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.

31. Melodious Doom

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 31

Ratchet harrumphed, throwing a glare at Alister's head as he once again looked over his shoulder nervously. The elder grinned with a shaky smile.

"Come on, Ratchet. I know you and Nefarious aren't on good terms, and neither am I, but I don't think that Lawrence did anything against you." He tapped against Ratchet's helmet and tried to keep up his grin. "Besides, I want him to get better soon so that we don't have to deal with the doctor's screaming every time we have a briefing."

"You know that's not what I'm currently annoyed about." He flicked the offending finger away and threw his head to the side with an exaggerated noise of dismissal.

"Oh, please, Ratchet, you're not a child anymore." Azimuth shook his head and sighed. "Look, how about this? When we get out of here and have our peace with no Shapeshifters to worry about, I will take you on a small detour to Torren IV. On the other side of the planet there is a very pleasant natural spring which I'm sure you will like."

"Only if this visit means I get a massage. From you." He poked hard into a thick forearm. "Then I'm interested, otherwise this is too far in the future."

The elder stepped back a bit and frowned questioningly. "Really, Ratchet? Really?" he asked before he rolled his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I will massage you as well when we get out of here."

"Yes, really." The sweet expression couldn't fool him.

"Brat."

"Only for you." Now, thatsmirk was wicked and smug.

"Oh you…" Azimuth shook his head and groaned. Finally they arrived at the room where Lawrence was kept. He entered the access code Nefarious had given them to open the door. "We will discuss this later-"

A loud bang interrupted him as a flash of energy hit the wall above his head.

"D-don't come any closer – oh, it is you two." Blue optics blinked nervously. "My apologies. I mistook you as one of the guards."

Ratchet stood up from his ducked position, removing the arms from over his head. His ears drew nervously back because the barrel of the security gun was still trained on them. He focused back on Lawrence to ensure they wouldn't get shot again.

"Is it safe now? Can we stand up or are we about to be made into holed cheese?"

"Yes. I… I have put away the device, so don't worry." Lawrence turned away and fidgeted slightly. The gun clattered as he let it fall out of his hand which in turn made the butler wince. Azimuth looked at him. A different clothing shell, or rather the outer shell had been removed to decrease the weight on him, it seemed. The sleeves of the shirt had been retracted up until the elbow joints, his bow tie was on the table. "I didn't expect anyone to come here, frankly—nobody would bother visiting me here, safe for the doctor. And he informs me beforehand when he comes so that something like this," he pointed at the blackened spot behind Azimuth, "doesn't happen with a worker's head."

"We didn't exactly go and tell Nefarious we would visit you…" He dug his elbow into Alister's side before daring to venture further into the room. He tried to subtly assess if Lawrence had any damage, covering his actions by seemingly looking past him at the bowtie. It actually made him curious – he had always thought it was painted on or integrated, not a removable accessory.

"Oh really? Well. Maybe he expected you to come here on your own. He should have told me last time he visited me – oh that was an hour ago, I believe. Perhaps he forgot." He tapped his lips and looked down contemplatively. "I wish I could forget that easily too."

"Are you all right?" Azimuth let the door slide shut behind him. "You seem really shaken up-"

"That is because I am," Lawrence replied loudly, staring at the elder. "They wanted to kill me. They really wanted to killme – not like you, where there would be a chance of getting you out of their grasp, but with outright intent to extinguish my core. I saw it in their eyes, their movements and gestures…" He shook his head quickly. "Remembering it is certainly not something I am keen on. Certainly not." He walked over to the bed and let himself fall onto the soft surface.

"I will never understand why Nefarious insists that I stay in this room here. I know it is safe, but it is not comfortable. It makes me remember constantly with little things in here. The silence is stifling. It makes me self-conscious of my movements and the noises they make; every sound of metal scraping against each other, light reflections that are in the color palette of their awful glow lines – without proper distraction the images will not leave me alone…"

Suddenly he looked up and blinked. "Oh, did I ramble? My apologies, you shouldn't have seen this. How unbecoming of a butler it must be…" He turned his gaze to the ground and folded his hands.

Suddenly, the urge to leave pounced on Ratchet. He didn't want to be here, with this serious and anxious Lawrence who wasn't sarcastic. Who had been a victim of the Shapeshifters and admitted how the attack haunted him. It was less anxiety on his part, however, than empathy and that made the situation even more uncomfortable for Ratchet – he didn't want to feel that towards Lawrence.

