Chapter Twenty-Five
Be Human
WARNING – This chapter contains adult content that may not be suitable for all readers.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Benson asked as he walked over to his kitchen area and pulled out a kettle.
Skips leaned against the wall opposite to the gumball machine at the far end of room. He looked away and down to the ground and whimpered, "not really," before shuffling a bit in his place and sighing.
Benson picked up on the low groan, and froze for second. He watched the water from his sink fill up the kettle, losing himself in its rhythmic motions as little thoughts and wonderments splashed around inside his skull. When it was half empty, he removed it from the sink and placed it on the stove. With the burner set to high, he looked back up in his cabinet and rummaged around for tea bags or instant hot cocoa, or something that would help ease his already tense mood.
He found a stray packet of earl grey – his last one by the looks of it. He took it out of the box it came in and threw the useless piece of cardboard away. He then got to work on trying to open the little plastic packet open, in an attempt to get the tea bag inside. However, the packet was stubborn and refused to budge, no matter how hard he tried to open it. He brought it too his teeth, and tore a seam through it. He smiled with some sense of relief, and tore into the packet… which in turn, tore directly through the tea bag as well. Little bits of dried leaf and spice fluttered the ground.
He stood there, looking at the torn bag, with small traces of the contents still inside. He barely even moved, save for the occasional pent up shiver. His eyes just focused on whatever was left inside and if it was even salvageable.
"Why did you lie?" he finally sputtered out.
Skips sighed, continuing to look away from the gumball machine. "I lied so that you and everyone else wouldn't get hurt." He smiled in realization and shook his head. "A lot of good that did me, huh?"
"Why me?" Benson continued.
"Because I like you," Skips replied. "Isn't that a good enough reason?"
"Who is he?"
"Just someone from my past who won't leave me alone," the yeti continued.
"Why are you here?"
Skips laughed to himself as he listened to Benson ask that. "Cause you told me to be here. You said you wanted to talk, remember?"
"Are you going to tell me everything?" Benson asked, his voice becoming more fierce.
"That depends on the question," Skips answered.
"So you're just gonna keep lying to us, no matter what then?"
"I'm having to do what I need to do to survive, Benson."
"And what about us!" the machine screamed, turning around and throwing the bag on the ground. "What are we supposed to do to survive? Was it really going to be that easy for you to leave us like nothing even ever happened? Was it really so simple to throw away all those years of friendship with me and the staff? And what about that thing that's been chasing after us? You know it's probably going to kill us, even after you leave. How are we supposed to defend against something you won't even tell us what it is?" He kicked the bag on the ground, the remaining contents jumping up.
"Is it really that hard?" Benson asked. "Why can't you be honest with me? We've been working together for this long and you're still keeping things from me. You knew that you could trust me, and you still didn't say anything. And now it's too late. My life is in danger. Don and Pops' lives are in danger. Maellard and the park and everyone are in danger, and you don't want to tell us a damn thing. I want to know, Skips. Please tell me something, anything that's the truth. Tell me about Pestilence, about your past, about why you have feelings for me, just tell me something! I need to know this before it comes for me. That's all I really want to know."
Skips watched his friend slowly lose his grip, begging for him to tell him everything he knew. He looked at the man he had come to love and regretted his actions, causing the twisted madness he had brought the walking machine. He tapped his fingers against the wall, debating whether it was all worth it or not. But one thing stuck out that Benson had just said: he didn't have a lot of time. And knowing Pestilence, it could happen at any moment.
He stared at Benson with all the sincerity he could muster up and skipped over to the gumball machine's favorite chair. "I hope you don't mind me sitting down for this," he grunted as he placed himself on the soft pillowy cushions.
Benson simply offered out his hand to him, and said, "be my guest," in an almost snide and rude manner.
The kettle began to slowly bubble and whistle out in sputter, forcing Benson to turn the heat off. The water was going to go to waste. With nothing to calm his nerves, he relegated to leaning against the counter, and listening to what the yeti had to say.
"So what do you want to know?" Skips asked.
Benson curved his eyes into a scowl and crossed one of his legs over another. "Tell me what he is. I want to know exactly what it is that's ruining everyone's life at the park."
"Funny you should ask that," the beast bemoaned, "because I'm not entirely sure what he is either. He's much older than me; just as old as Death. I think he and Death are the one of the only two originals for when the universe was created."
"Originals?"
