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[propatriamori]

Hello? Hello, this is Edward Courtenay. I believe if you leave a message here, I will get it later and respond.

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[voice] post-radio tower event

[lonedanger]

I am assumin' this message will reach you since it ain't text on a screen, so. Just checking in to see if you're doing all right, after we climbed all those damn towers. Held your own for a fella without the benefit of sight.

[voice]

[propatriamori]

[It is unfair how that accent drives straight through Edward. He's surrounded by Americans, and most of them sound the same, except this one. How Len manages to sound exactly like the cowboy books Edward used to read as a boy, he has no idea, but Len does.]

Thank you for using the voice feature. I've learned how to make the device read aloud to me, but this is easier.

Yes, I'm all right. Glad to be out of the rain. And yourself?

[voice]

[lonedanger]

[ Regrettably, Len noticed as much when they were divvying up duties to mess around with the frequencies. Some people are just particularly susceptible to the novelty of it.

He chuckles. ]

I ain't wet, which is an improvement. 'Fraid we don't get a whole lotta rain where I'm from. Weather's usually dry as a bone.

[voice]

[propatriamori]

[Edward is both very English and had only met a few Americans back in his own world. He was a guaranteed victim to the accent.]

You're from the American West, I presume?

I can't say the same. It's frequently raining in England.

[voice]

[lonedanger]

Read about England in a book, once. Can't say I ever met anyone from there.

[ A true pity that Len doesn't know the Fallout: London mod exists. Heard a few robots have accents like Edward's before, though, so he assumes that's where it came from. They always talk real fancy-like. ]

And yeah, I'm from what's left of it. My world's probably a little different from yours.

[voice]

[propatriamori]

I'd imagine so. Most everyone here is from quite a distance in the future from myself.

[In addition to being half a world away.]

I'm from 1917, during the Great War. Or, as you may know it, World War I. Does that give you a frame of reference in relations to your own time?

[voice]

[lonedanger]

Yeah, it does.

[ Len whistles with a vaguely impressed air. That is a long, long time ago. ]

We had a war in 2077, America and China. But they blew everything to hell with nuclear weapons, which I don't think they had in your time. Bombs that turned entire cities into craters, but they had bigger side effects than explosive impact.

[ It doesn't seem to bother him much to talk about, but probably because he wasn't there for it. ]

I'm from 2281. We're just livin' in the world they left behind.

(distinctly uncomfortable) voice

[taediosum]

Hey. It's Arcade. There's something I want to talk to you about. Nothing serious. Just... Uh, let me know when you have some time? If you have some time.

voice;

[propatriamori]

[Thank goodness, someone polite enough to use the voice feature on this contraption. Edward spoke to someone recently who insisted on using text, and it was definitely not his favourite thing.]

Of course, Arcade. What's troubling you?

[taediosum]

Well—

Maybe it's better we talk about it in person.

[ Asking over the radio about, like, personal monster stuff feels kind of rude. ]

Is there somewhere I could meet you?

[propatriamori]

[Intruiging!]

I’m parked at the edge of the convoy, if you’d like to come meet me. I’m near…

[Hold on while he stomps his foot a few times.]

The Turtle Tank. Behind it.

[taediosum]

Great. Should be easy to find.

[ There are some very unsubtle vehicles among them, and the Tank definitely qualifies. (Arcade is also, unfortunately, now also someone with a vehicle that qualifies, he has to reluctantly note, as he heads out from it.)

He also has a tendency to park on the edge of the convoy, just for his own peace of mind, and it takes him a few minutes to make his way around. ]

Edward?

[propatriamori]

[Edward hasn't been to visit Arcade's truck since it changed, but he would agree that it definitely has a certain flair to it now that it didn't have before.]

[He feels Arcade's footsteps approaching, and stands up just as Arcade calls his name. Edward has been putting his tent together near a rock that casts some shade.]

Yes, hello.

[He smiles.]

What can I help you with?

audio, @root

[alittlebeastliness]

[It would not be at all accurate to say that Root has bounced back quickly: the events of the circus still weigh heavily on her heart. But right now, her breezy and upbeat tone betrays none of that.]

Hi, spider-twin. I've decided we should be friends.

audio, @edward

[propatriamori]

[He thought they already were but okay.]

Hello, Root. Have you been settling in all right?

[alittlebeastliness]

[Root is like a stray cat: she has to decide to establish friendship all by herself, on her own terms.]

Oh, you know. One step at a time. The convoy's cute, if you're into communal living.

[The airiness doesn't go away, but it sounds a little more forceful: like she's decided ahead of time what her demeanor in this conversation is going to be, and she's not willing to deviate from that.

She has, needless to say, been sleeping in her truck.]

Do you want to be my mentor too?

[propatriamori]

You get used to it. I can introduce you around a bit, if you like.

[Edward has been hobo-ing around amongst his various friends, hitching rides in other vehicles since he can’t currently ride his motorcycle. Long story short, he might decide to crash in her truck too.]

