brandnewtech | .OOC-TRACKER { DEERSHIP // OVERFLOW

.OOC-TRACKER { DEERSHIP // OVERFLOW

➟Post-Deer PSL : CRAU LA 2019

♦

➟March 21, 2021 : anniversary

➟February 2021 : memory share

➟February 2021 : Valentine's Day

➟January 2021 : K's deerlyBeloved (part 2) + distraction

➟January 2021 : funeral for a god

➟December 2020 : first xmas

➟December 2020 : text thread, cooking and watching

➟November 12, 2020 : incept day

➟October 2020 : blackout and blood

➟September 2020 : pizza and dancing

➟ August 2020 : dirty pictures and going down

➟ August 2020 : Archivist attack (K & Arid)

➟ June 2020 : network glitch, couch cuddles

➟ June 2020 : plant parents

➟ June 2020 : baroquetech

➟ May 2020 : covered in blood, a/b/o (bite handwaved)

➟ April 2020 : TB's deerlyBeloved

➟ April 2020 : mini-K

➟ April 2020 : the launch of GROW, game talk, and flirting

➟ April 2020 : misfire text, poetry and getting high

➟ March 2020 : flower crown, confession, and the first time

➟ February 2020 : Rapture, pattern manifestation

➟ February 2020 : Rapture, My Soul Knows You (red string of fate)

➟ January 2020 : Titanic, the ship sinks & rescue

➟ January 2020 : RMS Titanic, meeting in the infirmary

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ from here ]

Much in the same way as his very first arrival to the dream world, Tech Boy sits perched atop a crumbling stone wall. He has one leg pulled under him, leaving the other to dangle as he fixes his eyes on the apocalyptic scene in front of them: a massive wall of black smoke, crackling with purple lightning. The Edge. The End, so it seems. The imposing sight of it sends a cold chill through the young god. There's a not insignificant amount of panic starting to clench something deep in his chest. Outwardly, he looks calm, not even reaching for his vape to fidget.

Fuck. Now what? F U C K.

"Fuck," he reiterates aloud.

With his free foot, he taps K. They're here at the end of the world. Together. Side by side. That's all he ever wanted, really. Well. Aside from not dying at the end. Alive would have been preferable. Alive would be a long life together. Sharing in each other's happiness and pain. Making new memories. Exploring so many new experiences. Maybe there's still a way? Tech Boy can feel a strange pull coming from that violent cloud. Something promising, instead of the usual sense of dread that have emanated from most other bizarre events in this place.

Home, it promises. Is that true? Really? Whose home? And... would he even still be alive if he returns? Would it be worth it if he has to return alone?

"How should we dream of this place without us?—
The sun mere fire, the leaves untroubled about us,
A stone look on the stone's face?

Speak of the world's own change. Though we cannot conceive
Of an undreamt thing, we know to our cost
How the dreamt cloud crumbles, the vines are blackened by frost,
How the view alters. We could believe,

If you told us so, that the white-tailed deer will slip
Into perfect shade, grown perfectly shy...."

Tech Boy trails off. He's not looking at K at the moment, eyes still fixed on the beckoning yet foreboding smoke, but his hand seeks out K's all the same. Caught somewhere between overthinking and drawing a complete blank, Tech Boy's expression melts slowly into a frown. His eyes flash once in a way that isn't a reflection of the lightning--then close.

This is a pretty big deal. Maybe even the biggest they'll face. More than blackouts and rivers of blood. More than memory flowers and underwater cities. Tech Boy needs K's reaction to gauge his own and react appropriately. He gives K's hand a squeeze. What now? it seems to ask.

The thought of returning to his homeworld alone fills K with sinking dread. It carries the promise of enslavement. Debasement. Being less than once more, a tool to be used as his handler sees fit. He has never been capable of disobeying. He lacks free will. It's an inescapable fact of his existence, one that he isn't sure will ever change. Not if he has to go back there.

For K, the person beside him is home. Not whatever awaits them beyond the storm.

And what of Tech Boy? Would he cease to exist — as his present incarnation, or maybe entirely — if he returns to his own homeworld? The memories related to the god's retirement that they'd relived together had left K with more questions than answers, and the uncertainty has continued to gnaw at him. There are the upgrades to consider... but he isn't sure whether they're enough to save Tech Boy.

