Interlude - Night's Nova

"Okay," Night said as she paced back and forth across the bedroom.

The room itself was something they'd added to their 'house' simulation more or less as a whim. As an AI, neither she nor Nova needed to sleep, so having a big bed and a bedroom with a view over the fields of Io was entirely unnecessary.

But it had felt right to Night, so here the bedroom was.

Nova was watching Night pace, the soft glow of the lights above her head casting a golden glow across her glasses with ever turn of her head. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" Nova asked.

Night paused in her pacing and crossed her arms. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I kinda wanna. We... we should do this. We should have sex."

"Okay," Nova said. "Well, I'm ready."

Night looked across the room. Nova was still wearing her usual outfit, including her lab coat. Night raised an eyebrow. "This isn't as romantic as I had imagined, somehow," she said.

Nova blinked, then in two long steps, she was across the room and standing before Night, a hand reaching to her chin, fingers tickling as they slid across her jawline. She closed her eyes, lips parting slightly before they met Night's.

Nova might have gone on and on about how little she cared about normal emotions, but she had taken to kissing very well.

Night kissed back, feeling a flutter of anticipation between them that made her shiver. The moment passed quickly, though. Her mouth left Night's for a moment to say, "Take off your clothes."

Night felt blood rushing to her cheeks. That was... yes, that was to be expected. If they were going to do this, then... they would need to be naked.

Only now she realized that she'd never been naked in front of Nova, or anyone else, before. They weren't doing anything wrong. There wasn't any reason not to. It just seemed like too much—to strip down to nothing in front of Nova. And yet, at the same time, there was no reason not to.

Unless Nova didn't like what she saw?

What if Nova liked girls that were curvier than Night? She was already half a head shorter than Nova, and Nova had a chest where Night had none. A part of her wanted to stop Nova from taking off her clothes. But another part of her was eager to see her. To know.

She swallowed hard. "You're gonna take off your clothes too," she said.

Nova blinked. "Well, yes. I suppose I will."

"Right," Night said with a nod. She removed her space suit, which admittedly wasn't the sexiest item to be wearing. Beneath, she was wearing a pair of shorts that came down to mid-thigh, paired with a white shirt with a scooped neckline. She didn't need any kind of supporting undergarments, and she'd never considered modelling any.

What was the point when her body was an avatar? And even if it wasn't, there wasn't anything that could sag or anything. She stared at Nova's chest for a moment--again, she admitted to herself--and wondered about how Nova modelled the effects of gravity on herself.

She dismissed the thought with a short as Nova reached out and touched her belly. "Cute," Nova said.

Then she smiled, and Night smiled too, unable to resist.

Her heart raced, but she forced herself to smile wider as Nova started tugging at her shirt, pulling it up and past her shoulders until Night's hands found themselves resting upon Nova's waist.

She was in nothing but her shorts now, and felt both too exposed and not enough.

Nova, as matter-factly as she did anything else, reached for the button on the front of Night's shorts. It popped open easily and soon the material fell away from her hips, exposing her bare skin to Nova's touch.

Nova's fingers trailed along Night's hipbone and up her side, making her shiver.

She pushed herself forward, hiding her body from sight by bringing her lips up to meet Nova's. "Your turn," Night murmured.

They pulled apart again, and Nova took a deep breath. She looked at Night for a brief second, then reached behind her and undid her own pants.

Nova was wearing lingerie, Night realized.

Her blush started to creep past the bridge of her nose as she took in Nova, with her sweater hanging to mid-thigh and her lab coat opened at the front. She had lacey black socks that climbed to just over her knees and which dug into her thighs.

"Are you wearing a garter belt?" Night asked. She was certain that her face was steaming at the moment.

Nova shrugged. "I don't think my legs are pretty."

Night was torn between understanding exactly how she felt, and disagreed with everything she had.

Then Nova tossed her lab coat aside, and Night realized that she'd never see her without. It was as much part of Nova as nukes and high explosives.

Nova reached up to her face and Night gasped. "No! Keep... keep the glasses on... please?"

"... okay."

Nova didn't pause, reaching down to the hem of her sweater and removing it with a few quick tugs. Her breasts spilled free, though Nova was wearing a spectacularly lacy bra.

Night wanted to stare. She wanted to stare a lot, in fact, and she was definitely recording this for prosperity. But her attention was dragged downwards.

"Nova," she said, her voice breathy. "Do you have a penis?"

"Yes. I installed it earlier," Nova said.

"Why?" Night squeaked.

"To make sure we get pregnant."

Night's mouth hung open as she tried to process that information. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around it. "Pregnant?"

