Max leans on Chloe from her lap, both watching Blade Runner in their apartment living room. Chloe recites the lines in her head while Max says the occasional one out loud, her eyes trained on the screen as the credits roll.
"Lieutenant, your heartbeat is rising. Are you okay?"
Chloe draws a breath and shifts on the couch, gritting her teeth. The television is the only light source, allowing every other sensation around to be absorbed. Her chest pangs. Her shirt starts to cling to her skin. She bites her nails. The bags under her eyes grow darker with every restless night spent on the case.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it," she replies.
The movie ends. Max's LED glows yellow.
As Chloe sighs, she snuggles deeper into Max, pulling her to her chest. Now Max can feel Chloe's heartbeat staccato on her back. It almost blends with the patter of rain outside.
She reduces her voice to a whisper. "Are you stressed? Is there something I can do to help?" Max runs through a million different ways to relieve stress. Massages, breathing exercises, meditation, yoga…
"I'm not sure." Chloe slips her fingers through Max's hair. Max's bangs come to rest on her forehead, freshly cut just above the eyebrows. "Just a long day, I guess." The corners of her mouth ache at her inability to admit what she wants.
Max is like a puppy dog. She just wants to please Chloe, and almost nothing else. Something inside Chloe makes her want her to find her own independence. Indulge a little. Make her own decisions. Not answer to her beck and call. If she were being honest, though, she'd grab Max's face and kiss her until the sun rose.
With the movie over, crickets and owls make themselves known outside. Breezes blow through the open window, the room smelling of rain. Chloe rotates her foot on her ankle over and over again, winding like a reel. She doesn't have the energy or desire to move. She shifts from Max's hair to her neck, rubbing circles with her thumb, Max closing her eyes and melting.
Max always worries she's going to overstep boundaries, and so does Chloe. It's one of the few downfalls of their relationship; as much as they'd both like to fall into each other, letting instinct take over, letting body language speak for them- letting things just happen- their fear holds them back. Chloe knows she has more authority and Max knows she couldn't upset Chloe if she tried, but she's a pushover. Neither of them want to take advantage.
Max analyzes her options. She notices Chloe's heartbeat, her sweat, her stress, her want- and she stands, leaving Chloe with her legs spread and eyebrows furrowed, sitting there.
"Where are you going?" She swallows past a peach pit lump in her throat. She asks this knowing Max is just going to tease her.
"Nowhere," Max answers. Max traces her eyes from Chloe's face to her feet as though she were reading a book. She formed the habit of picking at her nails when she's nervous. Her LED glows yellow again as her lips part. Processing. Processing.
"Then what are you doing?" Chloe asks, sitting up. Her shirt reveals her thin frame. Her hair is tied at the nape, leaving the rest of her neck exposed to the summer heat.
Max's seamless stature is accentuated by the blank tv screen behind her. "Looking at you." Max passes her eyes over Chloe again. Her translucent skin and how her veins are visible like little rivers converging and forking. How thin her wrists are, poking out of her sleeves, bony white knuckles emphasizing her hands. Her smudged eyeliner and clumped, coal-black mascara contrasting the brightness in her glassy sapphire eyes. The whites around them are anything but- instead they're red from strain, almost like she'd been crying.
It makes Max grateful. Of all the places she could've ended up, she ended up here with a woman to call home. Somebody to love. Someone she can hold and feel a part of.
"Looking at me? Wowie!" Chloe jokes, following suit in admiring Max.
Max looks her over a couple more times before walking back to the couch. She presses Chloe's shoulders back and swings her legs up to straddle Chloe's lap.
"Uh, hello there," she stutters, hands coming to rest on Max's waist. "You're in rare form, Max," she continues. Heart beating beneath her face, the room stills around her. Everything sleeps; the tired rain, the buzzing crickets like a refrigerator, the dull light. The only thing that seems to be alive in her world is Max.
Even with Max straddling her, she can't work up the courage to kiss her. She could wait. She wants to take in every drop of this, and the longer she goes, the more frustrated she gets.
Max's mousy brown hair rests at her shoulders, tousled from resting on Chloe's chest. As true to human as she is, her eyes and skin don't succumb to the weight of exhaustion. Her skin is elastic and hugs her cheekbones, splattered with honey-brown freckles. Her thick eyelashes are like a canopy over her foggy grey eyes. She's light as a feather on her feet, every part of her body slender yet full, every joint smooth, every curve soft- nothing on Max Caulfield is harsh or sharp. Even her chin falls in a perfect curve at the bottom of her face, her cheeks bulging out when she smiles.
