sleeping in waking | rain (1)
pairing: connor (rk800) x reader
summary: Connor couldn't figure you out and that bothered him, more than he was willing to admit. Usually, he didn't care whether he was close to someone or not, but then, they weren't you and they weren't working with him all the time. Every time you were near, he would ache to hear you open up to him, to give a few details of your personal life that he knew nothing about, but you gave away nothing - nothing - and he failed to compute why. Now, there was only one thing to do. He would do whatever he had to to get to know you - that was his mission and he always completed his mission.
wc: 4.6k+
genre: fluff, a splash of angst
Rain: series — 01 | 02 | 03
The pitter patter of the heavy raindrops hitting the pavement was like music to your ears as you waited under the awning of your house before you left for work. You reached out and let the drops cool your skin. The weather forecast included warm days; unseasonably warm days that consisted of melting ice and snow and road flooding. Not the prettiest or most glamorous, but a bit of an adventure to drive through and that it made it even more fun.
The rain was a welcome companion for you, a sort of home you could feel in every drop on the ground, on every streak of water crawling down your windows, on every blob that crashed into your face as it fell. You breathed in before starting a countdown in your head, 3….2….1….Go! and suddenly you were off, a giggling mess as you rushed to pry your car door open before the rain could permeate the thin material of your windbreaker. Throwing yourself into the safety of your vehicle - a smile still lingering on your face - you sat and listened to the cacophony of raindrops pound on the roof of your metal transport.
You shook the water off your clothes like a dog shaking the mud off of its coat. Letting out a sigh, you felt around the ignition with your key before it sank into its spot with a slight dip. Turning it all the way forward, you felt your car rumble to life beneath you, a few beeps being emitted in the process. You watched the dashboard light up with a few blinks and then a steady stream of faint light, the windshield fogging up with your warm exhales against the coolness of the car.
With a tap of the finger, you heard the fan kick on in an attempt to warm the glass enough to get the condensation to disappear. You rubbed your balmy hands together to give them a chance to get fully heated before you placed them on the cold steering wheel and drove yourself to work through the torrential downpour.
...
“All this damn rain is giving me a headache. I can’t even let Sumo out of the house without him bringing back a fucking lake.” Hank sat nursing a cup of lukewarm coffee and trying to expel his frustrations with the sky, with you, the least helpful person to talk to. So instead of turning the conversation to your pluviophile like habits, you turned it to your favorite furball.
You loved his little - or not so little - dog. That little ball of fur always managed to bring a smile to your face no matter what you were going through. He would come and lick your face eagerly or jump on your leg until you would sink down to a height in which he could. A small smile spread on your face thinking of your special guy.
“How is my handsome man doing?” You grinned plopping into your chair, booting up your computer in the process.
“Spoiled as ever, especially since he has Connor around all the time.” He brought his gaze up to the android absentmindedly throwing a quarter between his hands. The coin managed to cast a glint everytime the fluorescent lights caught it, visible through your peripheral vision and distracting.
You looked up to see Connor’s LED a bright shade of yellow as his eyes lingered on the linoleum tile underneath him, the quarter whizzing through the air as it sank into the palm of his left hand. He tucked it into his pocket and moved to look back at Hank as he realized he had quickly become a focus of your conversation.
“Sorry, Lieutenant, I was thinking.” He blinked and looked at you, giving you the smallest resemblance of a smile that he could manage as his LED returned to blue. Connor was trying, you’d give him that.
“No shit,” Hank grumbled, standing and sauntering his way over to the break room. “I’ll grab you a cup.” He titled his own paper cup and gave it a slight wave.
“Thanks.” You moved your attention on Connor whose eyes were already on you, a pleasant expression on his face. You and Connor had become good friends in the short time you’ve worked at the department, a nice reprieve from dealing with the likes of the other officers. Connor was kind and gentle yet determined and focused, you admired his work ethic as he tirelessly tracked down the purp and apprehended him with little difficulty. How such a benevolent face was capable of such vigor and robustness shocked you, but in a good way. It was good to see the contrasting qualities being balanced.
“How are you doing, Connor?” You shook your hair a bit, a few droplets ringing down from the crown of your hair. He watched these drops with interest before responding to you.
“I’m fine. How are you, Officer (y/l/n)?” He looked back at your eyes, the moment of distraction over.
“Great. The rain is fun to drive in.” You smiled as you clicked on a few files on your computer bring them closer to your attention. Connor’s LED swam to yellow again and a frown took to his face.
“I don’t understand, isn’t it hazardous? I’m not sure how something like that can be entertaining for you.” A grin crept its way to the corner of your mouth as you found his lack of understanding funny and a little bit adorable. You looked over the top of your monitor to find him looking at you expectantly.
“Well, it’s fun because you can watch the pools of water fly away from your wheels like you’re parting the red sea. It’s kind of like when you’re a kid and you jump into all the puddles while walking with your parents to the car because you're fascinated with the way it shoots away from you and…” The words died on your lips as you saw Connor’s face contort in a deeper state of confusion.
Of course, he had no idea about the kind of things like a childhood. The rambling you were doing was essentially pointless, he’d never experienced any types of those things first hand. You stopped trying to explain it and instead settled for a more simple response.
“I just enjoy it, that’s all.” Your eyes moved back to scanning over a report filed a few days ago, adding your own information to it. Little did you know, Connor wanted to hear you speak of your childhood memories more. He had only known the little details that you let slip in your conversations with Lieutenant Anderson, but when it came to speaking with him, your responses were more withdrawn and simple, not as complex as he was sure your mind was.
