Yuba's Touch

...Although he didn't intend to, Yuba's hand brushed across her keyhole. As soon as his fingers touched the bare metal, she flinched. He let his thumb slip inside, then replaced it with his index finger, stroking against the smooth metal of the interior sides. No longer watching the sky, her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. She slouched over, he weight pressing on his shoulder...

"I... I still feel this is something I should apologize for; but, at the same time, I think that this evening may have affected you very profoundly. I know it had for me."

Yuba now felt himself falling, a glowing network of green and black lines racing on either side of him. He had the instinctual knowledge that this was someplace much deeper inside her operational matrix, even deeper than her storehouse of memories.

"You shouldn't be here," he heard Ifurita's voice.

"It's alright," he assured her, "I won't touch a thing. I'm only looking for something very specific."

Following a convergence of lines, Yuba came to stand in a small circular room. In the centre lay a short glass casket, and above, hanging from the metallic ceiling, was Ifurita's PowerKey Staff -it was all a direct analog of the stasis room Yuba originally found her.

"This is it, isn't it," Yuba breathed, stepping up to the platform.

"Yes." Ifurita emerged from out of the shadows. "My latent programming lies buried deeper than even I am aware of, and I will always need the staff to sustain my power, but indeed this is my obedience circuit. This is what binds me to your will."

"So, all I have to do is destroy this, and you'll be free," he stated, reaching up to grab the end of the dangling staff.

"Aren't you afraid?"

Yuba looked over at her, frowning in puzzlement. "Afraid?"

"If you destroy that circuit, I will no longer need to do as you say," she soberly explained. "Aren't you afraid that once I have a choice, I may not want to be with you anymore. No more dinners or long talks, no more strolls or looking at the stars together. Don't you fear that everything that has transpired has been because of my obedience to you?"

Yuba looked from the staff back to Ifurita.

"It's a scary thought, yeah," he admitted. "But, I chose to believe there was more to it than that. Besides, I've said all along that I'd rather see you free than enslaved, whatever the consequences may be for myself."

Taking hold of the handle in both hands, Yuba pulled hard, yanking it at a sharp angle towards him. Putting up great resistance, the staff finally snapped free, a bright tendril of blue energy trailing from the disconnected tip to the hole in the ceiling.

Yuba gingerly held the staff, turning to face Ifurita.

"Here," he said, holding it out to her. "You're the one who should have the honours."

Ifurita's eyes went wide, taking an automatic step back.

"Go on," he encouraged. "I know you can do it; you've had that power all along."

Ifurita took hold of the shaft, hands wide apart on it's horizontal length. Yuba gave her a reassuring nod. Pausing as if to take a deep breath, she raised her knee, bringing the staff down over her thigh in one swift motion. It broke neatly in half, releasing a flood of bright blue light that enveloped them both.

Ifurita and Yuba stumbled away from each other, the suddenness of their return to reality physically violent. There was a breathless moment where neither of them said a word, only looking at each other with wary anticipation.

"Well," Yuba finally asked.

Ifurita looked down at herself, as if expecting some sort of change in her appearance.

"I feel very much the same," she reported, voice flat and even. "And yet..."

"And yet?"

A strange smile crept over her face.

"I get the strong impression I should be very cross at you," she said, "making me undress like that in front of you."

"Oh, hey, I didn't tell you to do that," Yuba cried, throwing up his hands. "Honestly, I was just..."

"I know," she leant in close, whispering in his ear, "I'm kidding."

Yuba boggled at her in amazement.

"Then, it really worked?"

Ifurita wandered away a pace, her back to him. She didn't answer right away, instead looking out into the spring.

"It's true. I'm no longer bound," she said. "I'm free... but, I hardly know what to do. This place is all I've ever known. You are all I've ever known. Should I feel bad that I want to remain here with you?"

"No. No, of course not," Yuba said, swallowing hard. "I... I might be kinda biased, but I'd be very happy if you made that decision."

Ifurita looked over her shoulder back at Yuba.

"I still don't understand you," she told him, "but, whatever your motivations, you've done me a remarkable service. I wish I knew how I could properly repay you for what you've done for me."

She stepped towards him, looking curiously into his eyes.

