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These will all be reposted in their proper order, but this takes place in the cycles when things were actually "Good" on the mirror!Grid.
Warning; Slash loving, and circuit sex.
The bright white edge of a disk blazed past Clu’s helmet as he side-stepped.Jjerking his upper body aside, he let it pass, let it rebound, and quickly tossed his own disk from his right to his left hand as he turned toward his opponent. The tall ISO had reach on him, but as Jalen extended an arm to grab his returning disk, Clu reached out with his right hand, grabbed Jalen’s wrist, and yanked.
But the ploy was a weak one at best, and though Jalen missed the catch on his rebounding disk, he still crossed the toe of his right boot over Clu’s left shin, and used both of their momentum to drag Clu down with him. They rolled once, and Clu felt his knee bark painfully against the practice arena’s floor, then Jalen was up, and using his knees to press against Clu’s ribs. A hard yank back on Clu’s wrist broke his hold on his own disk.
In fewer than twenty nanos, Jalen was kneeling over his co-admin with Clu’s own disk humming dangerously close to his throat.
“…You’re very distracted, today.” the ISO commented as his silver helmet tipped to the side quizzically. As much as Jalen improved during these little sparring sessions, he knew just as well as Clu did that he shouldn’t have been able to disarm Clu so easily.
Clu huffed, and let his helmeted head fall back against the arena floor with a dull ‘thump’. The disk at his throat deactivated, and Jalen’s helmet derezzed to show a pensive frown as the ISO settled back toward his heels. Notably NOT letting Clu get up, and preserve what was left of his dignity.
“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, then?”, Jalen pressed as he laid Clu’s disk aside gingerly.
“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Clu snapped back. He didn’t want to talk about it right then, and there, thank you. He’d agreed to this frivolous bit of disk practice to escape the office for a short time. The vocalizer on his rezzed helmet rendered his voice gruff, and flanged, but Jalen just narrowed his eyes at the opaque surface.
“I’ll decide what concerns me, co-administrator.” The ISO retorted, and - glitch him - settled back to sit firmly on Clu’s stomach.
“Get off.” Clu snarled, and raised both hands with the intent of shoving Jalen off of him. Jalen was too quick, though, and leaned back with the shove, capturing Clu’s wrists in the bargain. Clu tried bucking his hips to dislodge the program using him as a chair, but despite being plenty strong enough to lift Jalen entirely off the arena floor, the other program simply cinched his thighs tight against Clu’s sides, and leaned forward to maintain his balance.
“Neither one of us is going anywhere until you tell me what’s grating your circuits so badly.” Jalen archly replied, and –
“What are you doing?!” Clu blurted in surprise as the ISO drew one of his hands up, and nipped the end of Clu’s finger smartly.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Jalen teased, and proceeded to close his lips around the gold circuit line trailing down the end of Clu’s finger. His blue eyes were full of stubborn mischief, though, and Clu felt a shiver race up his arm in spite of himself. The warm, soft sensation of Jalen’s tongue swirling around the end of his gloved finger did not help Clu in winning this impromptu argument, either.
One more exaggerated suck, and Clu had to clench his jaw to keep a groan locked behind his teeth. It felt so good that Clu was hardly aware of shutting his eyes as his toes curled inside his boots. But when he opened his eyes again, Jalen was still watching him with that look; stubborn, expectant, and utterly confident that he would get answers. Clu hated that look.
“I’m fine. Really.” Clu tried, curling his free hand into a fist, and trying to subtly pull it out of the ISO’s grip. He managed to twist his wrist enough to free that hand, but once Jalen was no longer holding his wrist, there were suddenly two white-circuited fingertips tracing the logic ladder on one side of Clu’s chest. With just enough pressure for Clu to feel it, Jalen calmly, and precisely traced the gold circuitry until it started to heat up. Feeling stifled, Clu let his helmet derezz finally, and ended up curling his fingers against the ISO’s hip in retaliation.
“Alright, I’m distracted now. Is that what you want to hear?”
The only response out of the program pinning him to the floor was a light, but maddening graze of teeth against Clu’s finger-circuit.
“Jalen…Jalen, stop. Not here.”
Clu couldn’t hold back a groan that time, though he did feel the white circuit curling over Jalen’s hipbone warming under the palm of his hand. Jalen seemed to be practicing selective deafness, since he shivered at the snap of energy transfer, and continued curling his tongue around Clu’s knuckle with lazy abandon, but showed no signs of stopping whatsoever.
