Sibling Psychic Detectives

Faith struck a few poses, attempting to look sexy. She almost succeeded, in her own biased opinion. Still, she had a ways to go before her self-esteem reached 'normal' levels. Progress had been made, but not enough.

After preening for a few minutes, Faith gave up and flicked the lights before rolled into bed. It had been something of an interesting day, aside from all the boring, tedious bits. Now it was time for sleep.

Or it almost was, anyway.

A faint smile danced on Faith's lips. It had been a few days, after all. She had needs to look after.

Alone in her darkened room, Faith reached down past her tits and tummy. She used her mechanical hand, which normally wasn't really that great for delicate work. However, she'd learned quite a neat trick. If she concentrated, and flexed her 'muscles' and shit just right...

Faith gasped aloud as she found the right combination of signals to send to her hand. Her middle finger began to vibrate, faster and faster until it was a steady blur that emitted the same promising whine that a vibrator might.

Faith's toes curled as she pressed her finger-turned-sex-toy against her clit. Damn that felt good. The pseudo-skin of her finger was lovely and soft, and the vibrations emitted by it... well, vibrations were nice. Goddamn they were nice.

The room filled with the hum of improperly repurposed mechanics, as well as the quiet whimpers of a girl experiencing an excess of pleasure. The whimpers grew louder and more frequent as Faith got herself more and more worked up.

Faith clutched one of her breasts. She squirmed under her own constant assault of her pussy. Her breathing grew ragged, then finally erupted in a loud gasp.

The hum of her makeshift vibrator died away. She lay naked and panting in a tangle of sheets.

Now Faith was ready for sleep. This time for real.

****

Silas was kind of worried when he arrived at work the next day and there was still no sign of his invisible companion. Aggie was persistent if nothing else, and her absence was beginning to really worry him.

He wasn't quite sure why he was worried. Sure she was off sulking, and it was mostly his fault, and perhaps he could have been more delicate. She'd come back, though, and they'd go right back to irritating the fuck out of each other. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. And there was no danger of her being in actual trouble since she was already dead.

Faith was already leaning against the doorway to the building when Silas arrived. He reminded himself to get his sister her own key.

"Early, I see," Silas said with false cheer. "I like that in a new hire. You'll be promoted in no time."

"If you keep acting like I'm just some employee, I'm probably gonna have to bop you in the nose," Faith said. "With my metal hand."

Silas frowned severely. "Consider your promotion revoked. I'm the boss, you know. You can't just go around threatening-" He ducked as Faith took a slow swing at him.

"That was your only warning shot. The next one's gonna be for real."

"Ha, you just try it." Silas pushed the front door open. "I could take you."

Faith put a hand on her hip. "Really? First off, bragging about being able to beat up a girl is beneath you. Or I'd like to think it is, anyway. Second, I don't even think you could take me."

"What, just 'cause you could club me over the head with your arm until I submit?"

"That is one option alright."

The siblings entered the office. They both stopped halfway into the common waiting room between their two slightly more private sub-offices.

"For your information, I've been taking some classes," Silas said. "Learning how to disarm attackers, for instance."

"Oh ha ha. Because my weapon is a literal arm. Very funny."

Silas grinned. "I truly didn't mean it that way, but I'll take it."

"I'm sure you will."

Silas jabbed a finger at his sister. "I could have you up against the wall begging for mercy before you knew what hit you."

"Promises, promises."

Silas faltered. "What?"

"You know, because your threat could be construed as a dirty innuendo."

"I didn't..." Silas sighed. "Forget it. Don't know why I bother sometimes."

Faith smiled and kept going. "Like, in the sense that you'd have me pinned and then-"

"Yep, got it."

"-I'd be begging for-"

"Got it, thanks. Thank you. Stop now."

Faith's smile was insufferably smug. She skipped along behind Silas to his desk. She once again took up station on his couch. She was beginning to think of it as hers.

"So. Do you take those classes to beat up chicks? Or just me?"

Silas rolled his eyes. "More like guys. I mean, sometimes girls. Mostly guys, though. You know, when they find out I've been spying on them or whatever. Some of them aren't very friendly people."

"Oh sure. And you thought it'd be ok to drag your poor, innocent, delicate sister into that kind of life, huh?"

"Didn't exactly have to do much dragging."

