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 24
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"What the-"
Before Azimuth could even comprehend what had happened, he felt air lashing against him that forced him into a defensive position to protect his head. The next moment a deafening scream tore through the room, followed by a dull sound as if something was falling onto the ground.
Ratchet gasped and sucked in air as fast as he could. The stifling pressure was replaced by stinging pain as his senses came back to him. Before his eyes he saw the Prideful writhing and screaming while it lashed after an enemy it could not see. Neither could the Lombax – only the blades of the scythe gleamed in the mess of purple matter. Why did the Shapeshifter no longer transform, though?
Azimuth, too, was unable to perceive their enemy's foe, only the scraps of purplish matter flying through the air as it took care of the Prideful. What was happening? Who could withstand a Shapeshifter like this if not another guard?
"Azimuth, Ratchet? Someone has implanted an interference device. I cannot see what is happening."
"Me neither," the elder hissed, "I… only see the Prideful screaming and going into a frenzy."
It couldn't be called walking what the younger tried as the meaning of the activity included coordinated move of the feet. Something that Ratchet didn't feel to be able to do in the moment, at least not without help. Determination, however, was often a good pacemaker and so he staggered along the wall farthest away from the fight to Alister. He never let his attention stray from the two combatants who were still in a vicious life-or-death fight. The only exception he made was to look for Alister - luckily the elder seemed to be faring better again than himself and also had more nanotech left, given he had seen him crush some of the blue orbs in the last some-number-minutes.
"Ratchet?" The elder turned his head to the younger, but only saw a blur. He did realize, though, that the other was staggering and moved towards him. "Sit down, Ratchet, I'll-"
One last scream echoed through the room. Then there was a loud sound as the Shapeshifter's body crashed to the ground. Azimuth turned to the entity. The body was dissolving, yes, but did not disperse in the air. Instead it veiled around the victorious assailant who remained in an indefinite shape. Only the scythe, garnered by three collars, was clearly visible.
Although Ratchet proved to be a hilarious sight with his expression despite the dire situation, he at least remembered to contact Lawrence.
"Lawrence? You see it too where likely the two vanished collars from our fight with the Prideful are now?"
"First off: I cannot see anything. Secondly these… aren't the collars. The traces the sensors can pick up confirm this." Lawrence paused. "I believe these are from the two Wrathful and the Prideful that have been obliterated."
"Oh really," Azimuth answered drily. "So this one did kill his companions." His fingers curled around his wrench.
"Mhm… Wait, let me look what category this Shapeshifter is…" The butler started searching his data banks, only to let out a surprised sound. When he wanted to report his discovery, though, he noticed the sudden tension the bio-scans of the Lombaxes' armors revealed. "Are you two all right?"
No answer. The Shapeshifter was walking towards them.
"Oh fuck..."
Thousand thoughts and yet nothing raced through his mind as he tried to work out what this thing was. It had killed the Prideful who had absorbed the two Wrathful and now he had heard from Lawrence it was wearing their collars which meant-
DAMN, what did it mean?
Azimuth tensed up. The grip around his wrench grew extremely tight as he readied himself. "Ratchet," he whispered while he did not let the approaching entity out of his sight, "I'll distract him. You go first." The Shapeshifter was raising the scythe now, fingers gingerly trailing along the staff.
"Go where? I can barely move in a straight line and this," he gestured to the guard, "knows this likely."
"I know… But I'm not going to let you die like this." Azimuth pushed himself up slowly and charged his wrench. "I will not let this-"
A light sound made him halt. Then he realized that the Shapeshifter had let its weapon fall on the ground, hands raised as if capitulating.
"What the…" Ratchet blinked at this. Why was the guard doing this? He glanced at Azimuth who showed confusion as well. "Do you think he's…"
"I am not sure. He is a Shapeshifter, after all." The general did not lower his wrench, even less when he saw the entity's shape come closer.
"Shapeshifters smile and giggle normally though." Ratchet stared at the creature. "That one does neither." Why did it take the collars from its scythe and carry them over to the Lombaxes?
The guard came closer. One step. Two steps. Then another, and another. When it was about two meters away from the Lombaxes, though, Azimuth pointed his wrench at it and snarled lowly. "Stay. Away."
The Shapeshifter halted. It stared at the general with its head tilted before it turned back to Ratchet, not even moving an inch. One of the eyes slid down a bit, almost as if it was not really attached to the face, but had been slipped over the guard's head like an unfitting mask. Or was it just a quirk of the entity?
Ratchet flinched back, the oh-so familiar tingling in his lips returning that made him want to bite them off. The Shapeshifter wouldn't move - heightening the tension as if a thread was tightened harder and harder, ready to snap.
"... That is unusual." Lawrence sounded at a loss. "Ratchet, did you or Alister hear me before?"
"In a second, Lawrence…", the elder hissed in thought. "We are currently in a pinch."
The Shapeshifter kept staring at Ratchet. The three collars made light sounds as they hung on the entity's thumb. Why was it not moving? Azimuth tensed up. He wouldn't go against the guard, not if it was not necessary yet – but the lack of movement strangely agitated him even more.
"You don't have to answer me but I need to tell you this." The butler spoke with a tenseness that did nothing to alleviate the two Lombaxes' nerves - if Lawrence of all people was nervous, they were really in trouble.
"This i-"
The next thing anybody knew, the Shapeshifter suddenly knelt in front of Ratchet.
Azimuth jerked, almost attacking the entity. Then, however, he realized how close the Shapeshifter now was to the younger and that any rash action could result in harming him. Furthermore, the creature was still holding up its hands, so it still implied to intend no harm. So he stood there, wrench ready to pierce the guard should it come down to this.
Ratchet didn't fare better. He barely kept himself from pressing more into the wall away from the Shapeshifter. It had stopped moving again, simply sitting on its knees in front of him and he wondered if it would let him move past it if he kept to the wall. A voice in his mind told him to shoot it or at least hit it with his wrench but the terror from the 'examination' had him in its grip - he wanted to, but he couldn't move.
Slowly, really slowly, the entity lowered its hand with the three collars. A light, metallic sound echoed when they slid onto and pushed forward on the ground. Then, with the same speed it lifted its hand again, but never stopped looking at the Lombax. It waited, hands raised, for the younger to pick up the collars. That Ratchet did with utmost caution and hesitation, slowly edging forward while not letting the Shapeshifter out of his sight.
Suddenly the entity wrapped its arms around the Lombax, pulling him against its chest; but unlike the normal touch of a Shapeshifter it did not lead to the slightest bit of paralysis; only faint tingling.
Silence descended over the room. Ratchet's voice was lost for a moment as it struggled against the hold which seemed unbreakable but not unbearable. Eventually, however, he was able to grunt out, "Let. Go. Of. ME!"
The Shapeshifter ignored his order. Instead it clung to the Lombax, holding him as if he was someone it held dear. When the other fought against its grip, it did not budge – it just held him silently.
"GET OFF ME! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I am sorry."
The words were spoken so lowly that they almost seemed like a trick of mind; but then the same words were whispered into Ratchet's ear. Over and over, like a spell, no, almost like a prayer it repeated itself. "I am sorry." Shivering, the entity pressed the Lombax against its chest. "I am sorry."
The words made Ratchet freeze. First the lack of giggling, then the entity hugged him and he still could feel his whole body and now it spoke. It spoke what it shouldn't be able to do. Should it? Even more so the gesture seemed so familiar that it collided with everything he had experienced from and felt about the Shapeshifters.
Before he could think any further, though, a blue bolt shoved the Shapeshifter aside. Amber eyes, furious as they could be, pierced the entity. Canines bared in a hostile snarl, Azimuth stepped in front of Ratchet and charged his wrench once more. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!", he screamed, fingers curling so tightly around the helve that his arms started to shiver.
The entity did not even fall down. It caught itself before it fell and whirled around, facing Azimuth calmly. Then it stood up, raising its hand in the direction of its weapon - and before they knew, clawed fingers curled around the helve of the summoned scythe.
"Despite that I didn't like being hugged by a Shapeshifter, I like it even less that we have apparently angered it now." A strange calmness had descended over Ratchet. A calmness that didn't make sense as he had just been touched by Shapeshifter. On the other hand, there had been no intrusion of the Shapeshifter's mind, no paralysis and the touch itself had been neither aggressive nor violating. It didn't feel like them in its… chasteness, if he could call it that way.
