Work Text:
Ulrich leant against a wall in Adler’s director’s office, charging his batteries with the nearby outlet, the warm midday sun peeking through the window. His arms crossed, he didn’t say a word. Adler was grateful that he finally kept quiet. Maybe he was reciting the decimal places of Pi in his head as a means to practice mindfulness, maybe he found a way to literally turn his mind off while charging, it didn’t matter. These were the first five minutes since Ulrich had entered his office more than an hour ago that neither of them had said a word. Ulrich had brought him lunch, just to chastise him for working while eating. Then Ulrich shared the results of his latest research while Adler lamented the paperwork he had to finish until the end of the day. After arguing a bit about the direction the new onboarding program was going – very few Laplace researchers were social enough to adequately mentor fresh hires – they had fallen quiet.
At least three of those quiet five minutes Adler had wasted staring at Ulrich. His shoulder against the wall, legs crossed, hips jutted out, Adler followed the outline of his body. He took note where his uniform folded, where it laid snug against his artificial skin. The ferrofluid himself was a soft curve, silently pulsing, deep in thought. Times like these he could tell Ulrich didn’t notice he was being watched, otherwise he would have already chastised Adler. Yet he knew he couldn’t stare forever. He had work to do. He sat up straight in his chair and looked down onto the papers strewn across his desk. Maybe now he could finally finish his reply to the head of the Australia branch. Or write that overdue reprimand to the team leader of the Employee Health Support Division. There were also those complaint letters Ulrich had accrued over the past week…. Facilitating these relationships was harder than balancing the budget. At least numbers didn’t talk back.
“Adler, now that you don’t spend as much time with us common folk in the labs—” Obviously, the silence didn’t last.
“I wasn’t known to hang out with people before I assumed this position, either.” And he couldn’t help but argue back. That was why they could never keep their mouths shut around each other.
“There’s a rumour I caught wind off. Usually, I pay them no mind, but this one is quite amusing. It’s about us.” The soft curve swirled in the liquid to form into a circle.
“I’d rather not hear it, then.” Adler had meant to keep their relationship secret, but even before they made it official, there were rumours they were dating. Their debates could be passionate, their arguments loud; and no matter how much they disagreed they were always seen together. He still didn’t understand how this behavior led people to believe they were a couple. But now that they were, not much had changed in public. Neither of them liked PDA, though Adler often caught himself subconsciously hovering close to Ulrich. Whenever he realized it he pointedly stepped back, just to catch himself leaning against him or otherwise invading his personal space in the next moment. But while he kept quiet about his personal life, Ulrich was less reserved. It wasn’t that he casually talked about his love life with coworkers, like others talked about first dates or relationship drama. It was more that he inherently lacked a filter that stopped him from saying everything he thought. With Ulrich, a simple “Sorry I’m late, I was doing stuff” turned into a “Sorry I’m late, I was doing Adler”. He didn’t want to know what kind of rumours people could conjure based on Ulrich’s painful honesty.
“There’s people saying that you favour my budget requests due to our relationship.”
Adler’s fear instantly dissipated into relief. That was so far-fetched, it was probably just a running gag between coworkers that Ulrich misinterpreted. No one could be taking that seriously.
“What a joke, I’ve denied your past 4 requests, one even twice.”
“I know. I expected gossip to hold at least a sliver of truth.”
Instead of using the rare opportunity to agree with Ulrich, Adler continued. “What are they thinking, you’ve got me wrapped around your finger and can waltz in here and I drop everything to say yes? As if that would ever happen.” He laughed at the idea. Ulrich reciprocated with a smile – a circle – which abruptly changed into an X. The instance his mood shifted, so did his ferrofluid.
“Wait a second. You’re saying that like I’m not capable of that.”
“Because you’re not. I keep work and private strictly separated, nothing you do would influence how I spend Laplace’s money.”
“Because of your conviction. But that’s the rational part of your brain. You're telling me I couldn’t get you to drop that?” An exclamation mark formed as Ulrich straightened up, his tone confrontational.
“Are you kidding me? You're seriously asking me that? I thought we were just laughing about it.” The smile left his face. Did Ulrich genuinely think that he’d take his responsibility so lightly? Adler knew that he didn’t respect him as Director as much as Lucy, but despite his own shortcomings, Adler took his job very serious. He owed it to her.
“About the idea that I’d have to resort to those means maybe, but not about the fact that you wouldn’t be weak enough to say no.”
Now it was getting personal.
“When have I ever given in to any of your demands?”
“Plenty of times.”
Too personal.
“Yes, in private, that’s not what I’m talking about, I’m talking about work.” He didn’t want to let Ulrich embarrass him, not when Ulrich wasn’t even aware of it.
“You're clearly overestimating yourself.”
“I am?” Adler asked, incredulous. “You are convinced you can do the impossible.”
“I’ll be back.” Without another word, Ulrich unplugged himself and left.