And the dream is ending.

The poem causes K to bow his head and wearily rub his face with a hand, as he slowly succumbs to the crushing finality of their situation. Do they even have a real choice in the matter? His grip is weak at first, sapped of its usual strength by the grief he's failing to keep at bay. But he returns the pressure, soon holding on tight to Tech Boy's hand.

"Will you return to your world?" he asks as he looks up. And leave me? Between the layers of his shirts, the small lump that is his hidden sand monster shifts at the sound of his voice. If its own homeworld is also somewhere out there within the storm, it shows no inclination of wanting to return.

"... Do you think we can stay together?"

Tech Boy can feel the cold hand of fear upon him and only barely manages to refrain from visibly shivering. He squeezes K's hand in return, looking down at him now. Leave him? What a preposterous, unacceptable notion. There's no going anywhere without K. That much he'd already decided. Beyond that, he's not sure what's possible, what the twisted reality of the collapsing Dreamworld will allow, but he'll be dead and damned before he abandons K to face whatever awaits an emotionally evolved replicant upon return to his homeworld.

And what awaits the technology god himself if he were to return to his own world? Unfortunately, Tech Boy has no more answers about that then K does. Normally when gods are "retired," that's it for them. With K's help, he's a considerably more improved (in more ways than one) and advanced version of himself. Maybe that counts for something? And it's not like technology is going to fail due to The Technical Boy's death. If anything, the prevalence of and reliance on technology should prevent his death from being permanent. Should. Maybe. he thinks to himself. It's still better odds than staying here. Here, they're sure to die when then emptiness takes the town. That's not really an option either.

"If we can't stay together, I don't want to go."

The storm calls to them, but there's no way to know what will happen. He sees no better alternative than to try their luck.

"I'll only go to my world if you can go there with me. I'll fall apart without you." Perhaps literally. "Or I'll follow you into yours. But do you think there's honestly a way...?" Tech Boy's voice grows quiet. "I need there to be a way. There has to be. I'm not going anywhere alone. Not anymore."

Abruptly, he hops down from the wall, still clinging to K's hand. He twists their folded hands so he can kiss K's ring finger. Lingering there a moment, Tech Boy is trying to get himself and his own emotions under control so he can better tend to the pain he can feel rolling off K in waves. It's the fear of loss. The agony of separation after finally finding each other. The uncertainty. And the horror waiting for each in the words whence they came. What could be possibly say or do?

"There doesn't look like there's much choice except to face the storm head on," Tech Boy holds up their hands to show K, "and I am not fucking letting go."

Even before exchanging rings and formalising their commitment, it's what they'd promised each other: they'd find a way to stay together. But K knows that, through no fault of their own, the reality of their situation might preclude them from seeing that promise through. It's always been a possibility. There are just so many unknowns...

If it wouldn't put Tech Boy at significant risk, he'd actually like to see where — and when — the technology god is from. And if a means of escape would remain open to them enabling them to avoid being stranded, he thinks he'd like to show Tech Boy his homeworld, too. There have been glimpses of it through K's memory, through his programming and spinner, and the other technology he'd asked Sodder for. But actually experiencing such a technologically advanced, technologically dependent world firsthand — it's something he'd like to give Tech Boy.

And, well. Given the uncertainty of the god's fate in his own homeworld, if it comes down to it, maybe they could make a life together in K's. Enduring the mistreatments and oppression of his old life would be nothing compared to the possibility of losing Tech Boy. Whatever it takes to stay together... and to preferably stay alive in the process.

"Neither am I," K promises in turn, mentally pulling himself together. Without releasing Tech Boy's hand, he slides off the wall and leans close, brushing their lips together in a gentle kiss. He has to believe it won't be their last. "Let's see what's out there, then. And figure out what we can do."

He looks toward his nearby spinner.

"Better to walk or fly?"

They've delayed as much as they could. No amount of loitering near this wall is going to make the next step any easier. There's only one way to go, and it's the storm they're facing. It's the uncertainty that's killing him. To pull himself out of inaction, Tech Boy is flexing the full extent of his quantum upgrades (not complete, but significantly improved) to run the possible outcomes. But truthfully... it's really not that complicated. If what lies beyond the storm is the way out of the dream, that's where they have to go. No matter what.

