Chapter Text
Cassidy considered himself a bit of an old fashioned kind of guy, from his more traditional armaments to all the way to how he loved. Sure, he was a bit of flirt, and has had flings here and there in the past, but he believed in a more slow paced romantic courtship, and treating his partner with adoration.
So he really had no idea where to start when it came to Echo. She was about as non-traditional as you could get, and her penchant for wanting to know, and knowing she wants, left him a bit dizzy. Normally he'd start with a nice dinner, or a drink at a bar, but this was obviously off the table. He could hear in the back of his head Echos wistful lamentations about how much she wanted to try food. She'd probably say yes, but he wasn't convinced that describing the taste of whatever whisky he'd ordered would be romantic. Definitely couldn't build "the mood" in that way. And having known each other for so long, they were already close in a way he'd known with very few others. Forget one two skip a few, the horse was galloping at an uncontrollable pace, and the guy who was meant to be holding the reins had forgotten how to ride.
Despite Echo indicating she wanted more, the furthest anything had gone was making out. There was a particular encounter which seemed to be going in that direction but ended up being a whole lot more awkward than he anticipated. Echo had not-so-subtly asked him that morning "do you want to have sex tonight" which made him raise his eyebrows and gently put down the coffee he had just poured himself (if he was easier to surprise he probably would of spat it out). She explained it was going one of those rare nights where everything will have settled down, everyone having retiring to their rooms early and only those on patrols out. He left her with a promise to "treat her right". That night he remembers tracing Echo's sides with his hands, the tops of her thighs, the crease where her chest plate dipped to her torso. But Echo had nothing. No sounds, no confirmation, no reaction. Instead she went from emotionless to looking more and more frustrated the longer it went, until she excused herself, leaving him. Now he was experienced, don't get him wrong, but as she left the room he realised something: all he knew was the warmth of skin. Echo was all sleek mathematical curves, cool metal, and the unnoticeable buzz of millions of commands per second humming under her hull. He didn't know for a second how she worked, or what she might like, and suddenly, he went from being experienced to knowing nothing.
So instead of doing anything about this, he did what he usually did, put up an air of non-chalance and stuck to his guns. Quite literally, really it was the only mechanical thing he completely knew his way around. He had tools scattered all over the tall desk he was sitting at, mid-way through his job. Maybe giving his gun a clean-out would… inspire him? God that sounded stupid. In reality this was a weak excuse for Cassidy to sit in some random workshop around the base, alone, and just letting this feeling stick around until he got used to it being there. The room was much too big for the feelings of one man, if he had more options he'd have a drink to fill that space a bit.
Some unforeseen amount of time passed while Cassidy worked on his gun, too distracted to notice Echo standing in the doorway of the large workshop.
"Howdy cowboy."
Cassidy swivelled the wheeled chair he was sat in around at the sound of Echos voice. She was leaning into the room, as if she were only passing, a look of relief projected on her holographic face. She gave a small, meek wave. His shoulders, which he didn't realise were so tense, relaxed slightly at the sight of her.
"Echo," he greeted, smiling, but not fully. She begun to approach him from the other side of the room.
"I've been looking for you, you've been gone all day. And you haven't been following your average movement patterns around the base for a Tuesday."
"All day…"
He then swung his chair around to the windows on the other side of the room opposite Echo. The sun was setting, how long had he'd been here?
"I'm glad I finally found you. I wanted to talk, about the other night."
Cassidy discretely put out his cigar, preparing himself, this was the conversation he'd been trying to avoid. But he supposed whatever she wanted from this he'd accept it. He put his attention on something in the background, but still in her direction, and she spoke up.
"I don't know how to feel… pleasure."
Ok, straight out with it then. "Uh, pleasure?"
"Arousal, of the sexual kind."
Wait, what?
"Hold up, you don't know?" He put his full attention on her now. She held her hands behind her back, and couldn't meet his gaze. It was a look he wasn't used to seeing on her.
"It wasn't programmed into me. And I've never really seen it properly to… replicate it."
Normally he had something, a quip or a comeback, but for once he was truly stunned. And then suddenly, he started laughing. With the absurdity of it all he couldn't help himself. "And here I thought I did somethin' wrong."
Echo looked mortified. "Oh no! Not at all. I'm sure if I was a human women I'm sure it would of been wonderful." She held up her hands in front of her, like she was caught for a crime.
With the introduction of this information, Cassidy realised this was actually a much bigger deal than he initially had bargained for. Sure Echo was a virgin, I mean he was one at one stage, but what do you do when your instincts can't guide you? Cassidy lived off his.
"Look, if you don't want any of this—"
Echo finally returned her gaze to his, eyes filled with concern. "But I know I want you Cole. My mind and my body just won't connect the dots. I want to try again."
Cassidy rose from his seat and approached Echo, and placed a hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her.
"I want to make you feel good, just…" Pride didn't let him finish that sentence.
"Cassidy I don't know either. I've never had a point of reference to adapt to something like this, but—" Echo briefly closed her eyes, as if she were steeling herself for something. And when she opened them, she looked directly at Cassidy, now ready for whatever she had been preparing for.
Starting from his shoulder, she let a finger slowly drift down to the bicep of his right arm, his still real one. He could feel her metallic touch cold against his skin. She trailed her gaze along the line as she spoke.
"You know cowboy, I learn by example," Echo said, her voice lowered. Both her volume and her pitch, which sounded a little foreign coming from her vocoder, but deliberate. "You could be my reference". She looked back up into his eyes.
Oh. "I… hadn't considered that an option."
He was so focused on working out a solution for her that he let slip the most fundamental thing about Echo, her adaptive technology.
"… Am I doing this correctly?" Echo asked.
Cassidy relaxed a bit and smiled , "Yes, dear." They were just as unsure as each other. He placed a hand on the curve of her waist, tracing a seam where her panels connected with his thumb. "Where'd ya learn a move like that?"
Echo smirked. "Reinhardt always picks romances for team movie nights".
The unexpectedness of her response made him chuckle. "I'll need to thank him later".
Fighting against his self doubt, he went to move his hand down to the casing of her thigh, or maybe the gap between her thigh and her hips, or somewhere he thought might be intimate for her. Echo took his hand into hers before he could figure it out.
"Cassidy let me try."
But Cassidy was so used to being the one to take action, to be confident and in control of the situation, even in the most dire of circumstances. He wanted to be confident for her, he wanted to give her a good experience with no regrets.
"I can learn from you Cassidy. Show me."
There was a hum in the air. Quite literally, Cassidy could hear the fans under Echos hull whirr a bit faster than normal. It was different, but through all the overthinking the feelings were familiar. He felt hot, and curious, and eager to please, and again it was so hot (Echo's external temperature sensors would argue otherwise). If he focused on that for now, he'd work the rest out.
Cassidy let whatever reservations he had go, pulled Echo against him, and kissed her.
The force of the movement made Echo bring her hands up to his head to stabilise herself, threading her fingers through his hair and knocking his hat off in the process. He couldn't care. The kiss was far from elegant, it was uncoordinated, and dry (well, Echo was a robot after all), but filled with every drop of care and want that Cassidy could muster for her. He pulled back, and made a bit of a show of wetting his lips with his tongue. Echo scrunched her face in confusion, but Cassidy had leaned back in before she could question him. She gasped at the newfound movement, and oh, he wanted to hear that again. With every movement he could feel Echo settle into a more natural, easy pace, perfectly replicating his own movements. She got really good at it really quickly, as expected. Without realising, Echo had slowly pushed him back into the desk, her large figure pushing him to use a hand to stabilise himself. He took the opportunity to use his other hand to pull Echo in by the head and deepen the kiss. They spent a while learning exactly what angle to tilt your head at and how effective a hard light tongue could be. He could of spent forever becoming familiar with her.
Echo suddenly pulled back. Cassidy was left out of breath, panting softly to bring himself back to his senses. Echo stared intensely.
"So what's next?" Echo asked.
"Give a man a second," Cassidy panted out. "When you do this for a while it takes the wind out of ya."
Unlike him, she was completely still, taking in every detail of Cassidy's current state. Her intensity was intimidating to most, but right now it showcased one of the most attractive parts of her to him.
"You picked that up quick," Cassidy said.
Echo smiled fondly. "I learned from the best."
Cassidy's cheeks heated up from the compliment. She always had something that took him off guard.
"There's not exactly steps darlin'. You just let instincts do the work."
"What are your instincts telling you?"
"Well usually I'd take off your clothes, but it seems you're one step ahead of me". Cassidy winked, smiling mischievously at Echo.
"Then I'll even the deal." Echo slowly pulled Cassidy forward, giving her enough room for her wings to swing forward. They curled under him, raising him up and onto the desk like a makeshift chair lift. It felt intimate in a way you couldn't be with anyone else but Echo.
Now eye level with each other, Echo begun to methodically remove pieces of Cassidy's ensemble, starting with the cape. She placed it gently to the side, and started on removing his glove, placing a kiss on the palm. As she went to un-clasp the main panel of his armour, Cassidy points to the side of his neck. "Kiss here, it'll feel good," he prompted. The thoroughness of Echo's process was a little slow, but he held himself from saying anything. Echo leaned in and basically attacked his neck with her lips, using the same intense force of their earlier kiss.
Cassidy winced a little. "Darlin' a little gentler- oh, oh god," he hummed as discomfort quickly became pleasure. Echo had found the sweet spot that made Cassidy tip his head back, exposing his neck more.
He let the feeling of pleasure wash over him, her touch cold against the heat of his skin, just different enough to always know it was her. It was only when he felt the air hit his chest that he realised she had finally taken off his shirt. Leaning back on both his hands he was exposed to her. Echo took in the sight of him, flushed and downright seductive, lidded eyes and legs spread slightly to make room for her in between. It was clear how hard he was through his pants.
Cassidy grinned. "You like what you see?"
"I like how you react to everything. It's so very…" she dragged just the tips of her fingers down his chest, "human."
Her fingers trailed past his stomach to touch him over his pants, but he held her by the wrist before she could continue.
"Wait, not yet," Cassidy said.
Echo looked confused. "But, is this not where it feels the best?"
"There's more to try, beforehand." He led her hand back to his chest. "You almost missed this".
Echo's hand ghosted over his pec, letting her in built sensors feel the softness of it, knowing the well trained muscles underneath, and the spread of chest hair, only a slight shade lighter than his head. When she brushed over his nipple, Cassidy took in a sharp breath, which seemed to have prompted her to continue the motion. Whatever she did made him shudder, the feeling going straight to his groin.
Echo asked "Why did you want me to do this?" She had a soft smile, but she looked genuinely curious to his answer. It amazed Cassidy how that every small thing she did was making him forget his words but she was still ready to let her curiosity get the better of her (or maybe the better of him).
He attempted to answer in between his light gasps. "I want to show you everything. Rushing to the peak of the mountain doesn't make for a good journey, does it?"
"Your thoughts interest me so much. Also, are erogenous zones always places with the most nerve endings on the human body?" Echo asked.
Cassidy managed to chuckle softly without other unsavoury sounds slipping through. "Pardon?"
"Not that I have any nerve endings but surely there's an alternate solution."
He somehow managed to comprehend the original question through the pleasure. "I suppose so. You always have so many questions".
"They say the best students ask many," Echo said, her tone beginning to have an edge of seductiveness. Had he been doing something similar the whole time? She picked up on everything, even the things he didn't even think about.
Echo continued her motions, Cassidy's breathing heavy and his head pulled to the side. He tried to put together his thoughts to saturate her curiosity.
"You don't really think about any one part. It's just being vulnerable. I want to show you parts of me I wouldn't show anyone else."
Whatever he said had made her stop, and stare through him, like it needed to be deeply pondered. Was that concerning? Cassidy didn't have long to think about that before Echo suddenly came back to reality.
"So would somewhere like here feel good?"
She didn't let up with her fondling as her other hand begun to stroke his inner thigh, skirting the crease where it met his pelvis. Oh, definitely not concerning. That was doing funny things to his head, something had obviously just clicked for her. Somehow it took him until he was in the middle of all of this, after all that earlier stressing, that he realised how badly he needed her.
"Alright that's enough." His voice broke up a bit. Who knows how long she would of teased him if he didn't say something.
"So may I—" Echo looked down, and then back up to his eyes.
"Please."
Echo moved to unbutton his pants, and Cassidy raised his hips, neither taking their time anymore. She pulled his pants and his underwear down to his mid thigh, finally exposing him. Echo floated back slightly to take in the sight, still panting slightly and unravelled from her work. She hadn't even touched him and his cock was so hard it looked painful, flushed and leaking at the tip. Even so he waited patiently and let Echo take in everything she could. He never really fully understood how her internal learning algorithms worked, but the line between purely necessary observation and personal desire to stare seemed to be starting to blur. The selfish part of him hoped it was more of the latter.
He wanted to be patient and take things at her pace, so he waited. Probably a bit longer than was usually normal in these kind of circumstances. Echo's expression transitioned from desire, to that frustration he saw the other night, and then to something a bit more meek.
"Now that I've gotten this far I'm… not really sure what to do." Echo fiddled with her hands uncharacteristically. "They do not teach you this part in the reproductive diagrams."
Cassidy raised an eyebrow. "Diagrams?"
"For study purposes," she stated, matter of fact.
Cassidy chuckled softly, muffling the sound with the back of his hand. Those probably weren't the best study material for this purpose but she was always doing her best to understand. He wanted to help her understand even more. Cassidy leaned forward and gently pulled Echo back into his space, and using his other hand to gently nudge her chin, directing all her attention onto him.
"Well how 'bout I give you somethin' to study."
Cassidy grabbed his erection starting at the tip, and stroked down bringing the precome along with it. Finally, some relief. He couldn't help but let out a sigh, his eyes fluttering shut even though he didn't want to let his sight off Echo. He focused on slowly stroking himself, giving something of a lesson in how he liked to be touched.
Echo's speakers turned down soft, only for him to hear. "Talk to me, describe it."
He begun to describe, low and raspy. "It feels so good. And you watching me, it's—"
"No Cassidy," she interrupted. "Describe the physical sensations. I already know you like being observed." She smiled mischievously.
A small whimper escaped him. He wasn't used to so much… thinking while doing this. But for whatever reason the instruction coming from Echo was so enticing, despite never wanting to follow anyone's rules. Huh, maybe he needed to unpack that. But Echo didn't give him a chance, her hand started tracing up and down his side, shooting sparks up his spine. Since when was he this sensitive? The feeling made him tighten his grip, which only lead to a more open moan.
"It's, ah, hot, and sensitive."
"Better, keep going Cole." Echo practically cooed the praise. Oh he liked it when she called him Cole. If she knew what it felt like, he's sure the look she was giving him would be described at "hungry". He would of gotten harder if he could.
"And every time I move my hand down from my tip I feel it through my whole body."
Describing the exact feelings made Cassidys mind wander: how would Echo's hands feel on him? Would it be gentle? Cold from the hard light? He was practically torturing himself at the pace he was holding himself back at for her, he didn't want to wait any more.
Cassidy stopped pumping himself temporally, letting out a a sigh at the lack of touch, but it wouldn't be for long. With the hand he was just using, he placed Echo's hand palm face up on top of his. Without breaking eye contact, he pooled up a small amount of saliva in his mouth and open his mouth, letting it fall into Echos palm. The act was downright seductive, a small piece of proof of Cassidy's experience. Honestly he was proud of the move and couldn't help smiling. Well, he hoped the act wasn't completely lost on Echo.
She stared at their stacked hands. "Is there always so many liquids involved?" she asked, perplexed.
Cassidy laughed. Maybe a little lost. "It's kinda the whole point. Besides having some good old fashioned fun."
Cassidy moved his and Echos hands back to his neglected cock, her hand touching him directly. Just her touch made him gasp. The hard light that surrounded her fingers was glassy and cold against his hardness, the contrast made him shiver in pleasure. He begun to move his hand, guiding her touch underneath. There was a very slight buzz to her hand that was only barely noticeable normally, but on his cock it made him move his legs a little wider.
Any reservations he had about, what, twenty minutes ago had dissolved completely. He finally got out of his own head, letting his instincts and his body make most of the decisions (and he knew those were well trained). And Echo, she said she needed someone to show her but she was always a quick learner. That didn't surprise Cassidy at all, but it made it hard to suppress his sounds when she decided to pick up the pace, adjusting her grip to perfectly copy what he had shown off earlier. His hand was simply on top of hers for decoration at this point.
"Is this right?" Echo paused her movements on the upstroke, suddenly changing the pace, massaging the seam between the shaft and the tip. Oh,he hadn't even shown her that. He finally gave up on keeping his grip and let his hand fall away, arching his back involuntarily.
"Yes, yes, don't stop," Cassidy answered even though he was pretty sure she knew that already. Echo resumed her previous actions and brought her other hand back to his chest to pinch a nipple. Cassidy inhaled sharply, grabbing roughly onto whatever crap on the desk he could. He but let out a series of low moans and a mix of "yes", "just like that", and "Echo" thrown in.
"I did not realise you would be so chatty," Echo said, a teasing lilt to her voice.
"Can't help it, I got a lot to say." If he wanted to say anything else the thought was cut off by Echo picking up the pace.
Without realising, Cassidy was meeting her hand with small thrusts, unable to hold himself back for much longer. If he didn't know better it felt like Echo had been giving him hand jobs like this for years, intimately familiar with every spot he liked, how tight he liked to be held, and the exact pace to go at to make him weak at his knees. For someone who supposedly didn't know how to be turned on, the way Echo looked at him now was like he was the sexiest man alive. It brought him even closer to the edge.
"Echo, I'm close," Cassidy managed to groan softly.
His thrusting grew uncoordinated as he chased his orgasm. A few more pumps into Echo's hand and Cassidy came with a choked moan, tipping over the edge. He heard Echo gasp quietly as he spilled on his lower stomach and her hand. Her focus didn't let up, her hand moving even more smoothly with his come there, riding him through his orgasm. Cassidy truly wasn't in control anymore with each further pump drawing an involuntary gasp or a higher pitched whimper he didn't even know he could make. Echo didn't let up the pace and it was quickly becoming too much.
"Ah— Echo please, a little less—". With what felt like an entire battles worth of effort he reached to Echo's arm to hold her back, her pace overstimulating. She let out a little "Oh!" at the realisation, and gradually slowed down until she reached a stop.
Breathing heavily, Cassidy surveyed the mess they had made while trying to bring himself back to reality. There were tools everywhere and monitors askew, probably what he grabbed onto earlier. When he paid attention to Echo, she was focused on her hand. She was pulling her pointer and middle finger together and apart, in a slow scissor motion, observing how his come stuck to her fingers. He gently grabbed her hand and put those fingers in his mouth, slowly and deliberately cleaning up whatever mess he had made on her with his tongue. Echo's eyes widened at the gesture, paying attention to each movement Cassidy made.
When he was done he left a kiss on her fingers. "It's salty, in case you were wondering." He looked up at her through his eyelashes, his lips still brushing against her fingers as he spoke.
Echo's features softened into a smile. "When I finally figure out how to program in taste, I'll have to try again then."
With the initial barriers broken, Cassidy wasted no time. "Now please, let me return the favour."
"Right now? Are you not tired?"
"Nothing could make me not want you this exact moment Echo."
The shade of Echo's cheeks deepened, and Cassidy reached forward to run a hand over one of them.
"You learned how to blush from me?" He grinned goofily. "Ain't you adorable."
The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway swiftly interrupted their moment, breaking the post-sex haze Cassidy was in. Shit, they were still in a workshop, weren't they? He couldn't let anyone find them like this, they would never hear the end of it. Hastily, he picked himself off the desk and rushed to put himself back in his pants, despite the mess on himself. While he had been stunned, Echo had already picked up a few of the pieces she'd thrown off him.
"Shit, my top, I don't have time—" Before he could finish the sentence Echos face had switched off, and streams of blue light flickered over his chest, forming a bright blue holographic version of his clothes from the waist up. If you payed attention for more than two seconds you could definitely still tell he was shirtless, the whole getup was ridiculous. He tried, and failed, to hold back a laugh.
"Really Echo?"
Instead of answer his question, she just grabbed his hand. "Let's go make use of what you taught me."
She dragged him quickly towards the door, not paying mind to Brigitte who had just entered, acknowledging them with a bit of a funny look. As Echo and him escaped the scene of the crime, Cassidy let out a bit of a breath, thankful they weren't caught in a more dicey moment. He had a reputation to uphold here, last thing he needed was Genji or someone making fun of him (or Echo, but let's be honest, mostly him) for acting like horny teenagers. But that didn't matter for now, he took the lead bringing Echo to his quarters as quickly as possible. He had so much to show her.