The fireplace crackled that evening as Adette and Derek sat close together on the couch, their hands intertwined, the both of them absorbed in a book. Lassie and Benson lay sleepily in front of the fire, the orange glow bathing the room in a dim, flickering light.
At that moment, a robot came scooting into the room, a tray balanced on its head. “Dinner is served,” it informed them.
“Thank you, chef bot,” Adette said to the robot, taking the tray while Derek stared. Though it had been a few months, he doubted he would ever get used to the abundance of robot assistance in her house.
The chef bot made a beeping sound and then scooted out of the room, returning with two bowls of food for Benson and Lassie. The dogs eagerly started to scoff their food, as dogs do.
“Despite the fact there’s four of us, it still gets quiet around here,” Derek commented absently as he ate his dinner. Adette looked surprised. “It’s usually louder in other households?”
“Oh, much, much louder.”
“You seem like an expert on the matter.”
“I had four brothers.”
“Ah,” she replied, not requiring any other explanation.
Adette made a thoughtful noise. “Maybe I should consider getting some music playing.”
Derek looked at her, raised an eyebrow and then laughed. “That’s your idea of getting some noise around here?”
“Well then, I could consider having kids instead,” she shot back.
“That better not be your way of telling me you’re pregnant.”
“Impossible! We haven’t even had sex yet!”
“Oh yes, but there could be something you’re not telling me.”
Once they both recovered from their laughter, Derek hesitated for a moment before saying, “Adette, just out of curiousity, what is your opinion on that sort of thing?”
“What, sex?” she answered bluntly.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, ducking his head in an attempt to hide his flushed cheeks to no prevail.
“Well, it’s part of life, like breathing or eating or sleeping, isn’t it?”
“That’s a pretty unique view on it,” he remarked.
“What? It is?”
“A lot of other chicks make a big fuss about it, especially about their virginity and shit.”
Adette shrugged. “I guess I’ve never really socialized enough to have an idea of what others think on the matter. But, the way I see it, we’re clearly put on this Earth to reproduce. Making a big fuss of it seems pretty silly and is very clearly a learned approach. After all, we need sex to make babies, don’t we? That’s the main purpose of it. It’s like all we need is a pleasure factor and some intelligence, and it’s this huge deal that everyone’s all delicate around.”
He was quiet for a moment while he processed her words, then suddenly looked up with a cheeky grin. “So you think that porn is perfectly natural too, then?”
“Absolutely. That’s just a person exploring their natural urges.”
His teasing expression changed to one of shock. “Do you watch porn?”
“No, I have better things to do, but I still think people make way too big of a deal about it. In historical times, sex was so much less of a delicate subject. It’s just silly, that’s all.”
Her eyes flitted about as if physically looking for her next words before she added, “Now, I’m not saying that people shouldn’t take the necessary cautions to avoid things like unwanted pregnancies or diseases, or that people should be having sex before it’s legal or they’re ready, or that they should be spreading their legs for just anyone, I’m simply saying people make far too much of a fuss over it.”
He looked at his hands for a while as he thought.
“I haven’t even considered having sex with you,” he admitted. “Do you think we would one day?”
“We could right now.”
He looked up at her to see she was completely serious.
“Well, yeah, okay.”
