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[ Kirei shakes his head, just slightly, as he steps nearer to her. Frankly, few things can disturb him. People can grow taxing, but Danger is so far not the case. ] Not possible.

[ He does not sit with her, but remains standing, his hand extending out towards her. ]

There are more comfortable places.

[ her attention drifts from his face to his offered hand and back again. it's harder for her, to read other people in this organic body, without all her sensors and programs. she has to rely on her eyes and her instinct, and kirei still proves difficult for her.

finally, she reaches to put her hand in his, accepting it and rising to her feet. like this, it's hard to ignore how tall and lean she is, even with the growing swell of her belly. ]

Your concern with my comfort is unnecessary. I don't require comfort.

It is not concern. [ That is far from Kirei's motivation. Like Claudia before her, he knows what how he is expected to treat the situation, and follows through, despite not feeling any particular inclination towards it.

Claudia had been ill; her pregnancy uncomfortable on her already weakened body. In Danger's case, he wonders if it is similar: how invasive and foreign it must feel to her. Like a violation.

That is the idea which consumes him more.

With her hand in his, he leads her from the pews and to the back of the church, where his own room is. ]

[ it's difficult, sometimes, for her to remember that the thing growing inside her is alive, that when she gives birth, that baby will grow and age and learn. she'd hosted an infant program inside her before-- a machine's pregnancy, and her the virgin bride-- and she'd been afraid, driven to extremes by the foreign code, draining her, leeching from her like a virus. it'd had almost killed her, even in that strong metal body.

like this, she's weaker. more vulnerable. she must have trusted him, somehow, to let herself get to this point. why, she might still not be sure. despite her passive exterior, her feelings run deep and strong. between the two of them, it might be hard to say which one is more like a machine.

as they walk, only the slight pinch of her eyebrows, the slight frown at the corners of her mouth betrays her. ]

Then why trouble yourself?

[ He shows Danger to his room, which is quite impersonal and bland in itself. There is little here that betrays anything about the man who occupies it. It may as well be a guest room, uninhabited. ]

Would you rather I didn't?

[ He doesn't hid his coldness from her. As a machine, she honestly might comprehend him better than any human being. ]

[ she doesn't answer immediately, letting her hand drop from his and lingering in the doorway. the room is even less personal than the place danger sometimes goes home to. it's hard to imagine a human being lives there. ]

No. [ finally, she speaks again. ] I only want to understand why.

[ why, if he doesn't care? ]

[ Kirei steps inside, making no motion to encourage Danger to follow him. If she wanted to, she would in her own time. ]

I am interested.

[ That was still something foreign to him. ]

[ she stays there a moment longer, lingering in the door way, absently folding one arm over her middle. her attention on him is still focused, unwavering, like if she concentrates enough, he'll unravel to her like an algebra problem, like so many numbers-- something she can understand. ]

In what?

[ clarify. ]

[ Kirei takes a moment before he approaches her again, his strides slow and confident. ]

You are not human. No alteration to your shape or form will change that. [ He speaks bluntly, rather than harshly, despite how cold the words seem. It's simply the truth. ] You are a an artificial human, and I am a defective human.

[ Then his gaze drifts towards the swell in her stomach. ]

Together, what do you believe the result will be?

[ it doesn't hurt her, what he says, because she knows that it's true. she isn't human. she knows she never will be. she is human-like, in ways, but it isn't the same. and she doesn't want to need to be human to be acknowledged.

maybe that's why she stays, why she tries to understand him when he's cold and distant with her. because at least he acknowledges what she is and what she isn't, at least he was with her-- physically, if not emotionally-- in spite of that. ]

A person. [ that's her answer to his question, simple. but it's important to her. personhood. ] And alive. The other possibilities are secondary.

I see. [ It's not that he sounds unconvinced. Her response is honest and true enough. She isn't thinking of the implications of what this child will be, or become. Her response is as logical as one would expect for a machine. For Kirei's part, he wants to see it. There is no way to tell what will come until it is born, no way to judge. ]

Do you feel much pain?

Sometimes.

[ her answer is plain, straight forward. ]

Often, I'm sick in the mornings.

[ a brief pause. ]

Does it matter?

[ For his wife, the pain had been constant. Even on her own, her illness plagued her constantly -- let alone adding bearing a child onto her burdens. By comparison, Danger will suffer far less... but for her there is the sense of violation, something unnatural in the mind of a machine.

With Claudia, he tried to deny the pleasure he took in her agony; now he does not disguise it from himself. ]

It can't be helped.

