It was a little weird, actually. Okay, a lot.

Charlie was the one who had never had sex before, yet I was the one who was making him wait. Usually it was the other way around; the experienced person bouncing to jump the innocent virgin. But then again, since when had anything ever been normal between me and Charlie?

Society's rules all seemed to not apply in my house, the very rules I had spent hours teaching him. Charlie didn't care that we weren't supposed to sleep in the same bed when our relationship/situation was what it was. He just did it anyway.

Friday evening he had come into my bedroom after we had said goodnight and had climbed into bed with me, me first being a little resistant. After promising me he just wanted to hold me, I had obliged and then praised my own decision when Charlie turned out to be the best pillow in the whole world. His chest might've been harder than a brick, but his skin was soft as silk.

Saturday morning I had therefore woken up to a bird tweeting outside my window and a Charlie sleeping steadfastly next to me. His prosthesis stood next to my bed, and my covers were bundled around his leg. I couldn't help but just watch him for the longest moment, remembering what had happened during the night.

I always woke up thirsty at night, which was why I kept a glass of water next to my bed whenever the thirst hit. But that night as I'd tiredly woken up to turn over and get a sip, my eyes had fallen to my ceiling and I had seen the most incredible thing ever.

All of my small nicknacks and books were floating around in the air in a circle, like a giant mobile. Spinning slowly, it was enchanting to watch, seeing Charlie's peaceful face sleeping next to me, probably unaware that he was doing it. I couldn't help but smile and feel my heart clench as he shifted over with a small mumble and tightened the arm he kept around my waist and pulled me closer. In many ways he was a man, but when he slept he was an innocent child.

A child who in his dreams created a mobile over his bed.

Now watching him as the morning light peaked in through my curtains, I felt that same clench in my heart. I knew then I had gotten too deep into this. Way too deep. I couldn't believe I was parting with him in just a little over a month. I didn't want to. As Charlie begun stirring again, slowly waking up, I blinked away the tears that had briefly welled up in my eyes and quickly schooled my features to a smile. The second his eyes opened and those magenta moons fixated and found me, I saw the most breathtaking thing happen.

He smiled back.

Since Charlie had come here, I had never seen him smile. Only brief glimpses of what could've been a smile, but never evolved to one. My guess was that he hadn't found the purpose of it yet, therefore didn't understand the need to do it. But now, looking at me, waking up with his arm still curled around my body, his lips arched up into the most amazing, pure smile I had ever seen.

"G-good morning," I managed to stutter out, so taken aback when he squeezed me a little and then exhaled contently.

"Good morning," He replied, leaning down to my lips. I held my breath as he pecked them softly, humming a little. "Good morning..." Another peck, "Good morning..." A peck to my nose, "Gooood morning..."

"I, uh... I think you said that already," I breathlessly whispered, my eyes fluttering closed as his lips moved down again and gave mine a sweet kiss. Why didn't he have morning breath? Another 'Creature feature?' Unfair. I probably smelled like a skunk, yet he still kept kissing me.

"I like saying good morning to you," He lifted his hand and brushed his thumb gently over my cheek. "They never did it inside the facility."

My chest immediately constricted and I pressed my lips together to hide it. Hesitantly, I laid my hand over his that rested on my cheek and squeezed it. "... what was it like in there? How was a normal day for you?" I croaked. When the joy left his eyes, I quickly added, "No, forget I asked. We don't have to talk about it."

"It wasn't like this," He slowly said anyways and looked between the two of us. "It was much more... clinical."

"How so?" Again, I had a feeling I was going to regret asking, but after seeing those videos, I doubted it could get much worse. But maybe that was just my desperate naïvety talking.

Charlie shifted a little and pulled me closer, rested his forehead up against mine. "Well... every morning they'd start by pulling me out of my sleep—"

"—pulling you out?"

"They gave me a sleep inducing drug every night to keep me steady because I kept... levitating stuff," His cheeks turned a little pink and he shyly looked down, like levitating stuff was something to be embarrassed about. "My mind can't control itself when I'm unconscious, so they put me to sleep with a sedative."

"God." I whispered and shook my head, but then pulled myself together. "Then what?"

"They'd come in with a table and a bowl of breakfast, a specially made protein porridge that contained all the vitamins and nutrients I needed. It didn't have a taste, it was just for sustenance purposes to keep me alive and healthy."

"That's horrible."

