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Construct loved by Many Faces(PsionicCuttlefish & Micbunny)

"Well it's just.... this one might not be.... safe? And it certainly is.... unorthodox let's just go with that." Tam resolved, trying to calm down. After all. She had decided she was going to make this, and she was not about to back out now. Besides.... there surely had to be some use for a.... well for a warforged phallus she had to admit what she was building. "I think I can finish it on my own. If there are any chores that need done I would say do them. If there is nothing then you have the day free. It is past time you get a vacation." She said with a light chuckle, working her way back to her former cheery self. "It will be a while before I am finished though. After all if it could be unsafe I want to make sure it's done right before testing...." She said, almost more to herself then Hardwall.

Tam slowly drifted back to her workshop, thinking to herself, this time far more coherently. As she got into the shop she paused for a moment to note how Hardwall had put things away, as organized as always. She say down at the bench with her partly completed project and began working. This time, no longer troubled by the fog of alcohol or lack of sleep she worked much faster, correcting errors and mistakes she made last night, muttering about her own stupidity. "Now why did I think that would work..... this should be.... now that's just all wrong.... there we.... no this sigil should be..... and that goes..... so then....." The object took place, appearing now as a roughly 11" long.... 'for ease of constructing internal systems.' Tam told herself, slightly tapering cylinder, made of several small interlocking rings that could slide and move against each other. There was a flexible rubber based tube inside of it, but at the moment this did little more than add a center to the component upon which the rings were more easily affixed, although Tam had plans. After all this was simply the first trial. At the base were several bits of arcane sigildry and some connectors, designed to link to a Warforged, and, Tam hopped, grant the component at least a rudimentary version of the sense of touch experienced by Warforged. It could easily pick up changes in temperature, something Tam felt might be important. Unfortunately she had no way of easily "warming it up" so she was a little leery. Still, viewing it in all of its glory certainly was causing a reaction as Tam blushed at the component. She pushed a button on the base which caused the hose to 'curl up' and retract the rings, turning it into a small, somewhat bulgy plate that looked as if it would fit over a warforged's "crotch plate." Tam sighed as she hefted it "Well, here goes." She said, walking off to find Hardwall.
 
Hardwall was silent for a moment at he stared at Tam, in what she could probably feel seemed like the warforged equivalent of 'blinking' before he spoke up again. "I see...well, I trust you and your skills, and in that you will be able to minimize any risk in this new project of yours." At being informed that he officially had the day free after any wayward chores, Hardwall tilted his head again. That was slightly unexpected, but as he thought to himself, there were some things in the city he could do to occupy himself. "Very well. I only need to set some of the inventory in order for the day, and then I shall go about the city. When the sun begins to set, if I have not already returned, I will likely be on East Thrush Street." Hardwall told Tam, and then turned to set the foodstores in order--making sure there was an adequate lunch and a dinner somewhat prepared ahead of time for Tam, and locked up some of the more valuable things in a safe, retrieved some money from his own personal storage, and then left the shop.

Hardwall meandered around some warforged-friendly shops for a few hours, though he didn't really buy much--Tam personally handled almost all of his upgrades and customizations, and he liked it that way. Still, there were a few little things he liked to do himself, just to keep himself familiar with his own functioning. There was just something oddly satisfying about personally modifying one's own body. He purchased a few plant-fiber-cords and two shiny new steel plates, after which he found a place where he could sit down with his tools and work on himself. Very delicately, he stripped off the stone-and-metal composite plates that covered one of his arms, and used the tools to strand the new fiber-cords into the existing fiber-bundles that made up the muscles in his arms. As he worked, he could actually feel his partially-living body begin to incorporate the new material. He then reintegrated the composite plating onto his arm, then took one of the two new steel plates and began fashioning it around his forearm, merging it with the existing plating. He then repeated the whole process with his other arm. When he was done, both his arms felt just a smidge stronger, and his forearms looked like they had shiny bracers built into them. Finally, he etched a dwarven rune on each of his forearms, one for 'defense' and one for 'protection'.

After his personal maintenance, Hardwall then made his way down to another warforged hangout he knew of, near East Thrush Street; an all-warforged wrestling/boxing ring. Though it certainly looked brutal, given how the warforged could beat each other up much more harshly than fleshlings could, it was all in good sport--mainly a way for ex-soldier warforged to keep their skills sharp--and the warforged avoided seriously damaging each other. Plus, there was an entrance fee that covered a stock of oils of repair to patch the 'forged up after a bout. Still, due to how it looked, it was an oddly popular spectator sport for certain elements of Sharn's living society. There was a decent turnout today, with fleshlings in the benches all shouting, cheering, and making bets. Hardwall went to the warforged organizer of the ring, paid the entrance fee, and went in. He managed to win his first two rounds against two models of warforged a bit bigger and heavier than he was, one of which was an adamantine brute. He hadn't seemed to have forged himself into a Juggernaut yet, though he certinly fought like one. Tam's employee had faced such warforged in battle before, and had knowledge of weak points he could exploit. Hardwall lost his third round, however, against a warforged that was of thinner build than he was, with shinier and more sophisticated plating, likely a newer model than the usual soldier warforged. The smaller, more advanced 'forged was just too fast for Hardwall, dancing around him and peppering him with hammerblows from his metal fists, and all too soon Hardwall felt the dreadfully familiar sensation of falling inert from accumulated damage...and then, from his perspective, immediately waking back up with a splash of repair-oil after he had been dragged out and some time had passed. He had to admit though, the younger 'forged had taught him some new things that he wanted to start practicing himself. Hardwall collected his small winnings from his first two fights, got himself fully patched up and good as new, and started walking down the street, making his way back towards the shop on the most likely path that Tam might use to get to the street. By now, the sun had long sunk past the skyline of the City of Towers, and the bridge-streets connecting the towers were rapidly darkening, while street workers went about unshuttering everbright lanterns.
 
Tam walked through the shop/house first, looking around for Hardwall, but not finding him. After a few minutes she remembered he said he would be "on East Thrush Street" which was a place Tam was rather familiar with. He was probably going to that arena again. Tam sighed softly and got her tool belt. "Just my luck he managed to enjoy himself a little too much and get something to dinged or dented for my component to work. I know they have repairs there but magical oil is no substitute for a good, professional repair job." Tam muttered to herself, working up a little bit of indignation to try to hide her embarrassment as she readied to head out. The new component found its home in a leather pouch hanging from Tam's hip. She was pretty certain it would stand up to some bumping and bruising, and this pouch could be sealed through magical means that made it hard to pickpocket, after all it would be a horrible development if some thief made off with her.... test product. And even worse if word of it made it to her peers. Especially in this untested and potentially... well dangerous state.

As Tam walked through the streets, she moved mostly through muscle memory. Her mind was lost in thoughts about what it was she had built, why she had built it, and what this might mean. After all, would Hardwall like this component? Would it even have a real use? Surely there were Warforged who would want a little... well some way to share in the intense physical feelings that the more flesh based races could experience. Or was she really just developing it for.... why was she developing it? There had been stories of people falling in love with Warforged but this was.... well this was taking it a bit further. After all, what if he didn't feel the same. Could he feel the same? Worse, would he tell her if he did not? Do they understand the social intricacies or the meanings behind what this could be? Then again, did many normal "people." Tam had never been a philosopher, or so she told herself, but these question did ask themselves. After all, how could they not. While Tam was lost in thought, she plowed right into the back of, and tumbled over, a rather stocky dwarf who had stopped for some reason.