Skips nodded and leaned back into the chair. "This is all going off what Gary told me, but there were four of them in the beginning, along with the Gods of Youth. I think two of them died, but kept getting replaced. Death and Pestilence are supposed to be the originals though, changing their faces and forms to fit with the times. That's about as much as I know about their past. Now if you want to know about them personally…"
Skips shifted a little in the seat and leaned back to try and relax as he explained. "You already know about the trouble I have with Death. He doesn't really like me, or at least he gives off that impression. Truth is, he and I have sort of long standing friendly rivalry. We're not really enemies, but if he had the chance to reap my soul, he'd throw all of it out the window. He scares me like you wouldn't believe."
It almost shocked Benson to hear those words come out of Skips' mouth. He never thought the yeti could even use words that describe fear for himself.
"But I can get along with Death just fine," he continued. "Pestilence on the other hand… I don't know what's up his butt. He's had it out for me since he found out about me."
"Why is that?" Benson asked.
"I don't know," Skips sighed. "I really, honestly, don't know Benson. He just showed up out of the blue one day and just started torturing me. Every so often, usually every couple of centuries, when it gets to the point that I'm about to really settle down and relax, he comes in and screws things up. I really don't know what his problem is."
"And you're being honest?" Benson wondered. "You're not pulling my leg or anything. You really don't know why it is that this thing is always following you around?"
"Not a clue," the yeti answered. "Death would probably know something, but I've never gotten around to ask him. Death's too busy anyways, and he and I aren't on the best of speaking terms. I tried asking Gary once, but he didn't know much either. That thing is a mystery to even the Gods of Youth. He's too much of a loose cannon to be controlled, but obedient enough to do their bidding."
As much as Benson wanted to believe that Skips was hiding something, he believed every word he said. That creature seemed to be too random and sporadic for it to make any sense whatsoever. The only person who would probably know why they were attacking Skips and his families, would be the assailant himself. Benson curled his fists up in anger and huffed out some air.
He decided to change the subject slightly. "About the basement," Benson began, "why didn't you tell me about it after you buried him?"
"I was afraid of how you'd react," Skips said. "Not to mention anything else you might have asked or done to follow that up. I guess I should have come clean with the truth, shouldn't I? I think maybe I was too worried you'd treat me like some sort of monster or something. I was still trying to figure out what I was to you at the time. I don't think I was in love with you just yet, but… there was something."
"And what about us?" Benson asked. "When did that happen?"
Skips chuckled under his breath and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm a curious kind of guy, Benson. I never intended to fall in love with anyone, to be honest. I already knew the repercussions my immortality would have on all the people I would eventually care about. But everyone I meet is just so… so… interesting." He laughs and pulls himself forward in his seat. "I can't help it. I see pointed ears, or gills, or fangs, or a different color skin, or someone being a gumball machine, and I can't help but wonder about those features. I want to get to know them better, and understand them. I'm kind of unique myself, you know. Don't see many yetis around the world now, do ya?"
His hands rest on his thighs as he continues to press onward. "But every so often, when I get to know someone like that, I can't help but think… that maybe we're the same. That maybe, I don't have to keep skipping around the world anymore trying my best to understand it. Maybe I'm not as unique or solitary as I thought. So I fall in love with them based on that idea. It's very strange, considering the people I've ended up sharing a bed with, but I can't help it.
"When I met you, I thought you were just another strange creature to be understood. So I asked the usual questions about who you are, and what you are, and all that sort of stuff. But then, the more I listened to you, the more I came to enjoy your personality. Not just that, either. It was the way you talk, and move, and how you have gear ticks instead of a heartbeat. It's like how I still don't understand how those gumballs work as a brain or something, or why you're so cold all the time when I touch you." The behemoth's fingers graze over each other as small memories fluttered back to him. "I know that it sounds a little odd, and probably a little stalkerish, but I can't help it. I can't help being curious about you."
Skips sighed and looked at his playful fingers. He could still feel the cold hard metal against the tips, and the shiver that usually followed from the gumball machine when he touched him. He thought about all the discussions the two had about each other, usually more one sided toward Benson, as Skips rarely liked to talk about himself. He cherished those memories, just as he cherished all the ones from all the people he once knew.
"So what do you want to know then?" Benson asked him with arms folded.
The yeti looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and confused grin. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just as I said," Benson went on. "What do you want to know? If you're curious about me, then you should just ask what it is about me you want to know."
