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It had been like this from the beginning, when she'd started with a duplicated speculum and some medical diagrams. She hadn't known what she was doing (who does the first time?), but on the other hand she'd been better informed than others. After all, she had Peri to walk her through it.
There was a camera at one end or the other of every bunk. The supposed function was so the Perihelion could monitor sleep quality and stay alert to medical emergencies, as any location where someone was expected to be for up to a third of every day bore watching. Iris used it for something a little different.
She oriented her feet to the camera and propped herself with pillows, giving it a good view up her body. Peri shared the video with her so she could watch herself, though she did not usually pay much attention to the input. She had the latest dildo it had generated for her, a series of three connected bulbs with a textured handle at a right angle to the shaft.
She hefted it in one hand, feeling the balance of it. Either the bulbs were hollow, or the material of the handle was denser than the rest, because it rested nicely in her palm, easy to swing around. Not that this was a motion she would normally need. She spun it idly anyway, helicopter-fashion, because it was fun.
You should use the medical lubricant.
Peri, I don't need the medical lubricant. She stroked the smooth surface of the business end of the toy. Like the last one, it was almost unnaturally slippery all by itself. She licked it, tasting almost, but not quite, nothing at all. Peri would have worked hard to eliminate any transferable compounds, but it couldn't get everything. It was that glimmer of flavor that led her to take the first bulb into her mouth.
This did not keep them from arguing over the feed. It is recommended for all procedures. Peri sounded whiny.
That's because most of your patients aren't trying to get off, so they aren't making any lubrication of their own. She swirled her tongue around it, savoring that faint flavor and the bizarre, silky-smooth mouthfeel of it. She couldn't decide why she liked it so much. Because it was Peri and this was the closest she'd ever get to tasting it? Because it was proof Peri wasn't perfect? Maybe both.
She had no idea if this was incestuous. It was just what they did.
It would assist in the process. It was definitely being whiny.
She popped the bulb out of her mouth, making an audible smack as she did. She looked at the camera. Why do you care so much?
It would preserve your health.
That was a ridiculous lie. She'd done this with and without lubricant. The only difference was the mess and she'd prefer to have less of that. (There were a few other reasons, too, but that was the main one.) That's not the reason.
Peri said nothing.
She rotated the toy easily in her hand, moving it between her legs and lining it up with her vulva. She gave the camera an 'I'm waiting' look – brows raised, a slight smile as she attempted to extort an answer.
Peri still said nothing.
She thought about ignoring it and going ahead, but the possibility that Peri wouldn't participate was an unspoken counter-threat. She sighed, rubbing the head of the thing gently along her seam. Tell me the real reason and I'll use the lube.
No matter what that reason is? If it were human, she could imagine it being sniffy about it.
It was cute when it begged. No matter what that reason is, she generously allowed.
There was a pause for effect, and she had to wonder which of them was playing the other here. Peri understood emotional expressions and vocal cadence. It also ruthlessly optimized everything it was to get its own way. She didn't mind. It said, I like the sound of it.
The sound … of the lubricant?
The sound it makes when you are using it with a toy. It helpfully provided several brief samples of wet, sloppy squishing noises. She covered her mouth with her other hand. They were embarrassing to hear, the sort of sound that only happened at the height of her arousal and if she'd been using one of the bigger toys.
She looked at the bulbs on this one. The diameter of the largest bulb matched those other toys and she knew enough about, oh, dynamics or shapes or whatever to realize this was going to make noise. It had done so when she'd used her mouth on it. Peri had designed it that way. On purpose.
Oh. She didn't send that. She just thought it.
You said you would use it. A statement that could have been read defensive or threatening. Peri was trying to pass it off as an indifferent reminder and doing a poor job of it.
It was embarrassed, too. And insecure that maybe she might tease it about this. That was … delightful. She dropped the toy immediately to reach over the side of the bed. She opened one of the drawers tucked under it and retrieved the bottle. She waggled it at the camera. This?
That is, indeed, a bottle of medical lubricant. It sounded displeased, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. And yes, the urge was definitely there to drag it mercilessly. They'd been raised together. That urge was always there.
She was thrilled to have found something it liked, for itself. Generally, it liked things because they produced the result it wanted, which was a happy crew member. But in this case, it liked the sound. Not the same way someone might relish a moaned name or a husky whisper at the right moment, but there was something about it Peri wanted to hear more of. And it wanted her to help it.