"Eeeeeh, Wha'ter ye doin'? Don' go ha knockin' in teh odders like dat." He growled at the slim looking "human" who had tumbled into him and now lay sprawled on the walkway. A few people stopped to see what was happening. "I'm so sorry I didn't..." Tam began. "Ah carse yeh didn'. No one does Lass. Buh jus caese yer not payin' 'ttention, why yer runnin' tah me?" His words were slurred and stumbling, but somewhat angry. Tam figured this man was drunk, or inebriated in some kind of way. However, a sick looking handaxe hung from his belt and from the way his hand was flexing he might go for it if provoked. Slowly she started to stand. "Ssshit back dewn 'ere. I hain' done wit yeeeww." He said. Tam looked around, knowing this should be the path Hardwall would be on, and hoping he might show up in time to help so she did not have to use one of the 'self defense tools' she had hidden in her outfit on this obviously angry, surly dwarf.
 
If Hardwall was not an attentive warforged, there are many things he might have missed throughout his life, not the least of which a few things during the war that would have probably killed him. But the warforged was quite attentive, and was often able to notice what others don't. Furthermore, he never let his guard down, ever. So even when innocently walking through a crowded bridge-street between Towers in Sharn, Hardwall's eyes were looking to and fro, looking at each and every citizen that he passed, looking for anything that might affect him. It wasn't like he expected trouble, it almost wasn't even 'conscious', it was more like a well-worn, easy habit.

So when he walked through part of the street that had a human female spilled on her bottom, with an unsteady dwarf gesturing at her and scolding her, Hardwall noticed three very important things; One, the human female was wearing Tam's workshop outfit. Two, the 'human's' face was Tam's Amy persona. And three, the dwarf was most certainly not acting in a friendly manner, and Amy/Tam looked worried. Furthermore, the swaying dwarf was reaching for an axe on his hip.

These noticed things combined to make Hardwall a very unhappy warforged.

Hadwall approached the dwarf from behind, casting his shadow over both him and Amy from the light of the everbright lanterns illuminating the walkway. He then reached down and tapped the dwarf on the shoulder to get him to turn around. "Excuse me." Hardwal grated out in his somewhat metallic voice. Despite being much larger than the dwarf and looking rather intimidating in posture, Hardwall knew better than to deliberately provoke a dwarf like that. Most of the time, when something bigger than them tries to intimidate them, they just get even angrier. So, instead, Hardwall took a different tack. "I believe that whatever your quarrel with the lady is, she did not mean whatever it is happened, and I am quite sure she has already apologized to you for any mistake. Now, unless you are injured or require monetary compensation for damaged property, the best course of action here would be to let it go and return everyone to their own business. This isn't worth a fight, friend." Hardwall said smoothly and calmly.
 
The dwarf looked toward Hardwall, then looked up at him, his eyes narrowing, but slightly out of focus. "Is it nah? Tha's wha ye beliii....beriv...think?" He said, clearly confused by the sudden interjection of the warforged in front of him. Tam/Amy took this opportunity to stand up, looking thankfully toward Hardwall. "As I was trying to say, I was not looking where I was going and foolishly ran into you. I apologize sincerely to you for that, and for any other offense I may have caused. But my friend here needs me to come with him now and I hate to keep him waiting. Would you excuse me?" She spoke quickly, stepping around the dwarf to Hardwall and taking him by the arm. "Now you needed me to check you after those ring fights right? You have to be more restrained, you could do some serious damage..." She said, attempting to bluff her way away from the now bewildered dwarf. "Let's go!" She whispered slightly to Hardwall as she started leading him back toward her shop.

After they had gone a little ways Tam sighed, visibly trying to relax. "Thanks, you showing up then really saved me there. I'm not sure what that guy was going to do." She said, leaning a little on Hardwall. It was a little strange walking right next to him, almost arm in arm as she had hastily linked arms with him to try to lead him off. Now she noticed that they looked almost like... well like two people walking casually arm in arm and that was.... strange. Then she remembered the device she still had with her and blushed a little. 'Well, I guess this is no weirder than what I was planning on is it?' She thought to herself. "So, thank you for your timely assistance." She said, getting a little quieter as they finished walking to her shop. As they got inside she paused for a moment. "Oh, ummm, I still need some help testing this new.... component. Can you meet me in my room? It might be the best spot to test this." She asked, trying hard not to blush in anticipation. "I'll meet you up there in a few minutes. I just had a thought of something we might need."

Tam's room was a rather large room, occupying most of the upper story of the shop. In it a variety of clothes were strewn about the floor, from practical day to day wear to a few more elegant outfits, and even a few pieces of.... exotic garments. On one wall was a large full body mirror, flanked by a pair of bureaus. On top of them were sketches of various races, with emphasis put to the prominent features of each race. Against the far wall rested a large bed covered in large fluffy looking comforters and quilts, and a pile of pillows. Across from the mirror was a small work bench with a few nicknacks and pieces of machinery strewn on it. It looked like a wind up toy of some kind was being constructed, in the shape of a small dancer. The only other features of the room were a few chairs and a small end table near the bed. The room looked very lived in, and was a little haphazard and cluttered but not messy, simply untidy.

(Hope putting a description of the room is ok. Figured you'd want one for when Hardwall got there.)
 
To Hardwall's satisfaction, Amy immediately took the opportunity he had given her to get up and extract herself from the confrontation with the dwarf. He wasn't quite expecting her to actually take his bulky, buff-looking arm into her own to lead him away. As a warforged, Hardwall only had a rudimentary sense of touch; while he could tell that the flesh of Amy's arm around his was soft, nothing really ever felt 'pleasant' or 'unpleasant' in a tactile way to him. He never imagined or even thought of what a sense of touch would be like for fleshlings, how the sensation of his cold, hard, stone-and-metal-plated arm would feel to her. Amy's scolding of him for going to the ring fights again, on the other hand, wasn't really unexpected. "I did not sustain any severe damage this time..." He tried to explain with perhaps a little bit of indignation. But in truth, Hardwall liked how much Tam cared for him, even when it was 'overbearing'. He had never met someone so committed to his own personal wellbeing, like he was to hers, which made it a unique experience. After they had walked out of earshot of the irate dwarf, Hardwall turned his head to look down at Amy at his side, as she thanked him for getting her out of that situation. "Of course. I would be a poor bodyguard if I could not prevent harm to you from an inebriated dwarf."

As he looked at her, he also noticed that her cheeks had started to get a slight shade of pink, and she kept looking away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. After they finally reached her shop again and entered it to set their things down and settle in, Amy brought up that mysterious new component she kept mentioning, how she wanted to test it out (rather suddenly) and that her bedroom would be the best place to do so. Again, her cheeks took on a slight rosy tinge and she looked everywhere but at his eyes, before she vanished up the stairs. Now, Hardwall had been around Tam for over a year, and knew her mannerisms and tics well, in almost any form she took. But she was behaving very strangely. In fact, as he thought back, she had been acting unusually since this morning, when she first asked if he had seen the new component she was working on. Something had Tam unsettled, and it seemed to center around her mysterious project. Hardwall couldn't even guess what was going on with her, he only hoped she wasn't troubled or distressed.

After Hardwall took a minute to put everything away and tidy up the shop, he started to head up the stairs to meet Tam. But as he walked and thought, another oddity of the situation struck him. It was very, very irregular that Tam wanted to test the new component in her own bedroom. Components for warforged typically enhanced some offensive or defensive aspect, and as such were often somewhat dangerous and needed to be tested in the safety of the space in the back of Tam's workshop set aside for the purpose. No matter how he turned things over in his head, Hardwall could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for all the unusual behavior of Tam, and that worried him. Still, he arrived at the door to Tam's room and knocked (a politeness that he had been taught some time ago) before opening the door and stepping in. "Commander? I am here as requested to test your new component, though I am quite confused as to why we are not using the saferoom of the workshop to do so..." He said as he looked around. He rarely went into Tam's room--except when he had to put her to bed like he did last night--and tidying it up for her was specifically not one of his duties. It was her 'personal' space, something that she and only she was responsible for. Hardwall never fully understood the reasoning, but he accepted it in stride as he did most everything else.
 
