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[joidevivre]

[a sweetly accented voice says] Hello, this is Joi. Please leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you!

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[obeir]

Maybe it shouldn't be surprising to realise he's capable of feeling devotion for more than one person. He's never shied away from commitment. Just the opposite, it's something he's always desired and thrived in. He used to like to daydream of what real married life might be like with Joi: exchanging vows and rings, perhaps choosing names for each other so that they might share a surname, recognition from others of their union, recognition of them as people... Things that could only ever exist within his mind, a secret idyll kept safe from the harshness of reality.

But now, in this new world... what might be possible here? It isn't only Jayce and Viktor whom he'd like to invite further into his life. There's also a desire to deepen the relationship he already has with Joi. That she's so understanding of his feelings — and wants to be included in every aspect of his life, not withdraw from it— only makes him love her more.

"You will never be unwelcome in any part of my life. And I wouldn't want to share my life with anyone who doesn't appreciate you." Just to be clear that he won't tolerate anyone disrespecting her, regardless of his feelings for them. They might not all become close friends and that's fine, but it's important that they respect Joi as a person and his partner — and he's sure they will.

"You make me happy, too," he says quietly as he laces their fingers together. "Happier than I thought possible. I wouldn't be who I am without you." Quite literally, given that their relationship and her encouragement have been instrumental in his still-developing sense of personhood. It all started with Joi. Once she'd been capable of acting of her own volition, of making her own choices that didn't require his input or approval, she still chose to love him. And now having her own body that isn't bound to an emanator. That she still chooses to be with him, still chooses to love him even now means everything to him. 

"Are you happy?" he asks, because that's equally if not more important than his own feelings. "What do you want, need from me? From our relationship?" Things they haven't ever really discussed before, but they should. He wants to ensure her needs are being met and she feels secure with him — and dearly hopes she still wants a future with him, too. He wants to believe they can have that together here.

[joidevivre]

Joi had many of the same fantasies, even though she wasn't sure she entirely deserved them. She loved K, that much she was all too aware of. But she was a one person woman. So while she wanted K to be free to express his emotions for others in whichever ways they manifested themselves, she had a hard time understanding and expressing her own at times. But she knew she wanted K to be happy and if this made him happy, she was all in favor of it. But, she too had wished for the parts of married life which meant the most, being together, being able to rely upon one another, being the first person she saw as she woke and the last she saw before she slept. All of it seemed silly on the surface, a girl's dreams, but she felt how she felt and she had a difficult time letting go of that notion. She didn't want to let it go.

Joi was at a bit of a disadvantage, given how few people her own 'age' were here that she felt similarly drawn to as she was to K. She didn't care if it was programmed, he was the one she wanted to be with no matter what. And she assumed that the two men in question wouldn't want to be similarly linked to her. Maybe she was wrong, maybe she was doing them a disservice, but she felt like she had to assume it was true.

"Really," Joi breathed out. That was more than she was hoping for. She'd assumed it would be a first among equals if nothing else. She hadn't wanted to think about others seeing her as...not as the primary source of K's love and support, never that, but as the one he was mostly devoted to. And she was willing to try and befriend them on her own, she wondered how they'd see her though.

And the feeling of K's fingers laced with her own made Joi blush happily, her lips curved in a warm smile. "I wouldn't be who I am without you, either. I think...most of my 'sisters' were used as an easy source of comfort. But you've always treated me as an equal and I can't tell you how grateful I am for that." And how could she not love K? He was so brave, so strong, so trustworthy that she couldn't help loving him, even after she gained her own self-awareness. It was like it was meant to be, like something out of the fairy tales which had been programmed into her, only instead of simply Snow White being awakened with a kiss or Pinocchio being a real boy, they were able to side-step those notions entirely and be awake, be self-aware.

"I am. There are a great number of young people who need caring for. A girl Jeanne, she seems so...not naïve, ,but not world-weary, either. I want to try and protect her from disappointment, as much as I can. She seems like the kind of girl for whom a fall would be devastating in the end. So I want to try and ease her way as much as I can. As for what I need from you....love. And I wouldn't say no to a little gold ring on my left ring-finger. Nothing would make me happier, in fact." Joi knew she was venturing out onto a thin branch, especially after K had admitted to having feelings for others, but she knew what she wanted.

Marriage. Being together 'til death did they part. And here, death wasn't the end, so there could be no end to their companionship and love.

[obeir]

"Because you are my equal," K says simply, firmly. "I've always believed that." He's always wanted a partner, not property, and he's treated her accordingly. And, technically, she never was his property to begin with — he wasn't legally permitted to own anything when he, himself, is property. The Joi user license had been in his handler's name. As was his apartment. Along with virtually everything else that was 'his' in their home universe; he was only allowed possessions his handler knew and approved of.

His smile softens as he listens to Joi describe the girl she wants to look out for, unable to help his mind from wandering a little to thoughts of parenthood. What it might be like for them, whether it's something Joi might ever want. What she follows up with — the suggestion of marriage, or something that sounds a lot like it — startles a look of surprise from him.