“Ulrich, wait!” Damn it. What a stupid thing to get into a fight about. Not that they weren’t known to do that, but this took the cake. It wasn’t that Ulrich wasn’t able to turn him on; he was very well aware of the effects he had on him. He didn’t want to think about how Ulrich could get him to do nearly anything in bed. He knew, Ulrich knew. But he would never sign official papers just because Ulrich asked nicely but this time in a sexy way. Ulrich was blunt, honest to the point it hurt, and while his straightforwardness could be hot, he couldn’t talk his way into more budget funds. He was sure those rumours were jokes, too. No one could mischaracterize Ulrich to the point where he’d walk into his office in a short skirt, drop a pen and go oops when bending down, just to score a favour with Adler. This was Ulrich, who, during their latest budget discussion, had thrown the paper forms in his face so aggressively it had felt like getting slapped. He had called him every name in the book, said he’d set back Laplace’s progress by decades after less than a year of being in office, and he would have slammed the door shut on his way out if it hadn’t been an automatic sliding door. And yet, at the end of the day, Ulrich had joined him in bed to play his part of the hot water bottle until Adler fell asleep cuddling him. That was what Adler wanted: nothing he did as director would influence their relationship and vice versa.
With Ulrich gone for the immediate future, Adler felt safe to focus back on his work. He put the Australian letter back into a pile of unanswered mail, deciding it was no priority. Maybe it was time to focus on numbers. But even these administrative tasks took all of his attention; while he’d always been a numbers guy, it was different when they were applied in such a tedious way. He was in the middle of juggling two departments’ employee budgets when the door opened. Only Ulrich knew the code, it was like he had the key to his office. He didn’t need to look up to confirm.
“I’ll get to you in a minute, I just have to finish this.”
“Your work can’t be more important than me.”
“Yes it can. What’s gotten into you?” Adler looked up to see Ulrich holding a manila folder which he recognized immediately- but the familiar budget request wasn’t the reason his eyes shot open wide. He put down the pen he was writing with and stared at Ulrich. He couldn’t put into words what he was seeing.
“You walked over here like that?!”
Ulrich was wearing a new outfit Adler had never seen before. It was similar to his uniform from before, but instead it was revealing in all the wrong places. The most obvious one was the cut out on his chest. Half his torso was uncovered to present his translucent chest with his star shaped core. Adler remembered vividly how Ulrich had first slipped out his uniform after he got his new body and revealed his literal heart to Adler, how he put his palm on his skin to feel its vibrations, how it felt to have his own naked chest pressed against Ulrich’s— and now he was walking around like this for everyone to see? A moment that had felt so vulnerable to him and now it was staring right at him. The open space ran from the chest down his left side, highlighting his slim waist. Next was the cut out on his hips, on the opposite side, right where Adler liked to put his hand when he leant down to kiss Ulrich. Had he done that on purpose? Did the clothes give way to his skin just so Adler could put his hands on it? The remaining clothes on his body just accentuated the shape of his chest even stronger, that Adler didn’t know what he wanted to touch more.
“What are you talking about?” Ulrich asked nonchalantly as he strode closer. And then Adler noticed the part that left his mouth dry. It looked like his pants stopped well above his knees, where the boots took over. He could see the ferrofluid dripping inside his thighs. If it weren’t for his boots – if one could call that boots – he’d be wearing hot pants. Usually Ulrich’s outfits were a chore to take off: they were always connected in the most complicated ways, Ulrich had to slip out of them completely like a onesie or Adler had to help him disconnect them like puzzle pieces. They never functioned like normal clothes, making it near impossible to get him naked when Adler wanted it most. But the way his legs were exposed, his translucent skin invited him to stick his fingers underneath the hem of his pants. He could reach his inner thighs without that hassle, maybe even push the fabric up and expose his skin even further.
The fact that his outfit looked aesthetically the same as his previous one was even worse. He was no fashion expert, so he couldn’t pinpoint the small visual differences. To him it looked like Ulrich took his old outfit and cut out pieces specifically to drive him mad. Every part that was exposed was calculated, and every part that was left covered up just fueled his imagination.
“You’re practically naked! You walked like this through all of Laplace?”
“You're being nonsensical. I’m clothed. And even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have to. Since when do robot appliances need to be covered up?”
“Don’t act innocent. You know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean, but I have to remind you that you are not normal. Everyone else sees me exercising my penchant for fashion, you're the only one who looks at me like that.” Ulrich emphasized the last word, like he hadn’t planned all this to take advantage of Adler’s attraction to him.
“Like what? Your chest, your hips, its provocative! I can’t look at you any other way!” Adler couldn’t recognize himself; the way he got worked up. But the juxtaposition of his demoralizing paperwork to the way Ulrich presented himself was too much for his tired brain.
“I’ve got every sensitive area covered.” Standing in front of Adler’s desk now, he stroked the inside of his thighs with both hands. In one hand he still held the folder. “See? Your favourite part, all covered up.”