“I, it’s…I’m – ah!” Clu could feel the energy spreading down his arm, over his stomach, and his circuits showing violet tinged at every point the other program came into contact with him. He squirmed, testing to see if he could push Jalen down to his lap, if not completely unseat him. No good, though, Jalen only tightened his hold, and raised an eyebrow at Clu expectantly.
“Alright, alright.” Clu relented, and with only a pleased hum of victory, Jalen allowed himself to be scooted down until the nodes on either program’s suits aligned better. Clu felt his eyes close, again, at the heat winding its way through his code coiling tighter in his chest.
“It’s….there’s another Fault line appearance. Took a satellite community with a sinkhole. Minimal casualties, but still. Projections were flawed.” Clu related. He’d heard the distress beacon less than a micro before it cut off entirely. An entire community, mostly energy prospectors, but also a transportation outlet, and one outpost’s worth of sentries; gone. It had bothered Clu deeply to know that this new Fault system had arisen completely independently of the primary, and secondary. It made three, all total, and the news was already causing panic-fueled recalls of Programs back to the larger metropolitan areas.
Jalen finally relented on toying with the circuit on Clu’s finger in order to speak, but his fingertips, and the pad of his thumb still stroked against the gold stripe bracketing Clu’s forearm.
“That wasn’t your fault.” He stated gently, but firmly, and added a graze of lips against the inside of Clu’s wrist. Clu shifted beneath him, but glanced away from the earnest sympathy in those blue eyes.
“…I should have seen it coming. I should have devoted another stats team to—“
He was unable to finish. Before the rest of the possible scenarios Clu had been worrying over for the past quarter millicycle could be recycled, Jalen was laid out on his chest, teeth worrying at Clu’s lower lip, hushing the self-recriminations, and demanding entrance at the same time. Drawing a sharp breath, Clu found both of his arms had wound around the ISO’s waist, and were drawing Jalen down against his chest just as fiercely as Jalen was kissing him.
Energy crackled between white circuits, and gold; friction flaring, and burning like a struck match between them. Jalen rocked down against Clu’s lap – the thick lines slanting crossways over Jalen’s chest burning white hot against the molten gold of Clu’s. Clu, who’s free hand roamed up the solid line of the other's back and then teasingly down again to circle around the base of his spine - pressing deep into violet-tinted circuit lines and coaxing a shaky groan out of Jalen’s throat. Clu who used his hold to pull Jalen down as he bucked underneath, and growled at the cold fire shivering through him.
“We’re meant - mn - meant to serve the System.” Jalen managed in a far more hoarse tone than he started. “To create, maintain, and bring it closer to perfection.”
Clu only gave a short, sharp “hmph” to that declaration, and instead focused on nibbling at the thin, white lines on his counterpart’s throat. He’s rewarded with an architect’s fingers carding through his hair, but Jalen goes on.
“You can’t be expected to foresee every problem, threat, or contingency.” A twist of his hips, and suddenly their respective circuitry is aligned just perfectly for the building energy to hit a high note in the feedback loop.
“Only – only to respond accordingly, and rebuild what the Users break!”
The last word comes out strained and breathless thanks to the teeth grazing over Jalen’s throat, and the fingertips pressing heat, and light into his thighs. Clu doesn’t bother trying to speak, only takes advantage of the ISO’s distraction. Dropping one knee, and pushing off against the floor, their positions reversed.
There was a marked change in Clu’s demeanor - he pushed down against Jalen with purpose, his throaty groan gone dark and satisfied. Jalen whined, completely undignified as the rough friction, and electric snap of energy built higher, and higher. Clu rocked forward hard, rolling his hips and Jalen could feel the snap and sting of Clu’s circuits as they burned hot against his own.
“You’re – you’re better.” he managed to say. Clu snapped his hips, lengthening the spark, and drag of energy and making them both cry out. He did it again and again, until Jalen couldn’t find the strength to keep his legs up any longer. They were pressed down by the solid weight over him and he shut his eyes to listen as Clu breathed hard against the array between Jalen’s shoulder, and throat.
“Better than you believe.” he gasped, arching up at the open mouthed kiss pressed against the circuit bracketing his cheekbone. Pulses of violet danced across the gold bands covering Clu’s body as he moved against Jalen, and the faster he went, the wider each wave became. Jalen wrapped both arms around Clu’s back, and let his fingers cling to his counterpart’s empty disk dock. He could feel the surge of electricity from his circuits, and each time they flashed it went straight to his core.