Leaning into the kiss, still gentle but sure, Tech Boy closes his eyes a moment and wipes the computations from his mind. K says aloud the only option they have, and that's all there is to it. Let's see what's out there. Let's figure it out.

Tech Boy's eyes snap open, and he cracks a small smirk. His body language visibly relaxes, and he squeezes K's hand. He tips his head toward the spinner. It makes a nice little cocoon of advanced tech, and he'd much rather be surrounded by something that is K's than the uncertain elements of the storm directly.

"Let's fly. Why walk when we can arrive at the end of the world in style?"

With their course decided, and the renewed promise to stay together no matter what, K's nerves finally begin to settle into a level of nervous energy he can manage — and maybe even use to his advantage. They'll be okay. And if they're not, at least they'll be together. That's enough for him.

Inside the spinner, he frees his Sandygast from his inner shirt and lets it instead perch in his lap, then takes the opportunity to walk Tech Boy through the general operations, layout, and capabilities of the vehicle. Notably, there's no steering wheel; only flight sticks and throttle levers like those found in more traditional aircraft. On one of the main console screens, he toggles through the different modes — from standard view to infrared, to a type of sonographic imaging, to several other modes on the fly. "Useful for navigation and forensics," he notes. And of course there's an autopilot function. He explains the detachable pilotfish drone that forms part of the roof, seamlessly hidden from view when not in use, that has been calibrated to only respond to gestural and voice commands from its pilot: K.

His spinner is an older model with fewer safety features than the top-of-the-line models human officers are issued (for reasons he feels are so obvious they go unmentioned). "But," he points out with a teasing look, "its older electronics are less finicky and easier to diagnose and repair."

It does at least have safety belts: thick, padded flight harnesses. He adjusts the normally unused passenger side harness for Tech Boy, spending a rather unnecessary amount of time with the connector that's situated inbetween his legs. He even goes the extra mile by slipping his hand between the harness strap and Tech Boy's crotch to ensure the fit isn't too loose, nor too tight, smiling all the while.

He may be stalling for time just a little. But he also knows these are exactly the sorts of things that interest Tech Boy, and it's nice to have this moment together before embarking on their trip into the unknown.

Eventually K initiates takeoff, and the spinner's slow rise is smooth and steady in a way that keeps the g-force to a minimum, at least at first — the mark of an experienced pilot. He accelerates, and soon the ground is rapidly falling away beneath them as he reaches for Tech Boy's hand.

Crawling into the offered passenger side of the vehicle, Tech Boy all but perches on the edge of his seat while K explains all the various functions and form of the spinner, tucking one foot under himself until it comes time to actually take off. It really is a shame this hadn't happened sooner during their stay in the dream world, but with any luck, they'll have plenty of future opportunities to make up for this oversight. The god is rapt, taking to heart K's every word, adding detail and context to all the data he's unconsciously absorbing from being surrounded by the largely unfamiliar technology. Given the insight of his hard won upgrade, what he has gleaned previously from the other tech he's studied from K's world, and the capable simplicity of K's spinner's design, it all makes an elegant kind of sense. It's like a puzzle, and Tech Boy is only just now seeing the image on the box. The pieces fit together neatly--old techniques put together in new configurations--something he’s going to keep in mind for the future. (Is it still considered stealing if he's taking inspiration from a subsequent version of himself?)

The pilotfish drone piques the god's interest, and he wonders if K knows just how clever the little thing actually is. The drone is, of course, designed for a strictly professional purpose and single-mindedly dedicated to its pilot... but Tech Boy can't help but draw certain parallels to the Gastly's personality. The little ghost ball had opted not to join them on this particular branch of the journey (perhaps it's scared of the storm?), but Tech Boy doubted it would be the last they'd see of it.

Tech Boy's attention follows K's fingers as well as his words, taking note of the comfort and familiarity born from spending far too many hours alone inside this craft. It’s a detail that few might notice, but for some reason it draws Tech Boy’s notice. Well. That's something else they're going to have to compensate for, isn't it?

He uncurls himself in the seat as K teases, mumbling good-naturedly about finicky electronics no matter their age, but he ends up grinning in a plainly amused manner as K moves to assist with the harness. Tech Boy arches into K’s physical teasing and writhes to encourage more contact between his crotch and K’s hand. Can’t be too careful when it comes to safety after all. Gotta make sure to check and check again.

