Work Text:
There was a familiar comfort within the walls of Herta Space Station. It was by no means a sense of home—far from it for a man from the Intelligentsia Guild. Yet, its dingy gray walls were cordial. Dr. Veritas Ratio had walked these halls countless times, and he presumed he would continue to do so until the owner of the station tired of his presence. Not that he was ever someone The Herta spared a glance upon, but he had stirred up trouble in the past.
The doctor kept to himself whenever he set foot onto this station. He was often sent on various travels at the service of the Intelligentsia Guild, but this particular trip had been of his own accord. It was more like a hasty pit stop before his next assignment than a true holiday, however, Veritas did not need an excessive amount of time to spend here. A few system hours would be spared, and if the stars aligned ever so nicely, he would run across a certain Intellitron.
Hence, he kept himself busy within the lower deck of Herta Space Station. These labs were mainly abandoned or forgotten, except for those eccentric creatures crafted by Ruan Mei. Dr. Ratio steered clear of those floors, preferring to stay inside a different laboratory where no one would intrude upon him or his research. He wasn’t in the middle of any experiments of magnitude, but he did wet his curiosity by browsing through the stored data related to both the Simulated and Divergent Universe.
His administrative permissions were limited, which was a large thorn in his side. Due to his collaboration with Screwllum upon the Planet of Festivities, his access to the Divergent Universe was a pinch larger, but he still had plenty of firewalls and screens that flashed ACCESS DENIED whenever he supplied his passcode. There were ways around these safety measures, but in all honesty, it wasn’t worth the hassle and possible repercussions of fiddling with classified Genius Society intel.
“Utter nonsense…” Veritas mumbled bitterly to himself, standing over one of the long metal tables. His fingers were tapping against the cool counter before typing away to refine his search results from the latest data pull.
The air was stuffy and sharp to the doctor’s senses as he worked in silence. He felt his body tremble from the frigid ventilation coursing through the room, but he ignored the discomfort. Laboratories were always uninviting and sterile; he was accustomed to these conditions. Alas, his humanity was both his greatest strength and weakness in this field.
His eyes narrowed on a particular screen, enlarging it to get a closer look at some of the charts that had been created since his last log in. Hyper focused on noting the patterns from these findings, he nearly missed the sound of a door swooshing open from behind. Gentle footsteps echoed in his ears. They were louder than that of a human due to the weight, but still quiet enough to show practiced care in holding oneself to a certain professionalism.
Without turning his head, Veritas spoke firmly. “Have you come to terminate my prying into your private affairs, Screwllum?”
“Negative. I was informed of your presence in the visitors’ log, and so I came to find you out on a mere selfish whim. Furthermore, you and I are partners. Why would I refuse your own privileges?"
Screwllum was direct with his words, but there was a sense of endearment in his tone. It was truly unfathomable how a machine often held much more emotion behind his voice than the majority of the humans Veritas met in his line of work. Even his choice of address was clever; the doctor was both his partner in research and in romantic affairs.
“Tsk, our personal relationship does not change the fact that I am a limited user within the database for your project.” he replied with a light scoff.
“My apologies, Dr. Ratio. I am not the sole moderator for this experiment, so I cannot provide full access to its resources.” Screwllum took a few steps closer, but he did not touch the human yet. “However, I do hope you realize that your efforts have been incredibly useful since our expansion on Penacony.”
“Hmmph, flattery won’t get you far.”
Despite his standoffish response, there was a shift in Veritas’ posture. His shoulders visibly lowered and grew less stiff. He was still hunched over the table, eyes squinting at the various holographic screens. It was a pinch amusing to the robot to see his lover so narrowly focused on extrapolating data and locating the useful patterns from thousands of simulations. His work ethic was one of the many things Screwllum admired about the man.
Arms behind his back, Screwllum watched as Veritas was plugging in various sets of numbers. He noticed the subtle shifts of his back and the muscles that rippled across it. Humans were unique in their styles of dress, and the doctor was no exception. Such cut-outs from the fabric of his clothes were intriguing in the machine’s opinion. Not that he was complaining. His eyes merely flickered with a little extra light as his biceps faintly flexed with each movement. Truly, the organic form was fascinating.
That was when he saw a shiver run down the other man’s spine. It appeared as if Veritas tried to contain it, but his body reacted on its own. A flush of goosebumps ran up and down his arms, causing the hair upon his skin to stand up. Immediately, an alert flipped off inside of the android’s head.
“Observation: You are cold, Veritas.”
“I am fine.”
“Correction: Your body is showing signs of discomfort. The air within the lower levels of Herta Space Station does not receive as much circulation as the other floors. Consider relocating.”
Veritas turned back around to look at Screwllum, studying the emotionless silver and black face plate. “I am more than aware that these laboratories are stuffy. I can handle myself. Besides, I refuse to use any of those labs on the upper levels.”
“May I ask why you refuse to move?” Screwllum questioned, tilting his head to the side quizzically. It was those sorts of motions that told his true feelings. While he did not have a mouth to easily express himself, there were other quirks that Dr. Ratio had learned to recognize during their time together.
Turning his back to the Intellitron, Veritas put his fingers back to the keyboard. It was also icy to the touch. “I refuse to have one of those puppet’s eyes upon me the entire time. I prefer some semblance of privacy.”
A faint chortle left the circuits of Screwllum at such a description of Herta’s dolls. The countless puppets that woman had running around this station were impressive. Yet, many guests often had similar unpleasant reactions to them.
“Noted.” he replied.
