Jeremy would feel chastised, being led around by the Squip, hand in hand like a child, if he wasn't so damn excited to be doing something as simple and corny as holding hands.

The carnival was crowded, packed beyond belief really, especially when you took into consideration their terribly tiny town size. God, half the population had to be there, just from the sheer mass of bodies surrounding them. The lines stretched out by the rides and people puddled together at the concession stands. Everyone was bustling and cheerful, and Jeremy was no better. The Squip tried to undermine his excitement with a comment on how childish it was to be running around like an amused toddler, but he wouldn't have any of it.

So Jeremy was excited, sue him. It was his first real date! That was enough to be excited about even if you weren't thinking about all the fun things you could do at a carnival. Jeremy was determined to take another crack at the fishing game this year, or try to finally get more than just one ring around a duck neck. He had goals for these things. He and Michael usually came to the carnival when it was around, his dad would give him a couple bucks and fulfill his fatherly love quota for the month, then he and Michael would spend the day out. Eating fried foods, drinking Michael's vintage soft drinks and seeing what games the arcade had to offer; there was an array of amusement.

With Michael, it was always a race to the next thing, always weaving through the mass of people to see who'd be first to the following exhibit.

So Jeremy was accustomed to moving fast here.

The Squip, decidedly wasn't.

On more than one occasion Jeremy's excitement had led to the Squip almost panicky chasing after him. He'd had to be reminded of the Squip's limited range over and over again, but Jeremy couldn't control his energy and kept wandering just barely shy of too far. Eventually, after Jeremy had almost exceeded the five foot radius twice more, the Squip grabbed him by the arm. He wheeled Jeremy back in, gave him a look that reminded Jeremy of a scolding parent, and told him to stay put.

He'd laced his fingers with Jeremy's, snuffing when Jeremy blushed, and they continued on at the Squip's far more leisurely pace.

Jeremy found he didn't mind so much... His hand was surprisingly warm...

Jeremy kicked himself for being so easy to tame.

The Squip huffed beside him, grinning, and offered to get Jeremy an elephant ear or something equally fried and sugary to curb the appetite he could already feel forming.

Jeremy didn't think about it until after he had a huge plate of fried dough sitting in front of him, one bite already in his mouth, but he suddenly wondered how the Squip had been able to pay for it.

"Where did you get money?" he asked, taking a huge mouthful of his elephant ear.

"I borrowed the cash you keep in your sock drawer to invest in some stocks I had reason to believe held a high success rate." he said casually, ignoring when Jeremy gave him a small, outraged huff.

"You stole my-"

"Borrowed it." he corrected quickly, "Besides, you didn't miss it. I returned your money and walked away with a suitable amount of my own."

"Wouldn't that technically make it my money?"

"It was a loan, your original funds were returned to you with a 5% interest." he smirked, "not that you had much. A whole dollar's worth of interest isn't much, but I suppose it's still an additional dollar. Didn't you bother to count your money before we got here? You didn't question the extra dollar?"

Jeremy shrugged and took another bite, "I just thought I'd miscounted before."

"Don't talk with a mouthful of food. It's not very becoming."

Jeremy frowned, swallowed, and jerked his chin up, "When did you start investing? You never did that before."

"I didn't have a body with which to do it before. I secured some funds for myself after agreeing to take you out on a date. It's rude to show up on a first date without any money, unless you're the established beta in the relationship, in which case the Alpha is expected to pay." he snorted, "Do remember, especially with women, Jeremy, that they'll expect you to treat them as an equal. But, while you're treating them like an equal, you'll also be expected to pay, hold the door open, and offer up your jacket because they simply refuse to bring one with them when they go out."

"That sounds... complicated," Jeremy groaned.

"Women generally are."

"Why is dating so hard?"

"It's a developed system, meant to weed out the unsavory to find what you might deem 'the perfect potential mate'. Whether or not you believe it, humans are still driven by the base instinct of survival of the fittest. Dating is just the same as picking the neanderthal that killed the bigger animal."

"I can't even dissect a frog without getting queezey..." Jeremy admitted, feeling a little defeated.

"I know. Which is why you're so fortunate that the equivalent to hunting in this day and age is to provide by means of money."

