bless you. { back to snoring away. }

{ consider his attention shifted, already working to grab up the wrecker. you’ve done it now, hot shot! }

some more than others. { hands set firmly on the other’s hips, massaging the metal at his thumbs. }

well, keeping busy making sure your little workers are too, yeah… { that’s nice. leaning in, brushing his lips against hot shot’s… }

{ datapad instantly put DOWN. } yeah, baby? what’s up?

{ checking the cameras at the bar. duhhh. }

{ pinching his side without diverting his attention away from his datapad. }

average delivery— but expect higher taxes the next go around. something about the holiday season is gonna up the prices, yadda yadda. { he’ll try and worm his way out of it, should the time arise. swindle is toooo good at all that. } anyway… more importantly, you ready for bed?

{ honestly, he could get on board with a decked out ruben. but the noise… as long as he’s not wearing it while they’re trying to sleep, swindle will be fine. } yeah— he’s on the night shift today, actually. took a peek at todays grid for the bar, and did the order for this week.

void did? huh. didn’t think he knew a jeweler… that’s definitely custom made. flashy… { he’s a fan of gold himself, if one couldn’t tell by the * everything about him. they match! }

oh, wow— you got him a collar? are you planning on taking him out for walks? { oddly, he does seem to like the new addition to ruben’s ensemble, even if he’s joking with it. reaching out to scratch at the peacock’s chin. } you look good, rube.

{ yaawwwn, pushing aside his datapad for the moment. that’s enough staring at a screen for today, conman. }

{ swindle is in the bedroom! he’d love to see your new accessory, birdie, he’s just working on some inventory management. }

you ate all the blue ones already, picky. hurry up before hot shot sees how much i gave you…

hey, hey— beggars can’t be choosers. i thought you liked strawberries. { no, the other berry, you dummy. the assortment of fruit is going alll over the floor, and swindle can only think about how he’s going to have to clean that up now. * 🫩 }

{ that’s not helping the argument. nor is swindle with lowering down to feed him some treats. }

{ fat bird. }

{ HELLOOOO! he’s savoring the moment while it lasts, his free hand sneakily making its way onto hot shot’s hip to tug him closer… purrrr. }

you’re charming when you drink. let’s see what you got. { flashing a grin, a hand outstretched to retrieve the drink, lifting it up to his lips for a decent siiiip. swishing it around… } hey, not bad for a light drink… i like it.

eh. i heard you from upstairs entertaining, so i figured i should help. anything you want me to do, baby? { besides offering kisses while the wrecker works in getting those drinks made, of course. }

making our guests drunk, are ya? { he’s just kidding. waddling closer to observe the drink making in progress… martini glasses, good choice as always. } mm, maybe i’ll have one… only if you’ll drink with me.

{ rotorstorm is here? good GOD. he doesn’t want to descend down these steps, but he’s going to anyways. just for hot shot. }

{ … yeah, sure. swindle will just clean it in the morning. }

aht. { POINTING to the bird’s bed. you had THE ENTIRE DAY to eat that waffle. }

go to bed.

ruben, get that OFF the bed. ( 💢 ) { GET O— }

{ ruben will get two mini waffles. whether or not he actually LIKES them is another thing. once he stops by the washroom to clean up, he’ll be quickly making his way to the kitchen! }

okay, that’s all doable. i’ll get to mixing everything up, yeah? { he has to get up in order to do that, but swindle is leaning in to give hot shot kisses in the process. mwa, mwa. }

i could eat. what should we make… { he’s able to help you this time! trust that he’s going to overtake most of the cooking to make up for his sick time. purrr, wiggling his digits to slip between hot shot’s. }

{ YAAWWnn… } i feel well rested now, but still tired at the same time. i don’t get how that works. am i ungrounded yet? { rubbing at his waist… tickle. }

mmnhhh. hi, baby. good morning. { wrapping one of his arms around the smaller, his free servo reaching up to rub at his optics. wipe the drowsiness awayyy. }

{ no fever but he WAS sleeping. flickering his optics to the smooches… this is a nice wake up call. }

{ thank GOD, finally. swindle was holding on to the escaping moments of consciousness, clonking out as soon as he feels hot shot’s presence return. snnnzzz… }

mmmmhggr. no biting.. you’ll eat me. { his words are barely murmured out, scratching the peacock’s little head. he’s happy to see you, ruben. }

rubennnn… { lazily stretching out a hand to hang over the edge of the bed. come hither for scratches. }

{ is he hallucinating right now. the damn medicine is to blame— squinting his dimmed optics at the crest. no, that’s ruben, you silly, sickly cube. } eh?

{ don’t tempt fate, here. he’s just ever adamant when wrong. it’s a little charming, besides, he’s doing as told now! readjusting the cloth… } i’ll be here… ( ♨️ )

you’re acting like— i’m sick. { gee, wonder why that is! finishing off the remainder of his cube, setting the empty container onto the nightstand right beside the bed, quickly settling back in to where he was sleeping previously. } … wish you’d rest with me.

{ sip… perhaps that’s why he feels so drawn to continuing drinking! good work, hot shot. } you always look nice…

{ he still grunts in displeasure to the medicine, but he keeps his end of the bargain and takes them with no further difficulty! now sip up that full cube, conman. } ‘kay. you look pretty today… new finish?

don’t… have a fever. i’ll take ‘em if you want… { or rather, he doesn’t exactly have the strength to really fight with him on this like he did yesterday. taking his time in rising up, his palm outstretched to receive the medicine and cube. he’s losing his stubbornness! }

hnnnh… { can you feel the heat radiating from his frame? he’s coming to, heavily drowsy as his optics offer a barely visible flicker. } mm? you okay…?

{ snoooreee… }

UGH. i’d rather be asleep if it comes at the expense of my dignity. { it’s just medicine, you freak. pulling up the covers to rest over his frame, minding ruben right beside him. }

( ‼️ ) { AHH!! AHHH!! swindle will carefully twist this to be in his favor, purring away as he lifts a free servo to adjust hot shot’s chin. lightly pressing his lips to his, you can definitely feel the heat from here— and not solely from passion. go to bed, you sickly cube. }

can’t you check some other way. like, mouth to mouth. { kissy faceeee— blinking his optics once he feels the peacock cuddling into the side of his frame, to which he moves his arm in order to return the affection. good ruben. }

mmnh. i dunno. check my temperature. { waggles his brow ridges in a sultry manner, effortlessly pushed over with an ‘ oof! ’ so dramatic, conman, readjusting himself to lie flat. }

… deal. you’re so hot to me right now. { simply stated while pushing aside his mostly empty cube onto the nightstand, peering over the bed to see where ruben went off to. don’t get any funny ideas, sicky. }

i don’t get * sick. even if i did, it’s not like i ever got time to take it easy. you just get over it. { he’s so serious right now. this shouldn’t come to a complete shock, hot shot, he wanted to work even when he was critically injured. the only reason he didn’t was purely because of him. * 🩵 }