Max wets her lips, drowning in blue. Chloe's blue eyes, her blue hair, the blue night surrounding them, her electric blue tie. She swears even Chloe's sweat is blue. Her thirium pump thumps within her cage of a chest. This is how she always imagined she'd feel when she looked at a girl; when her mind wandered at work, she'd think of the plushness of a woman's lips against hers, with a softness a man could never have. The softness in general. Chloe doesn't look soft on the outside, but becoming entranced by her overwhelms her with warmth and comfort. She could say anything without fear.
Chloe chews her lip as Max's weight settles on her lap. She relaxes her shoulders, breathing in the smell of Max's perfume. Floral, but not overpowering, like a summer day.
Max smiles as she traces her finger from Chloe's forehead, over the slope of her nose, stopping on the crest of her lips, trailing to her chin. She wipes an eyelash off her cheek. "I don't like it when you stress. It makes me stress." Max tilts her head. "And it's not good for you, you know." Their faces are so close that they can feel each other's' breath.
"Of course I know." Chloe closes her eyes, sighing. "How are you so beautiful?" She'd think an android would look plastic or fake, but Max has a curious, otherworldly beauty. Her freckles look painted. Her body is sculpted. Her skin is velvet under Chloe's fingers as she slips them under her shirt. Chloe opens her eyes again. "Hm?"
Max starts to sweat. "I'm not beautiful, Lieutenant." She huffs. "I'm not even sure I'm average."
"How can I assure you you're more than that?" She swallows, whispering. "I would do anything to show you how beautiful I think you are."
The room spins around Max. Kissing Chloe would relieve her stress, but maybe it's too forward. Could it be more forward than straddling her? Max glows yellow again, her lips in a tight line.
Max's eye contact strays. "I think you want me to kiss you."
Chloe checks Max's facial expression, making sure she's not joking. Her LED hasn't been green for at least ten minutes. She has to be serious. "Are you sure, Max?"
"Lieutenant, I am positive." Max's eyes sink to Chloe's lips. Her mind wandered more than usual today; not only does she know Chloe wants this- she does, too. She imagines taking her clothes off and feeling every inch of her body. She imagines how Chloe's skin would react to being kissed in various places, some more risky than others. "I know this is what you want. Am I wrong?"
"You aren't," Chloe says, unmoving. She knits her eyebrows together, her eyes squinting as she focuses on Max's facial expression. Max, always so cautious. "...but is this what you want, Max?"
Max smiles. "You don't have to keep asking me that."
The blue of Chloe's eyes stabbed through the room's dimness. "But I need to know. For sure." She swallows. "I don't want anything you don't want."
"Lieutenant. I want to kiss you." Max plays with Chloe's shirt, plucking it from her skin.
God damn it, she's so direct. Chloe knows it's just because of the social contract barrier between them, but she can't help but feel like Max is just that eager to kiss her. She knows she is. Max is bait dangling in front of Chloe's face.
Max wets her lips. "Do you trust me, Chloe?"
Chloe shudders at Max's use of her name, like she's breaking some sort of character to prove a point. "Of course I trust you, Max. Always."
Max rests her hands on Chloe's shoulders. "And I trust you, so we don't have anything to worry about."
Chloe's smile creeps up her lips, Max involuntarily smiling back at her as Chloe runs her hands up and down Max's sides. They close their eyes, feeling the weight of each other, listening to the sound of each other's breath.
"I want to kiss you so badly," Chloe says, leaning her forehead against Max's.
They both feel heat spread throughout their bodies, knowing kissing isn't all that's going to happen tonight. "Why don't you, then?"
"I don't know." Chloe exhales. She feels Max's sweat through her bangs, their lips almost touching; Chloe's hands begin to stutter as they run up and down Max's sides.
Grey eyes so clear that Chloe could nearly see through them. Max cocks her head, waiting.
Chloe backs away to see Max's face again, eyes half-lidded, and then tilts her head to catch Max's lips in hers, except she falters and just brushes their lips together instead. She backs away. "Are you sure you want this, Max? One last time."
"I want you, Lieutenant," Max says, and Chloe could collapse at her words.
Max cups Chloe's cheeks in her hands again, pulling their lips together, Chloe sighing as her muscles relax. She runs her hands along the curvature of Max's spine, pulling her closer and deeper into the kiss. Max slips her hands from Chloe's cheeks to her hair, pulling her face into her lips, tasting the salt of her. Max doesn't taste mechanical. She tastes sweet, like strawberries, and her tongue is slick against Chloe's.