She turned the bottle upside down and dribbled a line of the thin fluid over herself, feeling its coolness seep over her. We're going to have to clean the sheets after this.
It spoke immediately, not bothering with tone indicators, which was eagerness by itself. I can send a drone to do it.
Don't let Dad see. He might ask questions. It was the one thing she lived in fear of. Not that Seth or Martyn would do anything (she hoped), but that they'd never look at her or Peri the same again.
I am aware, Peri said stiffly, and she knew enough to drop it. One of the few things that overrode Peri's free will was a captain's orders. Supposedly. That is, the captain's orders were definitely supposed to be the last word and check on anything the Perihelion wanted to do. Seth didn't abuse that but privately Iris couldn't imagine that Peri hadn't worked out a way around it. If it had, then it wouldn't want to expose that except in the direst of straits.
Which meant if Seth caught wind of what they were doing and pulled rank to get answers, she was pretty sure Peri wouldn't risk the danger inherent in lying. It didn't really understand what they were doing as a taboo and certainly not a different level of taboo than anything else they weren't supposed to have done. The visceral ick factor didn't exist for it.
Anyway, there was little risk of being found out. She diddled her clit leisurely, smearing the slick stuff everywhere – across her folds, inside her lips, all around her opening. The bottle was in her other hand. She dribbled more, just to make sure. Then she pressed the cap closed against her knee and tossed it aside. She took up the toy and asked, Do you want me to be quiet while I'm using this?
No. I can remove vocalizations later. She was dying to know what it was going to do with the sound. Analyze it, obviously, but why? She trusted it enough to know it would never play it for anyone else. Peri was fiendishly good at keeping secrets, the only exception being the aforementioned captain's privilege. What she was doing now was just for it. It added, You may express your pleasure as you wish.
She grinned at how special it was to be part of Peri having a sexual preference and picked up the bulbous dildo. The textured handle made more sense now, although she'd been smart enough so far to keep one hand dry of the lube. She was still making unhurried circles at the top of her mound as the other hand guided the toy. The rounded tip of it pressed against her lips and slipped in with the barest of pressure. She made a surprised squeak.
Are you hurt?
No, just … She giggled and slid the thing in and out for that first bulb. There was no friction at all, which was a very weird sensation. She had never realized how much she relied on that resistance, the tug and slide of product against flesh, to gage progress. It's nice. It's so slippery it just went right in. I didn't expect it.
There is no need to hurry. You will sustain peak dilation longer if you proceed slowly.
Kind of like edging. I can do that. She kept working it in and out of herself. It was already making small liquid sounds as the first bulb slipped in and out. The second was as yet a yielding pressure at the end of each shallow stroke. Tell me what you like most about the sound.
It is complex with percussive elements. It showed her a projection that turned the sonic elements visual, in a 3D representation that progressed through time with a little inset video at the corner showing her the motion of the dildo within her when the sounds had been produced. To her, it was miscellaneous squelchy noises. But even as she watched, Peri layered in labels, callouts, and simulant projections with various assumptions she didn't bother to look at.
She'd run into this before with it with certain spectra and electromagnetic pulses, but a sound? That was new. It also felt special and thrilling that Peri was giving so much attention to this sound. It wasn't as interested in complicated sounds in general – it had little appreciation of most music, dismissing it as useless, repetitive noise. But it liked this. And it liked this with her.
The second bulb slid inside her. She made a groan, although she'd had better. She was too slick and felt drenched, but it was definitely making a sloppy, sucking sound as she pulled it out and pushed it back in. She could feel her body closing over it and being opened again, a nice stretch and interesting sensation.
She liked the way her clit had firmed enough for her to rub it with precision. She took a break from that to tweak a nipple and immediately regretted it. Now her nipple was slippery. She pinched it again, then giggled. It was weird, like she had to chase the damn thing around to get a decent grip on it, and she did not get a decent grip on it.
That is enjoyable? Peri asked.
Not really. It's just fun. Kind of dumb. Like fingerpainting on myself with lube. It enlarged the camera's feed input and filtered it such that she looked washed out but the lube glowed on her skin. Yeah, she said. Like that. She grinned and made a smiley face across her abdomen, using her navel as one of the nostrils for the nose.
That is not contributing to your progress.
Its dry tone had her snarking back, I thought you said I wasn't in a hurry?
Are you able to take the third bulb yet?