"So, if I go out on a date, I should... buy them stuff?"

"Unless you're the acting beta, like today."

Jeremy kicked his feet along the ground, feeling strangely undervalued having it all put out on the table like that. He'd liked the idea of being treated to something tasty, but it was less appealing after hearing all the... scientific meaning behind it. It had all been calculated. Humans tended to do something like buy a gift because they genuinely wanted to see the other person smile, feel happy, or something else much more affectionate than just 'because they should'.

The Squip sighed, "I'm not a human, Jeremy. It would benefit you to work a little harder to remember that. Otherwise you're going to start down a road to heartbreak very quickly."

Jeremy's frown deepened, bordering on frustration, "I'm not trying to."

"I know." The Squip said, suddenly much softer in tone, "I apologize for frustrating you. That's not something to do on a date."

Jeremy felt a little stunned, hearing the Squip actually apologize to him, but he smiled anyway, "Thanks."

"Finish your food. Then you can try to ring one of the ducks."

Jeremy happily finished the rest of his sweet dough, offering some to the Squip even though he didn't really need to eat. He could eat, for appearances, but that was all it was. He couldn't 'taste' so much as dicsect which ingredients the meal consisted of. It was analytical, not for pleasure. Jeremy almost felt bad for him. Elephant ears were amazing.

He tried to ring the ducks, ignoring the Squip's spouting of trivia on the statistics of actually winning, then on how they rigged the games, then how Jeremy could manipulate their cheating to his own advantage.

"Do you want to try?" Jeremy huffed, annoyed, and shared in the irritated look the gamemaster was giving him.

The man at the booth didn't even charge him, just slid two rings over to the Squip with a smug sneer, "First two are free, since you seem to confident in yourself."

The Squip blinked, but came forward when Jeremy nudged him, "Go on. If you can win me the llama up there then I'll tell you how much better you are than me."

He huffed, picking up a ring, "I don't need you to tell me that to know it. It's a very obvious reality."

The gamemaster scoffed, "You're here on a date with this asshole?"

The Squip narrowed his eyes and pointed to the llama, "How many rings before I win the llama?"

"Four in total." he said, and tugged on his ginger beard in consideration, "Though, I'll tell yah what, if you can get five in a row, it's yours for free."

Jeremy looked to him eagerly, "Think you can?"

"You're just going to give me the llama? What a good way to lose money."

The man snorted, "Of course not. If you can't do it you pay me the seven bucks you'd normally pay for five rings."

"You know how to do it right?" Jeremy smirked, feeling a little cocky himself and more than willing to let the Squip lose his money.

The Squip hummed and lifted a ring, "Your faith in me is truly overwhelming." he said simply, and landed the first ring easily.

The gamemaster blinked, and Jeremy already knew he was about to be walking away with a free llama.

Two, three, four-

"Damn it, what's the trick? This game isn't even supposed to have a trick!" the gamemaster shouted angrily, "There's no way."

The Squip smirked, lifted the final right and twirled it around his finger once just for Jeremy's sake, then spun the hoop at the precise speed, aiming with the estimated 57 degree angle, and accounted for the small currents placed systematically within the pool to keep the ducks moving ever so slightly. Some places used ice, the melting water creating flow and the water temperature helping to shift small currents as well. Some places stooped so low as to weight the ducks a certain way.

The Squip knew all the tricks. He landed the fifth loop.

Jeremy found himself jumping up with a cheer, another couple who'd been watching clapping with him and a couple kids 'ooing'.

The gamemaster begrudgingly handed over the overly giant llama to the Squip and tipped his hat, "Alright. Ya got me."

The Squip grinned, then turned and presented his prize to Jeremy, "There you are."

Jeremy, excited and impressed, leaned up on his toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek, smiling as he pulled back, ecstatic over having actually caught the Squip by surprise.

"Well..." The Squip coughed.

The gamemaster chortled.

"Want to check out some rides?" Jeremy asked, suddenly sheepish and hoping to distract himself from their tiny audience.

He took the Squip's hand again, tucking the giant animal under his arm and grinning from ear to ear as they headed off. They stood in line for one of the easier rides, Jeremy admitting that he couldn't really stomach things like the zipper very well. In the line, almost to the front, they ran into a familiar face.