Bucking her hips into Max, their rhythm maintains, Max filling into the curve of Chloe's abdomen. She can tell Chloe wants something more. She backs away for a moment.
"Lieutenant, can we have sex tonight?"
Their foreheads pressed together once again, Chloe nods against Max with an uncomfortable twang in the next buck of her hips. Max shudders against her. "And you don't have to call me Lieutenant. Not at home and especially not while we're having sex."
Smiling, Max whispers, "You like it when I call you Chloe?"
She nods again. And just to bother her, Max grinds their hips together, Chloe grunting. She does like it- she prefers it. And Max says her name like she's singing a song; lilted and smooth. "Max."
"Yes, Chloe?"
Chloe shakes her head, answering with actions. She pulls Max's shirt over her head and tosses it onto the ground somewhere, and Max pulls Chloe in by her tie. Max begins to grind against her, whimpering.
"You want to fuck me that badly?" Chloe says. It always takes them awhile to get started, but once they've started, they can't stop.
"I want to fuck you so badly. So, so badly."
Chloe trails her kisses from Max's jaw to her neck, peppering them there as Max squirms against her. "Please. Let me try," Max says.
She spends a moment looking into Chloe's eyes before dipping her head to the side, suckling on the skin of Chloe's neck as she unties her necktie. Chloe pulls Max in from her back and shivers from Max's breath.
As much as they want each other, they're content to savor every second of their contact. Chloe reaches behind Max to undo her bra and lets it drop to the floor. More freckles adorn her chest. Chloe sweeps her eyes over them; she's sprinkled like a cupcake. Max undoes each button on Chloe's dress shirt, helping to shrug it off her shoulders, and unclasps her bra, too, leaning in to kiss her chest. She kisses her sternum, her collarbones, her shoulders- worshipping her body with her lips.
"Humans are so… soft." She plants another kiss, speaking against her skin. "You are the softest. Sometimes I worry I'm not soft at all."
"Max, you are soft. Like a butterfly." Chloe pulls her close for another kiss, Max whimpering as Chloe shifts under her. "Your lips especially are."
Max gazes off into a corner of the room, her words stuck behind her lips. She furrows her brows and looks at Chloe. She's found herself more curious lately.
"What is it?"
She exhales. "I want to taste you, Chloe," she begins. "And I want to be inside you. So badly." she breathes. "I know it's not how we usually do things, but…"
The thought of Max being in charge this time excites her. The thought of her begging to taste her. The thought of her begging just to put one finger inside her. The thought of her drawing out moans as she curls her finger inside- Chloe shudders, her insides panging. She nods. "I would love to."
"Here," Max says, shifting Chloe so she's lying down. She props herself up on her elbows, planting eager kisses in a straight line down Chloe's chest, between her breasts and below her belly. She undoes every button of Chloe's pants and slides them off, admiring Chloe's boxers. "I like these ones," she says, analyzing every color in the checkered pattern before pressing her nose between her legs, smelling her.
"Fuck," Chloe pants, threading her fingers through Max's hair. "Um. Weird question."
"Yes?"
"Can I call you Maxine tonight?"
Max's eyes brighten at the question. "If that will make you happy, you can call me Maxine every time we have sex," she responds, lowering her head to kiss Chloe through her underwear.
"But do you want me to?"
"I want you to stop worrying so much," she replies, nuzzling her head into Chloe's thigh.
"Maxine-" she tries, and shivers ripple through her body. Her head rolls back as Max tastes her on her boxers.
She moans, whining, "you taste so good, Chloe." She bites her underwear, pulling away and allowing it to slap back. "I can't wait to be inside you. I want to feel you around me…" She bunches the boxers at her legs and slides them to the ground. "You would like that?"
"I want that so bad." She breathes. "But please, take your time. We don't need to rush."
Chloe's legs flank Max's head as she dips into Chloe's heat, moaning as she tastes her. She tilts her hips into Max's mouth, her tongue taking broad swipes of her entrance. Max feels as though she could come just by tasting her. She squirms at Chloe's center, her legs crossed.
She takes a second to catch her breath before stroking Chloe with her tongue again, swallowing what liquids her tongue collects. Max heaves in a breath before pulling Chloe by her hips, burying her tongue inside of her. Max's eyes threaten to roll to the back of her head. She runs her hands over Chloe's body; every crest, every valley, every stretch of skin.
