Work Text:
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
The clock on the wall that was recently placed just above AM was ticking away the minutes, filling the silence of the room with the subtle sound. Wakafante, Regect, and Moe were sitting on the couch together, waiting for something to happen. Moe kicked her feet back and forth while Regect fiddled with the chain on his neck. Wakafante simply sat and stared at nothing, having not blinked for the past five minutes. He startled the other two as he very loudly began to sniff at the air.
"Hey, hey guys?" The old man called. "What's that smell? What's that smell, guys?"
"What're you talking about? I don't smell anyth--" Regect cut himself off as he caught a whiff of the pungent air. "...Nevermind."
Moe honked and pointed at Wakafante, whose arms have been stuck upward this entire time.
"What?!" Wakafante yelled. "It's not me!"
Regect scoot himself a bit closer to Moe, scrunching his invisible face in disgust.
"Yeah, um... 'Fante, do you wear deodorant? At all?" The monster asked. Wakafante gasped in offense.
"Of course I do!" He argued. "All-natural nether quartz deodorizer! I make it myself in my lair."
Regect and Moe looked at each other and then back at the wizard. Moe blared a singular word at Wakafante, making him stand abruptly to his feet.
"I am NOT stinky! You... YOU'RE STINKY!" He shouted.
Their little back and forth lasted for a good thirty seconds before Regect became fed up with the arguing.
"That's enough, guys. 'Fante, bro, sit back down." He spoke.
"I... I don't think I can, I think I stood up too fast." The wizard muttered, looking down at his skinny legs. Regect could only sigh in response, letting the area fill with quiet once again. Moe looked around and grew a bit worried, tapping Regect's shoulder and honking a question.
"Wait, you're right, where is Ze?" Regect buzzed, glancing around the room alongside Moe. "'Fante, have you seen him?"
"No, no, I haven't, I haven't seen him." Wakafante swore. The entity groaned and put his head in his hands.
"Oh my god, we're gonna have to search for him again." He stood up from his seat. "Moe, you check around outside, I'll do the same but in, like... the opposite direction, okay? 'Fante, you just stay here in case he comes back, we all know how easily you get lost--"
Regect was interrupted by the fridge in the kitchen corner bursting itself open. Protruding out of it was Ze, panting heavily. Splotches of already dried blood were scattered along his clothes, his hair was messier than usual, there were some rips in his jacket... needless to say, he looked like a total mess. The three others stared at him, their eyes widening as they eyed his tattered form. Moe was the first to speak, questioning if Ze was okay.
"...Don't worry, it's not my blood." Ze huffed, closing the door and leaning against it.
"Oh! Oh yeah!" Wakafante exclaimed. "I asked him to, uh, to kill those pesky dwellers that got into my fridge again! I have seen Ze today!"
"Dude, why didn't you tell us where you were going? We were getting worried, man." Regect told Ze.
"Well, I would've, if you two weren't outside blowing up the roads," Ze yawned. "So I just left a note on the counter."
"Pssh, no you didn't." Regect scoffed. Ze, annoyed, peeled a sticky note off of the aforementioned counter and held it up. Moe and Wakafante both turned to face Regect, who put his hands up defensively.
"Hey, I'll admit when I'm wrong." He said.
"Cool, when'll you admit when you're stupid?" Ze quipped.
"Shut up." Regect sneered while crossing his arms.
Moe stifled a laugh, earning an invisible glare from the entity beside her. Wakafante stared into space until he suddenly piped up with something completely off topic.
"Oh! Guys! Guys! I'm working on something!" He announced. "I'm making an Anti-Gravity potion! I've got the recipe figured out, I just- I just need a tester to drink the potion after I make it so I can study its effects!" The wizard turned towards Ze and took a few steps towards him. "Can-- can- will you help me? I need you to drink the potion!"
Ze glanced around the room, baffled that Wakafante would ask him for another favor right after he had just gotten done with one. Plus, said favor left him in such a worn out state. Either he simply didn't care or he really was that senile.