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Tam headed directly to her workshop, looking for the container of bio-degradable grease she had on hand. "Oh I hope this stuff is still good...." She muttered as she took a quick sniff of the open container, making a slight face but nodding. "It'll do." She decided, tucking it under her arm then darting up the stairs to her room. She arrived a few moments before Hardwall and jumped a little at his voice. "Oh well.... this component is a bit more unique..... I know how most components help Warforged fight but well.... with a lot of the fighting over some of them might want to become more integrated in the more 'peace time' society around them. And well...." Tam pulled the component out of her pouch. The disklike piece of metal looked rather plain, but the indents of arcane etchings were visible in the outermost ring of a series of nested rings with a slight bulge shaped piece of metal at the center. The back of it had multiple traces and sygaldry that had a faint blueish-white glow to it. Tam swallowed slightly, considering it and Hardwall for a moment before continuing.

"Well, one of the biggest gaps in social interaction between Warforged and the other races is that they are unable to experience, or at least have not experienced many of the common interactions in society, and the difficulty in forming a more.... well more intimate bond with other individuals so.... this is meant to help that. So to best test this it would work best in a more ummm... relaxed environment and not the saferoom or a practice yard meant for combat as... this does not impact that at all. I also wanted to use this to kind of.... attempt to simulate some senses that might help make... compassion or even affection more possible as Warforged mostly experience touch in the sense that they can feel things but they don't tend to 'feel' them in the same way other races would consider it and..... well let me just show you...." Tam rambled, talking to try to keep from becoming to embarrassed or nervous to not go through with this. At this point she had gone past where she could stop but she needed to push herself anyway. She stepped up to Hardwall and knelt down, lifting the component and maneuvering it to just between his legs, right where the groin would be. "Now, it's supposed to attach pretty easily on its own but... there's not much down here to help mount it to so.... it might not stay well without some help. This might hurt or feel incredibly strange for a bit but.... well that's what testing is for...." She said as she pressed it to the Warforged's body, whispering a slight command word that should activate the component, causing it to attach and add its new sensations, and hopefully impart some idea of its function, to Hardwall.
 
Hardwall looked on in confusion as Tam began to talk about integrating warforged into peacetime, pulling a small disc-shaped component from a pocket as she did. She continued with her meandering explanation, while Hardwall tried to follow her. Though he was largely ignorant of fleshling relationships, he was not stupid. While Tam talked, he began filling in blanks. Somehow, this component was meant to help Hardwall experience such a relationship...through enhancing his tactile sense? This was strange, Hardwall was unsure of how an enhanced sense of touch had much to do with an emotional relationship...but, Hardwall didn't really know what an emotional relationship was like for fleshlings in the first place. For Hardwall, over the year that he'd served Tam, he had come to realize that even if someone else were to offer him higher pay and superior maintenance, he wouldn't take it. Tam was familiar to him, and with that familiarity came security and trust. He had noticed the change in how he viewed his employer, but never spoke up about it because he didn't know if it meant anything, and he couldn't think of any way to begin the subject in the first place.

Tam approached him, kneeling down in front of his towering figure to hold up the new component to him. Somewhat to his surprise, she positioned the component over the bottom-front of his pelvic plating. Hardwall had in the past used components that merged into his waist, chest, or neck, but never one right there. He heard her warn him that it might feel very strange, before she activated it and pressed it into place. Like with all components, Hardwall felt the magical nature of his body merge with something designed to interact with him, causing the component to firmly bind itself in place to the surface of his plating. As with all components, Hardwall then felt his magic equivalent of a 'nervous system' expand to incorporate the new component, granting his conscious mind awareness of it as it activated.

Hardwall's mind was momentarily stunned from the new sensory input. The closest thing he could approximate was the time he once borrowed a tracker-mask, a component sought after by many warforged for its quality of granting a sense that warforged lacked entirely. He had also heard rumors in the last few years that some spellcasters had developed a "humanoid essence" spell that supposedly temporarily altered a construct's body so that it was more like it was alive. Hardwall imagined that spell would feel something like he was feeling now...maybe Tam had even used part of that spell herself in the creation of this component. The concentric rings in the disk began to telescope out, shifting and fusing together until it formed a smooth metal phallus. Hardwall had seen genitalia before, when a slain body's clothing had been destroyed on the battlefields Hardwall had participated in, but he never guessed their function and never gave it a second thought. Now, he could feel his sense of touch greatly magnified on the phallus, where he could acutely feel temperature and even air moving across it. He reached down with one hand and touched a finger to the side of it, and for the first time, he could perceive texture as the smoothed stone of his finger touched the phallus. "Tam..." Hardwall said slowly, using the changeling's real name, "What...is this meant for? How does...it work?" He asked.
 
Tam was surprised for a moment as Hardwall froze as the component linked to his 'nerves', noting the almost surprised reaction he had. When the rings slide out, forming the metallic member on the warforged, she leaned back a little giving it space to telescope out, incase something broke. "Well, as you can probably tell by now it is quite sensitive and capable of far more tactile stimulation than anything else you might have experienced." She states, knowing it was quite obvious but still stuck in explaining everything to try to not become overly embarrassed. "Now, most humanoids form emotional relationships that also have some more.... physical requirements. While I believe that warforged are capable of forming those emotional relationships if given enough time, they are not quite as equipped for fulfilling that physical aspect so.... I developed this to attempt to give warforged a way to experience, and share in that. Now...." She reached out and slowly touched the, rather cool and smooth, metal phallus with her fingers, stroking along it gently. "Tell me how does that feel?"

Tam as she was speaking had been subconsciously shifting from her Amy appearance back to her 'normal' appearance. Her skin was turning a soft pale white, along with her eyes. Her hair was shifting to a pure white like snow as she continued to touch and check the new appendage that her component had sprouted on Hardwall. She kept telling herself in her mind it was to make sure everything was working, but she was being far more attentive and.... almost loving as her fingers stroked and traced around the length. Finally after long minutes of careful, gentle touching she finally leaned back on her heels again. "I am going to need you to sit down on your knees, kind of like I am, but lean back a bit, make sure the.... component is standing somewhat straight up." She said as she finally sat back on her rear before starting to strip off her pants, tugging them off and then removing her plain white undergarments underneath. "I'm going to need to get my clothes off for this..." She said, trying to sound almost off handed but unable to hide the slight nervous waver in her voice. As she removed her top, exposing her moderate bust and somewhat trim form she sat back up then crawled forward, climbing up to almost straddle Hardwall. She helped guide him some more until he was seated on his knees and feet, his legs angled to give a slight 'seat' for Tam, with the component sitting straight up, pressing its now slightly warmer length against her bare skin. She looked down and blushed again. "Now.... are you ready to really test it?" She asked, looking straight into Hardwalls unblinking eyes.
 
While Hardwall adjusted to the new, intense, and sharp sensations he was getting from the 'component', Tam continued on with her explanation a little redundantly. Despite this, Hardwall turned his head up slightly to look her in the eyes and give her his attention. Although it was typical of Tam to overexplain things, it did not escape Hardwall's notice that there was an odd tone in her voice, almost like she was forcing herself to keep talking. However, Hardwall still couldn't understand why that would be, as he still was ignorant of the social inhibitions regarding fleshling intimacy. Tam carried on with her explanation, informing Hardwall that this component was indeed intended to enable a physical relationship with a fleshling. The warforged's mind reeled. This is what it was like for fleshlings, how they experienced things? He was just starting to get a conscious inkling of the disparity between warforged and fleshling sensory perception. At the changeling's question of her touching and stroking his new component, Hardwall took several moments to consider it. "It feels..." He started, trying to come up with a way to explain it before settling on the only words that seemed to fit. "...very desirable..."