Seeing the folder – Adler was starting to have a bad feeling about its contents – so close to Ulrich’s crotch got him staring again.
“That’s even worse. You're wearing shorts with thigh high boots!”
“Is there a rule against that?”
“No, it’s just…you're targeting me!”
“Just because you like to fuck my thighs, I’m not allowed to wear shorts?”
They haven’t had sex in his office before. Just the mention of it made Adler clam up.
“Ulrich. I’m at work.” He tried to backpedal. Maybe they could just be normal about this.
“I know, that’s why I’m here.”
He slid the papers across the desk to Adler. Different to how he usually slammed them on his desk with a thud.
“Not this again.” Adler sighed. “Even if you’ve revised this request again, and then I still don’t know…”
“Oh, I have revised it.” Was that sarcasm coming through his speakers? “I went back on my latest compromise. This is the original draft of request 872.”
“Ulrich, you know this is impossible. You're going to bankrupt other departments with this. Just this one request is how much one of the sub departments asks for in a year!” While he was welcome for the change of topic, this particular request only gave him a headache.
“If a department can work with such a small budget, I’m doubting they're bringing any worthwhile inventions to the table.”
“We need the variety. I’m not firing people for your new shiny idea.” Adler shoved the papers on his desk towards Ulrich, as far away from him as possible. These were not his responsibility anymore.
“You're acting like 200k Sharpodonty are the end of the world.” Ulrich crossed his arms, mimicking the cross his ferrofluid body formed. “For what I’m demanding, that’s nothing! For what it’s going to achieve, it’s a minuscule sum!”
“Have you seen the exchange rate? At this point the financial department is looking forward to the next storm just to get away from this stock market.” He shook his head, the meetings with St. Pavlov’s financial heads still on his mind. Horrible times. While Laplace had its own budget, and generally managed to sell inventions to the public to strengthen their funds, they were still a subdivision of the Foundation and relied on them. “If you think I’m risking whatever goodwill the Foundation has placed in me by asking for such a huge advance, this late in the fiscal year—”
“You're smart. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“No. No way.”
“Not even—”
Adler gave Ulrich no chance to elaborate. “Not even in your sexy outfit. You won, you got me flustered at work, but you won't get me to sign anything.”
They stared at each other for a while, Adler trying to keep his eyes on Ulrich’s face without slipping downwards.
Suddenly, Ulrich exploded.
“Flux. I’m out of ideas.”
“Already?” He wanted to laugh at Ulrich’s capitulation, but he was still scared of any other ideas Ulrich might present. He didn’t feel safe yet.
“I didn’t have enough time to prepare.” He fell into a puddle.
“You wouldn’t have to prepare if this was something that was actually in the realm of possibility. So. Can we call this off?” Adler was willing to raise the white flag as long as Ulrich did the same. A once in a lifetime opportunity for the two of them to accept a loss.
“No way.” Of course he wouldn’t. Ulrich walked over to the other side of the desk, standing by Adler’s side. Adler instinctively moved away in his chair, like he didn’t want to touch him. “I’m sure I…” Ulrich gripped the desk with force. “…can make this worth your while.” This must be a real challenge for Ulrich. Offering something as a means to placate Adler, to make him happy, when their usual budget arguments were the exact opposite of that.
“You're having such a hard time being nice to me?” At least it was amusing to watch.
“That’s not it. I don’t have a problem being nice to you, it’s you who can’t extend the same courtesy to me. Let’s see it as an exchange. You do this for me, for every member of the cryptography team, for the greater good of science, and I offer you something that no one else can.”
“I don’t think you can do something that can make up for me talking to the Foundation liaison. Even if just by phone, those meetings are absolutely grueling.” Lucy had always made it look so easy. Adler hadn’t even been aware that the Foundation put such strict restrictions on their bank accounts, that each extraordinary spending request came with a just as demanding meeting to defend it. And his connection at the Foundation was excellent at her job– Adler couldn’t even remotely match her rhetoric, politics and people skills. What she lacked was a science degree, so each discussion had Adler stumbling and struggling through his speeches, while she read him like an open book.
It wasn’t that they were kept on a short leash, but more that the Foundation liked to pull it every now and then to remind them who was in charge. Understandable, considering who worked at Laplace. If left a free reign, the scientists would have already bankrupted the Foundation three times over.
“How about I make them more bearable? Every minute you spend on the phone is one more minute you get to fuck me?” Ulrich’s question mark looked at Adler, unwavering. Adler almost choked on his spit at the crass words. With Ulrich it was hard to tell if he was genuinely flirting or just listing facts. He tried to view his words under the latter lens, there was no way Ulrich could dirty talk his way into a budget allowance.
“There’s not enough time in the world for both. You don’t know how long those meetings go.”
“Then why not save time and do it at the same time. You bend me over your desk while you're on the phone with those Foundation idiots. That must keep you in a good mood, able to sweet talk them into agreeing.”