"How is your order coming along?"
The robot lifted his head a little and looked directly at them, forcing himself to stay focused and composed. He would not let this impairment get the best of him, and he certainly did not want to give those Shapeshifters the triumph of having scathed him at all. "Have you dealt with any since the last encounter I know of?"

"No, we didn't. Alister just learnt around yesterday what happened before he told me this morning." Or what could be applied as 'yesterday' and 'morning' if you didn't know how outside the actual courses of the suns were. "Before that, the Armor vendor visited and repaired our stuff."

"I see." Lawrence nodded lightly. "Of course. The time frame might have been too small to do anything." He ran his palm over his head. "It really has been only a few hours hasn't it? It feels like much more."

"You do seem like you need a lot more time to rearrange your data stores." Azimuth crossed his arms. "There is one thing that has bugged me ever since I heard about the incident, though."

"And that would be?"

"How come you did not use the equipment you had with you?"

At this Lawrence only blinked, optics wide as he fell silent. Apparently he had no answer for that.

"Didn't you have any with you?" frowned Ratchet. That seemed awfully foolish and dangerous. Lawrence could have been in a hurry but even the Lombax couldn't imagine the robot to have been careless enough not to take the devices with him for his protection.

"I…", the butler began, "I did have them with me. All of them." He pointed at his wrists that had protection devices attached to them. A slight tug at the shirt shell and capsules were revealed, presumably containing a substance to ward them off. "I was brought here before I could detach any of them. They should have worked, but they didn't." A sigh. "It was really odd – from one moment to another I found myself here. And surprisingly, Nefarious was in this room when I regained some composure."

"You didn't have time then using them. I guess you couldn't really expect the Shapeshifters to attack you in the middle of the facility, even if it was outside the protected area."

Lawrence nodded, only to make Azimuth frown slightly. "I don't know. It doesn't really add up with what Nefarious blurted out yesterday. Was there a system error with alldevices you had with you?"

The butler looked at him, almost as if he wanted to reply; but then he turned away and sighed. "The odds are quite… impossible, aren't they? I suppose it seems unlikely to happen all at once." He stood up and walked from one end of the room to another. "But I am not sure why I… did not think of using them – ah!" He covered his mouth in shock. That had not been supposed to slip out.

Ratchet had a good idea why Lawrence didn't. He also had enough social grace to refrain from saying his thoughts aloud. Instead:

"The important thing is you're here and kinda alright. And have time to recover."

"I suppose." A sigh of relief. As it seemed it had been the right choice not to pry in the wound. Lawrence shook his head before he faced the Lombaxes again and folded his hands. "Thank you for your visit. Since you are already here, is there anything I can help you with? While I might not be able to perform my duties as I normally do, my knowledge is still intact."

"It's… I dunno. I have no ideas at the moment. I'd like to ask you something but I don't think you want to really think about it-"

"Ask." A sigh. "I can imagine what it is and it has made me uncomfortablealready. Alas, you still need that information, so please ask."

"If it's alright with you." Ratchet looked dubious but before the robot could feel annoyed, he continued. "Which faction of the Shapeshifters attacked you, if they were one we haven't fought before? What makes them special?"

A slight jolt went through Lawrence at this question before he relaxed. He had to contain himself and keep calm, even if his memory files were threatening to flood his mind. "The Loving. They are the only group within the Shapeshifters that do neither listen nor obey the Superior – or so it is claimed." He paused. "They are terribly powerful; you could almost say that they could rival the Superiors – but even so, they have weaknesses that make them inferior."

"They don't listen to the Superiors and are almost as powerful as them. 'Wonderful' is slowly becoming my catchphrase." Ratchet dug the heel of his palm against his brow before sighing. "At least they have some weaknesses. Which are they?"

"The least are truly confirmed." Lawrence rubbed the back of his neck. "I should have done so yesterday, but…" A heavy sigh. "Either way. I have requested that you two learn to sing a song."

"What?" Azimuth's eyes snapped open. "What did you just – sing a song? I'm sorry, Lawrence. I won't sing you a lullaby just so that you recover sooner-"

"Oh, don't worry. I would never ask something that ridiculous of you – or perhaps…" The butler tapped his chin and looked up. "I am jesting, I am jesting. It will come in handy when you fight."

"… Don't tell me it's this song that riled Nefarious up so much and which the workers believed protects them against the Shapeshifters."

