under your shell

[misheard]

Title: under your shell
Fandom: Fate/Grand Order
Character(s): Moriarty, Babbage, Frankenstein
Pairing(s): Moriarty/Babbage
Genre: Fluff
Word Count: 500
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Moriarty is one of the few who've seen what Babbage looks like under the armor.
Notes:

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“Papa, I have a question.”

Naturally, Moriarty forgets about all the evil schemes he was working on to pay attention to Fran. “What is it, my dear? Papa will tell you anything you want to know!” Unless it’s better for her not to know, in which case he’ll lie.

“When you were working on Mr. Babbage’s transformation,” she says, holding her chin, “did you see what he looked like without armor?”

“Of course. It would be difficult to make comfortable alterations for the armor without accounting for his body’s shape.” Even Servants can get discomfort from stretching too much or too strangely: he should know.

“What does he look like?”

What does Charles Babbage look like, underneath the armor of metal and steam? Moriarty has to think for a moment, not because he’s forgotten the sight but because he needs to settle on the words appropriate for Fran’s tender ears.

“Babbage… is tremendously cute.”

---

A soft face with a slightly rounded chin. Light hair parted in the middle, cut short on the sides. Circular glasses over bright eyes, and a smile that further chips away at the ice surrounding Moriarty’s heart.

If he were a different kind of person, he would say that it was a shame that he was one of the few who’s seen such a beautiful man in the flesh. But he isn’t, and knowing how valuable that sight is only makes him want to keep it for himself.

“Moriarty,” Babbage says. The armor is on now, of course, but Moriarty can easily imagine the slightly pinched brow and narrowed eyes of the man inside it.

“My dear partner.” Though the race that partnered them together is long over, the appellation has stuck.

“What, exactly, did you say to my esteemed colleague about my appearance?” he asks. Ah, and the way he speaks of Fran is cute too…

“Only the truth, for once in my life,” Moriarty replies with an easy smile. “Why, what could be the matter?”

Babbage sighs, letting out a puff of steam in the process. “Mordred has begun to express a desire to take off my armor. When I asked why, they said that Fran told them I was ‘cute underneath’.”

Without a hint of shame, Moriarty says, “Ah, that would be because I told her you were cute when she asked what you looked like.”

“I’m a grown man, you know.” Babbage sounds somewhere between sullen and confused.

“Given my own age, it would be unsavory if you were anything but an adult! I may be a criminal mastermind with no morals to speak of, but I do have standards.”

Babbage is quiet for a long few moments before he says, finally, “Cute? Me?”

“I swear on our Master’s honor.” His own isn’t worth swearing on.

“…thank you.”

Babbage’s voice is quiet (for him). He could be blushing underneath. Moriarty hates that he doesn’t know, but that also gives him the freedom to imagine his partner being as cute as he likes.