Oh no. That wasn’t Ulrich bluntness 101. This was calculated.
“You're insane. I know you're just acting.” Ulrich never flirted. Or to be more precise – Adler was the type of person to interpret his words as flirting, but Ulrich never seduced him. He wasn’t sure if Ulrich did this just to prove him wrong, to prove that Adler was weak enough to his advances, that the rumour was true. Just waiting for Adler to say yes to score another victory in their endless list of disagreements. Or if he genuinely proposed an equal exchange. A favour for a favour.
“I’m being serious. I want this signed. I don’t have to repeat every argument from last time, do I?” It was true, Ulrich had been very insistent. The fact that he had revised his request in their earlier discussions showed how badly he wanted this.
“But you're not stupid, Ulrich. I can’t do that.” Adler wasn’t even talking about the sex thing anymore. That was off the table. Literally. Figuratively.
“Afraid they’d be able to tell? I can just turn off my speakers, easy as that, and no one would hear me.” Ulrich took a step closer, one hand moving to the backrest of Adler’s chair.
“There’s no way you’d willingly do that.” Even if Ulrich did the impossible – mute himself – there was no way Adler would be able to keep quiet. He was the one who cried in the middle of sex when emotions ran high. He was no senseless sex machine. Ulrich knew that. Did he put something in his lunch and he was hallucinating this conversation?
“Why not? It’s not like we haven’t had sex enough times that I can’t trust you to do it once without me instructing you.”
“You don’t instruct me.” The disrespectful comment got him to snap out of his dumbfounded reverie. “And that’s not the point.”
“What’s the point then? So you like hearing my voice, and you don’t want me to be quiet?” His voice dropped lower as he leant in. “When I tell you how good of a job you're doing? You’d never hear me say that in your office.” The hair on his neck stood up when Ulrich’s voice dipped into the lower octaves. Adler had made the embarrassing discovery that he reacted strongly to praise whenever it slipped out of Ulrich’s speakers in the middle of sex. When he realized what effect it had on him, he immediately set out to hide it from Ulrich. It hadn’t worked. He was already pushing his buttons. “We could do that too. You can watch me struggle to stay quiet, even though I could easily disconnect and not make a noise.”
“You’d disrupt the phone call with your weird electromagnetic discharge.” If Ulrich really wanted to put all his money on the practicality of it, Adler could find plenty of arguments against that. Maybe pure logic would work better than convincing Ulrich Adler couldn’t do it mentally.
“Then don’t let me come.” Ulrich sounded annoyed, like he had to state the obvious. He let go off the chair to get up on the desk, sitting on the edge. Now he could literally look down on Adler. “Adler, come on, aren’t you smart enough to figure this out by yourself? I’m offering you the opportunity to do whatever you want with me, and you can’t figure out a way to do it correctly?” He was being condescending, but the backhanded compliment proved too much for Adler. He pushed away from the desk, rolling away in his office chair. The one-meter distance was enough to make it clear he was not going to sign those papers. And he was not going to look at the half naked Ulrich sitting on his desk.
“I didn’t take you for such a good liar. This isn’t like you.” Adler was in disbelief. Did Ulrich want neither the budget approval nor the chance to get one up on Adler? Was this genuinely just a ploy to have sex in the office?
“I never had a reason to be like this at work or elsewhere. But you can’t deny me the authority in which I make my own decisions. I also find your behavior lacking right now. Where’s your bite?” The magnetic fluid stretched into every direction, spikes everywhere. He was unmistakably showing anger. He had either reached the limits of his patience or it was his reaction to being called a liar.
“You’re being unreasonable! How am I supposed to respond?”
“If you want me to leave, just leave your signature down here and I’m gone.”
“I can’t do that. We’ve talked about this long enough.”
“You can’t? I’m sure it’s within your capabilities. Let me help you.”
Ulrich stepped in front of Adler and took a pen from the desk.
“All you need to do is…” He sat down. On the chair. One the little space that was left on it. He was practically sitting in Adler’s lap.
“Ulrich! Get up!”
“There’s enough space for two. Don’t be greedy. You were the one who said he can’t sign it on his own.”
“That’s not what I said.”
Ulrich scooted backwards, pressing his ass against Adler’s crotch. He stopped when he met resistance. “Are you—”
“Yes, I am. If the question was, can you turn me on while I’m at work, the answer is yes. I could have told you before it’s yes. I already told you that you won!” The words stumbled out of his mouth, embarrassment heating up his face.
“I won't have won until you sign this!”
“Are you seriously doing all this just for a stupid—” The words got stuck in his throat as Ulrich shifted in his seat. Probably just to sit more comfortably and— No. With his hands on the edge of the desk, Ulrich was pushing back, grinding against Adler.
“You make easy things very difficult, Adler. You have the tendency to create problems where there are none.”