The smirk, as faint as it was, revealed how much pleasure this revelation brought to him. Azimuth sighed heavily and shook his head. "Is this really necessary? I am certain there is a different way, but if it has to be… I suppose we have to learn it."

"It is absolutely imperative to learn it and to perform it with every single wordsung in undying devotion." Lawrence's smirk became more and more prominent. "Leave even one syllable without emotion, and they shall catch the fraudulence."

"Lemme guess – it's a love song." Ratchet drily said. That would explain Lawrence's sudden good mood.

"Oh why, yes!" The butler clapped his hands in satisfaction. "And a wonderful one too. Just think of someone you hold very dear." A meaningful glance to Ratchet and Azimuth before he turned to the younger one. "For instance, I heard you have a very charming lady waiting for you. Why don't you dedicate it to her?" By Orvus, he would not suggest to sing it for the elder, of course. Then he turned to Azimuth. "As for you… Hm." The robot tapped his chin idly. "I am not sure, but I can fathom someone-"

"What WHAT?" Ratchet waved his hands in a stopping motion. "Whom are you talking ab- Talwyn and because she dedicated a song to me to wish me a safe journey? She's a friend, more like a sister, not a girlfriend."

"That's not what one hears these days…" Lawrence raised his hands and showed his palms while closing his optics. "One is quite sure that there is a certain infatuationbetween you and her. As for Azimuth, hm…" the butler mused. "I suppose that bodily attraction alone won't suffice, only if it's valid emotions. Perhaps love between friends would suffice too, so sing it for your best friend, instead?"

Little did the robot know what he had done.

"What are you implying, you snarky metal bulk?!" Azimuth stomped towards Lawrence, tail straight as an arrow and face twisted to a furious expression. "How DAREyou speak like this to me!"

Ratchet grabbed for his wrist. "Alister!" What had gotten in the elder now? Somewhen in the future Ratchet would get crazy because of Alister's secrecy and non-explained actions, but for now—

Normally Lawrence would have stood firm and simply smirked at the elder, but this time he could not. When he looked into the Lombax's eyes gleaming with anger, it set off another memory, merging Azimuth's face with a Shapeshifter's hideous grin. Within the same moment he scrambled back onto the bed and pressed against the wall, hand nervously reaching for the protection device at his wrist.

"Let me go, Ratchet!" Azimuth tried to yank himself free to get to the robot. "Don't you see what he just implied?! It's… It's…!"

"IMPLY WHAT?! And don't you see what you're doing to him and he's short of activating any possible protection that could include GUNS?" He hissed everything lowly at the other lest he would scare the robot even more and he didn't want to draw Nefarious's rage towards by having traumatized Lawrence.

Azimuth snapped his head around and glared at Ratchet, mouth torn open to speak – but nothing came out. Whatever he had wanted to say remained untold, and with it he buried his anger as quickly as he could. How could he say something he didn't dare speak of, anyway?
Clenching his fists, he took a deep breath and shook his head. "I am sorry," he muttered, taking a step back to give Lawrence some more space. Then he turned off his helmet and sat down, fingers running through his fur. "The heat got me."

"I… understand." The butler did not move away from the wall, but relaxed bit by bit. "I crossed a line, I believe. My apologies."

Okay, this had been too close. Releasing his breath, Ratchet thought it was good to divert their attention elsewhere – at best to the previous topic.

"Now that we have cleared this- what is the text of that song? The earlier we learn it, the better if we met the Loving."

"You are going to learn it by today, I believe. Or tomorrow, depending on whatever schedule there is now." Lawrence looked up. "As for the song, how about you listen to it yourselves?" A faint beep sounded – and music filled the room.

Azimuth's ears perked. Now, that was a form of music he certainly did not listen to. His favorite channels were Polaris Classical and Space Jam, sometimes Pirate Radio if he felt like it; but this track? He couldn't imagine it to be in either of them. It was quite different, perhaps something people described as new progressive, but by no means unpleasant.

That was, of course, until he heard the lyrics.

Bit by bit the elder's ears fell. Eyes widened with every syllable, his mouth fell open in disbelief – until he heard the end of the second stanza. Jolting up he shook his head wildly. "I… I refuse to sing this!", he yelled, face turning red under the fur before he rushed out, leaving a stunned Ratchet and Lawrence behind.

"… What has gotten into him?" The butler blinked. "It gets atrocious after the fifth-hundredth time, but at the beginning it should have been a nice song to listen to."

"I have no idea. This situation is becoming more frequent."