"I can ask anything?" Skips pondered out loud.
"Absolutely anything," Benson replied.
"Well that's an easy one," Skips laughed. His smiles turned deathly serious though as he stood up from the chair and looked at Benson. "What do you think of me?"
The gumball machine sighed through his nose, knowing full well that that question was going to be asked. He had actually hoped for a couple of starter questions before delving into the big topic, but that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon it seemed like.
He stood there for a few moments before finally answering Skips. "You're my friend," he said softly. "You're the probably the best friend I've ever had. Though, I'm not so sure anout that anymore, to be honest."
"Why is that?" Skips asked.
Benson's arms folded upward, sliding along his arms as if trying to gather warm. "Because of all of this. I don't know if I can even trust you anymore. Then you come along and tell me you have feelings for me, and then I don't know how to feel. You hurt me like you wouldn't believe, and then you go and turn around and tell me you've cared about me in that way? How am I supposed to react, Skips? I'm angry and confused. I want to beat you up, but I want to… to make sure you're still with me in the end. I want everything to work out between us, but I don't even know if that's possible anymore."
Skips shook his head and stepped forward. "I didn't want this to happen, you gotta believe me. If I could go back and change things, I would."
"How would you change things?" Benson asked him.
"Well that's easy," Skips laughed uncomfortably. "I just wouldn't get on the elevator that day. I'd just find a job somewhere else, and…"
"Do you even listen to yourself!" the automaton screamed. "You'd sacrifice what you made and what we all had so nothing happens to us? You wouldn't even have known us if you didn't get on the elevator. You would have just ended up doing the same thing with a different group of people. Do you honestly believe that standing there and saying that everything would have worked out better if you never met us would be better? Because you know it wouldn't!"
"What do you want me to say then?" Skips yelled back. "You're sending me all these mixed signals, Benson. You say you hate me, and then you like me, and that you can't trust me, and I'm your friend. What am I supposed to say to any of that? What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do? What do you want to happen?"
"I WANT THINGS BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE!" Benson shrieked. "I don't want to be chased around by some monster, afraid it's going to kill me at any moment. I don't want to be hit on and desired by all these people all of a sudden, while my ex-girlfriend runs around with her husband. I want my best friend back from the dead, I want you to be happy for me. I want Mordecai and Rigby to listen to me, and I want Maellard to respect me! I want…" He clung to the counter as his knees began to give out. "I just want things to get easier for me."
He finally fell to his knees and began to beat the carpet. "Something has to get better for me, doesn't it? Someone has to wake me up somehow from this bad dream. I can't take all this stress anymore. I just want things to be easier for once. No monsters, no back talk, no romance, no nothing. I just want peace!"
His face began to turn red, not from anger or anguish, but from the seized and pent up feelings that were slowly trickling their way out. He didn't want to have another breakdown. He had had too many of them the past few days. He gulped away his feelings and began to breath heavily, deafening his hearing as he listened to himself.
Skips approached him, and knelt down to his level. He took the gumball machine's hands into his and leaned forward so their foreheads met. "Let's just go away," he cooed to him. "Just me and you. We can travel all over the world, see the sites, and live. I won't let him get to you. He won't ever find us if we keep moving around. We can happy. It can be easy, like you wanted." His hands wiggle around, finding the empty spaces between Benson's finger and clasping his own down, joining them into a chain that melded the two men together. "Just like I want…"
He moaned happily and leaned in to kiss the man. Benson flinched at first, but leaned into it. His mind no longer knew what it wanted anymore, but this little bit of solace went a long way. It sent little trembles all over his gears and made everything around him seem so insignificant in scale. But it was over far too quickly as Skips pulled away. The weight of the world returned to Benson and he began to whimper.
His body started to shake and he closed his eyes to keep the cruel world away. "I can't," he sobbed, already feeling the slick solution form in his eyes. "I really want to, but I can't. I can't leave things like this. It's gone on too long, Skips. I just can't leave." Benson sniffled and did his best to keep in the angst, but it finally became too much for him. His tears began to pour and his sobs became loud and uncontrollable: the floodgates had finally broken.
Benson could no longer control what his body did, or the thoughts that came to him. He was weak now. He had no more strength to carry on this losing battle both in the real world, and within himself. Disgust grew deep within himself when he saw just how pathetic he had become.
