Human After All

A bird sat the the windowsill, singing a song of love in the background. Its chirps fluctuated in lovely notes that would be soothing to the hear, and touching to the heart. But this songbird's voice was not what awoke Joshua in the soft bed he laid in.

Joshua was awoken by the sound of water running in the background. He rolled over on the soft bed, and the silk blanket fell off of his body and unto the ground. Joshua stretched his limbs out, throwing his head to the right to find that the door that he hadn't bothered to look in had steam appearing out of the space underneath it. Joshua sat up, staring at the door intently.

The sound of rushing water subsided into little droplets, and Joshua waited for something to happen. Practically on the edge of the bed, the door swung open while Beau stepped out. Joshua yelped and fell over the edge of the bed, slipping on the silk blankets. Joshua peeked over the top of the bed at Beau.

Beau's hair was dripping, and he held a white towel loosely around his waist. Joshua watched while Beau flipped his hair away from his face. It wasn't until Beau took a glance at Joshua on the ground and smiled at him that Joshua felt comfortable.

"Morning, Joshua." Beau smiled tenderly. "Did I scare you?" Beau laughed at the sight of a startled Joshua peeking over the bed,

"Yes, but it was my own fault, master." Joshua said. Beau walked next to him and gingerly pushed some of his feathery hair aside. Sleep had ruffled Joshua's hair slightly. Joshua smiled "Thank you, master." He mumbled. Beau waved off his thanks.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, master." Joshua rose off of the bed, not bother to avert his gaze from Beau's body. He saw no issue with looking at it. "Would you like me to leave, master?" Joshua asked, his hands clasped together at his waist. Beau shrugged.

"If you would, Joshua. And please wake the girls up. They're awfully lazy." Beau reached into his drawer, grabbing a pair of boxers along with pants, and a slim shirt. "I've already requested the room extension. You should have your room soon, Joshua. Maybe in another hour."

Joshua squealed in delight before running out of the bedroom, leaving Beau to dress himself. Joshua liked how it felt to be dressed and undressed. It was almost an innovative idea to Joshua. But in particular, Joshua remembered when Beau was dressing him. He remembered the feeling of Beau's fingertips ghosting along his soothing skin, like a wind that wasn't even there. Joshua then remembered the look on his master's face. Was he angry? He didn't look satisfied.... Had Joshua not satisfied him?

Beau emerged from the bedroom, hair still slightly wet. His shirt was loose, and his jeans were a bit baggy. He gave Joshua another small smile while Joshua poked the doll-sized girls, whispering for them to wake up. Dahlia was the first to wake, then Kiyah, and then Leslie.

"Leslie, the doctor will be here tonight." Beau said from the kitchen, sipping on a smooth cup of coffee. Joshua rubbed his eye lazily, his long eyelashes fluttering when he finished. "We'll see what he has to say."

"Yes, master." Leslie squeaked. She pecked a small kiss on Joshua's cheek, swinging her legs over the edge of the windowsill.

Joshua pulled the sweatpants at his waist up a bit higher. He turned to Beau's room.

"Master, I will go get dressed, if that's all right." Joshua said. Beau nodded, and with that, Joshua began skipping off in the direction of the bedroom. Beau only glanced at him once or twice before he realized that Joshua was making his bed before getting dressed, slipping the silk sheets over one another. Then Joshua clicked the door shut.

After a few minutes, he slipped out of the room with new clothes on. His black jeans were snug against his legs, and he wore a maroon colored shirt that contrasted perfectly with his pants. Joshua's shoes were a snow white color. Joshua's hair, however, was messy and slightly tangled, as Joshua still didn't realize his hair was messy.

"Is this good, master?" Joshua asked. Beau smiled, walking into the living room and grabbing a brush that sat on a bookcase. Beau stepped forward, running the bristles of the brush through Joshua's hair.

"You need to brush your hair when you wake up, because it's very long." Beau said quietly, finally straightening Joshua's hair out enough to satisfy him. "Understand? You brush your hair with this." He pulled the brush away from his soft hair. Joshua nodded, noting the brush and where Beau placed it after wards.

"What are we going to do today, master?" Joshua asked eagerly.

