Chapter Text
Robert woke up in his (very uncomfortable)chair, groaning at the pain in his lower back. He got up on his feet, breath hitching in his throat as he leaned against the wall to regain his balance.
He didn't want to kiss the ground at such an early hour, especially when it was colder than his freezer.
He stumbled over to the kitchen, grabbing his one and only mug, setting it down on the counter and pouring hot coffee inside of it, and taking a sip. The scalding liquid burned dowm his throat, uncomfortably irritating his mouth, yet warming his insides nonetheless.-
-after all, he was used to pain. Ever since he was 15, taking over his family's legacy, he's had explosions, gun shot wounds, stab wounds, pretty much everything. He had even been in a coma for 4 months!
Chronic pain, that's what.
However, today was excruciatingly worse. Every single one of his bones felt like as if they were gonna break any second, and each of his joints acted as if they were frozen.
-Shame on him for being broke even with a decent paycheck from SDN.-
Anyways, now was not the time to cry about it(not like he'd cry eitherway), since he had to punch into work and dispatch his team of retards.
The brunette picked up his fat Chihuahua (yes, he isnt a corgi. He's just morbidly obese), grabbed his keys, put on his coat, and headed out the door of his appartment, locking it behind him.
He got outside, starting to walk towards the SDN building, snow crunching under his boots as the air whipped at his face, turning his cheeks crimson red. He didnt hate the cold, even if it was making him shiver under the multiple layers of clothes. He had actually only seen it once growing up, and there was barely any compared to now.
Atleast the building was only a few blocks away, or he might've frozen to death like the pathetic normie he is. He was grateful for living so close to work, and of getting a second chance at being mecha man when Blonde Blazer found him and offered him a job as a dispatcher for a bunch of dangerous fuck ups. That really helped him out. He finally had a stable paycheck, and he had defeated Shroud.-
*As soon as invisigal took the bullet for him, he saw red. Without hesitation he jumped on Shroud, beating him to a pulp.-*
*His face was mangled beyond recognition. He could've stopped there, let him live and suffer in jail. But he didn't. Instead, he killed him. Punching him over and over until the body under him went stiff.*
He shuddered at the memory, wanting to forget it all. He was a hero, and hero's dont kill. Atleast, that was what he thought until the fight with Shroud.
--¥--
The walk to SDN was agonizingly long and tiring, his teeth shattering involuntarily at the freezing temperatures he had to walk in. But atleast, it was worth it, since he got paid to work, and plus, the building was heated.
Robert headed to his desk, setting his jacket down, alongside beef, before grabbing a dollar bill and heading to the break room- getting his usual twinkie and shitty stale coffee from the overworked machine.
He ran his hand through his hair, moaning softly at the comforting taste given from his twinkie.
"Twinkies for the twink, eh?" A sudden heavy accented voice said, teasing him as usual.
He turned around, sighing in annoyance -not that he was actually annoyed- before glancing up at the taller man, his chocolate irises unwavering against his fiery amber ones.
"Well, hello to you too, Flambae. What's got you here so early? Couldn't find your way to the club?" He teased, knowing exactly how to push his buttons without actually getting his ass torched to ashes.
"Haha, real funny, Bobbob." He snarled, rolling his eyes and leaning down to his height, voice lowering. "But im actually here to see *you*."
Robert raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Im flattered, Chad. But im pretty sure you said i *wasn't* your type, hm? What happened to that?" He spoke up, letting out a soft, hearty laugh escape from his throat.
He could see Flambae's lips twitch, holding back a smile as he growled softly, drawling out his words. "Yes, *but*, people change, bitch. So, how about your flat ass give me your number?"
"Real bold of you, but if you insist so much for my number, then i guess you may have it." Grabbing his phone, he handed it to the man, who then entered his number, took a quick picture of himself, and set his contact name as "Hot Stuff🔥🔥"
"There you go, Robbo. Enjoy the picture." He sneered, his ponytail flipped as he turned around, heading out of the break room, and swaying his hips on purpose, making sure to attract the man's attention.
And it worked, because Robert couldn't keep his eyes off the gorgeous man.
--¥--
At his desk, Beef sat waiting on his dog bed, panting and scratching at his leg. Next to him was Chase's desk, where the old man was currently reaching over to snatch Beef. It didn't even surprise him, really. Everybody loved Beef. Especially Chase, he would let everyone burn in hell before anything happens to him.
"I feel betrayed, is he your favorite now?" Robert mused, lips twitching and releasing a small snicker.
"Fucker, of course he is. Just look at this cute little beast!" Chase cooed, rubbing behind the dog's ears, earning a joyful bark from the fat Chihuahua. (No, Beef is not a corgi. He's just morbidly obese.)
Robert barked out a loud laugh, shaking his head before sitting down at his desk, putting on his headphones, and clocking into work, waiting for his team to punch in too.
First came Waterboy, then Malevola and Sonar- followed by both Punch up and Coupe. A few minutes later, Flambae and Prism joined at the same time, finally he hummed seeing Invisigal and Golem's icons turning on.
"Good morning, team. Let's try not to fuck up today, alright?" He yawned out, stretching in his chair, before letting out a low groan at the pain in his lower back.
"Yeah yeah, we got it, Bobbob." The pyromaniac spat out, clearly trying to cover his snickers.
"Damn, Roberto, you alright? What was that noise?!" He heard Prism say in her booming voice.
To be honest, he really did not want anyone worrying about him and his chronic pain- truth was, he felt bad having anyone worried over him when he always lied and said he was fine(When he clearly wasn't, yet he doubt they ever noticed considering he is great at hiding emotions.)
"Oh? That? Nothing, dont worry about it. Just stretched my back too far. Im fine" He spoke, voice keeping its usual neutral tone without much difficulty.
"Yeah, right, Bobbob, you clearly aren't just "fine"." He hissed into the comms, not hiding his annoyance at the fact that the man he secretly liked(very obvious actually for everyone to see) was hiding his pain. Yet covering any trace of concern felt for the man before it could be heard slipping into his voice.
"Is that concern i hear, Flambae? How nice of you to care about me." Robert breathed out, enjoying the light banter between him and the pyrokynetic.
"As if. The last person i'd care about is you, Robbo." A clear lie he couldnt help but spit out, refusing to let the fact he cared for his dispatcher show, since that would absolutely ruin him.
"Aww, you're hurting my poor little heart, "bae".'
Robert couldnt help but keep purposely pissing him off, even if it ended up with his ass on fire.
All he could hear coming from the other line of the comms was a series of low growls and hissing. Probably Flambae trying to calm himself down from bursting into flames.
"Hey, Flambae, keep the fire at a minimum. The ear piece isn't fireproof, got it?" He snarled out. The ear pieces might've been waterproof, but fire is a whole other thing.