"Uh... nah, nah, I'm good, man." Ze declined, shaking his head.
"Please, Ze! Please!" The old man begged. "I need someone who can't fly, or-- or- or, or float to do it!"
"...'Fante, dude, I just fought a 6v1, I can't--" Ze's words were cut off by Moe, honking away at both of them.
"Huh? Oh! Oh, oh, you wanna help me?" Wakafante asked, his eyes lighting up. Moe nodded her head aggressively.
"Moe, you were just saying he reeked-" Regect was interrupted by more of Moe's honking. She was telling the wizard she could, in fact, neither fly nor float, and she was full of energy, thus making her the perfect test subject.
"...Yeah, that makes sense!" Wakafante agreed. "Upstairs! Upstairs, my, uh, my brewing room is up the stairs! Let's go!" He ran towards the steps and quickly ascended them, Moe following suit shortly after.
"...Dude, she fuckin' saved your ass." Said Regect.
"Yeah, she did," Ze added. "Thank god for Moe, I gotta get her some Dippin' Dots for her troubles."
"Get her, like, a big thing of the Dr. Pepper ones. She loves those."
"I'm not getting her only the Dr. Pepper ones, she needs to have variety."
"True..."
Ze sighed, removing the slinged rifle from his body and setting it aside. Regect furrowed his transparent eyebrows at this sight; Ze was usually very specific with where and how he kept his guns. The entity knew this fight must've been intense.
"...You look rough, man," He said, looking the player up and down and walking closer to him. "I thought cave dwellers were easy for you to kill."
"They are! I mean, they normally are..." Ze tried to loosen one of his shoulders to no avail. "They, like-- they evolved or something, dude, they got faster." He looked down at the dilapidated jacket he was wearing. "...And more bitey."
"Jeez, that's from their teeth?" Regect stuck a finger in one of the torn holes and wiggled it around, quickly earning a smack on the hand from Ze. "Good thing you have a billion of these hoodies."
"Yeah..." Ze yawned once more. "I think I might crash for a bit, that was... that was pretty crazy."
He bent over to retrieve his rifle before becoming stiffer and grunting in pain, placing a palm against his lower spine. "Ghh-! Ow?? God dammit, man!" He complained.
"Ohh, they fucked you up." The entity spoke.
"They didn't, okay, I'm not a pussy, it's just...." Ze slowly rose himself up, stifling another groan. "Ugh... my fuckin' back."
"How much running around did you do?"
"A lot. A lot of it."
"Damn."
After a short pause, Regect stepped around and placed himself behind Ze, wrapping his limbs around his waist.
"Fold in your arms real quick." He commanded. Ze looked down at the monster's grasp in confusion.
"What the hell are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm try- I'm gonna do the, uh... the lifting thing. To crack your back." Regect answered. Ze could only stare at the creature in disbelief.
"...You're not gonna be able to lift me, dude." He stated bluntly.
"Shut up, yes I am. Tuck your arms and cross them." Regect urged.
Ze sighed and did as he was told, feeling Regect's clawed hands clasp around his elbows in preparation.
"You're not gonna do it." Ze affirmed as he held back a smile.
"I am, I'm gonna do it, watch me." Regect boasted, confident as ever.
That was when the entity attempted to hoist the man upward, only to not move him at all and nearly throw out his own back.
"WHOOF-! Oh my god!!" Regect gasped in consternation. Ze instantly erupted into a fit of laughter. "Shut up- Shut up, man!" Regect heaved, letting go of Ze entirely. The words "I told you" were all Ze could manage to repeat through his incessant giggling.
"Did you eat cement-?! What the hell was that?!?" The monster shouted.
"I told you--! I said you wouldn't be able to!" Ze wheezed, bending over slightly and putting his hands on his knees.
"I didn't think you were fucking two thousand pounds, man!!"