Skips couldn't stand to hear these cries. He didn't want to hear them from someone he cared about so deeply. They only reminded him of what he lost in the past, and his own tears that he spilled from them. His grip on Benson's hands tightened as he rubbed his nose against the bridge of the young man's. The little jolt's of compassion he was giving Benson only fueled his torment further, to the point where Benson began to do his best to run away. Everything was crumbling, and Skips knew this. He couldn't let this happen again. He didn't want to have to start over again.
"Then I'll stay," he finally said.
Benson's sobbing slowly began to wane. His eyes glanced deeply into the yeti's as his gears ticked into overtime. "You're going to stay?"
Skips nodded. "Yes, I promise. I'm staying this time. I won't leave, you have my word." His voice almost sounded panicked, afraid of losing something important.
Benson didn't believe it though. His instincts told him that this was another ploy. "I don't know if I can trust you. How do I know you just aren't stringing me along?"
The beast knew that his integrity was going to come into question. But he continued to look Benson in eyes and said something that he rarely told another soul.
"I'm afraid to die," he said to Benson.
Benson flinched.
"I'm afraid to die, Benson," Skips continued. "That's why I'm immortal. I made my deal with the Gods of Youth so that I wouldn't have to die. I can't stand the thought. I don't know what lies beyond the end. Is it paradise, is it a hell? Do we just repeat the same life over and over and over again? What if there's nothing? What if I never get to see everyone I left behind again? I can't think about it without scaring myself."
It showed too. Skips' eyes had left Benson and were moving around all over the place. The shock or his fear was actually causing the behemoth to quake and pant uncomfortably.
"And I'm telling you this," he went on, "because it's something that I've rarely told anyone. So that you know that you can trust me. I don't want to die because Death scares me too much. I don't want him to take my soul. But I don't like it when he takes everyone I care for." He rubs his forehead against Benson's, and closes his eyes tight. "I'm a bigger coward than you think. I can't even stand to see their faces anymore. I have trouble going near the funerals anymore."
Benson looked at Skips and then at himself. There was a dense mood of trauma about the two of them. Neither of them wanted to freely admit it, but they were both broken beyond repair. No amount of love, friendship, or hope was going to fix either one of them.
"Skips," Benson whispered. "Look at me."
The yeti opened his eyes, just in time to have Benson kiss him. The gumball machine released them of their chained hold and brought his hands up to the yeti's neck and cheek. The soft fur and flesh against his cold metal hand was refreshing and a sort of blessing in its own right. He didn't know why exactly he was doing this, or even what the point of it was, but he needed it. They needed it.
Skips returned the kiss, slowly opening his mouth and letting his tongue explore the inside of Benson's mouth. It surprised him just how cool but soft the gumball machine's mouth was. There was a tongue, and cheeks, and teeth, and everything that was there for the usual living thing, but he was a machine. It didn't make a lick of sense. But it was unique. It caused a shiver to go right down his spine as he let a moan escape in the breaths between.
Benson could feel a warm blush creep over his face as he fought against Skips in his mouth. He acknowledged it, and even admired it, but always ended up underestimating Skips' strength in all things, including this. He grip against his fur tightened, as he relented and let the beast attack the inside of his mouth. Benson let out a high pitched moan he felt the appendage slide along the roof of his mouth and cheek.
He pulled away from their kiss, feeling his gears heat up in need and want. He gritted his teeth and looked into his lover's eyes passionately. "Bedroom?" he asked curiously in a childish tone.
The yeti smiled evilly, and brought the gumball machine up to his feet, before rushing at him, and pinning him against the kitchen counter. He ravished the gumball machine's mouth again, both their hands searching against each other in a steadfast pace.
Skips began to feel at all the bumps and curves of the gumball machine, clawing at them, playing with them, listening to the sounds that escaped Benson's mouth into his own. Reversely, Benson's hands reached for Skips jeans, fumbling with the button and zipper, leaving them undone as he returned to their kiss.
The heat and cold between them mixed into some sort of passionate reaction of lust and fever. There was no real love between the two from the actions they gave. Whatever it was, they were having trouble stopping themselves from attacking one another, wanting to hear the sounds, feel their touch, and force the other one into submission before the other.
But just so quickly, they stopped – looking at each other and their bodies. Skips' excitement was hidden, though obvious through the tight black briefs he wore underneath his jeans. However, Benson's was more apparent as his flap was completely flipped up, twitching with anticipation against his crank.
