Cross-posted from tumblr and ao3

I don't own DMMd

Since recovering a still functioning alpha from Platinum Jail, Noiz was pleased to say he hadn't made much progress on fixing Clear. What he had managed to figure out was most of the hardware of the stupid robots, as the alpha was laying in pieces scattered around the back of the shop. Key parts needed to replace Clear's more damaged areas were of course left closer, because he knew he'd end up losing something of importance otherwise.

Picking up one of the hands again, he flexed the joints, tugging them every which way until he was satisfied. It was a strange thing to be so utterly fascinated by these machines, he was sure, but there was something about them that had grabbed his attention in the last few months.

Sure, he knew his way around deconstruction and reconstruction (he didn't have a part time job in a junk shop for nothing), and he did have Sly to thank for that spark of interest, but he'd never really noticed the finer things. The little robots he relied on for whatever needs were simplistic. Their internal hardware was nowhere near as complicated as these alphas, even if he had thought he had customised them completely. To be honest, it made Noiz feel rather inferior in skill.

Setting the hand down once again, he leaned back from Clear. But, despite his grievances about the whole thing, Noiz had to admit he liked the challenge. Not many people were able to get their hands on an alpha. And to rebuild it too … Noiz honestly had the opportunity of a lifetime at his fingertips.

People who responded to his original forum were calling his bluff, but he provided photos and the occasional video (with redirected location and tracking, of course, just in case). Those people were literally eating out of his hand now, and so many were willing to throw millions at him for it. For Clear. It was almost too tempting.

Mink, however, was a person he wanted to keep as a friend, so Noiz turned down every offer so far, which only made those rich offer more. Noiz wondered if Mink would like to see Platinum Jail completely removed, but never asked. He still didn't understand what Mink's interest in Clear was, and waving something like the demolition of that place would no doubt spark his interest.

Out of habit, Noiz pressed a hand on Clear's chest. He was overthinking it once more. Noiz couldn't remember the last time he ate, or how many hours he'd slept. His deadline to produce results for that memorable trip to Platinum Jail was still hanging over him, and all he'd manage to do was strip a robot. Giving a self-deprecating laugh, he finally stood.

He needed a shower, something to eat, maybe a nap if he felt like it. Did he feel like it? Noiz wasn't too sure, but toddled in the general direction of the small room in the far corner of the shop. His hand still burned from where he'd touched Clear but he ignored it as much as he could. Noiz knew he was getting too attached to Clear, and in case something happened, he couldn't allow himself to.

Stripping, Noiz turned the shower on and stepped in without even considering the cold, squeaking when the water hit his skin. Old pipes groaned in response to his insistence on "would you hurry and warm the fuck up already" but eventually there was a lukewarm flush on his feet and he stepped back in.

Humming something he heard on the radio earlier (he recognised the band as something Aoba was particularly fond of), he went through the mechanic process of scrubbing himself until he was pink and raw. There was just so much dirt and grease and this weird fluid in those stupid alphas on his skin, and Noiz had a brief moment to wonder if any got into his crack.

It smelt kind of funny too, and it had a weird consistency. Noiz wasn't too sure to what to make of it, and part of him felt he really shouldn't ask those on the forums. He was bound to make a fool of himself if he expressed a genuine curiosity in what the fuck this fluid was.

When he had pulled the alpha apart, it was thinner towards the head, and thicker towards the feet. Noiz had assumed it was a replacement for blood, as they were supposed to blend into society after all. But it was just so … sticky. Gross.

Finding a particular amount on his elbow and wondering how it ended up there, he swiped it off with a finger and held it up out of the water. To be honest, he did jokingly suggest to Clear - not that Clear could respond of course but he was a great listener - that it was the robot version of spunk and well … looking at it now …

"Oh my god!"

Noiz jumped exactly six feet in the air, fell back and landed on his ass on the concrete. Pretty sure he not only cracked his goddamn pelvis, Noiz was pretty sure he'd never be able to walk again. But then he remembered what was on his skin and well he's still not sure how he managed to get back under the water.

"Are you fucking with me?" he hissed to no one in particular as he tried quite desperately to get rid of that sticky feeling.

A string of very choice words left him, all relating back to "who the fuck thought this was funny". Noiz was 99% sure someone somewhere was laughing at his misfortune at finding out just what those stupid alphas were full of and oh god he felt kind of violated.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he dared leave the shower but he did and changed into something clean so fast he was pretty sure he'd win gold for it. Staring at the work clothes, Noiz just left them. There was not much left in him to be able to deal with that right now and he could still feel the goddamn robot jizz on his elbow - and how did it get there in the first place?

Glaring at Clear and the alpha as he passed by, Noiz did not feel like returning there anytime soon. Deadlines be damned, just looking at the fluid here and there made him feel sick.

Mink rang the moment he'd stuck cold pizza in the microwave and Noiz wasn't sure how he was supposed to explain how he figured out robot's could probably fuck (he didn't, of course, but he had half a mind to let Mink know. Just in case Mink was into that sort of thing of course).