Beau walked back into the kitchen, stirring a mug of coffee that had cooled down. "Today we're gonna stop by the coffee shop, but not for coffee. I need to ask a favor from a friend who is there often. Sound good?"

"Okay." Joshua nodded. "Are you going to see Drew today?"

Beau nearly choked on a swig of the coffee. He smacked his own chest while Joshua walked towards him cautiously. Beau caught his own breath, shaking his head quickly.

"No, we're not going to see Drew today." Beau said. "It's just gonna be us."

"Are you okay, master?" Joshua placed his hand on Beau's chest. "What was wrong?"

Beau laughed weakly. "You surprised me. I didn't expect you to ask about Drew." Joshua's brows creased together in confusion.

"I'm sorry, master. I won't ask of Drew anymore."

"No, no, no." Beau pulled Joshua's hand off of his chest, sighing gently. "You're allowed to ask. Just not while I'm drinking something." Beau winked. Joshua giggled. Master used a gesture, Joshua thought.

Beau looked down at the boy in silence, but a smile seemed to be plastered on his face. Maybe he would buy Joshua a new gift tonight. Joshua was a great personal computer, as it turned out. Spoiling him just a little wouldn't hurt.



Joshua sat at the coffee shop's table, mimicking what others were doing. There were small children with their chins in their hands, so Joshua did that. He sat the table innocently while Beau spoke to a teen at the counter.

There was a waitress that Joshua had taken a fondness of. The girl was blonde with bouncy curls. Upon her slender body was a degrading French maid's outfit. While Joshua thought that she was a remarkable looking person, he knew that she was like him; a bot. She didn't look others in the eye, Joshua noted. She never looked her customers in the eye.

Joshua also found himself eying a man in the corner of the room. Joshua noted that he looked older than Beau, and Joshua also noticed the look the man was giving the blonde, bouncy haired girl. Joshua didn't like the look he was giving her. It was an ugly look, an ugly, evil look.

Beau sat down next to Joshua.

"You're awfully quiet, Joshua." Beau said. Joshua looked at Beau as though he were scolding him.

"I apologize."

"What's bothering you?"

Joshua watched the blonde girl carefully. Whenever somebody would try to reach out for her, possibly to give her a tip, she jumped. Beau followed Joshua's gaze, easily finding that Joshua was staring at the woman. Beau seemed almost jealous after he realized Joshua had taken an interest in the woman.

"She's like me." Joshua said without looking at Beau. Beau heaved a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. "She's a robot, master."

"Yes. Well, she's functioning remarkably well for a bot." Beau said. "You really are interesting, Joshua. I never would have realized she was a bot."

"Look at the way that man is looking at her." Joshua nodded his chin in the direction of the man. Beau turned his attention from his beautiful bot to find the man Joshua was speaking of. "I apologize, master. I speak too much." Joshua said.

"No, no." Beau said. "I see what you mean. And the girl continues to look back at the man, like she needs his approval." Beau began to note all of the mannerisms the girl did, and he oh-so desperately wanted to wipe the smug smirk off of the mysterious man's face. As much as Beau loved his robots, he would never abuse them as this man was so obviously doing. Robots do not bruise though, they do not bleed, nor do they scratch. Robots are flawless creations, and the only telling of their owner's nature is how they act with their owner.

The blonde slowly walked over to the table Joshua and Beau sat at.

"Hello. My name is Troia." The girl said without making eye contact with either of them. Her hands trembled as a human's would. "Would either of you—"

Joshua hand touched the girl's wrist, and she looked startled that he even reached for her hand. The man in the background shuffled uncomfortably. Beau almost did the same.

Joshua stood up, reaching for the girl's chin. She flinched, but allowed Joshua's fingers to cup her chin. He turned her gaze to his. Beau was in awe of how human they acted. Joshua was comforting her, he was actually comforting another person, as Beau thought. It was amazing to watch.

"My name is Joshua." He said to the girl with a smile. "I'm PC936777."

The blonde gasped, throwing her arms around Joshua's neck. Beau covered his mouth as he realized that his jaw was practically at the ground.

"My companion!" She shouted gleefully. "I know I would be with my companion one day!"