"Maybe not. But you should be thinking more of my safety."

"Should I?" Silas shrugged. "You've always taken pretty good care of yourself. I don't think I've ever had to rescue you or anything."

"Maybe that's because I've been smart enough not to spy on angry dudes who would punch my face in."

"Yeah, that's a good point."

****

Faith had a pretty boring morning. She was left in charge while Silas was off doing... whatever it was he did. Sure there was a couple calls to field, and one prospective client who showed up in person, but those did little enough to break the monotony.

At first Faith mainly just browsed the internet on her 'new' computer to keep entertained. She kept an ear out for the phone or door, but mostly she was just killing time.

The minutes crept by slowly enough to cause serious complacency. Eventually Faith lost any pretense of actually working. She puttered around the office for a while, then stepped out for a snack run. Silas had been foolish to forget that she had the company card.

She gravitated back to her laptop after a while. She'd had a thought that had been festering until she couldn't resist it any longer. What oh what might her dear brother have left on his old machine?

There were some games loaded on the computer, and Faith located a few folders of downloaded movies and shows. No porn, though. At least not where she could easily find it.

The web browser was a different story. There was plenty of totally innocent visits in the history, some of it even work related. There were also a non-negligible number of porn sites that showed up. Faith giggled to herself as she scrolled through a list of her brother's pervy habits.

Somehow, she restrained herself from digging any deeper and finding out exactly what Silas liked to watch. That was a little too weird and personal. At least for now. Maybe if she got reeeaaallly bored...

****

Silas returned to find Faith lounging in the reception area with her laptop across her lap, fully engrossed in a movie. Junk food packaging in the vicinity betrayed yet further sloth.

"Productive morning, I see," Silas said.

Faith shrugged and didn't look up from her screen. "Took a couple messages for you. Some weird old guy came in, said someone's sabotaging his garden."

"Sabotaging his garden? How does that even work?"

"I'unno. Figured you'd find that out if you wanted to."

Silas grinned wickedly. "Wrong, dear sister. I officially declare the sabotaged garden as your first case. Congrats."

"Oh what the hell, Sil. I don't want it. It's not even anything. He probably just doesn't know how plants work. Or something."

"So investigate, determine if it's his incompetence or outside interference, bill your time." Silas waved his arms as though showing her the office for the first time. "Welcome to your glamorous new career."

"Ugh. Lame."

"Yep. You got it."

Silas made for his desk. Faith closed her laptop and followed.

"Tell me it gets better," Faith said.

"The job? Like, more exciting?"

"Yeah. Exciting. Interesting. Anything."

Silas nodded easily. "Sure it does. On occasion. Between all the boring and inane shit."

"Well how the hell do you keep from going crazy then?"

"Who says I'm not?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though."

A small, secretive grin spread wider across Silas's lips. "Ok, since you're my favourite sister and all..."

"Your only sister."

Silas ignored Faith's correction. He was actually kind of proud of something he'd installed himself, after many hours of painstaking work when he really didn't have anything better to do. He walked to the side of the room and pulled a cunningly disguised sliding panel.

Faith cocked her head. "What the hell? Is that... is that like an actual fake wall?"

"I mean, kinda. Partly."

Behind the false section of wall-useful for maintaining a professional appearance in the workplace-was a big old flatscreen television, as well as some connected accessories.

"Holy shit," Faith said, sounding suitably impressed. "Were you channeling your kid-self here or what?"

"You mean what with the hidden compartment?"

"Yeah. With, like, tv and video games hidden inside. Probably porn and snacks too."

Silas shook his head wryly. "No porn, no snacks. I like you're thinking, though. You'll fit right in here."

"Uh huh," said Faith, who wasn't really paying attention by that point. She was already browsing through dvd and game cases. "You know I'm not gonna be happy with my office, like, ever again, basically."

"Yeah, I know. But you woulda been over here bugging me most of the time anyway. I know you."

Faith looked over her shoulder long enough to stick her tongue out. "So which of these games would I like? I don't recognize hardly any of them."

"I guess there's really only one way to find out."

****

Faith woke to her shoulder being gently shaken. She blinked and took a few seconds to reorient herself.

"What the hell?" she mumbled.

"You fell asleep watching a movie," Silas said.

