath turned slightly shaky. His eyes fluttered just like his body tensed up a little. "You... I mean I didn't expect you would..."

A groan escaped the elder, interrupting him, and Ratchet smirked against the fur. He had found a thick knot in the right shoulder, almost protruding out the muscles and carefully began pressing and massaging it.

Azimuth closed his eyes, purring loudly under the soothing treatment. His mind was leaving him more and more as Ratchet continued.

The finger pressed harder, wringing now a hiss from the elder before he relaxed back under the slowly loosening muscle.

Alister nearly melted under Ratchet's fingers. It felt so pleasant, just letting him go on. At the same though, some part in his mind told him to... Return some of the pleasure he received - and so, before the younger knew, he was pushed onto the bed, the elder towering over and smirking at him.

"This was heavenly," he whispered, "so let me show my gratitude." He leant down and pulled Ratchet into a kiss, one hand holding his head, the other sliding down along his back.

Ratchet arched up with low keen, clinging to the elder.

Azimuth slid out his hand from behind Ratchet, reaching up to his collar and opening it impatiently while not breaking of the kiss.

Not to be undone, Ratchet hooked an angle around the back of Alister's lower leg and rubbed it up and down.

Azimuth let out a muffled noise before he pulled away from the kiss and laved his tongue slowly over Ratchet's neck up to the base of his ear.

Ratchet let his free fingers glide down Alister's side, feeling the shudders in the body above him. He himself leant his head back and breathed in shakily under the sensations.

The elder halted briefly. Then he leant down once more, grazing his teeth lightly over Ratchet's skin between neck and shoulder while he reached behind the younger's back and undid the metal protection on the front.

The younger mirrored the action before splaying his other hand over the chest he could feel moving under his fingers with each pant of Alister. He shuddered for some reason when he realized again how muscular the elder despite his age was, suddenly groaning in surprise at the tongue laving his neck again.

Smirking against Ratchet's fur, Azimuth slowly pulled away the metal protection and tossed it onto the ground. He did the same with his own when Ratchet was finished undoing the connections.

Ratchet grumbled because he had problems with opening Alister's own collar, huffing as his fingers just stayed uncooperative. Another smirk was thrown to him by Alister as he with one hand opened the collar.

Just at this moment the door opened with a loud bang. Lawrence walked in, optics narrowed in utmost displeasure. "Ratchet. Azimuth. I need to talk to you."

"My apologies." The elder did not even look at the butler, but nuzzled his face into Ratchet's neck. "We're busy."

"You WILL talk to me this instant or I will take care of you two RIGHT NOW!"

"What the hell is so important you c-couldn't even knock?" As best as he could he turned his head to the butler, wishing he could pierce him with his glare. The effect somehow withered under his fluttering eye lids as Alister did something to his neck with his tongue.

"Something regarding your work." The robot sneered. "I would really appreciateit if you stopped this distasteful display for a moment since this display is not my favorite one, mildly put."

The elder sighed lowly before he slid off Ratchet and faced Lawrence. The discontent on his face was more than apparent.

"Thank you. Now. I have something urgent to ask." Lawrence's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Where are the collars?"

"Collars? What collars?" A little voice shouted at him that he should have gone against Alister's wish and retrieve them, but the voice was so muffled he didn't remember what 'they' could be.

"The collars around your neck, you know." The robot was unusually tense and nervous, and his sarcasm more than audible. "Of course of the guards! Where are their collars?"

"We left them where we fought them." Really smooth answer. Then there was little else Ratchet could say though.

"Great. Good job. Just great." Lawrence growled and turned around sharply. "Wonderful. That means they are gone."

Was this really Lawrence? Lawrence never growled. He sniffed, he 'rolled' his optics, he plucked on non-existent strands but he didn't utter sounds of anger. Never. Ratchet looked helplessly to Alister who was gaping.

"This brings my calculations in absolute disarray. Absolute!" The butler shook his head. "You haven't destroyed them, have you? Then why are they gone? They are no longer on the battle site!"

"No, we didn't destroy them. We left them exactly where they were - the other guards must have taken them." The question, if that really had happened, however was: why?

"I feared." Lawrence's fingers curled. "This is not good. This is really not good..."

"Why is that?" Azimuth frowned. "If they take them, what benefit could they gain from it?"

"Frankly?" The butler paused. "I don't know. But I have my assumptions that they might use them for something to harm us later on."

"You mean because it's the technology that somehow controls them, no matter how little the effect?" Ratchet drew back in a hiss. "Alister, didn't you say that one Shapeshifter was destroyed when you activated the force field? What was about its collar?"

"It was cut in half." Azimuth frowned. "And in result, the Shapeshifter fell apart."

"But the collar?"

„Destroyed."

"At least it was destroyed." Lawrence shook his head and sighed in more than audible displeasure. "Well. I suppose it can't be helped. What has happened, has happened. We can't set this right anymore."

"Even though you said you don't know what they might do with the collars, what is the worst we can expect?"

"... More Shapeshifters."

"WHAT!" Ratchet's ears flew up in surprise, hopping from the berth. "How could they make more Shapeshifters with this technology?"

"They have their own... technology. Or rather, ability." Lawrence halted. "They can turn other entities into one of them, if they want to."

That reminded him ungodly of Bar and what he had said about the Shapeshifters in his nervous rambles.

For unknown reasons, a chill crawled up Ratchet's spine as he thought about the robot. It was neither anger nor disappointment - strangely enough, both emotions regarding the robot had already passed even though he was unsure if he had already forgiven the robot.

It was gut-deep, clenching anxiety. A premonition.

"... In case you are worrying about Bar..." Lawrence sighed. "He should be fine. I have not detected any Shapeshifters waiting at the exit."

He opened his mouth to retort before blankness filled his mind. His hands suddenly opened in shock. "... I was going to say I didn't think about him, but now that you have said it, I..."

"He is fine." Lawrence looked at them. "But the question is if we will be." He paused before he headed to the door. "Apologies for the interruption. Rest well and continue on, if you wish, with whatever you were occupied with. But next time, please do not forget to destroy those collars or to bring them back to me."

"We will do that." Ratchet had no intention to have more Shapeshifters run around if they could destroy the probable cause for the 'reproduction'.

He refrained from pressing his palm against his face. Damn his stupidly imaginative mind to combine the sick with the creepy by putting 'Shapeshifters' and 'reproduction' in the same sentence.

"Good." The butler stepped out of the room. "Have a good rest."

The door closed and left the two Lombaxes alone once more.

"... What just happened?" Ratchet started. "It made some sort of sense..."The part about the guards and such, but - what just happened with Lawrence? He was totally out of character! OOC! I mean, that he would come because of the guards and their collars and such-" He scratched his cheek. "But have you ever seen him act like this?"

"… It must mean that the issue with the collars is probably graver than we expected." Azimuth bit his lip. "And, considering that you have known him for much longer than me, I couldn't have." The elder paused as he reflected on the conversation until he was led back to the beginning.
His eyes widened slightly as he realized what he had been doing before Lawrence had almost ordered them to stop. His ears flicked as he glanced to Ratchet, tail swinging in an odd rhythm.

Now that the surprise and the musings of the situation tapered off, he remembered that Lawrence had walked in on them making out on the bed. So engrossed they had been, they hadn't even stopped as uncharacteristically ranted at them to do so, just kept going-

Oh well - hellooooo awkwardness. Nice to meet you again.

Azimuth cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "... Well..."

"I'd say we had a big part of progress since we didn't let Lawrence disturb us at first." Ratchet's face fell open to shock. Had he really just said that? He felt like he was burning up under his fur and yet bristling with smugness that he had meant it. Take that, embarrassment.

"Haha... I suppose..." Azimuth felt like his whole head had turned into a burning ball of fur. A nervous, but also slightly contented smile appeared on his lips.

It uncurled at the sly smirk that the younger was throwing him. Ratchet tilted his head coyly, cocking his hips as he purred. "I really appreciated what you did to my neck with your tongue while he ranted."

"... Oh really..." The elder chuckled nervously. "I... am glad it pleased you."