"What was that thing you did this morning," she asked.

"'That thing'?"

"Your 'selfish act'."

Parting her lips, she received his deep kiss. Yuba thought he must be dreaming, but the body he took into his arms was very solid indeed. Her lips were not soft of moist the same way as a humans, though they were supple and faintly warm.

"If only you knew what I really wanted to do with you," Yuba breathed into her ear, his hand buried in her long, still damp hair.

"You mean... what you did with that girl in the basement?"

Yuba nodded. "And more."

"But... you understand I have no procreative function. I can't..."

"I know, I know," he sighed, "yet, this is how I feel. When you care for someone very deeply, there's a strong and natural desire to express that physically. I can't explain it in any rational or logical sense, and it has nothing to do with procreation; I simply want to make love to you."

He couldn't know to what extent she understood him, but she didn't reject his advances when he kissed her again, his hand gravitating to the swell of her left breast. It was not at all pliant as a woman's would be, but it was such an instinctual action to want to fondle her. Her pale skin did have a very similar texture to a humans though; not quite as elastic or giving, but nearly as smooth even quite warm to the touch.

"You're going to have to instruct me," she told him, her voice hesitant. "I don't know what to do."

"It's alright, I'm pretty much playing this by ear too," he said. "Try using your hands, your fingertips, to touch me wherever you'd like."

Ifurita raised her arm, placing her palm on his chest and caressing him in a direct mimicry of his own fondling. Yuba couldn't contain a grin of amusement.

"Learn by example, I see," he remarked. Actually he already knew this. She was built to improve and expand her combat potential by replicating any attacks used against her. It was rather funny to see that same behavioural pattern of learning now turned to a much different purpose.

Taking Ifurita's hand, he replaced it down over the bulge in his crotch. She looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Trust me," he told her, hoping she would take the hint.

She pressed against him, her fingers describing the outline of his engorged organ through his damp trousers. In turn, Yuba placed light kisses against her neck, sliding a hand behind her waist until he came into contact with her keyhole.

She shuddered. In fact, he too was getting more than a little weak in the knees from her continued caress of his trapped erection.

"We should really be doing this lying down," he said breathlessly, "it's the traditional way."

Ifurita obliged, lying back on the soft ground, Yuba poised above her. In the back of his mind, he had the thought that if she were a normal woman, this would be the moment he'd lose his virginity. Pushing his trousers down past his ankles, he clasped her tight, his naked cock pressed between her pelvis and his own stomach. Ifurita's arms wrapped around his back, returning his embrace.

"Close your eyes," Yuba told her, "keep your legs together for me."

She obeyed; not out of any proscribed behavioural prerogative, but from a genuine desire to please him. Holding her by the shoulder, he reached down with his free hand and fitted his urgent erection into the subtle gap described by her pubis and upper thighs.

"I love you so much," he sighed admission, sinking down on top of her, his penis pushing down to the imperfect hollow between her legs. Still being wet from the swim, the friction wasn't as intense as it might have been, smoothing the process. Acting on pure animal instinct, Yuba made the motions of copulation, the upper part of his organ rubbing against her perfectly smooth perineum, a thin trail of precum left behind.

Ifurita remained immobile, accepting his affections but unable to return them. Yuba knew there was only one way she could experience the passion he was feeling; if he shared his own. Reaching underneath to the small of her back, he formed two of his fingers together and jammed them hard into the space of her metal keyhole.

She reacted instantly, her back arching, eyes fluttering open. All the erotic feeling and sexual tension that was coursing through Yuba's cock, and suffused through his entire body, was transferred to her as well.

"It feels... so different," she marvelled, in a way that would have been quite breathless if she actually needed to breathe.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he assured her, "just let it come to you."

Ifurita nodded, looking down between their tightly pressed bodies. Raising her left thigh ever so slightly, she scissored it in a way that more firmly captured his organ. Demonstrating both remarkable control and sensitivity, she squeezed her thighs together in a gentle rhythmic motion, massaging his length.

"Oh, God," he moaned, never expecting this from her.