His calmness proved to be the right emotion. After another moment of simply standing there, the entity turned around sharply. Then, before the Lombaxes could say anything, they could only see a blur vanishing in the next corridor – and even this they only knew due to the shreds of Shapeshifter matter slowly falling to the ground. The shape they had seen had not been the actual guard?
"What was this about?" As if a spell was broken, his knees bent and he slid down the wall. Ratchet let go of the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He was too overwhelmed to think properly so he just enjoyed the cold metal against his back.
"Yes," the elder whispered before he turned to Ratchet in an almost aggressive tone. "What was this about?"
"Don't you snap at me." Despite the harshness of the words there was nothing of it in his voice. He was too tired to care what Alister was angry about if he didn't tell it himself. "I tried to get away as you could see. No idea what this one wanted."
"You didn't." Azimuth put his wrench away, but did not look away from Ratchet. "When that thing said 'I'm sorry' you completely froze! You stopped doing anything!" He shook his head. "Do you take any person's sorry that way? It could have been a complete decoy to kill you!"
"I know it was stupid to get caught by surprise but I did. It happened, it didn't kill me and now it has fled to somewhere. Can we talk about something else, please?" He shot a glare at the elder which didn't carry much heat, just exhaustion.
Azimuth huffed lowly, but did not reply instantly. It was only after he had turned away and hidden the thinning of his lips that he answered. "Fine. But first we need to get out of here." Before Ratchet could object, he lifted the younger up and carried him.
"It's just going to get worse, isn't it?" Ratchet's mouth was just beneath the base of Alister's ear yet he still had problems hearing him.
The elder frowned slightly. His arms held the younger tightly, but not uncomfortably so. "Did you say something?"
The three collars clinked in the crook of Ratchet's elbow as he shifted his grip a bit and sighed. "This was worse than the fight before - even though this time Lawrence's guess proved right, once I used the hook everything got out of control."
"Kind of, yes." Azimuth nodded faintly. "Even though I don't believe him to have fathomed this outcome." He lowered his gaze a bit after they had entered the protected area once more. Dark red shimmered on Ratchet's chest whenever they passed a light source. The elder bit his lip, fingers curling slightly.
"I have already enough of this. Of the Shapeshifters, of the facility, of the fights, of feeling afraid." He sighed deeply, green eyes vanishing behind lids. "I don't feel like myself anymore. There's something inside me that comes up whenever on the guards appear and stays even after they're gone."
Azimuth listened silently. He simply carried Ratchet in his arms. "Me too, Ratchet. I wish it was over already." Again silence came over them as they proceeded along the corridor. The elder turned his head slightly to Ratchet, mouth opening slightly, but he didn't speak. He turned his head away a bit once more, pressing his lips together.
"Alister, Ratchet, wait please!"
Alister wouldn't, at least not at first, until Ratchet motioned for him to stop. Leaning a bit up, the younger spotted Lawrence over the general's shoulder.
The elder turned around, one eyebrow raised, the other lowered in wonder. "What is it, Lawrence?"
"What's happened? Are you two alright? Did you see where the Shapeshifter vanished exactly to? He suddenly vanished from the monitors." He looked at Ratchet. "Oh good, you brought the collars."
Silence. Then the elder took the devices from Ratchet and handed them over. "I will write a report and hand it to you tomorrow, but as for now I would prefer to get some rest and some time to recover." With that he turned around, walking ahead a few steps before he stopped once more. "Say, you don't happen to have some clothes we can change into? Or some way we can patch our armors up?"
If Lawrence was taken aback by the behavior, he didn't give any indication. His usual mask of indifference slid back and he sighed. "There happens to be an armor vendor in this area. The doctor threw a fit when I allowed him entrance but while we have our own arsenal of weapons, we lack severely in any reserves for defensive measures like these."
"You certainly don't know about the armor vendor right at the entrance of the facility, then."
"Oh, I do." The butler folded his hands. "Now, please do get your rest. I will come by later to bring some clothes to change into."
"Thanks, Lawrence." Ratchet waved tiredly when Alister turned around, heading for their quarters.
