Chapter 21
Notes:
Ahahaha, okay, okay, more superhero stuff in the ending notes! But first someone else needs a little convincing…
Raina.
ROWAN
“RoRo, baby boy, favorite of mine among our siblings—don’t tell the others I said that.”
Rowan was pretty sure they knew.
“What are you thinking? I mean, you’ve always been a little off your rocker, and I love you for that, but this? It’s certifiable!”
Needless to say, Raina was not convinced that Rowan’s relationship with a newly awakened Milo was a good thing. She hadn’t let it go all day.
All.
Day.
Unless they were deeply involved in work, be it lunch, a quick break, or just some general downtime like now, Raina kept diving right back into how Rowan was out of his mind.
He certainly felt like he was with her constant badgering.
He was already distracted from work by being away from Milo, wondering if he was truly okay with Troy, who seemed pleasant and trustworthy enough, but Rowan didn't actually know him.
Rowan had almost gone down to check on Milo in person multiple times throughout the day, but every time he sent a message instead.
Rowan: Everything okay, Milo? Contact me immediately if you need anything.
Milo: Everything is great, Rowan! We are learning so much! Troy and I have even read some of the same romance novels!
Milo, well, derailed things in a different direction than Rowan expected, and he felt like he would seem far too needy and neurotic if he went down there for no reason. Milo was fine, having fun even.
Without him.
“Raina, it can’t be certifiable if it’s a situation that no one else has ever experienced before.” Rowan spoke slowly and to the point, keeping turned toward his workstation so he wouldn’t have to look at her.
“We’ll just see what the rest of the family has to—”
“You are not putting this in the family chat!” Rowan whirled around in his chair after all, ready to slap the phone from her hand.
She wasn’t holding it but smirked at him like she’d won some private bet with herself.
Rude. “This isn’t just personal information anymore, remember?
It’s proprietary. It was bad enough when Ruben ran into us at that museum. ”
“Ruben met your build-a-bot?” Raina exclaimed. “He knew before I did?”
“He is not a build-a-bot! I mean…” Rowan cringed at not being able to deny that the term was technically accurate. “He’s more than that now, okay? And Ruben just thinks Milo is my boyfriend. My human boyfriend. Milo was wearing sunglasses when they met.”
“Then can we get back to the question you’ve been avoiding since yesterday and admit the truth already?”
“What truth?”
Raina fixed Rowan with a stern stare. “Is he your boyfriend? Are you dating your bot now like some normal couple?”
Rowan hadn’t realized he’d been avoiding labelling them officially, but…
well, maybe he had realized. The truth was he didn’t have an answer.
“We haven’t named this yet,” he admitted.
“What we are. What we’re doing. He only awakened a few days ago, thrust into an unfamiliar world, and now he’s been outed to several more people, which is only the tip of a gigantic iceberg beneath the surface. It’s a lot.”
Raina hadn’t changed her expression or shifted her eyes from his yet.
She hadn’t blinked either.
But as much as that stare would have gotten Rowan to admit when they were children that he’d been the one to eat the last cookie without first asking if everyone else had gotten one, he was an adult now!
And he still didn’t have an answer.
He liked Milo. A lot. Not only did he find him attractive, like he always had, but now he also liked Milo’s personality—because Milo finally had one that extended beyond a nice voice and programmed good manners.
He wasn’t just smart, since as a bot he had access to whatever information he wanted—then again, so did most humans—he was also clever.
And thoughtful. Unexpectedly funny. Refreshingly blunt.
He was the best partner Rowan could have imagined for himself, even if he’d… built him himself.
Which he basically had.
“There it is,” Raina said matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“You’re having doubts too that you haven’t addressed yet.”
“We’ve been talking things out!” Rowan argued. Of course that didn’t change that there were still several factors that made this weird.
And maybe wrong.
But mostly weird.
To Raina’s credit, much as she could be chiding and even overbearing as the protective oldest of the family, it was all because she loved Rowan.
The way her expression finally melted into one of sympathy said that plenty.
“Be careful, okay? Because no one else has ever experienced this before, there’s no way to know how many ways it might hurt you if things go sour. ”
“I know that,” Rowan said softly. “But honestly? I’m more worried about Milo getting hurt, not me. His intentions are as pure as anyone with their first… um…”
“Love?” Raina finished pointedly.
That thought definitely amped up the weird.
And wrong.
But mostly weird.
“It’s only been a few days!” Rowan said again.
“Actually, it’s been a few months of you pining after your sentient toaster. Well, before he was sentient. Only now he is, so that’s… better? But this is still so totally fucked!”