“When we get to our destination, wherever the hell that ends up being, I’m going to get you back for that. Maybe even sooner depending on how good your autopilot is.” Is it still considered road head if the vehicle is flying?, a thought which he passes to K with a vivid mental image attached and a quick, gentle brush against intimate edges of K’s programming.

And then he’s completely distracted by takeoff, watching out of the window as the ground falls away from them in skillful ascent. Once again, Tech Boy finds himself admiring the many talents in K’s arsenal and presses that warm emotion of pride against him. He reaches to take K’s offered hand, a crookedly amused smile on his lips. “A few laps around the shrinking world before following the sirens’ song to wherever we’re meant to be going? No point in rushing until the world actually starts to rip itself apart, and I like watching you in that pilot’s seat.”

[ continuing from here ]

I don't want to see this. You're not going to like this. As though any part of these memories has been enjoyable. But K simply nods mutely as the memory of the office is fading, the scene shifting to keep pace with Tech Boy as he attempts his escape.

He's running now, toward the stairwell they're stood in, and everything's happening so quickly that K nearly misses the presence of the headset lying in wait. Identical to the one Tech Boy reprogrammed for him to access the Backstage with. It has been left here intentionally.

K's initial misgivings about the nature of the device — and what its design seemed to suggest — prove startlingly intuitive when it unfurls and launches itself directly onto the technology god's face like something from straight out of a nightmare.

Reacting on pure instinct, K puts himself between the memory and the real Tech Boy as though expecting the headgrabber to target him next. It doesn't. But he wasn't wrong. K doesn't like any part of this, watching the memory with a stricken expression before he finally manages to look away, eyes seeking the real Tech Boy. Searching his face. Then K's reaching for him again, wanting to hold him, wanting to physically prevent him from having to see the memory. It's irrational. Tech Boy has already lived this. Still K can't help but try to protect him, in whatever capacity he can, no matter how futile it may be.

"What's being done to you?" he asks in a tight voice. He doesn't want to know. But he needs to.

Tech Boy flinches violently as the headgrabber jumps, sliding behind K at the exact same moment that K moves to shied him. He knows that this is in the memory. He knows it's not coming for him now. But he can still feel that horrible, violating surge as his power was stripped away from him by a device of his own creation. Digitized against his will in the most invasive and painful way possible. He'd been caught so off-guard by the attack that, although he could see the containment code slipping by, there wasn't fuck all he could do to prevent it. Nothing he could do to free himself or escape.

It looks just as bad from this point of very as well. The memory of himself convulsed and twitched in obvious agony before vanishing entirely, pulled inside the device and out of the physical realm. The headgrabbed falls to the floor, spinning slightly due to inertia and the impact with the floor. It's over. That's the last thing Tech Boy remembers.

The technology god doesn't blame the machine, of course. The headgrabber is only doing as it was told, as it had been (re)programmed to do. A tool corrupted against its inventor. No. It's not the machine's fault. As if he'd ever had any doubt, this one has Mr. World's slippery fingerprints all over it.

Tech Boy's eyes are locked on headgrabber until the external lights on it dim, expression stuck in something resembling muffled panic. K reaches for him, compassionately tries to block is view, but the god positions himself to peek past him. He has to see this. He has to see it until the end. He doesn't know what happens next, and that's more terrifying than the attack itself. He clings to K, wishing with all his heart that this hadn't been exposed this way. Why couldn't it have waited until Tech Boy had been ready to relive this heartbreak and horror all over again? Because then it wouldn't be much of a nightmare, would it? Isn't that what this place was all about?

"It's a prison cell. An inescapable containment for a god deemed unworthy in Mr. World's eyes." Tech Boy leans in to rest his forehead against K's chest. "It forced me to digitize and into a little box. Quarantined. Like a virus. Cut off from everything. Powerless to do anything to anyone. Or for anyone. Or for myself." He feels exhausted. "I don't know what happens next. I'm stuck there until he decides what to do with me. Will I be reprogrammed? Upgraded? Deleted? Who knows? That fucking psycho is just as likely to do one as any other." He makes a noise expressing exasperation and disgust. "Maybe he'll give me to New Media for her to remake me in her image. I'd rather overwrite myself."