“How is this my fault?” His hands on Ulrich’s hips, he couldn’t help but try to rock against him.
“One name on a single piece of paper, and you’ll have made the greater research community of Laplace a happy people.”
“Since when you do care about your coworkers?”
“You should care about them, too.”
“Well, I don’t.” He was being petty, he knew it. But his job wasn’t to make people happy. Except for his superiors at the Foundation.
“Then what do you care about? Do you want to make me happy, at least?”
“No.” Ulrich stopped moving. “I mean yes. Yes, sure.” Ulrich continued. If only everything could be this easy. “Don’t make me talk while we’re doing this.”
“I see why you’d be unable to do this during your phone call.”
“Are you the same ferrofluid who got jealous of my new fleshlight last week? Now you suddenly want me to talk to other people while we have sex?”
“That was completely different.” The way his robot body tensed up, he knew he had hit a sore spot.
Of course it was different. Ulrich always found a way to change reality to fit his viewpoint, at least when it gave him an advantage over Adler. But he was done arguing about this. Not because he didn’t think this was a fight he couldn’t win, but because he physically couldn’t talk. Ulrich was ceaselessly grinding his ass against Adler’s erection and this was the fight he’d been afraid to lose. His hands moved from Ulrich’s hips up to his waist, surprised to touch his skin under his fingertips where he usually only felt the fabric of his uniform. Ulrich didn’t have skin, obviously, Adler just hadn’t found a better word for the Arcanum infused polymethyl methacrylate structure that made up his outer layer. Its translucency let anyone gaze into Ulrich’s anatomy, marvel at the way advanced human engineering and Arcanum craftsmanship combined. The embodiment of Laplace's efforts.
His body was sleek, the surface perfectly smooth. But even this perfection had its limits. His joints, knees, shoulders, elbows, even his wrists, weren’t covered by the glass-like casing. They could move without hindrance to grant Ulrich the same flexibility a person had. And there were seams too- where his torso met his hips, where his back connected across the length of his spine and other, less obvious places. But the one on his waist was one of Adler’s favourites, especially now since the exposed uniform let him trace his fingers across the slit. Any spot on his body where his outer layer was thinner, even if just by millimeters, meant there was less of a barrier between him and the real Ulrich that swirled inside the body. This was the closest they could get to touching. Even if the health risks for a human were minimal, they wouldn’t risk touching each other without protection. Neither of the two wanted to figure out what it meant for Ulrich’s consciousness if his nanoparticles got stuck on Adler’s skin and clothes for weeks, if his sense of self would splinter or if it would cause him pain. He felt safe and comfortable in the liquid he was suspended in and there was no reason to change that. Though Adler couldn’t want but to bridge the last bit of distance between them in especially vulnerable moments, he doubted Ulrich shared the same desire.
Adler’s fingers followed the slit on his waist, his hand trailing underneath Ulrich’s uniform. The line went further across his lower abdomen and Adler pressed his palm against it, trying to push Ulrich back against him. It was frustrating. To get turned out by a new outfit, some blunt pick-up lines and Ulrich sitting on his lap. His resolve used to be stronger, but he’d never been with someone who took so much time and care to analyze him, who kept a spreadsheet in his mind to log every bit of data on his psyche. Of course he knew what to say and do to get Adler into this predicament. The other frustrating thing was how this position didn’t give Adler the ability to move the way he wanted to. While Ulrich was rocking against him, his ass rubbing against his crotch, the chair squeaking from their weight, Adler couldn’t do much to match his energy. Maybe he should take it as sign to lean back. But he didn’t do well getting serviced like this. It made him feel like the focal point of attention, left on full display for Ulrich.
“Get up, Ulrich.” This time, he said it gently. His breathlessness made it difficult for him to be commanding, the pressure building in his groin demanding his full attention.
“I don’t think you want that.” Ulrich warned him.
“Yes, I do. I want to touch you.” He felt trapped in the chair.
Ulrich complied and got up, but Adler wouldn’t let him turn around. He stood behind him, kicking the chair out of the way with one foot. Then he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Ulrich, embracing him from behind. If only he could get even closer to him than this. His left hand found purchase on Ulrich’s chest, gripping the metal strips that mimicked a rib cage and nicely framed his transparent pecs. His other hand found itself once again on Ulrich’s waist, rubbing the indent of the seam of his skin. He couldn’t believe how much the openings in his uniform catered towards him. How long did Ulrich want to keep this uniform a secret from him? And was it really coincidence, or did he design this outfit with Adler in mind? The thought alone embarrassed him more than the feeling of his straining cock trapped in his pants, pressed against Ulrich. He leant down to bury his head in the crook of Ulrich’s neck. Even with Ulrich’s ferrofluid flowing throughout this body, he still wanted to be closest to the mass in his fish tank. To Adler, it was his mind, his face, even if that went against the concept of an Awakened. He took a deep breath in, Ulrich’s smell having become a comfort to him. He might be imagining it, but to him he smelt like metal, hints of fir and cypress, and beneath it all, the smell of their bed sheets. He placed soft kisses against his neck, knowing the spots that were integral to his body’s function and tethered his head to his body. He knew he was sensitive there. The ferrofluid shot in the opposite direction of the kisses, splashing against the edge of the dome. He was flustered. It was about time.
