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VR-LA watched from the doorway of Maxim's study as Maxim stared down at his desk with a hard expression. There were notes strewn unceremoniously across the desk and the beginnings of what he was told would be a small metal beetle along with the many scraps of metal he was using to build it. VR-LA had drifted in and out of the room for the last few hours watching as Maxim worked, to very little success evidently.
He had tried to draw him away from it a few times, but every time Maxim waved him off, claiming that he just needed a little longer with it, that it would surely be complete within the hour. It was not.
He watched as Maxim pushed his chair back away from the desk with a frustrated sigh in the form of a small puff of steam from his inner workings as his head fell back against the chair. He muttered something to himself in his low rumbling voice, his eyes dimmer than usual staring up at the ceiling.
He looked exhausted.
Very well then. If he couldn't persuade Maxim to come and take a break for a moment through more conventional means, he would have to resort to other methods.
He pushed off the doorframe towards Maxim, reaching a hand to rest on his shoulder as he approached, not missing the way Maxim's eyes flickered brighter for a moment as he began to turn his head towards him before he brought a leg around the chair to straddle Maxim's lap.
"Hello, my love," VR-LA chimed sweetly, smiling as his other hand came to rest against Maxim's chest.
He could feel the whirring within his chest immediately pick up as Maxim slowly began to register what was happening.
VR-LA felt his own eyes brighten affectionately. It was something he never tired of, the startled and flustered expression the larger mechanite made, freezing as he sat down. His hands were held up awkwardly, as though he couldn't decide whether to rest them on the arm rests or on VR-LA. He stared at him with wide eyes, shining much brighter now, leaving his golden face bathed in a warm white glow.
"Ah. VR-LA." Maxim started, tone stiff and, to anyone but VR-LA, expressionless, but the heavy crackling static sneaking in between his every syllable betrayed how flustered he was.
VR-LA smiled smugly to himself. Excellent.
This was a tactic VR-LA employed often to drag Maxim to rest. Not often enough to render it a normality and therefore useless, but with how often Maxim caught himself up in his projects, it was likely somewhere around once a week at least.
When he and Maxim had first started earnestly courting, VR-LA had initially assumed Maxim's reaction to mean that he disliked it. He quickly discovered this was not the case, quite the opposite in fact.
VR-LA let out a pleased hum in response to Maxim's stuttering, sliding his hand up to tease at the edge where Maxim's neck attached to his chest plate.
"You should take a break, love,"
"VR-LA-" Maxim started again, sounding strangled as another puff of steam released itself from him. Now for a much more desirable reason, VR-LA thought happily to himself as Maxim's hands finally landed to hold tightly to his hips.
"Yes?" he replied, his eyes wide with faux innocence, lightly tracing up and down the back of Maxim's neck with his other hand.
"You," Maxim started, flustered static still lacing his words, "are a menace."
"Do you want me to stop?" VR-LA teased, leaning down to lightly touch his forehead to Maxim's, looking down at him affectionately.
He felt Maxim's hands relax against him as his faceplate warmed against VR-LA's.
"You know I do not," he rumbled quietly, barely audible over the insistent whirring of his cooling system, gently clinking his head against VR-LA's in return.
"Well then," VR-LA said, his hand sliding down from Maxim's shoulder to his thigh, "you should come to bed with me."
He then pushed himself up from Maxim's lap to stand above him before he could process his words and stop him, now leaning just slightly over Maxim with his hand on his chest.
He could both see and hear Maxim's systems stall behind for a moment, his hands still loosely holding onto his waist as he looked up at him like he was the only other thing in the world.
VR-LA felt his own face heat at that look, his gaze softening.
"You've been working at this all day, you need to rest, Maxim," he said gently, bringing his free hand to hold Maxim's arm and coax him to stand from the chair as well.
Maxim sighed in mock defeat, not taking his eyes off of VR-LA.
"Very well, my dear. You win, I shall join you I suppose," he said, his eyes bright.
For a moment VR-LA thought he caught something else in his eye, but a moment was all he had before Maxim was standing up from the chair and swooping VR-LA up into his arms with his hands under his thighs.
VR-LA let out a very undignified squawk, quickly wrapping his arms around Maxim's shoulders as he was lifted into the air.
"Maxim!" VR-LA laughed breathlessly, hearing the sound of his own cooling system whirring to life.
Maxim hummed affectionately back up at him, "We will get there faster this way."
"Yes, and I'm sure that's the only reason," VR-LA said sarcastically, smiling as he made himself comfortable in Maxim's hold.
"Of course," Maxim smiled back, holding VR-LA tighter to his chest as he carried him through the halls of the sanctum.