I would be happy to teach you what I know. If nothing else, practicing the hive mind would benefit us both.

[He’s pretty flattered that she’s asking.]

May I ask if you’ve developed any other new skills?

[alittlebeastliness]

Nothing new yet, but if I knew where to start...

[She sure can practice emotional telepathy, though. She's not sure if words will go through at a distance - they seem to be harder to both pick up and transmit than feelings.]

You want to introduce me around? To these people?

[Can he feel the performative, put-upon dismay that she's projecting? Clearly he's suggesting torture, not a favor.]

[propatriamori]

Most of my changes have been physical, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. You’ve had nothing like that?

[Root, please; he spends half his time here around teenagers. He knows when someone is playing things up for The Drama(tm).]

Yes. I have someone in particular in mind. He’s very knowledgeable about future technology as well.

NSFW spillover

[propatriamori]

[OOC: from here!]

"Ah, I see. I am quite familiar with Murphy's Law, then. And I've heard of the internet. It sounds very complicated."

But also wondrous. He wishes something like that had been around during his own time. Maybe he would have had an easier time adjusting to things, with a source of technology like that at his fingertips.

As for shifting, Edward shakes his head. "No, it's not painful. It probably should be, but it feels more like stretching a muscle than anything else. It only hurts now because of my injury." He tilts his head up a bit. "What about yours? Do you have another form as well?"

Andrew is so far almost entirely human. Besides breathing fire, Edward doesn't know what else he can do, or what he turns into.

But then any curiosity about Andrew's transformations is washed away by that sound he makes, and Edward realises he wants to hear more of those noises. Moreover, he wants to be the one responsible for drawing them from Andrew's throat.

"I can do that." He leans in, pressing their lips together, and he's much less shy this time, his tongue teasing over Andrew's lower lip. One of his upper hands lifts and entangles itself in Andrew's hair, giving it a tug to try and elicit that gasping, needy response again. The other upper hand slides around from where it had been on Andrew's back to move over his chest, feeling along the line of one pectoral muscle, learning the shape and curve and texture of his skin.

The lower two hands, always braver and more enthusiastic, drop to Andrew's belt. The left one drops even lower, cupping Andrew's bulge through his pants and giving it a gentle, appreciative squeeze, before rejoining its partner and making short work of opening his belt. The zipper follows, and then Edward tries to work Andrew's pants down over his hips.

He pauses, leaning back a fraction of an inch from their kiss. "Still good?"

[hauntcursed]

Andrew was sure there were a lot of people who would agree about the internet being complicated. He'd grown up with it though, and sometimes he still forgot he couldn't just pop open Google or something here.

Stretching a muscle was sort of how he'd describe his own shifting, if he had to put words to it, though he didn't know if he would've been able to come up with that description on his own. But he was glad shifting wasn't painful for Edward. "Yeah. I can turn into a dog. I'll tell you all about it, later." Just not right now, because everything about turning into a dog--as much fun as he'd had the first time, after he'd settled down from his time on the carousel--wasn't something he could manage to focus on when there was so much else going on.

Almost without thinking about it, Andrew leaned in too, meeting Edward halfway with the kiss. Cooperative, eager, he parted his lips at nearly the same moment Edward tugged on his hair, so Andrew groaned against his mouth. His nails grazed ever so lightly along the backs of Edward's shoulders, mindful of the sharp points so he wouldn't cause any accidental injuries. Sometimes, his claws annoyed him, but at least he hadn't scratched himself accidentally in a while, either.

His attention split between kissing and all of Edward's hands on him, the warmth of his touch. Andrew's pulse spiked when his hands dropped to his belt, heat spreading across his skin; his anticipation was nearly palpable. It would be impossible to miss how hard he was when that left hand cupped him through his pants and squeezed, and there was also no missing the way Andrew gasped, a not-so-quiet moan following close behind. He felt like he could vibrate to pieces, but not from nerves. It was all need and eager enthusiasm.

He did his best to lift his hips to assist, even as he worked on breathlessly stringing words together. "Yeah. Better than good." A whole lot better.

[propatriamori]

"I look forward to seeing it, then." And Edward does! He wants to see Andrew's transformation, and maybe scratch behind some dog ears. But not right now. Right now, he has other things on his mind, so much so that it escapes his attention that he's just referred to the vibrations as seeing for the first time.

The scratch of Andrew's nails across his back feels surprisingly good, and Edward pants into Andrew's mouth as he does it. It wasn't hard enough to break the skin, but Edward thinks, much to his surprise, that he wouldn't mind if Andrew clawed him. Not enough that he'd be incapacitated, but enough that he'd have the marks under his shirt and jacket for a few days, enough that moving his arms would stretch the healing tissue and make it tingle. That, he thinks he would enjoy a great deal.

