Title: What is Feeling?

Started: 7/25/11 2:15 p.m.

Finished: 7/25/11 5:51 p.m.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or its respective characters.

Blaine hummed quietly to himself as he set the kettle on the stove. It was about noon, and the sun was shining particularly bright today. Maybe after he finished his tea he'd take a walk.

"Model 3472175 reporting Master Anderson. How may I be of service?"

He smiled patiently as his robot entered the kitchen. "Blaine, please. And you have a name now."

He usually didn't approve of the idea of an android; to him it was just another form of slavery. But his mother had surprised him on his birthday with the expensive gift. "Oh Blaine, you're far too busy to have to be worrying about keeping your house clean. And I'm sick of looking at that pigsty, so I decided to do something about it." She even shelled out the extra cash to give the robot a humanoid appearance. Blaine didn't mind admitting that paying the little extra was worth every penny. His android had wide, glasz eyes, with thick light brown hair, and he was tall and slender with a radiant smile. He was beautiful. His mother also equipped him with a singing voice, for the purpose of practicing with Blaine, but sometimes he'd just lie back and listen to that voice sing by itself. He'd close his eyes and absorb those beautiful sounds. Even though he knew it was an electronically enhanced voice, Kurt sounded far too human to be fake.

Yes, Kurt. After begrudgingly accepting his mother's present he realized there was no way he'd remember that ridiculous serial number, so Blaine gave him a name.

"Oh, yes. Forgive me Mast—"

"No need to forgive," he chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. "But I'm glad you're here. Would you like to take a walk with me today?"

Kurt smiled. "Certainly." He eyed the kettle as it started to whistle. "Oh, allow me to prepare your tea before your walk Blaine." He made to reach for the kettle but Blaine intercepted his hands.

"No need for that I can get—Ow!" Blaine yelped, his fingers colliding with the hot metal of the pot.

As he used his good hand to turn on the cold water Kurt blinked at him in a mix of bemusement and concern. "What happened, Master Blaine?"

He hissed as he ran his fingers under the cold water. "I burned myself on the kettle."

The android's brows creased. "Burned? Should I call for medical service?"

"Oh no, that's not necessary. It just stings a little," he said mildly, lifting up his fingers to inspect the red flesh.

"Stings?" Kurt inquired.

Blaine looked over at him, and once more saw confusion in his artificial eyes. "Um…yeah, stings. You know… it hurts?"

"What's 'hurts'," Kurt asked. Assured that his master didn't need medical attention, the android set about preparing the tea.

"Uh…" Blaine floundered for a moment. Robots knew that when humans were injured they were supposed to use an internal chip to call for medical assistance, but somehow they weren't aware of pain. To androids, injuries were just the human form of a malfunction that required repair.

"W-well, when something hurts, it just means that there's an unpleasant sensation. You know, a bad feeling," he explained, rather poorly.

"Feeling?" Kurt questioned, only further confounded.

Blaine sighed and took a seat at the table, nursing his injuries. "Okay, um…you know how you can smell something, or hear, or see, or taste?"

"Yes," Kurt said obediently, setting out the tea cups and tea bags. His master insisted that Kurt joined him for midday tea.

"Those are your senses. Humans have a fifth sense, known as their sense of touch. When we touch things, or get touched by something, it creates a sensation known as a feeling. It's a cause and react sort of thing. Sometimes the feelings are good, sometimes they're bad. …Getting burned is a rather bad feeling. It's called pain, or hurt." He frowned at his pitifully lacking explanation.

Kurt took his seat at the table across from his master, handing him his cup of tea. "I still don't believe I fully understand Blaine. Am I not listening correctly?"

He laughed uselessly. "No, Kurt, it's me. I'm not explaining it very well. But you shouldn't worry about it; it's not like you can feel things anyway."

"Blaine! Don't be cruel to Kurt!"

They looked up as Rachel stormed into the room. She frowned at Blaine and walked over to Kurt, caressing his arm. He looked down at her hand curiously. He could see that she was touching him, could smell her wild berry shampoo, and it was honestly hard not to hear his master's boisterous roommate, but feel her touch?

"I wasn't being cruel, I was just trying to explain sense of touch," his master protested.

"Well you're doing a horrible job. Kurt, perhaps I should explain sometime," she said knowledgably, and Kurt smiled. She was a sweet girl, and apparently she was more adamantly against the use of robots than his master. Whenever the subject was brought up she would start rambling about somebody named 'Elphaba' and flying monkeys. It always confused, but intrigued Kurt. Rachel insisted that Kurt be treated like a person, not a slave. So she paid him something called a wage for his work. He had told her at first that there was no need for payment, he was there to serve. Besides, he had nothing to spend money on since he didn't require food or lodging. But then Rachel had asked him to accompany her to the mall one day, and introduced him to something called fashion. It still made him smile when he activated that memory. That day, Kurt had discovered he really loved clothes.

"Thank you Rachel. That would be lovely."

She smiled and grabbed her bag from the couch. "Good. Now Blaine don't wait up for me tonight. Rehearsal probably won't get out until late."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course," she told him. Then she walked over and kissed Blaine's lips before running out the door.

Kurt tilted his head curiously as Blaine reached for the newspaper. "Does that feel, sir?"

His master glanced up at him as he sipped his tea. "Hmm?"

"Your…lips. They touched each other. Does that…feel?"

Blaine blushed and set down his cup. "Well, yes it does. It's called a kiss."

"And does a kiss feel…good?"

His master shrugged and grinned. "Well, it's not bad, but I prefer kissing men. It feels…better."

"Men sir? As in…males?" Kurt asked over his tea cup.

Blaine's brow furrowed in amusement. "Yes Kurt, males."

"So, it feels better to kiss males, than females," Kurt ventured, and Blaine had to giggle.

"Well, for some people, yes. It all depends on the person. Rachel likes kissing males, which is good because her boyfriend Finn likes kissing girls. But my friend Santana likes kissing girls too. Like I said, it all depends."

"I…see," Kurt said slowly, though it seemed like the opposite was closer to the truth. But he said nothing, only stared pensively at the table as he sipped his tea, quietly so as not to disturb his master as he read the paper.

Kurt's confusion hadn't dissipated one bit by the time he left for his evening walk. His hands were resting behind his back as he strolled through town. When he was first issued to Mr. Anders—Blaine, he would go through a rigorous form of robot calisthenics to keep all his parts functioning well. But Blaine had disapproved, saying that he shouldn't work so hard closed up indoors. If he really wanted to exercise, he should take a walk around the neighborhood; stretch his legs and observe the scenery.

So Kurt had obeyed, taking a daily walk through the neighborhood, and he had to admit it was quite enjoyable. Sometimes he chatted with the children playing, sometimes he would help Mrs. Watson get her groceries into the building, and sometimes luck would befall him and he'd run into his fellow android. Model 687909921, or Mercedes, as her master called her, was his favorite. They had a lot in common and she made him smile with pleasant conversations.

They were together today, and though Kurt's internal listening device recorded everything she said, his thought processors were whirring over just what his master meant by 'feel.' He still didn't understand sense of touch, and it was made all the more frustrating by his master's insistence that he not worry about it since Kurt didn't possess such senses. Kurt had some degree of sensory perception, and based on his internal systems they were perfectly adequate levels. But now that he was aware that he was lacking, he was undeniably curious about what he didn't even know was missing. The wind was strong out today. It pushed his hair away from his eyes, making it sway with the breeze. The breeze? Is there sensation in that?

"Kurt? Hello? Hey, white boy! Is your external ear malfunctioning again?"

He turned and smiled at her. Mercedes was an older model, and had thus picked up on a lot more humanoid mannerisms than he had so far. All in all he found them very amusing.

"I'm sorry Mercedes. I'm just…thinking of something. I've been in heavy contemplation all afternoon," he said absently as they strolled into the shopping district.

"Heavy contemplation? Isn't easier to just say, 'hey, something's on my mind?' What's the problem," she asked with a laugh.

Kurt shrugged. "It's something my master said. Do you know what…feeling, is?"

"Oh yeah, that sense of touch thing?"

He nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! Do you know anything about it?"

"Not really," she said casually, and he frowned. Usually Mercedes was his source for such humanoid matters. She had dubbed herself Kurt's 'go-to gal.' It was unfortunate that she couldn't elaborate on this bizarre matter for him. "It's kind of weird don't you think, them putting it inside robots?"

His ears perked up. "What did you say?"

"You know, it's all over the news. It's a robot upgrade that gives androids a nervous system so they can feel things," she explained, a little amused that he hadn't heard of it yet.

Kurt's eyes widened and he stopped walking. "Really? We…could be able to…feel?"

She grinned and grabbed his hand. "Come on! I'll show you."

They ran through the shopping district, past the business market, all the way to the android center. And in the window of the one of the sleek, chrome buildings, was a large sign that said SENSORY UPGRADE. NERVOUS SYSTEM AND FULLY FUNCTIONING SENSE OF TOUCH.

Kurt pressed his face to the glass. "Oh, Mercedes…," he asked in wonder. "Do you think…I could get that upgrade?"

She frowned. "Um…gosh Kurt, I don't know. That stuff doesn't exactly come cheap. And what about your master, don't you need permission?"

