Brobots

  Byron pulled his tee up and over his head, exposing his six-pack shape and a cute green LED light pulsing softly in his belly button recess. Okay. So it is a light. Then he pulled down the track pants. The bulge in his briefs was obvious now. Bigger too. Jared looked away. Then back. Byron took off the briefs.

  ‘There’s no need to take those off.’

  ‘I change everything when I change clothes. Is that not how to do it?’

  ‘If they don’t… smell and they’re clean on, why change them?’

  ‘I’m learning.’ He folded up the rejected clothes and put them on the corner of the bed. Jared observed that his erection went downward and not up. It was something that happened sometimes in human men if they were well endowed; so even this detail about his build was somehow right. Jared realized he was staring when one of Byron’s hands wrapped around his naked dick and gently pulled it downwards. He then grabbed the checked shirt and put that on, standing towards Jared in full view. Kill me now. Next came the chinos.

  ‘You’re gonna freeball?’

  ‘What’s freeball?’

  ‘Pants, no underwear.’

  ‘Is that… something people do?’

  ‘Sometimes for kicks, yeah.’

  ‘Oh. I forgot to put them back on. But, maybe it will be a new thing for me.’

  ‘I won’t...’ I won’t object. ‘Sure.’ Jared flushed.

  ‘Counting on you being fine with that.’

  Mind reader too. Counter attack. ‘You use to flirt with your bro’s like this?’

  ‘A little, maybe. This kind of flirting’s just for you.’ Byron stood there facing him. His erection was showing clearly through the chino fabric as he threaded a leather belt around.

  Boom. Jared felt himself twitching, getting hot. ‘I don’t know if I can handle…’

  ‘You seem to turn me on, Jared. I… didn’t know much about my feelings before I came here. Now they’re switching on all at once. Looking back, it fits a picture I kind of couldn’t see. Brobots have everything sentient life needs to have; preferences to boot. Seems I like men; and… you more than any of ‘em. But I’m stuck here depending on you, so …I don’t know what to do about that and haven’t had these feelings before. Maybe that’s something else you can help me with.’

  Jared stood, awkwardly. ‘Let’s… get to know each other better as friends first of all. We have mountains to climb, you and me. Rights, support, getting used to each other’s company, the fact that you already live here…’ he paused. ‘It would be a dream come true, Byron. But you’re not ready, and neither am I.’

  ‘Was it right to bring it up?’

  Jared looked at him with longing. ‘Seems like it brought itself up to me.’ Jared winked and added, ‘I’ll…uh… meet you downstairs.’

  The cab pod ride was silent. Jared looked out the window at passing streetlights, people, litter, trees, buildings. Happy Christmas, Jared. You’ve got yourself a gay Brobot. Exactly what you were hoping the night you found him. This could be all your dreams come true. But he didn’t feel excited. He felt scared. Byron didn’t even really know himself yet; moreover, he depended on him. How could Jared fall in love? Even if that was no issue, Jared had all sorts of other alarm bells going off. It was pretty intense already.

  The next question was how to get through the night with Jason without raising any suspicion about frisson between them. Was he really going to do the whole taxi ride without stealing the chance to hold Byron? To kiss him? To look into his eyes? But by the time temptation was beginning to win out they were pulling up at the club.

  --

  Jason had a Piña colada and a corner booth on the first floor. Pulsing bass beats wobbled the aged floorboards from the dance floor below. Up here, gentle acoustic music played and eco-friendly air-conditioning cast gentle breeze on plastic palm fronds. Where are they?

  Jared and Byron upped the stairs and turned a corner into view. Waving them over, Jason took a good look at Byron. Kind of a bear type without much facial hair; more designer stubble like. Very much Jared’s kind of man. If it had fur, or fur potential, it automatically belonged to Jared.

  ‘Took your time.’

  ‘Sorry. We got delayed.’

  ‘No problem. This is my second cocktail.’ Jason grinned.

  ‘You’ve earned it. Congratulations! Jason – this is Byron. Byron, Jason.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Byron shook Jason’s hand firmly.

