collateraldamaging | kazu 2.0 au

kazu 2.0 au

The battle hadn't gone great, but once again they'd survived. And Kazu expects that when he opens his eyes, he'll be back in his gen:LOCK pod. There's no reason to suspect differently, after all... a battle ends, they return to transport or base, and download back to their bodies before hitting uptime. He's done it so much at this point it's become second nature, but this time he can tell something isn't right. He doesn't feel the chamber at his back or hear anything... and when he does open his eyes again he finds that he's in the Hub. Not even his personal space, just the void.

And the only person there is Val.

The fact that it's Val in front of him is all that keeps him from immediately trying to download again, and he steps forward with a deeply confused expression.

"What's going on?" Because Val doesn't look confused. He looks... Kazu can't place it the emotion in his eyes, actually. "We're at uptime, we need to go."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kazu gives a little hum of understanding, resting his head back on the pillow and just looking at Val. Wondering how he ever got so lucky, to have this. To still have this.

"You are the best thing to ever happen to me," he tells Val, reaching up to run fingers through his hair gently. "We'll get through this."

"The best thing ever, hm? That is high praise." There's a gentle note of teasing, but the look in his eyes is purely loving. He can tell that he really means it, and that settles as warmth in his chest. "...I do not want to know what my life would have been like had we never met. Yes. Yes, we will get through this."

His head tilts into Kazu's hand, again, as his fingers comb through. One way or another, they will get through this. There's nothing of that hesitation about if this was the right move, anymore—it will not be easy, but if Kazu thinks this is worth it, then he cannot muster even token regret to have made this choice without being able to ask him.

"You deserve high praise." He does really mean it, his smile lighting his eyes. It's easiest to focus on Val, on them, so maybe he's leaning into it a bit much but that doesn't make him any less genuine. He twirls a lock of Val's hair around his fingers and sighs wistfully. "Can we just keep kissing until you're out of time? Then I will face the material world."

Val chuckles softly, and that may be the first time he's laughed since the Anvil too, bringing his hand to Kazu's face again and stroking his thumb along his bottom lip. "I think that can be arranged. There is time to be made up for."

He draws Kazu back in for a deep kiss, hand sliding down to fit to the curve of his neck whilst his other stays in Kazu's hair, pressing as close as he can. He wants no more distance between them than there needs to be.

Val draws him in and Kazu goes happily, savoring the rush of sensation as he kisses back. They do have time to make up for -- not just when he was gone, but all that time he spent struggling with his feelings. It seems silly now to have hidden them, when they could have been together. He's not wasting a moment ever again.

As the kiss drags on he drops his hand to wrap that arm around Val's waist and pull him in tight, but it's still not enough. Kazu makes a soft needy sound and rolls onto his back, pulling Val along to settle on top of him. That's just right... he makes a soft pleased sound into the kiss and wraps his other arm around Val's shoulders, loving the feel of the weight pinning him down.

The noise Val makes when Kazu rolls them over is somewhere between surprised and pleased. He shifts only enough to get comfortable, to straddle Kazu's body whilst still letting himself be held there, still pressing as close as is possible, still pinning Kazu between himself and the bed with his weight. The hand on his neck trails down to his chest, then his side, settling there; the other remains in his hair, holding his head at the right angle.

Yes, this is much, much better. And is bringing certain other ideas on how to spend their time to mind.

Val hesitates almost more about breaking the kiss to speak than he does about what he says, though there's the faintest hesitance to it too—he does not want to move too fast for Kazu, after all, but atop him like this... he hums, presses a kiss to Kazu's jaw and speaks against the skin. "You know, we do not have to stop at kissing..."

When Val pulls back Kazu's instinct is to chase the kiss, but then those warm lips are moving against his jaw to make a very welcome suggestion. He smiles, looking slightly embarrassed -- Val can definitely feel his interest in that, the way he's positioned.

"I did not want to be so forward," he murmurs, turning his head towards Val's, "but I would like that."

It's an understatement. What better way is there to feel like he's still alive? Like he's still the person Val wants to be with? He loosens his grip to slide his hands down to the other man's hips and catches his mouth for another kiss. There was that hesitance, though.

"You're sure?"

Val laughs, again, and steals another brief kiss of his own before responding, "I am sure. I did not want to rush you, but if you simply do not want to be so forward, well..."

He rolls his hips against Kazu, slow and deliberate, a trail of kisses starting at the corner of Kazu's lips, drawing along his jawline until it stops with a final kiss pressed just before Kazu's ear, so he can breathe out:

"...then of course I want you, Kazu."

Kazu can't help the sound that escapes him when Val rolls his hips, his grip tightening as he rocks up to meet the motion needily. And those words breathed into his ear send a shiver down his spine -- it's something about how Val says his name, he thinks. The way he's never shy or uncertain about what he wants.

