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The journey to the Lambda Labs had been… rough, to say the least.
The Science Team was a perfect example of that. Everyone was covered in human and alien blood alike, dying their once white uniforms red. Even Gordon, who had the HEV suit, had a fair amount of dirt seeping into his once pristine locks. He spent a hell of a long time on his curl routine- just for the goddamn Resonance Cascade to fuck it all up. Running his remaining hand through his hair, a couple of unidentifiable flakes fluttered to the floor.
”ew. u should shower, man.” Benrey commented. It was obvious the passport guardian’s favorite thing to do was get on Gordon’s nerves. Not this time, however. Just as Gordon was about to snap back— Tommy cried with glee.
”A pond! Look, look, Mr. Freeman! We- we can use this to wash up!”
Honestly, it wasn’t a pond. There was a massive divot in the floor— probably from the earthquake that came with the previous incident, and scattered barrels of Purified Science Water™️ to be shipped to the liquids department had bursted, resulting in… this. Gordon stopped, eyes narrowing. He didn’t trust it, but watching how everyone except Benrey began to toss off their lab coats and roll their pants up, he sighed and dipped a hand into the water.
“This truly is Black Mesa’s Purified Science Water™️! It even has that signature taste!” Dr. Coomer grinned. Bubby slipped off his glasses, which was a rare occurrence, and rinsed them.
“Much better. Gordon, I insist you do the same.”
Shaking the water off his hand, Gordon submerged his glasses in the water- sight briefly becoming blurry. As he ran a thumb over the lenses, a familiar square-silhouetted blue figure appeared before him.
“Fuck off Benrey, please.”
“bro i didn’t even do anything. ur mean.”
Gordon loathed knowing he’d eventually have to slip his glasses back on, and see Benrey clearly— so he enjoyed this pleasure for a moment. Eyes lingering on the blurry man before him, he noticed something peculiar. Benrey didn’t seem dirty at all. In the mess of discernible blue and black, there wasn’t a smudge of red. He knew there was something supernatural about Benrey. Afterall, he’d certainly seen Benrey be crushed by that exit door— something gristly and painful he didn’t want to be thinking about especially not now— but constant cleanliness was something new. Especially that helmet, it had been through just about everything, with not a single scratch.
Gordon staggered to his feet and reached out, placing his hand and nub on the sides of Benrey’s helmet. Benrey responded with a feeble confused noise, yet didn’t fight as his helmet was removed with a satisfying pop. Gordon tossed it away, knowing it was invincible, and put his glasses back on.
Benrey looked considerably different, without the visor— the shadow normally obscuring his upper facial features. He still had a bit of a darkness, seemingly defying how lighting worked (but what didn’t Benrey defy?)
He had a broad nose, slightly crooked as if it had once been broken— and his eyes, wow his eyes, they were lidded— pupils absorbing all light. Sunken and a little scary, yet Gordon would never admit that. It also seemed as if they were desperately avoiding eye contact. He stifled a chuckle, now aware that Benrey didn’t like to be perceived so carefully.
“so r u gonna keep staring at me or what” Benrey murmured, shifting.
”Shit, yeah, sorry man. You know, you never take off the helmet, and, what better time than right now. Uh. Your hair does look… kind of dirty?”
Benrey’s hair was cut choppily, short for convenience and also company protocol. It tapered into a slight mullet at the back, which grew thicker, as Benrey couldn’t quite reach to cut back there. It also had a distinct shine to it, which would be pretty if it didn’t look so greasy.
“gamer grease.”
”I- ew- okay, c’mere.” Something switched inside Gordon, a usual intense loathing for Benrey had been muffled by his own urge to fix Benrey’s god awful hair, probably projection. Pulling them both to their knees by the edge of the pond, which the rest of the Science Team was now stomping around in like a bunch of fools, he scooped a handful of water and gently poured it onto Benrey’s head.
”cold. i’m freezing. r u trying to freeze me, freezeman?” He protested, yet was promptly cut off by the feeling of fingers running across his scalp. Gordon began to work at Benrey’s disheveled hair, getting out what he could with only Black Mesa’s Purified Science Water ™️.
“ok. feels kinda nice ig” Benrey mumbled. Gordon hummed, too focused on cleaning his hair to notice how Benrey began to sink into the touch. It wasn’t until Benrey had completely laid his cold, wet hair at the base of Gordon’s neck, that he noticed.
“The fuck- okay, that actually helps, thanks.”
”you’re welcome freezeman.” Benrey replied, his eyes fluttering closed.
The rest of the Science Team had stopped their parade long ago, and were now staring at this completely unfamiliar sight. Gordon on his knees at the edge of the pond, running his hands through a de-helmeted Benrey’s hair, and said Benrey relaxed completely on his chest. The two had never seemed so intimate together— infact, any advances the passport guardian attempted to make on Gordon resulted in a fierce argument. This was something new, entirely.
They stayed like that, for a while. At one point, Gordon took a discarded cloth, and dried Benrey’s hair. It seemed he was finished, the perfect time to shove Benrey off and tell him to forget any of this ever happened. But he didn’t.
Benrey noticed, how Gordon had instead let his hands fall by his side, head leaning back on the crate behind him, embracing slumber. He noticed how Gordon didn’t seem mad— for once— that Benrey was curled up beneath his bearded neck, listening to the sound of his pulse. It was weird. Really weird, in a way Benrey didn’t mind.
Kind of gay, if you ask me.