Now that she was experiencing what he was, she was doing her best to increase their mutual pleasure. Unfortunately, the angle was too sharp, and as he got more and more excited, his renewed thrusts forced him free of her thighs, popping up to rub futilely against her smooth belly. Hardly before he'd had time to think, she reached down and encircled his erection in her well articulated hand. Never missing a stroke, he continued to rock back and forth, fucking the tunnel formed by her fingers and palm.

More drops of precum emerged to make a slippery trail in her hand, but this was only a prelude of what was to come. He would have preferred to go on forever, but being both young, excited and inexperienced, the moment of crisis soon came upon him. Barely aware of anything other than his own pleasure, Yuba gritted his teeth, giving one last hard thrust. Both Yuba and Ifurita froze stock still as his semen shot forth, the orgasm shared simultaneously between them both.

Yuba gave a broken gasp, removing his stiff hand from her keyhole as he raised himself up above her. He could see his thick ejaculate sliding in rivulets over her stomach and chest. Ifurita let his softening organ go free, examining her fingers which were covered with the same sticky substance. Yuba couldn't remember ever having come so hard, which in the past had always been by masturbation.

"Sorry about the mess," Yuba said jokingly, feeling very giddy and light headed.

"I had no idea it was like that," Ifurita said calmly, though her expression showed how affected she was. "I... I can't even begin to describe..."

"Then don't," Yuba said, kissing her on the lips.

He wanted to make love to her again and again, but knew this wasn't the best time or place. Helping her to her feet, they both entered the spring, taking turns washing the other clean. Ifurita's synthetic skin was so flawless, it was barely any effort to wipe her clean of his semen. Even so, he spent a good deal of time just touching and caressing her, standing behind her as they both stood waist deep in the cool clear water. When she took her turn, he could feel his vigour returning as she roughly and thoroughly scrubbed him clean.

Collecting their clothes, they returned to the shrine, Yuba's hand around her waist.

"You... wanted to do that again," Ifurita asked, her meaning quite clear to Yuba.

"Hmm, very much," he admitted, "but, if I don't start gathering my traps and hunting for fruit, I'm going to have a very empty stomach, and that's not going to be any fun for anyone."

Ifurita actually seemed disappointed, much to Yuba's surprise. Well, that was her first orgasm after all, certainly couldn't blame her for wanting to experience that again.

"This evening," he promised her. "Again, it's the traditional way. And the waiting will only make it all the more worthwhile. Trust me."

While Yuba went back out into the garden, Ifurita stayed, wandering into his lab. Leaning her staff against the wall, she picked up Yuba's hand drawn maps, and all his various notations. He'd tried so hard to work out the secrets of this place, had come closer than even he realized, but now...

The thought that he'd given up his dream of returning home for her filled her with a sensation she couldn't place or recognize. It was more subtle than the feeling of climax he'd shared with her, yet it was somehow much stronger, much deeper. The image of his lean handsome face came to mind, and she felt the same instinctual urge to protect and watch over him as she did for this garden and the Trigger she was built to guard.

'I love you so much,' he had said, a term she only dimly understood in reference to human relations. The idea of a human loving a machine, a DemonGod of all things, was... well, she had no words to describe the phenomena. But, she began to realize that perhaps it was related to the way she felt about him too.

* * *

Yuba didn't have the time or wits to prepare anything truly special for dinner, though he wised he could.

"This is a very special day," he said, raising his ceramic cup. "This is to your new found freedom, and to our new lives as lovers."

Ifurita raised her glass in turn, supposing it to be some kind of ritual gesture. She thought how strange it was, now that she no longer had to obey him, she only wanted to please him all the more.

"I'm going to have to see about getting us a bigger bed," Yuba remarked towards the end of dinner.

"But... I don't require sleep," she informed him, puzzled -surely he knew that already?

"It wasn't sleep I had in mind," he grinned. Ifurita found herself smiling as well.

Despite their shared anticipation, it wasn't until after nightfall that they retired to Yuba's bedroom. Together in the darkened room, they each undressed, the sound strangely muted as they shuffled out of their clothes. Only the sound of the insects outside, and Yuba's own breathing could be heard in the small stone walled chamber.

