Fic: Winter Coat (3/?)
Title: Winter Coat
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Hound, Mirage, Red Alert and a brief appearance by Inferno
Summary: Hound can see underneath the cold exterior that Mirage uses to protect himself. Knowing what's wrong doesn't make helping him any easier, however.
Warnings: None
It was the end of shift of the next day before Hound saw Mirage again. Hound had just gotten off patrol and was entering the showers when he spotted the elegantly crafted back of the noble at a shower head, cleaning solution spraying down on him. Hound sidled up to the shower head beside him and grinned when Mirage turned to him.
"Having a nice shower there?" Hound asked.
Mirage sighed, turning away. "I was."
"Careful, you might hurt a mech with that sharp glossa," Hound teased. He turned on the spray for his own shower, shivering a little as warm solvent cascaded down on him.
Mirage didn't answer, focusing on his arm as he ran a cloth over it. He could see Hound starting on himself from his peripheral vision. Perhaps if he kept quiet, Hound would learn to leave him be.
"How was shift today?"
Or not. One could hope. "It was fine," Mirage said.
"No one bother you or anything?"
Mirage wanted to scream. He didn't need this concern, he didn't want it, nor the advances towards friendship. "No, now leave me alone. I wish to relax and not dwell or talk."
Hound shrugged, scrubbing at his front. After several clicks of silence, Mirage had thought he was finally getting the semblance of solitude he desired.
"Mirage, would you mind helping me with my back? I can't really reach it." Hound's hand squirmed fruitlessly at his back to make his point. Unfortunately his bulk made back washing difficult.
Mirage debated. If he helped Hound, he could gain help in washing up in return; however, if he denied Hound, he'd be closer to his goal of deterring the mech's overtures of friendship. Mirage's desire to be clean won out over his long term goals of being alone and ignored. "I suppose," he said, taking the cleaning cloth from Hound. He wasn't going to use his own on the filthy scout, that was for certain.
Mirage started from behind Hound's shoulders, across, then down. He was meticulous in finding all the corners and crevices building up with grime and cleaning them out. "I believe if you left yourself in this state for any longer, you could cultivate a new species of bacteria."
Hound's shoulders shook with his laughter. "Better not tell Perceptor, I think he'd lock me in his lab to test that theory."
Mirage nodded lightly even though Hound wouldn't see it. "Hound, could you bend over a little? I can't get into the seam between your waist and lower back."
Hound grinned, doing as asked and using his hands to prop himself with his knees. He couldn't resist the opportunity Mirage just opened up. "Usually when I'm in the showers and someone says that to me, it's cause they're getting much funner ideas than cleaning."
Mirage's hands stilled and his gaze slowly lifted to the back of Hound's head. The shutters for his optics narrowed in a glare as he frowned. If Hound could see the look, his grin would have instantly vanished. "Would you mind staying like that for a moment? I think I'll need a brush to get some of this dirt off."
"No problem," Hound said.
Mirage rose and smiled to himself as he noticed Hound's back was turned to the temperature gauge on the wall. Mirage reached out and quickly switched it to the lowest setting and jumped away before he could be caught by the now frigid cleaning solution.
Hound leapt up and yelped as ice cold solvent washed down his back. He quickly jumped out of the spray and turned to Mirage. "Overreact much?" he asked, gasping and shivering.
"Overreacting for me would be to slap you for your crude comment. This is far more entertaining however." Mirage turned off his own shower, grabbed his wash cloth, and sauntered out of the room with a smug grin.
Hound watched him go, feeling a mixture of bemusement and frustration. After a moment, he edged around the shower spray and switched it back to a reasonable temperature and finished washing himself. He mulled over what he'd just said to Mirage, wondering if he'd gone too far. He didn't think it'd been offensive at all, he'd said much dirtier things in jest before to others; although, Mirage wasn't like most mechs. Noble culture was a lot different from what he was raised in. Pit, he knew barely a damn thing about nobles to begin with, and there weren't any other nobles on base to get advice from.
Hound perked up as a new thought occurred to him. There weren't any nobles, but there was a mech not all too dissimilar to Mirage; cautious, alert, and often keeping to himself, barring a select few.
---
Red Alert immediately turned around in his seat as the monitor room doors opened. For a moment he tensed before quickly settling back in his chair and schooling his features. "Hound, this is unexpected. Weren't you already on shift?"
"I'm not here to report for duty. If you don't mind, I need to ask you something, sir." Hound added the title as an afterthought, hoping Red Alert wouldn't order him to leave before he got another word in.
Red Alert turned back to the monitors, and for a moment Hound did think he was going to brush his presence off. "You should have asked me after shift, but if you make it quick, I'll answer now. I can't spend my shift fraternizing when I should be keeping my attention on the monitors."
"Sure. You, uh, know Mirage right? I think I accidentally offended him and I need advice on how to get to know him. I want to be friends, but it's kind of hard with him."
