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There was no pause, no halt, no interruption in the never-ending lap of the City. It always felt like things would break at any given moment, like all the cracks - old and the new - will finally divide the whole system. But then, it never happened.
The rupture continued to grow and yet the City never went to sleep. There was simply no time for it to rest. Those who paid the price of persistent abidance were simply swallowed by the abyss and remain forgotten.
There was no place for the weak here, above all things.
Hoseok, of course, wasn’t weak. He wasn’t on top of the chain either, but he was fine with his status by any means. A bit on the side of society, always covered in the shadows, he was a hunter. One of those who followed the lead, always purse after a track, stalking his way through the dark alleys. It didn’t matter whose leach was around his neck as long as they paid.
Hoseok wasn’t exactly human so things like morals or ethics didn’t necessarily make any difference for him. It was all about payment and nothing else.
Even androids couldn’t live off the thin air, after all.
*
The night was almost at its peak, streets only covered by the neons flashing in the drops of the rain filling the air. Moon was probably reining the sky but it was long obscured by the highrises. Hoseok didn’t even remember when was the last time he saw it.
It didn’t matter, though. He was after someone just right now.
He knew the name of this woman, could give any measure of her body if anyone would ask for it, even if there was no use of knowing it. He knew she had a couple of implants installed alongside a skin enchantment and the fake kidney. She had to replace the old one after it went rigid from too much alcohol it said on her medical record.
Hoseok didn’t know why she had to die, but it didn’t matter either way. He never asked for a reason anyway. This kind of knowledge could compromise him and he would never let that happen. He still had things that needed his attendance after all, so shutting off simply wouldn’t do.
With that thought in his memory cache, Hoseok entered the building, his red hair wet from the rain. The property was convincingly still under construction and pleasantly empty at this time of night. All that he had to do to remain unspotted was wire himself to the system and hack a couple of cameras to loop themself. Which he already did, securely making his way up the stairs to the right floor almost on top of the building.
Everything worked as he planned. He reached the spot he calculated as the most secure one of the available one, then he took it, carefully scanning his surroundings. There was no trace of living being in his close vicinity which meant he could proceed with the mission. He pulled the rifle from his backpack and started methodically assembling it, still watching out for any unexpected guests. No one came though, and as a gun in his hands finally got put together he stilled himself and waited.
It was all about the right moment. Always was.
The women didn’t take long to appear, in the exact spot that Hoseok expected to find her. He didn’t even budge while pulling the trigger, a single bullet flaring through the air, cutting through the rain. There was no scream, no noise other than the low thump of the body landing on the dirty pavement.
Hoseok looked as the blood poured from the single hole in the woman's head for a moment, focusing his eye-sensors to give his employer the best shot possible. It was oozing on the ground, a crimson pool that was yet to become cold.
Then he proceeded to take the rifle apart, inserted it back into his backpack and stood up, shaking the dust from his knees.
It went as smooth as it was supposed to. It always did.
*
Hoseok worked for Yoongi only for a couple of months but somehow it already felt like ages. It seemed that the man was fond of him for the reasons Hoseok couldn’t completely understand, though part of him, a small one, shared the feeling - or something resembling it in android case. Yoongi was grumpy, odd, smart as hell and could see through Hoseok without as much as an effort. Which somehow felt silly considering the man was in his early twenties, had mint blue hair and a look of someone completely innocuous.
Appearances lied, it seemed.
Hoseok still liked him, though. The non-bullshit approach, straightforwardness and the whole aura of fuck it, to be precise. That was the kind of human he always perceived to be the most interesting to interact with. Intriguing so to speak.
“It is done,” the red-haired said simply, approaching his employer with an extended hand.
Yoongi sighed deeply before taking it and pressing his chip against the spot on Hoseok’s wrist. “You could at least pretend it took some effort, you know?” the man murmured, his thin mouth slightly askew as he transferred the data straight from the Hoseok’s core.
“It took effort. It always does.”
“I don’t mean preparations, idiot. I mean the impact it has on you,” Yoongi snapped, their hands still pressed to each other.
Hoseok's behavioural process pointed out it was oddly intimate for an interaction with a human but his rational process decided not to pay it any attention. Rationality and logic usually made more sense than cultural and psychological discourse anyway.
“It has none. I’m an android, remember?”