“You’re not letting me move at all!” Ulrich managed to cover his embarrassment with anger, or maybe that was really all he cared about.
“Just let me hold you for a moment.” His grip on Ulrich’s body became tighter, his fingers digging into the indents his skin offered, when he felt Ulrich’s hand on top of his own. He expected him to move his hands somewhere else; he often corrected him when he felt something different would work better. Fine, it was true, he liked to instruct him and Adler had no qualms following his lead. But he just grabbed his hand on his chest, fingers threading through his own. Adler whispered Ulrich’s name and began thrusting. Despite his grand speech about Ulrich being naked, they were both fully clothed. It was getting hot underneath his big coat, which he wore everyday like a shield that offered him protection and comfort, but at times like these he regretted it. His other hand moved past Ulrich’s waist, once again taking advantage of the new look and slipping underneath the fabric. His palm against Ulrich’s lower abdomen, he could feel the gentle vibrations of his motors, the whirs of silent fans, the spinning of coils that powered his body. Sensations so minuscule; they could only be felt through skin contact. His hand traveled further downward, settling on his crotch. It was smooth, except for a seam line that ran straight through the middle. Ulrich had once suggested getting a modification next time he went in for a body upgrade, but Adler would rather keep Ulrich the way he was forever than have him experience losing his body to another failed experiment. In the months they’d been dating they hadn’t run out of ways to have sex yet, so the genital add-on could wait. And it wasn’t like Ulrich didn’t feel anything. On the contrary.
Ulrich cursed and put his free hand on Adler’s hip, grasping at his pants. Adler wasn’t sure if he did it to steady himself or to draw him closer, faster, harder. “Lose the pants already.” Ulrich gasped between breaths that he didn’t need to take. He helplessly tugged on his pants, the belt, buttons and zipper holding steadfast.
Adler’s head was still on Ulrich’s shoulder, his open mouthed gasps fogging up the glass near Ulrich’s neck. He struggled to reply. “I don’t have a free hand.” To stress his point, he rubbed Ulrich’s slit, his finger pressing as deep as he could, even though he knew the skin wouldn’t give in.
Another flux left Ulrich’s speakers and he stopped tearing at Adler’s pants, instead putting his hand on the desk for leverage. Maybe with both hands, he could have managed to pull Adler’s pants down with sheer force, but he refused to let go off Adler’s hand on his chest.
Adler could feel his boxer shorts dampen from his pre-cum. He was going to come in his pants from dry humping. At least that would keep the mess contained.
“Adler, I’m serious. The pants. Off. Now.” Adler didn’t know if Ulrich barked the orders at him because long sentences were difficult to form in his state, or if he just…
Well.
He obeyed.
He reluctantly let go of Ulrich’s body to fumble with his pants. He opened the belt but refused to bother with the set of buttons, just pulling the pants down. His boxers showed a tell-tale wet spot. He dragged them down too, his dick springing free.
“Good job.” Adler wasn’t a fan of how Ulrich could look at him even with his back turned to him. It reminded him of an owl. But it was probably one of the reasons why Ulrich could analyze and catalog his reactions so well- nothing could be hidden from him.
Adler took a step forward again, close enough to press the length of his hard cock against Ulrich. But he had other plans. Ulrich planted his feet further out, making space, and grabbed behind him to reach Adler’s cock. Adler was forced to bend down. He roughly instructed him between his thighs, the finesse he was usually known for lost in these hasty moments.
“Hey, wait. I might have some lube, but do you have condoms?”
“It’s your penis, why do I always have to bring everything?”
“You came in here to have sex!”
“I didn’t think we’d get this far!”
“What?” That’s not how that conversation usually went.
“I…just fuck me, okay.” Now Ulrich wasn’t looking at him, staring at the desk. He could see how the ferrofluid shifted away.
“No, explain yourself.”
“For flux sake Adler, there you go again, making everything unnecessarily complicated! Touch me, already!” Ulrich opened the clasps that connected his boots to his pants, their fabric falling down. He could watch the ferrofluid flow inside his legs, like a lava lamp. It was mesmerizing to watch, if it wasn’t for Ulrich’s words. Adler searched his coat pockets for a lube sachet, enough for one go.
“You want me to come all over your new outfit?” Adler realized it sounded like he was trying to be sexy, when he legitimately wanted to understand Ulrich’s thought process. He wasted no time, spreading the gel on his dick. Luckily for him, the lube had warmed up in his pocket. The lube Ulrich brought always felt like it came straight from the fridge.
