#ipxlp

He tried the door again. It was still locked, as it had been the last five times he'd tried it. In frustration, he kicked it.

“Planning to add kicks to your style of fighting?” Raven asked from behind him. Chung looked over his shoulder, embarrassed that the Blade Master had seen his slight outburst.

“No, Add shut himself in there with my Destroyer. I want to know what's happening to it,” he explained, casting another anguished look at the white door.

Raven's head tilted in confusion. “How exactly did Add get that cannon from you? You never let it out of your sight.”

Chung's blue eyes looked anywhere but at Raven's face. “Don't ask,” he muttered. His face heated up as he remembered just how much charm Add had, when he chose to show it. And it didn't help that Chung had a mild crush on the genius.

Raven still looked puzzled, but he shrugged. “I assume the door's locked?” he asked, then fished in his coat pocket as Chung nodded.

“What are you doing?” Chung moved aside as Raven stepped forward, bending down to the lock and inserting a small rod into it.

“Picking the lock for you,” Raven answered, then forestalled Chung's next question. “Don't ask where I learned to pick locks.”

Chung shut his mouth, watching the Blade Master as he worked. You can always count on Raven to be helpful, he thought.

A couple seconds later, something clicked in the lock, and Raven straightened up and stepped away from the door.

“Add really needs a new lock on his lab,” he commented as he walked away. “Elsword's diary has better security.”

Chung was suddenly burning with questions for Raven. His concern for the Destroyer wrestled with curiosity, and concern won. He opened the now-unlocked door and stepped into Add's lab.

Add had his back to the door, and his Dynamo were scanning something in front of him. Chung's Destroyer was nowhere to be seen.

Chung stepped to the side, trying to get a good view of what Add was so interested in. As soon as he realized what it was, he crossed the room in a flash, grabbing the genius by the collar and hauling him back.

“Why the hell did you take apart the Destroyer?!” he yelled. Add tried to flinch away from Chung, but the Iron Paladin's grip on his shirt was too strong.

“Lower yer voice, kek. No need to yell,” he complained. “I wanted to see how the Destroyer worked, so I took it apart.”

“So put it back together! NOW!”

Add flinched away from Chung again, and the Iron Paladin realized that he was just a few decibels short of his battlefield voice.

Good.

Furious blue eyes met calmer magenta ones, and the Lunatic Psyker smirked. “Oho, does the Iron Princess not want his precious Destroyer to be improved?”

Chung opened his mouth to yell again before the second part of the question hit him. His voice was considerably lower as he asked, “Improved? How?”

One of Add's Dynamos stopped scanning the dismantled Destroyer to lightly tap Chung's hand, still fisted into Add's collar. Chung grinned, shaking his head. “I asked you a question, punchbag. Answer me.”

“I'm not answering until ya let go of me,” Add stated flatly. Chung debated whether or not to punch him in the face. After a few beats of silence, his hand unclenched and fell to his side.

Add stepped away from the still-pissed guardian, adjusting his shirt where it had been pulled off-kilter. He jerked his head at Chung, motioning Hamel's White Wolf over to him.

“This is the inner part of your cannon, keke,” Add explained, lifting his hand to command his Dynamo out of the way. “Currently, there's unnecessary weight in it, and the full power potential hasn't been unlocked.”

“Keep the weight,” Chung instructed. “It's there for a reason.”

“Kuk,” Add muttered under his breath in a 'yikes' kind of way. Raising his voice, he gave a couple orders to the Dynamo, which stopped adjusting the Destroyer and flocked to Add's shoulders.

Add looked at Chung inquisitively. “Seeing as I obviously won't be getting my own way with this -”

“Damn straight,” Chung muttered, and Add ignored him.

“- how do ya want it?”

“Improving the power capacity sounded promising,” Chung said after a couple beats of thought. “One condition, though.”

Add rolled his eyes. “What now, keke?” he complained, then froze when Chung named his term.