[ He does not touch her stomach outright, but offers out his hands for her to deny or accept. ]

[ the way she watches him is guarded. there's always this metaphorical wall between them, something intangible that nonetheless separates them. sometimes, privately, that distance makes something uncomfortable and tense fester inside her. that's worse than the morning sickness, the aches and pains.

her eyes drift down to his hands, how they're offered to her. finally, she draws closer, reaching to grasp him by the wrists and pull his hands to her, placing his palms flat against her belly. ]

It can. [ she counters simply. it's not a threat-- just a point. ] But I don't wish for it to be helped.

[ His palms press flat against her stomach, not cupping or stroking, merely resting against the bump. It isn't terribly defined as of yet, and he can imagine the sense of dysmorphia will increase as the months progress. ]

Why? [ Kirei knows well enough what sort of company he provides, and even one as detached from Danger should recognize this in him. Yet, she has allowed it to come this far. ]

[ her grip lingers on his wrists, not slack, but not forceful either, just firm. she can feel his pulse under her thumbs, steady. she isn't sure why, but it's comforting somehow-- a reminder that defective as he might be, as detached as he seems, he's still a human being.

she doesn't know why she let it get to this point. it's an odd sort of attachment she has to him, something she can't quantify or articulate. if she dwells on it too much, it frustrates her-- how she fails to understand her own feelings.

at length, her answer: ]

It is a part of me. And you.

[ Kirei considers this quietly for a moment. Even as a machine, she shows a greater capacity for humanity than he does. She feels, and she can be hurt.

This hurts her; he hurts her. Again, he is witness to another damaged woman's suffering and it satisfies him.

There is one small movement: his palm sliding across her stomach, from one side to the other. ]

You may stay here, if it is convenient.

[ her fingers loosen around his wrists when she feels his hand smooth over her middle, the distraction of it drawing her attention in a way it never would have in her metal body. maybe it's those little things that keep her there, just the barest scraps to keep her emotions from starving. it feeds her greatest flaw-- wanting to be wanted.

at once, she craves these small gestures and is frustrated by them. it shows vaguely in her face, that downturn in her mouth again. her voice is low when she answers, only tinged in temper, but that's enough. it's a reminder that she's aggressive under that strange, passive face. ]

Why do you bait me?

Surely you know by now. [ Kirei's tone is still flat, and his hand presses a bit more firmly against her stomach.

He never hides what he is from Danger, how inhuman he is, since she is not human herself. ]

I enjoy it.

[ He does not mean her company, or her body, but rather the small yet telling reactions even an artificial human shows when tormented. ]

[ and just like that, her grip on the wrist of the hand pressed against her middle tightens almost bruisingly. there's a subtle tension in her face when she leans towards him. this close, with almost no space between them, the translucent rings that just barely define her irises are visible, and her words hardly need to be spoken at all to be heard. ]

I care for you, human. Because of that, I suggest you do not push me too far.

[ The grip is painful enough to cause a reaction, but Kirei does not flinch. His fingers twitch against her stomach in response, but his expression remains impassive. ]

You should not care. [ As Kirei does not -- he has not given her good reason to care.

Like Claudia before her, these women... who become attached to him without reason, while knowing very well what lurks within him. He cannot comprehend it. ]

[ she doesn't loosen her grip this time, her attention drifting down to where her hand is wrapped tight around his wrist. she can feel the slight movement in his fingers, the way the small bones in his arm shift a little in response. humans are like machines too sometimes, made of small working parts. ]

I am aware that my feelings for you are irrational. I understand that you are not reciprocative, and it is illogical for me to continue feeling attachment.

[ her voice stays clinical, controlled. but her face betrays her in small ways. the way she holds onto him betrays her too. ]

If I could stop, perhaps I would.

[ He imagines what it would feel like if he did test her patience, and inspire her to shatter his wrist. Would she enjoy it? Likewise, he imagines what it might feel like to have his hand around her throat. Danger is a machine, but she still feels pain, betrayal. A programming that should be logical and analytical has become distorted and compromised by misplaced desire.

An artificial creature has obtained what Kirei, true flesh and blood, can not.

Kirei watches her for a moment. Close as she is now, it is easy to bow his head and touch his lips to hers.

And there is still nothing. ]

[ danger goes still when he presses his mouth to hers. without knowing why, she holds her breath-- the irony of it, a robot holding its breath-- and lets her grip tighten on him to the point where it must be painful.

abruptly, she lets go of him, stepping back to put space between them. her eyebrows furrow. she lifts a hand to her mouth, brushing her fingertips against her lips. ]

You are baiting me again. [ it's a genuine question, more than a threat when she goes on: ] Do you wish for me to hurt you?

[ When her grip tightens, Kirei wonders if she might bite him. Instead, that doesn't come, and when she pulls away he is almost disappointed -- but not for the reasons one might expect. He touches his wrist with the opposite hand, certain bruises will soon form in the shape of her fingers. ]

I am curious: would hurting me please you more? [ Because the kiss obviously inspired precious little. ]

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