Chapter Thirty-Two – Endearment
Lin continued to stroke John's hair as he watched the television. The teen was lying on his side, curled up on the sofa with is head resting on Lin's thigh, one hand lightly resting on the android's knee. The human had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, tired from fixing a run down GX300 series. He'd managed to alter a GX400 component to fit the unit, but it was really only a temporary fix. The unit was old. Too old to be fully repaired. The parts just didn't exist anymore. The owner had been sad, but understanding. John had kindly offered to replace her unit when the time came. He had a few units that would fit her requirements. Lin could tell it bothered the teen. His eyes had drifted to the GT300 more than once throughout the day.
He'd cheered up somewhat later on when Katie stopped by for a check-up. Her father and mother had come and sat out front while Katie quite happily sat out back on the padded table telling John all about school and her friends. Apparently she had a boyfriend called George. He was nine, and very good at football. John had smiled and agreed he sounded charming. She'd been very patient as John checked her components. He was pleased to find her in working order with no sign of wear and tear. She was in perfect health.
John sighed lightly in his sleep, rolling over to his other side, facing Lin's stomach. Lin liked this better. He could see John's face this way. He'd wondered at first whether his affection for the human would lessen over time, but as the past three months wore on he'd found it had only deepened. Every day he seemed to find something new about his human that endeared him. Today it was the way he hummed in his sleep as he snuggled into Lin's hip and gripped his shirt. The human was wearing a T-shirt today, which was currently rucked up high on his waist to reveal pink skin. He'd changed out of his jeans earlier into some loose sweat pants that rested low on his slim hips.
"Incidents of android attacks continue to increase, forcing people to ask the question 'Are you safe with your android?' Here to give us some answers is Dr Su of Cyberlife's development team." The newscaster stated in an unnecessarily dramatic tone. The news was troubling. Reports like this were becoming more and more common. John had had more than one customer coming in with a damaged unit because of some protestor attacking it. They'd continued to be lucky with incidents in the shop. Trouble seemed to have stayed in town around the Cyberlife stores so far.
"Are you awake now?" Lin asked softly, his hand not pausing as he stroked the soft locks again. John mumbled his denial softly, but Lin knew he was awake. He'd noticed the increase in his breathing, and the twitch of his limbs. "Do you want to stay here? Or move to the bed?" The android asked softly, John's head burrowing further into his thigh in response. Lin smiled softly, content to let his human have his way.
"So warm…" John murmured quietly, his forehead burrowing into Lin's stomach as he curled up even more. Lin continued to smile to himself as he tousled John's hair, slowly gathering the human up into his arms. He repositioned John so that he was sitting across his lap, almost bridal style. He wrapped his arms more securely around the sleepy teen and rested John's head in the crook of his shoulder.
"Are you cold?" He asked softly, the teen nodding tiredly in response. Lin blinked as he increased his internal temperature slightly. John sighed in contentment, reaching up to grip the collar of Lin's shirt. He soon slipped back into unconsciousness, leaving Lin free to watch the reports once more. Statistics showed a large drop in the amount of people who felt safe around androids. There had also been a drop in Cyberlife shares because of it. The latest incident showed an accountant had been murdered by her android, because she had planned to replace it with a new model. That sounds a lot like the Detroit case a few months back…
"They're wrong…" John mumbled, still half asleep as he looked at the screen. "The androids…they just want to belong…They're scared, and upset…" He added, his eyes closing once more as Lin pressed a series of gentle kisses to his temple. The news was both worrying and depressing. The amount of android incidents was rising, but it matched the amount of android related property damage. Humans are deliberately antagonising androids and making it worse…Of course, it won't be put like that on a human news channel…
"I think we should go to bed." Lin decided, though the human in his arms gave no response. He stirred as Lin rose to his feet, easily hefting the light human in his arms. John murmured something about not being tired, making the android chuckle in response. He kicked John's bedroom door open and lowered the teen to the sheets, surprised as the blonde's arms looped around his neck tightly. More awake than I thought…
"Stay here." John murmured, the android relenting. He'd only been intending to turn off the light and shut the door, but that could wait for a while. He helped John climb beneath the covers before sliding in beside him. The teen was curled up in his arms moments later. He hadn't changed much in the past three months, but the android had noticed a very slight increase in muscle mass, probably from all the free running they were doing. His hair had grown a little, the bangs now sweeping down over his eyebrows so that he had to shake it out of his eyes constantly. The android made a mental note to offer to trim it soon.
I should probably make him shower, but…The teen looked so peaceful he didn't have the heart to rouse him. It wouldn't be the first time John had fallen asleep. He'd usually wake up a few hours later and get ready for bed then. With that decided, Lin closed his eyes and slipped into standby mode, running a constant scan of John's vitals. If the teen woke up then Lin would automatically reactivate.