Lawrence kept standing in the hallway even as the Lombaxes had vanished behind the next corner and watched pensively the collars he held. "Well," he mumbled to himself, "I suppose I can tell them tomorrow."
In the room, Azimuth put Ratchet on their bed, deactivated both their armors and cautiously removed the metal protection from the younger's chest. "I am going to take care of your wounds," he explained as he opened the other's armor, "No worries."
"And I'm gonna treat yours later after that." A wince as Ratchet pushed himself up.
"I'm fine. I took care of most injuries, and the blurred vision will wear off eventually." Slipping one arm beneath the younger, he supported his body while he took off the other's gloves and freed his limbs from the protective material. The elder pressed his lips together tensely as he saw the wounds in Ratchet's chest. The injuries shimmering in red, they were almost difficult to perceive in between the blood-tainted fur. "This looks really painful. How did you make it to my side?"
"By going really slowly and using the wall as a makeshift crutch." He hissed when he moved a bit, the flexing muscles agitating the wound and most of all the sensitized nerve endings.
"... We were lucky today." Azimuth shattered two orbs in his hands and cautiously smoothed them over Ratchet's chest. Slowly the wounds closed, and when they did, the elder pulled his hands back and folded them in his lap. "Had it not been for this interruption we would both be dead."
"I know - which means you got your own share of injuries left. So please, lie down so I can tend to them, too." Repetitive? Yes. Annoying? Maybe? Suddenly changing the topic? Yes.
Did Ratchet care? Absolutely not.
"I've told you I'm fine." The elder smirked faintly. "Now wait here, I'll get something to clean up your fur." He stood up, walked into the bathroom and brought back a bowl with warm water as well as a towel. When he had put the bowl on the ground, he moistened the towel and rubbed it cautiously over the younger's chest.
"Thank you but I can do it myself." Ratchet tried to grab for the towel, tugging at it before he glared at the other Lombax who just kept cleaning him. "Alister, please. I'm no child."
The elder froze. Then he dropped the towel and turned away. "Of course, my apologies." He stood up and stretched his limbs a bit before he undid the metal protection on his own armor and placed it on a chair. "Well, I'll have to wash my face. It feels like I have some blood sticking there." He headed to the bathroom and closed the door silently.
As soon as the faint sound of the lock mechanism reached his ears, the elder slid down and stared upwards. What was he doing? What was he thinking? He didn't know anymore, only that there was a disgusting feeling of jealousy, a completely unjustified emotion on top of this that held his mind captive. He couldn't speak it out, couldn't explain it – but when that Shapeshifter had held Ratchet in its arms, when the younger had stopped fighting back and almost mirrored the gesture, this awful sensation of doubt came up in him. What for?
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. He shouldn't let these things get to his mind. He should remain sensible and focus on their goal: Exterminate the Shapeshifters, get out of here and, the most important task for himself, protect Ratchet.
He chuckled bitterly. Well, that he had already failed. He had not been able to protect Ratchet. The younger had almost died because he had been incapable of fighting off that damn Prideful. That alone was awful enough already, but to make it worse, a Shapeshifter, a Shapeshifter of all things had done what he couldn't do. A Shapeshifter had saved Ratchet, had beaten the Prideful, had almost incited an endearing gesture from the younger.
The elder's fingers curled into his arms. How disgusting this feeling was – and yet he could not stop it. He simply could not stop it.
Fuck this. For a moment, the irrational urge to fling the towel to the floor, stomp to the bathroom and demand that Alister came back out took over Ratchet. He knew this body language of the other, this freezing up before fleeing, either emotionally or physically - more often than it was not both, like this time again.
And stomp he did, knocking at the door. He wouldn't allow this; he wouldn't allow Alister to wallow again in his negative thoughts. "Alister, please let me in or come out."
The elder's ears perked when he was pulled out of his thoughts. He quickly got up, cleaned his face from the blood and opened the door while rubbing his fur dry. With the calmest of gazes he looked at Ratchet, one eyebrow slightly raised in surprise. "Yes? What is it?"
It was exactly as he had guessed the situation, sighed Ratchet internally at Alister's expression. The other was hiding again his emotions, no matter of which kind they were although the younger had a hunch what one of them could be. "I'm sorry if I sounded harsh. I appreciate that you helped me like this - it's just-"
What wonderful irony. Now it was him who wanted to hide and act as if nothing was going on.