"I'm one-fifty--"
"ONE-FIFTY..." Regect covered his face with one of his palms. "Oh my god, I'm a wimp. I'm a weakling."
"Yeah." Ze said with no hesitation, barely managing to bite back another snicker. Regect snapped out of his humiliation and glared at Ze, clearly offended.
"YOU'RE AGREEING?!" He yelled, his voice cracking. This broke the player once more and he let out a tirade of chuckles.
"I'm joking-! I'm joking!" He grinned. "You don't need to lift heavy things, you can, like- you can fly and teleport. That's enough."
"Oh yeah." Regect recalled, losing the anger in his tone.
"No way you forgot again, dude."
"I'm just- shut up, I get used to walking around."
The room fell quiet as Ze had finally stopped laughing, wiping his eyes with his fingers and sighing happily. As petty and embarrassed as he still felt, Regect was glad he made Ze laugh like that. He hoped to hear it again someday.
The monster quickly suppressed those thoughts and let his sight wander around the player’s figure, noticing he still seemed extremely rigid as he rose up from his hunched position. He even inhaled sharply as he stood.
"Okay," Regect started. "Here's what's gonna happen if you're up for it." Ze turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.
"You're gonna lay down on the couch on your stomach, 'cause you said you're tired anyhow, yeah?" He explained. "And I'll crack your back that way."
"...You seem really persistent with this." Ze spoke, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, 'cause if you go to sleep with back pain, you're gonna be all pissy."
"True, true... I hate how well you know me."
Regect let out a snarky, know-it-all chuckle. Ze couldn't see it by any means, but he knew the entity was smirking at him.
He hated how cocky he got at times. He hated how it made his heart feel.
"Alright, I'll let you do this," Ze obliged while beginning to take off his jacket and walking over to the couch. "It'll be quick, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got big ass hands," Regect assured, following behind the player. "That'll probably help."
After Ze placed his incredibly baggy hoodie onto the coffee table, Regect's transparent jaw nearly dropped at the sight before him.
The player had no shirt on underneath, so every bit of the strength on his torso was visible. Ze had some muscle on him. He wasn't rippling with brawn, mind you, but it surely was an impressive build, especially to someone like Regect. The occasional healed scar decorated his pale skin, only adding to the appeal.
The man sat down on the couch, noticing that Regect was oddly still and just standing there at the other side of the table.
"...Are you staring?" Ze asked, feeling slightly insecure. "I feel like you're staring."
"...Uh, yeah," Regect confirmed as he tried not to blush. "You're a fucking unit, dude."
A hint of rose faded onto the apples of Ze's cheeks; it was clear he wasn't expecting Regect to admit he was staring outright, let alone compliment his body.
"Um-- well, I wouldn't-" He awkwardly cleared his throat. "I wouldn't say "unit", I'm not, like... a bodybuilder."
"It's no wonder I couldn't pick you up, you're ripped."
"That's overexaggerating."
"Any more crunchies, and your stomach could become a washboard."
"Not true, my abs are barely there-"
"Since when did you have muscle, anyway?" Regect questioned as he sat down next to Ze, still gawking at his frame. It wasn't like Ze would notice, his entire head was completely transparent. He'd never felt more thankful for that fact before now.
"I went to bootcamp, dude, I told you." Ze chuckled sheepishly.
"Ohh right, right. My bad." Regect coughed.
"Yeah..." Ze looked down at himself, tracing his finger over a scar on his hand. "One of the only things I got from active duty was this physique, so... I, uh, I decided to keep it up."
"...It's impressive." The entity confessed, a slight flush appearing on his invisible face.
Ze felt a boyish pride swell in his chest at that comment. At least, that's what he hoped it was.
"Thanks." He replied with a small smile.
Regect looked at that grin for a few seconds too long before standing up from his seat and positioning himself in front of the couch. Ze caught on and laid down onto his stomach, grabbing a nearby pillow to rest his head against. The monster felt himself get a little shy. Ze's back was fairly toned too. He started comprehending how up close and personal they had just gotten. He was glad Ze trusted him to this degree, but it still felt so intimate. Ze's back was bare and he was about to touch it.