“It has nothing to do with it and you know that as well as I do. You just treat it as an excuse, Seoksie,” Yoongi complained before finally parting their hands and moving on to play the record on his computer. The wonders of technology, huh?
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. It’s not like I care anyway.” He didn’t. He wasn’t capable of doing it. Even if he could he wouldn’t, though.
Not about this, at least.
“Of course. Just like you don’t care about this pretty lover boy of yours from the Brass,” Yoongi pointed while examining footage currently displayed on his monitor. The whole scene of the woman getting shot playing on the screen looked exactly as it was written in Hoseok’s memory.
The blood on the pavement was likely cold by now.
“He’s just a whore,” he responded. It was a half-truth but he couldn’t help himself pretending. It made things easier.
“Just a whore you’re going to visit right after you're done here, huh? Like you always do.”
As it was said, Yoongi could without a fail see through Hoseok.
“We all need a moment to relax,” he stated and it was another half-truth. Sometimes it feels like it was all he was made of. Along all the wires, metal and electronics at least.
“Delusion yourself all you want, hunter. Just know I don’t buy any of this shit,” Yoongi responded, eyeing him as he spoke, his eye implant shining slightly as he scanned red-haired up and down.
“Noted,” Hoseok replied flatly and Yoongi sighed once more before pressing something on his screen.
“I’ll let you know when something new comes up,” the man murmured and in the same moment, Hoseok could feel the familiar rush of data coming through his system as the payment from Yoongi came through.
“Thanks,” Hoseok said simply.
All Yoongi did to farewell him was a weird look before turning his attention back to the screen, blue hue on his face.
*
Just as was predicted moments earlier, Hoseok indeed went to the Brass straight from Yoongi’s. It became a custom of sorts for him, after so many times.
The first thing that drew him to this place was a carnal pleasure, of course. He envied the humans this simple form of relaxation so after properly altering his body and a whole sensory system inside him, he decided the Brass was fine enough to start experiencing the new aspect of perceiving. As artificial as he was he felt quite a lot, no matter what was the official stance of his manufacturer. And with the upgrade he bought things became even more vivid, more bodily so to speak. He couldn’t help but search for more. And so he became a Brass regular.
The whole brothel has a certain style to it, mimicking something that Hoseok could only call a mesalliance between art nouveau, baroque and twisted mind of Edgar Allan Poe. It was artsy, eccentric and dark, the whole mood uplifted by the candles and golden frames. Even the staff acted accordingly, dressed in flannel shirts, silk gowns and gemstones. It was all dark academia as things could be.
It was nothing but a mirage, of course. Almost a perfect one, but still, only a facade made to obscure the electronics and modernism built within the whole structure of the Brass.
Hoseok didn’t care though.
Mirage was fine as far as he was concerned. He was here to forget the world around him, after all, not to explore it further.
The first couple of times he attended the brothel, he tried a bit of everything. He found out that other androids failed to meet his expectations and that he enjoyed a men’s company way further than female ones. He also realized that certain things brought him more pleasure than others and the repetition was the dullest one amongst them.
He thought he would get bored of the place at some point, even already started to look for a new establishment to keep himself entertained. Then, things changed.
The boy happened.
Hoseok realized back then that maybe he could actually be able to care about something. This young, merely 24 years old creature seemed to be that special something. Someone. And to think that he only chose him as the replacement, his prefered host unavailable at the time. If he would believe in fate, he’d call that coincidence.
It was a shame that Hoseok wasn’t capable of love, though. Things might turn differently if he would, for both him and Taehyung.
*
“You’ve come,” the dark-haired man said instead of greeting, his tone slightly surprised, but still low and tempting. Hoseok could listen to him talking for hours, the timbre of the man’s voice sending all sorts of rays through his system.
“You know I always do, eventually,” Hoseok replied, dropping his backpack and the jacket on the floor before approaching his host.
Taehyung.
One and only Taehyung.
He was delicate, lithe and fragile in his small frame. There was something solid, something firm about him, though. He carried himself with such dignity, after all, his presence feeling almost divine with every sensually eternal move he made.
Now, he was sitting on the bed, velvety green bedding contrasting with the black silk of his robe. It was the only thing covering his naked form and just like any other garment it couldn't match his presence. Maybe nothing did. Hoseok never saw him wearing anything else than one of his satin or silk robes after all.
