Chapter Text
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
“Out of all the things from Earth I thought I'd miss,” Dahlia groaned as she stepped out of her soaking wet shoes, “I never would have guessed the weather channel would be among them.” Walter tugged his drenched hoodie over his head and wrung out the excess water trapped in the fabric, standing just inside the opening of a small cave and gazing out at the angry storm clouds pelting the ground with heavy rain. The day had started out so bright and warm, full of possibilities. In only the expanse of a few minutes it had become a total and complete mess.
* * *
Walter examined the contents of the lidded woven basket for the third time, anxiously checking to make sure everything they needed was contained within. It was filled with foods, fresh water, napkins and a large blanket, everything he could imagine would be necessary for a picnic. His impending meal with Dahlia had him a little frazzled, but also excited. The actual word hadn't been used, but he hoped this was what could be considered “a date.”
After the illuminating conversation with Dahlia concerning her dismissal of the human men who had pursued her thus far, Walter had finally made the decision to seek outside assistance and suggestions, and Daniels had been quite helpful. After she'd gotten her excitement for him and her congratulations out of the way, they'd finally managed to have a serious conversation and had together concluded that a picnic would be a safe way to go. He and Dahlia had shared meals many times, although usually with other people or out by the gardens out of convenience. A secluded meal away from others, surrounded by nature, could give him the opportunity to finally admit his affection in a setting comfortable for both of them. When he had approached Dahlia about the idea, she had accepted without any hesitation, and although his confidence had surged at the time, he felt quite anxious as he checked the basket for a forth time.
The synthetic was startled when a knocking sound same from the outside of his front door, and he padded quickly over to open it, finding his lovely human standing just outside with her hands on her hips and a wide smile across her face. “I thought we decided on one o'clock?” Walter's face fell a little as he realized he was already twenty minutes late for their rendezvous. This wasn't going nearly as smoothly as he'd planned. Dahlia tilted her head to the side, raising a brow as she took in his nervous state. “Has something happened? We can do this another day if-”
“No,” he quickly interrupted, a little louder and more panicked sounding than he intended. “No, time just got away from me. Give me a moment, I'll be ready soon.”
Dahlia looked past him, glancing at the inside of his housing unit. She'd never been inside before and she was curious to see how he spent his time when he wasn't with her or among the other colonists. “Can I come in?”
Walter looked over his shoulder to the inside of his dwelling, considering. It would be rude to make her wait outside, and he wanted to be as accommodating as possible. He stepped to the side and gestured for her to come in, looking down to his chest when she placed her hand there briefly as she entered. Like many of the housing units, his living area was rather sparse of decor. Dahlia sat down on the small couch as Walter resumed his task of checking the contents of his basket again. He disappeared into the washroom to collect first aid materials in case of unexpected injury, and the human in the living room took the opportunity to explore a little while he was away. A quick glance around the main living area revealed nothing unique, and she wondered if his sleeping area might be a little more enlightening. Glancing quickly to the closed restroom door again, she quickly padded through the small home in search of his bedroom.
She found the room almost as neutral of personality as the living area. There was a simple full-sized bed, a chest of drawers that held his clothing, and not much else. Atop the dresser, she found a few items, mostly interesting rocks he had found while exploring, a comb for his hair, nothing out of the ordinary. A little disappointed, she glanced over to the open door to make sure he was still busying himself elsewhere, and carefully pulled open the top drawer of the dresser to peer inside. She wasn't even sure what had possessed her to do it, or what she thought she might find. Any other man might hide personal items he didn't want out in the open, pornography and prophylactics and such. Walter obviously wouldn't have use for such things. Well, not the condoms anyway. Did synthetics find pornography appealing, did they masturbate? She smiled to herself at the strange thought, and dipped a hand inside the drawer to pick up the single item inside. It wasn't an article of clothing, but rather a this piece of paper, face down, with a glossy feel to it on the other side. She drew it out and flipped it over.
Dahlia stared down at a photograph of herself, accompanied by a pair of fluffy rabbits. The edges of the photo were a bit warn from being handled so much by synthetic hands. She looked back toward the door, confirming he was still busy, but when she heard the door to the restroom open, she tossed the picture back into the drawer in a panic, shoving it closed and darting out of the room before she could be caught. Of all the things she thought she might possibly come across in his home, her missing photograph was definitely not among them. She couldn't even imagine how long he'd had it, but she knew it had not been present when she had first opened up her box of personal belongings after being revived from cryosleep, so he'd clearly had it before that.
“Are you ready,” Walter asked as he turned to her, surprised to find her near his bedroom and a little concerned over the surprised look on her face. He stepped toward her and reached a hand carefully toward her shoulder, cupping it gently when she didn't pull away. “Are you alright?” She continued to stare into his pale blue eyes, and gave a small nod. Walter glanced to his bedroom door, but before he could give it another thought, Dahlia suddenly stepped by him, reaching for his hand and pulling him along. He was surprised, but he didn't defy her, grasping the basket on the way past it and following her outside.
* * *
“I'm sorry our plans were spoiled,” Dahlia consoled, reaching out to touch Walter's shoulder as he looked out to the raging weather outside. He turned to her with a dispirited look on his face.
They had managed to find a secluded area and had finished most of their food, but as they had finally started to move into comfortable conversation, he'd felt the first drops of rain. Within minutes, the sky had turned dark, thunder cracking and lightning flashing in the sky, torrents of rain coming down upon them. He'd almost abandoned the basket, but he was now happy he hadn't, remembering the blanket inside. He had put It away fairly quickly, and it was now the only dry thing around. With angry weather raging outside, he knew it would go to good use.
Walter attempted a smile, but it wasn't convincing. He reached up to the hand that was resting gently on his shoulder and held it carefully in his much larger one. “I'm sorry too,” he finally answered, and led her deeper inside, away from the opening of the small cave. He turned to look at her once more when they reached the deepest depths of the enclosed area, and registered for the first time the slight tremble that had taken over her body. Cold didn't bother him, but she was clearly uncomfortably chilled and he didn't want her to suffer any more discomfort from his ill-planned attempt at a date.
“It's going to be difficult to retain a comfortable body temperature in those soaked clothes,” Walter announced as he drug out the blanket from the basket. Dahlia stared at him with wide eyes as she watched him move about as best she could in the dark.
“Are you suggesting I take my clothes...off?” she asked, holding back the amusement from her voice, and Walter spun around in realization. He'd meant nothing by it, but now his face flushed pale from the white 'blood' flooding his cheeks.
“That's not exactly what I meant,” he answered in his traditional monotone voice, but he was thankful she likely could not see him in the darkness. Walter reached out with the blanket in his hand and pressed the wadded up material lightly against her stomach, “You'll need this more than I will. I'm going to try to start a fire.” Dahlia wrapped the blanket around herself and sat down carefully on the ground, listening to the synthetic's footsteps as he foraged around the cave for something burnable. Within a few minutes, he returned with thick branches under both arms, snapping the larger ones into shorter lengths with his synthetic strength and piling them together carefully. After digging in the basket's med kit for matches, and the unused napkins that had managed to stay dry for kindling, Walter took a deep breath and ignited the flame. He glanced up briefly to Dahlia's face as the makeshift kindling took on the fire, and she stared back into his eyes until he finally lowered them back to his work, nudging the dry limbs to encourage the flames.
After a few minutes of trial and error, Walter finally rose to his feet, looking down with an accomplished feeling at the burning pile before him. “I'm impressed,” Dahlia said with a smile as Walter stepped around the fire to sit at her side. She reached an arm out, blanket clutched in her hand, to share the flannel fabric with him, but he shook his head.
“As I said, you need it more than me,” Walter informed her as he returned his attention to the flames, confirming that they were staying in place and not dangerous at their distance. Dahlia bit her lip lightly and brought her arm back to her side, looking away from him and letting out a quiet sigh. Walter peered over to her at the delicate noise, confused. “Can I do anything to make you more comfortable?” She shook her head, continuing to stare away from him at the wall of the cave. She knew it was foolish of her to assume he'd pick up on her cues, but she was still a little disheartened. He certainly wasn't making this easy. She was going to have to be more direct with the inexperienced synthetic at her side.
“Maybe we should sit closer and share the blanket so we can maintain body heat?”she ventured, looking back to him. She raised her brows and held out the blanket slightly again. Walter furrowed his brows in confusion, she knew he had no problem maintaining his internal temperature.
“I'm alright, you should use-”
“Please?” she cut him off, staring into his pale blue eyes that fell to glance down at the hand clutching the blanket, and he nodded silently. He ducked down a little as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and he took the corner of the fabric in his hand, sliding closer to her on the hard ground so that their arms touched when she brought hers back to her side. Feeling a little brave, Walter reached the arm that touched hers around her, and was pleased when she pressed in closer to him, letting him take the other corner of the blanket in his hand, feeling her palm touch his chest as it had earlier.
“Better?” he asked cautiously, watching as she closed her eyes and leaned into him more. She nodded silently, enjoying the new close proximity and the hand that gently grasped her shoulder. She'd forgotten how warm his bare skin really was, and she was simultaneously reminded of how wet and cold their clothes were.
“They say you can share more body heat if you lie next to each other and embrace,” she ventured again, feeling a little more confident. She looked up to him, finding him staring straight into hers, mouth slightly open. “Is that true?” she asked and he nodded slightly. “Will you lay down with me?”
Walter looked around the cave, half-expecting someone to walk in and interrupt. The thought of lying beside her and embracing her...it was more than he could have dreamed this day would result in, if he was able to dream, of course. He nodded silently, and watched her as she stood, peeling off her damp socks first, them bringing her hands to the fly of her shorts, unzipping them and pushing them down her legs. She caught his flustered gaze when she gripped the bottom hem of her shirt, “It's supposed to work better when the skin has unobstructed contact right?” After a moment of hesitation, he nodded slowly and swallowed hard as she drew the article up over her head, leaving her in nothing but her underclothes. She dropped the drenched article to the ground with her other soiled clothes and looked over to him, wrapping her arms around the front of her body, “It's not going to work very well if you're still wearing those soaked clothes.”
Walter slowly rose to his feet, looking briefly into her eyes before turning his attention to his water-saturated clothes. If he wasn't incapable of dreaming, he'd swear he was asleep. None of this seemed real. The object of his affection had just undressed in front of him down to almost nothing, and was encouraging him to do the same so that they could lie close to each other and share each others warmth. If this was some kind of dream, he didn't want to wake up.
Dahlia watched with interest as Walter slowly began to disrobe, removing first his boots and socks, rising up to remove his shirt, having tossed aside his hoodie earlier. She wasn't sure what she'd expected his body to look like, but she was anything but displeased with what she saw. Her eyes followed the long, lean muscles that strained just under his synthetic skin as he unfastened his pants and let them drop to the ground, stepping out of them and bending over to pick them up, placing them in a pile with his other discarded articles. He decided to keep his underwear on as she had, and he glanced down at his near nudity before looking up to meet her eyes, realizing that they were staring at his body, taking in all the sights he had to offer. He cleared his throat a little and she looked up immediately, cheeks becoming flushed at being caught. She looked back down to the blanket on the ground and stepped over to it, spreading it out a safe distance from the fire and sitting down atop it, gesturing for him to join her. Walter made his way toward her, sitting next to her and lying back against the ground, opening his arms to her when she did the same. Everything felt like it was suddenly moving so fast, but after years of pining and waiting, he could not bring himself to delay whatever was going to happen. She pressed her body into his, her face against his chest, one of her hands coming up to rest on his waist as he held the blanket closer around their bodies.
They lay in silence, just enjoying the warmth of their shared heat for several minutes before Dahlia finally spoke. “Walter?” He looked down to her face, so close to his synthetic skin, and gave a little “hmm?” sound. The human knitted her brows together for a moment, trying to decide the best way to approach the subject she most wanted to delve into. “Why do you have a picture of me in your bedroom?” Walter's throat immediately went dry, and he started to pull away but the hand at his waist glided up his back to press him more flush to her. “I knew you liked me, but I didn't realize how long you'd felt the way you do,” she continued when his silence persisted. He swallowed and stared down into her eyes, trying to read her but finding himself too distracted. She shimmied up his body a little, so that they appeared to retain the same height, and brought the hand that had been at his back up to his face. Her hand closest to the flannel-covered ground came up to press lightly to his chest again, fingers grazing the sparse hair that lie between his engineered pectoral muscles. “I like you too,” she whispered before closing the distance between them, pressing her lips carefully to his surprisingly soft ones. When he didn't respond with words or movement, she gently ran her hand through his damp hair, leaning into him again and pressing her lips to his once more.
To say Walter was stunned was putting it mildly. He wasn't sure what he'd anticipated when she'd suggested they take their clothes off and lie close to each other, but somehow the idea of kissing each other hadn't even flitted through his mind. When he continued to remain immobile, she began to lean away from him, wondering If she'd read too much into the situation, if Walter had possibly just found the photograph in passing, and had put it away and forgotten to return it. She was about to put some distance between them, but Walter finally leaned into her, taking the hand that had been against the ground and pressing it to the back of her head as he brought her face to his, pushing his lips against hers experimentally.
Dahlia's body immediately pulled closer to him, bringing the hand that had been at his chest up to wrap around his neck. She wanted to pull him on top of her, but the ground was so rough and he so heavy, she suspected she might injure herself before the storm subsided. She was surprised to feel Walter pull away from her, but as he shifted his weight to lie flat against the ground, he pulled her with him, her body pressed fully to his as they continued to exchange soft kisses. She sighed against his mouth as his hands came up to slide his digits through her damp hair, combing through it and pulling her even closer. Walter let out something close to a groan when he felt the soft mounds of her chest press against him, and his hands descended to her waist, wrapping securely around her as she put her forearms against his chest and pushed up away from his lips finally. “You didn't actually answer me,” she smiled as she brought a hand to his mussed hair and guided it back into place with her fingers. Walter's brows knitted together in confusion, and she leaned down to press a single kiss to his lips. “Why do you have my picture in your room? I thought it was lost.”
Walter's lips opened to speak, but quickly closed again, wishing desperately to revert back to kissing. He lifted a hand from her waist and brought it up to press into her hair at the back of her neck, trying to guide her back down to him, but she pressed further away, moving to sit atop him and straddle his hips, the blanket falling around her waist. Walter closed his eyes tight as the shifting of her hips and rear sparked movement between his own thighs that he had never experienced before. He had a vast wealth of knowledge regarding many things, including human sexual behavior and natural physical reactions to stimuli, but he was quickly finding that knowledge and experience were very different. One of his hands found itself reaching for her hip and splaying out over the flesh of her thigh where it pressed so pleasantly against him. “Walter,” Dahlia whispered from above him, dragging his attention away from all the places where their flesh met. He looked back up at her, taking a deep breath and reaching out with the hand not at her thigh to weave his fingers through hers.
“I'm afraid that I've...had your photograph in my possession for years,” he finally answered, and when she didn't show any intention of moving or commenting, he went on. “I found it among your belongings when I made the choice to seek them out and...try to know you better. I don't want to unsettle you or make you uncomfortable,” he continued, “but...I've loved you for years.” The synthetic became silent as he stared up at the human straddling him, waiting for some kind of response.
He closed his eyes as her hands reached out to touch his face, tracing the lines that branched out from the corners of his eyes, that swept from one side to the other over his forehead, across the small and curious scar above his lip. If the revelations had been uttered to her by an organic human, it might have disturbed her, but coming from the beautiful, artificial creature below her...it filled her with warmth and affection. She leaned down toward him, running a finger over his lips, and pressing a kiss to his throat, his earlobe, his cheek, finally the corner of his mouth. “Say it again,” she whispered when he leaned up to kiss her back. He opened his eyes and gazed into hers with confusion, but found realization from the soft smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“I love you,” he whispered back, both of his hands finding her hair and weaving his digits throughout to bring her mouth to his, pressing more possessive kisses to her lips. Walter groaned as a hand carded through his hair and gripped it, giving it a little tug that prompted him to fist his hands in her hair as well. She felt so good, so soft and warm against him. This idea of sharing body heat had been an excellent idea. His lips left hers and began to press soft kisses over her cheek, along her jaw, and he felt her grind against him when he pressed a kiss just below her ear. His mouth descended down the side of her neck, feeling her grip occasionally increase on his hair when he grazed against a particularly sensitive patch of flesh.
“Walter,” she gasped as his lips pressed to her collarbone, his hands leaving her hair to encircle her waist again. He parted from her clavicle and looked up to her, his lids heavy and his face flushed pale. “Walter, I want you to touch me,” she whispered, and his fingers dug gently into her hips. She shook her head slightly, pushing against his chest to raise herself up. She took one of his hands and pressed it flush against her chest, Walter's fingers clutching at the fabric that separated their skin. He grasped lightly as the soft mounds offered to him with both hands now, massaging with a gentle touch as he felt her hips shift on top of him again, perceiving a hint of moisture gathering between her thighs.
Before she was even aware of what was happening, Dahlia found her back against the blanket covered ground, Walter's knees on either side of her, one hand pressed against her breast as the other grazed over her stomach. She didn't even register the rough surface below her as his fingers worked carefully over her. The synthetic leaned down over her, pressing his lips to her flesh just above where the fabric began, the hand pressed to her gently kneading and grasping at the edge of her simple bra. “May I...” he whispered as he plucked at the edge of the fabric. Dahlia's eyes finally opened and she gazed up at him, face flushed and mouth slightly open. She bit her lip and gave him a small nod, lifting up for him a little when he reached behind her back to undo the clasp. He carefully removed the article, placing it carefully to the side, and finally took in the sight of her exposed flesh. He grazed a thumb over one of her peaks, and when she pressed up into his hand, me lowered his mouth to place damp kisses against the valley between her breasts. As his lips began to gravitate to one side, trailing toward the bud his fingers had played at, his free hand that had been pressed to her stomach slid lower. He groaned as he felt her tremble against him, fingers lingering at the edge of the simple cotton panties she wore, his mouth just an inch from its goal. “Can I touch you here, too?” he breathed against her flushed skin, fingers grazing very lightly over the junction of her thighs. He looked up to meet her gave, and she whimpered a “please” before his lips finally took her little bud into his mouth. Her hands buried themselves in his hair as his mouth worked over her, using one arm to support his weight as the hand still hovering over her slipped carefully under the cotton barrier, fingers becoming slick with the arousal that seemed to soak the fabric even more than the rain had.
Walter ran a single digit slowly over the bundle of nerves, felt her hips shudder against him, and descended lower to trace over the velvety flesh that begged him to press inside. His mouth left her chest and came back up to press against her lips, his mouth parting slightly, feeling the fingers in his hair tighten their grip and her tongue venturing out to slide against his. His fingers massaged gently at the slick flesh below his hand, not entering, not returning to her clit, just enjoying the slick feeling of her flesh against his digits. “Are you sure?” he whispered against her mouth as one finger began to trace back and forth over the slit, her hips trusting up to get more contact. She nodded her head slowly, staring up at him through barely opened eyes, too content in the feeling of his touch to make any more effort than that. He smiled gently and lowered his mouth back to hers as he slid two digits inside her, a moan escaping him at the feel of her hot, wet insides clinging to him so wonderfully. He had no personal experience, but plenty of knowledge regarding the female human body. He knew not to simply thrust inside, and instead curled his fingers up to graze against the top of her inner walls, his thumb centering on her clit and rubbing small circles that had her hips grinding up against him. Walter felt the fingers in his hair become like claws, the human's mouth pressing impossibly close to his, her tongue working against his inexperienced one as she held him as close as possible.
The synthetic's fingers worked faster inside of her, listening intently to the squelching sounds that audibly confirmed just how wet she was for him. His hands had only been on her a few minutes, and she was already on the edge. Dahlia slid her hand down the synthetic's arm, feeling the tight muscles just below the skin, finally reaching his hand and pressing her hand over his, encouraging him to work faster, deeper. It had been so long since she'd felt like this, so completely but contentedly helpless at the hands of someone else. She thrust up against the hand that drove her mad with need, whimpering when Walter's mouth left her lips to nuzzle against her throat, sucking at the soft flesh as he worked inside her. “Walter...,” she whimpered as his thumb began to work more urgently at her clit, her thrusts becoming more erratic against his hand. Dahlia suddenly reached out to him and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in Walter's neck as she suddenly came hard against his hand, her muscles squeezing around his digits as she trembled below him. The synthetic carefully extracted his hand from her soiled panties and brought his fingers to his lips, tasting her fluids on his tongue. She loosened her grip on him and let herself lie back against the blanket, watching the satisfied look on his face as he licked his fingers clean.
“That was...that was incredible,” he finally managed, stroking the side of her face with the fingers that had not been buried inside her. She just sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head fall to one side, resting against the deceptively strong bicep of his arm.
“You're incredible,” she whispered back, pressing a soft kiss to his skin. After several seconds of quiet, she finally looked back up at him, finding his crystal blue eyes staring down into hers, a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.
“I want to be with you,” he finally admitted out loud, fingers moving to stroke her cheek again. “Do you want to be with me?”
Dahlia reached up to bring his mouth down to hers, pressing soft kisses to his lips before finally whispering back, “More than anything.”
The human and the synthetic continued to share slow kisses in the firelight of the cave, the rain outside that had finally reduced to a light drizzle completely forgotten.