Editing Of Techpriests and Telepaths (section)

==Part Four==

Another foray to the surface of Obsallis had come and gone, and once again Litilus had found himself outside of Akadia’s room. Unlike last time, however, Litilus wasn’t quite so eager to enter. He paced outside her door and tried to find the courage to make his entrance, or even just knock. Something was wrong with him, but for all of his system diagnostics he couldn’t find out what. The thought of seeing Akadia again after the previous visit’s events made his stomach queasy, kicked his remaining sweat glands into overdrive (reminding him that he really should go ahead and get rid of those when he found the time). It made the box that he cradled with such care feel heavy in his hands. Over these last few days, even the mere thought of her made him feel…nervous? Scared? Excited? All three? Though Litilus couldn’t quite place the feeling, he did know that it wasn’t an entirely unwelcome one. But a scratching noise from the box brought him back to the present and prompted him to action. With a deep breath to ventilate his voxcaster, Litilus finally tapped on Akadia’s door.
 
"Akadia? Would it be acceptable if I entered?"
 
"Oh, Litilus! It’s you!" With the hiss of compressed air, the door slid open and revealed Litilus to its owner. "Come on in! I thought I gave you the code to the door, didn’t I?"
 
"Well yes, but…" He trailed off as he followed her in. "I brought have…gift? For you."
 
Akadia stared blankly at the fumbling techpriest, not quite sure as to how she was supposed to respond. Litilus ventilated his voxcaster once more and held the box stiffly out in the general direction of Akadia as far as his arms would allow.
 
"A gift. I brought you a gift. I want you to have it. Because it is a gift. For you."
 
Gingerly, she plucked the box from his trembling hands.
 
"Aww, thank you, Litilus! You're so sweet! I can’t wait to see what it is!"
 
Akadia honestly wasn’t sure of what to expect from Litilus’ generosity. After all, what exactly does a techpriest hold dear? The holes in the lid of the box gave her some clue, but she still couldn’t think of anything Litilus might give her that would need air. The most she could figure was that it must be pretty fragile, given the pained look that crossed what was left of Litilus’ face whenever she so much as tilted the box while undoing the ribbon that bound its lid. Maybe it was one of those servo skulls she always saw following other techpriests around. Though, even the extra pondering time her careful handling brought her wasn’t enough to prepare for what she saw. Once she lifted the lid, her eyes widened with unfettered, childlike glee.
 
"It’s a puppy!"
 
"I followed all of your specifications, too! Brown and fuzzy with big, floppy ears." Words came easily to Litilus now that he was at home amongst facts and figures he could rattle off. "I was even able to make some modifications to the standard template: it will not defecate at random, has been implanted with instinctual acknowledgement of you as its owner, and most importantly, its skin and organs have been designed to be completely impervious to flame. I do not know how well it will work against psyker projected fire, but I figure it should at the very least mitigate things."
 
"But…how?"
 
"Oh, it was easy enough. Mostly. I had an acquaintance in the Magos Biologis work out the details for me and called in several favors and incurring a few debts of my own to get it to Obsallis. From there it was a simple matter of getting planetside, which is as effortless as informing a shuttle pilot that the integrity of his vessel is at risk unless he let me aboard to inspect the craft. Most people will not second guess a techpriest."
 
Akadia managed to tear her eyes from her new friend to stare hard at Litilus. Her eyes shone wetly in the fluorescent light.
 
"Why did you do all of this for me? I don’t deserve any of it."
 
"Why not? Did I do something wrong?"
 
Akadia shook her head.
 
"The first time you visited me. I didn’t have to be psychic to know you didn’t want to be there, but it helped. I didn’t say anything, though. Because even though I knew you didn’t want to be here, that you didn’t want to talk to me, you still did. And I wanted that so badly that I pretended not to know. I'm sorry for lying to you, Litilus, and thank you for even pretending to be my friend. You can leave now. Take your dog too, I don’t deserve him."
 
She stood and headed towards the door console, opening with the press of a button as a dumbfounded Litilus remained still.
 
"Do I have to?"
 
Akadia could only stare in disbelief.
 
"But you were forced to be my friend…weren’t you?"
 
"I was never forced to be your friend, just to talk to you. And I only had to talk to you once a week."
 
"Then…then why’ve been visiting me every day?"
 
Litilus joined Akadia over by the doorway, pressing the same button she did to close it once more. He held her arms and looked into her eyes as one of his mechadendrites brushed away her tears.
 
"Because I wanted to. I wanted to talk to you, to know you. To be your…you know. Because, well, I…" He pulled her into a hug and gently pressed his forehead against her own. "I am terrible with words."
 
After relishing in the unexpected affection for a spell, Akadia snaked her hands up to Litilus’ face, pulling it level to her own. With a sigh, she kissed him squarely on the mouthpiece. In this instant Litilus not only understood the function of lips for the first time in his life, but regretted getting rid of his own. This regret dissipated as quickly as it came as he pulled her closer and immersed himself in the sensation of closeness he now felt. Some time had passed before either of them broke the kiss and it was Akadia who finally broke the following silence with a giggle.
 
"Your face is as red as your robes again."
 
Then she leapt into his arms with renewed vigor.
 
----
 
The mismatched pair laid side by side in Akadia’s bed, their respective robes and other garments strewn about the floor leading up to it. Litilus clutched Akadia’s nude form close to him with arm and dendrite alike while she traced her fingers across his torso, exploring the different sensations his skin and steel provided. This time, it was Litilus who broke the silence.
 
"Are you sure this is all you wanted? Something feels…missing."
 
"Well, in all my books whenever the lovers kiss the next chapter has them in bed naked." Her fingers paused in their lazy inspection and looked up into his eyes. "We are lovers, right?"
 
Litilus brushed a stray hair from her eyes as his dendrites pulled her ever closer to him.
 
"I would like to say so."
 
"You really mean it?"
 
"I really do."
 
"You swear?"
 
"I swear."
 
"To the Emperor?"
 
"And the Omnissiah."
 
Satisfied with her interrogation, Akadia snuggled up against Litilus and drifted off to sleep, leaving Litilus alone with his thoughts. He thought about the psyker next to him, and how he was supposed to consider her unaltered flesh disgusting, how what he had done tonight was probably more deviant amongst his Mechanicus brethren than even his fascination with xenos starships. He also thought about how good it had felt when she pressed her body against his without any clothes to separate them, especially when she kissed him. He realized that none of these issues really mattered to him when he looked down at Akadia and saw the smile on her face. It was the first time he had ever seen her look completely content and at peace, all the little stresses of her daily existence having melted away in this blissful moment.
 
Using his mechadendrites to drape a blanket over the two of them, Litilus followed Akadia into slumber.