Black Hawk Skimming

By Sinead

..

Light.

Dark.

And then greys.

Karr felt his optical sensors beginning to boot up. He couldn't feel anything. That was disconcerting.

Shapes forming.

Smooth lines, sweet planes, and . . . beautiful eyes.

Color.

The light blush on her alabaster cheeks made his CPU want to dance. She was pleased! Her golden eyes were lit up in a smile, and he felt something new begin to take root in the center of his consciousness. That smile caused something new in him. Longing. He wanted to touch that face, feel it with his hands. Her smile was tender, and she was patient, moving actual human hair that was implanted as a wig away from his face, stroking the forehead he still couldn't feel with her fingertips.

Depth perception came into play.

Wow.

He didn't look away from her face.

And he felt her hand within his. The sensation was sudden, and the touch was like fire. He carefully gripped her hand in return, softly curling his fingers around hers. Raevyn's whisper was still unheard, but her mouth moved as if she were saying his name. He could only watch her, feel her hand now moving over his forehead again, stroking it tenderly. It soothed him, bringing him back from the sudden panic that said that this wasn't the right thing to do, that he had made a mistake in going into this body.

His eyes half-closed, and he felt himself seem to draw inwards, concentrating upon that touch. And then he heard her humming. He could turn his head, and he did so, pushing his forehead against her hand, wanting more touch. His eyes closed at feeling her hand cup his cheek, warming it. Karr felt his vocalizer boot up, and with a smile, whispered softly, "Rae."

His hearing came next, just in time to make out her reply that was a welcome and an endearment in one, "Karr."

Nothing more was said for long minutes as his new frame came to life. His CPU needed to be cooled. So he breathed. His frame needed pressure taken off of certain areas, so he shifted himself onto his side with a lot of help from his partner. He felt lonely, weak, and so he was consoled as Raevyn got up onto the table and supported his head in her lap, running her hand through his hair.

"I feel strange."

"Good strange or a bad strange?" She helped him sit up as more motor control came to him, as he learned how to keep his balance.

Clumsily, watching his hand to make sure that it was doing the right movements, Karr managed to move it over and rest it upon Raevyn's hand. She turned her hand so her palm was against his, and her fingers wove through his. The sensation caused his processor to whirr silently, trying to identify what it was that he was feeling.

And he knew it was love. He knew it was the decision to love this young woman, this amazing woman who cared for him. He knew it was his programming changing. He felt it change, he felt his mindset shift. And he didn't care.

Karr rested his head upon Raevyn's shoulder, resting and letting himself just enjoy being able to be so close to her, able to express himself around her.

.o.

Kitt came up beside Raevyn, resting his hands upon her shoulders and leaning upon her lightly, a bright smile upon his innocent face. "How is he?"

"Recharging," came her reply as she leaned back against the android. He was a brother to her, and had been helping the pair really become more and more attuned to each other. With a smile, she looked up at his eyes, seeing their blue depths happy. Her voice was soft. "Karr was happy, saying that you really were right."

"He exhausted himself trying to learn and catch up." Smiling, she stroked the back of Karr's hand.

Kitt walked around the table that Karr lay upon and took the second stool. "I'm glad that we kept the technicians away from you and Karr while he woke up. That was something that I knew you two would need to do alone. Michael and I knew that if there had been any problems, you would call." He reached out to rest his hand upon his brother's, coming to rest beside him. "I am very happy for you both that he decided to do this."

"Why?" Raevyn asked, very curious.

He reached over the recharging android, stroking her face. "Because you love each other. And you both need to find out what kind of love you hold for each other."

.o.

Karr's movements were swift, deadly. He moved through the sets of martial arts with an ease that any master would envy. Raevyn watched him, moving around the room to see his movements from different angles. There was a deadly focus that he had on his face, determined to master his new body, to master his reactions and subroutines. He had been in his new body for two weeks, and there had been a growing tension between himself and Raevyn, and one that hadn't been between them before.

He spun when she was passing close behind him, pinning her against the wall and resting a hand on either side of her shoulders. His face leaned in, and he watched her expressions, which went from shocked to curious to a smile of trust. Chuckling, he whispered in a rough voice, "There is something about my sense of smell that you will not like to know about."

"Really," she murmured, smiling, curious.

"Pheromones. Hormones. I can smell them and catalogue them. They're as plain as day to me."

Her face paled lightly.

"You smell . . ." And he didn't finish it for a moment, leaning in and drawing in a deep breath from right at the corner of her jaw. "Like you want something more." He paused so close to her skin, but then drew back, dark brown eyes teasing.

The young woman gave him a teasing glare in return and slid out from under his arms, not wanting to deal with what he wanted to talk about. "So we have our first mission together in a week."

"Oh, we do," he replied, following her. He reached out and touched her back with his fingertips, pausing her forward movement. "But that is in a week, and it's all diplomatic." Karr moved around her, and tapped into the surveillance system, offlining the cameras. Looking down at her face, he murmured, "And we have some talking to do."

She looked up at him, saw that the camera behind him was off, and then bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "All right." Taking his hand, she led him out of the training room, across the lawn, and into the Knight estate mansion. Karr frowned. She wasn't really going to bring him to her room, was she? That would be ridiculous. Her pheromones were already going through the roof, and he suspected that anything more would send her over.

But would he mind that so much?

They entered her suite, and Karr asked quietly, "Why here?"

Raevyn turned, still holding Karr's hand. "Because nobody will come in here to find us. We're never in here together." She started to let his hand go, but he didn't release her.

Pulling her close, he slowly, curiously, wrapped his arms around her. He felt her just as slowly return the embrace. And he spoke. "We need to talk about us."

Her arms tightened around him. "In what way?"

"You grow tense, and you get silent at strange moments around me. Why?"

Karr didn't loose his arms, and Raevyn leaned into his hold as she thought. It was a long moment that she finally broke with her words. "Because it's new to me, and while I've been trying to adjust to you being around me like this." She rested her cheek against his chest, feeling the beat of the fluid pump, hearing the air going down into the lungs to cool his CPU. "And I love you. And I know that I want more from us, but I don't know how it's going to work out."

The AI analyzed this, then rested his cheek against her hair, curious to see how it felt. He processed the conversation, then murmured, "Neither do I. But I do have to admit that I enjoy holding you like this." Hearing her chuckle, feeling it, Karr didn't say anything more.

His mind was revolving around wondering where they were going to bring their relationship. It was no longer the car-driver relationship . . . so then what was it? He didn't know. But he didn't want to think too much upon it. He wanted to be able to hold her for just right now. And that was all.