It’s when you were fixing his joints that the question unexpectedly spouted from your lips.

“Can you feel when someone touches you?”

And the long-haired male rose an eyebrow with a sharp, toothy smile. He didn’t mind the question; it was just so random that he immediately laughed a beat after.

“Dolly, what?”

You stopped your skilled movement on his arm joints for a moment then looked into his eyes with an indifferent expression, “Nevermind.”

And he shrugged off the encounter just as how you avoided his want for a further explanation.

He’d bring up his curiosity again towards the question another time since you traveled with him as his personal mechanic at times.

And it’s when you two stop at inn and rest that his mind drifts towards the innocent question again… could he feel someone’s touch?

Sure, he can.

But not like how he used to. It’s only a signal that lets him know his inorganic body is being touched, yet the sensation differs when compared to his face: the only remaining organic part of himself.

When the cold metal of his hand touches his face it makes him feel alive as he shudders silently, yet the coldness of his fingertips reminds him his heart doesn’t beat. It only whirs and overheats.

He glimpses over to your resting form, and a sigh leaves his lips. A sinking feeling weighs his chest down more than the metallic body he is.

He’d be able to feel a kiss normally but never a hug.