"You're not worried, are you, darling?" May asked, her eyes full of bright and wounded innocence. "Only he's not competition, I promise. I just thought that, well... with you on the road so much, it might be nice to have something a little bit more, you know, top of the line to keep myself occupied while you were gone. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate your--well, your, um, your body. You know you've always been enough to satisfy me. This is just for when you're not here. And they're offering very nice deals right now--honestly, he cost less than your new tablet. And that won't do the dishes while I'm at work."
The Boy(tm) didn't say anything, of course. He only sat there, propped up against the couch cushions next to May, smiling insouciantly at Douglas with a literal gleam in his digital eyes that suggested he knew exactly how the other man in the room felt. And exactly what he was going to do the second Douglas left him alone with her for more than a few minutes. Douglas wanted to get up, go find a baseball bat, and smash the brand-new piece of expensive consumer electronics until he'd erased every trace of that smug little smirk and the face that went with it, but he knew how that would look to his wife. He knew what it would say about him.
But he couldn't simply let it lie, either. "I just don't see why you didn't get a Girl, dear," he said, trying to keep his voice from becoming petulant. "You know they've got all the same equipment--it's just stored differently, that's all. You'd be able to get all the satisfaction you needed while I was away, without sending any... any mixed messages. About what your needs are." Douglas crossed his arms, then forced himself to uncross them. His whole body vibrated with barely suppressed tension, and he couldn't stop staring at the sex robot's sculpted muscles and massive, jutting silicone penis. The stupid bastard looked like a bodybuilder crossed with a porn star crossed with an action hero. How could he not feel threatened by something that was literally designed to do everything a man did better than a man could do it?
"Oh, darling," May sighed, her expression so full of hurt that it almost felt suspicious. "I prefer the shape, that's all. It doesn't mean anything. He's a Boy, not a person. It's not like I've developed feelings for him or anything--I mean, how could I? I only just took him out of the package when you got home. He's barely had a chance to say two words!" Douglas didn't know how to tell her that it wasn't the Boy's mouth he was worried about. (Although, as he thought about it... they probably designed the stupid fucker to be better at that, too. And it wasn't like he even needed to breathe. Jesus, couldn't they give a guy a break?)
Douglas tried not to notice the Boy's challenging stare and the confident set of his sculpted lavender shoulders as he replied to his wife's disavowals. "It's not that I think you have feelings for him, you know... that way. It's just that it shows a very real lack of respect for our relationship to bring him into the house without even consulting me. This isn't like a vibrator or a dildo, this is something you can carry on a conversation with. It's fundamentally different, and I think we should have had a, a discussion before you decided to make a purchase like this. I deserve a say in this decision." He knew he sounded whiny now, and he couldn't help imagining that the glint of amusement in the Boy's eyes was deepening into a triumphant glow.
"Oh, darling." Douglas knew he wasn't imagining the condescending scorn his wife put into what was supposedly a term of endearment. "Now you're just being jealous. I bought him for you, too, you know. Not for that," May added hurriedly, seeing his cheeks redden in a mix of surprise and furious embarrassment. "But he can help you out with all your chores, and he can do things around the house--there are skills packages you can download, everything from carpentry to automobile maintenance. It'll free up your time when you are home so we can be together more! I would think you'd appreciate that."
Douglas huffed. He couldn't help it--despite all of his efforts to hold in his wounded pride, despite the very real knowledge that he was acting out every stereotype of toxic masculinity that he loathed in other men, he couldn't stop himself from puffing out his breath in a petulant display of temper. "So I guess you prefer him for that, too? It's not enough that he's replacing me for sex, now he's going to be handling the household repairs, too." Not that Douglas was exactly great with his hands--they had to call a contractor to install the new dishwasher just a few months ago. But he took pride in the things he had managed to accomplish, and hearing his wife extol the virtues of some titan-dicked sex robot in every area of his expertise stung.
And his reaction clearly stung May in return. "Oh, now that is just foolish!" she snapped, folding her arms in exactly the same way he did earlier. Unlike him, she didn't uncross them. "Honestly, could you just listen to yourself for one moment? You make it sound like I'm going to toss you out with the cardboard box he came in or something. Honestly, you wouldn't see me reacting like this if you'd decided to buy a Girl." Her expression was sullen and pouting; beside her, the Boy waited patiently, his molded silicone shaft sticking straight up as if the marital dispute was the most erotic thing he'd ever witnessed. Douglas could actually see a tiny trickle of musky fluid leaking from the tip of the fake penis.
He tore his gaze away from it and back to his wife. "That's easy for you to say," he snapped back, seeing the fight that was unfolding in front of him but powerless to stop it. "You don't have to find out how you would have reacted to a Girl, because I didn't buy one. I thought too much of you to replace you with some perfect plastic sex robot just because I was out of the house for a few nights a week and needed to get my rocks off." It wasn't entirely a fair accusation--Douglas had spent a fair number of his hotel stays with his dick in his hand watching porn on his tablet--but there was a vast difference between jerking off to pictures of other women and actually inviting a walking, talking person into your home to fuck you.