Julie Yamamoto's eyes fluttered open, only to be met with a lanky figure. His silhouette fit so well with the starry sky as she liked to imagine that his bizarre afro lingered with the hidden, dark clouds. She shared a tired smile, not even bothering to remember how she ended up here in the first place. Sometimes she powered down, or merrily "dozed off" as many humans often said, at unexpected times of the day. It happened so frequently that Julie Yamamoto couldn't even find the answer to this enigma herself, no matter how many times she analyzed her sleeping behavior in her data banks. Whatever. Ben Tennyson always managed to wake her up anyway.
"Good afternoon, Ben Tennyson," Julie Yamamoto greeted with her usual chirpy tone, sneaking a short yawn in between her words. She quickly glanced around her then added, "Or night would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?"
Ben Tennyson simply ignored her, a mischievous smirk spreading across his lips. "The other bot's busy. And since we're resting right now, she won't interrupt us for another hour," he reminded. They ended up parking Bessie at another scrapyard since Sora claimed that she needed more materials to work with if they could continue enhancing Bessie's protocols. At first, Ben Tennyson was greatly opposed to the idea. The longer they were on the move, the less likely they would be caught by more bounty hunters. And quite frankly, their numbers increased to the point where it began to piss him off even more. Just because he was immortal, it didn't change the fact that he still experienced the agonizing pain that death gave him. It was a stressful experience. These bounty hunters seemed to grow more creative with their methods to the point that his numbered tattoos were emerging all over his front back and shoulders, like a spread of chickenpox. Long story short, he no longer had the patience to dilly dally in order to satisfy Sora's hunger for hoarding useless junk of nuts and bolts.
That is until Ben Tennyson and Julie Yamamoto's relationship grew into blossoms. He remembered how Sora's annoyingly high-pitched voice screeched in his ears when they were approaching another scrapyard. Her usual begging followed with his dismissive nature as they had just barely managed to escape another group of bounty hunters that attempted burning him alive above a bubbling tar pit. All for the sake of proving that he was indeed the real "Ben Tennyson the Kid." His hair still singed at the ends. But when he snuck a quick peek at his passenger's seat which contained a sleeping Julie Yamamoto, the idea didn't seem so bad after all. It would offer a great chance of alone time, which rarely came up with how noisy and clingy Sora could be sometimes. All he had to do was wait for her to wake up.
Julie Yamamoto only giggled, not taking in the hint of Ben Tennyson's words yet. "I can't say you're incorrect. Sora will be certain that she has gathered enough scrap that her arms can handle. Even then, she'll fill all of Bessie's tanks with scrap so she can use them for later. Sora is just adorable, isn't she?" she happily reminisced before letting out a soft gasp when Ben Tennyson's hand petted the top of her head. His fingers stroked through her hair, and he hummed in slight annoyance once he cupped her cheek.
"You're being awfully affectionate right now, Ben Tennyson. Not that I don't think you are. This past month has shown that you indeed have this side of you," Julie Yamamoto noted. "As with any good friend, I shouldn't be so quick to judge other people. Being judgemental is often seen as a negative trait to have."
"Shut up and just kiss me, damn bot," Ben Tennyson said impatiently, no longer hesitating in grabbing the android into a kiss. It always started out like this. Ben Tennyson wasn't a huge fan of foreplay. Little flirtatious gestures were enough to get him riled up to the point where he was satisfied to just rush into the action. But he knew better. Julie Yamamoto wasn't at all like his ordinary quickies. She was merely elaborating on her analysis of her environment; you could say that she was almost talkative. There were a time and a place for that since Ben Tennyson had grown to view her innocence as endearing, but his stress from today flew over the roof, so he was a little extra eager today.
Julie Yamamoto's lips were normally frosty, and Ben Tennyson could taste the outline of her brown lip gloss that was permanently painted over them. She learned that Ben Tennyson's kisses were needy and rough. She admitted to herself that she had difficulty in adjusting to his forwardness. Nonetheless, she slowly eased herself into the action, just as he taught her during their many previous lessons.