"Jeremy!"

Jeremy turned his head, halfway into a conversation with the Squip about how to trick his dad into wearing pants again, and blinked. The voice caught him off guard, startling Jeremy to a point where he whipped his head around at the sound. Michael. That voice was Michael's. Michael was there and Jeremy out was on a date with the damn Squip.

The Squip held his hand, the corner of his mouth upturning in a small, comforting gesture, and gave Jeremy's hand a quick, uncharacteristically supportive squeeze.

Jeremy smiled to Michael as he approached them, doing his best not to show how shocked he really was.

"Michael, hey!"

"What are you doing here? I mean, I know, it's the carnival, but we usually go together and I didn't expect to see you here!"

Jeremy shyly tucked his head against his shoulder and rubbed at the back of his neck, "Yeah... well... uh..."

It was then that Michael seemed to realize the Squip was even there. He took in his appearance curiously, up and down, before finally spying their joined hands, "Oh." he said, "And uh, who's this?"

Jeremy felt out of his depth, opening and closing his mouth a few times before the Squip released his hand, stretching out a hand to shake with Michael, "Hello, I'm Andrew, his date."

Michael blinked.

He was silent a moment before he dumbly took his hand, shaking in a daze, "Date?"

Jeremy was still looking confusedly at the Squip, "Uh, yeah..." he said, still off kilter, "...Andrew."

"Right." Michael said, "Andrew. Got that."

"We're on a date..."

The Squip gave Jeremy a disappointed look before reaching down for his hand again. It seemed to pull Jeremy out of his stumped stupor, inviting a new tone of panicked need to cover for himself, "I mean, we're on our first date. Here. Right now. I uh... yeah."

Beside him, The Squip huffed.

"Where'd you two meet?" Michael asked, crossing his arms in a way that screamed defensive, but with a well placed smile on his face.

Jeremy, once again, wasn't sure how to respond. He'd told Michael about the Squip, and it was within his power to just admit that that's who he was here with... but something told him that wouldn't be a good idea. The last time he and Michael had talked about the Squip... Jeremy had been in a rough place. He was fortunate enough to have come up out of it without too much of a drastic change to his life, but it still hadn't been great.

He also had no idea how he'd even begin to explain how the Squip was here in human form with him now...

"Well..." he started, at a loss.

"Life coach." The Squip interjected immediately, "Sort of. We met online. He was looking for advice and we started talking. Right away you could tell we had amazing chemistry," he turned to smirk in Jeremy's direction, "it's almost like I know exactly what he's thinking, I was made for him." the smirk quickly melted into a smile that had his heart racing. It was an adoring look, one he knew had to be for show, purely put on for Michael's sake, but Jeremy might let himself believe, even if just for a moment...

The Squip squeezed his hand and Jeremy came back to the conversation, "And you must be the best friend, Michael, right? He's told me quite a bit about you."

"Ah, yeah," Michael replied awkwardly, looking between the two of them, then at their joined hands, "Been best friends for years, though he hasn't really told me about you."

Jeremy chuckled nervously, "Well, you know how it is, I wasn't really sure things were gonna... work out. I was also... kind of embarrassed about the uh- looking for life advice thing."

Michael frowned, "You could have come to me?"

"It wasn't like that-" Jeremy said quickly, "Just... stuff I didn't know how to ask about. He's uh... he's a little older. Has some more experience than either of us."

"He's only a few years older, how much more experience could he possibly have?"

It was The Squip-'Andrew'-'s turn to interject, side stepping an inch closer to Jeremy and smiling broadly, "My experience comes from a lot of things I've lived through. But that's way too personal to be sharing with someone I've only just met. I'm sure you don't mean to pry though..."

Michael blanched, the Squip's snide attack on his prying knocking him upside the head like a cross mother. "Oh, uh- I'm sorry. I wasn't- I wasn't actually trying to offend you."

"Of course not." He continued to smile.

Across from them, Michael's cheeks grew red and he ducked his head, "Well, I'll uh... I'll text you later Jeremy. We should definitely talk more about this, okay?"

Jeremy nodded to him, and Michael darted off into the sea of people, out of sight.