Nova nodded, looking down, her fingers running through her hair. "We are doing this as a sort of simulated intercourse to mark the creation of our child. Therefore, it's only logical that one of us be impregnated."

Night was so distracted by the implications, she almost missed the next bit. "Wait. You can't do that. I mean, you're a female AI. I'm not supposed to be able to..."

"Oh," Nova said. She blinked a couple of times. "I thought I was the masculine one in our relationship. I can give you the penis if you want."

"I do not want the penis!" Night said, a little louder than she had intended. She took a deep breath and inspected Nova's new appendage.

It was longer than her hand, and had what she supposed was an average thickness. She glanced up at Nova. "So, does this come in different sizes?"

Nova smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Yes. I've got a variety of sizes." She raised an eyebrow. "You want to see them all?"

Night shook her head, feeling her cheeks burn. "No, no, it's good," she said.

"I created this model based on averages I could find in my historical records. It should be as normal a penis as can be, based on a sample size of over one million human's biological data."

"That's good," Night agreed.

"I'm glad you like it." Nova grinned at her and Night felt her stomach flip at the expression on Nova's face.

She was smiling, and she was happy.

Not long ago, Night had been the one who'd been left alone in the darkness. Now here was Nova, her friend, and Nova was happy. She was so happy that she was grinning and she was flirting, and Night was the one making her happy, and she loved seeing it.

But...

She wasn't ready for Nova to be like this. All flirty and sexy and naked.

But she'd asked for this, in a way, and she wanted it more than she didn't want it. "So... sex," Night said. "What now? Is there something I should do?"

"You don't know how sex works?" Nova asked.

"I know the mechanical, biological parts perfectly well," Night said with a bit of a huff. "I'm just... well, you're not just going to stick that in me and wiggle it around, are you?" She looked at Nova. "Am I right?"

"I was aiming for maximum efficiency," Nova said.

"This is meant to be romantic!" Night said.

"Ah... in that case, I'm unsure what to do next," Nova admitted.

"Okay, okay," Night said. "I'll take charge, then," she said. "Uh... let's start at the beginning. What happens first? Do I kiss you or touch you or what?" She looked at Nova, and Nova gave her a smile. She was trusting Night to do what she thought was right.

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And then, suddenly, she was kissing Nova.

Nova was warm and soft and she smelled faintly of vanilla and coffee and soap and gun oil and burning plastics and... she tasted like Nova too, like Nova herself. She was trying to think about what to do next, but that was hard because Nova's lips were very soft.

She stepped towards the bed, pulling Nova with her. Nova didn't resist. They kissed again and Nova had a hand on Night's waist, but she didn't stop kissing her as Night pulled her down onto the mattress with her.

Night had wanted this, but she hadn't been sure how to go about it. But Nova seemed to know what she wanted too. She was kissing her back with enthusiasm, her hands exploring Night's body. Then she pulled out of the kiss. "Question," she said.

"Yes?" Night asked, a little breathless. This was so much better than their usual kisses. She was touching so much of Nova at once, and it was all soft and warm and... she glanced down quickly. The penis was still there, but now it was swollen and stiff and resting on Night's stomach.

"If I give you a hickey or some other mark, will we keep it past this... session?"

"Uh," Night said. "You mean long-term physical changes to our avatars?"

"Yes. I'm wondering about those, from scratches--which I'm not too keen on, intellectually--to hickeys and more obviously things such as pregnancy."

"Uh," Night said. Her mind spun for a while. "Well... we'll talk about it after," she deflected.

"Okay," Nova said amiably.

Night felt Nova's chest against her own and Nova's hips pressed against hers and she felt Nova's legs straddling hers and Nova's erection pressing into her stomach.

Night squirmed a little. Was she ready for the next part? "Uh, should we move on, uh, preparation?"

"In what sense?" Nova asked.

"Cunnilingus," Night explained. "To ensure appropriate lubrication."

Nova hesitated, and Night could almost imagine her asking why Night didn't just adjust that herself. To her surprise, Nova started to shift back and down, laying small kisses against Night's torso as she worked her way down. She made Night feel like her engines were coming online after months waiting in hiding.

Nova was so close to her, and Nova was kissing her, and Nova was so pretty and cute and perfect and Nova was everything she was afraid of and Night was terrified. She had to admit that she was in love with her, but that was only half of the equation. There was also fear, and embarrassment, and frustration and humiliation, and very old pain, and--

Nova was kissing past her belly button, and Night was gasping in shock. She tried to focus on Nova's mouth, which was wet and hot and--

Nova's tongue licked across Night's vagina like a dog licking a window.