"So, ummmm," Skips finally spoke. "Why are we doing this?"
The direct approach. Neither one of them had an answer to that. The absurdity of the situation was laughable. It just happened so quickly and randomly that the both of them let out a chuckle, unaware of what it was they were even laughing at.
"This is weird," Benson giggled, wiping his brow of the forming sweat. "Why ARE we doing this?" he asked with the same quizzical tone as the yeti.
"I don't know," Skips laughed. "I really don't."
"I think we have problems, Skips," Benson returned the laugh. "I think we both just finally snapped and decided to consummate our insanity with some steady love making. That sounds about right, don't ya think?"
The yeti laughed and followed it with a groan. "This is wrong. This is really wrong."
Benson nodded and tried to relax against the counter. "We definitely have problems if we're trying to sleep with each other while there's a homicidal monster out there who's kidnapped our friends. What are we even thinking?"
The mood steadily turned serious has they thought about what they had just done. A wave of guilt swept up across the two of them as their bodies tried to return to normal.
Benson's thoughts shifted over to Pops and Don, and if they were alright. He thought about Pestilence, and when it'll attack him. And finally, he wondered about Veronica and what her place in this whole game was. He had more questions than answers, and couldn't stand that. He groaned unhappily and felt his headache slowly come back.
A soft wetness pressed against the area where his head and body met, and looked down to find Skips kissing the area tenderly. Hands were already caressing the machine's sides, slowly gliding up and down, sending warm bits of excitement to Benson.
"Th-that's enough, Skips," Benson pleaded. "Now's not the time for this."
Skips eyes looked up at the grim face of his love, and smiled coolly at it. "You need this. It's a little selfish, and not really in good taste considering the situation… but you need it." His lips moved ever slowly lower, kissing and playfully licking at his crank.
"Ah," Benson gasped. "N-n-no. Not right now, Skips. I'm fine. I don't need this."
The yeti refused to stop though. "You haven't been thinking clearly for the past few weeks. You need something to let go of, Benson. And if I can help you somehow by doing this, then I want to. You need to think about yourself too, ya know."
"But I don't want to," Benson moaned. "We have to worry about the oth-ooo-others…" He was having trouble forming full coherent sentences at that point. He knew enjoying this and allowing it to continue was wrong on many levels. After all, there were far more important things to deal with. But he still continued to let it happen. He unconsciously muttered out Skips' name, and knew that his baser instincts were beginning to take over.
Sweet kisses and playful use of his mouth caught Benson up in a sea of small delights as he gripped at the edge of the counter and tried to hold on tight. His mind was beginning to splinter as all of his thoughts melded into one single consciousness, screaming a thousand different voices in his head, and telling him what he was doing was neither right nor wrong, but necessary. He wanted this. He needed this. For once, he wanted to let go and just follow along with what was happening. He didn't want to lead everyone to a better tomorrow, or try to find a way to fix everything. Benson just wanted something to go his way for a change. He wanted this attention badly.
And then it stopped. His consciousness was aware again as the sensations ceased suddenly. He looked down at Skips, confused and curious. The yeti had stopped halfway down the body, looking at Benson's open flap the tunnel that laid ahead. "What's wrong?" Benson finally had to ask.
Skips blushed. He actually blushed. Benson nearly dropped to the ground when he saw that.
"So, uh," Skips said embarrassed, "how do I… you know… get your gears going?"
Benson returned his blush and smiled with some embarrassment in the crimson shade. "Oh, wow," he coughed. It was odd to hear someone ask him about something like that. To Dave and Veronica, it was second nature, but Skips – who knew nothing on how to get a living machine off – was completely left in the dark. "There's a sort of gear area that's open, a little way through the tunnel. You just gotta turn it with your fingers." He felt like he was trying to talk to a child, which made the whole thing that much more humorless to him.
A thought crossed Benson's mind as he pondered the act between the two of them. "What about you?" he asked the yeti. "How do I work with your… thingie?"
Skips went wide eyed and stared vacantly at him. "You mean you've never…?"
"Not with a mammal," Benson blurted out, "and especially not with a... male mammal. The only two people I've ever really done anything with was Veronica and Dave, and we were all the same species. I've seen a few things on the internet with mammals and all that. But I don't think I've seen one between someone like you, and someone like me." Benson had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. Stuff like this was meant to be an essentiality. It was supposed to be a second nature trait that all living things knew how to do.
