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Bive sat back, panting as she came down from the high of.. everything, she'd just done with Split. Speaking of, the fruit-tar laid on the bed, already having caught her breath as she got up on shaky legs, starting to trot unsteadily to the bathroom. Bive followed after, not exactly knowing what to do after an event like this.
Her fur was sticky, uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but feel bad that Split had to feel that stickiness as well.
Split turned the knob, her paws gentle to get the perfect temperature, nothing too hot, but warm enough. She didn't know how Bive liked her showers. Bive didn't. It could be put up with though, for Split. There were many things Bive did just for Split, she could handle one more.
Split stepped inside, beckoning Bive to join. She did.
She didn't exactly know what to do, where to place her hands, where to look, how to not feel ashamed.
She looked up, meeting Split's own questioning eyes as she'd grabbed the bottle of shampoo- she had to tell her. It would be unfair not to.
"Split," Bive sputtered out, rubbing her hand over her matted wrist fur, getting sopping wet under the showerhead. "I'm.. sorry. For this. I touched you." Bive couldn't help the apology that slipped from her fangs, her glasses fogging up as she spoke. She decided not to try to wipe it away, it'd only leave water droplets to obscure her vision further.
"oh.. Bivey, sorry? Why?" Split asked, as she lathered up some shampoo in between her paws, starting to spread it across Bive's fur.
Bive stared at her body, before looking at her own. She didn't know why she was sorry. She didn't know why she felt *guilty* for doing this with Split. She'd enjoyed it, they both had, really.
"..I don't know."
At the sound of those words, Split took Bive's hands in her paws, tracing the claws gently before deciding not to speak. She wasn't smart or philosophical, she didn't know how to comfort someone like.. Bive.
But she did gently move Bive's own hands to hold her chest. Letting her just, feel the soft skin and fur there, letting Bive feel under fuzzy fingertips the marks she'd left on the skin of her lover. Not just that, but her heartbeat.
Bive couldn't breathe for a few lifetimes, it felt like, before she realized why she felt so guilty.
She still couldn't articulate it, she could never. The words got caught in her throat before she even made a sound, before she could even imagine being understood fully and entirely.
She was artificial. Not.. not like Split. Not meant for this tender affection, this love, this.. creation of a feeling deep inside her that made her all soft and fuzzy and.. weak. She was made to be something more, to be something that took and took and never returned the notion, to destroy anything as fragile as this if she saw any part of it start to take form.
She was stuck in her own head, before Split took a step forwards, pressing her body into Bive's own, and for a moment.. It was almost as if she had a rhythm in kind in her own chest. Her distraught eyes met Split's own, before Split reached up a paw and gently took off her glasses.
Bive's entire being went still for a beat, before Split's heartbeat jolted her back to life. She was alive, no matter how she was created. She felt.. warm, not just physically. The kind of warmth where your heart aches and yearns for the other even when they're right in front of you, touching you, holding you.
She loved, even if she was artificial. ..Maybe that was enough for her. It certainly was enough for Split.
Bive slowly dropped her head into the nook of Split's neck, water running down her fur and flattening the fluffy strands, the water streaming down her face in rivulets, dripping from her nose and chin, even a small trail of water going over her closed eyelid.
She didn't care. Split was with her, and if her shoulders started shaking as she hiccupped, clinging to Split's body, it didn't need to be known by anyone. Split would never tell. Bive loved her for it.
The soap washes from their fur slowly, going down the drain in bubbly trails as they stood together, embracing each other in the water and breathing together, *living* together, swaying gently from side to side.
Maybe an artificial existence was a good one, if she had Split by her side.