Chapter Twenty-Six: Stubborn To A Fault
"Sweetie, I need you to calm down before I can make sense of what you're trying to tell me."
"Don't patronize me, Zero! You should be jumping the gun just like me when I put the words 'our son' and 'Delia' in the same sentence!" X yelled out loud, glowering at the car in front of him, his own car automatically sensing around itself before switching lanes to pass the slow driver.
Zero sighed into his phone. "Because I'm being rational right now and thinking with a straight head?"
"What the hell is rational about this? This is Delia, and she was flirting with Axl!"
"X, has it occurred to you at all we never explained Delia to Axl? He wasn't part of the Hunters when you two blew up."
X blinked, the sudden realization making him go blank. Briefly, he was thankful automatic driving was staple in all cars, else he would have rammed right into the person he was behind. "Oh."
"Yes, oh. Look, I'll be coming back to HQ in a few hours, and I assume Axl will wait for me to take him home. I want you to spend those hours unwinding—read a book, surf the net, take a bath, I don't care. When I get home, we're gonna sit down in the front room all family-like and have a rational, calm, and simple talk about how Delia is the bane of our existence. Kay?"
X scowled. "You sound like one of those blue-collar, working husband and father characters in your typical TV drama shows."
"I kinda feel like one now. You're like the high-strung at-home wife right now."
"Bite me."
"I will," Zero purred, "…but after the talk, and preferably, after our son goes to bed."
X sighed deeply. "All right, all right. Get back to work; I'll see you when you get home."
"Just chill out, X. There's no need to get so worked up. We'll explain to him, he'll understand, and we'll be just peachy. Love you."
"Yeah… love you, too."
~*~
X spent those hours with a hot cup of coffee, a bag of caramel chocolate candies and some of the books he hadn't read yet that were wasting away on his shelves. The coffee had gone cold and the bag was empty and crumpled on the floor, fourth book in his lap, when the front door finally jingled then opened.
"Honey," Zero called out, an obvious smile to his voice, "I'm home!"
X peeked over his book as Zero strode into the front room, Axl trying too obviously to hide behind him. "Welcome back, both of you," X said, pointedly looking at Axl. "Shall we get started?"
"Not yet," Zero replied, pulling his helmet off. "Doesn't the hard-working father-husband-thing get to get out of his work clothes before the at-home mother-wife-thing harps?"
X threw his book at Zero, who ducked away and dashed upstairs with a cackle. That left X and Axl alone, and immediately the air was charged with tension. Obviously Axl had an idea of what was about to occur.
Deciding it couldn't hurt to start without his boyfriend, X patted the couch seat near him, and Axl hesitantly took to it like a teenager caught after curfew. The image of Delia flirting with his son made X feel a surge of anger, but he shoved it aside and kept himself levelheaded. That's what he was known for, after all.
"Axl," X said, carefully, tactfully, "I saw you today with a certain woman…"
"Delia," Axl cut in. "Dad told me that you two… dated and didn't work out."
"Understatement of the millennium," X muttered bitterly. "Look, Axl, to spare you my angst story that ticks me off even to this day… I want you to stay away from her."
"Why?"
X blinked, and then looked at Axl seriously. "Take it from me, son, I know that bitch personally. She is nothing but trouble and will only hurt you."
"Delia is a nice girl," Axl edged. "She's changed."
X bit his tongue before a string of curses came from him. He had to mentally remind himself that Axl was young, naïve, and generally inexperienced in the meanings of heartbreak—the last something X planned to keep as one of his son's endearing traits. He didn't know better, and X had to be patient…
"Delia is a con artist and lies pretty well, I'll give her that much credit," X said, bitterness more than apparent in his tone. "Let me guess, she wants you to worm a way for her back into my life?"
Axl frowned. "She just wants to be friends, and she has no intention of breaking you and Dad up… and you know I wouldn't ever help someone do that."
