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Cuddling in bed may just be one of Fry's favourite past time activities. He was someone who could easily spend the weekend in bed, lazing around, snoozing, thinking, eating, or just doing nothing. Of course this was more fun, if you had someone else to keep you company. A lot of his past girlfriends weren't really into this and preferred to go on dates or do other things which didn't involve sleeping in till 3pm and then snoozing some more for no reason at all.
It was different with Bender. The amount of weekends they had wasted away just rolling back and forth on their bed, sometimes just next to each other, but most of the time tangled together like a Gordian knot, communicating solely by content grunts and sighs would've been ridiculous to most. For them it was heaven, full of intimate touches, endless eye contact and pizza-crumbs on the sheets.
They had decided to screw their beds together, after they had become a couple in summer. It had been nice, not only could they finally share a bed with each other, Bender's body also functioned double as a cooler, Fry finding himself pressed against the cold metal during lukewarm and uncomfortable summer nights, letting the robot absorb his excess body heat.
It had worked out beautifully, but now the seasons have changed, damp skin and hot flushes replaced by cold toes and subtle shivers. They still shared a blanket, which they had switched to a duvet by now, but Fry had a hard time clinging to his metal boyfriend like before. Even if he wore clothes in bed, something he found way too uncomfortable anyway, there was no way he could hold onto him for more than a few minutes without starting to shiver.
Guilt made his guts crawl and his heart hurtle. It must seem like he didn't want cuddles anymore, but the opposite was the truth. He was constantly cold and wished he had someone warm to snuggle up against and he knew he shouldn’t expect that from him. Nevertheless, he missed it, the wind outside, lamenting between the skyscrapers of New-New-York, prickling huge raindrops against the glass wall of the room, scattering the neon lights outside into satisfying little globes, made him feel especially lonely. It should be a cosy night to be huddled up with your loved one, but instead they laid in bed, an arm length away from each other.
Fry's fingers were tapping the dirty sheets nervously. Bender may be a cold machine, but that shouldn't stop him from being close to him. He sat up, staring at his boyfriend.
"You okay there?"
Bender asked, a bit sleepy.
"Yes. I mean. Actually, no. Hold on a second..."
He turned the light on to rummage around in the closet, making a noise of victory when he finally found his parker. Now it was Bender's turn to sit up, observing the human curiously.
"It's barely November, why are you getting out your winter coat? In the middle of the night?"
Fry pulled the thick, dark-blue garment over his arms, shrugging it on, pulling it in place and then closed the zipper right under his chin. It was a bit too big for him, so only his fingers were visible from the sleeves, the coat itself reaching almost to his knees. He looked ridiculous, with his naked feet poking out of the thin cotton of his pyjamas, his face squished by the tight collar.
"Are you that cold?"
Bender snickered, but Fry just squinted at him and returned to the bed, shuffling awkwardly under the covers. His coat got tangled in the sheets and it took him an awful amount of effort to close down on the robot, who just waited for him, his face showing pitiful amusement. At last he made it, flopping his arms around his casting, pressing his face against Bender's head. Bender hugged him back, his tube arms sinking into the soft fabric as if it was were made from clouds.
"So, why're we doing this?"
He pressed, still highly confused. Fry huffed at that, making some time to come up with a reason which didn't involve Bender's body temperature.
"Just felt like it, now shuddup and turn off the light."
Great comeback, as always. He was extremely uncomfortable and he had trouble breathing in this position, but he still preferred this over the 40+-married-couple-who-secretly-hate-each-other situation they had going on before.
"Sure you did, pal. And I'll donate all my cash to orphans tomorrow."
Fry hugged him tighter, wishing Bender wouldn't be so inquisitive.
"Can you just be straight with me, meatbag?"
"Can you just let me sleep, boltbag?"
He retorted, a bit proud of that witty comeback.
"Hey, that's offensive! And no."
Bender's body started to wiggle, quite to the annoyance of his human, who truly didn't want to continue this conversation anymore.
"Bender, please, let's just sleep?"
