Playtime

"mmmmnhh. a mm ngh. GNNh! Mmn."

Zero squirmed and twisted over the thin brown carpet. His arms were strapped together tight, and jerking vainly behind his back. He rubbed his face against the fibers, trying to dislodge the heavy black tape wound around his head; it covered his mouth many times, and reduced his normally penetrating voice to mere mewls and frustrated grumbles.

A soft giggle sounded above him, and Zero lifted his head to fling a baleful blue-eyed look at the laughter's source. His hair shifted, long gold fronds settling around his forehead and neck, framing his outraged face gloriously.

Axl grinned and kept the portable camera (antique, but he liked the look of analog so much better for this stuff!) steady with a firm hand; Zero's helpless glowering was perfectly centered in the backlit viewfinder.

"Great, just like that. Squirm around some more, will ya? A little more slowly... then roll onto your back. Oh, push your hips up a few times too, okay? "

"Hrn." The growl had a note of warning- don't push your luck!- but Zero complied, struggling alluringly and then rolling backward in the process, trapping his arms under his back. He kicked with both feet, struggling to lift his weight off his arms, and in the process, his pelvis thrust up repeatedly toward the view of Axl's camera. "Mnn. NNng!" Zero was only thankful that his well-polished red armor hid what would otherwise have been a rather embarrassing and revealing state of hard arousal; he felt like he was burning inside, and it was getting difficult to fake being angry...

Axl advanced on Zero with the camera, crouching down and reaching out with his free hand...

...And then X's voice rang out of nowhere, "Axl?" and something knocked loudly on the (thankfully locked!) door. Axl almost dropped the camera. Zero froze instantly, soundless as he stared at the door in horror.

"Shit, shit..." Axl hissed softly, then shouted, "Just a sec!" He cast around in a panic and grabbed a blanket, hastily tossing it over Zero; the blond Reploid squirmed briefly and compressed his body as tight as he could to hide beneath its folds.

Axl hurried to unlock the door, plastering on his Number-Three smile (Very Convincing and Totally Authentic, Whatever It Was, I Didn't Do It!) while fanning himself desperately to cool down the blush on his cheeks...

"Uh, hey, X. What's up?"

The legendary blue Hunter smiled apologetically, "Sorry if you were in the middle of something. I'm just looking for Zero, have you seen him?"

Something- maybe the hopeful look in X's luminous green eyes, or the fact that Axl was currently roiling with the electrical equivalent of raging hormones- whatever the reason, a crazy impulse struck Axl, and he decided to run with it. [Hey, Zero. Got an idea. Stay down, okay?]

[Like I'd move.]

"No, I haven't... something up, X?"

X shook his head, the faintest suggestion of worry on his brow and at the corners of his (very pretty, Axl suddenly thought; damn, X was so pretty!) gentle mouth. "No, nothing's wrong, I just wondered where he was."

"Hey, I'll help you look, if you want...? Not doin' anything right now..."

Under the hot and scratchy blanket, Zero rolled his eyes and struggled not to sneeze.

"Sure, that'd be fine, Axl. Thanks!"

Axl followed X out into the hall.

They made some brief, unimportant talk; the kind of talk made by good friends- a little gossip, a little rumor, a little bit of truth. Axl carefully positioned himself as they moved, so that he got a little bit closer to X as they went, a little bit behind him, and he watched the spaces around them carefully.

Finally, he was close enough and the terrain was just right, and with a big grin on his face he generated a pair of thick handcuffs in his left hand. In one easy movement, he slid his right hand over X's shoulder and grabbed him by the mouth, wrapped his other arm around X's waist, and pulled him around the corner into another room. X was completely blindsided, and had no time to react. Axl's hard press on his mouth kept him from moving his head at all, so he questioned, "FFl!?"
Axl giggled happily, pressing himself to X's back and rubbing slightly. "Sorry, sorry... I guess I was playing with you a little, X. Don't worry, I SWEAR I'm not doing anything bad. Maybe a little evil, but not BAD, okay?"

X made a wary noise and a small nod; his lithe blue body was tense, but he remained composed. "Mmhm," he encouraged Axl to go on.

"SO, here's the deal. You wanna know where Zero is, right? I know exactly where he is, and I'll take you right to him, but... there's a price, and the price is that you gotta do what I say for the rest of the night, no matter what I say. 'cause otherwise, I won't tell you where Zero is and you won't see him until tomorrow!"

X snorted over radio. [Clearly, you have me at a disadvantage...]

"Yep!" Axl laughed. "I do. So... yes?"

X rolled his eyes as hard as he could, but nodded after a moment. [Just be glad it's been so slow lately...]

"I know, I know. Blah blah, work comes first... Now, gimme hands!"

And X very obediently moved his hands back, allowing Axl to enclose his wrists in thick octagonal restraints of hard metal. He let out a breath as the binders snapped closed. Energy bit into his arms, making his fingers begin to tingle and grow numb. "...mph."

Axl took X's upper arm. "Okay, we're walking. Back up the hall, be casual."

"I don't know, this is pretty obvious..." X wriggled his shoulders pointedly.

But Axl laughed evilly, "Guess you better hope nobody sees you then!" He crowed, and ushered a redfaced X back into the hall.

Luckily, no one came down the hall just then, but Axl and X crept like criminals anyway, their cores spinning with the thrill. It was a relief when Axl pushed X through the open door of his room and slammed it shut quickly behind him; they both exhaled hard.

X stumbled a little, caught himself and turned, facing Axl. "Okay, so... where's Zero?" He glanced around Axl's messy room- toys, ancient video game consoles, magazines, gun racks- and suddenly spotted the crumpled red blanket on the floor to his left. X narrowed his eyes suspiciously; a flash of DNA moved across his eyes as he fired a demand-ping into the blanket.

An indignant squeal and squirming came from beneath and Axl laughed, moving over to peel the blanket back and reveal his other 'captive'.

"MFF!"

X stared at Zero, astonished at the sight of his lean red body strapped to itself and twisting around; Zero stared back mutely at X's blushing face and his bound hands; their faces grew hotter and hotter.

"...what have I gotten myself into?" X murmured, just before Axl pounced him with a large roll of black tape...