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“Okay, we’re about two minutes away from lift off”
Here they are. On a massive airship, for some reason called Helicarrier, made by his loyal engineer.
Today’s morning was quite serene: sun was shining brightly, almost no clouds, fresh breeze blowing from the sea. Following his plans for the day, Ashswag held a military planning meeting with Haiper about Regime’s protection measures during which that exact engineer bursted into the Pantheon with a fire-ignited eyes and joyfully screeched that he finally finished his creation, dragging both of them to look at it. When they approached, Ash noticed even more people already walking around the machine. As he got closer, it turned out that it was Philza, Graf and Ishan talking about something along with Foolish and Juan arguing again not so far away. Right after bringing them over, Tubbo immediately ran away to a massive accumulator in the center of – what’s it called again? The Helicarrier?
"Hey, gentlemen, how’s day going?" – noticing their presence, Phil waved at them, inviting to join their conversation
“What’s happening here?” – Haiper spoke from the back, voicing Ashswag’s thoughts. “Tubbo finally finished his machine, so now we are betting whether it would takeoff”
Ashswag examines the machine below him with barely concealed admiration in his gaze. He always thought high of Tubbo’s abilities but yet again, he managed to impress him like he always do. To be fair enough, his engineer’s passion with all this create stuff fills Ashswag himself with some king of mythic energy. There was something strangely captivating about it, making him also want to be a part of this diverse world, where you can do whatever you love but not decisions that can put neither your own or your closets’ lives at stake.
Truth be told, not so long ago Ash noticed that for quite some time he felt tired. Permanently tired. Such simple things as normal sleep schedule and nutritious meals just did not help, so the last thing Katie recommended him to try was to get a rest from his duties. Unluckily but expected there was no time for this. Regime needed it’s leader. However, maybe this little trip will help him relax a bit, he truly hopes for this.
***
As Phil watched Ashswag spacing out, he couldn’t resist asking “Haiper, has something happened between Ashswag and Toby? Your Supreme leader is acting strange, mate.” – “By what I can recall nothing out of ordinary, why?” Avian sighed. “Just look at him”
Too lost in thoughts, Ashswag could not get his eyes off Tubbo. Not out of conscious desire but more out of natural reaction like as if his body switched onto autopilot. And for some reason that autopilot is focused on Regime’s mechanic.
…
“…if Graf gets knocked out, you’re in charge of Graf” – engineer’s voice came from somewhere and a sudden gust of wind hit him right in the face, clearing Ashswag's mind just enough for him to finally notice that every person is getting their own work. He approached Tubbo as well.
“And what do I do? Do I just be Ash?” As this was asked, Tubbo turned his gaze from twice-his-height accumulator to Supreme leader, staring him straight into the eyes. A joyful smile on his face has widened – “Okay, Ashswag, you stand at the front and give it a name” – Ashswag swears that he hears barely suppressed laughter in this voice – “Like what the royalty does”. “Oooh, he’s got an aura farm in the front”
Instead of paying attention to Foolish’s childish comment, Ashswag prefers to actually focus on picking a name for the machine. It should be tremendous, it should be frightening to enemies of the Regime, it should be-
“Could that be Massive O’cock?” – Graf abruptly speaks right near him and Ash hears a faint giggle in the distance. Well, genuinely it should be just loved by Tubbo.
Therefore, Ramiro the cockrider 678 O’cock was ready for takeoff.
Whilst been waiting for the right moment, Helicarrier was floating on water with Tubbo and Graf discussing something in the back. Buzz of warming up propellers made it difficult to hear anything, but Ash is quite sure that it was something about controlling this machine, so he would not understand anyway.
"Okay, guys! On your places!” – Tubbo’s shout was heard from the middle of Helicarrier, as he was ready to turn on all engines at once. The roar of propellers ringed out throughout the area, deafening everyone present and so forcing them to cover ears. Waves began to form beneath the aircraft, spray splashing onto the board.
“Graf! Be ready!” – Ash could barely catch mechanic’s voice through all this chaos surrounding him
“Okay, Tubbo, full steam ahead” – as this been said, contraption started to slowly rise into the air.
