Human After All

Drew leaned closer to Joshua's face, pushing his own glasses up the bridge of his nose. Drew didn't always wear glasses, sometimes only contacts, but when viewing a robot like this, he wanted to be accurate with his studies. Joshua gulped while Drew carefully watched his movements. Drew ordered Joshua to move his arm, and Joshua looked at Beau for approval.

"You can move your arm, Joshua." Beau said.

So Joshua did. He moved his arm carefully while Drew placed his thumb and forefinger in between the joints. Joshua nearly pulled his arm away. He didn't like this stranger touching him, but Joshua also thought about who this stranger was. He was a friend of Beau's, so he couldn't have been too bad.

"So what are you gonna do when he's like a human?" Drew pulled away, staring at Beau with tired eyes. It was nearly midnight, and Drew was tired, but he wanted to study this robot closely. Although he didn't approve of material use of the robots, Drew was very much into studying Beau's robots, they way they were built, their faults and their pros.

"Whatdya mean?" Beau brushed a lock of hair away from Joshua's face. Joshua smiled and thanked Beau, ending the sentence with 'master' as he always did.

"I mean, are you going to let him act like a free and civilized human being, or are you gonna keep him living under a rock?" Drew acted as though Joshua weren't there in front of him. Joshua pouted, but tried to keep his distaste hidden from both Beau and Drew.

"Really," scolded Beau. "You're acting like I treat my robots like slaves. Dahlia's not a slave, she loves staying with me. I put my personal computer's needs before my own."

"We are treating them like slaves, Beau. We're treating them like playthings, like toys for children." Drew said impatiently. "You're not any better than the other people with bots."

Beau rolled his eyes while Joshua studied his movements, his mannerisms. Then he studied Drew's mannerisms. He didn't pay much mind to what they were talking about, but he knew the conversation was about him.

"It's not like we're whipping them or anything." Beau said, then he gave Drew a smirk. "Or at least I'm not."

"That's disgusting." Drew shouted. "And not even funny because people do use them for that kind of stuff."

"Oh, shove it." Beau said. "Don't say that either, Joshua. That's not a good phrase either." Beau addressed Joshua with a smile.

Joshua nodded, duly noting the phrase in his mind. "Yes, master."

"And what's with the, 'Yes, master, no, master' shit?" Drew said. Joshua giggled to himself. Drew said a bad word, Joshua thought.

"Really, your language is appalling, Drew." Beau said jokingly. "C'mon. You're overreacting."

"You know how much I don't like the whole personal computer idea." Drew sighed. "But nonetheless, it's very nice to meet you, Joshua." Drew said. Joshua gave a wide grin, and thanked him for his kindness.

Joshua reached into his bag and placed a sucker in the palm of his hand. He tried giving it to Drew, but Drew denied it.

"No, it's all right, Joshua."

"Are you sure?" Joshua asked quietly. Drew nodded again and winked. Joshua cocked his head to the left.

"Hey, don't start flirting with him." Beau laughed. Joshua turned to face Beau, his head still cocked to the left. "Flirting means to be attracted to someone, and hinting at the attraction. It's just a joke though, Joshua."

"And the thing he did with his eye?"

"It's like a gesture. Sometimes it means they're just kidding, other times it means that somebody has attraction to you, but it really depends on how the person is using it." Beau paused. "Understand?"

"Cool." Joshua replied with glee while Beau praised him for the use of his slang.

After a few more minutes of talking between Drew and Beau, Drew yawned yet again, and Beau rose from the bed.

"We'll get going now." Beau said. "Wait at the door, okay Joshua?" Beau said. Joshua nodded, stepping almost silently to the front door. Joshua stared at the dull walls, his eyes only stopping a few times at the small artistic portraits on the walls. Then he turned to find that Beau was holding Drew in his arms. Joshua watched intently until they pulled apart. Then Joshua squeaked and faced the door, trying to hide the fact that he had indeed just seen what he had seen. If Beau wanted him to wait at the door and not in the room with the both of them, was he not supposed to see what they were doing?

Beau bid Drew farewell and then opened the front door for Joshua. Joshua didn't look up at Beau much, only once or twice while his eyes studied the clean sidewalk. Beau stared suspiciously at Joshua. It didn't seem to be in Joshua's nature to be so quiet.

"Joshua?" Beau's hand landed on his shoulder, and Joshua squeaked. Another train sped by, and Joshua caught the slightest bit of the letter 'S' on the side of it. It was the S-train again. Joshua longed to know what the S-train had on it at the moment. Was it carrying medicine and quarantined viruses? Did it carry other robots like Joshua? "Joshua, is there something wrong?" Beau asked, breaking through Joshua's thoughts that were just developing. Joshua looked up at Beau, almost with a startled expression.

"Master." He squeaked. Beau nodded. "You and Drew...." He paused. "Are you and Drew in relations?" Joshua watched as Beau's cheeks reddened, undertones of a rosy color painting his cheeks. Joshua placed the back of his hand on Beau's cheek. "Are you sick, master? Your cheeks are very warm." Joshua observed. Beau shook his head.

"Y-you saw us hug?" Beau's voice was a bit of a squeak.

"Hug?" Joshua repeated. "What is a hug?"

