Chuck || Motorcity

[dieharder]

Comments

[livefaster]

[Mike manages to sneak his arms around Chuck just enough to dig his thumbs and wriggle them against two spots on his back, just under his ribs - kidney points that didn't need jabbing, only pressure, to make the nerves go "OHNONONONOTOOMUCHTICKLING"] So you were saying?

[dieharder]

[Chuck shrieks, and he basically throws himself forward, pressing against Mike as his hands cling to Mike's upper arms.

He's not aware of a lot of things right now. He's especially not aware of a particular part of him poking against Mike's leg. Well, whoops.] I said s- oh, stop it, M-Mikey--!

[livefaster]

[Mike's not really aware of it, either, yet, even if he's a little surprised at the quick move forward and having his friend pressed close to him as if his own thumbs were hot pokers.

He lightens the pressure a little, shaking his head.] Nope. Before that.

[dieharder]

[Chuck takes that as a break to catch his breath, but doesn't really lighten his grip on Mike's arms. He clears his throat and glances at his friend, a little puzzled.] I was saying... 'no'?

[livefaster]

[And he presses again, only not so hard this time.] You should be saying "Yes, Mike, I do have a romantic streak and I am not afraid to admit it because it's nothing to be ashamed about, especially to my best friend".

[dieharder]

[He whines, shifts again, and bites his lip lightly before replying.] That's too long. What about "Okay, fine, Mike, you're right."

[He purses his lips in thought before adding.] "This time".

[livefaster]

[He lets go of Chuck's pressure points, nodding. Yes, because he does admit he's not right sometimes, even if he does believe so at the time.] That seems good by me.

[dieharder]

[There's a deep sigh, and his muscles relax visibly as Mike relieves the pressure. He lets go of Mike's arms and tries to move so that they're not so close anymore - now there's no more reason for them to be that near after all.] It's not like you won anything with this, you know.

[livefaster]

Yes, I di...d. [Chuck's body moves away from him by shifting his torso first, making the angle of his hips change. It makes his hand wrap a little tighter around Chuck's side.

He recognizes from really old days, in practice, when someone kept something in their pockets. It could be a weapon, a knife, a retractable stick. In this context, though, he frowns, a little amused. Well, they had been doing changes and used a lot of tools the night before.] Chuck, did you actually bring a wrench to sleep?

[dieharder]

Hm? [Chuck looks at Mike, arched eyebrow poking from between his bangs.] No, what--

[Then he glances down between the both of them. He doesn't say anything, or do anything for that matter. In fact, the only thing he does, as his whole body freezes in place, is turn a deep shade of crimson. Eventually, he cringes a little and tilts his head down in an effort to hide his eyes behind his bangs.] I... oh.

[livefaster]

[Okay, what is going on.

Chuck is suddenly beet red and looking like he's about to bolt somewhere. That, if anything, gets all the sirens in Mike's head ringing. He can't really look down, Chuck's head is blocking the view. So if it's not a wrench...

Oh dear god don't tell me he brought a part of Mutt that they forgot to reassemble.

... still, that was no reason for Chuck to be so embarrassed.] Listen, man, it's okay. We can fix it back. Don't worry.

[dieharder]

[At that particular reply, Chuck's head snaps up, his eyebrows furrowing and drawing upwards as he looks at Mike in mild panic.]

What?! [His voice is tiny, cracked and high-pitched, like part of it got lost on its way out. He can't have heard that right. Mike can't have just said that.]

[livefaster]

[Chuck's wide eyes meet Mike's, who's just as surprised as he was. Why was he acting so shocked? ] What, what? It's not that bad, right?


[He smiles.] It's okay, buddy. We can work on it together.

[dieharder]

Ohmygodmikey.

[He takes both his hands up to cover his face, not even daring to move one inch of the rest of his body right now. He's already too aware of everything as it is, he's not going to poke the dragon.

... pardon the pun.

He can't even handle looking at Mike right now.] You have no idea what you're saying, do you.

[livefaster]

What? Of course I am. It can't be that hard, can it?

[He reaches up to lightly rasp his knuckle on the jut Chuck's wrist. He's a little worried. Something wasn't adding up and it made Mike's own gears turn. They could fix everything together - and the night before everything had looked fine, even if they had overlooked at something.] Chuck?

[dieharder]

[Chuck whimpers from behind his hands, shaking his head vehemently. He takes a deep breath, or two, before he replies in one go, his voice low because he can't bring himself to muster his usual volume right now.]

It's not a tool okay no I didn't bring anything to bed with me last night.

[livefaster]

What do--[A blink.

Two.

Yeah, Mike had already understood that it wasn't a tool, why--

...wait, anything?





Click.

Oh.

He's... suddenly very undecided about what to do. He freezes for a second, eyes trained onto the back of Chuck's hands, and for once in his lifetime he's...

unsure of what to do.

He wants to draw his hands away, wants to pry Chuck's from his face and say that it's alright, it's a perfectly natural reaction because it's morning and they've been both in very close proximity while they slept, and that nerve endings don't fall asleep even if your brain shuts most of them down when it dozes off.

