A heavy sigh seems like the perfect footnote to a long, long (and shitty) day.
Robert grunts straightening his stiff back with the assisted push of his palms. It does little to relax the muscles but it's nice to move after being sat at a desk for hours on end.
Somehow seems more brutal on the spine than the Mech despite the Venn diagram they share for Robert sitting on his ass. But Robert chooses to chalk it up to how fucked it seemed to be from the beginning of it. Starting off with Coop getting attacked by flock of seagulls in the sky. A nice lunch time briefing was needed when Sonar got talked into abandoning a dispatch for a couple of kids who asked him to explain stocks as part of their blunt rotation. Oh and let's not forget how Waterboy ended up icing the entire floor of a meat packing plant because he thought that if the bad guys couldn't run away then it was a success. Yeah, no one seemed to think about how the police also needed to get into the building.
Robert shifts his eyes to the stack of papers piled up and spilling out of his desk's tray. Dread. Staying late to sort all of this out is just about the last thing he wants to deal with today. Not to mention he'd hear no end of grumbling from Courtney whom he so kindly offered to drive home that night.
He debates calling it quits right then. Even as he stands up from his chair and grabs part of the bundle. Tired eyes drag themselves over the words. Development. ROCs. Monthly subscriber incentive breakdowns. Weekly cost deficits from damage caused by dispatch mishaps.
He huffs. Trying to push for a cleaner version of Heroism with less liability just feels like a pipe dream to him.
The team was already feeling a bit worn down on morale with so many long haul shifts hitting them back to back; more restrictions and pressure would just make it worse. The reconstruction period since Shroud is turning out to be more of an hassle than anyone thought. But ain't that always the way.
"Ugh." The heaving groan from behind doesn't make him jump. He sort of expects it now. But the groan is a telltale sign that someone other than him is definitely feeling the pressure. Robert turns just in time to see his chair swivel and the lovely Courtney appear in the seat, limbs limp and dangling as she spins, staring up at the ceiling. He knows the feeling.
But How could he forget his favorite player? His thoughts were going back to her all day. And her day fucking sucked too. Straight off the heels of an injury with just about everything to prove and she's getting put through the grinder. She had bad some bad calls, got tossed around a fair bit by a rogue Supervillain to the point where she lost her inhaler, and how could Robert not forget the all consuming issue of very annoying clients. It took a lot for her not to punch one annoying asshole in particular today. Rob is proud of her for that.
"Tough day?" He tries to lighten the mood, glancing at her from over his shoulder while he clacks the pages down into a neatly consistent pile. Her lack of response speaks volumes, even if she's just trying to search for a smartass way to respond. After nearly thirty seconds, he knows she's definitely off her game. So, he doesn't give her the chance to continue her struggle for a bad remark.
Papers get placed neatly for a later time because she is a higher priority. No homes were going to burn down because he didn't sort out admin work that was due at the end of the week; but his girlfriend definitely needs a pick-me-up.
She jumps, craning her neck up at him with a cocked brow when his palms press down on her shoulders. "Why don't you relax for a few minutes?"
She looks like she's about to say something. Probably another attempt at tired humor, he expects, but he stops that short with a well placed thumb on top of a bundled knot of muscle right near her recovered injury. She reacts immediately, a gasp! A jolt to the nerves. Yeah he fucking knows that feeling. He barely bites back the laugh but he doesn't bother to hide his amusement. "Looks like I hit the spot."
He eases off with his thumb, moves to a more gentle approach with circular motions, coaxing the tightened muscles and pinched nerves into relaxation. Of course it's not all pleasant. Hard to be pleasant when someone is pulling apart the strands of your insides, but⊠the relief does have it upside too.
Robert seems even reasonably pleased with his efforts. Not that he's had any professional practice in this sort of thing but familiarity with the canvas helps just as much as knowing what lines to trace along her shoulder blades and when to ease off. Despite a few grunts and squeaks, Robert feels her ease into his hands.
He takes it to mean he must be doing something right. Hey, look at him! Maybe Robert Robertson the Third is boyfriend material after all.
Robert's hands freeze, face scrunching in confusion. He thinks of moving his hands away but that doesn't happen, nor does he really want to but there is no denying that there was a certain edge in that last sound.
"Uh⊠hello?" Her voice is impatient.
Chalking it up to him hearing maybe just what he wants to hear, or maybe what he's been trained to hear over these last few weeksâ he continues. His thumb pressing up into the space between her shoulder blades.
Pause. His hands still again and he's pretty sure he's picked up on whats going on. What the fuck? Was she in high school?
He shakes his head, narrowing his eyes as she tosses an all too knowing glance back at him. "Um dude, I'm waiting." Her head taps back against his stomach, prompting more.
More what? Him getting jerked around? Not in the way he would prefer either. What she's doing is crossing some wires in his brain right now.
A click from his tongue in annoyance and he tests that water one more time to see if the temperature of the reaction would be anything close to presentable.
Spoiler. It was not and if there was ever any doubt, Courtney does the favor of sparing him. The deviously glance back at him, the signal. Before she puts her fucking back into it. Literally. She moans with a whole fucking arch to her back when he puts even the lightest amount of pressure on the muscles that support her neck.
"Ohh! That feels soooo good!"
Robert's hands fly off her body, held straight up as he stares forward. Her voice still echoing in his ears. He's scaredâ terrified even to glance around and see the damage. Does he dare? Inevitably, he does. An empty bullpen but the distant hum of a vacuum from the janitorial staff tells him that it's not a clean getaway.
He looks back down at her and she's looking up at him with a smile wide as the Cheshire curling her lips. Robert scoffs, narrowing his eyes as he leans back down, palms gripping her shoulders again until his lips can hover discreetly near Courtney's ear. "I hope you got all your fun ha-ha's in because I'm going to stop being nice to you from now on."
Her breath shakes more than he thought it would for just a game and he barely registers the subtle movement from her arm as she replies. âActing like you didnât get a laugh out of this yourself. Probably a hard-on too. Lemme checkââ
His hand snatches her wrist just short of his slacks. Brown eyes slide away, all too telling. "You think you're gonna do that while we're at the office?" Because she would find what she was looking for and he is not too pleased about that fact. "I know I said I drive you back home tonight but I think you need to pay a visit to my office tonight instead."
âDonât threaten me with a good time, Robbie.â
He looks back to her and she bites her lip. Robert believes at that moment he never had a fucking chance. "More like a promise."