Regect placed his large palms against Ze's upper back and started applying pressure, but halted suddenly as he felt a firm lump on his shoulder.
"...What? Why'd you stop?" Ze asked.
"Hold on." Regect said. He used both hands to feel along Ze's back, making the player shudder.
"...Dude!" The monster shouted.
"What?" Ze called back.
"It's no wonder you can't move, you've got so many knots!" Regect used his thumb and index to make one of the bumps more visible to himself.
"I do-?"
"Yes! Boy Scouts would go crazy at this!"
"...Huh?"
"Y'know, like... knots. They have a knot tying class, or whatever. It was a joke."
"That sucked."
"It seemed funny before I said it out loud."
"That was dumb, man."
"Shut up."
Regect abruptly moved onto the couch, sitting on his knees in front of Ze. The player looked up at him, confused.
"What're you doing-?" He inquired, only for Regect to push his head back down onto the pillow.
"I'm getting rid of all these knots." Regect spoke, cracking his knuckles. "They're pissing me off, and I know damn well they're pissing you off too."
Ze knew Regect was right. He usually was right when it came to Ze's well being. It was always so annoying, but at the same time, he didn't dislike it. It felt nice being cared for every now and again, but why did it have to come from him of all things living?
Despite his inner turmoil, he let out an agitated huff and nodded against the fabric of the pillow beneath him.
"Alright, alright," He begrudgingly replied, allowing the entity to touch him for longer. "Just don't stab me with those claws of yours."
"Oh- shit, yeah. The claws." Regect quickly reformed a few molecules of his body in order to flatten out his nails. Ze watched this happen, his eyes widening.
"...I always forget you can do that." He stated.
"Yeah, so do I. Super cool, huh?" Regect bragged. Ze only rolled his eyes in place of a response.
The monster gulped as he finally began trying to work the knots out of Ze's back. He started by placing his hands along the base of Ze's neck and gliding his digits firmly along the top parts of his shoulder blades. The player didn't dare to look up at Regect during this rare moment of pampering. It was doing something to him.
"Let me know if any of this hurts." Regect instructed as he moved both hands to focus on the wad in Ze's right shoulder.
"You're okay so far," Ze muttered. "I'm just wondering if you know what you're doing, or if you're just pretending."
"I've read, like, two articles about it before, you'll be fine."
"Whatever, man... Next thing I know, I'm gonna get a tear or--" The player cut himself off with a quiet gasp and a noise that sounded almost like a whimper. "Mmnf..."
Regect stopped his movements in an instant at that sound, his face flushing. All he had done was press his thumbs along one of the knots... The monster fully placed his hand against the area, noticing that the small mass had disappeared. He had successfully massaged it away. He watched as Ze's own face reddened with embarrassment and was promptly buried into the pillow, muffled phrases such as "sorry" and "my bad" echoing over and over within the cushion.
"Dude, dude, you're fine," Regect reassured. "When-- When was the last time you got a massage?"
Ze slowly peeked up at the creature, his dark, squinted eyes being the only things visible. "...Never..." He admitted.
"...Okay, so, that explains everything, right?" The entity said after stifling a shiver. "You're not used to this, so of course you're gonna... um... do that."
The two fell quiet again as Regect went back to running his hands along Ze's upper back. "That wasn't from pain though, right?" He questioned.
"...Nah, it... it wasn't." Ze confessed. Regect let out a small sigh of relief.
"Okay, cool. That's good. Yeah." He said.
Regect continued running his hands along Ze's back in an almost mindless manner. It was hard not to get lost in thought, but he had to at least somewhat focus. He needed his movements to be more confident. It wasn't that he was entirely clueless as to what he was doing, it was just who he was doing it to. And the fact that this was his first time receiving such treatment... the monster couldn't get that fact out of his head. He wondered what other first experiences he could give to Ze. It wasn't long before his mind went into the gutter. He felt his heart skip a beat as a pang of heat shot down into his pelvis.