He feels like he's burning, himself, because he's obviously in contact with a part of Chuck that he hadn't even thought about and felt a little guilty and a lot invasive. But... he also wants to Chuck to not fall into a panic like that. It just didn't feel right.

Plus, it opened a door to... something that Mike was suddenly very curious about.

It also opened into a room that was framed by a lot of questions, but those... those really don't matter much at the moment.

Because he was suddenly very aware of every rib that his fingers were resting on, and the uprising heat coming from underneath Chuck's thin shirt.

He opens his mouth - a little more, since it had been open while he realized what was really happened - closes it.]

Yeah... well... about that.

[He chews at his lower lip, then upper. His voice is as low as Chuck's.]

Offer still stands...?

[dieharder]

I...

[Very slowly, Chuck's hands slide down until he can look at Mike incredulously. So maybe Mike didn't get what was happening before, but he's sure the whole situation is pretty clear by now. Which is why Mike's words, just as loaded as the long, prolonged silence that preceded them, struck Chuck almost as strong as lightning would.

His mouth is moving, but it actually takes a couple of seconds until any noise manages to crawl out.]

What? I'm-- [That whole reaction didn't help much in the way of calming his rising level of panic and embarrassment. If anything, Chuck feels even more self-aware now, the hairs at the back of his neck standing on end as he feels a shiver start from where Mike's fingers rest, travel up his spine, do a 360 drift on his shoulders and travel down to the small of his back, ending exactly where it had begun.]

Mike, you don't-- that's, I'm, oh my God what, you don't have to seriously... I just-- I can just go and-- really...

[He's already overthinking the whole situation in his head by now. He's a little scared that Mike offered so promptly, he didn't even flinch, move away or even so much as let go of Chuck as he spoke. He just stood still, close, decided and willing.

(He should also be scared that his own response to Mike's suggestion wasn't an immediate 'no', but he hasn't gotten to a point where he's noticed that yet.)]

[livefaster]

[Okay, so Mike hasn't thought this through. Maybe he was really insensitive about suddenly volunteering to venture into a space that was so very obviously Chuck's. And as close as they were, as much as they have gone through together, there were a few things that maybe they should just keep apart.

Still, he shakes his head. He did offer, he wasn't going to back down.] I know I don't have to.

[That doesn't mean he doesn't want to.]

[dieharder]

[Chuck draws his arms closer to himself. He has no idea what to say to that, or even what to think of that. He bites the inside of his cheek nervously, hands resting on his own neck in a protective manner.]

But... [He dares a glance at Mike, but can't keep it up for long. He focuses on the collar of Mike's shirt instead.] It's a little weird, right? I mean... I'm... we're just-- this isn't... uh.

[Wow Chuck what are words.]

[livefaster]

[The factor of protection on Chuck's body language is obvious to him. They've always been shields, tools, made to reach and grab for Chuck's life at the worst moments, rapidly moving in the best. He sighs.

He doesn't like them like this, protecting Chuck from Mike.]

I wouldn't offer if I wasn't okay with it, Chuckles.

[He swallows the dry knot in his throat, makes to shift his weight a little except he stops himself a nanosecond after he starts, remembering Chuck's... situation.

C'mon, Mike Chilton, you can do this.] We're just us.

[dieharder]

[As minute as it was, the shifting is enough to get a small whimper out of Chuck, shoulders tensing and muscles shivering for a split second. He closes his eyes and focuses on a particularly long breath and the microscopic speck of dust swimming behind his eyelids.]

Okay. [He nods a little. He's not very sure of this whole situation, but... Mike is. That should be enough. It's just them. Just them.

... it's them.] Okay.

[livefaster]

[Well.

He takes a deep breath of his own, the whole thing finally sinking in and now that he has Chuck's consent... he... doesn't really know what to do with it.

How do you take care of someone else like this?]

... Okay. Here we go...

[Still, the whimper from the abrupt motion gave him a good idea of how to start. He moves again, folds his leg just a little, rolls his hips to the side to tilt closer.]

u ok

[dieharder]

[And that's how fast Chuck's hands are back to clinging to Mike's shoulders, his body shaking and pressing forward at the contact.

His mouth's half-open, because he was about to make some witty retort to that last comment, but he quickly corrects that, quick enough that he doesn't embarrass himself, by biting down on his lower lip. He hisses and lets his head tilt to rest closer to Mike's neck.

He wonders how he didn't realize his state before, seeing as just that one tiny move leaves him like this. Guess self-awareness does wonders.]

i'm ok u ok

[livefaster]

[He's... drinking all of this with a thirst he didn't know he had. The dampness left on his skin when Chuck's breath ghosts around his neck, how he presses closer instead of pulling back.

His shirt is going to be a mess in the end, he reckons as he feels the tight grip on his elbows, stretching the fabric.

His thumb brushes along the outline of a rib and he moves his leg slowly, not stopping. This is something that he never knew he'd be interested on, much less be enthralled about it.]