"Why are you asking me? Aren't there more personable mechs you could get advice from?" Red Alert asked, not turning from the monitors.
"Yeah, but you and Mirage are kind of alike. You both sort of keep to yourselves, but you at least have some friends, Mirage doesn't have anyone here. He barely talks or socializes, and that can't be good for him. I just... need help figuring out how to do things right. I can't make him be my friend, but I want to know what to do so I don't chase him off either."
Red Alert was glad he wasn't facing Hound, because that gave him the liberty to smile without it being seen. He was suddenly reminded of when his friendship had been pursued in a similar manner. "First of all, it's good you don't want to force your friendship on him, because if he is like me, that'll scare him off immediately. You shouldn't be too forward, though. Don't invite yourself into his space, invite him into yours. When he declines, don't press it, just let him go and move on. Keep inviting him in and let him know that you're always available for his company. Eventually, hopefully, he'll warm up.
"Second of all, don't tell him you know better about himself than he does. No matter how right you might be, no one likes being told what's best for themselves. I know it makes me want to dig in my heels all the more when someone tells me to 'get out more.' He's not going to break himself in a week because he doesn't have friends, just like you're not going to fix him in a week by being his friend. He's set in his ways and it'll take patience and space for him to see what he wants and needs. Make you concerns known, but don't push them to hard onto him. He'll appreciate the concern, but he'll appreciate some privacy more.
"And last of all, do not let yourself get frustrated, and even more, don't let him see you get frustrated. He'll know he's not worth it if he feels that not even you can put up with him. Do you understand?"
Hound nodded, then realized Red Alert couldn't see him and said, "Yeah, I got it. Thanks for the advice and your time. I kinda had a lot of what you said figured, but hearing it put into words I think is gonna help."
"Good, best of luck to you and Mirage, Hound. It'll be interesting seeing how everything between you two unfolds."
Hound frowned and tilted his head to get a better look at the myraid of different images on the various monitor screens. "Just how much attention do you pay to all of us on those things?"
"Enough to make sure you're not killing each other. I'd keep away from the interface innuendo in the future. The Towers weren't prudish, but they usually kept such teasing between good friends, which you are not yet to Mirage."
Hound flushed, mumbled a barely intelligible thanks and shuffled out, almost bumping into Inferno on his way. The larger mech watched Hound in curiousity before walking over to the monitor console. "Hey, Red, need a little liquid pick-me-up?"
"Inferno, don't call it that, you know how filthy processors can be. Someone may misinterpret what you're referencing."
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Hound, Mirage, Red Alert and a brief appearance by Inferno
Summary: Hound can see underneath the cold exterior that Mirage uses to protect himself. Knowing what's wrong doesn't make helping him any easier, however.
Warnings: None
It was the end of shift of the next day before Hound saw Mirage again. Hound had just gotten off patrol and was entering the showers when he spotted the elegantly crafted back of the noble at a shower head, cleaning solution spraying down on him. Hound sidled up to the shower head beside him and grinned when Mirage turned to him.
"Having a nice shower there?" Hound asked.
Mirage sighed, turning away. "I was."
"Careful, you might hurt a mech with that sharp glossa," Hound teased. He turned on the spray for his own shower, shivering a little as warm solvent cascaded down on him.
Mirage didn't answer, focusing on his arm as he ran a cloth over it. He could see Hound starting on himself from his peripheral vision. Perhaps if he kept quiet, Hound would learn to leave him be.
"How was shift today?"
Or not. One could hope. "It was fine," Mirage said.
"No one bother you or anything?"
Mirage wanted to scream. He didn't need this concern, he didn't want it, nor the advances towards friendship. "No, now leave me alone. I wish to relax and not dwell or talk."
Hound shrugged, scrubbing at his front. After several clicks of silence, Mirage had thought he was finally getting the semblance of solitude he desired.
"Mirage, would you mind helping me with my back? I can't really reach it." Hound's hand squirmed fruitlessly at his back to make his point. Unfortunately his bulk made back washing difficult.
Mirage debated. If he helped Hound, he could gain help in washing up in return; however, if he denied Hound, he'd be closer to his goal of deterring the mech's overtures of friendship. Mirage's desire to be clean won out over his long term goals of being alone and ignored. "I suppose," he said, taking the cleaning cloth from Hound. He wasn't going to use his own on the filthy scout, that was for certain.
Mirage started from behind Hound's shoulders, across, then down. He was meticulous in finding all the corners and crevices building up with grime and cleaning them out. "I believe if you left yourself in this state for any longer, you could cultivate a new species of bacteria."
Hound's shoulders shook with his laughter. "Better not tell Perceptor, I think he'd lock me in his lab to test that theory."
Mirage nodded lightly even though Hound wouldn't see it. "Hound, could you bend over a little? I can't get into the seam between your waist and lower back."