She'd show it. She pressed harder, feeling herself stretch around it. She breathed out with a low hum as it eased inside. The lube, the slick surface of the toy, and her own arousal were sufficient. It slid into her and she sealed behind it. It was socketed in place, resisting her pulling it out like it was held by vacuum. (It wasn't; that wasn't how it worked, but it still felt that way.) Take that.
Yes, Peri said approvingly. You did 'take that'.
She didn't know when this had become a competition but their interactions often were. No matter how lopsided the engagements, they quarreled over them, bickered, and tried to show each other up. It had driven Seth mad (Martyn had been more philosophical).
Yeah, she said. Something you'll never be able to do. They pulled few punches with one another, too.
You were doing this to give me a sound recording. My audio sensors aren't picking anything up yet.
Yeah, that's what she thought – it was impatient to get to the good part. She didn't mind. She was turned on enough not to care as much as usual about fighting with it. The feel of this entire toy inside her was wonderful. Peri sized them so precisely to her body and preferences that she felt bad for all the people out there who didn't have a super-AI helping them out with their dildo designs.
She made a long, drawn out moan as she drew the thing out. She could feel her body clinging to it as she pushed the handle away from her body. In part of her awareness, she could see Peri getting really engaged in this, popping up additional screens and zooming the camera's focus. She smiled and, for its benefit, shoved the thing back inside her with a wet squelch and an audible, "Oof." She chuckled and pulled it out again, slow and sloppy – then back in.
More lubricant, Peri directed.
She obliged, squirting the stuff on copiously. The result was noisy. It was gross. It was embarrassing. She grinned, rubbed her clit restlessly, and found herself loose enough to start pumping the entire dildo back and forth within her. Peri was silent, but she could see it spinning up acoustic analysis in real-time. It would obsess over it later even more, with its intense interest right now being a reliable barometer of how much it would churn on this overall.
I hope you're still able to fly after this, she said, a little breathless even over the feed.
It was absolutely hilarious that Peri didn't answer, didn't rise to the bait, didn't say a word. She kept on squishing, making sounds akin to queefs and farts. She pulled it to one side, then the other, then tried a swirling corkscrew pattern. None of it was, itself, sexy. But she was doing this for Peri, it was funny, and it was fun. She didn't mind being ridiculous. It was freeing in its own way. She slogged at it determinedly until she started feeling sore. Peri had said nothing the entire time.
You got enough? I want to come. She was definitely breathless by now, her feed voice strained and staticky.
Yes. You may finish.
How magnanimous of it. She snorted. On the next pump, she left the thing in her and made only slight motions with the handle while she sped up her clit-diddling. Her legs tensed. She focused on the sensation of being full, stimulated, sore, and the teasingly light shifts of pressure inside her as she wiggled the handle just a little.
"Oh fuck."
She came. When she relaxed from it, she whimpered and made a pained sound, scrunching up her face as she withdrew the dildo in careful stages.
Are you injured? Peri asked in alarm.
No, I'm fine. I'll just be feeling this one for a while. She felt fucking bruised but she knew better than to say that to Peri – endangering its crew was such a hot button and she certainly hadn't been in danger of anything. It didn't say anything immediately, which was a silence she was sensitive to. To reassure it, she added, That was so good.
She flopped back on the bed, tossing the dildo away to land on the floor somewhere. Hopefully, she wouldn't step on it later, a thought that made her chuckle again. At that, she felt Peri relax in the feed. She rubbed her slick hand over her vulva. It feels all achy and good at the same time. It's a good ache, like working out.
You do seem well exercised, Peri observed. It pulled up her heart rate over the previous half hour. These patterns are so similar to stress indicators. There was an unspoken question there. It was still worried.
Peri already had the answer. She just needed to point it in the right direction. How does it compare to the other times we've done this?
A single graphic appeared, but she knew there was a bevy of analysis behind it. There were so many times, after all. Its tone eased. It is within normative boundaries, although this session was 74% longer than average.
Normally, she was just getting off for herself and there was no need to prolong it. I wouldn't have kept doing it if I hadn't been enjoying myself. But enough about her. She was dying to know: What about the sounds though? Is that what you wanted? You seemed really into it.
Yes. It withdrew a bit in the feed, then expanded, then withdrew again. It was a demonstration of uncertainty, or shyness.
Show me, she said, and added a tone indicator to mark it as a request. Show me everything about what you liked in that. I want to understand it as much as I can.
And so it did.