11. Volt #2
“Hey, darling,” Volt greeted him, sliding into the same side of the booth.
“Hey, Daddy,” Wallace whispered back, turning his face up for a kiss.
Volt took up the invitation eagerly, breathing in all of the soft sweetness of his baby boy and sucking at his plush lips. He had to hold himself back from devouring him right there. Wallace was positively edible.
This was exactly what Volt had needed after the stressful news. With Wallace, everything was so simple. Relaxed.
Wallace’s food came, and they talked about movies they’d seen. About books they wanted to read. About the play they’d be going to see on Friday, and the reviews Volt looked up. Nothing heavy or stressful, just boyfriends enjoying a morning together.
Volt got to watch Wallace savor a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes, unable to stop himself from darting in periodically to lick the flavors from his lips.
Wallace giggled. “Daddy,” he whispered furtively. “You can’t keep doing that.”
“And why not?” Volt chuckled back. “You’re my breakfast.”
Wallace giggled again. “I’m not breakfast.” He was blushing to the tips of his ears, absolutely gorgeous.
“Oh, but you could be!” Volt countered, licking against his neck. “You’re my creampuff. Come back to Prism and I’ll show you.”
“Daddy!” Wallace whined, still at a whisper. “I have to go to work!”
“Mmmmm… Are you sure you can’t take another day off? I haven’t had my breakfast yet.”
Wallace blushed, looking around, then boldly whispered, “Maybe I want my breakfast, then,” while giving Volt a hungry leer.
Volt grinned. His sweet baby boy was growing bold, and he loved watching that confidence bloom. “That could be arranged.” He nuzzled against Wallace’s neck, then gave it a little nip.
Wallace shivered, leaning into Volt’s body, but then straightened. “Uh, Daddy? Can I ask you something?”
Volt tried not to frown, hoping that this wasn’t too serious. “Yes?”
Wallace whispered the words, clearly conscious of the other diners around them. “Is there, um, a reason that you always touch me and not, uh, the other way around?”
Volt’s tension melted away. That was an easy one. He kissed the tip of Wallace’s adorable nose. “Because I like making you happy.” He pressed closer to whisper against Wallace’s ear. “And because I love your body. I’m kind of addicted to hearing you scream my name.”
Wallace gave a little whimper, but he still pulled back, worry etched on his face. “Are you sure? I know I’m not very good at this, but I promise I could…”
Volt shut off those words with a kiss. “You’re perfect. I love having you touch me. You can touch me anywhere you like. Any time.” Didn’t he know that? “You’re my sub, but you’re still my boyfriend.”
Wallace smiled at the word boyfriend, but then his brow furrowed. “Okay, then I was wondering if, uh, maybe, uh, well, I read about this. That some sex workers need to separate between their work and their relationships. And it’s easier not to be touched by their partners.”
Volt shook his head, immediately rejecting the idea.
If anything, it was clients he’d been having trouble connecting with.
He’d been taking fewer clients than he used to, though that only made sense when he was busy with Wallace a few days a week, and he was rejecting any customers who expressed an interest in kink.
Plus, with the two bots Wallace had fixed, he didn’t need to be on the floor as often.
It had started to feel more like work, though. Like a chore, or something to finish up and move on from.
But it wasn’t like he was bad at it or anything. Just… preoccupied.
That was it.
And as for the touching thing, Wallace had nothing to worry about. “You’re the only one I think about,” he promised. “I want you to touch me.”
Instead of looking reassured, Wallace only looked more worried. “Okay,” he agreed anyway, turning back to his nearly empty plate. He stuck his fork in his last bite of pancake but didn’t attempt to eat it.
Dammit. Volt had messed something up. But how? He tipped Wallace’s face up to him. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby boy.”
Wallace blinked a few times. “It’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t.” Whatever the problem was, Volt wanted to solve it. His baby should never be miserable. “Please tell me.”
Wallace opened his mouth, and then closed it.
Suddenly a thought struck, and not a very pleasant one. “Wait, do you want a different role, uh, in the bedroom?” Not that he was against it. He was totally vers. He’d submitted to many clients in the past, though it didn’t do much for him.
If Wallace didn’t really want their kink relationship, or wanted to change it, well… He could give that up, he supposed. And he would. For Wallace.