"Is that so?" Lawrence rubbed his chin. "Hm. He was quite flustered by the lyrics, I assume, judging by the sudden increase of heat in his face." A sigh. "As if it was that embarrassing! If he did not have such strong interest in you, then he could think of someone else he cares about. If he did, he should use it to his advantage and not run away." He shook his head and looked at the ceiling. "Organics. So difficult to comprehend at times." A pause. "Then again, I wonder if you share any such emotional ties with him?"

"We are still trying to figure it out, and I leave it at that." A headshake. "Would you please send the lyrics to our personal computers as well as print it out? I don't like staring at a screen the whole time."

"Oh, but why?" Lawrence looked at him with genuine wonder. "There is no need to." At the just as questioning stare he slowly moved back to the edge of the bed and sat firmly. "While you will receive the lyrics later on, you won't need to stare at them for that long. After all," he added, "you will have a tutor for it."

Now that was surprising. "A tutor? Who?"

"A fine singer, at least for the standard within the facility. Then again, this doesn't say much as the only vocalcompetition is the Doctor." A slight shudder. "That aside, he was the one who saved me from the Loving, so I assume that his voice is not that unpleasant." His optics looked past Ratchet again and to the door. "We have another problem to solve, though."

"Alister?"

The robot nodded. "It won't be a problem if he doesn't sing as long as you sing nicely, but it would be beneficial." He turned to Ratchet. "Canyou sing?"

"Uhh… no idea. The last time I sang was in kindergarten, since then never again. Not even in the shower. So I rather give out a warning beforehand." He shrugged sheepishly. "Wouldn't want your processor to fritz out even though I hope I'm not as bad as Nefarious."

"Why don't you try it now?" Lawrence folded his hands and closed his eyes. "It is better if I evaluate this now so that I can see if the elder is really needed for this task."

"… I really must do this, don't I." His face scrunched up while he called internally Alister every curse word he had ever learnt in Solana, Bogon and Polaris. If he could, he would have dragged all the pride that stubborn, uptight Lombax had and punched it through the structure of the universe into the place where the Cragmites were banned to.

"You do." Lawrence snapped a finger. A paper fastened on a clipboard – it was impossible to say where it had come from since there was no opening vanishing into the ceiling nor had a teleporter been active – fell into Ratchet's hand.

"Here is the sheet music. I might not be your future tutor, but I do believe that my taste in music is not that distorted; so if you can satisfy me, I shall decide whether your voice is sufficient or not." The butler noticed how the door slid open behind Ratchet by an inch. Well, if that was not the elder being curious – or embarrassed that he had simply fled the room.

Ratchet felt a light tremble begin in his arms. Singing, in front of somebody, even if only one person? He coughed to clear his throat – and stall. Stalling as much as he could under the raised optics of Lawrence.

"Something wrong, Ratchet?"

"No, no, I'm just collecting myself." His eyes flew over the sheet again, trying to gauge the right pitch before he thought 'to hell with it'. "Alright, I'm ready." He coughed again then struck up the first note.

He stumbled a bit on the first notes, going sometimes too high or too low, too long or short. Only when he relaxed and stopped thinking, the song flowed easier from his lips, vibrating in throat, chest and abdomen as he went with instinct instead of his head.

Once the last of his voice faded away, Ratchet opened his eyes – when had he closed them? – and sought eye contact with the robot.

Lawrence blinked lightly. "It was… better than expected," he noted, "Quite good, actually. You might need more practice though… And with that said, I wonder if we have so much time. Or what do you say, Azimuth?"

Silence.

"I can see you moving about." Lawrence rubbed his temple to activate the heat sensors. Ratchet, too, turned to the open slit.

"Alister, please come in." No answer from the door.

"Alister, please."

Still silence.

"Alister, if you don't come inside, I'm going to sleep on the cold, hard floor of our room. The whole night. Without any sheets. And I won't let you warm me."

A snort drew the younger's attention to Lawrence. "My apologies," the butler said to Ratchet, "But that was just far too exhilarating for me. I wouldn't have thought that you would resort to that, or even believe a general would jump on that. It almost implies that he sugarcoats you the whole time, which would be quite a clash with your reputation, don't you think?" He chuckled. "Besides, the moment he heard your voice, he took a run, so what a shame that he didn't hear you threaten him with sleeping on the ground."

He chuckled again when Ratchet's reply was to hide his face behind a palm.