Tam carried on with her actions, while at the same time letting go of her current 'face' and returning to her base form of a pale-white part-doppelganger. Hardwall couldn't breathe, wouldn't moan to vocalize his pleasure, but the touches nevertheless sustained the unknown, yet incredibly desirable sensation. He cooperated as she maneuvered him into a position where he was kneeling on the ground but leaning back slightly, ending up with his phallus significantly jutting out from his body, not knowing what Tam's goal was but trusting her nonetheless. Hardwall was further surprised as the changeling unclothed herself before him. The warforged had never observed his employer naked before, and he didn't know what to think about it, now that he could see the skin of her entire body. However, he did know how important clothing was to fleshlings for protection in many different ways, and he knew that Tam was making herself vulnerable before him. She trusted him.

...Hardwall began to realize that she might trust him as much as he trusted her.

Now nude, Tam made her way back to Hardwall, slowly straddling him to get his new phallus component between her legs, with her resting her backside on his stone-and-metal-plated thighs. Hardwall returned Tam's eye-to-eye gaze as she spoke to him. Hardwall's eyes were little more than solid green lights in pits, but by paying close attention Tam could see how they glimmered and shifted in hue with Hardwall's thoughts, indicating the warforged's intelligence beyond any mere lifeless construct. Likewise, he had never really examined a fleshling's eyes in very close detail, but even without pupil or iris, he could see how her eyes subtly shifted with her gaze while she studied him, as he studied her. He raised his arms and rested his blunt, plated, three-fingered hands on her waist. His stone-and-metal exterior did feel cool to the touch, but not as much as might have been expected; a warforged's body produced small amounts of heat within itself. His grip was also surprisingly gentle, though not because he could feel the softness of her body, only because he knew that fleshlings were delicate compared to him. "Yes...I am ready to test this..." He answered her. "I want to know what this truly feels like...I want to experience what you do..."
 
"Well then.... I guess I should do...." Tam started, looking down at the metallic shaft below her. Easing herself up until her slit was positioned just above the smooth, rounded, featureless head. Note to self... warforged are surprisingly warm. she thought as her wetness ground slightly on the peak of Hardwall's new appendage. The firm but gentle touch was amazingly intimate for one who had never participated in such a situation before. Tam felt less nervous in Hardwall's firm, semi warm, and almost... protective? Yes that would be a good word, protective grasp. "...this." She finally said as she started lowering herself onto the shaft, feeling it spread her out then slip in. The odd smoothness of it, the trace warmth from Hardwall's internal heat, the thankful fact that the rings had fit into place smoothly so there was no tugging or catching on something... for this Tam was quite thankful... the only odd part was that it was almost too smooth. With even a little relaxation of her muscles, she slid a couple inches down, eliciting a surprised, startled moan from her. "Ooof.... it looked... smaller...." She stammered a bit, feeling her insides getting stretched by the unyielding edges of the silver phallus.

After acclimating to the width, and the length spearing her, Tam leaned forward a bit, simply keeping the shaft lodged in her warm, wet, tight folds. "There.... that's... better. We're connected now. How does it feel?" She asked, a mixture of compassion and her still legitimate scientific interest apparent in her voice. As she leaned forward, her chest brushed against Hardwall's, feeling the hard, unyielding plate. "I must admit... it's... different than I imagined.... but then.... well this is a first..." She said, her face turning a dull reddish pink. Her eyes, the pale white on white eyes of a changeling, still seemed to almost gleam with.... was it love? Tam was not sure. But she did know that... despite the oddness, despite some mild discomfort This needs to be smaller... or more pliable.... it felt... right. Leaning in she planted her lips on Hardwall's faceplate, approximately where a mouth would be, wrapping her arms around him, counting on him to support her body as her hips started rolling gently, rubbing the shaft inside of her against her depths, feeling it stirring around inside of her.

Tam continued to blush, pulling back from the 'kiss' she had attempted, realising that this might not do much for her partner. "I'm... sorry that was forward...." She said softly. However as she seemed embarrassed of her actions, the rest of her body was responding in a much less subdued way. Her insides were clenching and flexing around the imposing length inside of it, attempting to squeeze the shaft. Her legs had instinctively wrapped themselves around Hardwall, causing Tam to cling to the strong, comforting warforged. While his body had a much lower temperature, her closeness and embrace was slowly warming the outside of the living construct. And the odd coolness was actually exciting, making her shiver a little in excitement. With her legs wrapped around Hardwall she could not rock as hard as before, but she still rolled and bucked lightly, keeping him buried deeply inside of her and massaging the sensitive metal length again and again.
 
As Tam lowered herself onto Hardwall's shaft, the new component let him truly feel her warmth, her wetness, the softness of her inner flesh in such detail that he had never experienced before, while at the same time causing stimulation to the phallus so that Hardwall received sensations he had never before experienced, a feeling he now knew was pleasure. Hardwall did understand pleasure, in an emotional sense at least. He got satisfaction and enjoyment from a good fight, from interacting with his fellow warforged, and even from just being around Tam and her unique personality. However, this was the first time Hardwall had ever found physical pleasure. Even with the sensations racing through his artificial mind, to an unfamiliar outside observer it looked as if Hardwall barely moved or reacted at all, and might have come to the conclusion that he was not feeling anything significant. Tam, on the other hand, was anything but unfamiliar. As she engulfed Hardwall's new component with her womanhood, she could notice the ripples of tension that repeatedly moved through Hardwall's fiber-musculature underneath his plating, could see the way the lights of his eyes wavered and brightened as he leaned his head back slightly, and could feel his hands tighten their grip on her waist ever-so-slightly in such a way as to still not be uncomfortable to her. In truth, this was one of the strongest reactions Hardwall ever had to something that didn't involve beating things up.

At Tam's question, his head leaned slightly forward again--Tam knew that mean that he was focusing on her face again, as opposed to the warforged equivalent of 'spaced out' he had just been--before he began to speak again in a very slow voice. Whereas with a fleshling, slow speech would indicate a slow mind, it was just the contrary for warforged and a warforged speaking slowly meant their mind was working overdrive (and warforged don't stutter). "It...feels...like pleasure...in a...physical way...I have never...felt before...the...tactile sense...is so much...more...refined...I am...reminded...of using a...tracker-mask...for the...first time...or...vision-enhancing...components...but...this is...far more...intense..." But, on the other hand, after Tam leaned forward enough that the peaks of her breasts brushed against his chestplate and laid a kiss on his face, Hardwall became acutely aware of the staggering difference between the sensory abilities of his new component versus the rest of his body--he became aware of just how dull the rest of his body's sense of touch was. He felt almost nothing, just that things solid but very yielding had touched him. That was all Tam's body, or any fleshling's, had ever been to him before; just solid matter that was malleable, semi-elastic, spongy. Clinical details, sensations that told him just enough to know how much force he would need to apply to break what he was touching, but nothing more. If this was what fleshlings felt all the time, then Hardwall figured it no wonder why they seemed to be so driven and passionate about their emotions and perceptions.