He sagged. "It's again that I'm a mess and I feel like a burden, because you carried and cleaned me when I could have done it myself."
The elder raised an eyebrow before smiling faintly. "I doubt you could have carried yourself." He lowered the towel in his hand and was about to close the door once more. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Now, if you don't mind, I'll get myself clean now… Or would you rather go first?" He stepped out and waved towards the bathroom. "After all, you're the one who's covered in blood all over his body."
"No, it's fine. It's just something else that is bothering me." Ratchet looked to the side, going silent for a moment. "I know I shouldn't have but - but was I really that stupid when I froze when the last Shapeshifter surprised me? I didn't believe him, his words came just as a surprise." He didn't notice how he had changed the personal pronoun for that one guard.
It did not pass by the elder, however. His gaze turned heavy-lidded as he stepped past Ratchet towards the wardrobe and took off the top of his armor. "I wouldn't know. I only know that he could have killed you finely at that moment."
It passed by Ratchet's notice at first until he replayed what the elder had said as something about it struck him odd. When he found it and how Alister had said, his ears drooped and his eyes fell. "Do you think I enjoyed it? Is it that's why you sounded so angry after it fled?" The idea alone had chills running circles in his stomach.
"You certainly did react differently to him than to the other Shapeshifters." Placing the helmet on the shelf, he focused on the wardrobe rather than Ratchet. "But that is beside the point."
"I'm not even sure it was really a Shapeshifter! I mean, when it touched me I wasn't paralyzed and just felt tingling like the muscles there had gone to sleep, and it acted like it was hugging me like a stupid teddy bear and-" Instantly Ratchet froze at his own words, stopping in his wild gesturing.
"Is that so?" Alister walked past Ratchet once more and headed towards the kitchen appliances to pour himself something to drink. "I am glad he evoked such a pleasant association."
A blink before his face fell. Another blink and his muzzle twisted in an ugly sneer - so that's how it was. "That's not what I meant and you know it. It was definitely not pleasant - because it was a FUCKING SHAPESHIFTER. I'm fucking sorry that I made such a stupid mistake, that I was moron enough to listen to it but don't you dare assume I enjoyed it."
Silence. Then the elder turned around, eyebrow raised as he looked at the younger. Then he turned back again and stirred the cup of Breegus tea in his hand. "Just as you should not assume that what you are emphasizing is the emphasis of my implication."
"Then what are you implying?" Ratchet ground out, short from storming the whole room into the corridors outside.
He saw the elder's frame freezing when he opened his mouth to answer; but all that left him was a low sigh. "That I don't assume you enjoyed it. It's something... personal."
It was now on Ratchet's end that silence followed. Heavy breathing still sounded but otherwise he didn't say any word, as if struggling to get any sentence out. He finally huffed out, not in anger or malice as he sounded too tired for this. "Alright. Alright. Thanks for offering to let me use the shower first." He turned towards the door at that and stepped through before he pulled it close.
The elder waited for the door to close. Then he clutched his fingers around the cup so hard as if he wanted to break it; but before he could, he heard the entrance open. Quickly he put the cup aside and turned around to see Lawrence standing behind him.
"I've brought the clothes you requested. They should fit you well." He handed over two packages. "They are casual clothes. One set is for sleeping, the other for any other time."
"Thanks." Azimuth took the packages and placed them on the table.
"My scan tells me you are disquieted," was remarked indifferently.
"I am fine, don't worry."
"I did not ask whether you were. It was a statement." The butler folded his hands and looked at Azimuth with a heavy-lidded gaze. "It seems you have an odd, hidden urge to speak about it."
"Your imagination is fascinating for a robot." The general turned around and crossed his arms. "I'm fine. Nothing is wrong, never was."
"Is that so?" Lawrence widened one optic and looked at him indifferently. "All right then, I shall take my leave. Please remember to give me a full-written report by tomorrow."
"I will."
"Good." The robot approached the door, waited for it to slide open once more and stepped outside, only to address the elder one more time. "Just one more thing. You might have to work on either concealing your mental state from everyone or opening up when the time is right." With that Lawrence vanished behind the closing door.