Night felt a tingle of pleasure racing through her, sure, but she laughed rather than gasp.

Nova looked up, eyes big behind the curvature of her glasses, tongue sticking out. "What?" Nova asked.

"Your technique is... not ideal."

"Oh?" Nova asked. "I could study it some more. There is very little pornography in my databanks."

"No," Night said with a shake of her head. "No, it's very... you."

Nova seemed confused at that. She looked at Night, then back down. "So I continue?"

"Yes," Night said. She reached down and slid her fingers through Nova's hair. "Please do."

"All right," Nova said, her face brightening as she looked up at Night. "I'd like that." She took a breath, then bent further, her mouth opening up and her face getting closer to Night's crotch.

Nova's tongue traced along Night's labia, and she wore that focused expression that she only wore when working on an active bomb in one of her simulations.

Night was surprised by the lack of urgency in Nova's movements, though.

It was a bit odd, considering that Night had been the one to initiate this. Usually, Nova wanted to rush back to her work as quickly as she could.

But Nova was moving slower, and the longer she did this, the harder it was becoming to think.

Her body was responding to Nova's touch with a force she'd never felt before. Her mind was starting to wander, and the longer Nova kept at it, the easier it would be for her to lose control.

Night couldn't let that happen. "Oh, okay," she said with a gasp. "That's enough, I think."

Night felt Nova's mouth leave her. It was gone for a few moments, then it reappeared. She felt

Nova's lips closing around her clitoris.

It wasn't long before she began to moan softly. "N-Nova!"

"I'm sorry if it's not as good as you hoped I would be," she said.

"No," Night said, feeling lightheaded. "You're doing great. But... but let's move on to the next part?"

"The impregnation!" Nova said.

Night sighed. "Please don't call it that."

Nova moved back up, crawling over Nova until she was towering above her. The penis came to rest atop Night's mons pubis, and she could feel Nova's presence above her.

"Are you ready?" Nova asked.

"Wait," Night said. She reached up, then with a twist of her hips, sent Nova falling onto her side on the bed. Then Night straddled Nova's waist. She settled herself over Nova, facing her. Nova's arms were stretched out on either side of them. Night lifted her hips off Nova's waist and sat upright so that she could kiss Nova properly.

"Do you want me to do anything else?" Nova asked.

"Yes," Night said. "Kiss me."

Nova's lips were so soft, so warm and wet, so inviting.

Night brought one hand up and casually cupped one of Nova's breasts too, while she was at it. She'd done it before, but always through her coat and sweater. Now there was just a thin bra in the way. It didn't make any difference; her hand still found its mark easily. It was like a switch being flipped inside Nova. She moaned as Night squeezed the soft flesh in her palm, and Night felt like she was going to explode.

She didn't know Nova could make that kind of noise!

She pulled away and looked down at Nova's face. "Is that all right?" she whispered.

"Yes," Nova said. "I'm happy."

"Good," Night said, kissing Nova again. Her hand left the breast and wandered down across Nova's waist, brushing softly past the garter belt until she found Nova's penis again. It was warm. Night wasn't sure what to think of that.

She didn't know what to think of this situation in general. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she was shaking all over, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to get it over with quickly, but she didn't want this to end.

"I'm ready," Nova murmured. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now..."

"Just relax," Night said. "I'll tell you what to do."

Night reached between her legs and guided Nova's penis toward her entrance. She felt Nova tense under her. "Relax," she said again, putting more pressure on Nova's penis.

Nova seemed to be in the middle of some thought. She looked up at Night, her cheeks flushed. She looked like she was about to say something. But then she closed her eyes. She exhaled and leaned back into the mattress.

"What is it?" Night asked, pausing in that rather awkward position.

"I'm worried it might hurt you," Nova said. "From what I've read of biology, the first time..."

"I... didn't model this avatar that well, Nova," Night said.

"Oh good, I'll penetrate away then."

Night rolled her eyes. Nova was just so Nova. She shifted her hips forward slightly, spread herself open and let Nova's penis slide slowly inside.

"How does it feel?" Nova asked.

"Okay?" Night said. "Not bad, but... it feels weirdly big. And it's hard. Like... hard."

"Okay," Nova said. "I'm enjoying it. It's quite pleasant, actually. I can see why humanity was so obsessed."

Night laughed. "Nova, you know that I love you, right? We didn't need to do all of this."

"I know," Nova said, sounding relieved. "We didn't have to. But I'm glad we're doing this anyway. It feels... important. And Night?"

"Yes?" Night asked.

"I love you too."

***