aside, "You might as well just throw these things in the trash, Andrew. They're of no use to me any more."
George was right about the shirt. Not only was it badly stained, but it had split right down the seam from the arm to the shirt-tail when George reached out too far too quickly while trying to turn a porch table on its side. But the trousers, frayed and worn as they were, seemed salvageable to Andrew.
He held them up with their legs dangling. "If you don't mind," he said, "I'd like to keep these for myself."
George grinned. "To use as rags, you mean?"
Andrew paused just a moment before replying.
"To wear," he said.
Now it was George's turn to pause. Andrew could see the surprise on his face, and then the amusement. George was trying hard not to smile, and he was more or less succeeding at it, but the effort was all too obvious to Andrew's eyes.
"To-wear," George said slowly. "You want to wear my old pants. Is that what you just said, Andrew?"
"It is. I would very much like to wear them, if that is all right with you."
"Is something going wrong with your homeostatic system, Andrew?"
"Not at all. Why do you ask?"
"Only that I was wondering if you were feeling chilly these days. Why else would you want to wear those pants?"
"To find out what it is like."
"Ah," George said. And then after a bit he said, again, " Ah. I see. You want to find out what it's like. All right, I can tell you, Andrew. What it will feel like is like having a dirty old piece of rough unpleasant cloth wrapped around your fine smooth metal skin."
"Are you saying that you don't want me to put the trousers on?" Andrew asked.
"I didn't say that."
"But you think it's a peculiar idea."
"Well-"
"You do."
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. Very damned peculiar indeed, Andrew."
"And therefore you refuse to give me the trousers except for the purpose of destroying them?"
"No," George said. There was a note of exasperation in his voice. "Do whatever you want with them, Andrew. Try them on, if you like. Why should I have any objections? You're a free robot. You can put on a pair of pants if that's what you feel like doing. I don't see any reason at all why I should stand in your way. -Go on, Andrew. Put them on."
"Yes," said Andrew. "Yes, I will."
"It's a moment for the history books. The first time a robot has put on clothes. I ought to get my camera, Andrew."
Andrew brought the trousers close to his waist. But then he hesitated.
"Well?" George asked.
"Will you show me how to do it?" Andrew said.
Grinning broadly now, George showed Andrew how to manipulate the static charge so as to allow the trousers to open, wrap about his lower body, and move shut. George demonstrated the technique a couple of times with his own trousers, but Andrew was quite aware that it was going to take him a while to duplicate that one flowing motion, which George, after all, had been performing since he was a child.
"It is the twist of the wrist when you bring the hand upward that puzzles me," Andrew said.
"Like this," said George, and did it yet again.
"Like that?"
"More like this."
"Like this, yes." Andrew touched the little stud once again and the trousers opened, fell, rose, and closed themselves about his legs. "Right?"
"Much better," said George.
"A little practice and it will seem natural to me, I think," Andrew said.
George gave him an odd look. "No, Andrew. It's never going to seem natural to you. Because it isn't natural. -Why on Earth do you want to wear trousers, Andrew?"
"As I said before, George. Out of curiosity about what it is like to be clothed."
"But you weren't naked before you put them on. You were simply-yourself."
"Yes, I suppose I was," Andrew said noncommittally.
"I'm trying to be sympathetic. But for the life of me I still can't understand what you're up to, Andrew. Your body is so beautifully functional that it's a downright shame to cover it-especially when you don't need to worry about either temperature control or modesty. And the fabric doesn't really cling properly, not on metal."
Andrew said, "Are not human bodies beautifully functional, George? Yet you all cover yourselves."
"For warmth, for cleanliness, for protection, for decorativeness. And as a concession to social custom. None of that applies to you."