This just made him wiggle even more and after a while Fry finally gave in. With an irritated sigh he sat up again, crossing his legs, the parker being pushed up and squishing his face. He started to nervously fiddle with his fingers, his eyes suddenly captivated by the folds of their bedsheets. He felt the mattress wobble while Bender moved to sit as well.
"You can sleep if you tell me what's going on here!"
Fry gulped.
"I really don't wanna say..."
He mumbled, feeling small and ashamed. His hasty actions had exposed him and with how things are going, it didn't look good for Bender's ego.
"You can't do strange shit like this and expect me to ignore it, Fry!"
He was right, as always. This stuff wasn't fair on him. He didn't want to lie to him, even if it meant hurting Bender’s feelings.
"Hmnn Bender, it's just..."
He started meekly.
"I really love to cuddle you!"
"Uh-huh..?"
His robot was confused, so he continued.
"And it's great in summer, because you're so cold!"
"Oh... kay?"
Came from him and he looked up through his eyelashes, biting his lips. Normally something flirty to do, but right now he was just chewing his self-hate away. God, why was he so weak and stupid?
Bender watched him, a bit concerned, a bit worried, but definitely still very much confused.
"But sadly, now that it's fall, and it's getting cold in the night, and I'm already cold as it is..."
He searched for a glimmer of understanding in Bender's expression, but couldn't see any, just questions.
"I'm getting too cold when I hug you... But I miss it so much so I wanna make it work!"
He hoped Bender could see the effort he had put in and see that he didn't blame him for this. Bender smiled, which made Fry's heart flutter with hope, but then he burst out into laughter.
"You're such an idiot, Fry!"
Bender chuckled, shooting him a patronising gaze, before he shook his head.
"You could've just told me!"
Fry blushed, feeling silly, as if he was making some rooky dating mistake. He probably was.
"Didn't want to hurt your feelings..."
He mumbled, melting into himself like a wax figure in the sun. The parker helped to hide his shame as well.
"And instead hurt yourself? How about we don't do that?"
Fry could only nod at this, his face now properly buried in the depths of his coat, heating up despite the cold night air around them. Through the fabric he could feel Bender's sturdy grip, making him flinch.
"Take off that coat, man. Want to show you something."
Bender's voice was near, its familiar huskiness helping Fry a bit to catch himself.
"Okay..."
Mumbling this, he was getting a hold on the zipper, which turned out to be stuck. He pulled at it frantically, getting more and more angry. He wanted that damn thing off, wanted to forget about all this, wanted to know what Bender had to show him.
"Bender, it's..."
He complained and out of nowhere, metal fingers gently swiped his hands away, and with a few quick motions the zipper was free, running down the lane of teeth with a wholesome sound.
Fry was out of the cocoon, looking shyly at his boyfriend who just smiled back in a bad attempt to comfort him. He was clearly still amused by his actions. Bender fell back down on the pillows, lifting the duvet invitingly.
"C'mere, you jerk."
Too self-conscious to feel insulted, he resorted to simply following his order. He shuffled down under the duvet and then towards Bender, carefully embracing him.
His skin was bracing itself for an icy impact, his mind tight like a bow about to snap and he held his breath. His arms pressed around the round casting of Benders chest, but his skin wasn't on fire, his nervous system didn't yell at him to pull away, much to the contrary.
Comforting warmth, not unlike a human's, encased him, soothed his tensing muscles, muffled any bad thoughts in his mind, his body seamlessly fitting itself around Bender's.
"Waaaarrm..."
He dumbly whispered, pushing his head deeper between Bender's head and pillow. He felt himself warming up properly, from his freezing extremities to his very core, the anxiety and shame which had come with being so cold simply vanishing like his clouds of breath in the morning. Bender's fingers, equally heated, rubbed over his back, pulling the duvet higher up between them so they were both barely visible from the outside, merely a blissful pile of warmth and comfort.
His heart thudded with happiness, as he finally could be close to his robot again without having to endure numb fingers and shivers.
"Didn't know you could heat, too..."
His face was still pressed against the pillow and if it wasn't for Bender's ability to understand muffled Fry-speak, he wouldn't have been able to answer.
"All-round-talent, baby."
He hummed lowly, making Fry snicker.
