Work Text:
02/14/2039, 12:07:48PM
"omg, look at his tight fkin turtleneck, he's so cute!"
I flinch at my inner self as she comments on Connor's appearance for the fifth time already. It's been 15 minutes since I arrived for our lunch. He came first, obviously, even though I was 10 minutes early. No way someone actually beat my punctual ass for the first time in my life.
"So, uhh, how's your drink?" I sip my own and give him a curious look. He sits all proper, just like at work. “does he ever relax?” Inner me speaks again and I’m not trying to hide my smirk.
“It’s better than I expected. I’ve never tried something like this before.” He reaches for his tall glass with blue liquid in it and sips through the straw. “It’s certainly different from the usual thirium pouches I consume.”
“Better or worse?” I squint my eyes.
“Better. I can sense some berry notes in it… Yeah, it’s blackberry. I wonder how they came up with such concoction.” He furrows his brows and scans the liquid through the glass, stirring his drink with the straw like he’s about to decipher the whole molecular formula of his beverage.
His LED shines yellow for a second but I drag him out of his new research. “How’s assimilation going?”
It's been only a few months since the peaceful revolution took place. The world has been changing. Slowly but surely. Some things needed more time to settle down. I know for a fact how life for deviants was before those changes.
“It’s been nice.” He nods, eyes crawling up towards the ceiling. “A lot more friendly faces for sure. People adapt but some are more stubborn than others.”
I nod and add “But how does it feel for you?”
“Well, after I’ve beaten my programming, I can finally use it freely and to any capacity I see fit. It's refreshing.” He blinks repeatedly like he’s gathering his thoughts. “adorable”
He continues, “But I still feel out of place, many features of my controlled past stick to me. I think that’s the hardest obstacle to go through personally.” His shy smile echoes somewhere in my chest. “girl, you’re so fucked, huh?”
“Hank helps a lot!” He withdraws me from my inner monologue, I smile at that with a slight oh on my lips. “I think I can consider myself lucky since he was kind enough to let me stay at his place. For now, of course. Android’s remuneration is still being negotiated.”
“luckily your place is big enough for two, lol” I almost let out a sigh from all this bitch’s talking.
“Oh, I noticed you have a phone, right? Do you actually use it?” “why are you so nosy?” “i’m getting to know him, shut up!” Something snaps in me.
“It’s Hank’s, yes. He gave me his old one. Why?” His curious eyes meet mine. “fucking hell, NOW i see it…” “fucking told you so”
I recoup. “I thought androids use their inner HUB for communication, no? I think it’s very cool.” I roll my eyes dreamily. “I wish I had that, seems very efficient.”
“That’s true. I still use it a lot, but I’m trying to lean towards common human devices for my better understanding. Same goes for wireless commands, Hank says it’s cheating because ‘My old ass has to go all the way to the coffee machine to brew me a hot one, guh!’,” he quotes in his voice and I lose it.
“Hahahaha! Oh my god! This is the best!” I almost cry laughing way too loud for a small place we’re in. I can feel a few people turn towards us.
He smiles openly. “he surely likes seeing you so bubbly, yikes” I calm myself down a bit, an interesting idea hops into my mind.
“Wanna rebel a bit?” I bite my lower lip and playfully twitch my left eyebrow. I see a question in his eyes and continue, “See that audio system on the left? It’s on low volume now playing some shitty bossa nova.” I guide his eyes with mine. “How ‘bout you switch it to play something more… rhythmic. And crank it louder?” A sly smirk rests on my lips as I watch his reaction to my proposal.
He processes my words for a moment; I see a hint of mischief in his eyes. He flicks his gaze at the audio system once again, his LED changes to yellow as he fulfills my request. The fattest loudest guitar solo rips the speakers around the small chill cafe.
“‘Master of Puppets’? Really?” I raise my voice so Connor can hear me talking. “My favourite.” He shrugs with a sheepish smile on his lips. I glance at them. A mistake. “oh my goodness, girl, i don’t even wanna start to think what those can do with the right approach…” I exhale through my nose at that thought.
As I hold my laugh and wink at him, signaling to do the same, employees try their best to fix the “bug” as fast as possible before all the visitors decide to evacuate the space from all the noise.
When music is back to normal again, I chuckle, “I love how you’re always up to some fun. Even when I was processed at DPD to get my access to the case files and archives it was always fun to have you around.”
I reminisce about how only three weeks ago I met Connor for the first time. I’ve heard about him from the news, but meeting him in person was a completely different experience. I really thought he’d be more on the tougher side but it really wasn’t the case. He was always nice and polite; introduced me to all the right people I needed to go through to get my authorization. When I actually started working with files that my current case required he always offered his help when he was available or just hung around during my lunch breaks at the break room. And I can’t deny, he is very fucking handsome. To think of it, ex deviant hunter, in a way - a killing machine, wears that kind of face. Adding it to his big brown eyes and the curious head tilt when he asked me about my ongoing investigation… I already knew I was a goner.
So I take a leap. “I’m very proud of you, by the way. Your personality is shaping in the best way possible.” I give him a warm genuine smile. He goes blank for a second and eventually returns it. A proud wide smile on his face, dark eyes shining with joy. “oh, he’s a menace. keep yourself together, we can’t drag him into our bed on the first date” “it’s not a date!”
He drags me out of my head once again. “Sorry, can I ask you a question?” he sounds unsure, it almost catches me off guard.
“Yeah sure, go ahead!” my smile shines reassuringly at him.
“Is this a date?” He tilts his head with the most adorable questioning look on his face. “this fucker…”
My heart skips a beat and I’m sure he sensed it too. I freeze for a millisecond. I can almost hear my inner self’s teeth grinding “come on, take it, snatch it, snatch it!”
I bite my lip naughtily “Do you want this to be?”