"My master is always telling me to make independent decisions, he'll be happy for me! I haven't used the money Rachel's paid me since the winter fashion shows! A-and you remember that sweet mechanic we met who paid me for helping him fix those cars? That's a decent amount of money, right?" he asked desperately.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Kurt, why would you want a sense of touch anyway? I thought you said you were proud to be an android."

He came away from the glass and drew himself up defensively. "Of course I am! One upgrade won't change my mind about being unashamed of who I am." Mercedes smiled at the sincere use of 'who' instead of 'what.' "I will always be open and proud of being an android Mercedes. But…" He trailed off and pressed his hands back on the glass longingly. "I just…I want a deeper connection with the humans. Something that will show them that we exist among them…not beneath them. And, I must admit I'm morbidly curious about what it's like."

Mercedes smiled up at her hopeless friend. He could preach about wanting a closer connection to the humans all he wanted, but she knew that there was only one human he really wanted to connect with. She couldn't blame him. For a long time she yearned for such a connection with her master's son, Sam. But now that was no longer possible.

"Alright. Let's get you that upgrade," she said with a grin, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the building.

"R-right now? But Mercedes I don't even know if I have e—"

"Whatever you can't afford I'll pick up with my own money." Like Kurt, Mercedes' master gave her a weekly salary.

"Oh Mercedes I can't take your—"

"White boy," she warned, turning around in the lobby and looking up at him in her most intimidating glare. It was something she picked up from her master's love for reality television. "Don't make me kick your pretty ass before you can feel it."

Kurt smiled down at her, humor sparkling in her brown eyes. There was a strange instinct he felt then, something in his code dictating that he should hug her, the way Blaine hugged him whenever Kurt praised his music.

He leaned down and, even though he currently couldn't distinguish this from a punch to the face, squeezed the short female android in a hug.

"Thank you Mercedes," he whispered.

Kurt stepped back into the lobby. His eyes shifted nervously around, observing all the friendly technicians and fellow androids. Mercedes was called to her master during the procedure, but made him promise to contact her when he was back at his home system. So here he was, alone.

One of the technicians was busy staring at a clipboard as he came towards Kurt, and accidentally bumped his arm.

Kurt's eyes widened as he felt the pressure in the contact, the fabric of his shirt brushing against his arm while the force of the other man's arm caused him to stumble.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the technician said with a smile, then walked away, leaving a dumbstruck Kurt behind.

He had…felt it. He glanced down at his arm in disbelief and wiggled his fingers, noticing the tug of the skin between his fingers and palm. He laughed, and felt a lurch in his stomach region as the sound escaped him. He laughed again and clenched his fists, his well-manicured fingernails pushing into his palm. He was suddenly overtaken with giddiness, an urge to label and identify everything that was happening to his body. Kurt looked outside, and saw the rain. With a wide grin that hurt, hurt, his cheeks he eagerly ran to the entrance. He pushed on the revolving door, a common enough act, but with his new senses a frustratingly delightful adventure as his palms pressed to the cool glass.

At last he was outside, the thunder beginning to roar as lightning crackled and rain fell in fat droplets.

The rain pelted against him, sending goosebumps across his skin as the cool water snaked pathways down his body, some primitive instinct deep inside making him shiver at the stimulation. The downpour plastered his clothes to his body and droplets fell into his open mouth, cool and tickling, and his eyes, stinging and cloudy. As he ran the water splashed up into his shoes, soaking his feet. He could feel it. He could feel everything!

He threw his arms into the air in exhilaration, the humans walking around him giving him odd stares as he twirled across the street with overwhelming joy.

During the bracing jaunt home a nice girl had offered him a warm cup of cocoa. This time, rather than just being able to know what it tasted like, he could feel the warmth slide down his throat. Another person had stepped on his toe at the crosswalk, and he had to hop around on one foot for a moment, looking like a complete fool no doubt with that idiotic grin on his face. It hurt! He arrived home without much incident otherwise.

Once he reached his room however and the chills subsided he dug around his wardrobe for something dry to wear. Now that was an adventure! So many different sensations as all kinds of fabric slid over his body. The wool felt a little scratchy, denim was a little coarse, and silk…Oh, silk. It was like cool water under his touch, gliding over his skin with the smoothest rippling motions. By the time he had finally managed to dress himself he was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.

Blaine entered the apartment wearily, absently tossing his keys and coat on the table as he walked to the living room. Normally I would try to be a little more considerate of Kurt's duties, but I'm just so damn—

He frowned for a moment, realizing that he had almost managed to complete a thought before the android had arrived with a pleasant 'welcome home' greeting.

"Um…Kurt?"