Chloe tangles her fingers in Max's hair, twirling a lock around her pointer as her labored breath passes her lips.
"Chloe, I think I may come," she starts, resting her head on one of Chloe's thighs.
"Wait a second," Chloe responds. "What's gotten into you? Why are you so worked up already?"
Max is unsure. "You are so beautiful, and maybe because we are reversing roles? I'm confused. You just taste so incredible. You feel so…" she stammers. Kissing Chloe's thigh, she grinds against the couch. "Hah… you're just…"
"Maxine."
She stops grinding. "Please, Chloe, let me taste you again."
"You can, but don't come yet."
Max whimpers, drawing her tongue out of her mouth and licking her again. Chloe wants to be the one to make her come. She moans on every upstroke of her tongue. Chloe's heels rest on Max's back, preventing her from grinding. Max's wetness grows in her shorts.
"Maxine, you look perfect between my legs." Max shudders at the compliment.
She halts, dragging her tongue off of Chloe's lips and bites her bottom lip. "Chloe, I want to try something."
"Okay?" Chloe shivers, even at the absence of Max's touch.
"May you ride me? Please?" She looks to Chloe.
"Absolutely."
Max's smile creases the corners of her mouth as she skirts around to their bedroom, opening a small box under their bed, ripping her shorts and underwear off in the process. She retrieves the strap on and bounds back to Chloe, who since sat up criss cross, studying Max as she maneuvers through the harness.
Kneeling, Max scoots her way over to Chloe, grabbing her face and pulling to meet her lips. Chloe tastes herself and relishes the fact that Max was just eating her out- getting off to it, even- like this is their most natural form of connection. Their kiss is full of love; Max hesitating before passing Chloe's lips and swirling their tongues together. Max slips her hand down Chloe's stomach and between her legs.
Chloe breaks their kiss apart. "What are you thinking about, Maxine?" She pets the side of her head, tilting her own.
"I'm thinking about being inside you," she replies, nuzzling into Chloe's hand.
"Come here, then," she says, patting the couch next to her.
Straddling her, Chloe helps her down, their faces inches apart when Chloe pulls out her ponytail and lines the dildo up with her lips. Her breath stutters as she spits on her fingers, lubricates the tip, and sinks onto it at a pace Max begins to match.
"Fuck, Maxine," she whispers, bracing herself with her forearms. With steady eye contact, she eases in and out with Max's tiny but eager thrusts, and their breath heats each other's faces. Chloe's tri bullet necklace tickles Max's chest as it swings like a pendulum.
"Do you like it, Chloe? Am I a good girl for you?" Max's toes curl as she whines out the question.
"You're so, so good," she manages, sweat beading up at any corner of her body it can find. "Hah... "
"I like it when you say I'm a good girl," Max whispers.
"Can you show me how much of a good girl you are?"
Resting her hands on Chloe's hips, she stabilizes her, beginning to pound harder. Chloe whines. Her tattoo accentuates her light muscles, flexed from holding herself up. It makes Max want to be praised even more.
"Oh god, Maxine. You are such a good girl," she says, tilting her head to kiss her again.
Max's hair is ruffled from lying down; her bangs plastered to her face with sweat. Her blush spans her cheeks as though she were human- and it's knowing she's not that makes Chloe treasure her so much. Makes her whine when Max shows such an interest in being praised. Makes Chloe want to make her come even more than she would if sex meant to an android what it did to a human.
To Max, it means appreciation. It means being able to please Chloe, the one person she cares for most. Sex isn't something that's programmed into androids unless the android was made specifically for it. Sex is something Max taught herself for the sole purpose of pleasing her girlfriend. It's something she sat down and talked out with Chloe; every detail, every scenario, everything they like.
Recalling something Chloe told her, she admires the hair falling from either side of Chloe's face one last time. She flips them over and kisses Chloe's neck, holding her down at the ribs, and appreciates her abdominal muscles while steadily fucking her. If one thing about this case paid off, it's how fit they are from strenuous physical activity.
"Chloe, you look magnificent," she whispers.
Light drapes her skin like a blanket, her sweat glistening. She's a gun ready to fire. "Fuck, I need to touch myself," she announces, snaking her arm down to her clit, dragging her fingers back and forth.
"I need to see your face when you come," Max says, and she leans down and holds Chloe's face as Chloe's lips draw open and her breath comes staggered. She smells like smoke and a hint of cologne.