“Clu…Clu, please.” He panted not caring how desperate he sounded, because the crackle of energy was burning his circuits raw, and he didn’t think he could take much more of this.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Clu husked against the ISO’s ear, and used the pad of his thumb to press, hard, into the circuit over Jalen’s thigh. That managed to draw a delirious moan out of the writhing, panting program, but Clu relented, and instead stroked his free hand over solidly violet circuit lines as Jalen trembled under him. “Until you say so.”
Gold lines burn like fire under hands, against chest, and thighs, but all it takes is one more needy push of fingers, and Jalen was lost. Cinching his hold tight around Clu, he arched his spine, jaw clenching at the streaks of lightening racing through his circuits, and sobbed out “Now!”
It only takes a few seconds; a hard thrust, the simplest touch and slide against circuits, and Jalen cried out, lights glowing blindingly bright, and for just that single moment Clu could taste the intoxicating snap of energy against his tongue. Feeling the bright crackle of overload through a feedback loop meant that the surge of energy slammed against and through his code as Jalen came apart for him, but he only let it carry him over the edge when he could press his lips against his counterpart’s, and fall hard into that kiss. Try to make it last forever.
---~*~---
Clu stayed wrapped around Jalen for a long time, after. A little too long, since it’s an administrator level message that draws Clu’s attention away from letting Jalen’s fingers lazily comb through his hair. The stolen time spent working frustration – and no small amount of despair – out of his system was long since elapsed. He had priorities, the System, work to take care of. But whether it was just hearing it from the only other Program on the Grid who shared something close to Clu’s position tell him so, or working out his own stifled outrage over such needless waste, Clu did conclude that dwelling on the execution path not taken wasn’t doing anyone any good.
He still didn’t want to move just yet.
“Y’know. Someone is probably going to be sent out to bother me, soon.” Clu commented, as Jalen tucked a lock of his mussed hair behind his ear.
“Mmn.” was the only reply.
“And then you’ll have one of those little couriers hopping after you, too.” Clu murmured, and pressed a kiss against Jalen’s throat.
“They can wait.” the ISO’s admin declared, and pointedly wrapped his legs around the backs of Clu’s knees to hold him down.
“I haven’t said we are allowed to leave, yet.”
Warning; Slash loving, and circuit sex.
The bright white edge of a disk blazed past Clu’s helmet as he side-stepped.Jjerking his upper body aside, he let it pass, let it rebound, and quickly tossed his own disk from his right to his left hand as he turned toward his opponent. The tall ISO had reach on him, but as Jalen extended an arm to grab his returning disk, Clu reached out with his right hand, grabbed Jalen’s wrist, and yanked.
But the ploy was a weak one at best, and though Jalen missed the catch on his rebounding disk, he still crossed the toe of his right boot over Clu’s left shin, and used both of their momentum to drag Clu down with him. They rolled once, and Clu felt his knee bark painfully against the practice arena’s floor, then Jalen was up, and using his knees to press against Clu’s ribs. A hard yank back on Clu’s wrist broke his hold on his own disk.
In fewer than twenty nanos, Jalen was kneeling over his co-admin with Clu’s own disk humming dangerously close to his throat.
“…You’re very distracted, today.” the ISO commented as his silver helmet tipped to the side quizzically. As much as Jalen improved during these little sparring sessions, he knew just as well as Clu did that he shouldn’t have been able to disarm Clu so easily.
Clu huffed, and let his helmeted head fall back against the arena floor with a dull ‘thump’. The disk at his throat deactivated, and Jalen’s helmet derezzed to show a pensive frown as the ISO settled back toward his heels. Notably NOT letting Clu get up, and preserve what was left of his dignity.
“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, then?”, Jalen pressed as he laid Clu’s disk aside gingerly.
“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Clu snapped back. He didn’t want to talk about it right then, and there, thank you. He’d agreed to this frivolous bit of disk practice to escape the office for a short time. The vocalizer on his rezzed helmet rendered his voice gruff, and flanged, but Jalen just narrowed his eyes at the opaque surface.
“I’ll decide what concerns me, co-administrator.” The ISO retorted, and - glitch him - settled back to sit firmly on Clu’s stomach.