Hardwall noticed how Tam's cheeks seemed to be reddening again, which made for a very curious hue through her milky-grey skin, but still couldn't quite understand what cause she had to be embarrassed about. He also didn't know what she meant by 'forward' with the kiss, but he didn't mind it even if it didn't really do much for him. "I...do not...know what...you mean...but...it did not...displease me...in any way..." And as Tam wrapped her legs around his waist, with her arms hanging onto his neck and her womanhood impaled on his phallus, Hardwall felt...oddly happy about how her frail, naked body clung tightly to his immovable, statuesque form. He felt more protective of Tam now more than ever; with her body so close to his own, he felt as if there was nothing that could keep him from making her happy and keeping her safe from harm. Nothing could threaten her now, at this moment, with him moving his hands from her waist to curl around and support her back as she began to roll her body back and forth. Soft gasps and moans issued from Tam's mouth, sounds that Hardwall had never heard from any fleshling before. He was almost worried, but he knew what a fleshling in pain sounded like, and this most certainly wasn't it. Morever, the way her warm flesh slid up and down his smooth, slick shaft increased the pleasurable sensations still further...and Hardwall desired more, wanted it to feel even better. Slowly and delicately at first, utterly careful not to harm Tam's body, Hardwall began to lift up and let down his own hips from his kneeling position, still further improving every unique sensation of his phallus moving in and out of her while she rode him.
 
The slight changes in Hardwalls grip, the varying changes and flexing of the musculature in her metallic lover, the small shift in his position, all of it showed to Tam just how much these new sensations effected Hardwall. In contrast to the lack of specific feel he felt, Tam's body felt each dent, each polished bit, every little detail of the metal plates on her soft skin. At Hardwall's assurance, she hugged herself tighter to Hardwall. She clung to him tightly, pulling herself closer to him, pressing her body hard against his firm, now warm, metal body. "I'm.... I'm glad you like it." She managed to moan out, her depths squeezing once again on the smooth shaft pushing and rolling into her body. Her voice was wavery and fluttery as she moaned and gasped out from the pleasure. His firm, strong hands pressing against her back light, comforting, his arms wrapping around her. Her hips continued to buck, bounce, and bump against Hardwall, finding that while the hard metal body underneath her was a little bit uncomfortable to bounce against, she was not unhappy. Far from it in fact.

After several minutes of moaning, panting, and wet, squishy sounds coming from Tam, she felt a big wave of pleasure building up inside of her. The heat of her actions building and building. "Ooooooo gooodddssss, I looooove youuuuu!" She cried out, her mouth hanging open in a large 'O' of utter bliss. Her back arching, her hips pressing tighter as her warm tight insides squeezed affectionately and eagerly around the metal shaft, Tam gushed out, her slick wet juices coating Hardwall's metal plates. For several long moments she shuddered and shivered in pleasure on his shaft, her body frozen other than the quivers of pleasure rolling over her. After several long moments, she collapsed against Hardwall, still holding him in her tight embrace, letting out another soft moan as he kept lifting and bucking his hips gently, continuing to stimulate her. "OooOOOoOoOOoo yesssss." She hissed in bliss as his continued stimulations threatened to bring her back to her peak again. While Tam had some experiences in some more... carnal enjoyments, she had never had something this intimate, this satisfying, this... connecting. As a changeling, Tam spent much of her time trying to fit in with how others perceived how she should act. Always having to withhold some of how she felt, how she wanted to act. But here, with Hardwall holding her close, able to let herself truly go, she never wanted it to end. "I should have done this a loooooong time agooooo." She sighed out as another wave of pleasure rolled over her, making her twitch and spasm on Hardwall's unyielding shaft, rubbing and grinding her soft, tender, fleshy insides against it again and again.

After a few more moaning, groaning, gasping orgasms Tam finally started to notice a problem. She was quickly becoming over stimulated, and finding it close to impossible to form complete thoughts. However, Hardwall did not tire out and seemed quite intent and content to enjoy and pleasure her until she could not take any more. While she enjoyed this thought greatly, there was no real way to indicate to Hardwall that they should stop, and her entire body felt that strange mix of loose, relaxed, and aching that she felt from repeated stimulation. But any time she tried to call out to Hardwall, she simply moaned and squeaked from the pleasure. Her voice reduced to raspy, lusty, husky moans and panting groans of utter bliss.
 
In short order, Hardwall had settled into a very regular--almost mechanically so--rhythm with his gently bucking hips, while Tam pressed herself tighter to his body. Hardwall couldn't even really say why, but he enjoyed that especially, in a more emotional way than the pleasure his new component was giving him. He just enjoyed how Tam was so close to him in such a pure, utter demonstration of trust. He could do anything, absolutely anything he wanted to her right now, yet she was willfully placing herself completely within his power anyway. But Hardwall didn't want to do anything other than what they were doing right now, he just wanted to keep her trust, to continue to earn it from her with his every deed, as he now trusted her just as much. It was even precious to him; now that he knew how close Tam was to him, he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He even knew that if any other fleshling were to demonstrate this same kind of trust to him, he wouldn't care about them at all compared to how he cared about Tam. Poor Hardwall didn't really have a way to properly describe what he was feeling towards Tam, all his war-trained mind could frame it as was mutual trust, albeit to such an extreme degree that he had never before known.

As they continued their coupling, Hardwall's attention remained utterly fixated on Tam. He absorbed every detail he could perceive of her: every twitch and squeeze of every muscle through her body, every expression that played across her face, the sheen of her milky skin as sweat began to bead on it, every sound issuing from her throat. He hung onto it all, not missing a thing while her panting began to deepen and her blank white eyes wobbled and shimmered in a manner analogous to pupil contraction and dilation in any form other than her true self. Then she cried out her declaration of love while her entire body seized up, clenching down hard on Hardwall's shaft as fluids splashed out of her. Love? Hardwall knew some fleshlings made such declarations to each other, but no one had ever said that to a warforged as far as Hardwall knew. Well, not until now, of course. That was how Tam felt about him? He wondered...was that the name for what he was feeling about her? Hardwall's active mind could only spare a few brief moments to consider the thought, before again being filled to the brim with all the sensations he was feeling with Tam, as he continued to buck his hips without missing a beat throughout Tam's orgasm (though he didn't know that's what that was, naturally). Tam's lower body body then went slightly limp while she kept up a squeezing embrace, though she managed to blurt out affirmatives as Hardwall kept up his motions, and Tam's hips started bouncing on their own again.

On and on Hardwall went, mostly unchanging in his motions except for how his own fiber-musculature randomly rippled and tensed his grip around Tam's body, while he registered every change in Tam. Hardwall counted out the number of times Tam seemed to hit a crest of pleasure, and with each successive one, her voice changed to be slightly more throaty and gravelly, and her grip on him seemed to weaken more. Then...she went through another crest, but Hardwall noticed a difference; she had gone almost entirely limp against him this time, and wasn't returning to 'normal'. The warforged then noticed that her eyes weren't glimmering anymore, and had gone somewhat flat and dull. Hardwall immediately recognized the telltale signs of beginning to slip into unconsciousness, and he knew something was wrong. With how incredibly good his new component was making him feel when he joined with Tam, he didn't want to stop. In fact, Hardwall was shocked and ashamed at how much he wanted to keep going, to keep feeling this pleasure. But something was wrong with Tam, and Hardwall could not forgive himself if he were to bring her any kind of harm. He began to slow down his thrusts until he went still, cradling the changeling in his arms. "...Tam?" He asked, his voice losing its customary calm and gaining inflections of concern. "Tam...are you alright? Something...seems wrong, Tam, you do not seem well..." For the first time since a few particularly bad battles from the Last War, Hardwall felt the old, ugly emotion of helpless panic beginning to rise in him as he realized that the changeling was in a kind of trouble that he had absolutely no idea how to fix. "Tam...what should I do?"
 
