Human After All

"Attention citizens!" There came a loud squeal of feedback from the speakers that were lined up along the streets. They hadn't be used in quite a few years. Many people basically even forgot they were there. Rumors were always around that the speakers were used for emergency sirens, but nothing too serious had happened along the course of Beau's life.

"Attention, citizens! We have some very exciting news!" The woman's voice was shrill. Beau listened carefully as the announcements raged on. Perhaps he knew this girl from high school. Many people from his class had graduated with jobs already in their sights, while Beau was simply contemplating college. "We must announce that we have apprehended the criminal Ethylon Wright, and we are currently dissecting his robot now. We can all breathe easy!"

"Really." Beau said aloud with heavy sarcasm.

Joshua pulled himself away from the stereo long enough to look at Beau. "What, master?"

"I doubt they actually captured Ethylon." Beau said. "He's a strict criminal. He's not stupid, and he's certainly not gonna go down without a fight. There's no way they took him down that easily."

"What are you saying, master?" Joshua leaned closer. Beau shrugged, running his fingers through his black hair.

"I'm saying that they didn't capture Ethylon. They're lying to keep themselves safe." Beau paused. "They did it last time we had a rogue. It took them nearly three months to actually capture him. He was a genius...." Beau scratched his neck. "Ethylon had enough brains to break out of the bion he was in. They're gonna have at least a few more months until they catch him."

Joshua looked at the clock. It was getting fairly late. While he didn't mind talking to Beau for hours on end, Beau would mention something about staying up later than usual and send Joshua off to his room like a child. Perhaps tonight would be slightly different, Joshua thought.

Beau played soft music by a band Joshua had learned to call Foster the People. Their music was soft, gentle, and different sounding, just as Beau liked. Joshua noted that his master listened to music that most would never consider. He guessed that was why he liked his master so much. Because he was different.

"You look tired, Joshua." Beau murmured against Joshua's ear. Joshua straddled Beau's hips. While Joshua thought nothing of this, Beau was inwardly happier than he had ever been before. Of course, they waited until Dahlia, Leslie and Kiyah were asleep. It seemed strange to do that in front of them, or at least Beau thought so. He didn't want to be so close with one robot while the other three are just watching.

"It's not late, master. I can stay awake." Joshua lied, his eyes drooping over slightly. Beau pulled Joshua off of him, and sat him back down on the couch. "No, master. It's okay, really."

"Go to bed." Beau said firmly. "You're very tired, Joshua." Joshua shook his head quickly. "I will carry you to your bedroom if you don't go by yourself." Beau said firmly, although it didn't seem like such a bad idea when he thought about it. It's not like he and Joshua weren't already close. Becoming a bit closer wouldn't hurt anybody.

Joshua giggled. "Master, I'll go to bed— Eeek!" Joshua squeaked. Beau slipped his arms around Joshua's body, one behind his knees and another around his sides. Beau smiled, walking slowly over to Joshua's bedroom. He giggled a few times, and hushed himself when Beau opened the door to his bedroom because the girls were asleep on his dresser. Beau stood at the edge of Joshua's bed, holding him tightly in his arms. Beau didn't want to put him down. Joshua was so soft, so frail, so loving. Beau never wanted to put him down.

"Master?" Joshua whispered. "You may put me down now."

"I don't wanna." Beau said childishly. Joshua smiled, leaning his head on Joshua's shoulder. "But you're tired. I'll let you go to bed."

"Thank you, master." Joshua said as Beau laid him down on his bed, stretching his legs out on the bed. Beau threw a blanket over his small body, watching as Joshua pulled the blankets past his face.

"Good night, Joshua." Beau leaned closer to Joshua's cheek. He pecked a small kiss on his soft, porcelain-like skin while a flash of lightning appeared and disappeared at the window.

"Master?" Joshua whispered.

"Yes." Beau said.

"May I hug you?" Joshua continued to whisper. Beau usually made the first move for an embrace, and Joshua always waited until Beau hugged him first. He had more respect for Beau than that. Beau looked almost shocked that Joshua asked, but because he had forgotten that Joshua was faithful to his master, loving and loyal. He would always ask until Beau gave him permission.

"Of course you can." Beau said. Joshua jumped off of the bed, throwing his arms around Beau's neck. Beau gasped quietly, but complied, running his hands along Joshua's back. Their breaths were in sync with each other until Beau muttered, "Go to bed, Joshua. It's very late."

"Okay." Joshua pulled away slowly, letting his hands slide off of Beau's neck. His genuine smile was upon his face, and Beau almost melted where he stood when he saw the dimples in his cheeks. Beau kissed one of them, and listen to Joshua giggle faintly. Beau had a soft spot for Joshua. Who wouldn't? "Good night, master." Joshua laid back down on the bed, and it took nearly everything Beau had to turn his back on him and walk over to the door. He winked at Joshua before clicking the door shut.