“Get off.” Clu snarled, and raised both hands with the intent of shoving Jalen off of him. Jalen was too quick, though, and leaned back with the shove, capturing Clu’s wrists in the bargain. Clu tried bucking his hips to dislodge the program using him as a chair, but despite being plenty strong enough to lift Jalen entirely off the arena floor, the other program simply cinched his thighs tight against Clu’s sides, and leaned forward to maintain his balance.
“Neither one of us is going anywhere until you tell me what’s grating your circuits so badly.” Jalen archly replied, and –
“What are you doing?!” Clu blurted in surprise as the ISO drew one of his hands up, and nipped the end of Clu’s finger smartly.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Jalen teased, and proceeded to close his lips around the gold circuit line trailing down the end of Clu’s finger. His blue eyes were full of stubborn mischief, though, and Clu felt a shiver race up his arm in spite of himself. The warm, soft sensation of Jalen’s tongue swirling around the end of his gloved finger did not help Clu in winning this impromptu argument, either.
One more exaggerated suck, and Clu had to clench his jaw to keep a groan locked behind his teeth. It felt so good that Clu was hardly aware of shutting his eyes as his toes curled inside his boots. But when he opened his eyes again, Jalen was still watching him with that look; stubborn, expectant, and utterly confident that he would get answers. Clu hated that look.
“I’m fine. Really.” Clu tried, curling his free hand into a fist, and trying to subtly pull it out of the ISO’s grip. He managed to twist his wrist enough to free that hand, but once Jalen was no longer holding his wrist, there were suddenly two white-circuited fingertips tracing the logic ladder on one side of Clu’s chest. With just enough pressure for Clu to feel it, Jalen calmly, and precisely traced the gold circuitry until it started to heat up. Feeling stifled, Clu let his helmet derezz finally, and ended up curling his fingers against the ISO’s hip in retaliation.
“Alright, I’m distracted now. Is that what you want to hear?”
The only response out of the program pinning him to the floor was a light, but maddening graze of teeth against Clu’s finger-circuit.
“Jalen…Jalen, stop. Not here.”
Clu couldn’t hold back a groan that time, though he did feel the white circuit curling over Jalen’s hipbone warming under the palm of his hand. Jalen seemed to be practicing selective deafness, since he shivered at the snap of energy transfer, and continued curling his tongue around Clu’s knuckle with lazy abandon, but showed no signs of stopping whatsoever.
“I, it’s…I’m – ah!” Clu could feel the energy spreading down his arm, over his stomach, and his circuits showing violet tinged at every point the other program came into contact with him. He squirmed, testing to see if he could push Jalen down to his lap, if not completely unseat him. No good, though, Jalen only tightened his hold, and raised an eyebrow at Clu expectantly.
“Alright, alright.” Clu relented, and with only a pleased hum of victory, Jalen allowed himself to be scooted down until the nodes on either program’s suits aligned better. Clu felt his eyes close, again, at the heat winding its way through his code coiling tighter in his chest.
“It’s….there’s another Fault line appearance. Took a satellite community with a sinkhole. Minimal casualties, but still. Projections were flawed.” Clu related. He’d heard the distress beacon less than a micro before it cut off entirely. An entire community, mostly energy prospectors, but also a transportation outlet, and one outpost’s worth of sentries; gone. It had bothered Clu deeply to know that this new Fault system had arisen completely independently of the primary, and secondary. It made three, all total, and the news was already causing panic-fueled recalls of Programs back to the larger metropolitan areas.
Jalen finally relented on toying with the circuit on Clu’s finger in order to speak, but his fingertips, and the pad of his thumb still stroked against the gold stripe bracketing Clu’s forearm.
“That wasn’t your fault.” He stated gently, but firmly, and added a graze of lips against the inside of Clu’s wrist. Clu shifted beneath him, but glanced away from the earnest sympathy in those blue eyes.
“…I should have seen it coming. I should have devoted another stats team to—“
He was unable to finish. Before the rest of the possible scenarios Clu had been worrying over for the past quarter millicycle could be recycled, Jalen was laid out on his chest, teeth worrying at Clu’s lower lip, hushing the self-recriminations, and demanding entrance at the same time. Drawing a sharp breath, Clu found both of his arms had wound around the ISO’s waist, and were drawing Jalen down against his chest just as fiercely as Jalen was kissing him.
Energy crackled between white circuits, and gold; friction flaring, and burning like a struck match between them. Jalen rocked down against Clu’s lap – the thick lines slanting crossways over Jalen’s chest burning white hot against the molten gold of Clu’s. Clu, who’s free hand roamed up the solid line of the other's back and then teasingly down again to circle around the base of his spine - pressing deep into violet-tinted circuit lines and coaxing a shaky groan out of Jalen’s throat. Clu who used his hold to pull Jalen down as he bucked underneath, and growled at the cold fire shivering through him.