Azimuth's ears twitched. He looked down, closed his eyes and let his head hang down for a bit. "As if I didn't know," he mumbled to himself. Then he turned to the package he assumed to be his and opened it.
Time to get changed.
Around half an hour later the bathroom door finally opened again. Ratchet was rubbing a towel over his head as he stepped out but otherwise he was dry, shown by the lack of watery steps that followed him. He avoided looking directly at Alister as he walked towards the kitchen, calling over his shoulder. "Hopefully I didn't take too long. You can use the shower now if you want."
It was because of this attitude that he didn't see that Alister had already changed into fresh clothes. He had heard Lawrence entering, but hadn't wanted to listen to any voice, needing some quiet and the privacy the bathroom provided so that he could calm down.
"Thanks for telling me," was answered, "By the way, Lawrence has brought some clothes to change into. They are quite comfortable, and oddly fitting."
"What are you betting that he has asked the armor vendor for our measurements? Would be the easiest way."
"I would bet my wrench on it." A low chuckle. "Well, I won't complain. At least he has some taste in his choice of clothes." A pause. "Then again, I'm not a fan of these new-fashioned clothes. I mean, I'm not that old yet, but I'm not that young either."
That actually drew a smile from Ratchet although it remained hidden with him facing the kitchen still. He opened the fridge for a soda he had seen inside yesterday and swung it close again. The smile wavered as he realized he was stalling to face Alister, which made him annoyed at himself - he did always run into the biggest messes currently running the respective galaxy he was in, guns blazing. And now he avoided talking to one individual? His pride wouldn't let that go. So with an internal huff, he turned around with his index finger crooked to pull on the ring of the can's opening.
He began staring.
"... Is something the matter?" Azimuth had turned around from the desk he was working on, one elbow resting on the back of the chair while the other was still on the holo-keyboard. His slightly curious expression was halfway hidden behind a messily folded down collar of a still open shirt. Beneath Ratchet could see another, slightly tighter t-shirt of an almost black tone. The pants on the other hand were looser with quite a lot of pockets all over them, and the belt had not been fastened as tightly as it would have been possible.
Ratchet shook himself out of his stupor, sheepishly grinning. "Sorry, just surprised. It's really something different from what you usually wear, even the Terraflux armor. But it looks good." Looking down, he felt slight embarrassment his finger was still crooked around the ring but that he hadn't opened the can. He tugged shortly, a soft hiss escaped and he raised the can for four large gulps of ice-cold soda. So cold actually it ran up from his mouth into his head right in the area behind his forehead.
"I know, I know. But since that is all I can choose from..." The elder shrugged. "At least the pajamas are... normal, but I can't run around in them all the time, now can I- are you all right?" He frowned when he saw the younger scrunching up his face.
His frown received a confused edge as blinking was his reply. Ratchet raised his other hand and massaged his temple with a chuckle. "Brain freeze, nothing worse."
"I see." Azimuth looked at him for another moment before he turned back to the desk and continued typing his report.
"You're doing that report? Really?" He had heard Alister tell Lawrence he would summarize their fight in written form and Ratchet believed easily that the other Lombax was that responsible and reliable to follow his word. Still - shouldn't he relax first before working on it?
Alister was so immersed in typing he didn't notice the close presence at first. His ears suddenly tilted a bit and he looked over his shoulder, nearly jerking at the close proximity to Ratchet's face. Had the younger sneaked up on him?
"... Is something the matter, Ratchet?" The elder looked into his eyes, resisting the urge to back off a bit. Instead he just raised an eyebrow at the cocky grin on the younger's lips.
"So, what are you exactly writing? Lemme see." There was no curiosity in Ratchet's voice - mischief all the more so. He leaned forward, propping an arm up although the angle he was bent at didn't require for him to support himself but it both conveniently pressed their sides against each other and blocked Alister's view on the report.
"Hey!" Azimuth frowned and tried to gently push Ratchet aside once more. "It's just the report. Nothing special. Now let me get this done quickly."
"I just want to make sure that everything's accounted for. We can't have Lawrence nagging because you might have missed some details, can we?" The grin was downright predatory now, stressed by the movement of his fingers wriggling over the keyboard.
"W-Wait! What are you doing?" He pushed Ratchet down, only to see nonsensical phrases being inserted into his report. "Hey! Stop it!"