Joshua laughed, although he didn't take his gaze off of the man in the corner. The blonde stopped laughing long enough to realize that Joshua was very cautious.

"Be careful, Joshua," She pronounced his name carefully. "My master, he—"

"He is evil, Troia." Joshua mumbled. "Masters are not supposed to act that way with us...."

Troia stared at the ground, not bothering to take a glance at Joshua.

"Joshua, your eyes are beautiful." She said. She pecked a small kiss on Joshua's cheek, smiling to herself after she did so. "But I must go. I have a job to tend to." Troia turned to face Beau. She bowed. "I apologize, sir. It's just that your boy, he is to be my companion, as programmed."

"Companion? You two are meant to be together?"

Troia raised her brows, and her mouth formed into an 'o'. She giggled, hiding her smile behind her slender fingers.

"Oh, no, sir!" Troia laughed. "No, of course not, do not be silly." She controlled her laughter after nearly doubling over. Beau felt a bit silly. "No, he is to be a companion, an acquaintance, a friend."

Joshua hadn't said anything over the course of the conversation between his master and Troia. He only watched the man in the corner. The man had started to walk over to Troia's side, but Joshua was wary, and he stood in front of the man, stopping him in his tracks.

"Excuse me." The man said. "But my bot seems to be preoccupied with your master."

Joshua tilted his head to the right, staring without shame at the man. The man was unclean, Joshua could tell. Beau showered in the morning, and he was clean, while this man had short, greasy hair with an unshaven face. He looked like a brute, plain and simple. Joshua took another look into his eyes, but he didn't like what he could see through the eyes that stared back.

"Joshua, we should be going." Beau stood up, straightening out his clothes. Joshua backed away from the evil man while Beau bid farewell to the other teen behind the counter. Beau took a step past the man while he heard him utter one single sentence.

"Your bot should learn his place." The man said to Beau. Beau turned to the man, and his eyes were filled with anger and slight disgust. Beau leaned closer, almost headbutting the man in front of him.

"How do you propose that?" Beau hissed. "Shall I beat mine as you beat yours?" The man's face turned from anger to distaste. Already Beau could tell there were going to be future problems between him and the man. Beau thought, how dare this complete stranger address Joshua like a slave?

"Master." Joshua tugged on Beau's arm. "Master, we must leave." He said quietly. The blonde hugged both Beau and Joshua, kissing their heads one at a time. She scooted them off in the direction of the door, leaving the girl to the mercies of her master. Joshua glanced at the store twice before Beau stopped, taking Joshua's hands in his own.

"We'll get her, Joshua." Beau said. "We'll get her before anything happens."

Joshua stood in silence, only bothering to blink once or twice while his master held his hands in his own. Then Joshua buried his head in his master's chest as he had seen Drew do once before when they embraced. To Joshua, this was only a way to secure a promise. He thought of it as nothing more than a way to make sure his master would keep true to his word. But Beau's cheeks deepened to a red color. He couldn't comprehend what his bot was doing, but by force of habit, he wrapped his arms around Joshua's shoulders.

"Do you promise, master?" Joshua asked, his voice muffled by the cotton material of Beau's clothes. As people walked past them, few actually paid attention to the embrace between the two.

Humans, as they revolutionized, were usually exposed to things far worse than a person's sexuality, so many never paid any mind to two men, two women, or a human and a bot holding each other. In fact, it was common to see a robot and a human together. A bot accepted somebody for all of their flaws, and were submissive in most cases, therefore humans preferred them over other humans. Sexuality was nothing but another character trait than a defining point.

"I promise, Joshua." Beau said, running his fingers through Joshua's soft hair. Beau was almost startled at how comfortable he was with Joshua. But Beau kept telling himself that Joshua was his bot, not something more.... Beau never had the idea of being with a bot.

"I apologize, master." Joshua pulled away from his master. "I was not given permission to hug you. Please forgive me, master." Joshua bowed.

"It's all right, Joshua." Beau said after managing to hide his flushed face. "Don't apologize."

Beau started down the sidewalk again, and Joshua simply followed suit. Joshua felt a bit guilty for embracing his master without permission. He noted in his mind that he would only use the embrace when absolutely needed.