"You have me," he replies in a rush, tilting his head back to bare his neck. "Always."

He wonders if Val will shift this time too... his experience is limited to their last encounter but once again it's the most natural thing in the world to let Val guide him.

Val presses kisses down Kazu's throat, laces his fingers a notch tighter in his hair. With his other hand still braced against Kazu's side, he uses the leverage to roll his hips again, his own noise muffled against Kazu's skin.

Perhaps one day they can figure out how realistic the Hub will allow them to get with garments, if they can find a way to strip each other down bit by bit if they so choose, but until then it is simple to will away the suits just like before. Kazu's hands on his hips are warm and firm and real, as real as anything outside this place, and he can't help but marvel for a moment that they have this. That for all that they've lost, there are some things that simply cannot be taken from them.

The trail of kisses stops part-way down Kazu's chest before he seizes up to catch him in another kiss, the accompanying shift of his hips half-deliberate, half a side effect of the motion.

Willing away the suits has its benefits. It means they don't have to break apart to be skin to skin, and Val can trail kisses down his body without interruption. Kazu squirms beneath him, loving the slow teasing shift of Val's weight and the little tugs to his hair. One hand caresses up Val's side, only to wind up clutching at his shoulder as he suddenly moves back up for another kiss. Kazu moans into it, sliding his other hand down to grab Val's ass and encourage him to keep moving. He might be feeling a bit bolder now.

"Val..." he sighs against Val's lips, voice low and rough with lust. There was a time when giving himself over to someone like this would have been uncomfortable for him, when he would have needed to be in charge and feel in control. It's never been like that with Val. There's trust here, deep and complete, like nothing he's ever felt before. He steals another kiss before rocking his hips up again, struggling to use words. "Please. Don't stop."

"You think I would?" Val teases, because he still delights so very much in getting to tease him. His hips roll again at the end of the question as if answering on his own, his knees planted firmly in the mattress and fingers pressing firm into Kazu's ribs.

His thumb strokes arcs over his skin—there is a relief to feeling the warmth of him beneath his hands, his body. He loves this man more completely than he has anyone, has given more of himself to him than he's dared to give others in the past, and against all odds he is here. He is here and warm and alive and he is Val's, giving himself over to Val's touch, trusting him to take good care of him. Of course he will. He could never do anything less.

And, true to his own teasing word, he doesn't stop. The way he rolls his hips stays slow and firm, his own low noises an echo beneath Kazu's.

"I think -- ah..." Kazu trails off and arches under Val, losing track of what he was going to say for a moment there. "I think you like to tease me," he finishes the statement, releasing his grip on Val's shoulder to cup his face. And just gazes up at him as their bodies rock together, enjoying the view. The curve of Val's grin and the spark in his eyes.

It could be fun for Val to tease him, he thinks, but another time. Right now he just needs Val's touch, his reassurance. He needs his world to narrow down to this moment, the two of them together and how right it feels.

“Me? Tease? Never.” He presses his cheek into Kazu’s hand, eyes closing for just a moment before meeting Kazu’s again. There is that spark in the grey, playful and adoring at once, but he keeps his teasing verbal, only. There will be chance to tease him more completely another time, because there will be another time.

He kisses Kazu’s palm. He doesn’t still. He watches Kazu, watches the way his expressions shift, the way he squirms and reacts, the way he’s watching him.

“Tell me what you want, Kazu.”

That 'never' gets a small chuckle out of Kazu, the sound fading into another moan as Val keeps moving. He can tell this isn't going to be enough for either of them, though, Val's question confirming it.

What does he want?

For a long moment he's quiet, considering what he's ready for and what he isn't. How familiar he wants it to be and how different. He likes Val in charge, but wants to take a more active role. So, slowly, still watching and cradling Val's face, he slides his hand around from Val's ass to get it between them. His own hips still as he gets a grip on Val and starts to stroke, biting his lower lip for a moment before answering properly.

"Ride me. Like this."

There’s a shiver down Val’s spine as his hand wraps around him, his hips shifting again to rock into the touch. He presses more into Kazu’s hand at his cheek, seeking that affection just as much as he seeks pleasure, and nods. He would want anything Kazu could want in this moment, but yes, yes he wants that, he can give him that.

It was nice, before, to dip into being Valentina for a little while—knowing that Kazu would see him no differently for indulging in that fluidity in a way that is not so simple as the overwhelming pressure to change, the part that it is often easier not to explain. It had, also, helped to ease Kazu into this—but this is not their first time, anymore, even if in some ways it is, and now it is nice to enjoy this wholly as himself, too.

He shifts forward, a little, sitting up more, careful not to shake Kazu’s touches away. He looses the grip on Kazu’s hair so that he can reach back to wrap his own hand around Kazu, now, stroking idly. He will not make him wait long, but give him a moment to enjoy the view as he touches him more directly than he has been, first.

