Ray looked pleadingly at Milo. Sexual exploration was something the bots discussed frequently in their private chat, and while Ray had experimented with things by himself, he hadn’t yet been with a partner.
He was very eager to try, however.
“Maybe Ray could be a good influence on Ruben.” Milo shrugged, giving his friend a supportive smile.
“One could only hope,” Raina teased.
Privately over their text thread, Milo imparted to Ray the appropriate warning that this may be a purely physical entanglement and romance movie endings were never guaranteed.
Ray: Yes! Like in the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You, I understand that one is rarely the exception but usually the rule. I will also, however, be open to the former.
Well, to live and learn.
Breakfast continued, mostly for the humans, but the bots all very much enjoyed being at the table with them. Family breakfast had become a bit of a regular occurrence, particularly before long weekends of interviews, protests, and other exciting endeavors that they all joined in together, supporting each other wherever they could.
There was an important gathering happening downtown today that they would be attending, and later, they planned to gather at Troy’s—since he had the largest fireplace—to enjoy indoor smores, hot chocolate, and some movie calledElfthat was an apparent staple of the winter season. Milo had purposely not looked anything up about it so he could be surprised.
“Milo,” Rowan whispered at Milo’s ear, having snuck up on him at the kitchen sink, where he’d been filling the caramel rolls pan with water to soak. He hadn’t thought they’d go through all of them, but then, Ethel was there.
“Is everything okay?” Milo asked.
“Wonderful. May I steal you for a minute?”
The others were all mostly done eating and enjoying more coffee, with Raina sharing fashion tips with Anabelle and Ethel,while Troy looked scandalized by whatever he was overhearing between Ruben and Ray.
They could fend for themselves for a while.
Milo followed Rowan into the living room, all the way to the large window overlooking the city. Milo hadn’t decided yet if he preferred this view in springtime, summer, fall, or now, in winter, covered in snow, but he still enjoyed it most during the day.
“Did you want to show me something?” Milo asked, since Rowan hadn’t said anything, simply led him to the window.
He retrieved something from behind the sofa—a large box wrapped in a bow like a Christmas present. “I do have something to show you, but I also wanted to ask you something one more time. This really is what you want?Me, I mean? No regrets?”
Milo smiled because those questions weren’t asked with the same worry anymore, just with an echoed smile from Rowan and the confidence that Milo was never going to change his mind. “No regrets,” he confirmed. “Although…” He hated that one thing did bother him, but bother him it did whenever he thought of it lately.
“Yes?” Rowan prompted.
“I guess… sometimes I worry about how I won't outwardly age the way you will. My circuits will. I'll still need regular maintenance and charging, like a human, I suppose, and I wouldn’t last forever anyway without replacing parts and data backups from time to time. I've been thinking that maybe I won't always do those things. I don't want to last too long. I mean, not too much longer than you do. And I’m okay with that, whenever that time comes.
“I'll live,we'lllive, and someday, we'll die. I just worry you won’t want to be with me that whole time if I never change on the outside. Maybe I could replace my synth-skin occasionallywith older looking versions? Plenty of people have custom bots made to look older.”
Rowan had listened patiently as Milo divulged all that, his expression unchanged from its soft smile. “If you want to do that, Milo, you can, but whether you change in ways to make it look like you've aged or never do, I will always choose this. Choose you. I am more certain of that every day.”
He held the wrapped box out to Milo, so Milo took it.
“I know your birthday is the day you awakened, and technically I could say our anniversary is about the same time, but I thought it felt more fitting for it to be the day you first arrived on my doorstep. It’s been a year since I… met you. And even though that wasn’t yet theyouthat you became, well, it’s normal for couples to take a while to get to know each other’s real selves. Either way, I wanted to give you this, since I finally finished making it.”
This was what Rowan had been doing in his workshop?
Carefully, Milo untied the bow and lifted the lid on the box.
“Happy anniversary, Milo.”
“It’s… aheart?” Milo lifted it, letting the box drop lightly to the floor. It was about the size of a wall clock, red and glowing with interlocking gears moving in synchronized motion.
“I thought we could add it to our art on the wall, if you like it,” Rowan said. He retrieved his tablet from one of the sofa cushions, bringing to life a digital version of the heart as well that projected from the screen in electric blue. “I figured we should have two versions, so we can always bring it with us. You know, since you don't technically have a heart, but youdo, I thought you should have something physical to show for it.”
Milo’s eyes were quickly filling with tears. “You made this for me?”
