A small growl emitted from the 18 year old's lips as she sliced her apple. She wasn't particularly hungry at this hour, but she skipped out on breakfast and lunch so she figured she had to eat something before she ultimately skipped out on dinner too. As she finished cutting the apple and was about to place the knife in the dishwasher, the young woman heard a sound. Something, or someone, was walking across her roof.

She ignored it, just like everything else that has happened to her so far.

Eventually, the noise did die down as Leilani made her way back to her room. The sliced apples on a plate that she ended up sitting on her bedstand. What nearly startled her this time was another knock, this one coming from the balcony door. Leilani raised an eyebrow and went to the door. She didn't even flinch when she opened the door to a red and orange robot with dark tan skin. The robot did not look pleased, maybe even uncanny to the wrong eye: to the world, this was Ray, the Vermillion Destroyer, but to Leilani that robot was as good as a girlfriend to her.

“Well hello there, Lamb Chop.” Leilani teased, ushering the robot inside.

“There are reporters everywhere outside this prison.” the robot replied in a dark voice. “It's as if they're waiting for a reason to convict you again.”

“Don't act so surprised.” the human yawned as she moved to her bed to sit. “You're the one that started that little revolution.”

Ray let out a small growl, following Leilani before standing right in front of her and looking her in the eye.

“I'll never forget it.” Ray vowed before pulling Leilani in for a fierce kiss.

. . .

The trial had been put on a permanent hold once Ray had stolen the young woman. In the glory of the moment, Ray had listened to Leilani's suggestion of going to Maine, and it wasn't until after when the two knew they were safe that the robot took a good look at the young woman. They were the only ones in that safe house, after all, and there was nothing else to do but stew upon their decisions and watch them unfold. What Ray hadn't counted on was the human aging process.

“You've changed.” Ray noted, the idea sounding a bit idiotic out loud. Of course humans change!

“Four years in juvie will do that to you.” Leilani retorted.

“No. Not that.” Ray hissed. “Your physical appearance has changed...”

The human raised a questioning eyebrow. “What of it?” she inquired.

Ray said nothing to retaliate, instead moving closer to the human. Leilani's skin seemed more… soft, inviting even. Without realizing it, Ray ran a curious hand down the side of Leilani's face. The human closed her eyes and held her breath; for what was something she didn't want to contemplate at the moment, not if Ray wasn't aware of what she was doing, anyway. There was no way that Ray could tell that the moment had become tense. Could she? Whatever the case, Ray could feel Lei's body clench. Weird… that never seemed to happen before.

“Do I scare you now?” the robot questioned, tilting her head rather methodically.

“No.” Leilani immediately declared. She hesitated for a moment, but she then added, “But I… I'd really like it if you… if you'd...”

“What?” Ray now demanded. She was standing even closer to the young woman now- the thing wasn't even sure if she was breathing anymore.

“I… I want you to… to touch me.”

“Am I not doing that already?” Ray growled, not seeing the point. Leilani's cheeks flushed such a deep shade of red that the robot wondered if it was normal. In feeling the increasing pulse rate of the human, it was likely that the answer was 'no.'

“In… intimately.” the young woman finally said. “I want you to… to touch me, intimately. Like… Like a kiss.”

“A kiss?”

Leilani swallowed back dry saliva as she gave a small nod. Ray cocked a curious eyebrow at this suggestion. The robot knew what kisses were, of course, first introduced to the concept four years prior by Leilani herself. Hmm… Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss…

Taking the decision to heart, Ray leaned forward just slightly and pressed her lips against the human's. They both immediately reeled backwards in surprise at the shock that passed through them. But Ray wasn't finished her investigation of the matter yet, she pulled Leilani into another kiss and pushed past that initial shock. Holding them there for quite some time, Ray pulled them away after some seconds had passed. She had learned what she wanted from the kiss, and it had left her… underwhelmed.

“You taste… different.” observed the Vermillion Destroyer in some way to say something about the current situation.

“That's because I'm not made out of xels.” Leilani teased. Ray growled before going in for a much deeper kiss this time. The taste of this young woman… it was indescribable. Not as filling as a xel, of course, but it seemed so much more alluring…

With each passing moment Ray was craving more and more of this woman. Her hands firmly griped at Leilani's waist, bringing her closer to Ray herself. The human retaliated by wrapping her arms around Ray's neck- she liked this, but it wasn't enough. There must have been something, anything, to make this growing desire be fulfilled. But what?

“Raychel...” Leilani gasped when she had the breath to do so. Hearing her name through the young woman's lips caused the robot to immediate freeze. That tone… It was different. It was new.

“What?”

Leilani, in between excited gasps, questioned to the robot, “Do you… do you know what lust is?”

. . .

Ray watched as Lei softly slept on her bed, properly tired from their… activities. The Vermillion Destroyer titled her head at the human; Leilani laid in such a way that made Ray notice her more womanly figure again. The thought of touching the human's rib and sliding her hand down to the hip made Ray flinch. Instead, the android got off of the human's bed and did the most menial thing she never would have considered doing otherwise; getting the mail.

