like lovers new to bodies first to touch you here

[spah]

Another Friday night, another day off coming up. Engineer was tired, but not so much that he wouldn't get in a few celebratory beers for a job well done. Not too much, though. He had avoided drinking more than the occasional beer since the whole "incident" with Spy a few weeks ago, much less thinking about it.

Until recently, though, when he caught himself imagining it again. The idea of "making it up" to him. Awkard as it was, it was the only real memory he had of his past times with the man that weren't blackout drunk. Maybe he was just feeling especially licentious, maybe it was the fact he <i>knew</i> he found Spy attractive at times, but it was hard not to find himself drifting to everything that was <i>right</i> about that morning and...

God dammit, nevermind. He <i>was</i> horny.

Point being, he didn't want to be too tired, sore, or inebriated by the time they got a chance alone. The poker game in their unofficial "lounge" room had finally died down for the night, and everyone had left except for Engineer and Spy. The other merc was quiet for a while, idly adjusting at his guitar. With other things on his mind now, though, he couldn't care less whether the damn thing was tuned.

"So. Good game."

Look, give him a sec. He doesn't normally initiate stuff like this out of the blue.

Comments

[spah]

Thanks, buddy!! The merc takes the cigarette with a nod. He sticks it in the corner of his mouth then leans forward. Still got that lighter?

"I'll be honest - I don't even remember when we started doing this."

Part of him wants to, but - at the time, it was probably a sloppy proposal turned into a sloppier tryst.

"Speaking of somethin'... kinda curious. You ever use those Spy gadgets in bed?"

[crabbmarche]

He does! He'll even lean over to light it up for you because he's that much of a gentleman.

"Hm. I suppose it's true that you become a different person when you're drunk."

Not that he's complaining. He leans back again, sighing out smoke. Depending on the alcohol, Spy can get exceptionally flirtatious, so that's probably an accurate assumption of how it went down.

Spy glances at Engineer for a moment, idly raising his eyebrow. His lip twitches a little in thought.

"...I used to tease someone that I frequently... saw about disguising myself as Humphrey Bogart during some of our trysts, but I never actually did."

[spah]

Dang, that's a true gentleman. Thanks, buddy. Who he just banged. Whatever. Engineer smiles lopsidedly as he rolls back against the sheets and takes his first drag.

Oof. He hasn't done this (see: pillow talk) in a while.

"Guess that's true. I sing a lotta Norma Jean when I knock back too many."

Meaning Engie was probably belting out some Grand Ole Opry heartbreakers, and Spy probably decided he was gonna get on that.

As for the question, the merc raises an eyebrow back. In all honesty, he wasn't sure where he was going with this. He was mostly curious, but part of him wonders if he'd be into it.

"Really? You were gonna do some Sam Spade impressions?"

Okay, that gets him grinning. Not that he doesn't believe Spy could. He's just delighting at the idea.

[crabbmarche]

Don't worry. Spy usually waits until his partner of the night falls asleep to bail, so he's not quite used to this either. But this is the first chance they've gotten to talk right after the fact.

At least, the first that they can remember.

He snorts quietly. He doesn't know who Norma Jean is, but he's probably heard Engie drunk-singing before. Whether or not that would've affected his choice in drunken flings is still up in the air.

"She probably would have found it more funny than enticing, but I'm sure I could have made it work."

[spah]

Remind him to play Spy some Norma Jean sometime - drunk or sober. Everybody should know Pretty Miss Norma Jean.

"Hell, Bogie was a good-lookin' man. I like your girl's thinkin', though."

Judging by Spy's choice of words, this woman wasn't "his girl" anymore - if they ever were. Engineer assumed not, but he meant it in a general sense.

"I was kind of thinkin' about the cloak too. I'm guessing that'd be interesting."

Game meta dictates that invisible Spies go slightly visible if you bump them, but this is fine.

[crabbmarche]

"Yes," Spy agrees. His lip curves up in a sentimental smile, but he catches himself after a second and takes another drag to distract himself.

In the meantime, he'll contemplate that for a moment. Eventually, he sighs, rolling onto his side with a small grimace - the ache's starting to settle in. He idly glances at his watch as well.

"The bedroom is one of the few places I prefer to be seen, but... I suppose I can see where the appeal might be."