Wrapping his arms around K's waist, Tech Boy mumbles into him, "It's over. There's nothing more in my fucking memory. Is there a way out? Can we leave now?"

[ continuing from here ]

"I like having your undivided attention."

Despite the joking context of their conversation, it's meant sincerely. The quality time they spend together is meaningful because they're choosing to focus on each other. Having the ability to literally be in two places at once — and choosing to be with him but also elsewhere — could run the risk of making him feel secondary. A bridge they'll cross when they get there.

In the present K's just happy to enjoy the show, looking pleased by the gentlemanly kiss before leaning in to return it with one to Tech Boy's cheek. They can both play at being respectable if that's what Tech Boy wants right now. Leaving him to the piano, K decides to settle on one of the nearby benches to watch, rather than sharing the piano bench as he normally would. Depending on how elaborate the god's playing may get, he thinks the extra elbow room could be needed.

Tech Boy is almost disappointed that K doesn't rise to his teasing and instead behaves almost chastely, the embrace perfectly befitting the scene around them. The gentleness still catches him off-guard sometimes, both that someone would want to express that soft emotion towards him and that he enjoys it. It occurs to the god again just how lucky it had been that they'd encountered each other in this place. The Titanic. A doomed ship. A doomed existence. Trapped in a dream and hindered by turn-of-the-century tech. Of all the people they each could have met, somehow they had found each other. Tech Boy still didn't subscribe to the cunning influence of Fate (he'd block all Fate's calls if only he knew how), but he may owe some Old Godess(es) a drink for this one.

Tech Boy raises a hand to his cheek where K kissed him as K seats himself on a bench (former limo seat) to watch. This is good, too. He does so like being the center of K's attention, the sole focus of those gorgeous and intelligent eyes. More than worship (although it's that too sometimes), it strengthens him against his insecurities and warms him down to his ones and zeroes. It hadn't yet occurred to Tech Boy that being in two places at once might split his attention away from K. Honestly, there are some things worth a guy staying 100% present for, and being with his beloved tops that list.

"And I like giving it to you."

As K gets settled, Tech Boy bows to his audience of one and takes his seat behind behind piano. The table with the fruit and bubbly flicker out of existence then reappear within K's reach. Tech Boy's hands will be elsewise occupied, and he wants K to relax.

"As soon as you're comfortable, I'll start. But if there's anything at all you need, interrupt me to ask for it. Anything at all."

The god floats his fingers in position above the keys for a moment, then turns a little toward K as if considering. Abruptly, he smiles as if something has just occurred to him then faces the piano again. Closing his eyes, he takes a slow breath. Then without further comment, Tech Boy begins to play.

It's not that K isn't tempted by the teasing offer. He definitely is. That had, after all, been the gist of his own very first request back in the limo — for something a little more... intimate. Wanting to touch and be touched, to be held while he's still hurting from the effects of October. With Tech Boy ushering them directly into his other, musical request, he figures this is what the god is in the mood for right now. It's just good to be together, regardless of what they're doing. He likes seeing Tech Boy excited to show off, and he will always find an appreciative audience in K.

The reappearance of the strawberries and champagne surprise a smile from him. The little touches. That aren't so little at all, to him. He raises one of the flutes of champagne in a silent toast to Tech Boy before he begins to play... and the surprises only continue. His smile softens at the song that's chosen, touched that Tech Boy would even remember something as inconsequential as a line from a song that K had sung to him in jest months ago. A very old song, no less, that he knew Tech Boy hadn't cared for, which makes him playing it now all the more meaningful. Playing it because K likes it. It's an incredibly sweet gesture.

Gradually relaxing against the bench, his soft smile remains as he listens without interruption. It's played beautifully. Tech Boy plays the closing notes of the song and he still doesn't speak for several moments, then finally offers a quiet, "Thank you for that." There's a passing urge to tease the god about his disdain for all things Old, but he thinks better of it. No sense ruining the moment or downplaying how kind that gesture was. Instead, a request. "Another?"

In the quiet after the last note of the song, Tech Boy finally opens his eyes again. Honestly, for many reasons, he likes this so much better. During the real Titanic incident, there had been too much distraction from antique technology, too much stress over the inevitable outcome of the voyage, and too much time spent info gathering via strategically timed piano renditions of period-inappropriate modern music. Here and now, he can relax into the music and is a better pianist for it. Tech Boy is playing for an audience of one, the only one who really matters to him. He can sink his power and his emotion into the music.... rather than being nagged by the anticipation of a sinking ship. The nightmare had worked out in the end (eventually), but there would be no surprises Backstage other than what K's presence here would cause. And those would be the good kind of surprises. Those he eagerly looked forward to.