Skips simply laughed seductively at him, and stepped out of his unzipped jeans. With them gone, Benson had a full view of the noir undergarments Skips sported. They were low cut, and tight on him. Stuff like that was usually reserved for porn stars and models. But he fit them out well. Benson couldn't take his eyes off them, let alone the excitement that was hiding inside them.
A strange sense was taking over the gumball machine: his feet were quivering, his grip on the counter was tightening, his eyes were constantly moving around Skips body, repeatedly returning to the remainder of his clothes covering up his prize. The caring and wanting expression on the yeti's face only made it worse. A kind of hunger was building inside of Benson, even going as far as causing his once dry with fear embarrassment mouth to water and salivate for something. It was humiliating and exciting to him. He hadn't felt that way in a long time.
The yeti sighed and stood up, and began to kiss at the man's neck area again. "So then," Skips whispered seductively. "You want to explore first to get a better 'look around'?"
Something suddenly clicked and jumped inside him, and he felt something roll out of himself and out of track. It fell to the floor and bounced a couple of times before rolling away.
Skips looked at it was total shock on his face and looked up at Benson.
"W-w-what?" Benson flustered. "I was excited."
"You like me that much, huh?" Skips laughed.
"Hey," the gumball machine snapped sternly. "I haven't done anything like this with anyone in who knows how long. I'm doing my best to make sure I don't go off too early or anything, so try not to rub it in or anything." He paused and let out a sigh. "You do have a nice body though."
Skips smiled gratefully at him and leaned in to give him another kiss on his neck area. One of his hands walked its fingers along Benson's abdomen, sliding along the smooth painted frame, and slowly treading inside the opening. His fingers felt at the walls and ceiling of the machine's insides, causing Benson grunt and whimper from the sensitivity.
Even those little touches were enough to drive the automaton wild. Another gumball fell from within him, as his body shook with anticipation and excitement. He was afraid if Skips kept this up, he might lose himself too soon and spoil the mood for the both of them. But the yeti was treating him with such compassion and gentle caring, that it was hard for Benson not to get overly excited.
Skips looked from the opening to Benson's face and smirked at the reactions he was getting. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle when Benson grabbed at his fur and puffed out some incoherent mumbling. And then, Skips found what he had been told about. Right there, just on the outside of the release mechanism, he felt a small gear scrunched up in the corner inside. He glided his finger along the ridges just to get a good feel for it. Benson twitched from the feeling and gripped onto Skips tighter. The yeti's expression twisted into something almost ravenous, and with a swift action, turned the gear down fast.
But the reaction was less than desirable as Benson clutched at his stomach, and fell to the ground. Pain erupted around him, and he curled into a ball, holding his abdomen and privates. Skips face switched to concern and guilt, and knelt down quickly to take care of the gumball machine.
"I did something wrong, didn't I?" he asked quickly.
Benson grimaced but waived away the worry. "It's fine," he coughed out. "I should have warned you first. When you play with that thing, you need to be really slow about it till I'm used to the feeling. Afterwards, then you can turn it as fast as you want." He continued to breath sporadically and hold himself, waiting for the pain to subside.
Skips scratched the back of his head and tried to laugh it off, but couldn't help but feel terrible about what just happened. "Anything I can do to help you feel a little better?"
"I'm fine," Benson assured him. "I just need a little time to recoup is all."
The other man nodded and sat to wait. It was certainly a mood killer – something he was doing his best to try and avoid. Skips wondered how he could make this ordeal any worse.
But just then, as he was sitting feeling bad for himself, Benson began to laugh. It wasn't a painful laugh, or the kind that was meant to break a silent. It was the kind of laugh that sent a person to stitches and was filled with joy all over. Skips watched as Benson slowly sat up and laugh.
"This is insane," the machine chuckled. "If it were anyone else, I'd of probably thrown them out by now. But when it's you, Skips, I just can't help but laugh and forget about it." He blushed slightly and looked at Skips with care. "I guess I like you more than I thought I did." He placed his hands on the floor and began to crawl toward the yeti.
Skips was gently assaulted with kisses all around his mouth, cheeks, and neck. With that, he felt the remorse disappear into nothing, replaced with a sense of contentment and want. The euphoria was beginning to surge through his body again as he relaxed and enjoyed Benson's gift to him.
