who_is_she | (no subject)

The job had gone shockingly well, though Elyta supposed that having the backup of a whole ship and crew had its benefits. Roddie was a remarkable ally in his own right, as his aim was impeccable and he had excellent instincts; though his penchant for pausing every few minutes to make an immature situational joke was less than ideal in a partner. It didn't help that Tony always egged him on over the radio, with his see-through scolding and attempts at hiding his laughter and smiles. Elyta really wished they would just have sex with each other and get it over with, because the tension was starting to give him a headache.

The job otherwise had gone very well, aside from all the nauseating flirting. Elyta and Roddie had managed to sneak into a backup police supplies warehouse and steal two whole VI units. They had chosen this specific model because of the nerve simulations, and many of the systems were built to mimic how an organic body functioned, because they were meant to be controlled remotely by police officers. The units were meant for Ajax, one so he could stay with Roddie on his ship and the other to stay with him.

He couldn't wait for Ajax to have a body again, to be able to touch him and hold him. The last couple of months had been difficult without it, having to recuperate and then adjust to his new hand with only Ajax's voice and the occasional independently moving part of the ship. He wanted to have his partner back, and now that they were returning to the ship with the stolen suits, he found himself shivering with anticipation.

"So it would be fairly simple to reroute the current systems into a more streamlined central system, which of course would mimic the human nervous system, that is if you even want a human nervous system. There are other examples of sentient species with radically different nervous systems that would I think lend themselves to a synthetic system very well. The Torak system for example..."

Most of the shuttle ride back to the ship with the units had been spent listening to Tony drone on and on about possible advancements that could be made to the units to help improve Ajax's quality of life. It wasn't that Elyta didn't like Tony or his ideas--he loved Tony, and he knew Tony's work was always top-of-the-line--it was just that Elyta had no idea what he was talking about.

"Nearing airlock," Elyta said, and is secretly thrilled when Tony falls silent.

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Roddie rolls his eyes as Tony drones on, holding his hand up and moving its mouth like a sock puppet to imitate him.

"He doesn't know what kind of nervous system he wants, Miller," he laughs, "Just let him try this one out and see how he likes it, all right? Jesus."

They reach the airlock and Roddie knocks on the door, and when Tony lets it open he hoists the first robot into the ship, then helps Elyta with the other.

"All right," he says, dusting off his hands, opening his mask and coughing slightly -- the terrain of this planet was sandy, and he'd gotten quite a bit in his boots and clothes.

"Ajax, you want to fire one of these up? I think we'll need to let you do a wired link again, these have some pretty good security...protection...software stuff in them, but you can like...delete it or whatever, right? Man, I don't know the techno language for this shit, ask Tony. Or Vira. They're the hackers."

"Yes. I should be able to bypass security protocols if I am linked directly to the platform," Ajax replies.

"Right, that," Roddie says, shaking his head as he removes the cable from the bag and links the police unit to a port on the dashboard of the ship. It takes Ajax a few minutes, but soon, a light on the screen of the police unit comes on, and he turns his head to look around.

"Data transfer successful," he says, "Additionally, as this is a remote access vessel, I am able to control this vessel without removing my software from the ship's systems."

He flexes the fingers in his hands, a little overwhelmed by the new sensations in them. However, his wonder at experiencing the feeling of touch for the first time were soon overshadowed by thoughts about something else.

"Elyta," he says, turning his head. With some effort, he uses the light display on his screen to display a simple, smiling face.

Elyta doesn't have any sense for anything else going on around him as he watches Ajax install himself into the unit, and the moment Ajax turns towards him and says his name a huge grin bursts over Elyta's face. He's across the room in moments, throwing his arms around Ajax's shoulders, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, Ajax," Elyta says, quiet enough that only Ajax will hear, "I've missed you."

Tony, who had come up just behind Roddie, gapes at the obvious affection in the display, wondering if he's reading too much into a close friendship for a moment until he sees Elyta plant what is definitely a kiss on the front of Ajax's display. Tony can't help but stare, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as he reconsiders his estimation of Elyta.

Ajax holds Elyta close, wondering at the feeling of the cloth under his hands and the slide of Elyta's rough skin over his back. He laughs, for the first time he can remember, when Elyta kisses his screen, and presses his "face" against Elyta's cheek in return.

"I can...feel you," he remarks, quietly, rocking back and forth lightly as he holds him in his arms, "I can feel you."

Roddie's eyes go wide at the display as he re-evaluates his impression of the relationship between the two. He'd been certain Elyta was sleeping with Tony, with the late nights Elyta had spent in Tony's room, and the little giggle Elyta gave all of Tony's horrible jokes.

"Wait, you two are like...together? Like...monogamous...ly?" Roddie blurts out, scratching his head, "I mean -- I don't mean that's surprising 'cause he's a machine or anything, I just thought --"

He laughs at himself, rubbing a hand over his mouth.

"Elyta, I kinda thought you liked Tony."

Elyta and Tony both turn to gape at Roddie in unison, but Tony's the first to speak.

"What?!" Tony says, his voice taking on that shrieking quality that meant he was panicking, "Liked me?" Tony manages to stop himself before he shouts about how he'd thought Elyta had had slept with Roddie, what with the easy way Roddie had torn off his shirt when he'd shown Elyta his synthetics.

Elyta looks between Tony and Roddie, and then up at Ajax, his expression startled and unnerved.

"I, ah... Value Tony's friendship," Elyta says slowly, "But... Ajax and I have been together... romantically... for some time. I... He's very dear to me." Elyta turns to say his last sentence to Ajax's face, smiling softly.

"Yes, exactly!" Tony says, his voice somewhat strangled, "We're friends! That's all!"

Edited 2015-03-22 19:57 (UTC)

Roddie laughs, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, okay, I can, uh, see that now, you don't have to scream at me," he laughs, trying not to show how relieved he is, "Let's, uh, give them some time alone then."

He ushers Tony out the door, leaving Ajax and Elyta by themselves in the cockpit. Ajax turns to Elyta, and is about to speak again, when Roddie pokes his head back into the room.

"Don't have sex in my chair," he says, pointing a finger at them before leaving the room again.

Elyta laughs, shaking his head at Roddie before turning his attention back to Ajax, smiling widely.

"I kind of want to have sex in his chair now, just because he said not to," Elyta said with a cheeky grin, running his hands up and down Ajax's arms, "I definitely want to take this new body for a spin, though." He licks his lips, looking Ajax up and down. The form is sleek and smooth and attractive, and just hard and unforgiving enough that Elyta is sure he isn't touching something organic. He has to stand up on his toes to reach Ajax's display, in order to plant another kiss on the closest thing Ajax has to a mouth and run his hands up Ajax's neck.

"So? How does it feel?"