The Squip's hand was still loosely wrapped around Jeremy's, and he gave him another light squeeze, "His upset is more out of jealousy than genuine hurt to your friendship. You needn't worry."

"I'm not- ...jealousy?"

He hummed, but didn't elaborate even after Jeremy prodded at him. So Jeremy sighed, tugged the Squip towards the ferris wheel for some time to relax, and changed his line of questioning, "So... Andrew?"

The Squip hummed "Voted into the top 50 most attractive male names world-wide, but it's simple enough to be easily forgotten. Andrew is also a name associated with care and kindness. Humans judge people by their names, whether they're aware of it or not, and characters they've seen with those names. Telling him my name was Andrew puts a sense of peace into the back of his brain without him realizing it. If I had said something like Derek or Chad, there's an underlying edge of character flaw associated with those names and he'd have felt even more worried than he already was."

Jeremy blinked, "You came up with all of that on the fly?"

"Supercomputer, Jeremy. That was nothing."

"You're kidding right? That's kind of awesome, actually. I definitely wouldn't call it nothing."

The Squip side-eyed Jeremy. He'd only just thought to question the warning look before he was being tugged away from the line for the ferris wheel. "Wha- where are we going?"

"Home." the Squip said, determined, and once again didn't offer anything more.

Jeremy blushed in spite of himself, and wearily noticed the second glare it got him in return. "Oh."

"Yes," the Squip said, "oh."

The Squip hauled him up against the wall almost immediately after Jeremy's bedroom door was closed, "Your desperation is intense tonight." he said, slightly breathless, "Did you know you were so turned on by displays of dominance? You became aroused five times during the three hours we were there."

Jeremy groaned, biting his bottom lip to keep from whimpering when the Squip licked up the side of his neck, "I- It's- Not... not dominance. You just... you looked really cool..."

He hummed, ducked down, and lifted Jeremy up with hands under his thighs. Jeremy squeaked and tried to wrap his legs around the Squip's waist, struggling a little to get his ankles locked together.

There was a frustrated grumble before the Squip dropped his face against Jeremy's shoulder, "I don't have the artificial semen in."

"I don't care." Jeremy sighed, and in a moment of rash decision making, started to kiss along the Squip's jawline, already excited beyond belief, "Mmnh, I just want..."

"I know what you want." he said quickly, and tipped his head to give Jeremy a little more room, actually groaning when Jeremy started playing around with his teeth, "But I want to cum inside of you."

Jeremy moaned appreciatively. The Squip nudged his face up to kiss him on the lips until he was positively breathless.

"Oh God, I don't want to wait... but... but you actually want to-?"

"I find myself with an irrational desire to mark you up tonight. Inside and out." he grunted, "I believe it had something to do with Michael's sudden appearance in the middle of our date."

Jeremy squeaked, "Oh my god... you were jealous?"

The Squip scoffed, "That's a human emotion, Jeremy. I am incapable of those."

Jeremy ran his hand up the back of the Squip's neck, into his hair, and gripped. The responding growl was amazing and spurred him on to try tugging just a little harder.

"You're learning."

"I told you I just needed the practice." Jeremy grinned, "And I won't let you change the subject. You were totally jealous."

"An impossibility."

"But you were."

The Squip grunted at him warningly, then continued on his assault, "If anything, I'm territorial. That's entirely possible. You are my host, I have a right to feel territorial over you, but it's not Jealousy."

Jeremy squirmed, the lips on his neck and the pressure downward driving him on, "You weren't territorial when you tried to get me laid at the halloween party..."

"Insufficient data. You drank halfway through that. I was unaccounted for after that. I might have shown some possessive responses had I been present and functioning for the rest of it." he said, but his mouth pressed harder at Jeremy's skin, hands worked quicker to get his belt undone.

Jeremy wasn't fooled.

"Oh my God, you're getting jealous thinking about that now!"

The Squip glared at him, unamused, "I would threaten to gag you, but I think we both know you wouldn't actually perceive that in a negative light."

Jeremy grinned, "Oh, bite me. I can be happy. You're jealous."

"Territorial." he insisted, "You deserve much better than a drunk girl in a diaper looking to make her ex boyfriend jealous with a rebound."