"You want that with me?" he asks in a hushed tone, vulnerability plain in his expression, along with all the love he feels for her. "I used to daydream..." As he trails off with an almost shy look he ducks his head, that soft smile returning. "I want that, too. With you. And I've been thinking... You're a Legend," he says with a glance toward her halo, not for the first time thinking she really is an angel. "My angel," he adds a little playfully as he gently squeezes her hand. "And I'm a Familiar. That means it's possible for us to share a bond. If you'd ever like to. From what I've heard, it might let us feel each other's emotions, maybe even know each other's thoughts. And help each other. It seems to be unique for each pair. I understand if that might be— too much, but I wanted to ask you."

Because to him, that level of closeness and commitment between them would be very welcome. Marriage, a bond. Who's to say they couldn't have both if they want to?

[joidevivre]

"I know. I know you have. Me as me was who you wanted. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. How I always have, how I always will." It had been a surprise at first, she'd initially assumed she'd be customized within an inch of her programming, but no. Joi herself as herself was who K wanted to share his life with. She hadn't been sentient enough to question that at first, but the more he treated her as his equal and his partner, the more she felt like she could think, question things, be herself on her terms. And she didn't care whose name was on the ownership papers. It didn't make a difference to Joi.

Joi was touched by the girl's enthusiasm and devotion to her cause and her angel. Imagine that, a literal angel! Such a thing was possible in another world. Of course, Joi's own nature may have been similarly amazing to Jeanne. And she would want to be a mother. She watched the young people here flirt and fight and fall in love and she wondered at what it would be like to watch a child of their own grow into an equally vibrant teenager.

"Of course I do," Joi said in a reassuring, gentle tone of voice. "I love you. You love me. Oftentimes, marriage follows, especially when we've loved each other so much for so long." And K looks so adorable, so sweet, so handsome that she can't help reaching up to cup his face in her hand, thumb gently caressing his cheek. And her answering smile was radiant. "I'm so glad to hear that! It's like something out of a wonderful dream! And yes, I'm a Legend." That shy expression was almost impossible to not kiss, but she felt it likely he had more to say. "Yours always," and she squeezed his hand back. "I would like that so very much! And it's the furthest thing from too much, it's just right. Ideal, really. I want to know you and be with you in every way possible. A bond, marriage...they both seem wonderful. Not only that, I know they'd be wonderful because it's us. And we are wonderful. So of course a bond between us, a marriage, they'd be wonderful too."

She'd welcome it entirely, embrace it and him with both arms. She feels rather like she's fallen into a wonderful dream, one where anything is possible.

[obeir]

It would have been difficult to customise settings to his liking when he'd lacked any preferences to begin with, but that's beside the point. Even if he'd had preferences or fantasies or anything like the target audience were expected to have, it still wouldn't have felt right to him, imposing his will on another. He knows what it is to be a slave — he's still one himself, still bound by that programming even while physically separated from his handler — and would never wish the experience on anyone else. Not even on the humans who keep him and his kind enslaved. It's been a far more pleasant experience being able to discover who he is alongside Joi, with both of them on the same path of personhood.

Ideal, really. That's a sentiment that feels right to him, too. And their mutual acknowledgement of a desire to form a bond with one another is all that's required for the magic to begin taking hold. There's an expanding sense of awareness that has K closing his eyes as he leans into Joi's touch, letting their combined emotions flow through him. Her eagerness and love mirror his own, and there's his elation, curiosity, happiness — there's even an echo of his thoughts about the possibility of parenthood, all of it filtering through their new bond and shared freely with her.

"Do you feel it...?" he asks in a hushed tone with his eyes still closed, overwhelmed as he is by the intensity of everything he's feeling. In a good way. This is exactly what he'd wanted, and he offers no resistance as the magic binds them together and grows stronger by the moment. Amid it all there's a gentle warmth that's uniquely his, one which steadily envelops Joi; for as long as she wants this bond with him, it will always remain with her.

[joidevivre]

Still, that wouldn't have stopped many from trying. Going through hair and skin colors, eye colors, figures until something clicked. And at the time, Joi hadn't had the self-awareness to consider herself a slave, wouldn't have understood why he was. But now she does and she's so very grateful that those who'd held his reins are far, far away from here and hopefully always would be. She doesn't even want them to show up temporarily during Trials, doesn't want them intruding on what could and should and would be their future together.

She feels his echos of thoughts of parenthood and it brings tears of joy to her eyes. The idea of them becoming parents of their own little miracle thrills through her like the rain of sparkles from a firework, heady and delightful. And she leans into him as well, wanting to breathe him in, seeking the comfort and happiness which can only come from his touch, his love. She feels effervescent, like the finest champagne, and lighter than air, like she could use her neon wings to truly fly, carrying them into the sky.

"I do," she whispers back, her own eyes closing as she rests her forehead against him. Reaches for as much as possible of him, like their mental closeness had to be echoed in the physical as well. She's trembling with how right this feels when his warmth envelops and binds them, her own starbright love and belief in him reaching out in answer.