When the right height was reached, Helicarrier began to move towards Quackity statue. Pure joy and exhilaration could be felt in the air near passengers as amazed cheers ringed out. The wind blowing in his face and feeling of genuine freedom lost so long ago awakened in Ashswag feelings that he thought he had forgotten back when the Regime was founded. For the first time, he was able to realize the actual weight of the burden caused by leading an entire nation that he had been carrying constantly. Childish delight and a feeling of freedom from responsibility filled his lungs, leaving a slight tickle in his throat, threatening to burst out in uncontrollable, jubilant laughter. Flowing through his entire body that feeling resembled feeling of being slightly drunk, so he could finally let go of the image of a distant and stern Supreme leader that he had to put on most of the time.
“We’re gonna crack into Quackity! Finally!” – letting off control over words coming out of his mouth, firstly-ever in a long time Ashswag began to feel bliss of being alive and not distracted by other oppressive thoughts – “Crush! Crush! Crush!”
“No no no no, it’s all under control” – engineer’s distant voice somehow sobered up Ash a little, but retained in his soul a sense of longing for existence. Well, come to think of it, crushing this Helicarrier would maybe upset Tubbo. Come to think of it deeper, he never saw his right hand feeling down. As far as he can remember, every time someone messes up with Regime’s property, Tubbo doesn't get angry at them, he just looks cheerful (and since recently a little tired) about the new job. Perhaps Ashswag should have a talk with him regarding this matter. He cannot allow anyone to even dare to look down on the Regime or its members (especially on the Supreme Leader's right hand).
Well, overall it would just be better if Helicarrier didn’t crush. (Only into the North, in that case it would cost the sacrifice).
***
“Hey, Tubbo, I have a question” – Juan asked with a funny accent, deciding that it was necessary to dilute settled silence
“Oh, yeah?” – “Which is your favorite color?”
Looking a bit absent-minded, Tubbo seemed to unconsciously survey his surroundings, gaze stopping at the sea far below them – “Blue, probably blue”
Huh. Somewhat unexpected if you ask Ashswag. For some reason he associated Tubbo with fresh dew-drenched grass or those sweet-sour green apples. Perhaps it’s because of his old jacket he wore at their first meeting or because of his chair in the Pantheon. Should Ash ask him if he wants to change his armchair? Although, remembering Tubbo, who doesn't even care on which machine he falls asleep after overworking again, Ash seriously doubts that the mechanic cares about the color of the chair. Speaking of this, maybe he should put blue beds on each floor of the factory, so Tu-
“Ash, I think your favorite color is green” – What. Where did this came from
Ashswag turned to Graf, who was sitting at the control panel, looking at him suspiciously – “What the hell? No”
“Is it… yellow?” – to be honest, Ash really couldn't understand whether his interlocutor was joking or genuinely couldn’t see the obvious
Seeing a strangely contemptuous expression on Ashswag’s face Graf joyously continued “Is it perhaps.. black?” – “No!”
This little game could have continued further, but all of a sudden Ashswag notices an odd look of realization on Graf's face as said one turns his gaze fully back to control panel and then he hears an unusual whistle of propellers, feeling at the same moment how the Helicarrier tilts at a clearly too steep angle (dare he assume, around 30 degrees).
“Oh, wow! That’s a crazy chop turn!” – could be heard in the distance
While trying to not fall out of the seat, Ash slightly looks around and notices Philza holding his sunhat in order for it not to fly away, Juan doing the same with his glasses along with the others covering their eyes with hands or gripping tight to their places.
“Guys, I just worked out how to do it and it’s the funniest thing! Just a small drift” – Graf looks amused as he switches the levers on the control panel
…
...
...
“Who the fuck plays Tokyo drift?” – Ishan spoke up as some energetic and weirdly catching music started playing
In search of the source of the noise, everyone turns to Foolish, who had note block placed right near him.
“Foolish, did you brought a fricking note block on the Ramiro?!” – Juan shouted more out of a need to be heard over the wind and the music than out of genuine indignation
“Wha-? No! It is a part of the contraption!”
A loud chortle came from behind, causing everyone to turn their heads and look at the laughing Tubbo, who was kind of desperately trying to stay on the aircraft by grabbing the encased chain drivers that were transmitting rotational energy from the engines.
“Sorry, guys, sorry” – still chuckling – “couldn’t resist showing you this little feature”
As they balanced out, music was turned off and Helicarrier continued its (almost) quiet flight.
***
Or so they thought it would be quiet.
Tubbo was standing at the front of the Helicarrier, taking altitude meter readings and enjoying spreading kilometers away breathtaking landscapes. These days of hard work were definitely worth it. A warm smile slowly appeared on his pleasantly wind-blown face.