Jeremy worked past the hands shimmying Jeremy out of his pants to keep the conversation moving forward, "And Michael?"

Silence.

"If you don't have a reason for it besides the fact that it makes you upset, that's jealousy."

"Gagging you might not necessarily be a deterrent, but at least it will keep you quiet." The Squip hummed lowly-frustratedly, then shoved two fingers into Jeremy's mouth.

Jeremy may have stopped talking at that point, but he was far from quiet.

His moans echoes throughout the room, a pleasant hum around the Squip's wet fingers on his tongue. He felt like a wreck, two fingers in his mouth and another three in his ass, stretching with impatience bordering on desperation. If the Squip even could get desperate. Jeremy was still struggling to draw the line between what the Squip could and couldn't feel.

The Squip bent up from where he'd been sucking mark's into Jeremy's chest and started working on his neck, mumbling between bites to his skin, "It is within my design to feel impatience, not so much desperation, but it's a close enough thing."

Jeremy groaned when the Squip thrust inward with his fingers, pressing deep into Jeremy while his other hand kept Jeremy's mouth pleasantly occupied.

"I think I prefer it when you can't talk." he said with a smirk.

Asshole. How are you supposed to know if I like or don't like something if I can't talk?

"It's not as though you're without communication." he cooed, "Your lewd moans of pleasure are enough."

Another groan came up from Jeremy's throat and he wanted to bite the Squips fingers when the bastard grinned, point sufficiently proven.

Still an asshole.

"Call me whatever you like," The Squip said, not the least bit deterred as he started up his mission of bruising Jeremy's skin with teeth marks again, "I know how you really feel."

I feel frustrated!

Jeremy bucked his hips when the Squip's chest provided the necessary pressure. He was starting to feel needy, looking for more, for the rest. He needed to be fucked; already well past the point where fingers were enough.

Please!

"Patience." The Squip said simply, as if he wasn't the least bit affected.

Even though Jeremy knew better, they'd already talked about how the Squip had been jealous, the idea that he wasn't as desperately turned on as Jeremy was almost felt insulting. He wanted to drive him mad too, have him feel like he might go crazy if they didn't proceed any further. Maybe Jeremy could just-

"There is no need to further arouse me, Jeremy." he said tersely, and shoved in a fourth finger, rumbling out a pleased noise into Jeremy's neck when he keened.

Jeremy's mouth fell open, a mixture of drool and tears, brought on by slight overstimulation, running down his face.

"I am already impatient to have you. There's no need to tempt me further."

Jeremy pulled the Squips hand out from his mouth, tired of talking in his head, "Then-" he choked off on another moan.

"Jeremy."

"Fuck me already, please, I need-"

There was a growl. A literal growl that came from the Squip.

He tore his fingers away, both hands now back in play as he aligned himself with Jeremy's open, waiting hole.

It was quick and dirty, the first inward thrust accented by a sharp bite beneath Jeremy's jaw. Jeremy thought he was going to scream. The only reason he didn't was because when he finally felt his naked cheeks connected with the skin of the Squip's thigh, the air had been punched out of him.

Sunk down to the hilt, Jeremy felt somewhat overwhelmed. His skin was singing with the thrumming pain of bite marks and hickeys. Jeremy's legs shook with the effort it took to keep them wrapped around the Squip's waist, relying now on his arms, coiled around his neck, and the Squip's strong hands to hold him up.

The where was a moment where they stayed still, simply breathing, trying to calm down for just a second. Jeremy almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. He'd never seen the Squip frazzled enough to have to take a second to compose himself.

"You're no better off." he huffed out near Jeremy's ear.

The gust of air running over his sensitive skin sent a shiver down Jeremy's spine, leaving him shaking.

"Calm down."

Jeremy whined and tucked his face into the Squip's coat collar, "You know I can't."

"Breathe."

"Can't you just-"

"Ten seconds," he said, turning his nose to gently prod below Jeremy's ear, "then I'll start moving."

Jeremy was impatient, clutching at him and trying his best to follow instruction and breathe. Ten seconds felt like ten years; drawn out by Jeremy's need and misery. Any little shift reminded him of the Squip's cock, lodged deep inside of him, just waiting to move again...

