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Nom was perched on one of the rails, watching the city below, when he heard footsteps. He turned to see Jade.
“Do you mind if I join you?” Jade asked.
Yes.
“Of course not,” he said brightly, patting the railing next to him.
She sat down. It was quiet for a little while. Nom spotted 4C watching and simply shook his head slightly. Not now. After a moment, the fellow android's silhouette leapt from the bridge upon which he was perched and disappeared into the city. Nom returned to his surveillance of the city. He saw a couple of unfamiliar humans and Raine talking. The latter seemed to be annoyed and left quite quickly. He turned his attention to the android beside him. Jade looked slightly annoyed, her posture on the stiffer side. A moment later, she turned to look at him.
"Nom?"
"Yes?"
"What does kissing mean?"
Nom nearly fell off the tower.
He scrabbled at the edge for a moment and pulled himself back up, ignoring Jade's concern. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"Who the fuck has been talking to you about kissing?" He demanded.
She blinked, confused. "The annoying one was talking about it, said he hadn't kissed anyone in a while and asked if K8-E wanted to kiss him."
Nom nearly gagged. God, he felt bad for K8-E. If she wanted to kill him, she completely deserved to. Jade was still studying him curiously, and he knew he had to give her an answer. He took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain it.
"Kissing is... hard to explain. It's a thing humans do, and I'm sure androids have done it as well. It's like..." He struggled to find words for it.
He knew, of course, what kissing was. He'd never gotten the hype for it. But how was he to explain it? He decided to give her the best explanation he could.
"So... kissing is, it's a thing humans do, and I'm sure androids have done it as well. Basically, a kiss is like... putting your lips somewhere. If someone asks for just a kiss, they want to put their lips on yours. That act, of touching lips, is called kissing. There's variations to it, like a kiss on the cheek where one person puts their lips on another's cheek. If you hear anyone talk about French kissing, run the other way."
Jade nodded. Paused. Considered something.
"Have you kissed anyone before?"
Nom started to laugh. Had he kissed anyone before?
"God, no. I've never understood the hype, I'll be real," he admitted.
"That is fair. The annoying one seemed very desperate to get a kiss. Is it something highly sought after?" Jade wondered.
"Yeah. A lot of people put a lot of store in kissing," he answered. "Again, I never really understood it. But that might just be a me thing."
There was a very awkward pause in which Nom had a chance to contemplate his life. How had he ended up in this conversation? The butterfly effect was crazy.
"I want to try kissing," Jade said abruptly.
This time, Nom did not fall off the tower, no matter what Jade recounted later. He stared at her.
"Why?"
She looked a bit embarrassed, and he felt bad. Then chided himself. He couldn't go and get attached now.
"I just... it seems important, no? Humans like it, androids like it. It feels like something I should at least attempt."
He laughed bitterly. "I suppose."
"...Would you mind if I kissed you? Merely to try it, no other intent. You are the only one here that I trust," she added.
Nom's mind went blank for a second as he processed this request. Right, so he was going to kill have a chat with Sidefall later.
"The thing is," he said carefully, "kissing is generally a... romantic act."
"Oh. Then why do so many people like it?" Jade asked.
"Great question. I have no idea," he admitted.
"I mean... there is one way to find out," she said.
The inflection of her tone told him that she was teasing. At least that was her intention. He considered this. Did he trust her? No. He didn't trust anybody in this goddamn prison. But she trusted him, and if it meant she would be more inclined to be on his side in the end... perhaps he could work with this. And it wasn't like he'd never been curious about it.
"I... sure. Yeah. Let's kiss, I guess," he said before he could stop himself.
She looked surprised that he'd said yes but nodded acknowledgement. They sat awkwardly for a moment.
"So... do you know how to kiss someone?" She asked finally.
"I guess you kinda have to..."
He carefully cupped her face in one hand. She stiffened immediately, and he felt himself getting tense as well. Slowly, gently, he brought his lips to hers. First impressions? It was very awkward. Their noses bumped into each other until Jade tilted her face slightly. Second impressions? He didn't like it. It was weird and awkward. Third impressions? Humans got sick so easily, how the fuck was this not considered dangerous. He pulled back very quickly; all of these impressions made in the matter of a few seconds.
They looked at each other for a moment before they both burst into laughter. Why? Nom had no idea. Jade probably didn't have one either. But they did, laughing until Nom started coughing as he inhaled wrong. This only made Jade laugh harder. They both calmed themselves down a bit. Jade swung her legs up on the railing, sitting cross-legged.
"So... honest review? That sucked," Nom said dryly.
She giggled. "I agree. I do not get the hype. Let's never do that again."
"Yeah, no. At least no drones saw that mess."
"Yes, that is good," she agreed.
Nom sighed softly as he spotted a drone flying over. Then he remembered something and smiled.
"Jade?"
"Yes?"
"Remember what we were saying earlier about throwing potatoes at the drones?"