“We’re meant - mn - meant to serve the System.” Jalen managed in a far more hoarse tone than he started. “To create, maintain, and bring it closer to perfection.”
Clu only gave a short, sharp “hmph” to that declaration, and instead focused on nibbling at the thin, white lines on his counterpart’s throat. He’s rewarded with an architect’s fingers carding through his hair, but Jalen goes on.
“You can’t be expected to foresee every problem, threat, or contingency.” A twist of his hips, and suddenly their respective circuitry is aligned just perfectly for the building energy to hit a high note in the feedback loop.
“Only – only to respond accordingly, and rebuild what the Users break!”
The last word comes out strained and breathless thanks to the teeth grazing over Jalen’s throat, and the fingertips pressing heat, and light into his thighs. Clu doesn’t bother trying to speak, only takes advantage of the ISO’s distraction. Dropping one knee, and pushing off against the floor, their positions reversed.
There was a marked change in Clu’s demeanor - he pushed down against Jalen with purpose, his throaty groan gone dark and satisfied. Jalen whined, completely undignified as the rough friction, and electric snap of energy built higher, and higher. Clu rocked forward hard, rolling his hips and Jalen could feel the snap and sting of Clu’s circuits as they burned hot against his own.
“You’re – you’re better.” he managed to say. Clu snapped his hips, lengthening the spark, and drag of energy and making them both cry out. He did it again and again, until Jalen couldn’t find the strength to keep his legs up any longer. They were pressed down by the solid weight over him and he shut his eyes to listen as Clu breathed hard against the array between Jalen’s shoulder, and throat.
“Better than you believe.” he gasped, arching up at the open mouthed kiss pressed against the circuit bracketing his cheekbone. Pulses of violet danced across the gold bands covering Clu’s body as he moved against Jalen, and the faster he went, the wider each wave became. Jalen wrapped both arms around Clu’s back, and let his fingers cling to his counterpart’s empty disk dock. He could feel the surge of electricity from his circuits, and each time they flashed it went straight to his core.
“Clu…Clu, please.” He panted not caring how desperate he sounded, because the crackle of energy was burning his circuits raw, and he didn’t think he could take much more of this.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Clu husked against the ISO’s ear, and used the pad of his thumb to press, hard, into the circuit over Jalen’s thigh. That managed to draw a delirious moan out of the writhing, panting program, but Clu relented, and instead stroked his free hand over solidly violet circuit lines as Jalen trembled under him. “Until you say so.”
Gold lines burn like fire under hands, against chest, and thighs, but all it takes is one more needy push of fingers, and Jalen was lost. Cinching his hold tight around Clu, he arched his spine, jaw clenching at the streaks of lightening racing through his circuits, and sobbed out “Now!”
It only takes a few seconds; a hard thrust, the simplest touch and slide against circuits, and Jalen cried out, lights glowing blindingly bright, and for just that single moment Clu could taste the intoxicating snap of energy against his tongue. Feeling the bright crackle of overload through a feedback loop meant that the surge of energy slammed against and through his code as Jalen came apart for him, but he only let it carry him over the edge when he could press his lips against his counterpart’s, and fall hard into that kiss. Try to make it last forever.
Clu stayed wrapped around Jalen for a long time, after. A little too long, since it’s an administrator level message that draws Clu’s attention away from letting Jalen’s fingers lazily comb through his hair. The stolen time spent working frustration – and no small amount of despair – out of his system was long since elapsed. He had priorities, the System, work to take care of. But whether it was just hearing it from the only other Program on the Grid who shared something close to Clu’s position tell him so, or working out his own stifled outrage over such needless waste, Clu did conclude that dwelling on the execution path not taken wasn’t doing anyone any good.
He still didn’t want to move just yet.
“Y’know. Someone is probably going to be sent out to bother me, soon.” Clu commented, as Jalen tucked a lock of his mussed hair behind his ear.
“Mmn.” was the only reply.
“And then you’ll have one of those little couriers hopping after you, too.” Clu murmured, and pressed a kiss against Jalen’s throat.
“They can wait.” the ISO’s admin declared, and pointedly wrapped his legs around the backs of Clu’s knees to hold him down.
“I haven’t said we are allowed to leave, yet.”