"There's nothing you can't do, huh?"
He followed his desire to watch him, so he moved his head up, his hands now between his chest and Bender's casting, still heating away.
"Can you go even hotter?"
Fry asked, grinning expectantly.
"I can, but I don't wanna burn you, Fry."
Bender's hands slid under his shirt, the metallic fingers actually warm against his skin, trailing pleasantly along his shoulder blades and waist.
"You're a sensitive, little human and I'm Bender, the mighty robot, I godda be careful with you..."
Fry knew this was meant to tease him, but all Bender's comment did was making him feel protected.
It had been pretty early in their relationship when he realised, that he was enjoying being on the lower end of the strength spectrum, being the one who gets protected, to be looked after. It wasn't especially manly, in fact it was the exact opposite, but his robot seemed to thrive on their dynamic, liked to be in control and have the power to make him feel good, so it was far from Fry to deny him this. It just led to him feeling happy whenever Bender tried to humiliate him.
Fry didn't feel like he had to prove himself and instead went with his instincts, his deep, formerly hidden desire to be taken over, to be claimed, being at the mercy of someone more powerful, but benevolent. Bender's heating was just a new aspect of this, providing him with the warmth and snugness he so badly needed. Even when he asked him to get hotter he wouldn't, for the sake of his safety.
Fry blushed, this time out of happiness and not embarrassment, holding the eye-to-optics contact, shoving his hands further between them to keep his fingers warm. He wanted Bender to say more of these things, trying to come up with something to prompt this.
"I'm not little, I'm taller than you."
He smirked, hoping the competition aspect would rile Bender up.
"Pffft, these few inches. You're still weak and pathetic against me. You can't even bend a toothpick."
"Why're you with me then, if I'm so pathetic?"
He asked, pulling his leg over Bender to warm up his thighs as well.
"All humans are pathetic, it's not your fault."
The robot was grinning at him, moving one of his hands to hold onto Fry's cheek, warming it up in the process and making Fry's eyes flutter shut.
"Just means I godda protect your wimpy ass."
Fry's face was glowing even brighter and he wasn't able to hide his smile.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, like right now, against the cold."
Bender's tube arm pulled him even closer.
"Or thugs, or other robots, or aliens who wanna abduct you. Can't have that."
If Bender only knew how absolutely loved Fry felt, but he obviously didn't. The way he uttered these things was way too casual, way too teasing.
"Can't have them hurt what's mine."
A low rumbling chuckle escaped Bender's voice box, while Fry felt his insides melt with this clear, unrestricted display of possessiveness.
"Hmnnn, Bender..."
Fry sighed, overwhelmed with love. He interlocked his fingers behind Bender's head, staring at him affectionately.
"Wanna be yours, always..."
Bender seemed to be taken aback by this, obviously expecting him to become offended.
"You... do?"
"Hm-hmn..."
A kiss was in order to emphasise his point. He licked his dry lips quickly and then closed the last few inches of heated air between them, pressing his face against Bender's mouthplate.
With his mouth puckered, he was feeling the static dance between his skin and Bender's conductive material, the heat around them making it even more intense. Warm, hard hands were sliding up his body, getting a hold on his head, keeping him in place while he softly gasped and moaned with every little bit of electricity he received. Bender pushed him closer, his head trapped in the powerful strength of Bender's grip, sparks flying, tickling his lips and all it did was making him crave more.
He opened his mouth, his tongue slipping out and making contact, the sparks feeling sharp on the sensitive organ. The room was filled with his moans, pleading him to keep going, wishing he could spark him even harder. Long, passionate licks, way too much saliva, overflowing just like his feelings, bright violet sparks forming on his lips and numbing his face. He had felt so deprived of intimate, intense contact and internally cursed himself for it. He pulled away at last, seeing Bender's expression, his optics unfocussed, his mouth indicating a smile. Fry's face was cupped on both sides now, his cheeks heating up against the touch.
"Fry, promise me something."
"Anything, Bender..."
He sighed, not able to think of one thing he wouldn't do for him.
"If that happens again, yunno, you needing something, just let me know. Can't take care of you if I don't know what's missing."