With an exaggerated sway to his hips he stalked to Alister, grinning up to him. "Definitely pleased me. I just wonder what else you had in mind before we got distracted..." He said suggestively.

"... Well..." Azimuth's ears flicked. He gulped lowly. What was he doing? Shouldn't he... stop it? Be reasonable? But at the same time, should he really let this slide?
After a bit of reflection, and several attempts to calm his conscience down, Azimuth finally decided not to follow his principles. He had not initiated this. So he was not at fault that it happened, right?
That calmed his conscience eventually down. He inhaled slowly, before he looked at Ratchet with a smirk. "Why don't you come closer so that I can tell you...?"

"I'm already here in front of you…" Ratchet grinned, stretching his arms outward as if offering himself up. "Why don't youcome down here instead?"

"Heh." Azimuth chuckled before he reached out for Ratchet's chin and lifted it a bit more. He leant in, smirking playfully. "I could, yes… With utmost pleasure, too."

Ratchet stretched up on his toes, barely reaching these tempting lips, but he still reached them and slightly brushed their pairs against each other. The sensation had his lids threatening to flutter close.

Azimuth pulled away a little, just to tease him a bit. Before the younger could protest, however, the hand on his chin slid to the back of his head and pressed him against Azimuth's lips. The other hand placed itself on Ratchet's lower back, pushing him towards the elder.

That drew a groan from the younger. He pressed the last centimeters forward and into Alister, fingers curling in the surprisingly soft fur of his chest. Why hadn't he noticed this before?

Azimuth tilted his head a little to the side, moving his lips over Ratchet's gently. He slowly turned them around so that the younger was facing the bed with his back.

Ratchet noticed he was being walked back, huffing as the back of his knees hit the bed, but he didn't mind when he fell back.

He had a tall, handsome Lombax covering him, after all.

Azimuth was kneeling over him, smirking and looking into his eyes with a heavy-lidded gaze. The hand on Ratchet's lower back was still there, slowly digging through the armor into the skin.

Ratchet smirked back, stretching himself - hopefully - alluringly on the covers, which was a bit hard with the hand on his lower back.

"... Heh." Alister leant down to Ratchet's ear. "Go on like this and you will make me do things I do not dare imagine," he whispered, placing a kiss at the base of the younger's ear.

"Maybe I want you to imagine and do them." He purred lazily, brushing his hands across the broad shoulders. "But you could always indulge me before, sharing your fantasies..."

"Oh really." The elder chuckled lowly and remained where he was, only lifting his other hand and brushing over Ratchet's cheek. "No fantasies. Only incentives."

"Well, then let's hear your 'incentives'…"

Azimuth smirked against his fur. "Well... It starts out with something similar to this..." His hand slid down and opened the armor a bit more. Then he slowly removed the armor and pushed it off Ratchet's shoulders. Teasingly the fingers trailed back up over the new exposed skin.

Ratchet released a slow breath. "I can see the allure in that..." He teased Alister a bit on his own, opening the other's armor down to his abdomen.

Azimuth let him do so, breathing in slowly. His fingers curled into the fine fur on Ratchet's chest before they stroked over it again. "Then... I thought that I would love to do this..." He licked over Ratchet's neck slowly up to the base of his ear.

"Al-Alister…" He clutched him as the sudden onslaught of sensation momentarily overwhelmed him.

The elder stopped. "Sorry. Was it too invasive?"

"Don't you dare stop," came the gritted reply. He pushed on Alister's chest, using his distraction to throw him off balance and onto his back. Then sprawled across him, repeating what Alister had done to his neck.

A moan left Azimuth as his eyes fluttered at the sensation that came from the touch. He smoothed his hands over Ratchet's back and let the younger continue.

Ratchet teased along the ribs of Alister's chest, drawing a hitch of breath from the elder. "R... Ratchet..." Azimuth's body arched slightly against the other. The elder inhaled shakily and let his eyes fall shut.

"Glad you like it." A hand sneaked under the elder, dragging a fingertip down the spine in direction of his tail. "While you have physical 'incentives', I don't mind sharing my own fantasies - I'd love to see your bared back while I straddle your thighs, kiss the back of your neck..."

"W-what?" Azimuth's eyes snapped open. "What did you just say?"