  ‘Welcome to gay paradise.’

  ‘Seems quite empty. Did they all end up someplace else?’ Byron said, looking around.

  Even witty. ‘Yeah! Thursday. No happy hour. Can I shout you something?’

  ‘No,’ Jared interjected. ‘We’ll get our own. Byron? Beer?’

  ‘Beer’s good.’

  ‘I’ll be back in a sec, then.’

  As Jared walked to the bar fussing with dollar bills, Byron seated himself heavily on the couch opposite Jason. Jason had no inhibitions like Jared. This was a gay bar. He was celebrating. He was two cocktails up. He was here to have fun. He wasn’t in the mood to represent all of gay kind to Mr Straight. Minorities always had to speak for all their kind. It was so boring; and not something you did on home turf. He didn’t want to make Byron feel awkward. But he did want to have fun. It was even more fun when he realized Byron was free balling beneath his chinos.

  ‘You’re hot.’

  ‘Does that mean attractive?’

  ‘Oh! Also cute. How’d you two meet?’

  ‘Jared got me out of some trouble. I’ve been helping him out a bit here and there in return.’

  ‘What kind of trouble?’

  ‘That’s between me and him, if you don’t mind.’

  Jason stirred his drink with a piece of pineapple. He chose for safer. ‘Jared’s a good man.’

  ‘That he is, bro’’

  Ugh. Straight inflection. Definitely not family. ‘So …what you do?’

  ‘Construction.’

  ‘Oh. All butch like!’

  ‘You haven’t met my coworkers. Bitchy queens the lot of them.’

  Jason laughed with him. OK. Substance. I can see why Jared likes. ‘You working over on that south side job?’

  ‘Have been, yeah. Moving on to something else though. Dartonia it was.’

  ‘I thought it was all robots now?’

  ‘Tends to be a mixture.’

  ‘I can see why you’ll be wanting to move on. Must be a crappy place to be right now.’

  Jared’s one step closer to getting his hands on those Brobots he so likes then. Maybe he’ll use Byron as a rout in to fix him up! This is what Jason thought, but then thought better of his friend. Jared wasn’t driven by base things. Mind you, he wasn’t always driven by healthy things either – such as his need to fix everything.

  ‘Jared got you out of a fix, now you’re fixing for him, huh?’

  Byron nodded.

  ‘Sweet. He needs a bit of that.’

  Jared came back with drinks and looked at Byron. ‘Is he behaving himself?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Byron winked at Jason. Jared saw. ‘Oh! Like this already. I needn’t have worried.’

  As the night progressed, it was clear to Byron that Jason and Jared really needed the catch up out of the office. About projects. Work banter. But also about each other. Jason had had a few dates and needed to vent about men. Jared wanted to talk about missing Yana. ‘Can I get out please Jared?’

  ‘Sure. You need a leak?’

  Think, Byron. Leak. Oh. ‘Yeah.’ He didn’t. But the answer sufficed.

  ‘Don’t go too far.’ Jared said, worries about Byron passing as human creeping back in suddenly. How about that. Worries about passing in a gay bar.

  ‘That’s kind of protective, isn’t it? Byron’s a big man, aint’cha dude!’

  ‘Sure am!’ Jason must have triggered something rather “bro joshing” with the complement because Byron puffed up his chest at that and beamed a smile whilst rubb
ing a knuckle down his front.

  Awkward, Jared thought. ‘I just don’t want him getting pounced on by some lousy queen.’

  ‘I’ll be fine, Jared.’

  With the boys left to talk, Byron took himself downstairs. He had no real need for the facilities with just one beer all day. But he was curious. What were other men who were into men like? Were they all like Jared and Jason? Were any of them like the bro’s he missed? Chuck? Ned? Tasley? There were certainly a few Chuck/Ned types for build. But they were older looking. Fully bearded, too. No designer stubble like him and the bro’s. No pup fat. Just fat. There were also more Jasons - but younger looking and even less masculine. He couldn’t see any Jareds.

  He found a stool at the club bar and ordered a whiskey. What is it about Jared that I like compared to other men? Is it just that we’re shacked up together? Am I getting my feelings all wrong? It was certainly possible. But Byron felt that he’d calculated things quite cleverly earlier. First of all there was no hiding it even if he had wanted to. But secondly, in making it a talking point, he’d forced the issue out there. Construction had taught him that un-dealt-with snags always came back so you dealt with them upfront. He’s masculine. He’s muscular. He’s strong. Also caring. There’s nothing feminine about him; just the good traits common to women and men, plus a whole bunch of male. Then… maybe I’m falling in love. The manager, Christopher, introduced himself. It helped Byron calm a little.

  ‘This seat taken?’ A large bear of a man stood pointing at the stool next to Byron.

  ‘All yours, bro’’

  ‘You on the whiskey?’

  ‘Scotch, yeah. You like it?’

  ‘I like a man who drinks it.’

  --

  Jason was holding Jared’s hand and sobbing gently. He’d just confessed to how lonely he was feeling after three relationships that hadn’t worked out. He was also on his fifth cocktail, which had something to do with the tears also. Jared was rather trapped. Most pressing on his mind was why Byron hadn’t come back. But leaving Jason to his upset right now would seem rather harsh.

  ‘I’m sure the right man is out there. Soon as you stop looking for Mr Trouble, that is.’

  ‘What… Don’t get you?’ Jason wiped his nose.

  ‘You’ve got to want to find him.’

  ‘You don’t think I do?’

  ‘I do. But I also think you look for guys who aren’t gonna treat you right because that’s what you believe you deserve. Classic internalized homophobia. Seen it many times.’

  ‘Oh god. I’m a stereotype.’

  ‘Cookie monster code monkey only stereotype in this way.’

  ‘Cookie monster sad. Cookie monkey want cocktail.’

  ‘Jared monster needs to find lost straight bear in gay bar. I’ll getcha a drink, but I think you should make it your last. While I’m at it, I’m gonna go find Byron. You okay?’

  ‘Yeah. I’ll be fine. Thanks, man.’ Jason gave Jared a sweet smile as Jared upped to leave.

  Byron clearly wasn’t upstairs, so Jared went down to the ground floor and looked around the dance floor area and then the bar. Still nothing. Suddenly from standing up he realized he desperately needed to pee, so before he could do any more Byron-searching he headed for the men’s room.

  ‘You fuckin’ piece of robot shit.’ That didn’t sound good. That didn’t sound good at all. Jared entered the room to see Byron standing at the sinks. A large man was punching him in the stomach, and a tear in his new checked top revealed wires and metal on his arm. Jared started calculating fast. The man was clearly too big to take on. Whilst not too big for Byron, there was clearly some protocol that Byron was following (or he was just scared being free-roaming the first time and didn’t want to make things worse) because he wasn’t fighting back. The rest of the room seemed empty.

  Should Jared involve club staff and reveal the nature of his friend? Or try to solve this alone, minimizing the spread of the secret? A strength rose up from his gut.

  ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ Jared pulled the man’s arm away from another punch.

  ‘This dude here ain’t even no man. He’s a machine! A god damned machine! You ever seen one walk the streets like a free man? He’s a freak. He shouldn’t be here.’

  ‘That’s a bit rich, ain’t it? You calling him a freak, just like dudes used to call us a hundred years ago. He has prosthetics. Replacement parts. He ain’t no machine.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Look.’ Jared held Byron’s damaged arm. ‘You think because he has metal and wires in his arm he’s a robot? He was born crippled, you ass wipe!’

  ‘He didn’t know how to fuckin’ piss! I said to him, “what are you? Some kind of robot?” He just looks at me and says “yeah!” all stupid like.’

  ‘So you ripped off a piece of his arm and fuckin’ started laying into him? Is that it? Is that any way to treat a man with prosthetics?’