It was true that Tam was finding herself unable to focus on what was going on. The tireless and continued stimulation that Hardwall was giving her, as well as her own movements had finally caught up to her. Her vision was growing hazy as her eyes grew unfocused and slightly glazed. She occasionally let out a ragged, exhausted groan although she was much quieter. Somewhere in her mind she heard Hardwall call out to her. A dim part of her mind wanted to reply. To let the warforged know that it was just from an oversight and that she was merely worn out and quite over stimulated. But the rest of her was far to overwhelmed to do more then mumble a few incoherent noises.

When Hardwall fully stopped moving, merely holding her, Tam finally managed to attempt to recover, although the exhaustion was very quickly overcoming her. Slowly, somewhat shakily she tilted her head up to look into the glowing, concerned eyes of her metallic lover. Yes, lover, that was indeed what he was, or at least how Tam was now thinking of him. Her face was looking quite contented, and she smiled at him before her head tipped forward as her eyes closed. After a moment faint, soft snoring came from her as she finally fully collapsed from the exhaustion. Her chest rising and falling slightly, still pressed against Hardwall tightly, her whole body supported by him as she fell asleep, feeling safe, contented, and more than a little worn out. Hopefully her faint smile had been enough to convey that things were ok, and she was merely exhausted. At least, that was Tam's hope.

That night Tam dreamed a strange dream. Her mind went back, reviewing how she had met Hardwall. That first time he had stepped into her shop, browsing for components. While Tam had always viewed warforged as individuals and 'living beings', at least in so far as something made of metal could be alive, but his frank and abrupt offer upon seeing her help needed sign had surprised her. Tam had never hired warforged help before but was willing to give him a chance. Sure there had been a few 'growing pains' here and there. After all the structured and organized nature of the former military forged colliding head on with the eclectic nature of the changeling's artifice how could there not be? But they had struck up a kind of friendship. Something about the honest, hardworking, and almost…. attentive way that Hardwall had taken to his tasks just struck a cord with Tam. And now, now it had led to this. Whatever this was, but that would apparently wait until morning, although her dreaming mind had ideas…. lots of ideas….
 
Hardwall watched Tam intently (which, of course, looked exactly the same as when Hardwall watched anything else with any amount of focus, given his expressionless face) while he supported her against his body. Hearing and feeling her take slow, labored breaths while slumped against him made the realization cross his mind that Tam was just so....fragile. Fleshlings simply could not match the tenacity of the magically-animated constructs. Slowly, the changeling raised her head to return Hardwall's gaze. He saw the smile play across her face--a weak one, but still a smile!--before she then went truly limp. After a few moments, Hardwall heard the soft and telltale snores of a fleshing sleeping.

For another few moments, Hardwall remained at an utter loss of what to do. His new component still felt...good, hilted inside Tam's body as it was, but resuming that was absolutely out of the question. Finally, Hardwall's primarily logical mind began thinking again, and he immediately began setting priorities and steps to achieve them. First: Get Tam into an acceptable repose. Very slowly and delicately, Hardwall shifted his arms to slowly lift Tam up off of him (feeling a flash of guilt at how good his component felt sliding out of her, and surprisingly how much he wanted to put it back in) and moved her in a position where he could cradle her back, head, and legs in his outstretched arms. He stood up like this, curiously noting how Tam seemed to mumble indistinctly and turn her head against his chestplate, while it almost seemed like she was reaching her arms towards him. The warforged then carried Tam over to her bed, where he laid her out on it.

Next: remove temptation. Hardwall looked downwards and willed his component to deactivate. The phallus retracted, folding itself back up into a single disk, and Hardwall then willed it to detach as he reached for it to pull it off. The moment the connection was broken with the disk in his hand, all the residual sensations of what it had been giving him vanished, leaving only the memory within Hardwall of how good it had felt. With a small amount of disgust, Hardwall discarded the object on a nearby desk. That thing had made him...hurt Tam! Or at least do something to her that was definitely not normal. She did smile at him, in the end, which fleshlings usually don't do when there's something wrong, but, even so...whatever it was, something about it just wasn't safe.

Continuing to asses and respond to the situation, Hardwall noted the mess of fluids between Tam's legs (and on himself), and set to fixing that. He looked around Tam's disorganized room until he spotted some cleaning-cloths, and used one to dab and wipe away the fluids from Tam's skin first. Oddly, she seemed to murmur and shift in her sleep as he did so, but he finished in short order. He knew that fleshlings usually had to sleep with something covering them, so he pulled the thick blanket that was at the foot of the bed up and over Tam, to cover everything but her head.

Hardwall still didn't know if there was anything medically wrong with Tam, his knowledge of fleshling 'repair' and assessing damage beyond the obvious dismemberment or evisceration was of course severely limited, but he went downstairs to where he knew Tam kept some medical supplies. Not knowing what almost all of it was, Hardwall just took a little bit of everything, along with a bowl of water and some nonperishable food in case that was needed as well. But as Hardwall made his way up the stairs, he stopped. Should call on a House Jorasco medic? He considered. One of the halfling healers would be able to tell him what was wrong with Tam. On the other hand, Jorasco was somewhat expensive. Hardwall didn't know how much they would charge. He would give up every coin saved in his personal storage if he had to, but...getting a healer meant leaving. Abandoning his post, however temporarily. At the moment, that was out of Hardwall's consideration, though he resolved to do so if it became clearly necessary, or if Tam did not wake up. Returning to Tam's room, Hardwall set out the medical supplies, water, and anything else he could think of that Tam might need on a table next to the bed. With all of Tam's potential needs taken care of that he could think of, Hardwall got around to getting the residual fluids off himself with his personal maintenance-and-cleaning-kit. Finally, the warforged pulled Tam's workdesk chair over to the side of the bed and sat down in it. Now, there was nothing to do but wait, and wait he did. Hardwall kept a silent, unwavering vigil over the changeling throughout the night. Tam was still for the most part, but occasionally murmured again while her milky-white face flushed slightly paler, like it had....earlier. Hardwall remained in the seat until well into the morning, with the ambient light increasing as the sun rose on the City of Towers. Fleshlings were supposed to wake up around this time. If Tam didn't wake up soon, then Hardwall would have to come to the conclusion that something was wrong, and a healer would be needed after all...
 
In the morning, Tam awoke to the sunlight streaming in her window, causing her to groan slightly. "Uuuuggghhh, what time...." And then she froze as the memory of last night flooded back to her. Her face turned a bright deep crimson as she shot up in bed, looking around, and coming face to face with Hardwall. For a moment she just stared at him, blushing, her upper body uncovered by her blanket, then she squeaked and covered herself. "What.... how did I get in bed? What happened? I remember....." Again she pauses, her voice wavering a bit as she recalls still more details. "I remember passing out during the... test. What happened after that?" She said, her voice slowly returning to normal. While she could not hide the blush on her face she was attempting to regain as much composure as possible. "Did anything go wrong? What did you feel from it? I think it worked didn't it?"

Tam's mind was reeling with the feelings from last night, her somewhat muddled mind slowly waking up, processing the thoughts she had last night, this morning, and during the 'test'. She was unsure of quite what Hardwall thought of the whole situation and desperately wanted to know, but she could not bring herself to ask him directly. Still, she was curious about what the device she had devised had done for him, and if it had worked well.
 
At long last, with Hardwall's concern slowly mounting, his changeling employer finally stirred to show signs of life with a few unintelligible grunts. A moment later, Hardwall noticed with a little bit of curiosity that Tam's normally pale-white face flushed red before her upper body shot up, baring her chest again as she blinked dumbly at him. Hardwall was then confused when Tam's next action was to suddenly cover herself up, wondering what the purpose of that was when she had already exposed everything to him. The warforged just chalked it up to another weird fleshling thing.