Without the aid of light, everything seemed colourless and vaguely out of focus, making touch their primary sense. Ifurita sat on the edge of the bed, Yuba crouched beside and behind her. He kissed the back of her neck, brushing aside her long hair. He ran a finger over the metal of her head mounting, causing her to shudder. It felt so different whenever he touched her metal parts rather than her skin, so much more direct, as if he were 'truely' touching her even though she had no sensors in that area.

He trailed his hand slowly down the length of her back, tracing a line where her spine would have been if she were human. Already she knew he was making for her keyhole. The anticipation of his touch alone created a tension within her. She realized that now her body had learned. Just as she was programmed to adapt her physical parameters and abilities in combat, her internal systems had made new connections and associations with Yuba's touch and her keyhole. It had, without either of them being immediately aware of it, become erogenous.

When Yuba's fingers finally brushed against her opening, she felt a thrill rush through her, and she pushed back against him, silently urging him to greater stimulation. He obliged, stroking the inner edge in a slow circle with two fingers, feeling that now familiar tingle of electrical power.

All too soon, Yuba's own arousal had gotten the better of him, gently pushing her down flat on the bed. She could see he was very erect, his organ pressing insistently against her leg as he came to lie beside her. He kissed her on the lips, one hand fondling her unreal breasts.

"Can I ask you to do something for me," he asked, mouth dry. "I know it's going to sound rude, but..."

"What is it?"

"There's something I've heard some women will do," he explained, "where they'll let a man take himself into her mouth."

"'Himself'?"

He nodded down towards his excited erection. He was almost afraid to ask, but in truth it was the only real opening in her body he could exploit -and he already knew it was safe for her to ingest fluids.

"Alright," she agreed, seeing no reason not to, if that's what he wanted.

Shuffling up to the head of the bed, Yuba straddled her upper torso, her erection hovering close to her face. It wasn't typically within the parameters of a DemonGods operating system to be familiar with human reproduction, so this was her first really close up look at the male organ of procreation. Remarkable to think this strange tube of flesh was kept so firm by the hydraulic force of his own blood. Remarkable too that it should be the trigger for such powerful sensations.

Tilting her head forward, she parted her lips, taking the head of his penis into her mouth. Yuba let out a strained moan, gently pushing himself further inside her. The sight of his prick disappearing between her delicately sculpted lips was too erotic for belief. Heat beating fast, he held onto her thick hair as he entered still deeper, his glans striking the smooth roof of her mouth. He realized he had no need to be gentle; she had no gag reflex, and indeed wouldn't have been able to physically hurt her even if he wanted to.

Again it was his own primal instinct that directed his actions, rocking his hips as he fucked her mouth. Her lips formed a perfect seal around his length, and he could feel a subtle vacuum suction on every withdrawal stroke. Her eyes looked wide, glancing from his face to his pelvis, but she showed no alarm or concern as his movements became more insistent. His testicles drew in tight, and he knew he was on the verge of climax. Ifurita felt his member grow even larger in her distended mouth, and she could sense the change in his previously even rhythm.

"I'm going to come," he warned her, voice broken.

Moments later, his fingers clenched at her hair as he jammed himself fully inside her, his semen erupting in thick gobs.

Slowly regaining his breath, Yuba freed himself from her mouth, a slender trail of his semen clinging from her lip to his glans. When he bent down to kiss her, he could taste it as well.

"Oh dear," he said, "I never knew it tasted like that."

"I can't tell," she told him simply.

"Probably just as well," he smiled. "Sorry I couldn't share that orgasm with you this time."

"It's alright. I've already learned how."

"You've... learned how?"

"My keyhole."

Realization broke over Yuba's face.

"Clever girl," he murmured, more fully understanding now the implications of what they'd done together. He'd never guessed she could adapt physiological responses as well as combat techniques. Clever girl indeed.

"Turn over," he said excitedly, "flat on your belly."

She did so, arms crossed under her chin. He looked down, noting the gleam of bare gold metal that marked her keyhole. He shuffled closer to her bottom, hand laid on her back as he bent down. Of course it appeared the same as it always did, but certainly it's significance had changed now. With his right hand, he traced the outline of the hole with his fingers, trailing them along the interior surface. The metal itself was cold, but in Ifurita's mind, she felt a suffusion of warmth envelop her as he continued to stroke her.