He shivered when he felt a hand slowly make its way under his briefs and fold its fingers around his member. The cold of the metal caused his teeth to clink down at first as the cold spread to his other extremities, but eventually grow used to it. It was a new feeling, but considering who it was coming from, he enjoyed it. He was given another passionate kiss on the lips, as they began to dance inside each others mouths again.
Benson knew somewhat what to do, and slowly moved his full hand up and down, creating a small rhythmic motion for the yeti. He must have been doing something right, considering it caused Skips to release his kiss and mutter out the machine's name, requesting to go a little faster. He did such, and was gratefully rewarded with more pleasurable moans and groans, as well as small bits of lust that were kissed against his body.
"So this is good, right?" Benson asked. His tone was serious. He wasn't sure if what he was doing was right or wrong.
Skips quivered from the pleasure and nodded his head. "Yeah," he said in a lusting tone. He smiled as the quivers continued to electrify him.
"Good then," the machine coughed out. He was glad he hadn't screwed up yet.
But even Benson too began to shake as he felt Skips fingers crawl their way inside of him again. They reached up the tunnel, a little faster than before, and found the gear. The gumball machine let out a little breath, and watched the face of the yeti change to a devilish grin. The gear was then pressed down a single tick.
Benson stopped his own work and let the tiny sensation of pain sweep over him. He was used to that part. When Skips saw it pass though, he clicked down again, forcing another quake within Benson. He continued to click down, slowly creating his own motion, as the pain in Benson slowly gave way to tiny jolts of pleasure. When his body was familiarized with the feeling, Benson continued to pleasure his love in his own way. He wrapped his free arm around Skips back, using him as a column to keep his balance. His head rested comfortably on the beast's massive shoulders and they continued to play with one another.
They both pondered how long they could continue that and who would be the first to succumb to the others desires. It suddenly became an unspoken game between them, to see who could finish who the first. Even more so, they picked up their paces and motions in an attempt to solicit louder yelps, trying their hardest to make the other scream. The ultimate prize was the total submission of the other. To beg for more, and to ask for other acts and experiences that neither had experienced with the other. But no matter how hard they tried to overpower the other, they were both equally matched in stamina and resolve, and in time their bodies heated up beyond their game, as their passions and lust for one another absolved any other thoughts inside their head.
Their lips could no longer stand to be apart from one another as they reached the cusp of their dance. They released their sighs and gasps of relief in the others mouth, giving the sounds of their carnality into the other. Bodies arched, and a part of themselves were lost into the others palm, but that was beside the point. The actual action or outcome was meaningless to them. Something non-tangible was understood and traded to the other that small brief moment.
Exhaustion began to set in immediately afterwards. But they paid it no mind, and continued to kiss and woo the other. Though their bodies were tired, their passion remained ignited. And when they pulled away from each other finally, they could see their own reflections within the eyes of the other. They saw the looks of love and need inside them, and knew for that instant what was there.
"I'm an idiot," Benson finally said with a smile on his face. "How come I didn't see you like this before?"
"I don't know," Skips laughed. "Maybe you were too busy yelling at Mordecai and Rigby to see it." He said the only thing that could come to his mind at the time. His mind was still covered in images of the gumball machine. He still wanted so much more, but his body just refused to give him the energy for it.
For Benson though, there was no passion or lust anymore – only the image of the person in front of him. Besides that, his mind had completely gone blank. Those little screams and bemoans of the things he had suffered through the past few weeks were finally gone, giving way to the image of the one in front of him. His confidence was revitalized thanks to the site of white fur and muscles.
Even Skips seemed to have a new lease on life. His mind wondered why it was going to be so easy for him to run away from Pestilence. He couldn't leave now, not anymore. He had something he wanted to protect. No... it was something he needed to protect. Not just Benson, but the others too. Skips wanted to protect his home and his family. The image of Benson in front of him gave him that courage to stand up to the creature and tell him no, or he hoped that it would.
But both their thoughts were muddled when a loud banging sounded across them from the front door. Both of them frowned, realizing that their quaint little mood was about to be shattered. Benson looked at his hand and groaned as he noticed he needed to clean up, and Skips saw the large amount of gumballs on the floor and gritted his teeth at the chore.
"Fuck it," Benson said as he got up. He approached the door and turned the knob with his clean hand. "Of course," he said in an unsurprised manner to the person outside.