[spah]

"If it helps," Engineer starts slowly, deliberately. "I, uh... knew a gal who was pretty fascinated with the hand in the bedroom."

He brings up the Gunslinger and flexes the joints a few times, as if it's not obvious what he's talking about. Knew was a lie, hence why he articulated so carefully.

Spy's grimace distracts him, though, and Dell looks down through another exhale of smoke. Ah. It's not like they planned on gentle this time, but he still felt a little bad. He offers a small, apologetic smile.

"Eh. It's an idea."

[crabbmarche]

Spy watches Engie flex his mechanical fingers, humming quietly in thought. If he's shocked by the idea of Engie seeing a girl on the sly, he only shows a little curiosity.

"Really? I'm going to guess she was fond of it."

He waves his hand at the smile and slyly activates his watch. Well, since they're here, he might as well see how it works. His cigarette just kind of floats mid-air for the moment, but that's not the part he's trying to hide.

Once the cloak's fully activated, he'll carefully just set his hand on Engie's hip. See what happens.

[spah]

"Oh yeah. She's kinda--"

Whatever story Engie was about to start (much less that he switched to present-tense) went out the window when Spy disappears. Literally.

The merc likes to think he's pretty good at picking up on cloaks by now. His jaw hangs anyway, still left on the last word - and immediately claps shut when he feels a hand on him.

Oh. His head tilts. He blinks. Then again. Then a couple more times.

"... Yeah. Okay."

Just a couple of words, but his tone says more. There's surprise (mostly at himself) but also a good amount of fascination. Like this is some bizarre experiment he's carrying out with Medic and not Spy.

Basically: this is way more titillating than he expected.

[crabbmarche]

"Oh, pardon me for interrupting," says empty air. Although the cloak flickers slightly where his fingers touch skin.

He pulls away again and stays still for a moment. Luckily for him, he'd decided to hold onto the Cloak and Dagger, so he could do this forever if he wanted.

Eventually, he slowly curls his fingers under Engie's chin.

"She's kind of what?"

Yeah, he caught that switch to present tense. He still sounds just curious. Not judgemental.

[spah]

[spah]

yEP YEP NOPE THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING HE LIKES WAY MORE THAN HE THOUGHT HE WOULD DAMN DANIEL CONAGHER

"She's, um."

Seriously, though, you know what? You know what. He's just gonna... lay here. The cigarette hangs in two fingers propped on his elbow, and he watches empty air. The merc actually jolts a little when he feels the second touch. After a pause passes, his chin tilts up.

He huffs out something of an incredulous laugh, partly at the fact Spy expects him to finish a sentence now. 'Course he did. Sly bastard. What was he going to say again?

"... experimental. You wouldn't, uh... guess. If you knew her."

[crabbmarche]

Well. This is interesting. He definitely wasn't expecting something as simple as invisibility to drive Engie speechless.

He hums quietly, definitely a little amused by the reaction, and he pulls away again to pull his cigarette from his lips, lazily decloaking just long enough to drape across Engie's chest and extinguish it in the ashtray. He smiles coyly.

"Hm. Always the ones you least expect, no?"

[spah]

In his defense, invisible people usually meant a knife in his back. Invisibility AND touching AND no sharp objects, though? Kink discovered.

It takes a second to realize he's about to drop ashes on the sheets. Whoops. Dell had expected to be kicked (or at least ushered) out of bed by now anyway, no sense in giving an extra reason. He blinks, both at himself and Spy as he reappears and leans over him.

After a beat, he sighs and mashes out his own cigarette too.

"Yeah, well. She definitely does... did."

Okay, correcting himself is useless now. Cat's technically out of the bag. Now, with the spare hand, he drapes his arm around Spy. He'll just. Keep it there until whenever Spy decides to come off him.

"Anyway. I know my share of surprising people. Mostly coy bastards."

guess what he's talking about you

[crabbmarche]

Spy locks this away in a mental folder for future observation. Y'know, just in case. He does seem to drop some tension he wasn't sure he had when Engie moves the jenga tower of cigarette ash away from the bed.

"Oh really? You must introduce us sometime."

Coy and cheeky. His eyebrow raise as Engie finally catches the present/past tense inconsistencies just drives the point home.