X heaved a sigh, reaching out with an arm to wrap around Axl's shoulders. "Look," he tried again. "She is seriously bad news. She hasn't changed, she won't ever change, and I don't want you near her."
Rebellion flared in Axl's core hotly at X's choice of words, and he shrugged off his adopted father's arm. "I'm not a child, Pops," Axl said angrily. "And you won't even give her a chance?"
X's temper started to simmer dangerously and his eyes narrowed. Any other topic and X would be calm and understanding, but this was Delia, and he would be damned if he let the woman hurt another Light. "No. I won't. And you are a child—you're my child."
"You're being a hypocrite," Axl snapped. "You want to redeem Mavericks and give bloodthirsty, homicidal maniacs another chance, but you won't give a sane, apologetic, regretful woman one?"
"Because she isn't apologetic or regretful, and I'd just as soon doubt her sanity!" X's voice rose. "You're not to go near her, do you understand me?"
"I get you guys didn't work out, but seriously, Pops, you're being irrational! Just talk to her!"
"No fucking way! And you know what, Axl? It seriously is none of your damn business if I get along with my ex or not!"
Axl jumped from the couch, putting his hands on his hips and glaring. "Apparently it is, if you're going so far as trying to restrict who I chose to spend a little time with! I'm your son, yeah, but you can't control me!"
X leapt to his feet. "I'm not trying to control you!"
"Yes, you are!"
X threw his hands up in the air. "If I was trying to control you, Axl Light, I'd have a remote for you! But gee, it seems I lack that particular item!"
"You're trying to pull your authority as my dad to—"
The loud thumping from the stairs cut off Axl's retort, and both glared toward the staircase as Zero dashed down them, clad only in a pair of boxers and a towel draped over his shoulders, his hair loose from its usual ponytail. The blond made his way to them in a few strides, meeting their glares with a heated one of his own.
"The hell, boys?" Zero scolded. "You can't wait thirty minutes for me to take a damn shower before we start this? What happened to family discussion?"
"There's no need for a family discussion," X snapped. "He won't see Delia and he'll stay away from her, right, Axl?"
"No," the boy replied stubbornly, crossing his arms. "You're being a damn bogan, Pops, for no reason!"
"No…" X's eyes widened before he growled, nearly screaming in frustration before throwing his hands up in the air again. "No reason? No fucking reason, he says! That's it, the discussion is over! I am not willing to hear another word of it!"
"X, wait—" Zero reached for him, but X stomped out of reach and into the kitchen. The blond scowled and turned to Axl, who stared at him defiantly. "Bad choice of words, son; bad choice of words."
"He's being stupid," Axl ground out, "about the entire thing. Mavericks try to kill him, yet he wants to give them another chance? Why not someone who wasn't after his blood?"
Zero sighed heavily, as it was apparent X had failed to supply the real reason Delia was such a sore topic. "Axl, Delia cheated on X… that's why he's so mad."
Axl blinked, the small but nonetheless important fact making him pause. "Oh…"
"I get where you're both coming from," Zero went on, "but you aren't getting each other. X has very valid concerns, Axl, ones that I myself share. When we knew her, she was a pretty merciless, uncaring bitch."
"But—"
"But yes, people change." Zero cut in, holding his hand up, and Axl shut his mouth. They both heard bottles slamming in the kitchen before X was stomping up the stairs to the master bedroom, and the blond sighed. "Maybe she's better, maybe not. But, keep in mind, Axl… Delia never apologized to X, never tried to help his own heartache. She chewed him up and spit him out; but you're your own Reploid, Axl. I know that… so, unlike X, I'm going to give you advice instead of an order: I advise being wary of her."
Axl nodded—that sounded much better than what X was attempting to do. "I will."
"I'm going to go check on your Pops… you're better off staying down here til he settles down, kay? Then you're going to apologize to each other—that woman will not ruin this family, got it?"
