But he would achieve that feat.
Soon.
He pressed his lips together.
“That’s the wrong way.” His female laughed once more, and the recording device tilted downward.
Her breasts were generous. They strained against the fabric of her vividly colored garment. Her waist appeared as soft as the rest of her. He projected her hips would be wide, well-suited to accommodate a C Model cyborg, to accommodate him.
The view lowered to encompass a doll form.
It was crafted from dark-brown fabric while his was crafted from pale-pink cloth, the same shade as his female’s skin. Other than that major deviation, there was a mere 2.2369 percent visible variance between the two forms.
Hoarse’s shoulders lowered. She had been impressed with his fabrication of the doll form. He would master the rest of the procedure, and she would declare him worthy of being her warrior.
“Are you hearing me okay?” His female paused in her movements. “You’re very quiet.”
Hoarse hadn’t realized chatter was required. “I hear you, little fabricator.”
“Arlicia.” Her voice grew huskier. “You can call me Arlicia.”
His female had granted him the honor of utilizing her name. That gave him hope he’d eventually prove himself to her. “My name is Hoarse, Arlicia.”
He paused.
They had maintained a purely trainer-trainee relationship until now. But she was his female, and he wanted her to process he wasn’t completely incompetent. He could protect her, if that was required.
“The name Hoarse was derived from my battle tactics. I prefer to advance before the fumes from the bombings clear.” He enjoyed fighting, sought always to be on the front lines. “That increases my kill rate and ends conflicts faster, but it also temporarily damages my vocal cords.”
“You’re a warrior.” Her fingers fluttered against the doll’s blank face. “And you also fabricate dolls. Are they for your children?”
“They are for the children I wish to have…in the future.” With her. “One of my brethren has a female and an offspring—a child.” He used his female’s words. “I craft ulus, what you call dolls, for her, to relay my caring for her.”
Arlicia lifted the doll she was crafting higher. If it had eyes, its gaze would be level with hers. “That’s exactly what gifts of dolls do—they show the recipients we love them. And it gives them someone to love.”
Hoarse now had someone of his own to love—his female. And once he had honed his skills at doll fabrication, she might also deem him deserving of the human love emotion.
“The little girl I’m crafting this doll for has dark-brown skin.” Arlicia swept her fingertips over the form. “And she has black hair.” She selected black interlocked fibers. “I think every child should have at least one doll who looks like her. That shows the child she’s perfect as she is.”
Hoarse’s gaze shifted to the doll with mismatched eyes. That had been his standard for perfection for many planet rotations.
He directed the recording device toward his work space, chose interlocked fibers the same hue as his little fabricator’s.
“Ahhh…that is a great choice for the hair.” Her voice lilted with humor. “Some would say it is the best color.” She laughed.
“Your hair is this color.” That made it the best in Hoarse’s processors.
Her breath hitched. “This is why I don’t communicate this way. You’ll uncover all my secrets.”
“Your secrets are safe with me, Arlicia.” He would protect them and her. “My hair is black, the same hue as the hair of the doll you’re fabricating, except it doesn’t reflect light.”
“There are fibers like that.” She threaded the strands of material through the fastening device. “I’ll do this slower than I normally would so you can follow along.”
He didn’t require the decrease in speed. His visual system was more advanced than a human’s. But he said nothing because the slower she progressed, the longer a duration they’d have together.
Hoarse didn’t want the training session to end…ever.
They enjoyed multiple training sessions a planet rotation for twenty-three more planet rotations. Not all of their communications consisted of ulu-, of doll-fabrication advice.
Hoarse convinced his female to communicate after she woke and before she fell asleep. That assured him she was fully functional.
They chattered about beings they’d seen. His female said she was impressed with the number of humans, humanoids, other species he’d encountered and the details he had stored in his databases. She implied she might utilize that information for future doll fabrication.
He didn’t relay that many of those beings had died after he’d viewed them.
They discussed their planet rotations. His little human spent much of her time crafting dolls and delivering them to merchants. High-credit beings sought her skills to fabricate dolls resembling their offspring.
Hoarse talked about his brethren, Captain, the planets he had visited. She laughed when he shared that Relay had asked if she knew any other females. His female told him to tell the E Model she’d fix him up.
After Relay deciphered that unusual reply, he had offered to fly a shuttle craft to Arlicia’s location, convey Hoarse to meet with his female. The warrior couldn’t process why he delayed claiming her.
The wait was torturous but necessary. Hoarse wanted their first meeting to be perfect, sought to give her no reason to reject him.
The doll he was fabricating was almost complete. He gazed down at it as Arlicia chattered about types of footwear.
His skills had improved, but they didn’t yet match his female’s. The face was cruder. He was a C Model with a C Model’s primitive motor skills. The fine work remained beyond his capabilities.
“Once we complete the detachable footwear—” She was crafting the boots for a blue furry doll that resembled an Ungarian offspring. “—we’ll only have the eyes to craft, and then your doll will be finished.”
She pieced together the tiny soles.
Hoarse applied all his processing power to doing the same. That was difficult. His cock was as rigid as a dagger’s blade. His need for her had escalated with each passing moment.
“I leave the eyes for last because once I add them, the dolls feel alive.” She laughed. “I don’t feel right working on them after that.”
Fraggin’ hole. He yearned to taste her joy, kiss her, touch her, claim her. But he also wanted to prove himself to his female, to finish the doll, show her he was skilled, before he bred with her.
“Adding the eyes is such a special moment.” Her voice flowed down his form, wrapped around his shaft. “I’m delivering a container of dolls to an academy on Pollux Pequeno in three planet rotations. Is that planet near you?”
Hoarse located the planet’s coordinates in the shared cyborg database. “It is less than a planet rotation away from my present location.” He straightened. His female would be situated close to him.
“A planet rotation away is too far for you to travel merely to meet with me.” She sighed, the sound pulling at his heart. “That’s disappointing. I wanted to share the moment with you, add the eyes together.”