This slight change in facial expression caught attention of Ashswag, who has been already glancing at him. His seat was close enough for him to examine mechanic’s face. Not like he has been doing it intentionally, definitely not. Or so he told himself. It was just a mere curiosity about his subordinate’s wellbeing and, of course, it included gazing at his a little messed but soft-looking hair swaying in the wind, the slightly more noticeable dark circles under the eyes and every small change in mimic.
“Graf, you gotta turn around, you’re gonna steer us into that ocean” – “Got ya”. Ashswag could see Graf’s quick movements as he started to pull four levers in order understandable only by him (and, Ash is sure, Tubbo). As Helicarrier started to take a sharp turn, loud snap suddenly occurred, causing everyone to look for the origin of it only to find out that propellers began to slow down, while other rotational mechanism around them stopped working fully.
Before panic could set in, the propellers started working again – Tubbo managed to just in time before the Helicarrier would have started falling reach the rotational speed controller and reduce the power being consumed by the machine, relieving the overstressed state.
“Whoah! This is all good! Don’t panic! Surely just a prank of mine!” – The slight nervousness in the mechanic's voice turns to relief when he sees all of the connections working again.
However, just a few moments later, everyone felt the Helicarrier's clearly-not-normal tilt backwards, accompanied by the unnerving sound of gears rubbing against each other.
In a desperate attempt to at least avoid falling down, Tubbo frantically tried to correct this by manipulating the rotational speed controller again, but it still haven’t changed much. Actually, it got worse, so now even Graf lost control over his panel and propellers refused to react to his effortless attempts to balance out the aircraft.
Thanks to seatbelts, no passenger fell out from seats. Almost no passenger. Still unable to move his eyes from Tubbo, Ashswag suddenly felt a weightlessness throughout his body. His limbs grew lighter and lighter as he watched his engineer. A strange feeling of the world having disappeared from under his feet consumed him, forcing him to rethink his perception and understanding of feelings. With each passing moment, Tubbo's profile grew closer and clearer, sending some sort of aching but pleasant pain somewhere in the back of the brain.
“Oh, fucking hell! Ashswag!” – Haiper’s loud scream from the back sobered him, but he couldn’t do anything with already been fallen off the seat and flying on worrying speed directly into their mechanic.
“Wha-” – too busy with rotational speed controller Tubbo notices Ashswag flying at him just the moment away from their collision. A sudden dull pain pierces, and the momentum of the body that has flown into him drags down along with it. Instinctively trying to stay in place, Tubbo feels his hand, still on the device's panel, begin to fly down along with the rest of his body and, before he can let go of it, changes the rpm value to 256.
Another loud snap is heard, followed almost immediately by the dull thud of two bodies hitting the stone board of the Helicarrier.
When Ash finally feels control of his body returned, he opens his slightly – they sting a bit from the wind – eyes just to find squeezed shut Tubbo's less than 10 centimeters from his. Heart skips a beat. Screams from behind are lost in the blood pounding in ears. The feeling of a body pressed tightly beneath compresses the world down to a single moment and to a single person.
“Ugh, my hea-” – sharp pain from the blow disorients, making it hard to open eyes fully. The only thing Tubbo can see now are some black and purple spots against the blinding sun. Before realizing that his body is pinned to the floor by someone else, he only feels something lightly tickling his right cheek.
As his vision clears, it focuses on Ashswag's clearing through the glitches deep eyes right in front of him. Breath stops for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Tubbo notices that it was Supreme leader’s thick braid tingling him. His limbs grown frozen and became cotton-wooled (perhaps if he was in a more sane mind now, he would have tried to explain this by the blockage of blood circulation in his body by another).
“Tubbo…” – a warm breath washes over his face which feels like exposing every nerve. For a split second, it felt as if his entire nervous system had been replaced with copper wires, sending electrical discharges throughout his entire being. Something began to drum long and loudly in the brain.
Tubbo thinks he is spacing out. He could hear a small part of his consciousness, obsessively reminding him of the very imminent crash of the Helicarrier. However, the hum caused by a heap of feelings and confused thoughts not only almost completely drowned it out, but also left no room for any other thoughts not about the person directly above him.
The deafening sound of the impact with the water thundered throughout the area, and Tubbo felt not only his mind, but also his body being in zero gravity when the impulse given by the machine threw him upward.
The chilliness of another man's lips spread over his own just for a fleet moment.
Oh
Oh
The touch was so brief, just like brushing someone's shoulder in the middle of a busy street. However, right now this miserable second stretched out long enough for him to feel both the unexpected softness of his leader's lips and every little crack on them. The feeling of weightlessness only intensified, despite the fact that he already felt solid support beneath him. The formless swarm of thoughts finally clears up into a desire to continue, howling even louder.
Looking into Ashswag's eyes, Tubbo swears he sees the same desire, barely restrained, there. But something spiritual still seems to benumbing him in place, perhaps it is a feeling of cotton wool in the limbs, perhaps some kind of internal fear. Though, all this vanishes when Ash slowly, as if timidly (Tubbo can’t believe his eyes as he never thought about putting this word even a bit near his leader) begins to lean closer-
A massive, freezing sea wave crashes down on them from overboard, forcing to jerk up into a sitting position and try to cough out all the water that has managed to get into lungs.
Luckily, today was quite a sunny day, so Ash could already feel how his clinging clothes began to dry on him. Brushing his wet hair from away from the face, he turns his head to his… companion? Subordinate? (He doesn't dare hope that this incident will change anything in their relationship, but it made him wonder who they really were to each other), who was still intensely coughing. Ashswag squats down next to him and gently taps on the back, helping to get rid of the water that has gotten into his nose. At the same time, he really tries as much as possible not to think about how attractive his right hand’s (at least he is firmly convinced about this status) collarbone looks, slightly peeking out from under his vest and snugly covered by a wet shirt.
And in less than a moment, Ashswag feels tight grip on his jacket. Tubbo pulls him towards closely.
Oh god
The kiss tastes like seawater combined with machine oil, and Ash really hopes that it's only there because of the all-time machinery work (otherwise he'd have to personally monitor mechanic's diet). This time it feels different. Not in a bad way. Faint friction of lips against each other causes a suffocating internal tremor, turning all organs inside out, but oddly without causing any discomfort. More than that, he bets he'd never felt this better before. With slightly shaking hands, Ash cups Tubbo's face, pulling him even closer. Their kiss is awkward and clumsy, but that's all they needed at that moment, and they couldn't and didn't want to ask for more. At least not right now.
“Tobias, I…” – pulling away slightly, Ashswag noisily inhales the air as if it is still too suffocating, preparing himself in these few moments for the absolutely necessary conversation-
“Tubbooo!!! What do we do now?! Aaaah, are we going to die here in the middle of nowhere?!?” – With a loud cry, Foolish ran out from behind the accumulator that was hiding them from the other passengers of the Helicarrier – “Tub- oh” – Foolish stood frozen in place, processing the picture he is seeing right now – “Um…" – the sound of cogs turning in his brain could be almost heard – "Actually, I think I can talk with Graf about our self-rescue plans. Sorry for bothering! I for sure haven’t seen anything!” – as he started to speak, he immediately turned back to take a quick retreat, afraid that if he doesn’t Ashswag will at least throw him out in the sea. But most likely, keeping in mind Regime's Supreme leader's strange dislike of him and the fact what he had interrupted, Foolish was more than sure to swear that he would not get off with painless and swift death.
Watching his friend flee, Tubbo couldn't help but laugh as he rose to his feet. He clutched the pulled from inventory wrench in one hand and held out the other to Ashswag.
“Alright, sir, let’s see what’s got broken this time”
***
“So, apparently our problem was that for some reason, maybe due unexpected overstress or that one drift episode, some connections in rotational speed controler’s broke which somehow led to clockwise and counterclockwise modes switch places. It should be fixed by now, so, Graf, let’s get Ramiro to fly again” – “Mhm, sure”
As Ramiro got brought up in the skies again, regular Jokes and laughter filled the space, engaging everyone present in conversation. Tubbo stood at the bow of the ship, occasionally answering Juan and Ishan's questions or chuckling at Philza's jokes. Ashswag approached almost silently, a slight nervousness was evident in his gait.
“Tubbo, do we talk about this?” – emotions in his voice were difficult to read due to feigned seriousness and indifference, but Tubbo would not be himself if he did not hear that small part of his leader, begging for reciprocity or at least some clarification of all the omissions
“Yeah, man, sure. Just let’s take everyone to their homes first. I think we need more private space for this conversation” – with that said, Tubbo could see Ash excitedly brightening up, some glitches beginning to flick slightly more than usual
“What happens on the Helicarrier stays on the Helicarrier” – Foolish whispered into their ears after getting close unseen. Welp, he definitely got himself killed, but it was worth it.
FoolishG was slain by Ashwagg using [THE REGIME’S UNDYING HAND.]