Despite his initial confusion at the concept, after getting to know each other Kazu doesn't see Val as any different from Valentina. He'd never been attracted to a man before but that wasn't so much a crisis to him as a quiet realization that Val was just Val. And yes, there were feelings there, like nothing he'd ever felt before. He just hadn't known what to do about them, and is glad his original self figured it out. Glad that he has that memory now, but this time he wants to explore a bit more. Learn what Val likes this way and enjoy a different view.

Val sits up a bit and Kazu's eyes rake down his body, breath hitching as he's stroked in turn. He knows there's a bit more to this with Val male and he's eager to learn, distracting as the touches are.

"Tell me what to do?"

Val smiles, and if he preens a little at the way Kazu's eyes rake over him, then that probably comes as no surprise. He knows he looks good, and it feels good to have that appreciated by someone he loves in a way that is different from simply being admired by strangers.

He stills his hand to let Kazu focus, moves it to settle on Kazu's forearm whilst the other rubs up and down Kazu's side. Debates, with himself, what the hub can accurately simulate. For all that, here in the Hub, he could probably skip ahead, waste as little time as possible, he wants to take that time. He wants to do thing as close to how they would in the real world as it can be, here.

"It's not so different. It is and isn't," he hums, shifts his position slightly again. Artificial lubricant is, perhaps, something he does not trust the limits of the Hub's sensory programming to accurately convey, so he decides to judge whether to try based on how things feel. "You fingered me before, yes?"

There's a distinct look of gratitude in Kazu's eyes when Val asks that question, treating him like he's the same person as before. He nods, stroking his thumb over Val's cheek and sitting up just enough to kiss him again. And if it's as simple as that he can handle things without further instruction. His own hand stills and he lies back down, reaching lower and further back, searching.

There are differences, as Val said. The angle isn't quite the same and he worries as he presses in that there's no slickness, but he goes slow and watches Val's face carefully for discomfort.

Val's head drops forward with a low noise, but he makes the deliberate choice and effort to lift it again, throwing it back to get his hair out of the way, so that Kazu can see his face. He breathes out, giving Kazu's arm a squeeze to get across that he's okay, too. It's— different, that much is very true, he is much more used to the sensation being accompanied by the slickness of lube, but it's not immediately uncomfortable like he might expect in the real world.

"If you are worried, I am sure it would be possible to manifest some lubricant, I am just unsure that it—" He exhales, again, fingers pressing into Kazu's side. "That it would behave as expected. This is okay."

Either way, he adds it to a mental list of upgrades to the Hub that would certainly be appreciated, if they are willing to risk asking Cammie for such obvious things.

Kazu hesitates, not drawing his hand back but stilling it, his brow furrowing slightly.

"I don't want it to be just 'okay.' We can do something else," he tells Val, and he means it. If Val wants to shift again, or try something else entirely, Kazu doesn't care.

It's definitely something that could be patched, but asking Cammie would be the most embarrassing thing in existence. Either way, they can talk about it later... right now he just wants to do something that's good for them both.

Val's face softens and he leans down to give him another kiss, for that, which is actually what inspires his next thought. Their kisses all feel real enough, after all, as did that natural slickness as Valentina, and while in the real world they would need more...

Well, saliva may be enough, here. The way fluids work not being 1:1 may actually go in their favour this time.

"There is something we can try, first. If it does not help, then we can do something different, perhaps. Let me suck your fingers, then try again?"

The kiss is welcome, and smoothes out that little concerned furrow in Kazu's brow. He does withdraw his hand, then, settling both on Val's waist and kissing back contentedly until the other man pulls back... with a suggestion.

"Huh." There's nothing to lose by trying it, Kazu figures. "Alright."

He starts to offer his other hand, for hygiene purposes, then remembers that the whole problem here is that they're in the Hub and it's fine to use his dominant hand again. His touch trails up Val's body in a slow caress until he reaches his lips and can trace the shape of them with his fingertips. Go ahead, Val.

Val shudders softly at the gentle caress; when it reaches its destination he presses a kiss to the tips of Kazu's fingers before parting his lips, taking the digits into his mouth and sucking. He could be quick, but he decides to make a bit of a display of it—slowly taking them to the final knuckle, letting his tongue drag along the skin, even bobbing back and forth a little. All the while making sure he's actually getting them good and wet with saliva, and never looking away from Kazu.

He releases them again only when he's satisfied it will hopefully suffice, then kisses the tips of the fingers again before licking his lips and flashing Kazu a smirk.

"There. Let us see if this works better."

Oh. Oh no. That's hot as hell, and Val obviously knows it. Kazu maintains the eye contact, but knows that if they were in their real bodies he'd be flushed bright red. It takes him a moment after Val releases his fingers to snap out of his stupor.

"R-right."

They were doing something else. He swallows hard and drops his hand back between Val's legs to try again, still going slow and gentle.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject