Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Twenty-Four

 The walk to the stable was uneventful.

The ride through the Nether was uneventful.

The walk through Guardian Beach to Vaq's lab was uneventful.

And I was happy with this.

I'm not sure you're aware, but humans need sleep, regularly. I hadn't slept in god knows how long, I was losing track of time. And with all the events that continuously interrupted my days, I felt like doing nothing but sleeping.

I wondered briefly if Vaq had a guest room.

When I got to the lab, I looked up at a security camera to notify Vaq of my presence. After a few moments, the gate opened and I strolled into the lab without even knocking.

"VAQ," I yelled through the halls, "I HAVE HIS HEAD."

"End of the hallway, door on your left," Vaq said over an intercom. I walked slowly, looking at the ground and struggling to keep my eyes open.

The room he'd directed to me to was the one where Mat was comatose. I set the head down on a table and leaned against the wall.

"Hey," Vaq said. "You look tired."

"I am," I said breathily. "Got any place I can sleep?"

"Yeah, actually I do," Vaq stepped forward and picked up Nooch's head, beginning to examine it. "Right across from this room there's a lounge with a couch you can nap on."

"Okay, sweet," I said. My voice was clearly slurring.

"A couple things before you leave," Vaq held up a finger, "first of all, I can't guarantee anything. His body might not accept his soul, yadda yadda, you get it. But second of all, if it does work, his perception of you might change."

"Hm?"

"It's not very easy to program emotions into robots. A soul can't feel emotion on its own - it needs hormones from the brain, or, in Noochbot's case, programming, in order to actually feel things. So, to save me effort, I gave him two settings: love and hate. The 'love' setting ranges from platonic to romantic and the hate setting is just that. So, once his soul is back in his body, he'll be able to feel the full range of emotions allowed by the human brain. He might think differently about you. Just letting you know."

"Oh...okay," I said. I left the room without a word and went to the lounge. I gave no consideration to my surroundings as I flopped down on the couch and instantly fell asleep.

~~~

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulders. Something about their hands was weird, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Peeeteyy," they said. The voice was familiar, but I was used to hearing it...differently. More robotic. "Wake the fuck up you asshole."

Well. I hadn't expected that.

I groaned. "Five more minutes."

"No." I felt a weight on my back.

"Are you sitting on me?" I asked, attempting to turn my head around and see the perpetrator of this crime.

"Yes," he said sharply.

"Could you get off so I can see your stupid fucking face, finally?"

"No," he said, even sharper.

I gave up, falling limply back to the couch. I pressed my face into the cushions. He adjusted his position.

"...Are you mad at me?" I asked quietly, my voice muffled by the couch. He seemed to understand, because he replied.

"Well, duh," he said. I felt him shift against me, and I assumed he was moving his arms as he spoke. "You decided to fall asleep instead of staying around so your face could be the first thing I saw when I woke up..."

"You're so dramatic," I laughed. Finally fed up with his shenanigans and fully awake, I jerked up quickly and threw him off my back. He made a noise that I can't describe, but it was oddly attractive. I sat up, and was finally able to get a good look at him.

He was sitting on the ground, leaning back on his hands, with a stupidly adorable lopsided smirk. His hair was messy and no longer in a ponytail like it had been before. His eyes squinted with his smile.

I couldn't help but smile with him. He laughed.

"How much has Vaq told you?" I asked.

"My name's Mat and I'm half metal now apparently," he said casually. "By the way, I want to try something."

He held out his metal hand towards me. "Gimmie a redstone shock. I wanna see what happens."

I leaned forward and stretched out my arm towards him, touching his metallic fingers gently with my own. Then I sent a small shock through my arm and his fingers. He shivered visibly, and his eyes widened.

"Whoa," he said, "nice."

"Feel good?" I said. Suddenly, I gripped his hand tightly and sent a much larger shock through.

"AH! HEY!" He yelled, yanking his hand back and pouting like a three-year-old. I laughed, and slid off the couch, sitting cross-legged in front of him.

"Want me to kiss it better?" I batted my eyelashes.

"No, you asshole," Mat leaned away from me. "Oh, speaking of kissing, remember when I said I'd totally kiss you if I had lips?"

"Nice segway," I commented. "I remember that, yeah."

He replied by leaning forward and pressing a quick, hard kiss to my lips. When he pulled away I tried to follow his lips, but he was too quick.

"Not fair," I groaned.

"No way, you actually liked that?" Mat seemed surprised.

"What, you thought I'd reject it?" I asked. "C'mere."

I grabbed his face and pulled him in for another kiss, this time longer, softer, and sweeter. I can't remember the exact feelings I felt but I know it felt like a bunch of butterflies were having a riot in my stomach.

"You taste oddly good for someone who hasn't showered in like a month," Mat mumbled against my lips.

"Shaddup," I said in a silly voice.

"Seriously. You need a shower. You smell like a zoo," Mat laughed.

"At least you can smell things now."

"True."

"What's actually, like, changed for you, now that you're human?" I switched the subject to something slightly more serious.

"Well, I can smell now, that's nice," Mat began, "and I can feel things. I can feel your lips, your hand..."

He grabbed my hand and caressed it with his thumb.

"...and I can feel a whole new range of emotions. It's kind of amazing."

"Sweet," I nodded. But I couldn't help wonder what in his perception had changed about me, and weather it was for better or for worse.

I didn't press the matter. Instead, we conversed, about recent events, about what it's like to be human, about each other. It was nice. It felt like the first real conversation I'd ever had with him.

And I never wanted it to end.

~~~

*prepares for screaming*

( ˘ ³˘)♥

Ciao!