"How about you go after him?" The butler suggested. "I have just received a message of Nefarious that he is going to come for a check-up. It might be a good time to leave since I don't think that he would appreciate a squishie in his presence while paying a visit."

"As if I had any choice." Rolling his eyes, he waved at Lawrence. "Get well, don't shoot, fry, slice or use whatever lethal force on an unassuming worker or Lombax. Oh," He turned around as he was just about to step through the opened door.

"Maybe we're only 'co-workers' by necessity at the moment – but if it helps at all, you can imagine yourself to be the one kicking Shapeshifter-butt in whichever security footage you see." Ratchet stepped through and vanished behind the closing door.

Silence dominated the corridor in which the young Lombax found himself. There was no sign of Alister, no sign of anyone. Perhaps this was the case since this part of the facility was reserved for Nefarious and Lawrence exclusively – other people were not allowed in here, except for the general and him.

"I guess he ran back to our room." He mumbled lowly as he was already walking into the direction of their apartment.

"I did not." Azimuth was waiting for him, hidden by one of the door frames. Rubbing the back of his head, he did not want to look at Ratchet.

"Did you also run in the military when you got assigned to an uncomfortable task or has this only developed recently?" Ratchet deadpanned.

"Excuse me?" Amber eyes turned to him. "There is a difference between orders from the military and tasks like this. This one is simply embarrassing, stupid and flat-out unacceptable for me and I cannot see how youcould even consider taking up this task to begin with."

"Because it works against the Loving who are probably the strongest group among the Shapeshifters under the Superiors? Besides, who said that youneed to sing, too?"

Azimuth opened his mouth to reply, but instead of words he froze for a moment. "Indeed! I don't have to sing!" He turned around and stomped ahead. "And I will never sing this sappy and cheesy song!"

"By the stars." Ratchet yelled but something about it was off. The general would have been able to deal with anger or surprise or indignation instead of that-

"You would think you would be embarrassed by something…" The sound of hoverboots rushing mingled with the voice, and as he looked over his shoulder, Alister saw with dread Ratchet moving from one wall to the next while moving forward, with a gleeful grin upon his face.

"The Great General is embarrassed byyyyy theeeeee lyyyyyyrics~" he sing-sang.

"Stop it, Ratchet!" Azimuth shouted as he hurried forward. "You are no child, now behave like an adult!" How had he ended up in this terrible situation? Teased by someone so much younger than him, and just…!

"Ah, why would I have to?" The mock-whine grated on Alister's ears. "If you run away, why can't I sing a bit?"

"Because you need a lot of practice hours until you can sing something like that!" Azimuth shook his head. "You are not able to convey emotions yet, your intonation is too shaky, your feeling for rhythm is off and you don't know how to breathe properly to-" As if hit by a lightning, the elder tensed up, eye twitching. "Forget what I said. You're doing fine, just leave me out of this," he quickly said and turned away.

Whatever satisfaction and relief the elder had felt upon the sudden silence from behind, the whistling suddenly coming made him press his ears against his head. "Wow, I didn't know you had it in you. Maybe you could be my tutor."

"What—NO!" Azimuth shook his head wildly in protest. "You already have a tutor! You don't need me. I know too little about this to teach you, and whatever skills I have are mediocre at best. I only have a sharp ear for such things."

"And you are calling me childish?"

"This is not being childish. This is knowing my limits." Azimuth turned away and towards their walking direction again. "And I know exactly that thislies beyond them. Now come, Ratchet. We better return to our room as soon as possible before there is a malfunctioning in the barrier."

The two Lombaxes' voices could be heard for a few more seconds in the corridor which housed Lawrence room before they finally went quiet. The robot in front of the door shook his head.

"Squishies."

He banned them from his mind as he knocked on the door while pinging the butler.

"Lawrence, it's me. I'm coming in now."

The door slid open. Blue eyes looked at Nefarious calmly as he stood up to greet his master. "Good day, doctor. I am surprised you are visiting me yet again – it has only been a bit more than an hour, sir."

"I wanted to make sure those squishies hadn't bothered you." Once the door swished closed, he put a lock on the door so nobody from outside could interrupt them.

"I've locked the door from the outside." No, he wasn't being redundant. Lawrence had shown to react extremely now to confinement of any kind, be it of physical contact or locked down rooms. Here and now he still could walk out and his butler needed that confirmation of his freedom.