"That was the best part of the day," He said and ran his finger down my jawline to my chin, moving up to my lips. He softly thumbed them apart, just watching them for a moment before continuing. "After that, it was trials and experiments all day. Challenge after challenge, problems, riddles... sometimes I worked on the same thing for months at a time, before I'd suddenly get a new assignment. They rarely told us what we were solving or what they were doing. Only sometimes, if the solution demanded the context."

"I can't even... imagine," I said, my throat closing up. "What you've been through... what you..."

"It's all I've ever known," He murmured, moving so close his lips touched mine. "Until you. I knew there existed another way of living outside the lab, but I wasn't discontent or unhappy before I met you. Mostly because I didn't know what those two words meant, but also because my whole life had been inside that white cell; Until the day they told me I was going out."

Despite my closed throat, I managed to whisper; "What did they tell you exactly when they told you you were going to be a part of this new experiment?"

"Not much. Only that, and that if I failed, I was probably going to be terminated."

"T-terminated?"

"I know about the chip in my head," He said and dipped his hand down to my waist to pull me even closer when I stiffened up in shock. Why was he so calm? He just stated he knew about the off-switch in his head, and he was completely and totally relaxed. "They never told me about it, but I can feel it. I didn't know what the chip could do at first, but I did the math after they told me they'd terminate me if I tried anything. I figured the easiest and safest way to dispose of someone like me would be to... implant a bomb inside my head."

My eyes stung with tears. "Charlie..."

"I'm not scared," He whispered and pressed his lips tenderly against mine for a moment, stealing my stuttering breath before he continued. "With you here, I know I can't fail. In a month when they come to get me, they'll notice how far I've come and they'll consider elongating the probation. They'll see how well we work together and put me back with you, and..." He exhaled a long breath, but then closed his eyes. "And then maybe some day... they'll let me mate with you."

When he opened his eyes and met me with the most serene and pure look, my heart stopped beating and my breath officially dissipated.

Charlie... what are you doing to me?

I swallowed with difficultly, but then turned my eyes away. "We should... we should probably get up. We still have a schedule to stick to."

"Five more minutes," Charlie bargained and slid his hand down my thigh, lifting my leg and curling it over his hip to bring me flush against his body – against his morning glory. "Just five."

I tried to exhale calmly, but I couldn't suppress the light shudder that went through me as his lips kissed my forehead and as his nose took a deep inhale of my hair, breathing in my scent. The low rumble from his chest did things to my panties that should've been impossible. "O-okay... maybe five more minutes." I knew I should object, but I just couldn't find any arguments.

Not until Charlie pushed my chin up and meshed his lips against mine, rolled me over and pinned me beneath him.

