Boots for the Gentleman (6 page)

Querry stood with his palm resting on the table, watching the doll rub his head against the cats, as he’d seen them do. They purred loudly, and he nestled his cheek on the worn quilt next to them, eyes closed, smiling. Querry had never seen someone in such bliss.

Another stray,
he chided himself.
You fool.

“What do you say we get you cleaned up?”

The doll opened his eyes and smiled. He really was beautiful, Querry thought, with those harvest moon eyes and little blossom of a mouth. He’d like to meet a human man that looked like that—

“I need to be cleaned?”

“We both do. I need you to stay here, in this room, while I go get some water from the pump outside. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Querry.”

Querry went to the pump and returned to find the doll sitting on his bed, both cats curled contentedly in his lap. The thief cleared enough space on the table for his wash basin, and filled it from the bucket. As the doll watched, Querry unbuckled his waistcoat and placed it in the chest. He draped his shirt over the back of a chair. In imitation, the doll stood and picked open the little white buttons of his blouse. When it fluttered down behind him, Querry saw that, protected from the dust, the skin of his chest shone smooth and fair. Again, nothing indicated he’d been formed from metal and gears. His creator had even given him small, pink nipples, complete with a few silver hairs surrounding them. How long would it take to construct such a thing? Twenty years? Fifty?

“Those clothes need a washing too,” Querry said. He’d laundered his own the previous day; they were fresh enough.

Unabashedly, the doll toed off his delicate shoes and removed his shorts and hose. He stood waiting without the slightest embarrassment, rippling the surface of the water with his finger. Querry couldn’t believe what he saw. The doll imitated a real boy in every way: from the trail of hair down his belly, to his flaccid cock and balls that huddled next to his body. Who would give a doll, presumably meant as a child’s plaything, a cock? And why? The skin of his scrotum even possessed the proper texture, along with a few more silvery hairs. He looked so genuine that Querry felt things stir that shouldn’t be stirring as he regarded a doll. Something occurred to him then, and Querry said, “You know, you mustn’t just take off your clothes for anyone who asks.”

“Why?”

Somehow, the doll maker had imbued his creation with basic knowledge: it knew about food and it could speak. But it had never seen a feline, never been taught shame over nudity. Carefully Querry said, “There are plenty of people in the world who would want to”—he considered—“hurt you. They might want to use you for…
things
.”

“Only when you ask, Querry?”

“That’s right.” Plunging a cake of yellow soap into the chilly water, Querry tried to banish the possibilities he imagined. He reminded himself that no matter how much it looked like a young man, a beautiful, young man complete with bands of lean musculature, accentuated by the candlelight, and the face of an angel, this doll didn’t live.
But if it’s not alive, I can’t hurt or take advantage of it, can I? Can’t take advantage of a fancy sewing machine or cookstove, right?

But Querry knew it wasn’t the same thing. Through some unimaginable means, this doll understood. It either felt or mimicked emotion. It needed delicate handling.

The thief splashed some cold water on his face to clear his head. The doll watched expectantly as he lathered up and shaved. Of all the luxuries he coveted, Querry desired a bathtub most of all. They’d even invented ways to pipe water, heated by a furnace, directly to the spout, removing the need to carry buckets. Soaking his injured body in hot, fragrant water sounded heavenly to Querry. He’d even heard of a self-emptying chamber pot. He rinsed his face and turned to the doll, who regarded him with fascination. “Your turn.”

Querry immersed the cloth and wrung it out. Coming closer, he held the doll’s curly fringe from its forehead and wiped its face. It inhaled sharply.

“You feel the cold?” Querry gasped.

“Yes,” answered the doll. “Different temperatures can’t damage me, except for the most extreme heat, but I can process the information.”

“Can you feel this?” Querry placed his hand just above the doll’s hipbone and squeezed the side of his waist. He felt amazing, satin skin over sinew—

“The pressure? Yes, I can perceive it.”

“Amazing! It’s just incredible.”

“That means you like me?” it asked, beaming. “That we’re friends?”

“I guess so,” Querry said cautiously as he cleaned the doll’s cheeks and round chin.

“I don’t want to go back to that dark room,” he whispered.

Querry rinsed his cloth. To wash the back of the doll’s neck, he needed to lean forward. This caused their chests to bump, and Querry’s cock to skip in his pants.