Beau sighed. "An embrace. You saw me hold him."

"Yes. Was I not supposed to? I'm sorry, master." Joshua bowed. "I turned and you were holding Drew. I didn't know—"

Beau smiled weakly, silently saying that it was okay. His cheeks weren't as rosy as they were before. "At least I won't have to hide it from you." Beau took an awkward glance down at a curious Joshua.

"Hide what?"

"Drew and I...." Beau paused. "Drew... helps me." He stopped again. "But Drew isn't the one I love. He's only there to help me sometimes."

"But I'm here to help you." Joshua said. "I'm here as well, master." Beau's face flushed even more, and Joshua placed both of his hands on Beau's cheeks. "Are you very sure you're not sick, master? Your face is very red...."

"Drew helps me in a way that you can't." Beau pushed Joshua's soft hands away from his face. Joshua almost looked hurt at the idea of not being able to help his master, so Beau corrected himself quickly. "But that doesn't mean you're not helping me!"

Joshua pulled a candy from the bag at his waist and he placed it in the palm of his hand. Beau looked down at it while Joshua tried to give it to him. Beau raised his brows.

"Really?" Beau took the mint looking candy from Joshua's palm and studied it. Just a classic mint candy. "I can have it?"

"You can have everything if you like, master." Joshua grabbed the candy bag and slipped it out of the loop on his jeans. "Would you like it?"

Beau's threw the mint in his mouth, but denied the bag of candy.

"I bought it for you, Joshua." Beau gave Joshua a smile as they started across the street, nearing the front door of the apartment complex. Joshua gave another look to Beau, a questioning look in his eyes, but instead of asking him a question, Joshua simply looked down at the ground, shuffling his brand new shoes together. Joshua didn't know what to think of Drew and Beau being in something. He didn't know what to call other than 'superficial'.



Beau jiggled the handle to the front door, trying to keep the silence as he remembered that Dahlia, Leslie and Kiyah were asleep. Joshua followed suit, and it seemed as though Joshua weren't even there behind him because of how silent he was.

"Joshua." Beau whispered, gently wrapping his fingers around Joshua's wrist. Joshua turned to his master with eyes full of curiosity. "Come here, Joshua." They tip-toed past the girls who had decided that it was a good idea to sleep by the window for the night, instead of the drawer in Beau's room. Then Beau opened the door to his bedroom, scooting Joshua inside.

"Master, what are we doing?"

Beau motioned towards the bed covered with silk sheets and soft pillows. "You will be sleeping in here until I request a room extension, Joshua. I'd hate to see you go without comfort." Joshua was stunned. The bed was not his, and to sleep in his master's bed seemed almost... sinful.

Beau grabbed one of the bags of clothes, searching for the gray sweatpants that Joshua had picked out at the android shop. Beau realized that all of the shirts they bought for Joshua weren't loose enough for sleeping, so Beau reached into his own drawer and grabbed a white t-shirt. Beau handed the pants to Joshua, as well as the shirt.

"Change." Beau said a bit harsher than expected. "Wait. Do you know how to change clothes?" Joshua was puzzled. He shook his head slowly. "I need to show you then?"

"No, master." Joshua said. "If it is too much, then no, master. I will do it myself."

Beau leaned forward, grabbing the boy's arms. "Over your head." Beau said while his hands traveled to the hem of Joshua's white shirt. He tugged it off, and Joshua kept his hands over his head. "You can put them down." Then Beau took Joshua's hand in his own, showing him how to undo the button on his jeans. Beau didn't dare look down further than Joshua's waist while Joshua placed his hands on Beau's shoulders to balance himself and he slipped his legs out of his blue jeans.

Joshua slipped on the soft gray sweatpants, letting the pants hang loosely at his waist. When Beau saw that he had his pants on, he allowed himself to stare at the boy. His chest was flawless just as the skin on his face was. Beau couldn't resist running his hands along Joshua's velvety smooth skin. Then Beau pulled his hand away.

"I apologize. I just...." Beau didn't know what he was actually going to say. Beau grabbed the white t-shirt and slipped it over Joshua's head. The shirt fell to Joshua's knees. This was a shirt that Beau enjoyed wearing, but he didn't mind giving it to Joshua. Joshua's interests before his own, Beau thought.

Joshua kicked his shoes off and took a look at the bed.

"But where are you going to sleep, master?" Joshua said when he finished studying the bed. Beau gave a shrug.

"The couch probably. I don't mind sleeping there until we get the extension. The form for the extension will only take a few hours to process. I'll do it in the morning." Beau thought to himself, it is morning, as he glanced at the clock beside his bed that read 1:43 a.m.

"Will you be okay there?" Joshua twirled his foot around in a circle.

"Yes."

"Are you sure, master?" Joshua leaned forward, nearly placing his chin on Beau's chest. Beau nodded once more before he urged Joshua into the bed. While Joshua curled up into a ball, Beau pulled out another light blanket, gently laying it over Joshua's body. The outline of Joshua's body was visible through the delicate material.

"Good night." Beau smiled at Joshua. "Until morning."

Joshua nodded while Beau disappeared behind the door, clicking it shut behind him. Beau always loved how the robots slept. While they were mechanical, it made them seem that much more human, and that was a delicacy in itself.