Now Rowan fixed her with a stern stare. “Milo is more than a sentient toaster.”
Raina snorted. “Yeah, and you’re Pygmalion falling in love with his creation.”
“I didn’t make Milo.”
“Didn’t you? You customized him. Molded him. Sounds like Pygmalion to me.” She grinned.
Rowan wanted to argue, but then… Pygmalion was one of the few happy endings for a mortal in Greek mythology. Because his love had been deemed pure, his creation had been made real so she could love freely, and they lived happily ever—
“Disaster.”
“Huh?” Rowan snapped his attention back to his sister after having drifted off.
“I said—”
“Rowan, hello!”
Rowan flinched. Naturally, Milo chose now to interrupt them, suddenly appearing from behind Rowan around his workstation.
Alongside Troy, whose eyes were weirdly bulged, lips pursed in a straight line, and body tense, while he was visibly trying to not look at Raina.
“It is nearly the end of the day,” Milo continued, “and Troy said he was finished with me for the evening. He also said he might do more tests on Ray tonight, but I told him to remember his work-life balance.” Milo grinned and, in contrast to Troy, looked directly at Raina.
“He is the diligent type who works too hard sometimes. Admirable, of course, but we wouldn’t want him to burn out when there is more to do in the days ahead. ”
Troy fidgeted.
Raina scowled.
What was Milo doing?
“Oh, my apologies, Raina,” Milo said, as if just noticing her, despite having been making eye contact for several seconds. “I feel like I should introduce myself, since we haven’t officially met since, well…”
“Since you became a real boy?” Raina droned.
Rowan shot her a glare.
“Exactly!” Milo, however, kept his smile as if he thought it a compliment rather than the dig Rowan knew it to be. “Do you remember Dr. Troy Palmer, Raina? PHD, not medical, naturally, but a paragon in his field, to be sure. And attractive!”
Rowan resisted the very tempting urge to snicker.
But wait. Was Milo just saying that for Raina's benefit, or did he himself think Troy was attractive?
Not that he wasn't! He was... fine. Milo didn't need to say it though. Or at least not when Rowan was around to hear it, because apparently the thought of Milo finding anyone else attractive twisted Rowan’s gut like a poorly baked pretzel.
Raina mostly just looked confused.
“Uh, sure, I think?” she said. “Sorry, Trey, was it?”
“T-Troy,” Troy stuttered, finally letting his eyes drift to her. He raised a hand like a grade school kid might wave at a parade. “Hi. We, um, met a few years ago. And see each other in the halls sometimes. Weekly. Daily,” he added under his breath.
Rowan failed to suppress his second snicker but covered it as a cough. If that was true, he could only assume it was because Troy made sure to cross paths with Raina, and she was thoroughly oblivious.
Raina looked between Troy and Milo with a narrowed gaze, both of whom were just standing there now, as if waiting for how she’d respond.
How she did was to scoot her roller chair closer to Rowan, hold up a finger toward Troy and Milo, saying, “One moment,” and proceeded to drag Rowan by his roller chair over to her side by kicking off his desk with a leg on either side of him.
She dropped her legs again once they were safely out of eavesdropping distance and whispered, “What is happening right now?”
Rowan managed to not snicker but couldn’t help smiling. “Um, Milo is saying hi and brought Troy over to say hi to you too?”
“Do not bullshit me right now, Rowan.”
“I’m as in the dark as you are!” Rowan hissed. “Milo has a mind of his own, remember? Just go easy on Troy. He’s… nice.” Rowan tried to kick off the ground to roll back to his station, but Raina held fast to the edges of his seat.
To Rowan’s chagrin, she was back to looking serious and concerned for his sake as she said pointedly, “Be. Careful. Okay?”
Feeling the weight of Milo’s gaze on the back of his head, Rowan could only nod.
Raina released his chair, and he successfully rolled back over to where Milo and Troy waited off the side of his station.
“Ready to go home?” Rowan asked Milo.
“Very much so!” Milo beamed. “It was nice seeing you, Raina. And Troy, didn’t you have something to ask her?” He surprised Rowan by hoisting him out of his chair. “We’ll head home and leave you two alone. Have a good night!”
“Milo—” Rowan barely got his protest out—and just managed to grab his tablet and bag—before Milo was yanking him out of the work area to head for the elevators, leaving a floundering Troy behind with a scowling Raina who, after Rowan covertly glanced back on the way down the walkway, definitely looked like her eyes were saying: