An Imitation of Love (A Detroit: Become Human Story)

Chapter 7

It had been a few months since Alexios began to live with Sebastien. The weird feeling that Sebastien felt in the pit of his stomach was now gone. They both got into a rhythm of how their day to day went. Sebastien would be woken up with breakfast before work. Alexios would tidy the apartment and entertain himself when he got bored. Sometimes he'd go shopping, binge watch a show, or walk around to take in the sights of Detroit. His directive of integrating in society was progressing extremely well.

Alexios felt eyes on him often when he was out and about. He would also get stopped from time to time by the curious humans asking what type of android he was. Being the smartest machine on the planet had its perks. He'd simply tell them that that was classified information and be on his way. All of them made no effort to see what that meant. When Sebastien would return home from work, dinner would already be made. Alexios went out of his way to make a different meal for him each night, but sometimes he'd remake his favorites. They would also spend a lot of their time together with Violet tagging along sometimes. Sebastien and Violet were an integral part of teaching Alexios about humanity.

They would go grocery shopping, see a movie, have dinner out, anything to get them away from the apartment. Sebastien realized that he spent more time outdoors with Alexios in past couple of months than he had in years by himself. The change of pace really did wonders for his outlook on life. Alexios was helping him get out of shell. The newfound confidence even got him a date.

"Chris is pretty nice," Sebastien was telling Alexios as they sat on the couch watching a movie together.

"Is he?" Alexios asked, continuing their conversation. Alexios had never met Chris, but he knew that he and Sebastien had started communicating through one of those dating apps.

"Yeah!" Sebastien beamed. "It didn't even bother me to pay for our dinner and the drinks. I did invite him out after all."

"Do you normally buy everyone's dinner and drinks?" Alexios asked. He had researched the art of dating for his own curiosity, however, same-gendered dating had so much conflicting information.

"No, not really," Sebastien told him. "It's just been so long since I've been on a date and I want him to like me."

"Will paying for his dinner and drinks make him like you?" Alexios continued his questioning. Sebastien fell silent.

"I'm not sure," he finally answered and sighed. "I don't think that's how it works, but it could. Although, I don't think I'd like that. I'm so useless when it comes to this stuff."

"My knowledge banks say that there is nothing wrong with paying for a date's meal," Alexios began. "However, it is encouraged that both parties pay their own share so no one feels obligated to do more after that." Sebastien nodded his head.

"That's understandable," Sebastien said. "I don't think I pressured him into anything or that he felt obligated to continue our date. It actually seemed like he perked up more when I told him I'd pay."

"I'm sure it's fine," Alexios smiled. "Who wouldn't be smitten with you anyway?"

"Lots of people," Sebastien laughed. "But I appreciate you saying that nonetheless." Sebastien's cell phone rang. It was Chris calling. "Hold that thought, Lex." Alexios was happy with how their relationship progressed. He learned that friends would often call each other nicknames. "Lex" was Sebastien's nickname for him. His processors would fire off each time Sebastien said the name. He also had a weird reaction that he could not understand when it came to Sebastien. For some reason, when Sebastien would go off to speak with Chris or when they would message each other, Alexios would feel what could only be considered as envy. Alexios consistently screened his internal systems for viruses, but he was running optimally. His diagnostic testing showed no signs of corruption. He did not understand where that human emotion came from. All he knew is that he wanted to spend more alone time with Sebastien.

"How was the call?" Alexios asked when Sebastien finally hung up the phone.

"It was good," Sebastien giggled like a twelve year old schoolgirl twirling her hair in front of her crush. "I talk about you a lot and he wants to meet you."

"You do?" Alexios asked and smiled. "He does?" Alexios was then confused.

"Yeah, we planned on going out to get drinks this weekend," Sebastien explained. "Vi will join us too. It'll be fun!" Alexios only nodded his head as they continued to watch their movie in silence. For the first time since his activation, Alexios wasn't looking forward to the weekend with Sebastien.