Again Axl nodded, although he was frowning. After all, why should he apologize? X was the one who blew up!
Zero left Axl in the living room and made his way purposefully to the master bedroom. He opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and found X sitting on the bed chugging down a bottle of vodka Zero had bought to sip on after work.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zero exclaimed, diving for his boyfriend and grabbing the bottle. X glared at him, his eyes already glassy, and to Zero's dismay he found the bottle empty. "Shit, X, you're gonna make yourself sick, metal stomach or not!"
"M'fine," X mumbled. He meant to say something else, by the way his mouth opened, but X's eyes suddenly widened and he bolted straight for the bathroom.
Zero followed after him with a groan, his mournful "I told you so" drowned out as X's liquid detecting systems rejected the surplus of alcohol, ejecting it out of his body whence it came. X doubled over the toilet, the space filling with the smell of alcohol as he vomited the vodka up.
The blond knelt next to X, rubbing his back and crooning in his ear. What alcohol did process passed X's drunk simulation check, and before Zero knew it, X was wailing incoherently between dry heaves, sounding suspiciously like he was sobbing.
Sure X was done puking, Zero gently cradled X's head against his shoulder and let his boyfriend rant and rave until he eventually quieted down. When X clung to him silently, Zero carefully picked him up and carried him to the bed, putting him down gently and dislodging X's hold to go to the dresser nearby.
Grabbing a box of tissues, Zero carefully cleaned up X's face before kissing his lips. X mumbled under his breath, then glanced up at Zero with wide, glassy eyes that were rapidly clearing. X had, somehow, manually disengaged the simulation.
"I won't do it," X muttered when he regained some sense, "but tell Axl I still believe he has to stay away from her, and that you agree. You do, don't you?"
"I believe he should, yes," Zero said carefully. "I hate the bitch as much as you do, and I want to protect Axl. But X, demanding things of him isn't going to help. You have to be a little more… pliable."
"The hell you mean, pliable?" X frowned.
"Axl is programmed with the emotions and intelligence of what, a seventeen-year-old at most? Rebellious teenager… you tell him he can't have it, he'll want it more and fight for it. Be more subjective, more like you're just advising him, and he'll be more willing to listen." Zero climbed into the bed with him, cuddling X close. "Cause, honestly X, you did sound like you were trying to control him."
X pouted, although Zero couldn't see it. "How are you more parental than me now?"
"This is going to sound harsh, and I don't mean it to be… but you've got more emotional stress in this than I do. You're tied closer to it, and it gets under your skin too much to stay… objective." Zero nuzzled X's hair, closing his eyes. "I fully agree with you, honey. But we have to be careful when trying to convince Axl, not just explode at him."
X grumbled tiredly, "He's being a little asshole. I'm not going to talk to him right now."
"I figured as much. Should I cook dinner again and bring it up to you?"
"Nah. I'll turn my food processor off for tonight and just go to bed right now. Going downstairs will be a mistake."
Zero frowned deeply, not liking this rift forming in his family. "You'll talk to Axl tomorrow, though?"
X rolled onto his other side, out of Zero's arms with a grunt. "Yeah, I guess."
~*~
When Zero climbed into bed that night, he felt exhaustion akin to his depression, and he briefly wondered if he was going to have a relapse. Dinner with Axl was filled with tense silences and one-word conversations, making Zero even more stressed over this stupid drama. How the hell could a single woman screw up the lives of three men… two of them currently having sworn off the bitches no less!
X rolled over, throwing an arm and leg over Zero and snapping the blond out of his thoughts. When he glanced down, X was looking up at him, wide awake. Realizing Zero wasn't going to simply cuddle and go to sleep, X shifted until he straddled Zero and sat up, his boyfriend linking their hands and bringing them to his lips to kiss.
"Axl still mad at me?" X whispered.
"That's one way to put it," Zero muttered, releasing X's hands to slid his up X's thighs slowly. "I hope you two don't plan to drag this out."