“Do you? It doesn't feel like that to me. You keep making me wait. Long. Again and again. Sometimes I think you’ll never return, Hoseok, and all of my hope will be gone with you,” Taehyung pouted, his full lips slightly askew.
It was a foul play, though. Hoseok could see right through it. Tae missed him and it wasn’t any kind of surprise. The man really wasn’t in the condition that would allow him to think other of Hoseok anyway.
“I won’t return only if someone shut me off, petal. I told you that already,” the red-haired pointed in a calm voice while sitting right next to Taehyung.
“You make me wait too long.”
“I can’t help it.”
“I need you,” Tae whispered, his handsome face serious.
“I know.”
It was the truth after all. He was fully aware of how needed he was. Regardless of his personal pleasure, it was the only reason he kept coming here.
The guilt and responsibility.
“Then come more often.” Another pout. If Hoseok had a heart maybe it would melt from it.
“I need to work to do that. Earn money so I can spend them on you, petal.”
“You don’t have to pay to see me,” the dark-haired said, reaching to brush a couple of red strands from Hoseok’s eyes. His hair was still slightly damp but Tae didn’t seem to care.
“I need to,” he stated. They had this conversation almost every time they saw each other. He started to grow tired of it.
Taehyung didn’t.
“I don’t want you to.” It sounded almost pleading and it both hurt and worried Hoseok, as much as it could at least. He wasn’t programmed to comprehend those impulses, complicated emotions not necessary for his purpose. Still, he was made smart enough to understand when something was important and the matter of money was exactly that. It was all the difference between them, lied bare right here and now.
Client and prostitute.
Human and Android.
Either of them, a dead end.
“It doesn’t matter, Taehyung. I can’t feed your delusions any more than I already did. You know it’s not the same thing for me, as it is to you. I don’t want you to hurt because of this.”
He didn’t. It wasn’t in his system to hurt the boy.
“Yet, you’re still here. Only the lack of your presence hurts more than you being next to me.” It was a fair point. But how was he supposed to say no to him? How he was supposed to act?
He wasn't made to deal with this sort of dilemma.
“You want me here, Tae, and it’s as much as I can do.”
“That’s a lie. You could do more. You could act like this actually means anything for you. You could halt to pretend that our relationship is less than it actually is, to begin with.”
Hoseok wished that Tae would scream, that he would cry or curse him. But he only stood for the truth, the simple fact that he couldn’t discard. He wasn’t made for it either.
“It’s less than you desire of me,” he finally settled for an answer as Taehyung looked at him, his eyes deep and dark as the quicksilver. They looked like he could drown in them.
Maybe he should.
“I know it never will be as I wish, Hoseok. I have a damn buttercup growing in my lungs to prove just that,” the man said quietly, voice weak as he already gave up.
Long before now, when the flower just started to grow and the first yellow petals landed on Taehyung hands he used to panic. First, there was confusion, denial and pure terror. Then he realized it’s hanahaki and he can’t really fight with it. It hit him hard, this feeling of utter hopelessness consuming him, very much literary, from within. And after a day's spend of making up his mind, Taehyung did the only thing that was left for him to do. He confessed to Hoseok.
It was always about Hoseok.
Neither of them knew that humans can get a hanahaki from loving an android. Hoseok didn’t even know he had a favourite flower until Taehyung showed him a cute little buttercup. It was covered with saliva, damp and faded on the boy's hand, yet it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw.
And then Taehyung cried. A lot. He begged Hoseok to love him back, he ordered him to do so, then he proceeded to cry again. It was useless.
Androids weren’t made for love.
It took Taehyung time to understand that, though sometimes Hoseok wondered if the boy ever really did. There was this odd persistence in Taehyung eyes he couldn’t comprehend. Not that they talked about it. After months of constant pain, the boy eventually became dulled to it and stopped pledging to be loved back. It was their sad reality.
Hoseok wondered sometimes if it would go differently if he would reject Tae from the beginning. He never stated he didn’t love him back. He just said that he wasn’t capable of it.
One can’t be rejected by something that’s simply not equipped to return the feeling.
“Don’t make it harder then. That’s my boundary, Taehyung. Accept the money and I’ll do my best to come to you as often as possible.” Hoseok needed this. Needed to know that their relationship has its frame, needed Taehyung to know its limits. Paying was a way to establish it and keep its shape.
“Fine. I’ll accept it," Tae responded finally, after a long pause resonating in the room. He didn’t have any other choice but to agree anyway.
Beggars do not get to choose.
The red-haired only nodded, pressing his wrist to the terminal on the side of the bed, credits transferred as he shifted in his position. Taehyung eyed the gesture without speaking, sorrow painted in his eyes. Hoseok wished the pain to vanish, but it would never go away. That is why he had to pay. It was only right to compensate for contaminating being of such purity as Tae for certain was. It felt blasphemous that something so dirty, so soulless like him dared to touch someone so precious, so angelic that by so miracle managed to be preserved in this cursed word.
Even the money couldn’t cover the guilt he carried within his wires.
“Let’s get you undressed, Seoksie,” Taehyung suddenly murmured whilst standing up from the bed, his delicate fingers reaching to unzip the red-haired man’s shirt. Hoseok allowed him to do that, shifting slightly to help the boy remove all of his clothes, belts unbuckling and fabric sliding under his hands, ignoring the sudden change of pace. It was better this way anyway and so he let Tae work him naked.
It was a pleasure of sorts letting Taehyung handle him like that.
He was always careful, the touch of his skin faint yet acting like fuel bringing Hoseok back to life. With the boy, he always felt more alive, as if a machine like him could say something like that. It was artificial of course, his senses but voltage spark but it was as real as things could get for him.
Hoseok drank it all up until he still could.
When Taehyung was done with his clothes he simply moved on to sit on the red-haired lap, his weight like a feather on him. It felt familiar though, warm body against his bare shell. Real, breathing flesh against the silicone and metal that made his construction.
“Taehyung,” he spoke up his name without any particular reason, liking how the boy name felt in his speakers, resonating throughout the room.
The dark-haired looked up, his black eyes heavy on him. Hoseok could see every detail on his face from here, the small mole on his left cheek and the shadow cast by his lashes. It always amazed him that something so imperfect as a human could be so striking at the same time. So alluring, so enthralling.
“You’re staring,” Taehyung stated, dark locks shifting as he tilted his head slightly to the side exposing the curve on his neck and the deep dip on the bottom of it.
Hoseok didn’t care to respond, his hands moving under Tae’s black robe, silk-smooth as he slid the fabric off the boy exposing his naked form. He let his hands wander from there, first caressing Tae’s chest, ribs palpable under his soft skin. Then he touched along the collarbones, before moving on to press his back, brushing the expanse of the skin there. His processor felt wonderfully empty as he did so, blank of any signals and scripts that should be run. He and Taehyung right next to each other, it was the only task that mattered.
“Hoseok, I want you to fuck me against the window,” the boy suddenly demanded, his body motionless through this whole examination now shifting, grinding against the android with urgent need.
The red-haired looked at the boy processing the request. It was quite sudden, usually, Taehyung liked to be worked up, touched, kissed and such before moving on into actual intercourse. Hoseok didn’t exactly know what was different this time but he wasn’t going to question it anyway. There was no point in overloading himself trying to understand the cognitive process behind that.
Tahyung wanted and he provided. It was as simple as that.
“Okay,” he only murmured in response, leaning to kiss the boy, urging him with his hands to lift his hips so he could stretch him open. Taehyung did the exact thing, making a small whimper as Hoseok’s cold finger probed inside him, the thick liquid oozing from the tip as he entered him. The boy was already quite loose, so he didn’t hesitate to add a second digit just moments later. Then he moved deeper, more deliberately and Tae made the first moan of the day as he brushed against his prostate.
Hoseok had a whole folder of his memory dedicated to ways in which he could make Taehyung squirm for a reason.
He kept scissoring his fingers as he thrust them in and out of the boy while he leaned over and proceeded to kiss alongside his neck, down to the collarbones and back. It drew pretty little noises out of Taehyung and Hoseok could feel them vibrate through his membranes.
“Lips. Kiss me on the lips,” the dark-haired ordered him, his soft hands clutching his shoulders as rolled his hips, his length brushing against the front of Hoseok’s body. The hunter did as was asked to, meeting the boy's mouth with his own, his sensors processing the taste as they kissed. There was a hint of latex on his tongue as well as something slightly musky and salty, but underneath all of it, there was a flavour so unmistakable Taehyung’s, Hoseok couldn’t help but savour it. He wasn’t either sour or sweet, no human really was. He tasted a bit like water but thicker, more distinctive. It was like a taste of skin, incomparable to anything else. But there was more to it, the rotten stench of dead flowers growing in the boy's lungs already incorporated within his own flesh taste.
It was only Taehyung’s flavour that wired so well through his systems.
Hoseok didn’t part their lips as he slipped the third finger inside the boy. Taehyung moaned once more, straight into the kiss, sending low vibrations through the hunter’s sensors. Then he felt a hand on his head and just moments later there was another feeling passing through his system as Tae pulled his hair.
“Make noises or I won’t know if it works, Seoksie,” the dark-haired reminded in a soft voice as he moved his lips from Hoseok’s, just enough to make his words coherent. He always forgot that he had to voice things while with the boy, always forgot that humans were used to being loud about their pleasures. Sometimes Tae let him be quiet, lost in the lack of scripts to run, divided into partitions. It was rare though.
Hoseok was certain his silence scared the boy to the core.
“Mmhm.” It was red-haired only responded and Taehyung chuckled lightly before kissing the corner of his lips, his mouth soft and smooth against his shell. He tried to make small whimpers as Tae touched him in particular spots, those that happened to be especially sensitive due to the receptor's density. And then the boy pulled on his hair again while pressing his thumb into the nape of his neck digging right into the bundle of wires and successfully making him limp from overloading.
If he applied the right pressure, maybe use something sharp to actually cut through his shell, Taehyung could switch him off completely by doing just that. It was odd to be on someone's mercy like this and don’t feel concerned but Hoseok was long used to this state. If a machine like him could choose to belong to someone, he would belong to Taehyung.
“It feels good, huh?” the boy asked with a knowing smile after moving his thumb from Hoseok’s neck.
“It does,” the red-haired agreed quietly, slowly gathering himself up after this small meltdown.
“Wanna make me feel good too?” Tae inquired, his finger still tangled in the red mess on top of the hunter's head, pulling and tugging on his hair.
“Always, petal.” He owed the boy this much, didn’t he?
“Fuck me then, my love.” If Hoseok would be human, if Hoseok would be created instead of made maybe he would feel a shiver ran through his body. Maybe he would tense, feel uncomfortable at the endearment leaving Taehyung’s mouth. He wasn’t though. He was just an android, a hunter, a made-to-kill machine. The only thing he felt, so to speak, was lacking and emptiness he couldn’t possibly process. So he didn’t, instead of doing as was asked of him once again this night. He could feel Taehyung’s legs wrap around his middle, tangling behind his back while the boy’s arms clenched around his shoulders and neck. Red-haired moved his fingers off the dark-haired body, the man whimpering at the sudden emptiness. Hoseok paid it no attention though, carefully standing up while supporting the boy with his hands, lifting him with himself in the process.
“My Seoksie is so strong,” Tae murmured, his voice thick, both impressed and filled with lust.
Part of Hoseok’s core was fully aware that he wasn’t actually strong, at least in comparison to other androids who were made with force and might in mind, but it didn’t matter here. He was strong enough to manhandle Taehyung without struggle, the mechanism in his limbs enforced enough to carry the boy’s faint weight. Taehyung liked to be carried, Hoseok’s algorithm caught up many nights ago. It seemed as the boy enjoyed being helpless and taken care of - being lifted with ease was just a way to achieve it. And so on the red-haired android provided, just like he did now.
He carried the dark-haired man to the window, as was asked of him earlier, pushing Tae’s back against the glass, neons and rain and dull buildings just behind the man. Hoseok gave himself a brief moment to save the scene in his memory, the contrast between Tae's warm body and cold outside affecting him in ways he wasn’t capable of processing.
“Hoseok,” Tae urged him, shifting slightly in the android hold to bring the attention back to himself. The red-haired leaned on kissing him again and again until the boy parted their lips, face flushed and breath unsteady.
“Need you inside, Seoksie. Fuck me already, please,” the dark-haired pledged and Hoseok only nodded, supporting the boy only with one arm while reaching for his prosthetic cock and guiding it to Tae’s stretched entrance.
The boy tensed slightly as the head caught up against his rim so Hoseok made sure more of the thick, lube-like substance oozed from his tip to ease the slide. Then he carefully pushed in, Tae’s fingers digging in his back in return, the silicone membrane covering his shell sensitive under his touch.
As he bottomed out the boy made a prolonged moan, his head involuntary leaning to the side.
“More, love, give me more,” the dark-haired muttered, not exactly able to move on his own in this position. And Hoseok, as always, did as was asked, rolling his hips and soon setting a steady rhythm that seemed to be optimal in their current setting. He also made sure to angle just right, always brushing against Tae’s prostate, which made the boy sing beautifully from extra stimulation. Hoseok really liked how Taehyung’s voice resonated in the room, the noise sending just the right pulses through his sensors.
He wanted to hear more of it though, wanted the boy to scream his lungs out so he pulled one more trick up his sleeve. Hoseok started vibrating. Well, his cock started vibrating to be precise, first barely detectable then stronger until Taehyung cried out loud, his nails cutting red-haired shell.
“Fuck, so good Seok, just like that,” Tae started blabbering in between his desperate moans, tears pouring down his cheeks just like the rains slide down the window behind his back. More and more words keep leaving his mouth, a never-ending stream of praises, shines, sobs and nonsense recording on Hoseok’s core for only him to listen to again. The red-haired kept fucking in and out of the boy, changing the pace, differing the vibrations and depth of his truths to draw all different kinds of noises out of the Taehyung, making his own song out of them. It was good till it lasted.
It became corrupted however when the boy started to cough.
It came in form of a spasm that ran through Taehyung's body at first, one huge shiver that made him twist in his form before leaving through his lips, painting Hoseok pale shell with crimson dots of blood. There was more coming though, there always was and soon the blood was mixed with small, yellow spots, slightly discoloured and damp from other body fluids.
Petals. Buttercup petals.
Hoseok stilled his movements, halting all his ministrations watching out for the boy struggling to catch his breath. He couldn’t help him any more than just waiting till cough would cease on its own, till hanahaki grasp would lessen its reign over Taehyung’s body. In those moments the odd guilt that made its way through Hoseok’s wires was the most present, even if he wasn’t supposed to sense it at all.
It didn’t take Tae long to stop, soon leaning back of his head against the cold window to look at Hoseok with his half-closed eyes.
“You’re ok?” The red-haired asked, reaching up to brush a couple of the locks off the boy’s covered in sweat forehead. He didn’t get a response at once, however, so he waited patiently, caressing Tae’s face with his fingers, the boy’s cheek soft and warm under his sensors.
“I’m never fine, Seok, you know that,” the man finally responded leaning into the android's palm.
“Petal…” he started but the boy looked at him suddenly, his sight firm and heavy on him.
“Don’t Hoseok. Just don’t,” the dark-haired demanded, his voice harsh, somewhat desperate. Hoseok wanted to say something, but his behavioural didn’t provide any useful answers, anything that could ease the situation, or bring any comfort to the boy. It was just hopeless.
Just like he and Taehyung were.
“You can go back to fucking me, Seok. I’m good to go,” Tae added almost immediately, trying to lift himself on an android’s cock and failing, all strength long gone from his limbs. He didn’t have to do it himself though, Hoseok once more obliged to his words and slowly returned to his thrusting-vibrating routine.
He was more careful this time though, his movements measured and steady, focused on reaching deep while touching the boy just right. It still made Taehyung cry and moan, lust and pleasure painted on his face and audible in his voice, but it was easier on his breath, slow enough so he still had time to take as much air as he could in between thrusts. The android could feel the sensor's endings in his shell inevitably growing overloaded with incentives, his system not capable of processing so much at once. Taehyung seemed to be in a similar state, his voice weak and hoarse from all the screams and whines. His body was limp and frail too, his arms only loosely wrapped around Hoseok and legs long untangled, the only force holding him upright the android's arm.
“Hoseok,” the boy stuttered his name with need, his hand sliding down the red-haired shoulder to take a weak hold of his hand before guiding it on his neck. The android could feel the man's breath pass under his palm.
“Petal, you sure?” Hoseok asked, knowing what Taehyung meant by the gesture but still refusing to go one without direct consent. Too risky, even if his touch was way more controlled and measured than one provided by another human.
“Do it, love. Want to feel you when I come,” Tae provided him with a full sentence before his hand wrapped back around the hunter's shoulder, his body lax and mouth parted, ready to take whatever Hoseok would offer.
He didn’t hesitate after this, not trying to process the meaning behind the excitement behind the near-death experience Taehyung wished to be taken through. He was asked that a couple of times before and he always agreed to the boy's request anyway. It was difficult to argue not to do so, when Tae told him that he’s “the only person he trusts to do that”, after all. Hoseok wasn’t a person, to begin with, nor was he to be trusted in any condition but Taehyung seemed to disagree and there was no point in trying to prove him wrong. The hunter learned that lesson long ago.
“As you wish, petal,” Hoseok replied quietly and kept rolling his hips till he noticed the boy shiver, his orgasm approaching steadily. Then he repositioned his hand on Tae’s neck and pressed it, applying more strength with every thrust he made, slowly but certainly cutting the air out of the boy’s lungs.
Taehyung struggled underneath him, his face twisted with pleasure and mouth parted in both desperation and need, broken whimper heavy on his tongue and Hoseok’s sensors. Then the hunter lessened his grip, allowing the boy to catch a breath, feeling as his body clenched around his cock, already almost ready to burst. Instead, though, the boy cough, blood and yellow petals again painting Hoseok's shell. The boy looked at the crimson splattered in front of him, his gaze hollow. Then he lifted his head, his expression changing to suppliant and Hoseok did what was expected of him, allowing himself a brief kiss, blood filling his tastebuds, before getting back to fucking.
He was already past more than this anyway, his system on the verge of overcharge.
It didn’t take long for Taehyung to come, the speed and vibrations of the android’s thrusts along with steady pressure on his neck sending him past the edge just moments later. White, stick fluid painted both his stomach and Hoseok’s front, sticking them together as the hunter kept rolling his hips chasing his own version of the release.
What brought it to him was a loud, tired whine that Taehyung made when he finally took his hand away from the boy’s throat.
It was like everything and nothing happened at the same moment, Hoseok’s core almost switching off, only the pure essence of energy filing his wires. He didn’t receive any signal, no scripts proceed to run other than those needed to upkeep his life mechanisms. It lasted a bare seconds but it felt like millennia and Hoseok let himself float in it while he still could. It was as close as being in the moment could be for something like him.
They stayed like this, warm body against an artificial shell, both still deep in their according state of bliss. The only noise obscuring the silence in the room was the boy’s coughing, now not only petals but whole flowers, damp and slick with blood leaving his mouth to land on the floor with a quiet thump.
The stench of dead flowers filled the room as Hoseok eventually carried Taehyung back to bed.
*
“I love you,” Tae murmured, curling his body around him, trying to be as close as possible to the android when they settled under green velvet bedding.
“I know,” Hoseok simply responded, wrapping his arms around the boy in return and proceeding to emit warmth to give him at least some sort of comfort. He couldn’t really do anything else past it anyway.
They stayed like this, body and shell, mind and core entangled in one another long after Taehyung finally fell asleep, his breath steady as it could be with a plant growing within his lungs. The android still held him nonetheless, his senses dulled and scripts silent as he keeps brushing his fingers through the boy's hair. It was like trance to him, soft and sweet silence cutting him from the word.
He and the boy, it was all that was for him now.
Hosek wondered what will happen when Taehyung eventually dies. It was inevitable, after all. Hanahaki reaped its harvest slowly but persistently and neither he nor the boy possessed the amount of credits capable of preventing the sickness to proceed. Not that he was certain the boy would even agree to that since the procedure would erase Hoseok from his memories.
Taehyung loved him and it was enough of a reason to say no.
Hoseok couldn’t find a way around hanahaki, his processor growing overworked from the constant search for solutions to the sickness killing the boy from inside. There was simply no way to overcome it, no way to bypass the limitations of the relationship between humans and androids. He couldn’t love back and Taehyung couldn’t stop loving him, it was as simple as that. There was only one possible outcome for them, one that took all the meaning away, one that ended everything.
Hoseok wondered if the guilt he felt now would turn into emptiness when it happens.