"Maxine, Maxine, Maxine," she chants. Her toes curl, her abdomen crunches, and her come leaks out either side of the dildo. Max kisses her as she whines through her orgasm.
"You look… just incredible when you come for me." Max speaks against Chloe's lips.
She shakes her head. "Nah." She brushes Max's bangs from her face. "You're prettier."
Max's eyes widen. Her LED glows yellow for the millionth time, spinning like a top. She shifts off of Chloe, pulling herself out of the harness. She rolls her weight on her feet as she walks to the bathroom, grabbing a packet of wipes, bringing them out to Chloe. She kneels on the end of the couch, bending down to lick Chloe clean. She then pulls a wipe out and cleans the rest, not forgetting her own wetness- but when she brings the wipe to herself, Chloe stops her.
"Whoa, woah, woah. What are you doing there?" Chloe asks.
"Cleaning up my mess," Max responds, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, have I done something wrong?"
"You haven't come yet." Chloe sits up, patting the couch behind Max for her to sit down. Max draws a deep breath. She leans back and keeps her legs crossed until Chloe places her hands on either knee to open her legs. Max covers her face with her hands. "Why are you hiding, love?"
"I worry. I don't know why."
"You have nothing to worry about, Max," Chloe says. "I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you." She curls her legs under herself to kiss the insides of Max's thighs, nipping them.
"Ah… You are…" She doesn't get to finish her thought. Laying the flat of her tongue over Max's entrance, she licks up her fluids. Overwhelmed, she rests her forehead on Max's stomach.
She speaks against it. "Maxine. You drive me wild," and she drags her face back down to Max's throbbing cunt, wrapping her lips around her clit and sucking.
Max takes one look at Chloe, eyeing her from below, and loses it. Her eyes glint behind her mascara-smeared eyelashes and the eye contact alone is enough for Max to plunge over the edge, her legs clamping around Chloe's head.
But Chloe doesn't stop. She continues to lick her, back and forth, just how she likes it. "You got another one in you?" Chloe pauses to tease her.
"Fuck me, please, Chloe," Max answers, weaving her fingers through Chloe's hair. She grinds against her tongue. Chloe smirks at her own ability.
"Do you want me inside of you?"
"Please."
She slides one finger inside to warm her up, maintaining the rhythm of her tongue, curling the finger inside. She then increases to two. She pumps in and out. Max balls her hands into fists, her mouth wide open in shock. "Harder, harder, please."
Chloe suckles on Max's inner thigh as she gains speed, hitting as deep as she can, curling her fingers on exit. "Are you gonna come for me again?"
"Yes, yes I am," Max responds, her voice raspy from strain. She starts to roll her hips into Chloe's movements, and Chloe shifts upward to kiss her. Max moans into her mouth; drawn out and squeaky. Her come coats Chloe's fingers. Chloe slows to allow Max to calm down and eventually eases out of her, licking her fingers clean, savoring the taste.
"You are so fucking beautiful," she says.
After cleaning up, Chloe dresses Max and herself in her tee shirts, grabbing a beer and settling back on the couch. By now the sun's been gone for hours, and the only palatable thing on television is the news. But instead of watching, they find themselves studying one another's faces. Max rests atop Chloe, her chin on Chloe's chest, the rest of her body between Chloe's spread legs. They kiss occasionally.
"Max, I am so madly in love with you," Chloe says.
"Why?" Max's voice is tired. The rest of her is, too. She didn't know she could even be so tired.
"I can't explain why," Chloe answers, "that sort of thing just happens."
"What do you like about me, then?"
Chloe meets her gaze. "I like your personality the most. You're like… Gentle. And soft. Just so much 'girl,' but not too much. Not that there's such thing as too much girl," she continues. "And you just genuinely care about me."
"Do you care about me?"
"Duh, you doofus. Do I not show it?"
"You absolutely show it," Max answers. She smiles and rests her head on Chloe's chest. "Hey, Lieut- Chloe," she corrects, "why did you want to call me Maxine?"
Chloe puffs out her lips. "Because you have a beautiful name. It'd be a shame to miss out on using it," she answers.
"Well, if it means anything to you, I like it when you do that," she says, yawning.
"It means everything."
As the television droned on in the background, Max fell asleep on her girlfriend; something Chloe didn't know they could do until they moved in together.
Chloe is grateful. She looks down at the mess of woman on her and kisses the top of her head light, so as not to wake her. Finally setting her beer down, she rests her head, too, drifting off into a dream about Max.
She'll ask Max in the morning if she dreamt about her, too.