"I can't help it," X bit his lower lip, eyes shining even in the moonlit room. "I just don't want him hurt, and I know Delia will hurt him."
Zero jerked his chin, beckoning X to lean forward. The brunette did, and Zero lightly kissed his lips reassuringly. "We won't let her, sweetheart."
X kissed him again, a little insistently, but when Zero's hands made it to his waist the brunette pulled back with a frustrated sigh. "All I can think about," he growled, "is wringing that bitch's neck for trying to move on my son."
"Our son," Zero corrected gently. He sat up a bit, resting on his elbows so that their lips brushed against each other again. "I'm worried too, love, but we can't get this stressed over it… look at you, your entire body is taut, I can see it in the dark."
"Stress is part of parenthood," X frowned. "I just…"
"I know, X. But if you seriously strain yourself this much, you're going to force a defrag. C'mere…" Zero sat up further, wrapping his arms around X and pulling him closer. "Get my wire from the back of my neck."
X stared at him. "Zero?"
Zero gave him a firm nod, and X hesitantly reached for the back of his neck. To X's surprise, Zero had not yet repaired the torn skin from their connected lovemaking not too long ago, the little compartment flicking open and the wire uncoiling with a soft whirr. X stared at the plug for several seconds before deciding it couldn't hurt, and reached to the back of his own neck. Close to where his wire compartment was, X felt around for his receiving port before ripping the skin covering and plugging in Zero's wire. Thankfully, all of the blood-colored liquids and pain receivers were beneath the connection plate at the back of the neck of all Reploids, so X was hardly fussed to self-mutilate the skin there.
Once plugged up and the connection established, Zero's brow knitted worriedly at the state of his lover's systems. His emotional department looked like a trashed brothel in particular, and Zero projected more of himself into X. Zero's calm, collected presence settled X considerably, and the two let their physical bodies lay back down in the bed, holding each other close.
Zero pulled on X's core program and his lover came willingly, clinging to his organized, stable presence fiercely. The need for stability and assurance, raw in their connection, stole Zero's breath away and he threw himself into X, the brunette physically moaning as Zero's presence filled him. There was nothing left but X and Zero and what they wanted to feel, what they invoked in each other.
X couldn't explain what they were doing as their bodies slumbered and they remained connected throughout the night. It was as if they made love over and over, the relief and pleasure of having the raw essence that was Zero so close was similar, and yet… so much stronger, so much more fulfilling. In his stressed and strained mind, it was exactly what he needed and he did not want to let Zero go, and the blond stayed connected with him.
/ Who knew you needed me so much… / Zero's voice teased.
// I've always needed you, // X replied, and Zero's voice purred, sending ripples of unrefined emotion and pleasure through X's systems.
Zero enfolded him, held him close and did nothing more, yet X felt as if he were soaring. To be wrapped in his lover's mental and emotional embrace rivaled that of the physical feeling, the essence of safety and love so much more profound that his mind was made nearly senseless. The energy of the connection, of the closeness they were sharing, hit X like a truck of pure sensation, pure delight, and it only left him pulling at Zero for more.
The blond gave himself to X; the feeling of letting go and letting X absorb him was exalting beyond anything he could ever imagine. Letting X drain him, engulf and devour him, was a much different feeling than what X felt taking him, but nonetheless of the same level of pleasure and intimacy that made him crave X more. Their systems checked against each other, beeping softly at differences yet embracing at their strange similarities, passing information and pulses of emotion at a dizzying rate.
When X had all but drained Zero dry, leaving him mentally and emotionally sated as if they had made love, Zero meant to go ahead and end the connection to truly hibernate. Yet X quickly reversed the mode, and poured himself into Zero. Physically, Zero's body twitched, yet mentally he was nearly screaming X's name for more, and X complied just so Zero was that much louder of a presence.
When their alarm went off at five in the morning, they heard nothing, their bodies still entangled and asleep with the wire between them.