Five minutes...

~~~

"How are you still eating?" I watched incredulously as Charlie shoveled down his seventh portion of cereal, practically swallowing his mouthfuls, neglecting the chewing part.

He froze up when I looked in slight horror at him, and he then quickly swallowed and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "My brain works faster, so it tells my system to digest the food I consume quicker than the normal human. And I also like the taste," He said, and again, the childish side of him peaked out as his cheeks tinted pink. "It's... sweet and crispy."

I chuckled and sipped my coffee, seeing him take another hesitant mouthful, though slowing down a bit as I remarked, "Well in any case, you still need to chew your food. I'm actually surprised your stomach hasn't upset you yet. No solids your whole life, and your system says nothing when it finally gets something to really process? Your colon deserves a medal."

"My body and system is different from yours," He replied and scooped up another spoonful, lifting it to his lips. "It's designed to be immune to most things like diseases, allergies, infections... even a common cold."

"Wow," I noted, frowning a little at that piece of knowledge. "And they did that to you in there? Developed you to be resistant to all these things?"

"It's taken many generations and failed attempts, but eventually yes. It's meant to hopefully one day annihilate all diseases prone to humans." He paused up and glanced a little at me. "Not all things C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S does is horrible."

"I don't disagree on that, it's the measures they go to to achieve it that's horrible," I replied and elaborated; "Wouldn't you much rather have lived a normal human life than have grown up in that facility as a lab rat? To have had a real mother and father, brothers, sisters... friends?"

"I've never known anything else," He repeated the same words he had told me earlier. "But even so... no. What they did wasn't always pleasant, but it was for the greater good. I feel blessed," He said and made me drop my jaw when he looked up at me sincerely. "To be a part of the movement that's trying to help mankind and improve it. More than anything, I feel it after I've come out here and experienced mankind's flaws for myself. I know now that my creators are doing the right thing."

"Mankind's flaws?" I echoed. "The right thing? Charlie, do you hear yourself? I may work for them, but I don't support what they do for even a second. The reason I took this job was to get a chance to work with what they had created, but after learning exactly how they created you, I..."

I wanted to say they should've been shut down. That there was a limit to the measures we should use to acquire results and progress. C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S had long ago crossed that line, and on top of it all, they had instilled it in Charlie's head that it was alright. It was like religion; if you grew up getting spoonfed one thing, then that would be all you knew. If someone tried to feed you something else, then you'd push it away. And Charlie was pushing away the idea that his creators had done any wrongdoings.

"They're scientists," He said a little defensively, protecting the people who had sexually abused him without his knowledge. "Science isn't always nice and easy, it takes sacrifices." Oh, is that they call cutting off your leg? I wanted to ask him. A sacrifice? "It takes dedication and perseverance. Especially in this world where humans are polluting the only planet they can survive on, killing it while also slowly killing themselves. My specie would be the answer to that," He said and looked at me. "Our intelligence and stamina can allow us to do so much more, solve things, run or walk the distances a bus or car takes you today without getting exhausted. C.E.N.T.U.RI.E.S did that. They made me, and I'm proud to be their creation, monster or not."

I silently looked at Charlie for a long time, half in shock, half in selective muteness. I couldn't deny that their creation of the Creature was an amazing accomplishment, but their approach to them... it was like he had said himself earlier that morning in bed, it had all been so clinical. Why couldn't they have done all the research while still treating them nicely? For God's sake, they only ever addressed Charlie with his dog-tag, 6402-C. He was a slave to their science and here he was telling me he was proud to serve them.

The images of what I had seen in those videos popped up again, and once again, I found myself so close to opening my mouth and telling him. But as I stared at Charlie's glowing face, I once again couldn't. Even if the line had gotten more blurred.

Was it better to let him believe C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S were good and let him naïvely be happy, or better to show him exactly what they truly did and break his heart? Again?

I shook my head and spoke at last. "Alright then. I guess we'll see the final results of their progress when our time is up. But whatever it shows, just know you're not a monster," I attested and pinned him with a hard look. "Got it?"

He nodded carefully, then looked down into his bowl. "Yes."

"You better," I gave him one last assertive glare, then nodded myself, satisfied. "In that case, we should discuss what to do today. I haven't gotten around to plan anything, but I'm thinking we need to continue what we're doing, despite..." Despite the fact that he'd eaten me out and I'd sucked him off. "Erm, so, I'm thinking maybe I find a few books for you to read and then later, around lunch, we have a small... uh, exercise. You've pretty much learned all there is to the basic knowledge of humans, so I thought we might move on to something a little deeper."

"Like what?" Charlie rose a curious brow.

I smiled a little to myself as the idea in my head blossomed. "You'll see."

~~~

"I don't... understand," Charlie said and stared up at sign that with bold letters read RRL. "Buying clothes is... an exercise?"

I chuckled at what I could only assume was his mind trying to find the logic in that. "A part of becoming an independent, self-functioning person is by doing your own shopping and figuring out what you like, personally. That includes clothes, shoes, soaps, scents, hairstyles..."

If he hadn't been wearing a new pair of black ray-bans I had found for him, I was certain Charlie would've been staring wide-eyed into the Ralph Lauren store that displayed a selection of clothes in the windows. When I pulled on his arm and began dragging him inside, I got the feeling from him he'd rather run back home again.

"But I already know what I like," He said as I walked him up to the first rack of flannel shirts and checkered T's. "I like you and anything you get for me."

"And that's very sweet, Charlie, but you need to do this for yourself," I said and held up a shirt to him, trying to isolate his size. He was an XXXL large at least. How was that even possible? "C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S has provided you with all your stuff until now, but I messaged them earlier and told them this was what you needed to do now. To form your own opinions on stuff like fashion and taste."

"But I don't know anything about it," He drawled and picked a random shirt from one of the hangers and held it up. His forehead ceased and his lip twisted. "How do I know if it's good or bad?"

"Clothes can't really be good or bad," I said and smiled as he put the shirt back and now picked another instead and gave it a better inspection. "It just has to be something you like. Like... the color, or the design, or if it sits well on you. It's your own preference."

"I still don't get it," He mumbled and shook his head, staring at the shirt in his hands. "It's pointless, clothes don't have any function. They just have to cover your body, since you humans don't allow nudity in public or unless you're like you and me."

I cleared my throat a little and looked around, glancing at the Ralph Lauren employees who stood a few feet away, seemingly talking and not paying attention to us, but you never knew. "Uh, yes, but please keep your voice down a little. Just try walking around the store and pick some items out that you like. Don't worry about money, we're just browsing for now."