He pulls back just enough that he's not lying on top of Engie anymore, but they're still touching. Sometimes he likes touching.

[spah]

Touching's good. Engie likes touching. He's also an expert cuddler, which should be no surprise from a dude who's wide, hairy, and very soft. He sighs contently, keeping his arm around Spy and leaning back against the bed.

Still very comfortable, for the record.

Speaking of inconsistency - you know what? He's just going to... pretend nothing's wrong. Yep. He said all of that correctly, consistency, and 100% like a normal person.

That and, you know, Spy's already calling him out. He snorts out a laugh.

"Not on your goddamn life."

He's kidding, but he can also imagine what would happen should his mystery lady friend meet literally any one of you.

Especially Soldier, who he hasn't heard up there in a while.

[crabbmarche]

Spy chuckles at that. He figured that'd be Engie's response; they've known each other long enough for him to know not to trust Spy alone with ladies of any kind.

He starts to say something, but then there's scuffling in the vents towards the hallway, and Soldier hollers, cut off by a thud as he presumably exits the vents, "BASTARDS GOT AWAY THIS TIME! BATTEN THE HATCHES, MEN. OPERATION FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO!"

Spy just takes a second to let that moment pass before continuing.

"That's probably wise. I'm not sure I would be able to suppress my charm for very long."

[spah]

Nevermind, There he is.

See you, space cowboy.

"Hmh," Engineer murmurs through half-lidded eyes. Still worn from the day. Plus, you know, sex. Did he mention the bed's comfortable? "You got charm, she's got the patience of a goddamn saint. Wanna say that comes with bein' a doctor, but you've met Medic."

Technically, it's bad form to talk about someone else in bed. But Spy doesn't seem to mind.

[crabbmarche]

Operation FUCK can work without them this time.

"A doctor? So she isn't from around here, then."

Because let's face it: the smartest people in the county are either underground, banging Medic, or currently in the room. And if Spy's bothered by this, he's doing a good job hiding it. If anything, he seems genuinely intrigued.

"I would argue that's because she actually has her license - at least, I assume so."

[spah]

Technically, they already did it.

Engineer yawns, which turns into a chuckle at its tail end. He shakes his head.

"Nope, not from here. Got a license, though. So, technically, I lucked out."

[crabbmarche]

To be fair, this was a different Operation FUCK.

Spy stretches languidly as Engie talks, shifting away just so he doesn't accidentally kick him or something.

"You did. On multiple counts, I would say."

His smile's a little coy at that. There's nothing wrong with a healthy ego, right?

"Although I didn't think I'd tire you out that easily."

[spah]

Oh, no. When it comes to a healthy ego, Engie would agree. If you done it, it ain't bragging. That said, he lazily tilts his head over and quirks an eyebrow. A pause passes before a wide, wry smile spreads.

"Yup."

Hell, why wouldn't he agree?

"You ain't tired me out yet, darlin'. It's just... been a long day." That's a bad lie, especially when it's punctuated by a second yawn. "Like I said. I wanted to make up for things."

Obviously, not the only reason.

[crabbmarche]

Spy seems pleased that they're in agreement, patting Engineer's arm even as he yawns again. Luckily, he seems immune to the whole 'yawning is contagious' thing, although that probably has to do with him looking away.

"Well. I don't need to tell you how much it was appreciated."

Considering he hasn't gotten up and left.

"Like they say: thank god it's Friday, yes?"

[spah]

"I mean, sure. Y'don't need to."

Meaning: You could. Being 98% naked between the two of them probably says enough, though.

All jokes aside, Engineer decides to make himself comfortable, seeing as Spy hasn't kicked him out by now. Not that he hasn't already, what with that arm still on Spy and literally just on the cusp of dozing off.

"Thank god."

[crabbmarche]

He hears that. And he wasn't sore from the waist down, he'd consider it. But he's seen what happens when they push it. So instead he smiles coyly.

"If my word isn't enough, I'm sure I could come up with something else."

Involving invisibility because he hasn't forgotten about that.

He's not usually a cuddler in these circumstances. They're marching right into mildly unfamiliar territory. But hell, he's feeling generous, and it's not like Engie's going to get many opportunities to sleep on a bed of this quality. He chuckles quietly.