As they remained locked into the kiss, Ben Tennyson grabbed her hand with his left one and wrapped his right arm around her waist, helping her stand up. Because she was much heavier than she looked, Ben Tennyson had to literally drag her to the bottom floor of Bessie. The first time he tried lifting her up, he believed that it wouldn't be an issue. With many other women, Ben Tennyson liked engaging his move with the classic "sweeping them off their feet" trick and carrying them to the bedroom. Unfortunately, the android crushed his body the first time. Then he added suffocation to his many joyful adventures in death. It sure was a mood killer.
They maneuvered to the vehicle's lower level with antsy movements, the immortal hungrily grasping at every inch of the android that he could grip. The room was on the verge of becoming a victim of Ben Tennyson's slobbish habits again. Either Sora cleaned everything up for him, or they just didn't waste their time reminding Ben Tennyson of the importance of hygiene, which he was grateful for. It was a miracle how Julie Yamamoto wasn't objecting to his advancements anyway, considering how often she mentioned his stench. He guessed that the android now tolerated the smell. She expected it from him. Just as he started to tolerate her.
The two never proceeded into anything too sexual. When they first started this activity, it only resulted from a couple of head pats, touches in inappropriate areas, and quick kisses on the cheek—courtesy of the grouchy immortal. Recently, Ben Tennyson noticed a pang in his chest whenever Julie Yamamoto was around him. He didn't question it at first, excusing it as a one-time thing. He always got that feeling when he saw something pretty. But the feeling never vanished, and his desire only flourished. He was angry with himself for gaining such a silly crush—on a stupid bot of all things. That just wasn't him. Ben Tennyson wasn't a stranger to romance, but his definition was more on the lines of a good fuck. Nor was he ever ashamed of that either. A part of him really wanted this aspect of him to die as quickly as possible, but at the same time, curiosity soon became a good alibi for his feelings.
What would it be like to pet her hair? So he did it. And her hair was surprisingly soft. He didn't know what he was expecting. Maybe her hair strands felt like a bunch of tangled wires or something. But no, her blonde hair pertained to the softness of an actual human being. Her uncanny features that bore a closeness to humanity excited him. He pushed forward. What would it be like to tease her a little bit? During one of their long car trips, his pesky hands rubbed along the course of her thigh. Sure Julie Yamamoto was surprised, but her response was one out of curiosity that matched his. There weren't even signs of her getting pissed off by his forwardness that some women gave him before. What would it be like to kiss her? He made sure that their first kiss was short and sweet, just wanting to test the waters if you will. Similar to the touching, Julie Yamamoto only flashed him curious looks. She regarded how his current behavior puzzled her.
"You've been awfully affectionate lately, Ben Tennyson," she said. Nothing changed there.
"Do you know what I'm doing? Kissing you?" Ben Tennyson flashed her a devilish smirk, his fingers tracing over her thigh again. He even grew a little bolder, as she allowed his fingers to continue along the back of her hip. Then again, she probably failed to comprehend the intimacy of the moment. This sort of "friendly" encounter was most likely unfamiliar to her. He wanted to make sure first before he went any further. That notion irritated him too. He never waited with other women. Either they were into him, or they weren't, and he happily consulted the wants of his partner that shared his own desires. But this was Julie Yamamoto, and he scolded himself about the difference.
"I've heard of kissing before, yes," Julie Yamamoto confirmed, tapping her finger on the tip of her chin, browsing her database to search for any previous moments of kissing that she may have had with her friends. When the results came up empty, she told him, "But I've never experienced it myself. I heard that it's something that you do when you really like a friend! Is that true? Do you really like me, Ben Tennyson?"
"What the hell?! You wish, you stupid bot!" He shouted, the ends of his afro perking up as if they were just as flustered as he was. Julie Yamamoto giggled to herself. This bot was so cheeky that she wasn't even aware of it. It both pissed him off and brought butterflies to his stomach. But to be honest, her knowledge about kissing slightly concerned him. Was she not aware of romantic gestures? It seemed that she viewed his kiss as a strong form of affection between friends. Just friends. Not between lovers, crushes, one-night stands, nothing. Good. Not that he was trying to achieve anything higher than a one-night stand. She was only a human, after all. A friendship bot to be specific.
He quickly composed himself to return to his old confidence, "I mean, you could say that I want us to try something new. We've known each other for a while now, so you'd think that we would move on to the next level in our friendship, don't ya think?" He made sure to add emphasis to the word "friendship."
"Of course! I would only want our friendship to grow stronger!" Julie Yamamoto excitedly clapped her hands together. Cute.
Ben Tennyson leaned closer to her face, a small shadow complimenting his smirk nicely. Julie Yamamoto failed to falter. She only lost herself in his stare, nothing less of a twitch of nervousness or anticipation coming out of her.
"Then we'll need to keep practicing," Ben Tennyson said, pulling her into another kiss.
The rest was history. While Sora's attention obsessed with a particular thing for a while, Ben Tennyson managed to sneak Julie Yamamoto off somewhere to solidify the growth of their friendship. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to rush things with Julie Yamamoto The two of them were content with short make-out sessions, nothing too extreme. But after today's "glorious" events and with no saloons around to reduce his stress with alcohol and sexy women, Ben Tennyson geared towards the next best thing. He wanted to take their friendship to the next level. Not because he had grown attached or anything. He just wanted to confirm if his theory was true about human women having reproductive organs. Well, he was certain that sexbots did indeed have them. They were built in for that purpose. But for friend bots, he wasn't too sure. Unless Julie Yamamoto's creators were aware of the chances of someone wanting to be friends with benefits. That's all this was—curiosity.
Ben Tennyson eased Julie Yamamoto's body into the purple sectional couch. The fabric hugged into her form. They have done this many times before after all. He released the kiss to take a quick break. Julie Yamamoto patiently waited for him since there was no need for her to catch a breath. He wasted no time in kissing her again as he crawled on top of her body. He felt her hands lock onto the back of his neck, pushing him deeper into the kiss, just like he taught her.
Licking her bottom lip, Ben Tennyson took the chance to unclasp her cloak. Julie Yamamoto's eyes shot open at the click, and she broke away from the kiss.
"Oh? Was my cloak in the way? I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Ben Tennyson," She apologized, sitting up so that she could let the cloak fall to the ground. A part of him was almost relieved that she didn't break away because she refused his advances. He highly doubted that she was even aware of what that gesture meant either. Great. He needed to inform her about that too.
Ben Tennyson sat up as well, securing Julie Yamamoto in his lap so that her back pressed into the back of the couch. "That's not it," he let out a tired, exasperated sigh. "I wanna try something different, to boost our friendship." He knew that would get her excited. A sparkle gleamed into the mix of purple and green in her eyes.
"And you needed to take my cloak off for that?" she asked in a truly curious tone, not at all sarcastic. But Ben Tennyson took it as such. It added more flavor to the conversation for him. There was something about Julie Yamamoto's speech patterns that sounded so...automated.
"Don't get smart with me, bot," he playfully snapped, and he continued before she could hastily apologize for her wording. "Look, I'm not gonna rush into it. We'll take it slow at first, ok?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, but ok," Julie Yamamoto smiled brightly.
"Just hold still. Try not to move around so much," Ben Tennyson mumbled, trying to concentrate. Her body became stiff as a rock. Sweat started to sprinkle along his forehead as he reached to unzip her top. For some reason his movements slowed, his hands becoming hesitant. The hell? Ben Tennyson was never nervous about sex. He embraced it, even. But his fingers fidgeted over the collar, wincing a bit as the flaps effortlessly drooped to reveal her neck and collarbone. The fact that Julie Yamamoto continued to stare at him patiently with her usual humanic, curious stare, unnerved him a little.
She's just a bot, he reminded himself, leaning in so his lips met her neck. Her skin was cold, but it held the same plump, lushness of human skin. He got a little excited again. As his lips began to suck and bite at her skin, he could practically feel the hardness of the steel that replaced the bone underneath her flesh. He was afraid that his teeth might break from the impact if he bit too hard. He wondered why he was even trying to form hickeys since the android wasn't filled with blood either. So he resorted to kissing again, planting them everywhere like it was his own personal garden. He made sure that he didn't miss a single patch of skin. Even though he felt Julie Yamamoto relax her hands onto his shoulders to make it easier for him, she remained unresponsive.
It vexed him that he needed some reassurance. The roles were often reversed. He met his fair share of women who were nervous about their first time, and he handled his charisma greatly that made them more confident. Others had been just as excited as he was, sometimes even taking the lead themselves while he sat back and enjoyed himself. Witty comebacks or flirty banter kept the heat hot for him. But Julie Yamamoto was different, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
In fact, Ben Tennyson continuously questioned his current lust for the human. She was far from his type. Women with curves to them, women with big breasts, women with a punkish look to them, women with a hotheaded attitude that matched his. Those were whom he fucked with. When Ben Tennyson first met Julie Yamamoto at Hangman's Bar, he instantly knew that they would have their differences. She was incredibly thin with no sign of curves and a flat-chest. He wasn't sure if she even had breasts at all. Her attire was regal, devoid of any specks of wrinkles. Overly-bubbly and kind where it seemed like she wouldn't be able to hold off on her own. Until her poofy hair ignited into red flames, and her eyes geared into a fiery glare, and her mouth dropped into a literal cannon. He had to admit; that was pretty hot.
Regardless, he concluded that she wasn't his type, and he was fine with that. He definitely wasn't turned on by humans either. They proved to be quite annoying anyway as he failed to recall any favorable times with them.
Besides his late mother, Ben Tennyson rarely held any emotional connections to the women in his life. A guy like him had his many moments when he was horny, so he always took it upon himself to have sex with a woman he fancied. But that was all. They had their fun, and he left first thing in the morning with no strings attached. This journey that he spent with Julie Yamamoto caused him to form some sort of fondness for the android. Something like that fell far out of his comfort zone, and he was admittedly uncomfortable with the change.
The more he spent time with her, the more things he found out about her that he had grown to appreciate and like. Possibly even loved. Her dainty appearance comforted him, her kind words warmed his heart, her unintentional smugness humored him, her dedication to her friends made him smile, and her secret combat forms were badass. There were just so many things about her that he grew to tolerate. Just as she tolerated him. Truthfully, Ben Tennyson knew that he was a jackass, and not many people enjoyed his company. Bounty hunters constantly chased after him, he cheated death multiple times, and a lot of women were actually put off by his musk. Hostility was out to get him, and it became such a routine that he didn't give a shit about what anybody thought or felt about him.
Julie Yamamoto's endearment for Ben Tennyson proved unconditional, and that aspect of her scared him. Because after finding someone who finally liked him, that one person was a friend bot. Someone who was programmed to like him. And even then, Julie Yamamoto didn't reward him with any signs that she was enjoying this as much as he was. The same went with their make-out sessions. She allowed him to take the lead into the kisses. She never broke apart, only he did. She never expressed how good the kiss was as he always teased about how good her kissing was despite being inexperienced.
Her opinions and wants were irrelevant. She vowed to make her friends happy. She was just a human. A stupidly cute human with those bright, mechanical eyes that sharply flickered over his body, analyzing him. This was all she was good for. A plaything so that he could enjoy a good time, and her programming was obligated to satisfy his own needs. She could easily be replaced with any other woman. She was devoted to him; she claimed this many times before. Then why did it hurt that this was just expected of her?
It was important that this moment was a choice for her as it was for him. He waited so long to do this to her, and with any other woman, they probably would've finished the quickie by now. His lips grazed over her collarbone, her top dangerously lowering to where her breasts would hypothetically be located. He so badly wanted to see if she contained those parts at all, and even if she didn't, he wouldn't be disappointed. Just having her body pressed against him like this urged him to want more. But Julie Yamamoto made no movements. None at all.
His gaze followed to meet her eyes that remained tacked over his body, unblinking and frozen. That same damn, patient smile was on her lips. Her body language was completely expectant and devoted to him. And he hated it.
Pushing himself back, Ben Tennyson grasped her hands into his. Still nothing from her. He supposed that he had to get some sort of a rise out of her. "Untie me," he whispered in a husky voice that he forced out of himself. He led their cupped hands to his shirt tie. "It seems only fair, right?"
"Mhm! I have to say it's a little humid in here. You shouldn't be wearing too many layers, Ben Tennyson. You could potentially get pretty sick," Julie Yamamoto considered, undoing his necktie without any hesitation.
She's not excited. It's just an instruction she has to follow, Ben Tennyson thought, hiding a sneer. His white shirt loosened as well, and he slowly pulled the entirety of it down so that it could be tossed onto the messy floor. His body tensed once Julie Yamamoto's fingers passed the newly printed numbers over his shoulders. He felt himself getting excited again. Maybe...maybe she's actually-
"I'm sorry that Sora and I couldn't save you in time from those bounty hunters," Julie Yamamoto said, a look of sorrow crossing over her eyes. "If I had been stronger against their electrocutions, then maybe these numbers wouldn't even be here." So worrisome and caring for others. And what am I doing? Trying to take advantage of her? Fuck it. I can't do this.
He waved Julie Yamamoto's hands away from his shoulders, a little too roughly since she apologized right away, "I'm sorry, Ben Tennyson. I wasn't aware that you were uncomfortable-"
"Nah, it's fine. You should know that I'm used to all that by now," He chuckled, petting her soft, fluffy hair again. While he was content with staying shirtless, he readjusted Julie Yamamoto's top to its tidy and snug state. His mind suddenly thought back on what he said about Julie Yamamoto to the sex humans when he lost her in Zenith, 'She's not that kind of bot.' Tilting her head, Julie Yamamoto didn't ease into the touch like she usually did. Instead, her face tightened into a slightly suspicious look.
"Ben Tennyson, is something wrong?" she asked.
Yeah. I'm whipped for you, you dumb bot.
Ben Tennyson lazily shook his head and laid his body across the couch. He was tired, and he wasn't in the mood for Julie Yamamoto's motherly concern. No matter how damn cute it was.
"Stop being so loud," he faked a groan and pulled the android's body to lie on top of him. This couch wasn't necessarily fit for this sort of thing, so the two squished into each other. Both of them seemed lenient with the situation. Ben Tennyson sure as hell was. "Change of plans. Let's try this. Try not to move around so much."
It took a few minutes to get into a comfortable position, but Julie Yamamoto managed to rest her head on his chest, and her legs snuggled in between his own. Ben Tennyson crossed his arms behind the back of his head, his gaze meeting the crusty ceiling. This would've been better if they were lounging on the grass or something, watching the stars. Stargazing. He never tried that with a woman. Couple that with a cigarette and it would be a damn good time.
"Are we cuddling?" Julie Yamamoto asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Oh, so you know what that is?" he inquired.
"Of course! Friends cuddle with each other when they relax or watch movies together. It shows that you really want to be close to someone." She nuzzled her face into his chest, letting out a quiet sigh. "I like this. Even though you smell awful, you're really warm, Ben Tennyson." Before she realized it, her circuits powered her down again.
Ben Tennyson was left with his thoughts that hurried in his head like a giddy mess. She likes this! She actually said that she likes this! An excited smile wormed its way onto his lips, so proud of this accomplishment. To hide these situations, Ben Tennyson assured himself that Julie Yamamoto and he needed to return to their original positions before Sora appeared. Him pouting and bored in the front seat with Julie Yamamoto either waving at Sora's arrival or sleeping in the passenger's seat. However, as Julie Yamamoto cuddled here with him and her steady breaths calming him to a higher sense of serenity, he didn't care if Sora would tease him about this or not. He was enjoying this far too much, much more than his frequent one-night stands. He would take things slow—just for his friend.