And with that, Charlie began circling the store, grunting and mumbling to himself as he did. He touched a few shirts, held up a couple of pants, even tried on a jacket, but in the end when he came up to me, to the chair where I had been hiding my chuckles behind my hand, he only dumped around five items into my lap.

"That's it?"

"Yes, now can we please go?" He groaned and rubbed his neck, cracking it. "I don't feel like I'm exercising, I don't get the point of this."

"Hmm," I said and looked through what he had chosen. It wasn't half bad, and only one item was a little out of price range. "Nonetheless, you did a good job. I think you should try these on and see if they fit, then if you want to, we can buy them."

"But..." He sighed, but dropped his head when I just gave him a look that said it all. "Fine. I'll try it on."

– And then he proceeded to take his shirt off, right in the middle of the store.

"Wait, Charlie, stop!" I exclaimed when he went for his belt next. "Wait, there's dressing rooms! I told you, not in public!" I looked around when a few people turned their attention to the 6'7 shirtless giant in the midst of the store, showing off his lab-made, perfect body. I swore I even saw a few women raise their eyes in interest, forgetting about the boyfriend they came with. Even if I felt a jealous pinch, I honestly couldn't blame them. Charlie wasn't a God, but he wasn't human either, and his body spoke of that in the finest way possible.

I quickly managed to lead him to one of the dressing rooms before he took off more of his clothes, telling him to keep his underpants on while trying out the pants he picked out. After a few moments of low mumbles and even a single usage of the phrase 'fuck it', Charlie stepped out, clad in Ralph Lauren from head to toe.

"Well?" He asked, fixing the sleeves on the dark purple, button-up shirt he wore, along with the faded black denim jeans he had chosen. Both items of clothes hugged his body perfectly and accentuated his muscular frame. "How do I look?"

I had to seriously stop myself from leaking actual drool out of my mouth as I looked him up and down. Charlie looked like he had just stepped out of a photo shoot for Forbes magazine, styled and fashionably dressed. The most insane urge to jump him roared through my body, but thankfully I managed to contained it. "You look... handsome. Really handsome, Charlie. Purple's a good color on you."

I couldn't actually see his eyes, thanks to the shades, but I swore I saw them light up. "Really?"

"Mmm-hmm. Matches your eyes."

A tiny smile made it onto his lips before it went away again. "Thank you."

"Try the sweater, the gray one. I'd like to see that as well," I said and crossed my legs as he went into the dressing room again, closing the drape. They were quite large, thankfully, meaning only the blond tip of Charlie's hair peaked over the top of the curtain. "Tell me if it fits."

"It does," It came a few moments later, and once again Charlie stepped out, wearing a gorgeous grayish sweater that looked just dreamy on him. He smoothed his hands over the fabric and adjusted it a little. "It's so soft."

I rose to my feet and stepped up to him, placed my hand on his sleeve and felt it. The fabric felt like silk against my palm as I slid it down his arm. "Jesus, that's cashmere."

"Is that good?"

"It's expensive," I said and bit my lip. I gave him another glance, eyeing out how well it fit him. "But if you really like it..."

"I like you." He took my hand and lifted it to his lips. My breath hitched as he kissed my knuckles and breathed me in.

I gulped. "Charlie, we can't do this in public," I said and reluctantly pulled my hand from his, seeing his expression fall a little. "I'm sorry, but we don't know who could be watching."

He sighed and then looked away, turned to head back into the dressing room to change back. "So much you can't do in public..."

I let him change, and then we went to the register to pay for the items that looked good on him. I decided to splurge on the cashmere sweater since it suited him so well and since this was technically his first shopping trip that didn't involve groceries. I also felt like he should get a small present for all the hard work he had done these past two months, so as the salesman folded it up neatly and bagged it for us, I knew I didn't regret spending a little more of his allowance money from C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S than usual.

We left the store and begun strolling back to the car, Charlie carrying his bag of new clothes proudly. I had as a precaution chosen a different city to shop in rather than the one in my town, where someone might recognize him from the park. The odds were slim, but I just wanted to be certain, for Charlie's sake. So far this was the first of our long distance outings that hadn't gone terribly wrong.

We were almost at the car when I suddenly felt Charlie's hand take mine and braid our fingers together. I looked down in momentary shock, but then looked up at him and saw he was smiling discreetly at me, giving my hand a little squeeze. "Just like Eva and Wall-E."

My mouth fell open, but then we made it to the car and I didn't get more time to think about it. We got inside and drove home in silence.

Nearly one month left. Just 36 more days and then he could be gone.

Forever.

• • •

What do you think will happen in a month? Any qualified bids?