Looking over, he appreciates K's more relaxed posture on the bench. Tech Boy is still worried about the fatigue evident in K's body and in his programming, but hopefully this is doing him some good as well. The god is struck with the overwhelming desire to abandon his piano to be by K's side, but the request comes, and he is more than happy to oblige.

"Of course. It's my pleasure."

Before starting, Tech Boy removes his hat with one hand and smooths his hair down with the other. He sets the hat on the top of the piano, within easy reach for when he wants it back. Once again, he rests his fingers over the keys for a moment while he thinks. With all the music in his head, both new and old, he's trying to think of something fitting for his beloved audience. Tech Boy is no singer, so if K doesn't recognize this, one he hopes the meaning of the song comes across in the melody.

He exhales slowly and softly begins the song. He doesn't close his eyes this time, choosing to watch K in the edge of his vision. Tech Boy decides that, after this song, he's going to join K on that bench. At least for a little while. And since the god can set the piano to play without his fingers physically on the keys, they won't be left without mood music. He does very much enjoy performing, but he also wants to pull K into his lap again and spoil him properly.

While the song predates K by more than three decades, it stood the test of time in his homeworld and is considered to be among the classic great love songs, right up there with Your Song. So it's not only familiar to him but it's one he happens to be very fond of — especially now that the emotions described therein resonate with him — which is reflected in the way his expression lights up as Tech Boy plays. Yes, he recognises it. The song is a wonderful choice. The god has better instincts for these kinds of things than he gives himself credit for.

"That was perfect," K says at its conclusion. "Thank you." And he decides that Tech Boy deserves to be serenaded, too. Cuddling of course included, should he want to. "I have one I think you might like," he offers, returning his champagne glass to the table and then standing, smoothing his suit, smiling to himself all the while. This private show was a good idea.

The song in question would have been released only a couple years prior to when Tech Boy's from, assuming it existed in his own homeworld, so K's hopeful that it qualifies as modern music to him. It may not be in the same league as the beautiful classics the god has treated him to, but he suspects it'll be more to Tech Boy's own liking. Or at the very least bring him some amusement; the technology-focused lyrics are clever and more than a little suggestive.

He approaches the piano. "May I?"

K's reaction to All of Me is just what Tech Boy had been hoping for. After the ravages of the last month or so, it's good to see a bit of light coming back into him. All of this had been to bring some comfort where he could offer it, in one of the most secure locations available to them. That there is music and a bit of divine exhibition simply adds to the enjoyment. And it's K's enjoyment that is his primary focus.

Tech Boy would be curious to know which songs did end up withstanding the test of time, through a brutal war, and the collapse of humanity's moral fiber (if their treatment of sentient AI is anything to go by, which Tech Boy does go by and takes as a personal affront). It would be interesting to analyze lyrics and musical patterns, instruments and technique. Perhaps the god could whip up something new with that data. And with someone in his life actually compose a love song for? Wouldn't that be something?

Staying seated on the bench, Tech Boy bows a little and slides to make room for K, giving him the prime position on the bench. It's always a treat when K plays for him--and when they play together--and the expression on his face shows just how chuffed he is.

"Of course. My absolute pleasure."

He has no intention of relinquishing the bench entirely, but he'll stay out of the way so K can play with full range of motion. Once he sees how much space K will need, it's his intention to slide back next to him, either leaning his head on K's arm or putting his hand on his thigh while he plays. Perhaps both, if it's not too distracting.

Sliding onto the bench beside Tech Boy, he raises his hands to the keys and pauses for a moment or two, mentally running through a song not originally intended for the piano and transcribing it accordingly. A skill he's been getting better at through practise. The melody isn't so complicated that he'll be hindered by Tech Boy's proximity — and, realising this, pointedly holds open his arm nearest Tech Boy, inviting him to scoot in closer against him. Assuming he does, K will keep his arm around him as he begins playing.

He's banking on the song having been prominent enough in the pop culture of Tech Boy's homeworld to be familiar to him. But he's also less reticent than the god when it comes to singing, and eventually does sing a few select lines in his soft baritone while he plays:

And I won't change myself,
I don't want anybody else...

I'm so in love with the man of the future,
The only one who brings me joy
Is my computer
Boy—

It's quickly becoming a struggle, however, due to trying not to laugh, which he finally gives into as he sings the line about wanting your floppy disk to be my hard drive. Hopefully the spirit of the euphemism makes up for the comparison to outdated technology, since he isn't (yet) creative enough to adjust the lyrics on the fly to better suit their situation. Perhaps one day.

Tech Boy doesn't have to be asked twice as K offers him the space inside of his arm. He snuggles close, placing one hand on K's thigh and trying not to get too distracted by the muscle he can feel under the fabric. It would be so easy to let his mind and fingers wander toward more carnal pleasures, but he's terribly curious about what song K has chosen for the occasion. He'll behave and be good for now. Intimately positioned, but good.

When the tune begins, a smile starts to spread on Tech Boy's face, utterly amused. The rendition is inspired, extremely well modified from its original format into a piano composition. It's a stellar example of just how brilliant and flexible K's mind is--and isn't creation an act of free will to a certain extent? Tech Boy turns his gaze from K's fingers to his face. It certainly seems that way to this god.

The grin on Tech Boy's face broadens as K begins to sing, and by the time K breaks out into laughter, Tech Boy has dissolved into a fit of nasal giggles. He turns to bury his face into K's side, trying to regain composure and failing. After a few more moments of this, Tech Boy turns to flop into K's lap in the narrow space between K's body and the row of piano keys, completely interrupting his ability to play. (Although K is welcome to try to continue, if he can from this position.)

"Ahhh, a love song for the ages," he teases, completely amused ~~and becoming aroused~~. "And so literal." Tech Boy reaches up to hook a finger in the collar of K's shirt. "I'm your computer boy. But you're the man of the future. Not me." He tugs a little, pestering but with no real insistence. "What was that about your hard drive?"

Edited 2021-07-31 07:46 (UTC)

"Man of the future can also apply to you. 'Of', preposition, used as a function word to indicate a characteristic or distinctive quality or possession," K recites from memory, not even trying to hide his smile. "You said yourself that your advancement inspires human innovations, but that it's all you. You set the benchmark, and when they get too close, you raise it. You lead them to the future."

If Tech Boy wants to argue semantics, they can argue semantics, because K stands by how he's chosen to interpret the silly song. So it wasn't as sweetly romantic as the god's own choice of songs, but that had just been intended as a warm-up. He makes no effort to move Tech Boy or try to play around him, though, instead holding onto him to help ensure he won't slip, because K's happy to have him in his lap. Happy in more ways than one. The hard part is resisting the familiar urge to slip his fingers into Tech Boy's hair, particularly when he's laid himself out in such a prime position for it. But he can also appreciate the god's impeccable grooming enough to be reluctant to mess it up.

"Maybe you could help clear my hard drive's cache," he says as he reaches to almost mirror Tech Boy's gesture, fingers tracing the collar of his shirt, then the delicate skin of his throat. Hair petting may be on hold, but there's no reason other parts of his body should be neglected.

"I like it here," he adds after a moment, casually undoing the topmost button of Tech Boy's shirt so he can explore a little more bare skin. "Is my physical body still out there, or do I exist fully within this space when I'm brought in?" He knows which it is for Tech Boy himself, but isn't sure whether the same freedom from being stuck in a physical form extends to him. He's always been envious of Tech Boy, Joi, and Arid's abilities to freely inhabit virtual space such as Deerington's network; he's no less of an AI than they are, and it seems bitterly unfair to him that he's been unable to natively do the same. That his limitations are sometimes so... human, when he isn't one. And never wants to be treated like one.

[ continuing from here ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

.OOC-TRACKER { DEERSHIP // OVERFLOW

[Deerington] FINAL EVENT: The Door Opens and the Lighthouses Return

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[Deerington] February 2021: Look, My Love.

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[Deerington] January 2021: Can't You See Me?

[Deerington] December 2020: First Xmas (of many)

[Deerington] November 2020: Incept Day / Going Backstage

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this is so self indulgent i love it

it's really perfect lol

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[Deerington] October 2020: Blackout