“You’re acting stupid on purpose.” Ulrich tried pulling his pants up to expose his skin. It was too late to try to undress him, they had both learnt that the hard way. In their state they could only fumble with invisible zippers and intricate latches. Adler almost felt bad to sully his stark white pants with what was going to happen next, but he wasn’t going to do it dry. He bent down and placed his dick between Ulrich’s thighs, directly touching his groin with the length of it. Sometimes it was best to ignore Ulrich.
“You’re going to explain this to me later.” Adler started moving. He didn’t want their foreplay to end in a full-blown discussion, the sex being forgotten by the end of the day. Not that he didn’t enjoy arguing with Ulrich. Sometimes, doing both at the same time was fun too. But right now, he just wanted the sex without the mind games.
Bending down like this was uncomfortable, but the experience made up for it. Ulrich pressed his legs together, not giving an inch of space, his thighs squeezing him. With each thrust, he rubbed against Ulrich’s crotch. He put his hands on Ulrich’s hips, grabbing the fabric of his uniform on one side. There were benefits to wearing clothes, too. He started slow, finding his pace, settling on the angle that satisfied the both of them. When he sped up, he hoped to hear Ulrich praise him again, but instead he heard a word that made him freeze.
“The budget.”
“Huh?”
“I should stop you, right now.”
“Oh god…” He shuddered. He couldn’t follow Ulrich’s words, too much focus spent on his movements. The hums of the ferrofluid shaking and pulsing in Ulrich’s thighs, the small bumps and ridges of this clothes and the robot body underneath that massaged his dick with every thrust, everything flooded his mind. And now there were words he had to concentrate on.
“Yes, I know you can multitask. Keep going.” Ulrich’s voice was unsteady, yet he was pushing him. It turned Adler on even more. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind doing me another favour.”
“The budget?” Adler sputtered.
Ulrich only formed into a check mark, albeit less composed. Instead of being one thorough line, the black fluid was disrupted at multiple points. Like he had a hard time keeping himself together, literally.
“Oh god, Ulrich…you're so…” How could Ulrich still be thinking straight? How could he talk so much?
“Stop.”
“Hmm?” Adler raised his head, which he had nestled against Ulrich’s neck.
“Stop moving.”
“But—”
“Listen to me when I talk.”
Adler stopped, his hips begging him to move. He felt like he was going to explode. He whined, his fingers desperately digging into Ulrich, his breath escaping his mouth in ragged gasps.
“Please Ulrich, please just let me…” He hated begging. But he was in no position to do much else.
“You're—” Ulrich coughed, his voice not calibrated right. “—you’re going to sign this paper, or I’ll leave.” There was no anger in his voice, just a command that he wasn’t allowed to refuse. On first glance, his ferrofluid looked as angry as ever, but it was shaking. Maybe it was taking him as much restraint to stay calm as it took Adler to stay still.
“Oh god please don’t,” Adler whispered, body wrapped around Ulrich in a tight embrace. His dick was still trapped between Ulrich’s legs, his arms around his torso, his head dropped on his shoulder. His open mouth at Ulrich’s neck, he decided the command to stay still only concerned his legs. He inched closer to the narrowest part of Ulrich’s neck, the golden plating’s shine dulled by his hot breath. He kissed it at first, lips closed, before he opened his mouth and started sucking on it. The tang of metal enveloped his mouth, a familiar taste to him at this point. One that drove him crazy with want. He moaned as Ulrich jolted at the sensation, pressing his legs even further together. He didn’t even care about the budget, about work, why would he? Ulrich was more important than that. He just didn’t want to let go. He wanted to grind against him, kiss him, feel him, keep him as close as humanly possible and come because of his touch. He mumbled broken German between his wet kisses, when his tongue wasn’t caressing the indents in the metal, trailing up to where his glass dome began. If Ulrich could hear him, then even he would understand the words. It was nothing but “bitte” and “oh Gott” and his name, over and over again, desperation thick in his voice.
He could feel Ulrich shaking, not able to contain his reactions to his Ferrofluid body. He supported himself on the desk with one hand, the other moving to his crotch, not even bothering to find a way through the clothes. He rubbed at his crotch through the fabric, the speakers producing a cackling sound when his voice couldn’t make it out. Suddenly, Ulrich’s hand was at this wrist, pulling it away from his torso. Dragging it downward.
“Fine, fine. Touch me.” Now Ulrich was mad, his tone harsh. Adler doubted he was mad at him. An actually angry Ulrich wouldn’t let him touch him, he’d been there.
“I can move?”
“Yes, flux, Adler, do I have to tell you everything. Fuck me.”