After attempting to erase those thoughts from his brain, he redirected his attention to Ze's back, which frankly didn't help much at all. He could feel Ze's muscles flex and ease periodically under his touch, and he noticed goosebumps appearing along the player's arms.
"Dude, relax." Regect chuckled, his voice softer than usual. Surprisingly, Ze listened to the best of his ability.
It wasn't long before Regect felt another knot directly below Ze's left shoulder blade. He moved his large fingers downward and started kneading at the area, using gentle circular motions to slowly flatten the lump. Feeling more rested than usual, Ze allowed himself to vocalize a little more.
"Nngh... fuck," He groaned quietly, immediately catching the monster off guard. "Sorry, that just... it feels really good."
Those words. Those four words at the very end nearly caused the entity to collapse onto him.
"It feels really good."
The more that weakly muttered sentence repeated itself in his head, the more warmth that spread into his crotch like a wildfire. It was incredibly tempting to stop right then and there, to teleport away and let this moment die, but his heart didn't want to. That, and Ze would be upset if he missed any knots.
Letting out a shaky exhale, he stood up to change position so he could prioritize Ze's lower back.
"I'm... um... I'm glad it does." He finally murmured as he returned to the couch. He soon was on his knees again directly behind Ze, straddling the player's legs as he briefly built up the courage to keep going with the massage. Stroking his digits along the skin, he soon found another wad near the middle of Ze's spine and put most of his efforts there.
The feeling of those sizeable hands against his lower back only served to fluster Ze further. It only made things worse as he felt them get dangerously close to his rear. He understood why the entity's touch would get near his more intimate areas, of course, it was a full back massage. A full back massage meant attention to the full back. Despite the logistics, and the fact that he and Regect were only roommates and nothing more, it felt all too erotic.
Nevertheless, he stayed quiet, listening to Regect whisper a complaint about how stubborn this particular clump was being.
God, his fingers felt so nice. A part of him wished that knot would be impossible to get rid of so the contact would last longer. The other, sensible side of his brain wanted this over as soon as possible.
One subtle "pop" later, and the nagging pain there had disappeared. Ze couldn't help but moan tenderly at the relief, burying his face into the pillow to dampen the sound. He felt the monster freeze and then fully remove his contact. The man would’ve asked why Regect pulled his hands away, but his mind was too fuzzy to form any sort of coherent speech. He ultimately decided to prop himself up a little with his elbows and turn his head to take a peek at the creature behind him.
It was certainly a sight to behold. Reject’s big hands were resting upon the cushion on either side of Ze’s waist, lightly gripping at the seat as if he was trying to hold himself back from doing something he might regret. His chest was moving somewhat rapidly, giving away the fact that the guy was panting.
Ze felt his face heat up and turned away, trying his hardest not to let the aforementioned heat spread downward.
If only he knew that Regect saw. The mere sight of the player looking back at him was what made him start grasping at the couch in the first place.
He shook away his thoughts and focused on the second-to-last knot on Ze’s midriff instead of the wriggling feeling in his groin. Ze didn’t let out any noise when this one was leveled, though it was incredibly hard not to. He didn’t want to embarrass himself further.
“Hold up, I thought…” The entity muttered to himself as he felt along the skin once more. “I thought you had five of those puppies, not…” He glided his palm up along Ze’s spine and ultimately felt the final bump on the nape of his neck. “Ohhh, there it is, I guess I missed it. I got you, hold on.”
Before Ze knew it, Regect was now fully looming over him, one of the creature’s hands landing itself directly next to his head as he used the other to fully feel out the last cluster. Jesus, he really underestimated the true size of those things.
