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[biocomposer]

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[biocomposer]

"Yes."

He reaches out, opens a case.

"They're sterile."

[therushingsky]

"Thanks."

He accepts them. Works the jaws of the wire cutters around the cables, and squeezes hard.

Some cut easy, others resist until he's squeezing white knuckled on the cutters. Once they're gone, he shifts his grasp to feel up under the remaining carapace.

"Ugh-- the are a couple of bolts and way more microfibre tendons in there, that'd be easier to cut off this top piece was off, but-- I am a genius who decided to point solder this in place."

His voice steadies as he talks through the problem. It's fine. Standard maintainance. Hardware issues.

"If you have an iron I could probably scrape the solder out from under the front myself, but I might need you to do the back for me?"

[biocomposer]

"Let me do the whole thing," Elijah suggests, voice....surprisingly gentle. "I can see what I'm doing."

[therushingsky]

Rhys is a little surprised, but-- also not. Maintainance. It's not like this isn't at least a somewhat routine part of Elijah's sex life either.

He drops his hand from under the carapace, setting it on the workbench beside him.

"Sure. Thank you." He shifts a little, "Is this an okay angle for you, or should I move?"

[biocomposer]

"This is fine."

Although he does adjust the angle of the lighting, slightly, so he has the best possible view of what he's doing before he gets to work. He's got 'painstaking but efficient' down to a fine art, with more delicate work than this, and he's going to make it as painless as possible.

[therushingsky]

Getting the solder out isn't a fine detail job, just an annoyingly fiddly one, and right now nothing on the arm hurts at all. The way he described feeling with the prosthetic? Identifying pressure and heat and pain without experiencing them like he would on flesh? Right now they're just nothing. Total numbness. Like it's not even him.

He's quiet as Elijah works, just watching the other man, appreciatively.

[biocomposer]

Elijah hums quietly as he works, carefully working out the last few scraps of solder, contenting himself that the job is done to its fullest before even trying to move on.

"...Alright. Just hold steady while I finish removal."

[therushingsky]

"Right. I'm steady."

He braces himself a little, expecting to feel the pull as it's removed, even though he's felt nothing else of this.

[biocomposer]

Elijah sets down the arm carefully on his worksurface and then reaches out for his flesh-and-blood shoulder, carefully curling his fingers around him.

"All done," he says quietly.

[therushingsky]

Rhys does feel it. A sudden cascade of muscles unclenching and uncramping as the weight comes off him. Stored up hurt for the days he's spent over-adjusting.

He makes a sound in the back of his throat, then leans forward into the touch, to put his head on Elijah's shoulder. His arm around his waist.

It doesn't occur to him that he's still hiding his face from his boyfriend.

"Thanks. I-- literally couldn't have done that without you."

[biocomposer]

"You're welcome. I..."

He takes a moment.

"...I know I'm not...available to you in the ways that you need. But I want to be here for everything that I can offer."

[therushingsky]

What is this?

Is Elijah saying a thing about their relationship?

And if so... why?

"You are here for me. And I feel the same way."

This mumbled into Elijah's neck, before he pushes back a little, eyes wet.

"Are you all right?"

[biocomposer]

Elijah almost visibly steels himself.

"...Have I upset you?"

Already?

[therushingsky]

"What?" Rhys actually laughs, releases Elijah long enough to write his eyes, "No-- I'm crying because one of my best friends stabbed me in the arm, you dummy. I just-- you don't usually volunteer stuff like that and I wanted to check if something was wrong."

He's balancing a few plates here.

[biocomposer]

"It's not that..."

Elijah vaguely registers that Jedao is one of Rhys' best friends, which he doesn't think he was aware of. Then again, he's still completely oblivious to the fact that he was a partial contributor to the killing spree.

He sits down opposite him.

"It's been brought to my attention that we need to be more specific about the...parameters of our arrangement."

[therushingsky]

Rhys nods, expression fully attentive. He doesn't look worried. It's the expression he wears whenever they're working on something together. Waiting to have enough information to make something work.

"Go on?"

[biocomposer]

Elijah decides to fix his gaze two inches above Rhys' shoulder, because it's easier than watching him for microexpressions. Baby steps.

"I suppose I hadn't fully acknowledged that when we agreed to open our relationship, that we would be opening it to someone so...antithetical to myself."

[therushingsky]

"Oh. Yeah. He is-- pretty much as different to you as anyone could be."

Rhys's face does fall a little bit, as this is where the conversation goes, but he starts focused.

"Is that-- I take it it's been bothering you?"

[biocomposer]

"It has," might as well rip off that band-aid, "but the same time I'm very much aware that it shouldn't. I know the whole meaning of this is for you to be fulfilled in ways I can't provide, and it makes perfect sense that you would go to someone who has that sort of...energy."

[therushingsky]

"Yeah, well-- you could say that I shouldn't want those things in the first place, it doesn't make the feeling go away."

Rhys points out, gently.

"Do you know why it's bothering you, or is it just a weird feeling?"

[biocomposer]

"Nobody with any sense would say that," Elijah says crisply, and moves on. "I can only assume I feel this way because this is one of the few experiences I've invited myself into where I have some serious shortcomings."

[therushingsky]

"Elijah." Rhys says flatly, "You're a total babe for saying it, but no one in their right mind would look at this situation and come away from it feeling like my motivations are normal and healthy, or that your reaction to this is weird."

"And-- what kind of shortcomings do you mean?"

[biocomposer]

"I mean..."

He frowns at the wall.

"Perhaps it would help for you to talk me through it. Your motivations behind this decision."

[therushingsky]

Rhys nods, choosing his words carefully,

"Some of it was just-- rhythm. He has this kind of, push and pull energy. He's making jokes, then he's trying to provoke you, then he's upset, then he's hitting on you, then he's making jokes again. It felt very--"

Rhys pauses, trying to think of how to put this,

"I don't know. I responded to it. It was fun. And kind of hot? Like, I thought I could imagine what it'd be like to go to bed with him. I knew it'd be-- weird. And maybe kind of uncomfortable, and maybe too much. And if I came early, or said something stupid, or-- I don't know, fucked it up, it just wouldn't matter because it would be so weird anyway. And he'd just have a good time either way."

Those were probably the initial reasons. They've multiplied though. Grown in the warm dark damp between too bodies. Rhys scratches his neck, watching Elijah's expression.

"I'm not sure-- how much you want to know. Is it helping?"

[biocomposer]

"...Yes."

Although he's wearing the Completely Implacable Expression that served him well through his more controversial board meetings.

"Although you do realize that none of those things would matter with me either."

Has he been giving Rhys performance anxiety without even knowing?