No,
he scolded himself as he lifted the doll’s too-soft hair,
you are not attracted to this thing!
Even so, he burrowed his fingers into the doll’s ample tresses, squeezed a handful of the springy curls, and let his lips move near to the doll’s forehead. He just wanted to know how his—no, its!— skin would feel, brushing against his lips. Close to his perfect, round ear, Querry said, “If you were aware of a world outside of that place, of buildings and people beyond that room, then why didn’t you leave? Why stay if you were unhappy there?”

“I was meant to wait.”

“Why?” Querry asked. “How do you know?”

The doll sighed. Indeed, air moved in and out of it in a semblance of breath. “I can’t say. I only know I was meant to wait.”

“But then,” Querry continued, letting the tip of his nose burrow into the doll’s locks, “how did you know you were meant to go with me?”

“I just knew,” the doll said softly. The inflection in his voice changed, and his eyelids drooped languidly. If Querry hadn’t known better, he’d have said the doll enjoyed the closeness between them. Querry enjoyed it, whether he could admit it or not. He still held the doll’s hair, his face pressed into it, and his other hand, clutching the rag, draped over the doll’s shoulder.

“Turn around, now,” Querry said. “And I’ll wash your back.”

“Thank you.”

Another surprise awaited the thief as the doll spun gracefully. Beneath his artificial skin, the knobs of his spine showed. He’d been constructed with ribs that grew more prominent when he drew in breath. He had a cute, relaxed way of standing, with his hips and belly thrust slightly out and his lower back curving forward. Querry stretched his palm over the little dip, drawing it down over a rounded crescent. His hand worked its way into the divot between the doll’s lovely ass cheek and his thigh, and Querry squeezed, feeling a cushion of soft over the muscle beneath. The tip of his pinky touched the doll’s balls, and again he pondered what purpose this anatomy meant to serve. Curiosity and a good amount of arousal compelled Querry to take the doll’s other cheek in his hand. Slowly and gently he eased them apart.

“I’m not, um, hurting or upsetting you, am I?”

“No, Querry. I’ve never been cleaned before, and it does feel—I don’t know the word. I’m in no distress, though.”

Reassured, Querry spread the doll’s cheeks wide enough to inspect his cleft. Again, no deviation from reality belayed his origins. Querry’s finger brushed the wrinkled mound of his anus, and it even twitched at his touch. With his other hand on the doll’s hip, he knelt down for a better view. He inhaled, but the doll didn’t emit the masculine aroma he’d anticipated. He had no scent at all.

“Querry, that feels very strange.”

“I’m sorry.” Flushing and ashamed, Querry quickly moved away. What on earth had he been thinking? Ignoring his erection, he finished wiping the doll down in silence. Then he soaped up his underarms and rinsed. Normally he removed his pants to cleanse his lower body, but he felt awkward displaying his arousal to the doll. So instead, Querry replaced his white, button-up shirt and tied a blue ribbon around his neck to hold his collar shut.

“I’m going out for a bit,” he said to the doll, who still stood naked, watching Querry’s every move.

“I’ll go with you,” he replied brightly, clearly excited by the prospect.

“No,” Querry said. “I have some work to do.”

The doll’s lower lip shot out and his brows curled down, his whole beautiful face a mask of the most sincere sorrow. Querry worried he might cry, if that was possible. Guided by instinct, he took the doll’s hand and held it between both of his.

“Listen, it’s dangerous out there. You don’t understand yet. I want you to stay in this room, where you’ll be safe. Don’t open or unlock the door until I get back. I’m going to try to get some money, and I’ll get you some new clothes, so you can blend in. And then tomorrow night, I’ll take you out and show you around. How does that sound?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

“Well, you won’t,” Querry said. “After all, you’ll have these fellows.” He indicated the cats, both of whom sniffed the doll’s discarded garments intently. “Will you need food?”

“I don’t require it.”

“All right,” Querry said, releasing the doll so he could sling his many belts across his hips. “Is there anything else, then? Before I’m off?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what is it?”

Looking very seriously at the thief, the doll said, “I don’t know why, Querry, but….”

“What?”

“I’d like to put my mouth on your mouth. I know it sounds an odd thing….”