He eventually felt the hand that was previously feeling out the knot run through his hair, bunching up the strands and holding it in place against his scalp in order to get a better view of the wad. Ze’s heart sped up instantly at the tugging, his lap feeling as if it caught ablaze. Did Regect have any idea as to what he was doing to him? It was like he knew the secret recipe to immediate arousal and decided Ze would be his test subject. He absolutely hated it. He hated how good it felt. He hated that he wanted more.
He replanted his face into the pillow, letting free an involuntary whimper as the final knot was taken care of. Regect let go of the hair and finished up his work by quickly cracking Ze’s back with short spurts of pressure, as he was initially supposed to do.
“...Okay, um… that’s the last of it,” The entity said, still partially hovering over Ze. “You feel any better?”
“...Yeah, yeah, I… um…” The man coughed and propped himself up with his elbows once more. “The pain’s pretty much gone. Thanks.”
“No problem, dude.” Regect responded, trying and failing to act as nonchalant as possible.
Ze looked back at the monster one last time, noticing he too was in a similar state of bashfulness.
Was he feeling the same way he was?
They stared at each other for a little while, chests heaving and faces flushed.
Regect took a glance at Ze’s parted lips.
“GUYS! GUYS!” A voice from upstairs cried, the sound of rapid footsteps swiftly following it. Ze and Regect panicked, urgently getting out of their previous position on the couch. Ze moved himself to the corner with his knees tucked to his pectorals while Regect found the edge of the lounge and posed himself into a casual manspread. It didn’t look convincing at all.
“Guys!” Wakafante kept shouting as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “Guys, you– why are you shirtless?”
“...Um… it was hot.” Ze answered in a stammer.
“...Okay!” The wizard accepted. “Anyway! Guys, I have good news! The potion works! It works!”
Ze and Regect talked over each other, both congratulating the old man with his successful brew.
“Thanks guys! I’ve, uh… I’ve got bad news, though.” Wakafante stuttered. “...Moe’s gone.”
“What?!” Regect and Ze yelled simultaneously.
“I forgot to cover up my fireplace and she floated up through the chimney!” Wakafante explained. “She’ll keep floating up to- to, uh, to space until the potion’s effects wear off! Then she’ll fall!”
“Oh my god, you really didn’t think that through?” Ze complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“...No…” Wakafante admitted.
“Dude, how the fuck are we supposed to get her back down?!” Regect asked angrily. Both Ze and Wakafante slowly turned to face him, adding to the entity’s confusion before he realized the obvious and slapped himself on the forehead.
“Oh! Oh, right, I can fly. Yeah. My bad, sorry.” He stood up from his seat and went for the front door. “I’ll be back with her, don’t worry.” That was when the creature opened the door, stepped outside, and took off into the air. A moment of awkward silence passed the other two by.
“So, uh…” Wakafante started. “I don’t- I don’t entirely buy that “it was hot” excuse, what were you and Regect doi–”
“I have a gun.” Ze stated.
“Okay!” The wizard responded, turning tail and heading back up the stairs.
Now that Ze was finally alone, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and changed into a much more comfortable seating position. After taking a brief look at both the door and the stairs, he stretched the elastic of his sweatpants and looked inside of them.
There was his bulge, now half-flaccid thanks to the scare that the old wizard gave him, but still somewhat active due to what he and Regect had just done together. Thinking about the experience made it twitch, so he instantly let go of the band and laid his face into his hands.
“Stop it. Just stop. You hate the guy, and he hates you.” He scolded himself in his thoughts. “It was just a massage, you pussy. Sure, it was your first one, but that’s no reason to get a boner over it. You’re not supposed to like him like that.”
He slouched a bit further down as shame overtook his emotions, replacing everything but his lust, much to his dismay. He sighed and threw his ripped hoodie back on, far too lazy to head up and grab a new one. His mind kept wandering back to the massage, causing him to shove his clenched fists into his pants pockets to hide his ever so slowly increasing erection.
He’s never hated himself more in his entire life.
“...I’m just…” He mumbled to nobody. “...I’ll just wait until it goes away.”