Mordecai stood outside the apartment looking horrified and disheveled.
"What do you want?" Benson asked in an icy way.
The bird didn't even ask to be invited in. He just stepped in and looked at both Benson and Skips with a pleading feature about him. He was about to say something, when he noticed Benson's other hand, and the fact that Skips was in nothing but his undies with gumballs on the floor. Not to mention that they were both sweaty.
"Dude!" he screamed to the two men. "Were you two just doing the dude-on-dude thing?"
Skips turned a bit red in embarrassment, but Benson gave an unflinching expression to the blue jay and just said a quick, "Yep! You got a problem with that?"
"I do, considering the situation we're in!" Mordecai screamed back. "I mean... right now?"
"What's this about, Mordecai?" Benson quickly snapped. "Skips and I were kind of in the middle of something."
"I can see that," the bird groaned.
"What is it?" Skips finally asked.
The young man shook his head of the ever growing image of Skips and Benson in the act and tried to remember why he was there. It didn't take the reason long to reappear as he remembered the shear amount of fright it drove him to.
"Margaret's gone!"
Benson froze, as did Skips. They knew already who the culprit was. Benson gulped and asked how.
"It was Don," Mordecai said, "but I don't think it was Don. I think Tim is using Don somehow, and he took Margaret and he destroyed the Coffee Shop, and everything's just gone crazy. Margaret just went inside to confront Veronica about what was happening, and then the place was destroyed, Margaret was taken away, and Don and Veronica left together like they know each other, and I don't know what's happening!"
"Where's Eileen and Rigby?" Benson inquired. "Are they alright?"
Mordecai nodded and tried to catch himself. "They're downstairs, still in the car. Rigby's trying to help Eileen right now. She's pretty shaken about the whole thing."
Skips sighed and got up from off the floor. "I can only imagine how you must feel right now," he said to Mordecai.
The bird grabbed at his head, still trying to process everything that had happened. "Please," he pleaded to Skips. "Please get her back. I need her back. I still haven't apologized enough to her about everything."
Skips slipped back into his jeans, opting to clean himself up later. He did however, was his hands in the kitchen sink. But beyond that, with his new found courage, what had just happened to Margaret and everything that transpired before it took top priority. He refused to allow another one of his friends be taken away, or one of his family get hurt. "I'll take care of it," Skips replied.
"Me too," Benson assured him. "We're gonna get Margaret and everyone back. There's no way in Ooo that I'm gonna let that creep do anything else to anyone else."
"Count me in then," Mordecai answered to the two of them.
"No," Skips stopped. "This is too much for you and the others. You, Rigby, and Eileen need to go and hide. We're finishing this up tonight."
Benson smiled at him, knowing that he seriously meant it.
"He's right, Mordecai," the machine said to the bird. His frown led way to a smile that compassionately cared for the boy. "Skips and I can take care of this ourselves. You and everyone else go hide somewhere for the night. Tell Muscle Man and High Five Ghost too."
Mordecai shook his head and clamped his beak down childishly. "But I need to help her!"
"LEAVE IT TO US!" Benson yelled. "We're going to get her back, I promise. Just like we're getting Don and Pops back too. Just let us handle it."
The bird could see the utter hate for Pestilence in the gumball machine's eyes, as well as in the yeti's. He knew they were going into this battle whether they wanted to or not. "Fine," he said, turning around and leaving. "But if you guys can't do anything about it, I'm finishing what you guys started!" And he was gone.
Young and fool hearty. They all were in a sense.
Benson looked over to Skips, and smiled at him. "Alright," he sighed. "What do we do then?"
Skips skipped past the machine, patting him on the back as he too left the apartment. "Go wash your hands and just follow me," he said to Benson. "I know how to handle this. We just need the right kind of help though."
"What kind of help?" Benson asked as he rushed to the sink to clean his hands up.
Skips smiled and continued onward. "The kind that's going to cost millions of dollars."
Be Human – Yoko Kanno
Author's Notes
There ya go! That M-rating really helped drive along this chapter didn't it. That scene in particular was just a blast to write. So many theories go around about Benson and that specific act, so I just decided to throw one of my many theories into the ring there. Very strange, but it does make you wonder: how would a machine like that actually get his marbles off? Hahaha! Next chapter is a doozy of one, folks! TONS of action and brings us closer to the climax of the story. See you all then!
So Until Next Chapter...
Adieu...