"But then I wouldn't get to your shoulders. I felt some awful knots there before - so I would move a bit higher so I'd kneel over the small of your back. Carefully start digging and rubbing the muscles there to get you purring..."

The elder blinked. His ears folded back before they perked slightly. "... So you would massage me?" He relaxed. Oh, if that was all...

"Of course. Massage and kiss and lick and tease what I can reach of your back and chest - while you have problems doing so in return." He leered back.

"A-ah..." Azimuth's face felt red. He smiled nervously at Ratchet. "Well. A massage wouldn't sound too bad, I suppose..."

A chuckle escaped Ratchet. "Don't worry, I wouldn't go anywhere near beneath the waistband if that's what it bothering you. Except for groping your butt."

"... You shouldn't have said that." Azimuth raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Now I am considering a fine decline."

"What?" Ratchet joked. "Playing with my neck and I with yours like there's no tomorrow is okay, but not if I have a bit of a feel with your behind?"

"Of course." He chuckled before he pushed Ratchet over. "That part is off limits, you see..."

A hand tickled past the base of his tail and pinched. "Oh really?" was the cocky reply.

"Hey!" Azimuth tensed up, his head turning into a light bulb. A low growl escaped him, playful as it was, before he reached back and pulled Ratchet's hand away. "I said off limits." The smug grin still stayed on Ratchet's lips which Alister furiously tried to kiss away. Pressing his mouth against the younger's, he sucked slightly at his lower lip. He would make him stop grinning and moan in pleasure.

Laughter bubbled at the pit of Ratchet's stomach at Alister's intent glare, having guessed his intentions. To tease him more, he let the laughter just stretch his grin a fraction wider while he still let out an honest, rich moan.

The elder huffed lowly against the younger's mouth. Fine... Fine. If that did not suffice, he would think of something else. Teasingly he lined Ratchet's lips with his tongue, licking over the soft skin cautiously.

And it backfired. Horribly. The sensation was so ticklish Ratchet leaned automatically back, suppressing laughter. "It's good but I think my lips are a bit too sensitive for teasing."

"... Hmph." Azimuth let himself fall halfway beside him, only his torso still over Ratchet. One hand on the opposite side of the younger, the other hand holding his chin up, he looked at Ratchet with a heavy-lidded gaze and smirked. "What a shame."

"What is a shame?"

"It's a shame that you are too tickly. I don't want to make you die laughing." He chuckled a little before he let himself fall completely to Ratchet's side, smirking still.

Ratchet huffed. "As if. You just have to kiss harder than to flick your tongue like this."

"Hm... Perhaps." His ear flicked lazily. "But that is up to debate for another day."

His ears fell. Did Alister want to stop? "Why?"

"Hm..." He stretched a bit. "... For no apparent reason." One of his hands cupped the younger's cheek. A playful smirk was on his lips before he leant in once more, stopping only a breath away from Ratchet. "No apparent reason at all."

"Tease." A growl, another kiss.

Azimuth grinned against Ratchet's lips. He lingered in this position, taking in the moment. There was something precious in this kiss he couldn't name - he only knew that when he pulled back, a contented smile was on his face.

This slow kiss had the rush from their previous actions slowly melt away and Ratchet remembered how tired he was. His eyes threatened to close shut as he laid himself next to the taller Lombax, curling against his chest. He reached around still, face twisted for some reason, until he found one of Alister's hands with which he instantly intertwined fingers.

Azimuth chuckled lowly. He brought their hands between them and pulled Ratchet closer. Then he covered both of them with the blanket, resting his head against the other's with a low purr.

Tiredly yawning, Ratchet relaxed in the gathering heat of the makeshift cocoon, snuggling closer to Alister before he slowly slipped into sleep.

The elder smiled faintly as he nuzzled his face against Ratchet's forehead. He was almost certain that he would regret it the next day, simply because his values would step back in.
But if he was truthful, it was neither as grave as his conscience wanted to make him believe nor had he done that without a reason. In result, he could well enjoy the situation and hold Ratchet tightly without regrets. With a contented smirk he closed his eyes.

Time to rest for the dangers to come.