"I see." Lawrence nodded in approval. He looked around in the room, not directly observing Nefarious. He was nervous, yes, since he did not know why the doctor was here again, and since he did not want to show that the encounter with the Shapeshifters had shaken him up more than assumed. "Is there something I can help you with, sir, or did you simply have too much time after completing your tasks?"

"As I said, I needed to see for myself that the Lombaxes haven't annoyed or upset you." He turned away, words mumbled so lowly that Lawrence could barely hear them. "Because if they had, I'd have killed them, Shapeshifters be damned."

"Oh, no. They haven't. If anything, they have given me a perfect opportunity to test this paralyzation device." A faint smirk. "I now know that its fire mechanism works splendidly, even though the aim stabilizer leaves things to wish for." He folded his hands to stop them from moving around. It was not becoming of a butler to fidget so much.

"What a pity." The scientist's smirk left no doubt he had understood what Lawrence had hinted at. "I would have liked to see how one or two frizzling Lombaxes look like. Maybe next time, after I have recalibrated the stabilizers."

"That seems like an appropriate idea." The smirk was returned faintly enough to go unnoticed. Lawrence looked at his hands before he addressed the doctor again. "How are the recalibrations going? Have you located the… Shapeshifters?"

"I have." Nefarious began pacing in front of the bed, arms clasped behind his back. "It was easier than I expected. Heh, they have gotten so full of themselves – or at least were before I sent them on a merry way through half the facility." His smirk returned but with a dangerous, sharp edge and mirth gleaming in his optics.

"I see you are taking up my most favorite activity here, right after driving you to your limits." The butler smiled amusedly as he stood up and motioned to take up his coat shell. "Sir, I have been thinking… Perhaps I should return to the Great Clock for a while. Perhaps a day. I haven't observed the caretaker and Clank for quite a long time now – who knows what progress they have made."

Tilting his head, Nefarious didn't answer right away. The globe which housed part of his systems picked up with activity, gears literally turning faster, power lines glowing.

"If you wish, you can take two days. I think it would benefit your recovery to be not only at a place far away from the facility, but where the environment is a lot less hostile. Besides it would allow me not to worry about your safety considering… that I have singedtheir pride a little at several places."

Lawrence widened an optic in surprise. "Oh really?" He came a bit closer to the doctor in curiosity. "How did you do it?", he asked lowly as he leant forward a bit.

"Oh, nothing much, just a few things after they had pressed me to give them five energy vessels." He nonchalantly flipped his wrist, the gesture and tone surprising the butler even more. Nefarious usually didn't act that understated.

"I've let a wall of the force field materialize in the room to escort them to the teleporter." At this, the sharp-edged smirk returned, intense satisfaction purring in his next words. "They were surprised a bit, of course, as they had already turned around to leave."

"Oh… Elegant move." Lawrence's smile grew even wider as he came closer another step. "Anything else that you might want to tell me about?" A pause. "After all, you did promise me to avenge me appropriately, didn't you?"

"That wasn't even the finishing steps on that move." The scientist watched the other closely but didn't move on his own. Better to leave all the initiative to Lawrence so he would feel in control. He still could let his smirk widen.

"It was quite entertaining to watch as the field threw them onto the teleporter. They landed in a messed heap before I sent them off." Head tilting back, he gazed directly into Lawrence's optics. "The security cameras have recorded that moment in several angles. I took the liberty to copy all of them into a single file – should you feel bored watching over those two goody two-shoes at the Great Clock."

"Oh my, how considerate of you." Lawrence did not turn away at all. Instead he leant in a bit more, mirroring the playful smirk on the doctor's lips. "I will be sure to look at them." A pause as his optics fell almost completely shut. "I am sure they'll help my recovery quite much."

"I sure hope so. Even if they shouldn't help, they are very entertaining to watch, I dare-say my performance made it even better.

"As for that 'anything else'… I have indeed more to tell you, which is also the reason why I would feel better with you being away from this place for a while."

"I am listening." The butler did not move, speaking at the lowest audible pitch. Moments where Nefarious was not screaming or wonderfully obnoxious were rare, and just as much valued.

"As you know, they threatened me for your safety to give them five vessels with the best energy we have." A pause, all but burning with acid, oddly lacking the to be expected humiliation or defeat however. "I knew what resources they would have on their hands then.

"I couldn't do anything but follow their demands in that moment – that didn't mean, however, that I would give them such an advantage so easily." The sinisterly gleeful expression returned.

