Page 61 of Fembot
Winston threw his arms around Calvin’s neck and clung to him. Calvin held him up when his knees gave out. Winston was a puddle of emotion. Confused, but delirious with happiness. Angry that it happened at all, but grateful Calvin was here.
He pulled back and kissed him. Deeply and with every ounce of passion he had in his exhausted body. They kissed for an eternity. Until Calvin broke free and smiled at him and brushed the wet hair off his forehead.
“Let me wash your hair and when Lucky gets back, we can all talk about what happened.”
Winston’s whole body jerked at the mention of Lucky. “He had a meeting with the dean. I should’ve gone with him.”
Winston, despite the fact that Calvin was alive and whole and here, still felt unmoored. Like he was still unraveling at the seams. He’d slept a lot, but nothing about it had been restful. He ate when forced. He’d been a shell of a person.
“He’ll be back soon. Novak said so.” Calvin brushed a kiss against Winston’s trembling lips. “Turn around. Let me take care of you.”
“Wait, should you even be in here? Is it safe? Won’t the water damage you?” Winston’s heart clenched at the idea of losing Calvin all over again to something stupid like a short-circuit.
“I assured you that I’m water resistant up to one hundred meters. My circuitry is well protected. Now turn around.”
Winston did as he was told, too tired and worn out to fight Calvin on anything. He closed his eyes as Calvin worked a generous amount of shampoo into his hair. The feeling of Calvin’s fingers kneading the soap into his hair, lathering it up, was almost enough to put him to sleep.
Calvin rinsed the soap out of Winston’s hair, then took his time washing every nook and cranny of Winston’s body. By the time Calvin declared him to be clean, Winston was so hard it hurt.
And though the previous agreement between the three of them hadn’t forbidden something from happening between just the two of them, Winston needed Lucky to be there. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them—he and Calvin—that any explanations or extra-curricular activities would wait until Lucky was home.
When they left the shower, Winston clean and refreshed, the bed made in his absence, Calvin crossed the room and cracked a window. The fresh air breathed new life into the room and Winston found himself unwilling to get back into his depressionbed. He dropped down into the chair beside the window and Calvin curled up at his feet, resting his head in Winston’s lap.
“I missed you,” Winston said. It wasn’t the only thing he wanted to say, but it was enough for now. Calvin looked up at him, his hair still damp from the shower. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Winston whispered as if Calvin were a spell that could be broken. An illusion that might shatter if looked at too hard or long.
“I missed you too.”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and Winston turned toward the door, anticipating Lucky’s return even before he burst into the room. Lucky was grinning ear to ear, and he looked at the bed first, then around the room until he saw Winston.
“Good news, Winnie.” Lucky tossed a folder on the bed and then stopped in his tracks as his brain caught up with the sight before his eyes. “What the fuck?”
Lucky’s smile faltered, and his eyes turned to liquid as he darted across the room and launched himself at Calvin.
Calvin caught him, held him, kissed him, and shushed him while Lucky fell apart in his arms. Winston edged his way out of the chair to join his boyfriends on the floor, and once Lucky got himself under control, he dashed the tears out of his eyes and smiled at them both.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, Cal, but what the fuck, man? We thought you were dead.”
“That was their intention when they took me away. I managed to avoid deactivation, however.”
“How?” Winston asked, threading his fingers together with Calvin’s. He leaned over and rested his head on Lucky’s shoulder.
“They took me because of fear. They were afraid that I could be a danger. I simply gave them a reason more powerful than fear to return me.”
When Winston and Lucky didn’t speak, Calvin smiled. It grew from a small upturn of lips into a bright smile that stretched from ear to ear. “Love.”
For the second time today, Winston was breathless.
“I love you. Both of you. I’d do anything to protect you. Including hand myself over to be deactivated and destroyed.”
“I love you too.” Winston’s voice shook. “Both of you. But no one is being deactivated, okay? There will be no more self-sacrifice.”
Lucky let out a watery laugh. “I’ve had the weirdest day, and I keep expecting to wake up and find out it’s all a dream, but it’s fucking real. You’re here, and we’re all in love and shit, and the dean got fired and a bunch of professors are in deep shit, and my dad can go fuck himself, and Winnie finally fucking showered.”
“Hey.” Winston shoved Lucky, who didn’t budge, but leaned in and kissed him instead. “Wait, though. Back up. The dean was fired?”
“Yeah, we have a new dean. And probably some new professors. It turns out, dear old dad was working with Hargrove and my professors to lower my grades. To make it look like I was going to fail, to force my hand into working for my dad.”
“That’s literally insane.” Winston gaped at him. “Why?”