If Edward had had any doubts that Andrew wasn't enjoying this, they fall away when he palms him. No one gets that hard if he's not enjoying himself, and that is an enormous boost to Edward's self-confidence. He might not have any idea what he's doing, be making this up as he goes along, but the results are speaking for themselves. It makes something stir in the spider abdomen, where Edward's pelvis has snapped back and been buried under spider flesh, but he does the best he can to ignore it.

"Good." Edward catches Andrew's lower lip between his teeth and gently tugs on it before releasing him. At the same time, the hand in Andrew's hair tightens and pulls his head back, so Edward can kiss along his throat again. "I'm glad."

With Andrew's help, Edward is able to shove his jeans down off his hips and past his knees. He gives up at that point, figuring it won't matter if his trousers are caught on his ankles. Then Edward kisses clumsily down Andrew's throat and collarbones to his chest, exploring it with both his mouth and one hand. The lower two hands move back to Andrew's groin, the left one stroking fingertips up the length of his cock, the right one gently pushing his thighs open.

[hauntcursed]

He would make a mental note of that and tuck it aside for safekeeping, about his canine form. He'd thought it was better at the time, during his first shift, because he hadn't been able to talk, and so he couldn't screw anything up. That opinion had been reinforced when he'd shifted back and immediately made a mess of things. Sometimes, he really thought it was better to keep his mouth occupied, and he could think of a few fun ways already, for the future.

Andrew didn't realize, either, that Edward had said he looked forward to seeing his dog form. He was so focused on the physical, on Edward, on any and every sound he made, without necessarily paying attention to the word choice. Andrew also didn't know what he was doing. He'd been with plenty of girls, and he supposed he was decent enough there, but all of this? It was new and so much more, and he knew, already, that he was going to remember everything, all of the best moments and everything in between--the exact opposite of almost every other past experience.

A shiver worked its way down his spine between Edward's teeth on his lip and his hand in his hair, and Andrew moved easily with the motion, letting Edward tug his head back. "Fuck." His hands shifted on Edward's shoulders, eager and restless both, and his claws scraped against his skin, enough to scratch but not too seriously. Just enough that Andrew might feel bad about doing it accidentally, if he realized.

He did his best to help a bit with his jeans, which ended up involving him kicking off one sneaker and freeing one leg and, well. That was good enough to not be awkwardly confining at any point, and that was all he really cared about there. It was forgotten about in the next heartbeat, with Edward's hand on his cock. There was no such thing as a simple touch right now, and Andrew's heart felt like it was in his throat, even as he moaned, letting his thighs tip open.

His hands tightened on Edward's shoulders, like he needed the support--and he would have, if he'd had to rely on his legs to hold him up. Good thing that he didn't; his legs weren't to be trusted right now.

[propatriamori]

If only Edward had ways of keeping Andrew's mouth occupied! Oh well. Someday...

While Andrew has some experience to draw on, Edward is flying based on instinct and paying attention to Andrew's reactions. It helps that he, too, knows how male anatomy works and what feels good on it. Even more so, he's been using the vibrations to guide him; Andrew is sparkling, all his vibrations lit up like a Christmas tree, and Edward would consider trying to share them if he didn't think it would derail everything.

Edward lifts his head again, mouthing along the line of Andrew's throat. The thought of putting his mouth on Andrew's cock has certainly occurred to him, but years of repression and wartime propaganda about venereal disease is enough to make him shy away. His hands, though, are safe, and he wraps one loosely around Andrew, stroking the length of him in long, smooth strokes. The other hand drops lower to cup his balls, exploring the weight and heft of them, his thumb and forefinger circling the base and giving them a gentle, experimental squeeze.

[hauntcursed]

Someday, which Andrew looked forward to.

He would very much end up distracted by how breathtaking his vibrations looked right now, but he'd be charmed, too. He'd like to know though, later, if Edward wanted to tell him. There were a lot of things Andrew wanted to tell Edward, too, especially if he knew certain things, was thinking more clearly himself instead of his focus snagging on every new or continued point of contact, how good it all felt.

He wanted to have moments to focus better in the future, too, so he could make Edward feel this good when he had the chance. The chances. This was something where Andrew was learning the specifics as he went, but he was a damned fast learner, and he wanted to be able to discover all the ways to get Edward to make all the sorts of noises that left Andrew breathless.

It had been a very long time, closer to a year than not, since Andrew had been touched so intimately, and it was the first time like this. He didn't think he was going to last long, and there wasn't much he could do about that. Not when Edward's hands on him were the best thing he'd ever felt, and his mouth on his throat had Andrew's pulse jumping. He struggled against the urge to curl his body inwards towards Edward, as much as that was what his body wanted to do.

Instead, he slid a hand into Edward's hair, tugging more accidentally than not before he flattened his palm against the back of his head. Andrew had more or less lost the ability to string together words right now, much more capable of quiet gasps and definitely not quiet moans. His other hand skimmed down between Edward's shoulders with a drag of his claws, less careful than before, enough to break skin here and there with light bleeding.