Faith sat up on the couch she'd been using as a bed. "Oh yeah. I remember just closing my eyes..."

"And then you were snoring like a banshee," Silas finished for her.

"Oh fuck off." Faith swatted her brother, fortunately only with her human hand. She instinctively favoured it, which was just as well because it had far less power and was unlikely to bruise or break any bones. Threatening robotic justice was reserved for when Silas was being a much bigger ass. "I don't even snore."

"Wanna bet?"

Faith narrowed her eyes at the shit eating grin on her brother's face. "No. And if you recorded me, you better make damn sure it gets erased."

"How little you trust me." Silas extended a hand and helped Faith to her feet. "Anyway, it's getting late. We should call it a day."

"Yeah, sure. I mean, I've done a grand total of fuck all today. Something to be proud of."

"I wouldn't say 'fuck all,' exactly. I mean, you did craft the perfect character in Fallout. You know, after only two or three hours of work."

"Twenty minutes tops, you ass. And what's the point of playing a game with customizable characters if I don't customize them?"

"You're right. How silly of me." Silas guided his sister toward the front door. "There we go. Outside."

Faith shivered slightly in the early evening chill. She looked toward her car, then sagged at the thought of returning to their parents' house. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted out of the day, but she was certain she hadn't attained it.

"I don't wanna go home yet," she said.

"Um... ok?"

"I know, that sounds dumb."

Silas scratched his head. "I mean, not dumb exactly. Just... I don't know what you mean."

Faith sighed in exasperation. "Me either. I just feel like I need to accomplish something today. I don't know what, though."

"You discovered that your new hand can handle a game controller pretty well. That's something."

"Yes, it is something. Not really what I'm going for though."

"Ok."

Faith knew she wasn't making much sense. But then, it didn't make much sense in her head either. All she knew was she'd spent most of the day dicking around, and she felt like she had to make up for that.

"We should talk about you," Faith declared with a sudden burst of inspiration.

"Me? Why?"

"You know why. There's some dark secret you're hiding, the reason why you set yourself up as a loner detective-"

"Investigator."

"Sil, I will punch you into next week if you correct me again." Faith looped her arm through her brother's. "Now let's go get dinner and discuss what's going on with you."

Faith started marching down the street looking for a promising restaurant. Silas was dragged along with her whether he wanted to be or not. Robot arms had their advantages.

"Does that mean we also get to discuss where you've been the past year or two?" Silas asked.

Faith's purposeful stride faltered. "That's not fair."

"It's totally fair. You want to pry, then I get to pry too."

"But... I can't talk about that. Not yet."

"And why not exactly?"

"Sil, just please trust me for now."

Faith disengaged her arm from Silas's. The stood on the sidewalk, eyeing each other with both concern and confusion.

"I do trust you, Fai," Silas said. "But my thing's not easy to talk about either."

Faith nodded. "Fine. Then we won't talk about it."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

****

Silas wasn't entirely certain how he'd ended up driving Faith back to his apartment with him. She'd had a couple of drinks, which was certainly her prerogative, but also meant he couldn't really let her drive herself.

Their parents house was just such a hassle of a detour, was all. And Faith didn't seem particularly interested in leaving him. Silas wanted to blame that on the alcohol in her system, but it had started well before she drank anything. It must have just been a weird mood she was in.

"Well, this is it," Silas said as he opened the front door.

Faith stepped inside with a little more care than her totally sober self would have. She peered around intently.

"It's quite small," she observed.

"Yes. I know. I live here."

"But, like, it's smaller than your office."

"Lots of people's offices are bigger than their apartments."

"Yeah, but..."

Silas wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed at his sister's reaction. She was just tipsy enough to have difficulty putting complex ideas into coherent sentences, which was kind of funny. She was also fixated on the size of his living space, which was annoying.

"I don't need a lot of space," Silas said. "It's just me here. Mostly. And I spend most of my time at work. This is just somewhere to sleep."

"Well... ok. Sure. I guess that makes sense." Faith stepped over to the bed in the corner of the single room apartment and sat down on it. "So what the hell are we doing for bedding?"

"Bedding?"

"Like, where am I going to sleep?"

Silas shrugged. "Yeah, I dunno, really. You just kept bugging me to bring you home with me." He sighed. "I can still take you back to out parents. You have a bed there, at least."

