Doc looked at her in amazement, surprise, awe, and he then saw that familiar light growing back in her eyes, and he slowly smiled, whispering softly, "You really believe that?", and Lacey gave him a bright smile, "I do, Richard.", leaning a bit higher and kissed the antennae in her hand, sending him the shivers as the pair of antennae is sensitive to things.
"L-Lacey.", Doc whispered in shock as the gesture is a sign that Lacey is truly seeing both sides of him... "Are those a bit sensitive?", Lacey asked as Doc nodded. "Well, at least I know where to get your weak spots then.", she teased as she did it once more and caused him to shiver once more.
Doc breathed airily, "If you keep doing that, L-Lacey, you're gonna drive me crazy. I d-don't want to scare you...", and Lacey whispered, "You won't scare me, Richard...I never, never kissed a cockroach man before...", with a smile before leaning in to kiss him while she still played with his antennae in her hand, feeling his human face taking up spots of cockroach red exoskeleton, not ballooning up.
Doc moaned as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned into the kiss; not changing much as they did as she clearly wanted to what he was sure would turn any woman away.
Lacey smiled into the kiss as she felt his arms holding her like something precious, and she caressed his face, carding her fingers through his black hair, giggling at the tickle of his mustache and his antennae, amazed at the feel of his exoskeleton, remarkably durable and soft yet not seriously hard almost like soft armor in a way, and so warm as she felt him blushing.
Doc shivered and moaned as he felt her caresses, shocked and amazed to have a woman attracted to him like this. Lacey kept it up for a few more moments before she finally backed off and took a deep breath.
"Is everything alright?", Doc asked as he was still trying to recover from the chills that went through him at that moment. "I'm... I'm feeling better now.", Lacey gave him a small smile. "I... I really needed that, Richard.".
Doc looked at her, cradling her cheek, "Anything for you, my dear. Now, do you think you can go to sleep now?", and Lacey looked at him, "I think so...Can you sleep with me? Just sleep, I promise.".
Doc exhaled, tenderly moving his thumb across her cheek, "Okay...But I think you'd rather want to change into a set of fresh pajamas...No offense, but cold sweat isn't good for you...".
Lacey smiled, "Good point. Can I switch to your bed too?", and Doc nodded slowly, "Alright.", with an understanding smile.
Lacey got up and went to her suitcase to get a fresh pair of evening clothes before she headed to the bathroom to change. Doc waited for a few minutes before she finally came back. She sat on the bed before she slowly moved into position to lay down before Doc got back onto the bed himself and laid next to her. "Do you want me to hold you or just simply share the bed?", Doc asked.
Lacey smiled sheepishly, "Your shirt is ruined, remember?", and Doc blinked, looking down at his shirt, and realized that he didn't switch to a fresh shirt...He knew that they are halfway through August, and being close to the beach, with the current, it's a warm night.
"Do you want me to remove it or switch to a fresh shirt?", Doc asked, knowing that Lacey wants to feel like she is in charge of things...After all, she was helpless and didn't nearly have a choice with Derek in the first place...If he is judging things right, she is feeling things out as their relationship is new to them both, not that he could never blame her.
"If it's comfortable with you... I don't mind if you go without a shirt. Uh, is the rest of your body...?", Lacey asked curiously. Amazingly, it was never really a question that came up in terms of what his body had been for decades prior to the Quantronium gift.
Doc exhaled nervously, "When I am in my monster form, I get like freckles and patches of the exoskeleton on my back, shoulders, hips...Gratefully, in both forms, I... still have the important parts of my meat and two veg, but...in my monster form, it's skinnier and u-ugly...", with a sigh...
"Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.", Lacey smiled. "I don't mind either way...", she honestly was surprised to say that. Normally, roaches freaked her out, but Doc wasn't ever fully cockroach like so maybe that's why she was able to handle things better.
Doc stared at her in surprise, shocked to hear her words, seeing only honest curiosity and sincerity in her eyes, and exhaled slowly, "Okay.", steadily removing his shirt in an arched gesture of taking it off easier, and revealing his chest.
Lacey swept her eyes carefully and steadily, his front having an incredible set of abs, hairless and smooth, but not track runner body style, but more like a swimmer body style, seeing the exoskeleton parts on his shoulders, peeking slightly over his sides of his chest.
Comparing Richard to Derek is clearly a step, no, two steps over, for Derek was pathetic, having a dancer body style, and poor abs to show for it from the glimpses she saw that night.
"Is this alright?", Doc asked her as she smiled. "I already said I don't mind either way.", Lacey reminded as he nodded.
Doc threw the shirt to a chair, and snuggled back under the covers, and Lacey smiled softly, "Sharing the bed is perfect...I have to warn you that I hog the blankets sometimes.", remembering Doc's earlier question.
"That's alright, Lacey, it's a warm night.", Doc smiled reassuringly, and Lacey nodded, leaning in to kiss him tenderly before looking into his amber gold eyes, "Thank you, Richard, for everything...We'll talk more in the morning, okay?".
Doc nodded in understanding, "Of course, my dear. Now, go sleep.", caressing her hand and Lacey smiled, closing her eyes, soothingly falling asleep, and Doc smiled, whispering, "Good night, Lacey.", before falling back asleep again.
It was a bright morning when Doc slowly woke up to find that Lacey was wrapped around him tight when he finally realized what was going on. He was stuck pretty well with her still sleeping.
He must have scooted closer to Lacey during his sleep, and now Lacey's head and shoulder are trapping his arm underneath, his other arm pinned under Lacey's arm, tangled with his legs with her legs, almost pinning him down, and much to his embarrassment, he realized that she is dangerously close to his meat and two veg which is waking up.
He took a deep breath to try and calm himself, keep from anything happening as he certainly didn't want to make her freak out in any way. Being this close he worried might remind her of Derek's attempt.
It's true that he's only nude on the top, yet he chose to go without it, and he tried to think of science, but the way Lacey's breathing and touches on his skin and patches of exoskeleton, it made his mind go other places, blushing wildly, and of course, he couldn't stop his meat and two veg from creating a tent in his pajama pants, wearing loose boxer shorts underneath.
Eventually an idea crossed his mind, it was risky and would probably annoy her, but it might just work. He took another deep breath before he used his strength to roll over, which did carry her quite a bit, but her grip loosened when she slowly started to wake up, giving him the chance to quickly get away.
Doc went to the bathroom swiftly after bouncing the mattress a bit roughly, trying to close the door quietly, but being a hotel room, the door was a bit rusty, and it didn't lock the whole way.
Meanwhile, Lacey was slowly starting to wake up now that she had been rustled awake by Doc's quick movements and the door certainly at least broke her sleepy daze. "Richard...?", she tiredly called out.
"In the bathroom!", Doc shouted back. "Sorry, was trying to get up, didn't mean to wake you!", he apologized.
Lacey blinked, giving a hum in response, not much of a talker in the morning before she gets her coffee, and of course, she is still in a daze, not sleepy, but in the middle of waking up, habitually like for the past two weeks, she got up, heading to her luggage to pull out a set of casual clothes, dazedly forgetting that Doc is inside the bathroom, only seeing that the door was partly open, pushing it to reveal the nude body of Doc thrusting into the toilet with his hand on his meat, with one hand-fist in Doc's mouth, muffling everything which explains why Lacey didn't hear it.
Her eyes widened as she clearly could see that he wasn't just simply using the bathroom, but also giving himself some pleasure. She made sure not to make a sound as she knew he had some insanely good hearing at times.
Lacey can see the rest of the exoskeleton on his back and hips like he said last night, all in patches and freckles, with the human skin in between, and somehow, it's not disgusting, but actually pretty like art in a way, and he's keeping in being mostly human with his antennae out behind him in a folded way, his black hair moving with his motions, with a few strands falling into his eyes.
To her surprise, his meat is remarkably shaped like a long snake's tongue, but thick, and the flesh is actually rust-red in tone, with veins of different colors of pink, copper orange, and black. And the veg... his balls are similar, with a bit of a bumpy shape. She heard that Doc said that it was ugly, with disgust in his voice when he talked about his monster form, but it's not ugly to her...It's like stained glass in a way.
She continued to watch for a few more moments, at least certainly long enough that she wouldn't forget what he looked like underneath his clothes before she backed away so he wouldn't be aware she was peeping in on him. Doc was finished a few minutes later before he found her sitting on the bed.
"How are you feeling now?", Doc asked her, obviously knowing that she certainly didn't have any issues the rest of the night, but who knows if maybe she still had the nightmares?
"A bit better... I think I slept well the rest of the night.", Lacey explained. "Any good dreams?", Doc asked as she shook her head.
"Mostly just dreamless, maybe I did dream again but I certainly don't remember.", Lacey responded. Doc nodded, "Okay. That's good to know. I'm done with the bathroom. Do you want me to make some coffee?".
Lacey smiled softly, "Sounds marvelous, Richard. You know my usual.", and Doc chuckled, "Naturally, my dear.". Lacey nodded, and got off the bed, heading to the bathroom, noticing that the toilet was put back in place, all cleaned up, and went to take a quick shower.
After she was done with the shower, and changed into her casual day clothes, she came back into the room, to see Doc airing out the sheets on both beds, with the coffee steaming in its coffeemaker.
Doc told her a few days ago that he's considerate about the cleaning people, and figured that if he aired the sheets out, it would be a less chore on them. Lacey smiled at Doc as he noticed her, and went to grab the coffee pot, pouring the liquid into their cups, and Doc added a bit of sugar to Lacey's coffee while he added a dash of cream to his coffee.
He turned, smiling, bowing to Lacey as he handed hers, "There you go, Lacey, my dear.", and Lacey took it with a smile as she sat down on the edge of her bed, while Doc sat down on the only chair, taking up his cup.
After taking a sip, Lacey spoke softly, "Was it more complicated back in Britain, in the 60s? Relationships?".
"Well, to be honest, I can't be too sure. I was much more focused on my work than really have my mind thinking of anything about relationships; but I would have to say that it was probably more complicated than now. Considering that at least women these days tend to have more freedom in relationships as well as the social norms.", Doc explained.
Lacey nodded, "That's for sure.", with a smile, before sighing, "Of course, the world is not quite the same everywhere. Many religions, many cultures, many social norms...Still, things are improving which I am glad of.".
Doc chuckled, "Indeed. The social norm back then for relationships was courtship or dating, depending on the society classes...Britain was much different and wasn't much improved like from the earlier decades...I was born to a high-born middle class...Of course, I was an adult in the 60s, but earlier back then, I saw more courtships than dating in relationships, when I was old enough to understand, that is.".
"Must have probably been rough, especially perhaps a few decades before and a little more wealth, your family would be trying to arrange you with another... and moving the heavens and earth to try and make it happen.", Lacey said.
Doc sighed, "Not so much, no... well, in that situation...It was a few years before the Cuban Missile crisis... some time before I moved to America...I actually courted a lady...She was in the same social class...Now I was a young adult, barely out of my 22nd birthday...Somewhere in the early '50s... Her name was Catherine, she was different to you...she was conservative, quiet, and quite a sweet soul...She saw that I was trying to fall in love with her, but somehow...she was sad about it for she knew I was more focused on my work...After confessing that she didn't want to be with a man who's essentially married to his work...it hurt, but I wasn't fully in love with her as I let her go...".
"I'm sorry to hear that...", Lacey rubbed her hand on his knee as he nodded.
"Maybe a good and bad thing there... I might not have been as focused with my work... my accident may not have ever happened and I wouldn't be here right now. And of course, there was her own life... I might have greatly damaged it if anything more continued; especially if my accident happened.", Doc admitted.
"Do you think she's still alive?", Lacey asked. "Who's to say? Maybe she went on to live a happy life, maybe she's still married, maybe she died sooner than one would like.", Doc replied.
Lacey nodded, "That's true...It's 2007...almost 2008...", and Doc sighed, "I've done the math...She would have been well in her 80s, and besides, she would have stayed in Britain...She didn't say it, but she knew I wanted to go to America sooner or later, and she was more comfortable in Britain...".
"D-do you think she'd be happy if she knew that you are falling in love with me, Richard?", Lacey asked softly and anxiously, looking at Doc.
"I'd be more surprised if she even remembered me.", Doc admitted before he suddenly realized what she had just said. "Now, wait just a moment...!", he tried to argue as she gave a small grin.
Lacey spoke warmly, "I didn't forget last night...I really want to try this, with you, but I understand if you're scared about hurting me or leaving me in the dust when you're working...It won't happen...I am a modern woman, and well, if giving you a kiss and some coffee in the morning before you go to work, you better make sure that you can make it up for me during the day and more.", with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh...", that was all he said as he just had to lean back a bit to really think about what was going on. She certainly made a good point about being worried about hurting or ignoring her for sure. But deep down, he knew he was probably more worried about what if he made mistakes that made him similar to Derek? He obviously would never go to the lengths that Derek had but he was worried he wasn't going to be too much better. Was a possibly distant and fairly neglectful man any better?
Lacey can see so many emotions conflicting with Doc, and with a very quiet sigh, Lacey put down her cup which is now empty, and took his hands in hers, startling Doc to blink and look at her.
"Richard, this isn't the '50s or '60s, this is the 21st century, and there are very many relationships committed to respect, understanding, and love, and most importantly, compromise. I'm not going to stop you from being a mad scientist, but I want you to be careful...I know your cockroach skin is durable and all, but it doesn't stop me or any of your friends from worrying about you... You have family in them, and I know you don't want to lose any of them either...I want you to enjoy what the day offers you, not tucked away in a lab all day; make a schedule and such...But it's up to you, Richard...Do you want to try this with me?".