<----- PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER --->
"Sweetie, I need you to calm down before I can make sense of what you're trying to tell me."
"Don't patronize me, Zero! You should be jumping the gun just like me when I put the words 'our son' and 'Delia' in the same sentence!" X yelled out loud, glowering at the car in front of him, his own car automatically sensing around itself before switching lanes to pass the slow driver.
Zero sighed into his phone. "Because I'm being rational right now and thinking with a straight head?"
"What the hell is rational about this? This is Delia, and she was flirting with Axl!"
"X, has it occurred to you at all we never explained Delia to Axl? He wasn't part of the Hunters when you two blew up."
X blinked, the sudden realization making him go blank. Briefly, he was thankful automatic driving was staple in all cars, else he would have rammed right into the person he was behind. "Oh."
"Yes, oh. Look, I'll be coming back to HQ in a few hours, and I assume Axl will wait for me to take him home. I want you to spend those hours unwinding—read a book, surf the net, take a bath, I don't care. When I get home, we're gonna sit down in the front room all family-like and have a rational, calm, and simple talk about how Delia is the bane of our existence. Kay?"
X scowled. "You sound like one of those blue-collar, working husband and father characters in your typical TV drama shows."
"I kinda feel like one now. You're like the high-strung at-home wife right now."
"Bite me."
"I will," Zero purred, "…but after the talk, and preferably, after our son goes to bed."
X sighed deeply. "All right, all right. Get back to work; I'll see you when you get home."
"Just chill out, X. There's no need to get so worked up. We'll explain to him, he'll understand, and we'll be just peachy. Love you."
"Yeah… love you, too."
~*~
X spent those hours with a hot cup of coffee, a bag of caramel chocolate candies and some of the books he hadn't read yet that were wasting away on his shelves. The coffee had gone cold and the bag was empty and crumpled on the floor, fourth book in his lap, when the front door finally jingled then opened.
"Honey," Zero called out, an obvious smile to his voice, "I'm home!"
X peeked over his book as Zero strode into the front room, Axl trying too obviously to hide behind him. "Welcome back, both of you," X said, pointedly looking at Axl. "Shall we get started?"
"Not yet," Zero replied, pulling his helmet off. "Doesn't the hard-working father-husband-thing get to get out of his work clothes before the at-home mother-wife-thing harps?"
X threw his book at Zero, who ducked away and dashed upstairs with a cackle. That left X and Axl alone, and immediately the air was charged with tension. Obviously Axl had an idea of what was about to occur.
Deciding it couldn't hurt to start without his boyfriend, X patted the couch seat near him, and Axl hesitantly took to it like a teenager caught after curfew. The image of Delia flirting with his son made X feel a surge of anger, but he shoved it aside and kept himself levelheaded. That's what he was known for, after all.
"Axl," X said, carefully, tactfully, "I saw you today with a certain woman…"
"Delia," Axl cut in. "Dad told me that you two… dated and didn't work out."
"Understatement of the millennium," X muttered bitterly. "Look, Axl, to spare you my angst story that ticks me off even to this day… I want you to stay away from her."
"Why?"
X blinked, and then looked at Axl seriously. "Take it from me, son, I know that bitch personally. She is nothing but trouble and will only hurt you."
"Delia is a nice girl," Axl edged. "She's changed."
X bit his tongue before a string of curses came from him. He had to mentally remind himself that Axl was young, naïve, and generally inexperienced in the meanings of heartbreak—the last something X planned to keep as one of his son's endearing traits. He didn't know better, and X had to be patient…
"Delia is a con artist and lies pretty well, I'll give her that much credit," X said, bitterness more than apparent in his tone. "Let me guess, she wants you to worm a way for her back into my life?"
Axl frowned. "She just wants to be friends, and she has no intention of breaking you and Dad up… and you know I wouldn't ever help someone do that."