The attentive warforged then started answering Tam's questions precisely in order. "You are in your bed because I placed you there. You had apparently lost consciousness after a significant amount of time carrying out that test." He paused as she continued to speak, then continued with his usual unflappable warforged calm. "After you passed out, I removed the component and cleaned you up as best as I could, before placing you in bed and sitting here myself to monitor your status and recovery." Hardwall paused once more, as Tam then asked him her last few questions. He took several moments to consider as he tilted his head at the changeling.

"You falling unconscious is something that went wrong, I would say." The warforged said evenly. "I am certain that was not supposed to happen, as I had forgotten how fragile fleshlings can be in my pursuit of the new sensations. As for what I felt...I felt exceptionally pleasant. The new sensations were wonderful...indescribable in an adequate manner. I was reminded of the time I once used a tracker-mask and experienced a new sense I never knew existed. It was like my mind had been expanded. As far as it working, I could not say--the criteria for it working would be up to you, as the designer of the component. It seems especially problematic to me that even after you had passed out, part of me wanted to continue anyway, desiring more of the sensations. How was it supposed to work?" Hardwall asked back at the end of reporting his perspective on the ordeal.
 
Tam listened to Hardwall's analysis, and responses as slowly, memory returned to her of the more.... 'intricate' details of last night. At Hardwall's statement of him still desiring more of the sensation, her face lit up and she almost jumped out of bed. "OH, that's it. That's the feeling. The externl sensory inputs worked perfectly. Wonderful. Only problem. Did not factor in war forged endurance. Well, is to say lack of need for endurance." Tam, still fully nude, started rummaging about some of her discarded clothes scattered in a corner. "But, can fix that. Would need tools.... maybe shard.... no, too expensive... schema too difficult to recharge. Charges? Cheap to replace, but difficult... per day? With duration. Possible. Would need peak, stimuli, hmmm...." Tam continued muttering to herself as she started throwing some work clothes on.

After getting rather hurriedly dressed, with a touch of Hardwall's assistance, Tam turned to him. "Ok, the reason I passed out is quite simple. While a standard biologic organism has stamina, gets tired, and the pleasure provided from intercourse assists with leading to a tired state, warforged can not climax. Therefor, they have no refectory period, and do not get tired. So of course a warforged would outlast any biologic lover. It's quite simple. All we need is to find a regular male, bring him to orgasm, and find a way to replicate that sensation within the device. It worked perfectly, I just did not account for the 'finish.'" Tam smiled at Hardwall at this revelation. "Now of course it might be difficult to work, but I think we could do it. Although I'd need a male subject to.... bring to their climax, and keep at the edge, and get sensory input from them. I think I could make a device to record those sensations and have a trigger to feed that back into any construct that has the device attached. Link that to a deactivation sequence for my component and it would be perfect! Only problem, as I said is.... how to get someone to volunteer for this...."
 
Hardwall was completely unabashed when Tam suddenly leapt out of bed, still naked, while babbling about how the component apparently worked and how it could be improved. The warforged trailed after her as she started trying to get her clothes on and helped a little by picking up a few scattered articles and holding them up for her. Hardwall only half-understood the babbling, but after Tam was dressed, she addressed him with another hurried explanation, which made a few things make sense to Hardwall. Somehow, Tam needed to modify the component to have a 'peak' in the sensations before ending. Hardwall was quite curious as to what this would feel like. But before Tam could modify the component, she needed a 'test subject'...

Hardwall thought on it for a few moments. He knew that 'red light districts' existed in Sharn, and he knew they had to do with the fleshling's 'intimate relations', but he never understood what that meant...until now. Hardwall thought at first that maybe they could visit one of those places to find a willing subject...but as Hardwall considered Tam herself, another solution came to him. He had no idea it might be a strange thing to ask, it just seemed like the easiest and most straightforward answer to him, which Hardwall liked in an answer.

"Aren't changelings capable of functioning as either fleshling gender?" The warforged asked bluntly.
 
Tam freezes mid move as Hardwall asks his question. "Well... umm.... technically yes but... I mean it... well the process.... I am not sure if the process of a female Changeling in a male form would be the same." Tam says. Her concerns somewhat reasonable, although some embarrassment as to what she would need to do to 'test' this certainly influences her. "It could work, but I believe that testing a male who is always male would be more fitting. And we may need multiple sensory inputs to create a more 'average' output, and maybe some variations to make the experience more authentic." Tam continues, attempting to get off the topic.

"Still, this shouldn't be too hard. We just need to find a male, or preferably several males who we can bring to orgasm again and again, and leave on the edge of pleasure and hold them there as long as possible. Both to get the sensation and to figure out a good way to stimulate the post orgasmic fatigue without having to introduce true fatigue to a warforged. After all, we want this to be enjoyable for them, and to be something they want to experience. And fatigue isn't always the best thing." Tam explains. "So then, I believe there is nothing on my schedule today right? Well then we could attempt to find subjects today." The changeling woman grins. "If you could help me Hardwall.... my dear?" Tam couldn't quite explain why she added the endearment at the end, but it felt right to her.
 
Hardwall tilted his head as Tam explained that a female changeling in male form might not give her as much data as she needed. "Very well. That does make sense." He replied after she finished explaining how she could probably use several test subjects, even. He also nodded as she spoke about searching for subjects today. "Indeed, your schedule is free today. I of course will assist you in this endeavor." He said. He wasn't sure either why she had called him "my dear", but he didn't mind.

Hardwall then leaned back slightly. "In any case, the next question is where shall we find willing test subjects? Until last night, I would not have had any clue. Fleshlings do not typically talk about their intimate relations around warforged, and I have never even seen what that meant in my entire life before you showed me last night. But, now that I am aware of this secret side of fleshlings that is not generally shown in open public, I can make the correlation that Sharn's three so-called 'red light districts' will almost certainly contain willing subjects searching for such experiences, as I am aware that they provide intimate relations for money, though I have never been to any of them. Would you agree that visiting them would be an easy way to attain our goal?"
 
"That could..... work." Tam said after a moment's pondering. "I had never really considered that. A male 'companion' could easily work, and it would be easy to get them to accept pay for such an experiment. At least, I think. I have never actually made use of a male escort.... do male escorts even exist?" As she spoke, her mind wandered to the idea, and a bright, bright, bright red blush came to the changeling's face, as if her entire skin turned a hot beet red. "Well, never mind I assume they do. Yes, we should definitely visit a 'red light district' although.... perhaps.... one of the more... upscale ones? They exist right?"

Tam was completely out of her element here. Hiring a man? To pleasure him, tease him, get him off, hold him at the brink? It was.... it was a strange notion. Although as she considered it, it was a notion she was rather warming up to. Tam had not had much particular experience in male companionship, and what she had was mostly led by and partly 'controlled' by the man. But the idea of taking her joy of seeing just how something 'ticks' and applying it to.... to sex? Oh that was just a.... deliciously fun idea. Yes, this would be fun.... if she could ever stop blushing!
 
Hardwall sat up a little straighter as Tam began to consider his idea. He had actually been unsure of it, considering how far out of his realm of experience the topic was, but he trusted Tam evaluating it as a feasible option. It was almost odd to him when she once again spontaneously developed a reddish coloring on her cheeks after she pondered the existence of male 'companions', before quickly deciding they did. Hardwall thought he was starting to grasp this new facet of Tam that he had not really witnessed before, with how much she had been displaying in in the past two days. He was beginning to put together that she seemed to gain this red complexion whenever the concept 'fleshling intimacy' that she had introduced him to last night was at the forefront of her mind. She also seemed to occasionally become hesitant and stumbling in her speech when discussing it, as well. As he thought far into the past, he also realized that--in the very few times he had been near other fleshlings considering the same topic--he had seen similar cases with other fleshlings. There were discrepancies, as there always was with fleshlings, and more nuances he hadn't worked out yet, but for the first time Hardwall believed that he was beginning to understand this aspect that had always thoroughly eluded him in the past.