Chuckling, Querry set his pistol aside and took hold of the doll’s waist. As his hands snaked to the small of the doll’s back, pulling them together, Querry said, “Not at all. It’s called kissing.”

Tilting his head, Querry smashed his lips against the doll’s soft mouth, holding them there. Then, slowly, with the utmost relish, he opened his mouth and let his tongue slip between the doll’s perfect teeth. He explored the ridges on the roof of the doll’s mouth, the smoothness of its sides. Soon, learning quickly, the doll twisted his tongue around Querry’s, poking playfully in and out of Querry’s mouth. Too quickly the thief approached the point where the directions of his body drowned those of his conscience and mind, and he growled with satisfaction and desire, drawing the doll tighter into his arms and grinding his swollen cock against his naked thigh.

But then Querry broke away, panting and wiping his mouth with his knuckles. It wasn’t right; it was a doll, a machine. It knew nothing of the world. To take it—no,
him
—like this would be selfish and sick.

But the doll reached up and touched the bow-shaped lips Querry had just tasted. He smiled and said, “That felt very pleasant.”

“It’s like taking your clothes off,” Querry said, disgusted with the possessiveness he already couldn’t deny.

“Only for you?”

“That’s right. And while I’m gone, try to think of something I can call you.”

With that, Querry secured the complex locks he’d designed and hurried out into the night. As he blended into the crowd, heading from Rushport toward the bridge to the more affluent neighborhoods across the river, he thought, in spite of himself,
Won’t it be nice to come home to someone?

Querry returned midmorning to find the doll curled nude on his quilt, with his knees tucked up against his chest, his eyes closed and a serene smile on his face. Both of the cats slumbered between his back and the wall, the three of them monopolizing the narrow bed. Even so, the sight made Querry grin as he closed and locked the door.

The previous evening, a full moon had drawn many onto the streets. The night had been warm: one of those last summer nights that made the cold sting even crueler when it set in. Dew sparkled beneath the gaslight on the cobblestone. The wind came off the sea and almost vanquished the industrial stink. The well-off fell under the evening’s cheerful spell. Faeries mingled with mortals within the bazaar held nightly near Leopold’s Folly Square: fine ladies and gentlemen, equal to the human aristocracy in every aspect, as well as more peculiar creatures that kept to the tree branches and undersides of the hedges. As they moved about and conversed beneath the colored strings of lights, inspecting the latest mechanical novelties and listening to the loud voices of the men hawking them, Querry found it a simple thing to pick out those with the glaze in their eyes that wouldn’t be able to recall exactly what they’d discussed after the fey departed. His nimble fingers relieved them of their worldly goods as they swooned. Tomorrow, they’d think they’d lost their coin on one of the elaborate, mechanical games, or squandered it on some foreign trinket.

Thankful for the luck, Querry placed the things he’d purchased next to the piles of gears and wire that occupied the table. He’d done well enough to afford a loaf of bread and a block of cheese, canned fish enough for himself and the cats, a pint of ale, and a tin of biscuits. He’d procured some second-hand clothing for the doll, the most unassuming he could find, since his striking beauty and unnatural coloration would undoubtedly draw enough curiosity. He bought a newspaper to see if there’d be any mention of the doll maker’s house. And he’d paid too much for a pair of apples. Though the doll didn’t require sustenance, Querry wanted him to have one, too, since they were so lovely: pale golden spheres flecked with green and blushing crimson around the tops. When he’d passed the stall, Querry envisioned the doll cupping the fruit in his hands with a bemused smile on his face.

He looked down at the bed. Last night, only work occupied the thief’s thoughts. His every sense tuned to his surroundings and quarry, as they must for him to avoid detection. Now, watching the doll sleep, all of the uncomfortable questions returned. Querry recalled the doll’s request for a kiss. He hadn’t known the word, but somehow he’d desired intimacy. It was unfathomable. Though he hated to consider it, it seemed more and more to Querry that he’d been designed for pleasure with his soft, exquisite body. There were plenty of lecherous old nobles and clergymen who preferred young men of just his type, and paraded them around in the guise of apprentice or page. But to spend so much time and endow something like that with such artistry? This doll had been a labor of love to his creator, Querry felt sure. How else could one invest the decades he must’ve taken to complete?