He observed another tremble across the human’s shoulders. Lifting his hand, the robot concentrated upon the fans within his frame. Slowing down the fans, he increased his overall processing speed and monitored his internal temperatures closely. Then, he rested his hand upon Veritas’ right shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
A sharp gasp left the human’s lips at such a warm touch against his back. An immediate wave of blood circulated to his cheeks, coloring him with a rosy hue. He sputtered at first before finding the words that twisted on his tongue.
“W-What are you trying to accomplish here?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed. Despite the flustered confusion, he couldn’t deny the way he leaned back against the heat of that metallic palm rubbing against his shoulder.
“Veritas,” he paused and brought his other hand to rub at the human’s left shoulder. “I am raising my temperature to help warm you. You know that humans must retain a temperature of 37° Celsius. If not, you may grow sick and unwell. According to my scans, you are below this threshold.”
Such heat was a welcomed gift, even if the human tried to deny it. His body reacted on its own, arching closer to Screwllum. “That still does not answer my question. Why are you doing this? I am far from going into a state of shock from a mere chill in the air.”
Fingers kneading at the tired flesh, the android could feel the knots beneath the doctor’s skin. He was always overworking himself. In some manners, it was respectable to have such dedication. He never let failure stop him from achieving his goals, but he also had a nasty habit of throwing everything into his work. Forgetting his own basic needs in the name of research.
Screwllum dug his thumbs against Veritas’ shoulder blades, tracing over the lines. He heard an audible gasp as he hit a sensitive spot, working on the tight muscles. “Question: Is it not natural for one to wish for their significant other to be healthy?”
A flood of emotions smacked right into Dr. Ratio as he heard such an earnest inquiry from the android. He turned around and gawked at him, face warmed by a pinkish glow. “H-Hush! Do you wish for the entire station to overhear your blubbering?!”
Another mechanical chortle left Screwllum’s voice box. “No one is here, nor will they observe any footage from these laboratories. Please, do not fret.”
Veritas was not necessarily trying to hide their relationship, but he also did not go out of his way to share it. After all, the union between a member of the Intelligentsia Guild and the literal Monarch of Planet Screwllum was no light matter. Hence, he preferred to avoid all the tricky red tape situations. It would be such a hassle, so Veritas kept it quiet. When prompted, he told others he was a committed man. Then, he refused to share his personal life out of a strict rule to keep business and private matters separate.
“You are still distracting me from my work either way. Now, go off and—”
Gentle hands cradled his face, cupping both cheeks. Dr. Ratio was once again warmed by those silver palms that caressed his cheekbones. He was too stunned to speak, merely overwhelmed by the saccharine gesture of his partner. For a machine, he was far more sentimental than his human companion.
“Request: Leave your work for the evening. I am only cleared of any duties until tomorrow. Then, I must leave this station and return to my planet.” He pushed their foreheads together, allowing the lights of his eyes to shut off to imitate closing them like a human. “Join me within my personal quarters for the evening, and I shall keep you warm throughout the night.”
Bewildered by such brazen words, Dr. Ratio felt his wits leaving him. His stubborn streak wanted to adamantly decline such an offer. Yet, his tongue nor mouth would speak of such a rejection. Instead, he merely sucked in a slow, deep breath of air through his mouth before exhaling from the nose.
Stretching out his lips into a thin line, he wore his best scowl and averted his gaze. “Are you insinuating something tactless?”
“Negative.” Screwllum rubbed at both cheeks, feeling them grow hotter from both his touch and the encroaching blush that betrayed the human’s glowering expression. “I want you to rest for the night, and I can only guarantee that you follow through on such a request if I witness it firsthand.”
Those pouty lips upturned ever so slightly, and Veritas eventually nudged against the robot’s heated hand. “Hmmph.”
A low hum resonated from Screwllum as he continued to overheat his body in order to combat the cold that affected his human lover. His thumb pressed against Veritas’ chin, tilting it upwards as his eyes lit up again to gaze back longingly into those enchanting reddish-pink eyes.
“...Fine.” he admitted defeat.
Heart beating at an accelerated rate, the doctor wrapped his lips around the tip of that metallic digit. He flicked it with his pink tongue and sucked softly. Did Screwllum feel such sensations? He was never entirely sure how his tactile processing functioned, but he hoped it was able to register his next move.
A minor tilt of the head removed the space between them. Veritas pressed his lips against Screwllum’s lower face plate. He kissed him sweetly, eyes closed tight as a tingling sensation ran through his lips. A pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, and so he naturally let his own arms slip towards the Intellitron’s waist at the top of his white trousers. Those muscular forearms squeezed around the machine, and he happily accepted the embrace.
“Return with me now. I will have a much more efficient sleep if you are with me, Veritas.”
Pulling back from the other man’s face, Dr. Ratio snickered. “That is ludicrous. You go into a sleep mode, Screwllum. It’s a setting predetermined in your programming.”
“Not quite,” he gradually loosened his hold on the man, allowing Veritas to log out and close out of his research. “I am vaguely cognizant when I enter my rest mode. If you are laying beside me while my subconscious sensors catch note of you, I shall complete the entire sleep cycle without interruption."
He pinched at the bridge of his nose and groaned. “I cannot believe what I am hearing…”
A warm hand reached for the doctor, and he accepted it without hesitation. Their fingers interlaced before walking out of the laboratory.
“If you are not convinced, we can always run an experiment. I shall compare the data logs of my charge mode when I rest on my own versus when I sleep upon a mattress with you.”
“...I may take you up on that collaboration.”