X heaved a sigh, reaching out with an arm to wrap around Axl's shoulders. "Look," he tried again. "She is seriously bad news. She hasn't changed, she won't ever change, and I don't want you near her."
Rebellion flared in Axl's core hotly at X's choice of words, and he shrugged off his adopted father's arm. "I'm not a child, Pops," Axl said angrily. "And you won't even give her a chance?"
X's temper started to simmer dangerously and his eyes narrowed. Any other topic and X would be calm and understanding, but this was Delia, and he would be damned if he let the woman hurt another Light. "No. I won't. And you are a child—you're my child."
"You're being a hypocrite," Axl snapped. "You want to redeem Mavericks and give bloodthirsty, homicidal maniacs another chance, but you won't give a sane, apologetic, regretful woman one?"
"Because she isn't apologetic or regretful, and I'd just as soon doubt her sanity!" X's voice rose. "You're not to go near her, do you understand me?"
"I get you guys didn't work out, but seriously, Pops, you're being irrational! Just talk to her!"
"No fucking way! And you know what, Axl? It seriously is none of your damn business if I get along with my ex or not!"
Axl jumped from the couch, putting his hands on his hips and glaring. "Apparently it is, if you're going so far as trying to restrict who I chose to spend a little time with! I'm your son, yeah, but you can't control me!"
X leapt to his feet. "I'm not trying to control you!"
"Yes, you are!"
X threw his hands up in the air. "If I was trying to control you, Axl Light, I'd have a remote for you! But gee, it seems I lack that particular item!"
"You're trying to pull your authority as my dad to—"
The loud thumping from the stairs cut off Axl's retort, and both glared toward the staircase as Zero dashed down them, clad only in a pair of boxers and a towel draped over his shoulders, his hair loose from its usual ponytail. The blond made his way to them in a few strides, meeting their glares with a heated one of his own.
"The hell, boys?" Zero scolded. "You can't wait thirty minutes for me to take a damn shower before we start this? What happened to family discussion?"
"There's no need for a family discussion," X snapped. "He won't see Delia and he'll stay away from her, right, Axl?"
"No," the boy replied stubbornly, crossing his arms. "You're being a damn bogan, Pops, for no reason!"
"No…" X's eyes widened before he growled, nearly screaming in frustration before throwing his hands up in the air again. "No reason? No fucking reason, he says! That's it, the discussion is over! I am not willing to hear another word of it!"
"X, wait—" Zero reached for him, but X stomped out of reach and into the kitchen. The blond scowled and turned to Axl, who stared at him defiantly. "Bad choice of words, son; bad choice of words."
"He's being stupid," Axl ground out, "about the entire thing. Mavericks try to kill him, yet he wants to give them another chance? Why not someone who wasn't after his blood?"
Zero sighed heavily, as it was apparent X had failed to supply the real reason Delia was such a sore topic. "Axl, Delia cheated on X… that's why he's so mad."
Axl blinked, the small but nonetheless important fact making him pause. "Oh…"
"I get where you're both coming from," Zero went on, "but you aren't getting each other. X has very valid concerns, Axl, ones that I myself share. When we knew her, she was a pretty merciless, uncaring bitch."
"But—"
"But yes, people change." Zero cut in, holding his hand up, and Axl shut his mouth. They both heard bottles slamming in the kitchen before X was stomping up the stairs to the master bedroom, and the blond sighed. "Maybe she's better, maybe not. But, keep in mind, Axl… Delia never apologized to X, never tried to help his own heartache. She chewed him up and spit him out; but you're your own Reploid, Axl. I know that… so, unlike X, I'm going to give you advice instead of an order: I advise being wary of her."
Axl nodded—that sounded much better than what X was attempting to do. "I will."
"I'm going to go check on your Pops… you're better off staying down here til he settles down, kay? Then you're going to apologize to each other—that woman will not ruin this family, got it?"
Again Axl nodded, although he was frowning. After all, why should he apologize? X was the one who blew up!