His robot poked his head out of his room, lighting up when he saw his master. "Oh, Blaine! I wasn't sure if that was you. Can I be of service?"

"No, no. I'm not hungry anyway," he said in puzzlement. Kurt was usually busying himself in the kitchen at this hour preparing dinner. "What are you doing in your room?"

Kurt grinned and practically skipped over to him, clasping his hands together. He was far more excited than his usual pleasant, but calm demeanor. "I went to the android center of town with Mercedes today."

"Oh," he said with a nod. "Meet another mechanic?"

"No, not exactly," the robot said breathlessly. "Blaine…it's very unorthodox for a robot to ask something of his master, but could you, please, do me a small favor?"

Blaine shifted on his feet, a little thrown-off. "Sure, I guess."

"Pinch me!" He demanded, thrusting out his fist.

"Uh…what?" Blaine questioned, staring down at the slim arm.

"Pinch me! Please?" He asked, stretching his arm out further in insistence.

Blaine's substantial brows met over his eyes, but he did as he was asked, taking the artificial skin between his fingers and squeezing.

"Ow!" Kurt yelped, then pulled back his fist. His eyes lit up again and he looked at Blaine, laughing. "Ow!

"Kurt, what is the matter with you," he demanded. He was too exhausted to take much more of Kurt's suddenly bizarre behavior.

"I got a nervous system upgrade at the android center. I-I have sense of touch! I can feel! I can feel!"

Blaine straightened and studied the figure before him. There wasn't any extra hardware attached to his body, nothing mechanical looking. In fact with the way he was smiling so wide and almost jumping up and down Kurt looked more like a human than ever. "You can…you can feel?"

"Yes! Oh, Blaine I've had the most wonderful afternoon! I ran through the rain and I drank cocoa, and I tried on every piece of clothing I have at least twice! It's been heavenly. I'm so sorry I forgot about dinner," he said, suddenly aware of himself.

Blaine just grinned. He certainly couldn't fathom what it must be like to suddenly gain a sense of touch, but he was happy for his…friend, none-the-less. "Don't worry about it Kurt, I just…wow! That's incredible. Is it nice, being—"

"Can I ask you one more favor Master?" Kurt asked demurely.

Blaine chuckled and shook his head. "Stop calling me that and sure."

"Kiss me."

He froze for a moment, a little stunned at the request. Although, he really had no reason to be. Kurt's curiosity about feeling seemed to revolve around kissing. Only natural that once he gained it for himself he'd want to know what it'd feel like. His beautifully blue eyes stared back at him nervously, and he was licking his lips in preparation. "Please, Blaine?"

He laughed, almost at himself and nodded. "Of course Kurt."

Because he didn't know where else to put them, he rested his hands on Kurt's upper arms and leaned forward, almost needing to pull himself up on his toes. He didn't know what to expect when their lips met, but he couldn't possibly have imagined that artificial flesh could feel that soft, or taste so much like cocoa. His eyelids fell shut, and he pressed harder against that mouth.

Kurt, for his part, was flying. Strong hands were warm and firm on his arms, thumbs caressing through his sleeves. Blaine's lips were velvety and insisting, his warm mouth gently moving over Kurt's in a tender, curious caress. He felt a wild fluttering in his stomach and his legs began to shake. Blaine's mouth opened and closed against his, and at the flicker of wetness from a rough tongue he shivered, though from a whole different kind of stimulation than the cold. He felt a lazy, liquid pleasure release from deep inside, and he let out a moan in primal response, feeling their lips vibrate against each other. Blaine pulled away, expelling a hot breath that smelled of coffee.

He panted, staring at Kurt as his blue eyes widened to the size of saucers. Kurt placed long fingers over his smiling mouth. "Wow…my lips are…tingling."

"Yeah," he said hoarsely, marveling at how real, how human, how good Kurt's mouth felt against his. "Mine too."

Kurt glanced down at his finger tips. "Does it…is that what it feels like when Rachel kisses you goodbye in the morning?"

He couldn't even bring himself to laugh at such absurdity. "Hell no," he said, hungrily staring at Kurt's lips.

"Oh…can we do it again," Kurt asked, his voice becoming breathless as new, overpowering sensations enveloped him in eddies of swirling, giddy desire.

"Hell yes," Blaine growled, and crashed their mouths together again.

FIN

Okay, so I don't get an A for human biology, so sue me, I had to be a little flexible for the purposes of this story! Lol, inspired by Bicentennial Man. For some reason I'm really excited about this one, so I hope you like it! :D PS, anyone spy the little Burt cameo in there? ;) Feedback tickles robots. PS: Whoops; there seems to have been a little confusion. Rachel is Blaine's platonic roommate, and that just a goodbye peck. Apologies for the ambiguity! :)