"Calm." the Squip said irritably.

"I can't!"

With a frustrated grumble rumbling beside his head, Jeremy was slowly lifted. The Squip let him fall back down with little finesse, practically dropping Jeremy onto his cock. He chuckled darkly when Jeremy squealed, the sound knocked right out of him with the force of their movements. He let his head tip back, tapping the wall behind him as Jeremy shut his eyes. Another rise and fall, another wet, thirsty sound. Again and again.

Jeremy clung to the Squip, letting him lick into Jeremy's mouth with a tongue far too deft and clever for Jeremy's pace. He wasn't able to do anything but hold on, ride out the blinding pleasure that came from sleeping with someone who knew your every thought, could tell exactly what you liked, knew what you needed before you even had the chance to voice it.

Jeremy was hooked.

"Shit." the Squip bit out roughly, fucking up into Jeremy with renewed vigor.

Jeremy laughed breathlessly, "You swore."

"Your sentiment got to me." he replied, letting his teeth trace the vein in Jeremy's neck until he whimpered and tried to press forward into it, "Hold on to me."

Jeremy was about to tell him that he was, Jeremy couldn't hold onto the Squip in any way other than how he already was, when the Squip pushed off the wall, taking two big steps back and into the middle of the room. Jeremy yipped, clutching desperately at his clothes for fear of falling.

"I've got you."

Jeremy thought he was going to die.

The Squip held him by the waist, his arms hooked beneath the underside of Jeremy's knees so that he had enough leverage to bounce Jeremy up into the air and back down onto his cock. There was no wall to assist them, nothing to ground Jeremy apart from the Squip. There was nowhere to go but down, to rely on his strength and seat himself over and over again.

It was maddening, really.

"I-"

"Cum, Jeremy." he said tightly, leaning up to kiss his host, taking his mouth in a way that screamed claim and ravagement.

Jeremy came with a burst, thankful for the Squip's mouth, swallowing down his would-be loud cries.

The Squip's thrusts slowed, but he didn't set Jeremy down. He held him tight against his chest before carefully making his way over to the bed. He laid Jeremy down onto his back, legs still wrapped around the Squip's waist where they dangled off the side. Jeremy was exhausted, sated and maybe just a little woozy from how hard he'd cum. He muttered weak little sounds of pleasure as he reached up to touch the Squip's face with a loopy smile.

The Squip watched him quietly, allowed Jeremy to cup his cheek and run his fingers along the finely crafted features of his skin.

Jeremy felt like he should say something, tell him what he was feeling, how deep this might go for him... but the Squip leaned down before he had the chance, kissing Jeremy in a way that was far softer than any of the other kisses they had shared so far. Jeremy felt swept up. He let the Squip gently guide his head to the side, deepening the kiss but not rushing it. It stayed slow and soft; intimate.

Jeremy could have stayed like that for ages.

The Squip hummed against his lips, giving the bottom one a final little nip before pulling back. He watched Jeremy for another moment, hands tracing small circles over his waist in a manner that seemed far to subconscious-far too human to have been real. Jeremy almost wanted to ask him about it, but he thought better of it.

The Squip carefully pulled out of Jeremy then, apologizing when Jeremy whimpered, feeling suddenly empty.

"I'll get a cloth to clean you up."

Jeremy whined, grabbing onto the Squip's shirt, "No... stay for a minute..."

The Squip looked at him quietly, saying nothing, before finally nodding his head.

He helped Jeremy up the bed until his untidy mop of hair was settled comfortably atop the pillows, then pulled up the covers to slip in beside him. Jeremy rolled onto his side, tucking his face into the Squip's shoulder, arm stretched out over his chest and hummed contently.

The Squip didn't need sleep, but he stayed there quietly while Jeremy drifted off, a hand carding through his hair in a gentle manner that he knew would relax Jeremy. Jeremy wondered innocently if this was normal; if anyone else in the world had ever fallen in love with their Squip.

There was a sharp intake of breath beneath him, but Jeremy was too tired to even and try and work out why it had been let out. Instead he allowed himself grow weary, relaxing in the Squip's arms until he fell peacefully asleep. It had been a good day, and a wonderful first date experience.