Zero left Axl in the living room and made his way purposefully to the master bedroom. He opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and found X sitting on the bed chugging down a bottle of vodka Zero had bought to sip on after work.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zero exclaimed, diving for his boyfriend and grabbing the bottle. X glared at him, his eyes already glassy, and to Zero's dismay he found the bottle empty. "Shit, X, you're gonna make yourself sick, metal stomach or not!"
"M'fine," X mumbled. He meant to say something else, by the way his mouth opened, but X's eyes suddenly widened and he bolted straight for the bathroom.
Zero followed after him with a groan, his mournful "I told you so" drowned out as X's liquid detecting systems rejected the surplus of alcohol, ejecting it out of his body whence it came. X doubled over the toilet, the space filling with the smell of alcohol as he vomited the vodka up.
The blond knelt next to X, rubbing his back and crooning in his ear. What alcohol did process passed X's drunk simulation check, and before Zero knew it, X was wailing incoherently between dry heaves, sounding suspiciously like he was sobbing.
Sure X was done puking, Zero gently cradled X's head against his shoulder and let his boyfriend rant and rave until he eventually quieted down. When X clung to him silently, Zero carefully picked him up and carried him to the bed, putting him down gently and dislodging X's hold to go to the dresser nearby.
Grabbing a box of tissues, Zero carefully cleaned up X's face before kissing his lips. X mumbled under his breath, then glanced up at Zero with wide, glassy eyes that were rapidly clearing. X had, somehow, manually disengaged the simulation.
"I won't do it," X muttered when he regained some sense, "but tell Axl I still believe he has to stay away from her, and that you agree. You do, don't you?"
"I believe he should, yes," Zero said carefully. "I hate the bitch as much as you do, and I want to protect Axl. But X, demanding things of him isn't going to help. You have to be a little more… pliable."
"The hell you mean, pliable?" X frowned.
"Axl is programmed with the emotions and intelligence of what, a seventeen-year-old at most? Rebellious teenager… you tell him he can't have it, he'll want it more and fight for it. Be more subjective, more like you're just advising him, and he'll be more willing to listen." Zero climbed into the bed with him, cuddling X close. "Cause, honestly X, you did sound like you were trying to control him."
X pouted, although Zero couldn't see it. "How are you more parental than me now?"
"This is going to sound harsh, and I don't mean it to be… but you've got more emotional stress in this than I do. You're tied closer to it, and it gets under your skin too much to stay… objective." Zero nuzzled X's hair, closing his eyes. "I fully agree with you, honey. But we have to be careful when trying to convince Axl, not just explode at him."
X grumbled tiredly, "He's being a little asshole. I'm not going to talk to him right now."
"I figured as much. Should I cook dinner again and bring it up to you?"
"Nah. I'll turn my food processor off for tonight and just go to bed right now. Going downstairs will be a mistake."
Zero frowned deeply, not liking this rift forming in his family. "You'll talk to Axl tomorrow, though?"
X rolled onto his other side, out of Zero's arms with a grunt. "Yeah, I guess."
~*~
When Zero climbed into bed that night, he felt exhaustion akin to his depression, and he briefly wondered if he was going to have a relapse. Dinner with Axl was filled with tense silences and one-word conversations, making Zero even more stressed over this stupid drama. How the hell could a single woman screw up the lives of three men… two of them currently having sworn off the bitches no less!
X rolled over, throwing an arm and leg over Zero and snapping the blond out of his thoughts. When he glanced down, X was looking up at him, wide awake. Realizing Zero wasn't going to simply cuddle and go to sleep, X shifted until he straddled Zero and sat up, his boyfriend linking their hands and bringing them to his lips to kiss.
"Axl still mad at me?" X whispered.
"That's one way to put it," Zero muttered, releasing X's hands to slid his up X's thighs slowly. "I hope you two don't plan to drag this out."
"I can't help it," X bit his lower lip, eyes shining even in the moonlit room. "I just don't want him hurt, and I know Delia will hurt him."
Zero jerked his chin, beckoning X to lean forward. The brunette did, and Zero lightly kissed his lips reassuringly. "We won't let her, sweetheart."
X kissed him again, a little insistently, but when Zero's hands made it to his waist the brunette pulled back with a frustrated sigh. "All I can think about," he growled, "is wringing that bitch's neck for trying to move on my son."
"Our son," Zero corrected gently. He sat up a bit, resting on his elbows so that their lips brushed against each other again. "I'm worried too, love, but we can't get this stressed over it… look at you, your entire body is taut, I can see it in the dark."
"Stress is part of parenthood," X frowned. "I just…"
"I know, X. But if you seriously strain yourself this much, you're going to force a defrag. C'mere…" Zero sat up further, wrapping his arms around X and pulling him closer. "Get my wire from the back of my neck."
X stared at him. "Zero?"
Zero gave him a firm nod, and X hesitantly reached for the back of his neck. To X's surprise, Zero had not yet repaired the torn skin from their connected lovemaking not too long ago, the little compartment flicking open and the wire uncoiling with a soft whirr. X stared at the plug for several seconds before deciding it couldn't hurt, and reached to the back of his own neck. Close to where his wire compartment was, X felt around for his receiving port before ripping the skin covering and plugging in Zero's wire. Thankfully, all of the blood-colored liquids and pain receivers were beneath the connection plate at the back of the neck of all Reploids, so X was hardly fussed to self-mutilate the skin there.
Once plugged up and the connection established, Zero's brow knitted worriedly at the state of his lover's systems. His emotional department looked like a trashed brothel in particular, and Zero projected more of himself into X. Zero's calm, collected presence settled X considerably, and the two let their physical bodies lay back down in the bed, holding each other close.
Zero pulled on X's core program and his lover came willingly, clinging to his organized, stable presence fiercely. The need for stability and assurance, raw in their connection, stole Zero's breath away and he threw himself into X, the brunette physically moaning as Zero's presence filled him. There was nothing left but X and Zero and what they wanted to feel, what they invoked in each other.
X couldn't explain what they were doing as their bodies slumbered and they remained connected throughout the night. It was as if they made love over and over, the relief and pleasure of having the raw essence that was Zero so close was similar, and yet… so much stronger, so much more fulfilling. In his stressed and strained mind, it was exactly what he needed and he did not want to let Zero go, and the blond stayed connected with him.
/ Who knew you needed me so much… / Zero's voice teased.
// I've always needed you, // X replied, and Zero's voice purred, sending ripples of unrefined emotion and pleasure through X's systems.
Zero enfolded him, held him close and did nothing more, yet X felt as if he were soaring. To be wrapped in his lover's mental and emotional embrace rivaled that of the physical feeling, the essence of safety and love so much more profound that his mind was made nearly senseless. The energy of the connection, of the closeness they were sharing, hit X like a truck of pure sensation, pure delight, and it only left him pulling at Zero for more.
The blond gave himself to X; the feeling of letting go and letting X absorb him was exalting beyond anything he could ever imagine. Letting X drain him, engulf and devour him, was a much different feeling than what X felt taking him, but nonetheless of the same level of pleasure and intimacy that made him crave X more. Their systems checked against each other, beeping softly at differences yet embracing at their strange similarities, passing information and pulses of emotion at a dizzying rate.
When X had all but drained Zero dry, leaving him mentally and emotionally sated as if they had made love, Zero meant to go ahead and end the connection to truly hibernate. Yet X quickly reversed the mode, and poured himself into Zero. Physically, Zero's body twitched, yet mentally he was nearly screaming X's name for more, and X complied just so Zero was that much louder of a presence.
When their alarm went off at five in the morning, they heard nothing, their bodies still entangled and asleep with the wire between them.
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