The phrases vanished within seconds again as Ratchet keyed 'delete' and stopped right where Alister's own words ended. "Oops." He didn't sound sorry at all.
"You..." A low growl escaped from the general, "Come on, let me get to work!" A still gentle, but more forceful attempt to move the younger ensued.
"What is wrong with a bit of play among work?" He winked at him.
"Everything!", Azimuth replied and tried to get ahold of the situation again. Not that easy if there was so much playful resistance coming from the younger that the chair was already teetering back and forth. "I'm trying to work here, not to have fun! Now come on, get off the computer-"
The chair fell over.
Carefully, Ratchet leaned over the fallen general. "Uh, you're okay?"
"Yes I am," was growled back lowly. Amber eyes locked green ones like a predator on a prey.
"But you won't be in a second."
And before Ratchet knew, he was grabbed at his shoulders, pushed towards the bed and pinned down with Azimuth kneeling over him, narrowing his eyes under a mischievous grin.
"Prepare to suffer endlessly."
Disbelief colored Ratchet's face as he stared up. He had expected the elder to fight back or at least yell at some point in retaliation but this was unexpected. His heart actually beat harder from being pinned down, his hands twitching under the firm, if still comfortable, grip on them.
"Alister." He cursed himself for the tightness in his voice and swallowed. Instinct murmured at him to fight back while memory reminded him that the elder would never hurt him. The clash between the two emotions only served to heighten his nervousness.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The general leant down a little before he paused and reflected on his words with a playful grin. "With exception to your sides. Take this!" And before the younger could object, Azimuth tickled him all over.
The onslaught drew a shriek from the younger that dissolved into helpless laughter. He writhed from side to side but found everywhere just fingers dragging across his body, fingers he couldn't stop because one large hand still pinned the two of his against the mattress.
"Well?" The elder's grin grew wider as he intensified the tickles. "Will you let me work on or not?"
Creaking an eye open, any retort he had died under new peals of laughter. His chest was beginning to ache, he felt light-headed, every touch magnified on his sensitized skin that thinking of a new reply was near impossible. Ratchet just could gasp what came to his mind. "Ne... hehe- Nev-never, n-NEED TO keep you-you... on your toes..."
"Oh really?" The elder's gaze turned heavy-lidded while his grin turned into a playful smirk. His tail swung around in entertainment. "Are you really sure about this...?" The fingers dug a bit deeper into the skin and moved a tad slower.
"A-a bit of tickling won't-" His eyes widened and instead of laughing he moaned in surprise.
Azimuth stopped for a moment and blinked. He hadn't expected that reaction, and interpreted it as a sign that it had hurt a bit. "Sorry. Was that too much?"
"Didn't hurt." The airy quality of the younger's breathing was still caused by the strain of his enforced laughing trip, while it carried a different note too.
"Ah... That's good." Azimuth's ears flicked slightly before he pulled his hands back. "Well, I guess I'll get back to work now." He motioned to slide off the younger and get back to work.
He didn't get far with the arm slinking around his waist, tugging hard.
"!" Azimuth blinked when he fell back onto the bed, eyes widened as the younger positioned himself over him. It didn't take long though until he frowned and tried to get up again, only to be gently pushed back down. "Ratchet, what are you-"
He began sputtering at the slow drag of fingertips along his sides, much too slow to tickle and enough to spark shivers down his body. "R-Ratchet!" The elder tensed up, his face turning red. "Stop it!"
"I just want to show you what it felt like with your last touches."
At this Azimuth fell silent and stared into the younger's eyes. "Well...", he muttered and tried to hide the reaction those fine strokes evoked. "You've shown me now. I... need to get back to work."
"The report looked as good as finished to me from what I read." Ratchet leant a bit further down, whispering into a white ear. "I think you can write the rest a bit later and still be on time for tomorrow."
"I never procrastinate," he answered lowly. His fingers curled when he felt Ratchet's breath brush over his fur. "And I don't think I should leave it like this."
"You aren't procrastinating. Merely taking a break, that's a difference." Now he actually blew air across the ear.
"This… this isn't a break." He breathed in shakily to ease the tingling sensation all over his body. "I don't think I'll… be able to get to work after this."