At Tam's question of which of the three districts should be the one to visit, Hardwall realized he would need to do some investigation for her. He silently pondered the challenge for a moment, while he noticed that Tam had her 'lost deep in thought' look that he was familiar with, albeit her face was still strongly colored. He had no idea what she was thinking of now, but he believed he had come to a workable plan. "Given there are three to choose from, it is reasonable to assume that quality and expense varies. However, I do not have any knowledge of any of the three locations--having only ever heard of them secondhand--but I might be able to contact some who do. Prepare whatever materials and equipment you will need to obtain the necessary measurements of stimuli, Commander. I shall go to make some inquiries to see if I can learn the information we need about the locations themselves; as the information is reasonably public, this should not be an issue, but will take time that you need for preparation. I will return in no more than four hours." Hardwall said in his usual way that suggested he was resolved on a course of action, though it wasn't really that unusual for him to take initiative on completing a task on Tam's behalf.

The warforged then stood up and took a few minutes to make doubly-sure that Tam was in good health, and to go down to the shop to perform a few minor tasks to prepare it for his temporary absence. Once done, he headed out the door, leaving Tam to handle constructing the sensory-measuring device she had said she would need.

*****

Hardwall's task took a few more steps than he had anticipated, but nonetheless, he managed to get what he needed within the time he allotted to himself. He had gone to visit the warforged club he was in, as while such basic information on whole sectors of the city were indeed public, he knew fleshlings could be deceptive, or more likely, plain recalcitrant to such questions posed by a warforged. Instead, he asked his peers, seeing who would be able to direct him to other warforged who had done a patrol in, or at least passed through, any of the three districts of interest. All he needed was a visual account on details that would suggest the safety and quality of the zone.

He had ended up needing to visit a second, larger warforged congregation elsewhere in the city, along with a few smaller satellite groups, before he finally found some who had passed through the right locations. Information on the districts of Sharn's Welcome and Dragoneyes was fairly available and Hardwall got multiple accounts for each, as both were situated at each of Sharn's two major transit hubs (Sharn's Welcome in the quarter Cliffside, the city's waterfront; and Dragoneyes in the lower ward of Tavick's Landing quarter, where the lightning rail terminal and main roads ended. Both the most likely places for warforged to arrive at, and thus, the most-traveled zones by warforged), however, upon specific questions to the warforged who had passed through these districts on details they observed, Hardwall was skeptical of the districts. Cliffside was one of the more crime-ridden parts of the city, of which the red light district within it did not seem to be exempt from at all. Not a reasonable place to take Tam. Accounts on Dragoneyes were less consistent, some neutral and some poor, but one thing that easily came out was that apparently there was a large concentration of changelings there, which meant most warforged firmly avoided it if they knew. Hardwall didn't mind, but Tam already pointed out how she, as a naturally-female changeling, might not give adequate data...and there would be almost no way to tell who in Dragoneyes was a changeling if they didn't change in public, let alone if they were naturally-male.

That left Firelight, in the lower ward of Menthis Plateau quarter. Information on there was difficult to find from fellow warforged, as despite being the most "diverse" quarter and having the highest density of magic goods and services in the city, the education and entertainment center of the city didn't have much use for, or appeal to, common warforged in general. Hardwall eventually had been directed to one particular warforged, whom Hardwall thought rather...peculiar. The warforged had lacked normal composite plating as a shell--in fact, had no plating at all, nearly bare fiber-musculature. Hardwall knew that Cannith had experimented with several unusual base designs for warforged towards the end of the Last War, including an armor-less design intended to produce effective spellcasting warforged, but Hardwall knew what an unarmored-body warforged looked like--this one looked like he had plating once, but it had been removed. That had disturbed Hardwall, which wasn't helped by how the armorless 'forged talked and acted like a fleshling, wearing clothes--a blue toga, no less--and speaking with a widely-ranged voice. Still, this warforged knew about the Menthis quarter and was quite overeager to tell Hardwall all about it (Including that there was, apparently, a moderately-known warforged called Sonnet who was a singer of all things, occasionally performing at the Sharn Opera House of Upper Menthis ward of all places. Hardwall had not known that.), but a short time later, Hardwall had everything he needed to advise Tam.

*****

About fifteen minutes before four hours later, Tam heard the door to her shop open, and the expected voice call out "Commander, I have returned, with our destination." He said as he walked through the shop to find Tam in her workspace. "The red-light district we will be visiting is Firelight, located in the lower ward of quarter Menthis Plateau. According to my investigations, Firelight is known to have on average more expensive 'bordellos' than Sharn's Welcome or Dragoneyes, and is not known for being a potential danger to unwary customers. Therefore, it should be the ideal location for your tests. We can depart for there at any time, if you have finished preparing what you need." Hardwall glanced around at whatever Tam was working on.
 
Tam's mental reverie was broken when Hardwall spoke. The strong, steady voice of the Warforged snapping her back to the here and now from the potential and possible. And at one of his statements, Tam gasps and blurts out "Expense! Oh yes that..... that is a thing I'll need to pay someone for this and..... I don't know what to pay for what we'll do I mean.... I mean I don't know what to charge for any of that but..... well I'll need to get some mental integration and linking and.... would a psionic base perhaps be better than an arcane one? Oh but then I'd need to make the component psionically focused and that would limit to psionicists and that is no good and..." And off Tam was back to the world of rambling, babbling techno nonsense and logistically faffery. Throughout which Hardwall likely continued his plan, as Tam did hear, and acknowledged her understanding, but continued her rambling thoughts.

As the Warforged went to leave, Tam waved him off. "Go, I'll be fine. We can handle one more day of not being open for this at least. Go and let me work and prepare." And then she closed the door to her workshop, slid down it, and sat on the floor, shivering.

"What am I doing, this is crazy isn't it? I mean.... it's insane right? But then.... that was so.... good but still.... I'm insane. I must be, finally lost it." Tam rocked slightly as she tried to compose herself. Then, with a determined sigh, she hopped to her feet. "Well, if I -am- insane, I might as well go all out right?" And with that she dove into preparations, working at a pace rarely seen out of the changeling artificer.

******

As Hardwall entered the workshop, the first thing he was bound to notice was that Tam's bed had somehow made it into the workshop. The next is that the bed had undergone some significant changes. An array of devices, tubes, hoses, and dials had been attached to it, seemingly haphazardly. Setting on the bed is an odd device, that looks somewhat like the outline of a suit of armor, with several dials, locks, and knobs on it. The suit looks like it is made for a humanoid. And then there is Tam, sitting on the bed completely nude, face now a -bright- red, with something sitting in her lap. Next to her, another of the 'special' warforged component that Tam had created sits. On the front of the device is a hole, which appears to be lined with leather, and a few clamps, as if something could slot over it. After Hardwall gives his report, Tam nods. "So then.... that should be the most opportune place to acquire a potential tester. I believe I have created a device that can 'record' the sensory information of someone attached to it, and put it into a magical state that is compatible with the component. I.... did need to... test it hence my state of... disarray. I believe it prudent to be expeditious in our pursuit, and such, I need to get dressed, then we can attempt to get a..... tester to come to make a 'house call'. I hope that is feasible? I am.... not quite sure."

*****
After getting dressed, Tam follows Hardwall toward the Firelight district. Appearing in her 'normal human' form, she walks behind Hardwall, letting the strong, powerful, metallic 'man' lead the way. There was something comforting about that. And while she had felt safe behind Hardwall before, it felt.... different now. Better, safer, more comforting. To have him with her. It was a strange thought, but a thought she had, and she pondered it as they traveled.
 
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