Adler did as he was told, thrusting in the tight space Ulrich had made for him, his fingers laced through Ulrich’s as he stroked him. He felt like the string of a bow that had been held taunt for too long. There was no way he could find his way back into the nice rhythm he had possessed earlier. His thrusts were uncoordinated, but it made no difference to Ulrich. His hands matched Adler’s impatient energy. One hand kept him secure on his crotch, while the other reached up to the back of Adler’s head, keeping him buried in the arch between his head and shoulder. Something that always fascinated Adler was Ulrich’s speech, the way his consciousness translated into words that left the speakers. The way he could pant his name, have his words interrupted by moans, all when he had no need to breath. But that was what pushed him over the edge, hearing his name and seeing Ulrich’s beautiful ferrofluid shake and tear itself up at the sensations.
He sputtered, almost biting into Ulrich’s neck. He had to avoid doing that; he’d chip his teeth. He near shivered as the aftershock of his orgasm passed through him, emptying his head off all thoughts. One thought persisted. He wiped the come off Ulrich’s inner thighs, him opening his legs further after standing still for the entirety of this. Adler’s hands traveled inside Ulrich’s uniform, one arm contorting so he could reach the small of his back. With one, wet, sticky hand, he found the spot between his legs again. The other hand found the thing Ulrich had kept hidden under his new uniform as well: the charging cable adapted for charging stations at Laplace. The cable itself wasn’t of interest to him now, but the port that kept it connected to Ulrich’s body. He grabbed the part of the cable closest to his body and gave it a short tug. He knew it was fully connected to him, it couldn’t be removed. But he could play with it. Tease him. Ulrich was highly sensitive to Adler testing the limits of his technological body and didn’t let him mess with him when he was clear headed.
“Adler!” Ulrich gasped, but any further retort died in his speakers. He whined. Adler could feel the purring of his body, how it grew stronger as Ulrich moaned, his hands digging into the desk. Then, a crackle in the air, like a poorly grounded electronic device about to snap. Adler pulled the cable again, and again, his thumb rubbing the edge of the port. The electricity exploded, and Ulrich’s body right with it.
It was still bright outside, so no lamp in the office was lit. The computer screen was black. No phone call was waiting in-line. As if they had prepared for this, no electronic was turned on, nothing could malfunction.
Suddenly, a sharp beep emitted from the other end of the room. A warning sound. An electronic voice rang out from the door lock.
“Maximum unlock attempts reached. Security Protocol Activated. Please contact a local service provider to open the lock.”
“Fuck.”
***
It took a while for Ulrich to collect himself, sitting in the chair Adler graciously offered to him. Adler leant against the desk, sweaty and tired, trying not to think about having to return to work in this state. Not that he had much choice. He, as a human, a weak one at that, had no means to open the door. Neither brute force nor mathematical genius would allow him to leave. He had to wait for Ulrich to be in full possession of his senses, both magnetic and robotic, before they could try opening the door with his arcane skill. Anything but explain to someone how they both got locked inside the office.
“What did you mean earlier?”
“You have to be a bit more specific, Adler.”
“You didn’t bring a condom because you didn’t think we’d get this far? Then what was all that for?” He gestured. He didn’t know how to name Ulrich’s change in outfit, flirting, sitting in his lap, all that.
“Hmm. That’s going to be difficult to explain to you. There was a high chance you would have kicked me out before I laid a hand on you. If I managed to get that close, my plan was to deny you your orgasm unless you signed the request.”
“Sometimes I wonder—” Adler spoke through gritted teeth. Everything had to be an experiment. A learning lesson. But Ulrich interrupted him.
“Then of course, what happens if you do say yes? You sign it, and then...? Well that’s where my miscalculation lies. You’d make a mess and I’d have to bear it. Though I think I could have handled it in a smarter way that would not have caused lube stains on top of everything. But I’m excited that an outcome happened that I hadn’t expected. I simply had too little time to consider everything…”
“Your experiment was poorly prepared and poorly implemented.” As an experiment, it failed. But if Adler had managed to make Ulrich give up on it in the middle of sex, wasn’t that a victory for him at least?
“Fine, you’re right. Want me to try tomorrow with improved conditions?”
“No!”
***
Two weeks later, Ulrich checked his emails in the early morning. 42 new messages since last night, nothing unusual. He scrolled through the barrage of text until he spotted a red exclamation mark highlighting one of the mails. It was an automatic reply to a budget request he had filed a while ago. It must be for the new coffee machine he had applied for after their current broke down from the excessive usage. He had marked it as urgent, since leaving the lab for a cup of coffee greatly hindered his work flow. This late in the year, their budget couldn’t even allow for such a bare necessity. He was used to these mails wandering straight into the bin after skimming through the generic rejection text. He clicked on it, already dreading the idea of having to drink instant coffee for the rest of the year. When the email loaded, his initial question mark exploded into a happy circle, the nanoparticles jumping out of joy.
“Dear Researcher Ulrich (Work ID: 7146712791418910),
The Laplace Scientific Computing Center is excited to announce that your Request no. [872] has been approved. Your project [Insert Project Name] can move forward and carry your curious spirit until the edge of the universe.
Please note that this is an automatic message. Please do not reply. If you need to reach out…”