“I want to make the modifications myself.”

“You're insane,” Add said when he had processed Chung's request.

“What, and you aren't?” Chung shot back, earning himself a glare from the pale genius.

“Do you even know the first thing about mechanics, keke?” Add asked angrily. Chung shrugged, suddenly calm in the face of his furious crush.

“No, but I know how my Destroyer works, and you can show me how to upgrade it.”

“I could show ya how to upgrade it.” Add's voice dripped with sarcasm. His Dynamo, hovering around him, started crackling with purple electricity. “And whatever makes ya think I would do that?”

“Because it's the only way you'll be able to complete your experiment.” Chung smiled coldly. “You can't test the Destroyer without my permission.”

Chung stared Add down, and the Lunatic Psyker was the first to look away.

“I don't suppose you would settle for just watching me work on the damn cannon,” he muttered. Chung shook his head.

“Nope, I've got to do it. As you said, I don't know the first thing about mechanics; how would I know if you decided to screw it up?”

Add's Dynamo stopped exchanging electricity between themselves, though they were still in a ready position. In disgust, the genius motioned Chung forward, pointing toward the cannon.

“Come on, then,” he spat.

Smiling, Chung moved to the dismantled weapon. “Right, how were you planning to improve the power?”

Half an hour and a couple outbursts later, Add had proved himself to be a capable (though impatient) teacher. The upgrades were nearly done.

Somewhere during the course of the session, Add had changed his position. He had started out next to Chung, with their shoulders barely touching. Now he was right behind the Iron Paladin, his chest pressing into Chung's back. Chung tried to ignore it, but it was hard to do, especially when Add reached around him to show him how to do something.

Finally, as Add sighed in annoyance and snatched a tool from Chung's hand, leaning forward in the process, Chung couldn't take it anymore.

“Will you cut that out?”

Add paused as Chung froze. Did I just say that out loud?

“Cut what out?” Add finally asked, after a few heartbeats of silence. His breath tickled against Chung's ear, blowing his hair.

“You're pressing up against me,” Chung explained, blood rushing to his face. “It's....distracting.”

“Oh?” An annoyed sigh came from Add, and Chung felt a gloved hand cup his chin. Before Chung could ask what was going on, Add had turned the guardian's face around and was kissing him.

Chung, stunned, couldn't react for a few seconds. By the time he had gathered his wits enough to try kissing back, Add was already breaking the contact.

“Distracting enough?” Add asked, smirking.

Chung's lips were tingling as Add got back into position, his chest still pressing against Chung's back. This time, though, the guardian knew it was on purpose.

It only took a few minutes of half-hearted upgrades before Chung decided to take matters into his own hands. He turned around, his movements clumsy in the small space.

Add frowned. “What-”

His words were swallowed as Chung kissed him. Add's lips were just as soft as the first time.

Chung ran his tongue over Add's bottom lip, and the white-haired boy's mouth opened slightly. Chung slipped his tongue into Add's mouth, feeling the sharpness of Add's teeth.

The Lunatic Psyker jerked away suddenly, staring at Chung. Heat rushed to the Iron Paladin's face, but he stubbornly stared back.

“Why the hell would ya do that?” Add's question was obviously meant to be angry, but it came off as genuinely curious.

“You did it first, moron. Payback,” Chung explained, though it was the farthest thing from the truth. I like you, moron. Pay attention to me.

Add opened his mouth to reply, but then couldn't find a response. He settled for glaring at Chung. The glare didn't seem as ferocious as it could have been, though.

Chung grinned, suddenly lighthearted.

“So, d'ya want to finish the upgrades?” he asked, then laughed as Add rolled his eyes.

“You're a pathetic fool, ya know that?” the scientist hissed.

“Come on, you don't mean it,” Chung teased. From Add's look, Chung had hit the nail on the head.

“Don't push it, kek,” Add muttered. Chung chuckled again.