"Two of the vessels were faux, filled with explosives that would set off once the Superiors entered the part of the facility they have claimed. Oh, and these two vessels were also filled with a biiiit of nanotech…" He let his voice trail off, content to let his butler imagine the rest.

"Aaah…" Lawrence blinked as he ended the thought in his mind. "Why, splendid maneuver, sir. I couldn't have imagined a better way to have me avenged." He paused. "At least as long as I survive. Next time, when I actually die, please make sure to include everything we have against those guards as a little extra."

"I sure hope NOT that you die!" The vehemence returned, although subdued, as he pointed his finger at the other as if he uttered the most idiotic phrase. More softly, though still strong, "I'm going to use everything we have, anyway. That's why you should be out of here, I don't want a repetition when the Shapeshifters plan their counter-attack."

"I fear I cannot comply, sir." The butler sighed lowly, unphased by the sudden increase in sound. "I could not leave you alone here – if I did, I would end up worrying all day long if I was still employed or not. And this," he continued, "would be much worse than knowing everything is going well. Besides, I have to look after our special employees."

"Mmph, I wouldn't have expected you to be so unreasonable. Then again, I tend to forget how stubborn you can be. Alright – two days at the Great Clock as both recollection mission and a vacation, then you will return."

Silence. A frown appeared on Lawrence's face as he looked away. "Can I assume that I can come back without having to clean up half of the facility from all the destruction and to pull you out of the ruins, then?"

"It's sweet of you to worry about me. I cannot assure you the destruction will be kept to a minimum – I don't actually intend it."

"Sweet?" One optic widened, the butler turned to face him again. "Did the great Doctor Nefarious, supervillain and evil mad scientist just say sweet?"

"Yes. I did. And I know that it clashes with my reputation. That is why..." He leant forward, hand resting on Lawrence's shoulder.
"We better not let this slip out of this room."

Blue optics blinked at the low voice the words were spoken in. Only faintly noticing the hand on his shoulder, he was too occupied by looking at the doctor. It took him another moment to gain his composure again and produce a reply that did not reflect his surprise. "Oh, but it would be very tempting to let it slip. I am sure Supervillian Weekly would loveto hear about this little mishap of yours."

"I should have known you'd ruin the moment." The taller robot snorted, lacking any real annoyance.

"Oh, there was a moment?" Lawrence smirked faintly. "My apologies, Nefarious. This was not my intention." A pause. "Since I have ruined it already, perhaps I could…" A hand was lifted and placed on the scientist's shoulder. "… recompense."

He jerked suddenly, optics brightening for a moment. He looked at his hand on Nefarious' shoulder then to Nefarious who was watching with open amusement.

"Is something wrong, Lawrence?"

"N-no, sir. I just thought I had felt some static entering my fingers." The butler pulled his hand back and looked aside. "Perhaps my systems are not completely recalibrated yet and evoked a false impression-"

Nefarious's hand snapped forward to stroke along his neck lightly. Static jumped from the contact in a crackling arc at the point of contact.

"Ah!" Lawrence took a step backwards, optics widened. He quickly covered the spot where the doctor had touched him, confused as to what was happening. "N… Nefarious?"

"Perhaps I'm too forward. I guess this wasn't as enjoyable as I thought, hm?" His heat-ray took in the wonderful sight of flushed systems, energy racing through the butler at a higher rate.

"N… Nefarious, please." Lawrence turned away and quickly grabbed his coat shell. "I am not Cassiopeia, and do not appreciate this kind of attitude towards either-"

"Who said I would do this to Cassiopeia?" The doctor stepped closer and stopped Lawrence from putting on his coat. "You know how my policy is. I don't want to mix business with personal relationships." A pause as he looked into the other's optics. "It's just easier to get the Valkyries do their part if Cassy is infatuated with me."

"So what is this between us, then, sir?" Blue met red light. The butler narrowed his optics. "We too have a professional relationship. Or are you implying you are playing this too?" A sniff. "If that is the case, sir, I fear that I am not interested in such a game. I-"

"Me playing games with you? You would notice them even before I was performing them. You are the only one that sees through my zaniness and you also are the common sense of us. If I was playing with you, I'd be a lot more melodramatic anyway."

"But the way you are conversing right now implies that you are well capable of being a bit… subtler." Lawrence did not move away. For now. "I don't want to spoil the good professional relationship we have, Nefarious."

"… Were you only 'playing' with me, too, or did your flirting mean more than a 'professional relationship'? I've had the idea at least."