"Oh really?" A cocky brow rose. "What does that tell about your stamina?"
"That was low." Azimuth turned his head to Ratchet and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Excuse me if it seems inappropriate to me to simply go back to work after whatever your mind is scheming."
"Inappropriate?" Both of Ratchet's eye brows shot up in surprise before they fell again under a huge smile. That opened to let a snort escape and now his arm gave in so that he collapsed on top of Alister, laughing now for entirely different reasons than before.
Completely confused, Azimuth pushed himself up and supported his torso with his elbows. "Ratchet, are you all right?"
"Big guy," he shook his head, gasping. "What are you thinking about I would do that would make it 'inappropriate' for you to finish the report after it?"
The elder opened his mouth to answer, even going as far as to raised his hand in an almost lecturing gesture; but before a single word could leave his mouth, his mind finally realized what he had almost revealed. Ears folded back as his mouth now displayed a peculiar mixture between fluster and shock, his face turned almost into a light bulb. "Forget it," he muttered, "It's nothing important. E... Either way I have to get back to work, I haven't even worked on the report for half an hour and it's nowhere close to being done."
Ratchet rolled off the elder and waving after him. "You do that." He continued chuckling and wiped tears from his eyes, then stretched his back. There were some kinks he felt in his lower shoulder blades so he arched his back, hoping to pull the muscles straight.
Azimuth quickly sat down before the holo-screen and turned away. "… You know, you should put on some clothes. It'd be awful if you caught a cold now." And I don't want to end up with a fever.
"I've never caught a cold so I don't know if it could happen." Ratchet stood up despite his half-dismissal, walking over where he had spotted the pile of clothes. Even from a bit of a distance they had looked quite neat and when he picked up the shirt, his fingertips noticed the material's smooth texture while his eyes travelled down the shirt appreciating the design.
Meanwhile the elder was not really able to work on the report anymore. He did get on, yes, but only slowly and with less efficiency – he had to erase nearly every sentence, and this was not because he was incapable of formulating anything. It was because he found himself turning around occasionally and quickly snapping his head back.
His head tingled up to the tips of his ears. Why had he said this? That was so stupid, terribly stupid! What did that reveal about him? By Orvus, he couldn't just act like that around him. He was the older one of them, after all. He just couldn't… could not let any of this be noticed. He couldn't just show him what he thought, felt, sometimes even—
A quick shake of his head. This was out of place to even think about. He had to focus, focus, focus! This report was important, so he better got back to work.
The shirt glided easily over his head and arms. Once completely down, he tugged the hem and the sleeves so they were covering him properly. It was a black, almost shining material with orange highlights going from the shoulders down before sharply turning towards the sternum before falling straight again.
"Why couldn't Lawrence give me the not so fancy clothes and grace you with these new-fashioned ones?" Azimuth shook his head. For a moment he gave up concentrating on his report, seeing how this injustice was more than questionable to him. "It is almost as if he wanted to tease me."
Ratchet threw him a look that just said 'oh really?', as he unbuttoned his trousers.
The elder snapped back his head and stared down at the holo-keyboard. All right, time to concentrate again. Time to... To concentrate... And eventually, he succeeded. At some point he regained his focus and worked as fast as before on his report. It certainly helped that Ratchet was that silent for the while, and even though curiosity begged the question what the younger was up to, he had found the ability to shut down and work again. Not long after he typed the last words and commenced correcting his report for any mistakes he could have made.
"Say, how far are you? Just asking, I won't interrupt you."
"I'm done now." Azimuth stretched his arms and let out a groan. "That report should be sufficient for tomorrow." A yawn escaped him.
"You sound tired. We should do something to relax."
Alister yelped at the kiss that was bestowed upon the side of his neck. Turning his head to Ratchet, he stared at the younger with a startled gaze. "What was that for?"
"I just felt like it." It was an easy answer to an easy smile. "You've worked hard on this, partially because you didn't want us to need deal with Lawrence right away."
"I… see." Azimuth loosened up a bit and returned the smile. "Don't worry, it wasn't that much work anyway. I didn't feel like reporting to him instantly, that's all." Shutting down the computer, he stood up and stretched once more. "Well, I think I have an outstanding session of refreshment waiting for me."