Such an odd activity this was- thankfully the mail box was near the front door and not across the street, not that the Blaise family had much in way of neighbors in this area; not even paparazzi seemed to venture that far. As she went back inside, Ray looked at the mail to see what was delivered: a paid magazine for robotic creations showcased at the Battle Colosseum, some small adverts for local food joints, and a letter addressed to Leilani herself. Ray took an interest in this letter, now taking a closer look at the sender address.

SANDA Technologies, United States of America Division

Pleasanton California

She hadn't been aware of it, but Ray had stormed back to Leilani's bedroom. With the letter being crushed in one hand, Ray shook the human awake.

“Hmm…?” the flower slurred as she finally came to. “What's wrong?”

The Vermillion Destroyer did not answer directly, instead she presented the letter to Leilani. The human attempted to sit up, but opted against it, and took the letter from the robot. The first thing she noticed was the sender, a grimace painted itself on her face before she opened the letter. As she read its contents, her expression changed to a softer one but it still held some amount of disgust. Once she was done reading, she carelessly tossed the letter aside and flopped back on her bed.

“Magnus is fighting in the Colosseum soon.” she explained to Ray. “Sanda wants me to come for the match.”

“Why?” the robot immediately questioned.

“I don't know.” the human said, rolling over to her side. “Because it's been six months since the trial? Because he wants to see how the crowd will react when a child convict makes a public appearance? It's not like I have a choice- it's part of the sentence that the jury hath wrought upon me.”

“You're not going alone.”

Lei looked over at Ray. The robot had been firm in saying so, and although Leilani wasn't going to go alone anyway, the request had been genuine.

“You can't enter the Colosseum.” Lei reminded the Vermillion Destroyer.

“I'm aware.” came the prudent answer. At this, the human cocked an eyebrow in skepticism.

And just as she suspected, Ray started to backpedal on the idea once the day came. Sanda hadn't come yet, so the two hid themselves in an alleyway.

“I don't want you here.” Ray told the human with a growl. “We don't belong here.”

“Raychel,” Leilani softly purred, knowing this game all too well by now, “You know why I'm here and what it means to Magnus. You're not my only android friend you know...”

Ray gave another growl before forcing the human into an assertive kiss. With that last bit of defiance, the Vermillion Destroyer dashed out of sight. Leilani let out a sigh before adjusting herself a bit more to be scrutinized by the spectators in the colosseum today. Her head held high and a blank expression, Leilani entered the colosseum.

Ray knew her usual place in the Colosseum- high above everyone else in the rafters where only the birds tended to roost. From here, Ray could soak up any loose xel that came off the contestants. But most importantly, she could keep tabs on her flower as well. From here she could see all the nasty stares Leilani received from the other spectators; some even paid more attention to the flower than on the match itself. Justifiably so, but they did not stare because they found her as fascinating as Ray found her. They stared because they believed she was a public menace.

“And now the bot you've all been waiting for!” the announcer boomed over the speakers, “Mighty Number 9, BECK!!”

At the same time, both Ray and Leilani got an awful shock of disgust. Small and timid, said Mighty Number walked out into the main colosseum, waving at the crowd and blushing at the mere sight of so many spectators in the stands. Then Ray's processors froze when she realized that the Predator had located and stared directly at the flower in the stands. She could even see, so perfectly well, that the two had made direct eye contact and held it for an uncomfortable amount of time. The Predator's face paled; he knew. He knew what his family had done to the flower's life.

Beck shook his head, remembering where he was and what he was about to do, and allowed the match to continue on. He won the fight -no surprise from either Ray or Leilani- as waved at everyone as they cheered praise and threw various things at his feet. One thing in particular, a bouquet of roses, was caught by Beck and for a moment, he stood there as if he had never encountered a bouquet before. Beck looked back up at the stands before slowly starting to work his way over to the spectators.

The Vermillion Destroyer watched with increasing fury as the Predator made his way toward the flower, making his intent known by the paling in his face. What stopped the robot from doing down to destroy the Predator herself was Leilani's own frosty attitude toward the approaching Mighty Number.

Once he was close enough, Beck humbly offered the bouquet to Leilani. With his head bowed he tried to give an apology, but the spectators near the two had gotten louder- some were mad that he was giving the bouquet to her, others just wanted Beck's attention. Leilani refused the bouquet but Beck kept insisting she take them; his eyes held a desperate need to apologize, but hers were frosty and unwavering.

Perhaps knowing this made Leilani finally accept the bouquet; it wasn't Beck they were mad at, after all. The youngest Mighty Number gave her a small bow of thanks and quickly made his way out of the stands. When the crowd was allowed to leave the stands, Leilani tossed the flowers in the nearest trash receptacle, not caring in the slightest on who saw her. Ray looked on with a certain glee- she vowed that the next time she and the flower met up, she was going to give her gratitude quite generously.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

Leilani had to talk with Sanda after the match, but once she was finished with him she returned to the alleyway where Ray had been waiting. Immediately, the robot pinned the flower to the wall.

“He tried to apologize…” Ray mumbled as she buried herself in Lei's neck. “But you didn't listen.”

“Nope.”

“He thought he could make it better?” continued to bot, now trailing her lips across the human's collarbone for a certain spot.

“Never.” Leilani murmured, fidgeting slightly to help Ray.

“I'll kill anyone that gets near you.”

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