Silence. The butler's optics widened as he could not reply at all. "Nefarious, why would I—No… I would not sink that low to-" He shook his head and stared into the doctor's optics. Initial surprise was replaced by a sense of offense, almost anger. "How dare you think I would fake something like this? I might be a butler, but I have my standards. Why would I even consider letting such things slip if I don't intend them to slip?" He stepped closer. "No, I would not sink that low to tease you. Don't you dare imply this again, Nefarious."

"And what gives you the right to outright suggest it is I doing that to you?" He crossed his arms.

"Insane Zane here with another dedication! This one goes out to the lovely Cassiopeia from Doctor Nefarious. The doctor says, "I never thought I'd love again 'til I met you."".
Lawrence turned off the recording again and stared at Nefarious with narrowed optics. "Do I have to say anything else?"

There was a not instant reply from Nefarious, only widened optics. "... No, you don't." The scientist frowned and lowered his gaze. What else should he have said at that?

"And this is what I mean." Lawrence let his optics fall shut as he put on his tail coat. "Don't try to fool me, sir, since I am very much able to see through it. It will save both of us a lot of bothersome circumstances." He walked to the door, motioning to unlock it. "I will see you in a few days then, doctor-"

"'See right through it'? Sometimes I can't believe how much of a moron you can be." With these words he stepped behind Lawrence who froze, whether by the words or because he detected the other's proximity was up to debate. The butler's shoulders twisted but the scientist beat him to it and gently spun him round. Lawrence stiffened, expecting that now the familiar outburst-

Clink

Their foreheads met under a light tone as Nefarious gently leant his head forward.

If any word could have described Lawrence's current sentiments, it would have been surprise. Shock even. What was this? No outburst? No anger fit? No dismissal or grumpy attitude? Instead silence, subtlety in some way, and something… sinceremade up the moment. It was enough to render him speechless, and even make him forget the Shapeshifters in their entirety; and only after several moments of quiet he was able to address the other robot. "… Nefarious?"

The robot stayed quiet. If anything he seemed not to have heard Lawrence as he also kept still, just raising a hand to lay it on his shoulder.

The butler was confused by the turn of events. What should he do? What by Orvus was he supposed to do? There was nothing he knew of that would help him in this situation, neither in those guides for butlers of mad scientists or any other resourceful material he had read. Just what was he supposed to do?

"Now Lawrence," the drawl sounded amused and fond, "I don't think we can call this a 'professional relationship' anymore."

Silence held the robot captive. Then, slowly a faint, contented smile appeared on his lips. "Neither do I, sir."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there is less need for formalities when we're alone, Lawrence," he grinned, repeating word for word what he said days ago when the Lombaxes and that worker had barged into the room. The circumstances this time were a lot more interesting, of course. "It's Nefarious. Or Doctor Nefarious, if that is more comfortable for you."

"I will consider amending my way of addressing you." Cautiously a hand was placed on Nefarious' arm. Faint pulses went from the fingers into the outer shell. "Even though it might take some time to adjust myself to that, doctor."

"Then you should hurry. You know that patience isn't one of my strong points."

"Perhaps." Lawrence chuckled. "But do keep in mind that this will change nothing in the amount of stealth insults I will let slip." He looked into the other's optics. "That would take the fun out of my day."

An almost undignified noise escaped him as Nefarious sent a particularly strong surge through the hand on his shoulder.

"Not as much fun as my ways to keep you quiet or at least distract you."

Lawrence's optics widened as he tensed up at the peculiar sensation. "Don't worry," he replied, "I… I will get used to that sooner than you'd wish for—ah!" More sparks and friction went through his shell. "Stop that!"

"Does it bother you? Or are you just flustered that I'm teasing you?"

"It might not be a purely professional relationship anymore, but it is not a purely personal one either." The butler looked into Nefarious' optics with a stern expression. "So please, refrain from doing so until the direction this will tilt is determined." He reached to the lock of the door and opened it. "As for now, I shall go to the Great Clock. I still have my duties to fulfill, after all."

"Pssht, you are no fun." The petulant frown and the crossed arms drew a smirk from the butler.

"Well, above everything else it is my duty to be your butler, Nefarious." He stepped closer for a moment, sliding his hand onto the back of the doctor's neck. The friction and sparks were unintentional, of course. "I will leave the 'fun' part to you, since you are quite good at exhilarating me."

"Says the robot teasing me." But before he could make a move to retaliate, Lawrence had already ducked out of the room.