Hound grinned, doing as asked and using his hands to prop himself with his knees. He couldn't resist the opportunity Mirage just opened up. "Usually when I'm in the showers and someone says that to me, it's cause they're getting much funner ideas than cleaning."
Mirage's hands stilled and his gaze slowly lifted to the back of Hound's head. The shutters for his optics narrowed in a glare as he frowned. If Hound could see the look, his grin would have instantly vanished. "Would you mind staying like that for a moment? I think I'll need a brush to get some of this dirt off."
"No problem," Hound said.
Mirage rose and smiled to himself as he noticed Hound's back was turned to the temperature gauge on the wall. Mirage reached out and quickly switched it to the lowest setting and jumped away before he could be caught by the now frigid cleaning solution.
Hound leapt up and yelped as ice cold solvent washed down his back. He quickly jumped out of the spray and turned to Mirage. "Overreact much?" he asked, gasping and shivering.
"Overreacting for me would be to slap you for your crude comment. This is far more entertaining however." Mirage turned off his own shower, grabbed his wash cloth, and sauntered out of the room with a smug grin.
Hound watched him go, feeling a mixture of bemusement and frustration. After a moment, he edged around the shower spray and switched it back to a reasonable temperature and finished washing himself. He mulled over what he'd just said to Mirage, wondering if he'd gone too far. He didn't think it'd been offensive at all, he'd said much dirtier things in jest before to others; although, Mirage wasn't like most mechs. Noble culture was a lot different from what he was raised in. Pit, he knew barely a damn thing about nobles to begin with, and there weren't any other nobles on base to get advice from.
Hound perked up as a new thought occurred to him. There weren't any nobles, but there was a mech not all too dissimilar to Mirage; cautious, alert, and often keeping to himself, barring a select few.
---
Red Alert immediately turned around in his seat as the monitor room doors opened. For a moment he tensed before quickly settling back in his chair and schooling his features. "Hound, this is unexpected. Weren't you already on shift?"
"I'm not here to report for duty. If you don't mind, I need to ask you something, sir." Hound added the title as an afterthought, hoping Red Alert wouldn't order him to leave before he got another word in.
Red Alert turned back to the monitors, and for a moment Hound did think he was going to brush his presence off. "You should have asked me after shift, but if you make it quick, I'll answer now. I can't spend my shift fraternizing when I should be keeping my attention on the monitors."
"Sure. You, uh, know Mirage right? I think I accidentally offended him and I need advice on how to get to know him. I want to be friends, but it's kind of hard with him."
"Why are you asking me? Aren't there more personable mechs you could get advice from?" Red Alert asked, not turning from the monitors.
"Yeah, but you and Mirage are kind of alike. You both sort of keep to yourselves, but you at least have some friends, Mirage doesn't have anyone here. He barely talks or socializes, and that can't be good for him. I just... need help figuring out how to do things right. I can't make him be my friend, but I want to know what to do so I don't chase him off either."
Red Alert was glad he wasn't facing Hound, because that gave him the liberty to smile without it being seen. He was suddenly reminded of when his friendship had been pursued in a similar manner. "First of all, it's good you don't want to force your friendship on him, because if he is like me, that'll scare him off immediately. You shouldn't be too forward, though. Don't invite yourself into his space, invite him into yours. When he declines, don't press it, just let him go and move on. Keep inviting him in and let him know that you're always available for his company. Eventually, hopefully, he'll warm up.
"Second of all, don't tell him you know better about himself than he does. No matter how right you might be, no one likes being told what's best for themselves. I know it makes me want to dig in my heels all the more when someone tells me to 'get out more.' He's not going to break himself in a week because he doesn't have friends, just like you're not going to fix him in a week by being his friend. He's set in his ways and it'll take patience and space for him to see what he wants and needs. Make you concerns known, but don't push them to hard onto him. He'll appreciate the concern, but he'll appreciate some privacy more.
"And last of all, do not let yourself get frustrated, and even more, don't let him see you get frustrated. He'll know he's not worth it if he feels that not even you can put up with him. Do you understand?"
Hound nodded, then realized Red Alert couldn't see him and said, "Yeah, I got it. Thanks for the advice and your time. I kinda had a lot of what you said figured, but hearing it put into words I think is gonna help."
"Good, best of luck to you and Mirage, Hound. It'll be interesting seeing how everything between you two unfolds."
Hound frowned and tilted his head to get a better look at the myraid of different images on the various monitor screens. "Just how much attention do you pay to all of us on those things?"
"Enough to make sure you're not killing each other. I'd keep away from the interface innuendo in the future. The Towers weren't prudish, but they usually kept such teasing between good friends, which you are not yet to Mirage."
Hound flushed, mumbled a barely intelligible thanks and shuffled out, almost bumping into Inferno on his way. The larger mech watched Hound in curiousity before walking over to the monitor console. "Hey, Red, need a little liquid pick-me-up?"
"Inferno, don't call it that, you know how filthy processors can be. Someone may misinterpret what you're referencing."