Beau laid down on the couch again. Sleeping there wouldn't hurt too much. He was too lazy to go change into pajamas anyways.



There came a resounding knock from Beau's door. The sound of it echoed throughout the apartment. Beau rubbed his eye gingerly, hoping to himself that the knock hadn't awoken Joshua or the girls. They needed their rest. Beau needed his as well, but it could wait apparently.

Another knock from the door, and Beau groaned loudly.

"All right, all right, I'm coming." He mumbled as he opened the front door. There stood, angry and disheveled as ever, Drew. His hair was messed up, his jacket hanging off of one shoulder, shirt wrinkled and shoes dirty. He looked like he just ran a five mile marathon.

"You!" Drew yelled, slurring slightly. Beau furrowed his brows together while staring at the shorter being in front of him. He hadn't seen Drew in maybe a week and half. He suspected Drew was doing just fine. "You ruined everything." He waved his hands in front of him.

"What the hell are you talking about, Drew?" Beau shook his head impatiently. Drew hiccuped slightly before he pointed a finger in Beau's face.

"You just had to take the robot's side, leave me in the dirt." He spat. "Well, you're driving me nuts. I had you first, Beau." He reached up, curling his fingers under Beau's collar. "Now kiss me."

Their lips locked together, and Drew threw his arms instantaneously around his neck. Beau's arms snaked around his waist, dragging him into the apartment slightly. Drew was drunk, you'd have to be blind not to notice he was. Drinking age was 15, but many teens were too busy to drink. It was overrated, many thought, so they waited until their schoolwork was over and done with, usually around the ages of 18 or 19 years of age. Drew, however, was one of those class acts that liked to drink.

Beau pushed Drew into his bedroom. He hoped they wouldn't wake up Joshua and them because of the slight bumping sound the door made when it hit Beau's dresser.

After a few lust filled minutes, Beau pulled away from an intense kiss to take a breath.

"No." Beau whispered. "Joshua, his room is right there."

"Oh, shut up." Drew pushed his lips against Beau's again. Beau tried terribly hard to push away the idea of Joshua walking in. He felt like he was... cheating. But he didn't consider Joshua like that... did he?

Bea was too busy to think anymore as he slipped Drew's shirt off of his body, his lips attaching to a soft spot on Drew's throat. Drew moaned quietly, and Beau threw his hand over his mouth, placing one index finger on his own, supple lips.

"Quiet." He said due to fear that Joshua would walk in. "Don't make a sound." Drew nodded eagerly, chewing on his bottom lip to keep his desperate moans from filling the bedroom.

And as Beau reached down to unbutton Drew's jeans, he heard a squeak from behind the door, and he turned. Nobody was there, but he could have sworn he heard Joshua. It sounded exactly like him, and Beau was around Joshua constantly, he should know what he sounded like.

"Did you hear that?" Beau whispered, although Drew was shaking his head already. "It sounded like a—"

"You talk too much." Drew grabbed Beau by his neck and threw him down onto the bed. Although he should have been concentrated on Drew, he wasn't. Beau was more concerned on whether or not Joshua had just seen them, and if he did, what would he tell him?



Beau woke up to the sound of a bird in a tree outside of his window. He was tenderly rubbing his eyes when the singing of the bird disappeared. Beau stretched his legs out and shivered. He had forgotten to put his shirt back on, his pants the only salvation from the drizzling rain outside. He and Joshua could still go out in public if they really wanted to, all he had to do was find an umbrella.

Beau pushed himself out of his bed to find a small note awaiting him on the dresser.

"I'm sorry :( I didn't mean to show up in the middle of the night.
Maybe we should stop what we're doing. I don't think it's good for either of us.
xoxo Drew."

He sighed, crushing it in his fist. Drew was right. This fuck-and-run relationship wasn't going to work for either of them much longer. Drew was afraid of developing feelings for Beau, and Beau didn't want to hurt anyone. Thank goodness Drew said it first, Beau might not have had the heart to do it. While Beau seemed to have a tough shell, when it came to his friends and such, he was soft, especially Joshua.

"Shit." Beau mumbled, rubbing his eyes again. He remembered there came the squeak from behind the door when he and Drew were together, and he suspected it came from Joshua. He would have to confront Joshua, explain it to him.... It seemed like an incredibly awkward idea. How do you explain that to a bot, especially a bot like Joshua? So sensitive, so easily confused. Beau simply shivered at the thought of it. He had no idea how he would approach something like that.

