Static Crush {M/M} ✔

Chapter #6

Rayner leaves the garden, out of Hale's sight. No more than five minutes later, there's a knock on the front door. From inside, Melissa says, "Who's that? Everyone's here already."

Hale continues to eavesdrop. The door clicks open and Melissa exclaims in surprise, "Rayner! I thought you had plans?"

"Plans got cancelled last minute, so I figured I'd join you. Maybe help with the cooking."

"Oh, the android has that covered. Join us!"

"Will do. One sec, though, just going to put the beer in the fridge and say hi to Hale."

"Say hi to...? Okay." Melissa sounds bewildered, but Hale can already hear Rayner's footsteps approaching.

The refrigerator door hisses open, and the clink of glass follows. Rayner comes outside, holding a plastic bag in one hand full of dried, greenish seeds and another with rusty red flakes. Hale scans them. Dill and cayenne pepper. Rayner grins at Hale as he partially shuts the door behind him.

"Is my seasoning insufficient?" Hale says.

"Nah, but trust me, this will turn a great meal into—" He kisses his fingers to indicate perfection. "Budge up."

Rayner steps in beside Hale, handing him the cayenne pepper. "A little of that. And the dill seeds. Seriously, smell this stuff."

Hale shakes his head. "I'm not equipped with olfactory systems."

Rayner looks slightly aghast. "They make it so you can cook but not smell or taste your own food?"

"No. My senses have more to do with identification of elements in a meal and chemical compounds that make up the ingredients. I can replicate a meal exactly by scanning it, and I have no need of nourishment. That would be extraneous to my function."

Rayner sprinkles the dill over the steaks. "Do you wish you could?"

Hale experiences the largest hiccup in his programming he's ever experienced. A full five seconds pass before he recovers. The time it takes to process the question and answer is alarming, given he can normally anticipate the direction of a conversation and have an answer ready before a person even finishes speaking. He tilts his head and says slowly, "I... experience the world differently."

Something in that long pause between words and the expression on Hale's face must seem strange, because Rayner says quickly, "Sorry, I'll change the subject," and pats him on the shoulder. Hale feels his focus slip into that brief contact. Is Rayner comforting him? Why? Before he can press the topic, though, Rayner says, "How are you doing here? Settling in?"

Hale turns over the steaks, watching the grease drip and spit into the fire below. He says, "Good. I've encountered few difficulties."

"You and Melissa getting on all right?" Rayner continues conversationally.

"Yes. However..." Hale considers for a moment whether to tell Rayner about certain challenges he encounters in keeping Melissa happy. Rayner assisted him in the past, perhaps now he will have equally helpful advice. "Melissa seems very concerned with what her guests think of her," Hale replies truthfully. "I'm afraid she believed I would impress them. However, some seem to find me unsettling. Elias and Madeline Odier were determined to despise me before they arrived, I believe, in order to maintain a sense of superiority over Melissa despite their recent loss of wealth and status."

Rayner's eyebrows shoot up. "I didn't know that when Melissa asked you to be more casual, you'd also become twice as shady. How'd you figure that out?" he asks in a conspiratorial tone. He looks pleased. It has the effect of easing the number of responsibilities weighing on Hale's mind. Rayner is one guest he seems capable of entertaining, at least.