Faith shook her head petulantly. "No. Don't wanna."

"Ok, but-"

"I'll just sleep with you."

"I... what?"

"Yeah. We'll share."

"We will?"

"Why not? It's just for one night."

Silas rubbed his forehead. "Remind me how much you had to drink."

"Pff, whatever. Just let me borrow a shirt or something, we'll get changed, and we'll have a little sleepover."

"You know what, I'll take the floor. You have the bed."

Faith put her hands on her hips. "Sil, why you gotta be that way?"

"What way?"

"Like sleeping with me would be such a terrible thing."

"It wouldn't be terrible. Just weird. Especially when you're a little out of it, and I don't really know what's going on in your head."

"Nothing's going on in my head." Faith paused. "Wait, that didn't come out right."

"Too late, you already said it."

"Shut up. I just mean it'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried."

"Then what's the problem?"

Silas wasn't in fact sure what the problem was. Possibly he'd just become too used to sleeping alone, or possibly despite his lonely nights he still associated a girl in his bed with far less platonic things than his sister intended.

"You'll stay on your side?" he finally asked.

"Sure."

"And you won't hog the covers?"

"Promise."

"And no snoring?"

Faith glared. "Alright, changed my mind. You get the floor after all."

Silas smirked. "Too late, Fai. You're gonna have to share."

Faith rolled her eyes, but accepted her self-inflicted fate.

Silas picked out an old t-shirt for Faith to sleep in, and they took turns in his bathroom getting ready. Afterward, they climbed into bed, each carefully lying on their own half.

"Lucky your bed's not proportional to the rest of this place," Faith muttered. "Or we'd be all squished up together."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep complaining. See how long before I kick you out to fend for yourself."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I wouldn't?"

"You wouldn't."

"Ah. Ok then." Silas lay on his back and tucked an arm behind his head. He wasn't used to anyone corporeal bugging him while trying to go to sleep. It was subtly different than with Aggie. "Fai?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you need to take your arm off? You know, to charge overnight or something?"

"Nah, dude. That was the old one."

"So this one stays on all the time."

"Not always, exactly, but much less down time." Faith lifted her arm in the darkness. "I almost forget I'm a freak sometimes. Makes me feel almost normal."

"You've never been a freak."

"Says you. You weren't the one who got picked on for being a robot girl."

"I mean, you're right. You were the one who had to live with it. But isn't it, like, a little bit cool being a cyborg?"

"Maybe a little."

"You used to get such a kick out of smashing shit. I remember that."

Faith uttered a small chuckle. "Yeah, I did used to enjoy that. Breaking glass jars with my bare hand. Punching walls. It was usually more to relieve frustration than because I 'got a kick out of it,' though."

"Sure." Silas rolled over to face Faith. He propped his head up on one hand. "Can you still do that stuff with your new arm?"

"Kinda. I have to be more careful though because the skin-coating can get damaged more easily than ugly-ass metal."

"Makes sense." Silas reached out hesitantly and brushed his fingers along Faith's arm. "It almost feels real," he said softly.

"It almost does. Too cold, though. And... I don't know, rubbery almost?"

"Yeah. Something like that." Silas rolled back onto his back.

Faith, in turn, rolled toward her brother. "You should have been the one to get a robot arm. You would have loved it."

Silas smiled. "I would, too. I know you don't believe me, but I just think yours is super fucking cool. Always have."

"No, I know. You think that way. The occasional other nerd thinks that way. But mostly... well, I don't want to say people are mean about it. Some are. Mostly people just don't know what to do with me. They don't know whether they should look or not. Don't know how to treat me. It's never been easy."

"Little did they know you were the same brat of a sister you would have been regardless of your arm."

Faith punched Silas on the shoulder, but it was barely more than a tap. "Jerk."

"Well you were."

Silas was sure he was going to get hit again. Instead, bizarrely, Faith scooted closer still. She lay her head on his shoulder and her metal hand on his chest. It was a bit cooler and heavier than a normal hand, but the difference was minimal.

"You always treated me normal," Faith said. "I didn't appreciate it when we were younger. You were being, you know, a pest of a brother. But looking back, I don't know how I ever would have made it without you."

"Uh... you're welcome? I guess?"