But he couldn't avoid it either. He would have to go into the living room and talk to Joshua. Beau took a deep breath, calming himself for a few minutes before he opened the door to his bedroom. It's now or never, he thought while walking into the living room where Joshua sat innocently on the couch. He was reading a magazine that Beau had delivered to his house, although Beau never really liked to read them anyways.

"Good morning, master." Joshua hardly peeked up from the magazine. Beau sat down next to Joshua, staring directly at him although Joshua was trying desperately to escape his gaze. Beau sighed. "What's wrong, master?" Joshua automatically put the magazine down on the table, getting on his hands and knees on the couch to look at his master. Whenever Beau sighed, or seemed unhappy, Joshua was right there to see if he could help in any way.

"You.... You saw Drew and I last night, didn't you?" Beau asked. Joshua's eyes widened guiltily, although it was Beau who felt terrible. He should have stopped Drew before anything else happened. He wouldn't be in this situation right now. But as Beau's mother would say, too little, too late. "You're not in trouble, Joshua. Just please tell me the truth."

Joshua gasped quietly. "I swear, I didn't mean to, master. I just heard something, and I thought of the solar sailors, and I wanted to make sure you were all right, but then I walked in on accident...." Joshua took a deep breath. "I apologize ten-fold, master."

"Don't." Beau reached over and pulled Joshua into a warm embrace. He felt guilty, oh-so guilty. How could he betray Joshua like that? "Forgive me, Joshua. I didn't mean for you to see that."

Joshua nodded silently, although he didn't say anything else. Joshua loved the feeling of being in his master's arms like this, even under the circumstances. Beau kissed the top of Joshua's head, and for some reason, he felt that he would have a few drinks that night. Pressure had gotten the best of him, and besides, what are a few drinks going to do to anyone?



Joshua decided another nap was in order after sitting silently with his master. He hadn't been able to sleep last night after seeing Drew with his master (it just seemed very strange), and he was especially tired today. Beau had given him permission to nap, and while Dahlia and the other complained because they wanted to talk with Joshua, Joshua was so tired, all he wanted to do was throw himself on the bed and fall back to sleep.

When Joshua awoke however, he was greeted by a woozy and drunken master. Joshua giggled as Beau couldn't seem to finish a sentence without letting out a hiccup. Beau finished off a cup of whatever it was he was drinking before he fell back against the couch. He rubbed his temples thoughtfully as though he were in pain, but that soon passed when intoxication took control of Beau's senses again.

Joshua sat down in front of the couch, staring at his master intently. Beau couldn't get rid of his hiccups, and it was bothering him a lot more than expected. It was nearly 9 p.m., Joshua noted. He had slept the entire day away!

"Are you all right, master?" Joshua leaned forward, pressing the backs of his hands against Beau's reddening cheeks. Beau nodded slowly, opening one eye to stare at Joshua. He was entranced in Beau's amazing eye color. Even while he was drunk, he loved his eyes.

"Yes, I -hic- am. Thank you, Joshua." Joshua giggled after Beau finished this sentence.

Joshua started. "Would you like—"

Beau rolled off of the couch, for no reason, and onto the ground with a burst of laughter. He grabbed his side as it began to ache from the laughing, although it really wasn't that funny. Being drunk made everything funny. Joshua cocked his head to the side, leaning over his master with curious eyes. Beau finally stopped laughing long enough to reach up and grab his bot's chin with a steady hand.

"You're very beautiful, Joshua." Beau said with a cleaned up slur. "Very beautiful." He marveled, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"T-thank you, master." Joshua said. Beau had never called him beautiful before. Maybe amazing, or awesome, or cute, but never beautiful. He didn't know what to think of it.

Beau sat up, cracking his neck carefully before staring at Joshua with foggy eyes. Dahlia, Leslie and Kiyah were too busy watching television (Joshua never took much of an interest in it) to care about what Beau was doing. Beau pulled Joshua into his lap, giving feather kisses along Joshua's neck. It felt like a soft wind was curling around Joshua's neck whenever Beau kissed him.

"Joshua?" Beau asked, trailing his fingers down Joshua's neck and across his chest as he pulled away. Joshua nodded quickly, eagerly even.

"Yes?" Joshua squeaked. It was strange for his master to be so openly affectionate, especially while the girls were still awake. Actually, Joshua thought, it was strange for him to be this affectionate at all. Usually he would just give a hug, a kiss on the cheek or head, a holding hand, maybe a hand around the waist.... Never feather kisses along his neck. Not that Joshua minded too much anyways.

Beau swallowed hard before he brought his lips to Joshua's ear. His breaths tickled against Joshua's skin.

"Have you ever played the Magnet Game?"