“I like your laugh too, Milo.”
“I do not laugh.”
“You did a little before.” Rowan still sounded amused. “I’m looking forward to hearing it more often.”
Milo liked when Rowan sounded happy. “What would I laugh at? Are you funny, Rowan? Whatizzzfunny?”
“Subjective. Now, hold still. I’m almost done. Still no pain?”
“Mmm, no. I like when you touch me.”
Rowan didn’t answer that. When he did speak again, it was to inform Milo that he was finished. “You can roll over now and restart your sensory inputs, but stay lying down until you feel normal, okay?”
“Okay, Rowan.”
Reinitializing primary sensors…
Still feeling sluggish at first, it took Milo a moment to roll over onto his back. There was still no pain, and it was nice having Rowan crouched on the floor so close to him, looking into his eyes as Milo’s vision began to clear. The tools and replaced parts were on the floor, including the section of Milo’s back where his charging port had been and some of his scarred synthetic skin.
“I installed a backup prototype surge protector,” Rowan said. “Good thing I had one. I'll need to finish another to show Director Andreas come Monday, given the original one is fried. That shouldn't be too difficult though. I have all the schematics.”
Since Milo could not see his back, he asked, “Does everything look normal now where you made the repairs?” He knew that while different areas of his skin and parts could be removed, once returned, any fissures left behind sealed as if he had always been whole.
“Some of your remaining skin still has lightning scars. I can replace those patches eventually. With the charging port changed out, it’s sort of like the scars are a sunburst around the new tissue.” Rowan chuckled.
“Do you like it?”
“Hm?”
“The way the sunburst looks? You sound amused by it. Pleased.”
“It’s… kind of neat, I guess. Makes you unique. You are so unique, Milo, you have no idea.”
“Mmm…” Milo’s senses must still have been returning to functionality because he didn’t tell his arms to move or really think about it. They simply reached of their own accord to take hold of Rowan’s nearest hand and brought it down to splay flat against Milo’s bare chest.
Milo gasped. His sensory inputs were definitely rebooting, and Rowan’s touch felt so much better when he could experience it fully.
“Uh… Milo, what are you—?”
“I need to be sure I am functioning correctly,” Milo said, moving Rowan’s hand to stroke up and down his chest, and then lower over his stomach. “Feelingthings correctly. Ngnnn…” A low sound Milo had never made before left him—a moan, drawn out by howgoodRowan’s hand on him felt.
“Milo…”
He drew the hand back up and slightly right, causing Rowan’s thumb to graze a nipple. Milo moaned again. “Is this… how I make you feel when I touch you, Rowan?”
“Shit,” Rowan huffed beneath his breath.
Milo looked at him, unsure what had prompted a curse, but Rowan’s eyes were trained below Milo’s waist, and when Milo followed his gaze, he saw that he was starting to harden, which had never happened before without explicit instruction to do so.
Milo drew Rowan’s hand down toward the growing bulge beneath his underwear.
“Milo!” Rowan tore his hand from Milo’s grasp, looking startled and quite flushed in the face. He was aroused too. Milo knew all the signs. If they were both aroused, Milo could not understand why Rowan would pull away from him.
“Please, Rowan. It is such a nice sensation.” He sought after Rowan’s hand again. “I want you to touch me.”
“Shit,” Rowan cursed again, trying at first to keep his hand from Milo, but eventually letting him take it. “You make it difficult to refuse you…”
“Then why do so? You said to ask if I wanted anything, and this is what I want.” Milo brought Rowan’s hand to his chest once more, starting where they had begun, and soon moving it downward again, brushing it along Milo’s skin with a clear destination.