  The man was dumbstruck at least, so Jared continued while he had the upper hand. ‘He is a robot in places. But he ain’t no frikkin machine! Asswipe!’

  The guy looked at the fury in Jared’s eyes. The kid was a bit shorter. Younger. But he had some muscle; enough to cause some damage at least. The man had had enough, whatever this freak show was. He gave Byron one last shove against a sink and stormed out.

  ‘Oh god. Byron. You okay?’

  ‘Yeah, just a little dizzy.’

  ‘You need to sit down.’

  ‘Yeah. Not here though. Can we get out?’

  ‘Sure.’ Jared rolled up Byron’s shirt sleeve to cover the tear and the gash. He rolled up the sleeve on the other arm to make them match. Without thinking, he stroked Byron’s head and kissed it. Then he took him by the shoulders and walked him out to the street outside.

  Cab pods sometimes waited around this district at night. Bars and clubs were nestled together at this end of town, making it a rich pick up spot for whoever was running the pods. Jared got Byron sitting down in the back of one and instructed it to wait. Then he went back in to find Jason. Explaining the altercation, Jason didn’t mind missing his cocktail. He hated clubs on the rare occasion they got ugly, so was only too glad to leave with his friend. They piled into the back of the pod with Byron and left for Jason’s place.

  ‘I think there’s some damage inside.’

  I do hope Jason is too drunk to notice the way Byron just put that. ‘How bad do you think it is?’

  ‘Not too bad. Just…making me dizzy.’

  ‘Hold tight, bro’. We’re gonna get you home.’

  Two instances of torn clothing and exposed robot parts in the space of four days. Jared hoped this wouldn’t become a trend. He was berating himself for taking Byron out so soon.

  Once Jason was dropped back and they were home themselves, Jared got Byron to lay down on the sofa in the lounge. He didn’t want him walking upstairs if his balance was off.

  ‘We can repair this, buddy. I’m on it. Just hold tight.’

  ‘Yeah. I’ll be OK. It’s nothing major. Just that guy went crazy on me.’

  ‘Why’d you need to go pee anyway?’

  ‘It just seemed weird not to. Men need to do it quite regularly, I’ve noticed. This guy got talking to me at the bar and…well… after a while it seemed right to say I had to go. Didn’t expect him to follow.’

  ‘Well, good logic. But announcing it in a gay bar could be seen as an advertisement.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘Sex, mainly.’

  ‘Oh. Was that why he watched me?’

  ‘Watched you pee? Deffo.’

  ‘I hadn’t had enough liquid to really need to go.’

  ‘You could have lied. Or just walked back upstairs.’

  ‘You were having fun with your friend. I like Jason, by the way. He’s cute and fun.’

  ‘Calling men cute all out in the open now?’

  ‘I guess.’

  ‘You didn’t fight back. What’s that about?’

 
‘Not something we tend to do. Didn’t want to make it worse.’

  ‘Thought as much. Good job he didn’t punch a hole in your chest as well. He’d have really freaked out then. He must have hurt his fist. There’s blood on your clothes.’

  ‘We’re built well.’

  ‘Several stories falling kind of well. But that didn’t stop him ripping a chunk from your arm.’

  ‘Some parts ain’t so strong. Only what they need to be.’

  ‘Uhuh. Yeah. Like how your front plate dented with his fist, but your back plate saved you from that work site fall like you told me the other day. That’s weird. You must be back heavy to help with balance or something.’

  Jared fixed Byron’s arm with a neat job like he’d done with his leg. He was glad he hadn’t drunk as much as Jason else the work would have been shoddy. That said, the adrenaline had sobered him somewhat too. The only real risk to his quality of work was that it was getting late, he was tired, and he had work tomorrow.

  Byron ran internal diagnostics. He identified two minor problems. One was the dented chest panel pressing on some components and causing a short. The other was a popped connector. Both needed removal of his chest plate, so it was time to prepare Jared for what he was about to see.

  ‘You ready for this?’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘I need to take my chest plate off. The panel needs pushing back out, and a connector needs to go back in place.’