Fry nodded slowly, the affection in this command feeding his submissive heart.
"Will do. And for you, too."
His palms were flat on Bender's chest, the concentrated nerve endings collecting as much heat as they could.
"Is there anything you need right now?"
He asked, eager to please. To his surprise, Bender broke the eye contact, looking away to think.
"There's something..."
He started, Fry pressing himself tighter.
"Tell me, what is it?"
Bender sighed at that, then lifted his gaze again to shyly blink at him.
"Well, it's... don'tjudgeme but..."
Bender's voice got stuck, so untypical for the normally brash robot. Fry snuggled closer, humming reassuringly.
"I'll do anything, Bender, don't be shy."
"Okay...uhm... Fry, can... can you tell me… you love me?"
The look which hit him was horrible, full of hurt and angst, suddenly distorting the formerly relaxed features. It took his breath away. His heart shattered like it was made from expensive china. He hadn't been aware how bad the lack of closeness had affected his robot as well. In hindsight he realised how his behaviour must've been for him, making him feel rejected, unwanted, unloved.
Bender's upset got mirrored in him, closing up his throat and making his eyes burn with the need to cry. He felt like the biggest jackass in the whole universe. If there was a price for that he would probably win it with a huge lead.
"Bender... Oh god..."
His request seemed innocent enough, but it was the first time he ever asked this of him and he knew how much he hated to be vulnerable like that. He was now the one holding Bender's face, making sure to keep close eye-contact.
"Listen to me."
Bender's optics were wide, ashamed, but attentive.
"I'm.. I'm not good with words, Bender. I wish I could tell you how I feel for you, but it's so strong, so overwhelming, I can't describe it."
His thumbs gently brushed over the other's face.
"Just thinking about it makes my heart ache, because it's so, so much. I've never felt like this before..."
A blush was creeping up his face once more, working through his feelings like this flustering him.
"I think I've come here, into the future, because it's my destiny to spend the rest of my life with you. Because I never wanna be apart from you. Because I'm the luckiest guy in the whole universe to have you, and I never want to let you go. Because Bender..."
His own emotions were overtaking his body now, and he shuddered, tears rolling down his face, while he watched his robot intensely. Bender was steaming like an old boiler, his optics wet with his own tears as well, Fry feeling his warm hands on him tremble. He let out a pathetic sob, his heart going crazy, seemingly pushing against his ribcage, his grip on Bender's face getting even tighter to ensure that he paid full attention. He stared at him through the curtain of tears in his eyes, Bender's sobs filling his ears.
"I love you more than anything in my life."
This didn't even come close to how he actually felt, but it was the best approximation he could muster. It did seem to have the effect he had hoped for at the least, judging from the way Bender's face dissolved while thick drops of tears covered his face. His whole body was shuddering like the leaves in Central Park in the stormy night outside.
"Oh Bender..."
Fry hushed, embracing him tightly, Bender using the crook of his neck to hide his face, to sob into it, soaking his shirt with robotic tears.
"I'm so sorry..."
He added, petting his head gently.
"I love you so much."
He softly whispered, making Bender hiccup and pushing himself closer.
"So, so much..."
The sobbing didn’t stop, still strong and overtaking his poor robot's body. He pulled the duvet further up, only the top of their heads poking out now and he hugged him as tight as possible, crying with him. They stayed like this for while, letting out all the pent up emotions, feeling each other close, comforting each other with their tight embrace. He promised himself to never be the cause of so much upset, while he planted a kiss on the top of Bender's head.
"Thank you."
Came muffled from below, Bender having calmed down at last. Fry kissed his head once more.
"Only reminding you of the truth."
Bender moved in his arms, his face looking at him again, still damp from his tears.
"If you tell anyone about this, I'll strangle you."
The human smiled, glad to have his old, rude Bender back.
"Don't worry, my lips are too busy kissing you anyway."
Leaning down, he gave Bender some butterfly kisses on his forehead, tripping him up with this loving gesture.
"You... You soft-serve..."
Bender mumbled, before he pushed himself up, kissing his human properly. It was just to show him how it's done… not because he wanted to feel his lips again or whatever. It's not like he needed him or anything…