Page 26 of Leviathan

She stopped, one hand on the table, her palm soft and warm against my neurofilaments.

She narrowed her eyes and stroked her hand against the table. I needed to hurry with my explanation.

"Before you sit down, there are two different ways of interacting with the room," I said. "I can have a full empty room that is all projections. They will react and interact, but you have to mime your motions as you can't actually touch anything. I can build the furniture to match the projections and move them around, but the scenes have to be static as I can't build and rearrange that quickly."

"What is the other way of interacting?" she asked, stroking her hand over the neurofiliaments I had shaped into the form of the table, sending shivers of pleasure through me.

"The way the room is set up now, I have filled a section of the space with my more manipulatable neurofilaments that can make the shape of the furniture and environment, giving more dynamic options," I said. "I installed the projectors in there as well. In that portion of the space I can move to match the environment so that everything is...touchable."

"You mean everything I touch is you," she said, tapping a finger against me.

"Yes," I said. "And as I have said before, and is hopefully very clear now, I enjoy you touching me a great deal. I wanted to make sure you understand the two different options for interacting with the space and with me."

"Lyrien, I enjoy touching you too," she said. She licked her lips and swallowed, then slid into the booth. She had put her clothing back on, a barrier between us, but I could feel the skin on her arms as she rested them on the table. "But we need to talk before things get sexual again."

Again.

She said again.

A thrill ran through me.

She said again, and then she pressed her wet pussy right against me, separated only by the barrier of cloth. She was opening up to me, creating space for our relationship to change. She had offered the possibility of 'again' and it was time for me to open myself up to her, to show the same trust that she was giving me by being willing to talk about the possibility. I was happy to talk. I was completely ready and eager to fuck her senseless.

I ran the projection I had planned, shifting my filaments to fit the form I needed her to see.

A form that might help her navigate past her hesitation.

"May I join you in person?" I asked.

NINE

MARIA

An elf was standing next to the table, looming over me as he spoke with Lyrien's voice. He wasn't exactly an elf; that was just what my mind registered the moment I looked at him. His jawline was firm, his chin pointed, and he had pointed ears that peaked out from beneath the filaments of his hair. His skin was a shade of dusky grey, with the undertones that reminded me of Lyrien's hull. His hair was made up of the same glowing white filaments I'd grown used to, pouring out of his head and tumbling down his back in dreadlocks that shifted as if they had a life of their own. Along his shoulders were small divots that reminded me of the ones on the drones, only looking more like flesh than metal or artificial material. He was shirtless, with just loose trousers hiding his pelvis and legs. His form was mouthwateringly fit, and just the sight of him ignited the heat that flared between my legs.

Suddenly, I realized the utter heaven this could be.

Whatever kind of creature he was, he had just given me the best orgasm of my life and then built me a VR suite where he could take on the appearance of anyone. He had been dedicated to my care and well-being, and wanted me to be happy and healthy. I could spend the remainder of the trip in absolute blissville if I wanted to.

But that was another assumption.

I had already made a massive mistake in assuming he was just software. It hadn't occurred to me that a ship could be alive.

"You're very tall," I said, craning my head up to look at him. This form he had chosen was about seven feet tall, which would make kissing him ridiculous, given how short I was. I personally preferred a nice five foot nine as my lip-to-lip ratio for height. "Can you make yourself shorter?"

"I'm a big male," he said, sitting down at the booth with me. "Get used to that."

Even as his no-nonsense tone stirred heat in me, I realized I had heard those words before, and suddenly I realized the culpability of my own confusion.

"You told me you were male," I said.

"I did," he replied.

"I haven't really asked enough questions about you," I said. "I was so caught up in the idea of you in my head, I didn't hear the words you were saying. I should have asked more questions. Why would software use a biological term to describe itself?"

"You ask plenty of questions," he said with a smile. "I could have explained more."

"Yes," I agreed. I reached across the table, laying my hand flat on the surface. "So there are things we both could have done better. How about we focus on moving forward instead?"