Wallace looked stunned, though. “No!” he shouted, then looked around, realizing how loud he’d been.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Uh, I mean, no. I like it when you’re in charge some of the time.
Or, like, pretty much all of the time.” He squirmed adorably, then said, even softer, like he was imparting a secret. “I really, really, like it, Daddy.”
“I like it, too.” Volt gave him a soft kiss.
“But I’ve asked a lot of times,” Wallace continued, “if I could do something for you, to, you know, serve you? Or just touch you? And you always say yes, but it kind of… doesn’t happen?
You, uh, always just touch me. With just your hands.
And not like… I mean, penetrative sex isn’t everything.
But, uh… I know I’m not very good in bed.
I was wondering if you want to be with someone who’s better at this stuff? ”
“Absolutely not,” Volt growled. “There’s nobody I want more. I love having your hands on me. I want to share everything with you.” He was being completely honest. But the rest of what Wallace said… He’d discounted it the first time Wallace asked, but was that true?
It couldn’t be. Wallace touched him all the time. He loved how confident his sweet submissive was growing in asking for what he wanted.
Volt did a quick review of their interactions—all of which he had recorded and saved, separately from his informal, organic memories—but his subconscious pattern recognition verified it before he could even check them all.
Every single time. The same thing.
Not only had Volt made sure the touching had only gone in one direction, but he could see that Wallace had asked repeatedly to touch him, sometimes quite directly, and somehow it hadn’t happened.
Well, he’d had Wallace suck on his fingers or chest quite often. But somehow, as often as he’d taken Wallace’s delightful little cocklet into his hands and mouth, he’d never allowed so much as a touch of Wallace’s finger to his own dick.
And penetrative sex… How come they hadn’t done that? He hadn’t even let Wallace attempt a blowjob after that one ill-fated attempt when Wallace had to leave unexpectedly for work before they’d even gotten started.
Volt wanted to say that he’d just gotten swept away in the moment every time, but was that it?
He loved the idea of Wallace touching him. He fantasized about Wallace serving him. So… what happened?
“I don’t know what happened,” Wallace told him, looking confused now instead of worried. “That’s why I was asking you.”
Volt scanned back over his automatic recording of the last few seconds and realized that he’d said that aloud. “Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t know I said that out loud.” His mind was really slipping. “I truly… I don’t know why I didn’t let you touch me. It wasn’t on purpose.”
“Do you think it’s because of your job?” Wallace asked carefully.
Volt’s gears ground unpleasantly, jangling out of synch. It had to be. His job. His programming. He was a sexbot, designed from the synthetic hair on his head to the polymers of his toes to bring customers pleasure.
And the second he saw Wallace, that was all he wanted—not just to bring Wallace pleasure, but to be intimate. Together.
Yet something beyond his conscious awareness had clearly been dictating his actions.
Was his programmed focus on serving customers so strong that he was incapable of having a regular romantic relationship? Of letting Wallace touch him?
No, that didn’t make sense.
He loved spending time with Wallace like this, enjoying the city and the laughter they shared. So if Wallace had kept asking him not just for sex, but for more intimate touch, for reciprocity, why hadn’t he done it?
Especially the penetrative sex thing. Why was he avoiding it?
He had plenty of customers who he’d fucked on a regular basis.
That was pretty much the standard request. Or the other way around.
He’d always enjoyed it at the time, but it kind of merged into a river of unremarkable memories, too.
It was just membranes rubbing together, a job that he excelled at but didn’t think about too much while he was doing it.
It was all so confusing.
He’d thought that his sex work was completely different from what he had with his boyfriend. He hadn’t expected them to have any bearing on each other at all, beyond being glad that Wallace wasn’t judging him or forcing him to change.
But clearly some of that was affecting his actions. And he hadn’t even realized it.
He rested his forehead against Wallace’s. “I think it must be because of my job. Or my programming. I’m sorry, baby boy. I didn’t realize.”
He felt awful. Guilty, maybe? He hadn’t been listening to Wallace’s needs. And he didn’t even know why.
Worse, he wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore. How had he ended up doing that without realizing it?
Angel? He sent out a questioning pulse through the cafe’s internet.
What is it? Everything okay?
Yeah, sorry. It’s fine. I was just wondering. Do you ever do things that you didn’t realize you were doing?
Angel sent back a burst of amusement. Yeah. It’s kind of a spark thing. One of the E’s, I think.