Vanilla Dusk ✓

Half Part 6

Shane 2.0 flipped the sizzling bacon on the frying pan. Emir watched from the back. It had been three months since this android showed up on his porch, intervening in his otherwise aimless, wretched life. Everything about the android ignited a remnant of his memories. He had convinced himself numerous times that Shane 2.0 was not Shane, despite the same striking appearance, tender voice and lean physique they shared. But the android would often surprise him with his actions – the way he could replicate Shane's recipes faultlessly, the way he loved to add excessive amount of milk into black tea, imprudently mixed the dark and coloured clothes when doing laundry, cracked poor jokes and cavorted around just to vex Emir.

He was a painful reflection of Shane.

Shane wore exactly the same lace apron whenever he cooked and that slender waist was what Emir missed wrapping his arms around.

They went clubbing once. Shane's suggestion, indeed. Boisterous music blasted on the dance floor. In a sea of wigging, frisking bodies, Shane dragged him out and spun him. They twirled and swayed following their counterparts, stamping to the beats of the music. They rocked their heads back and forth, grinding their bodies against each other, both too inebriated to pay attention to where their hands were roaming. Their eyes roved over each other's face, hands brushing across each other's waist and hips. Emir leaned in to peck at Shane's pinched lips, which still tasted of caramel no matter how many glasses of cocktail he drank that night. Shane, taken aback by Emir's initiation, blinked at him at first before he melted into the kiss. They left the dance floor and rested on the couch, tongues wrestling with each other. They weren't officially dating then, but they had gone out enough times to qualify as a couple. Shane's face was even more tantalising in the dim light. His eyes were half-lidded as he reciprocated Emir's advances woozily. His lashes kept fluttering and occasional bright beams flashed across his symmetrical face, making his smooth skin and narrow jaw stand out. They parted for a brief second with a satisfied grin.

'So, you're not grumpy anymore?' Shane had teased, tracing his fingers across Emir's full lips.

'Oh, shut it.' Emir rolled his eyes and pulled him close. With the music still banging around them, they smashed their lips against each other this time. Emir blamed the liquor.

They both ended up with a severe hangover the next day but since then, they started holding hands whenever they went out.

They once went to a sleepover party held by Shane's cousin, Rex. Someone proposed a costume play in the middle of Truth or Dare. Shane was dared to put on a French black-and-white maid dress with a white half-apron and a pair of cat ears instead of a ruffled headpiece while Emir got away with a Cheshire Cat pyjama. They both got teased and Emir's face flared red the entire night but Shane simply shrugged. He was so used to crossdressing it no longer embarrassed him. He kept flirting with Emir and during the pillow fight, they sneaked away to lock themselves in one of the guest rooms. Emir blamed Shane's stupid crossdressing this time because he got twice as aroused when Shane swung his hips in this absurd outfit. He pinned him on the wall and ravaged his sweet lips as his hands wandered off to his crotch.

The next morning, they left Rex's house in scruffy clothes and Emir wouldn't stop blushing.

There was a time they went hiking but forgot to check the weather forecast. They were caught in a downpour when they were halfway to the summit. Forced to retreat, they started looking for a temporary shelter and eventually found an abandoned hut. The downpour escalated and turned into a major storm. Clusters of thick, grey clouds hovered above the hut as bolts of lightning shot through the sky. Rain pelted down ruthlessly, crashing in through the holes of the straw roof. The gale kept crushing the bricks, almost unrooting the walls. They stripped themselves and hung their clothes in a dry corner. The air turned chilly and Shane started a small fire. The huddled around the fire and courtesy of Shane, foreplays ensued. Emir blamed Shane's nude body this time. Emir wouldn't say making out on a damp, creaking wooden floor was appealing but Shane's erotic expression compensated for everything. When the rain ceased, their bodies were tangled in a corner.

'Emir?'

Emir snapped out of his poignant reverie and refocused his eyes on Shane 2.0, who was waving at him.

'Tea is ready,' he said.

Emir blushed and inwardly smacked himself for drifting off to another sinister fantasy. He wanted so much to hug the android in that lace apron, as if doing so would connect him to Shane once more.

'You okay?'

'Yes,' said Emir as his fork dug into the banana pancakes. The android offered him a glass of cocktail. He drank a glass and then two and then three... As the liquor slowly subsumed his consciousness, he let the android help him to the sofa, where he lolled down with his mind still overwhelmed by the recurring images of Shane, Emir grabbed the android's head and pulled him close.

Just this once.

He tried those lips.

They were nothing like Shane's.

They were cold and stiff.

Emir fought back the tears threatening to escape his eyes. He grunted and turned away from the android. He nodded off after a while.