He wanted to be able to communicate with you more effectively and get more interesting answers. The way your eyes narrowed in concentration, the way you smiled when Lieutenant Anderson made what he came to know as a “snarky” comment, the ways your eyes lit up when explaining something that you found captivating, all proved to him that there were more going on your mind then what you verbally conveyed. If only he could find some way for you to open up to him, to trust that he was going to understand and that you could tell him anything your heart desired, to trust that he would never look at you any differently.
Connor had been running different ways he could accomplish his mission and all involved spending more time with you, preferably without Lieutenant Anderson. He would get to know more about your background and the kind of things you enjoyed, then maybe you would open up to him at some point. The same logic and reasoning helped when trying to figure out the Lieutenant, plus it would help strengthen the “bond” within your group.
It was decided.
“Here you are, a steaming cup of bland flavors and unmet expectations.” A giggle left your mouth as you nodded your head in appreciation.
“Seems like you’re a big fan of such high-grade coffee.” You tipped your cup up.
“Oh shut up.” He smirked, sinking down in his seat. You looked over to see that little LED flash yellow for the third time in the time you’d been in the office of the DPD. Connor didn’t say anything for a minute, his eyes fluttered shut and it worried you that there might be something amiss. Hank didn’t hear a response and looked over to you, only to find you concentrating on the android in the chair. He too saw the behavior of Connor and groaned before the android had a chance to speak.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I just sat down for -”
“Lieutenant Anderson, I’ve just got a report of a suspected deviant. We should go take a look.” He blinked back at him - his LED becoming blue again - as he didn’t hear the words that he uttered before. Connor only heard your laughter and saw your eyes crinkle on the corners and that was enough for the LED to blink yellow before reverting back to the familiar blue hue it normally held. He blinked once more before returning his focus back to Lieutenant Anderson, but his jaded blue eyes were already looking at him, tapering in thought. He saw that tiny circle on his forehead flash yellow for a split second.
“Everything alright, Connor?” Connor head cocked to the side and scrunched his forehead slightly.
“Everything is fine, Lieutenant.” He looked concerned but Hank knew better. He was sure he saw that little light wink into yellow.
Meanwhile, you had watched the whole exchange go down as your laughter died. They looked as if they were sizing each other up and if you hadn’t known the two, you might have thought that they were butting heads. You threw your jacket over your shoulders, slinging your arms through the sleeves. Letting out a light sigh and picked up your keys. “Well, if you two are done staring at each other, I believe that we have a crime scene to investigate.”
Software Instability ^
...
The ground was sopping wet and the smell of rain clouded all your senses as you hopped out of your car. The water droplets falling from the sky had lessened in their frequency but hadn’t stopped completely, creating a weirdly eerie mood. Your feet squished under the wet gravel as you made your way towards the house in front of you.
“Afternoon, Officer.” A detective said to you as you nodded and ducked underneath the yellow police tape.
“Afternoon.” You took in the scene in front of you, a broken glass window and some spatters of blue on its shards leaving a trail leading towards the back of the house. The wet grass scrunched underneath your feet as you made your way around to the back of the house, following the blue drops. When you arrived at the back of the home, the little bits of blue could no longer be found, the rain washed the trail away.
You stood at a loss. There could only be two possible places of where this android could be; inside this house or out on the streets somewhere. You didn’t think it would harm anyone without good reason, none of these androids did. Every case you had been on involved abuse, stress, or some sort of mistreatment that had resulted in such a dramatic and significant outburst of emotions. Just as humans had reasons behind their actions, so did deviants, in fact, you thought what they went through was worse. They endured for so long and what happened to them had to be astronomically terrible for a sudden break to even occur. They are strong, stronger than the will of most humans before they fall apart.
But all this rambling wouldn’t solve the problem staring you dead in your face. Connor and Hank hadn’t arrived yet and it was dark enough outside and in the house that nothing would be completely visible to you when you entered. If you tried tracking the android, you’d be walking aimlessly with nothing to indicate you were getting any warmer. The longer you waited, the further away the deviant could be and the longer it would take to track them down.
You were going in.
The wind picked up, throwing your hair around and shaking the dead tree on the lawn. As you moved closer to the back door, the wood creaked underneath your feet. Mentally, you cursed, they would definitely know someone was here now. Slipping the gun out of the waistband of your pants, you held it tautly in your hand, adjusting your grip as you pressed your ear to the door.
Nothing, dead silent.
You tried your luck with the handle, it turned but you weren’t positive nothing was attached to it. Sliding over to the window, you peaked through the torn up blinds. Dust sparkled through the air and it looked well abandoned, but most importantly, you didn’t find any evidence of something attached to the doorknob. You moved back over to the older wooden door, gave it a couple of good shoves with your shoulder and nearly fell to the ground as it broke free of the hinges.
Planting your foot, you moved your handgun into the first corner you saw. Another spew of dust flew up as you disturbed its peace, blocking your full view of the place. You utter some words of warning into the home but you heard fast footsteps on the grass behind you. Slipping behind the door, you wait for the people to come up the porch. Once you heard the wood creak, you sprung out from your hiding spot, the muzzle of your handgun pointed at the dead center of the stranger’s forehead.
“Officer (y/l/n)!” His eyes widened as he took in the firearm pointed in his direction and the startling dark look your eyes slid into. “It’s me, Connor.” His tone slipped into a softer, gentler version, hands in the air in a show of peace.
Connor ran all the way around because he knew you were here already and he did not want you to be alone. He wanted to be with you when you went into the house, to accompany you, in case something were to go wrong. He wanted to be able to have his part to play in fate should the worst come to pass. He wanted to be by your side more than he knew he should. He wanted all these things, but that was not typical behavior. Connor the machine should not want things.
It took you exactly two blinks before you corrected the aim of your weapon and another two before your brain registered that this was not your enemy. Tightening your jaw, you nodded and stepped back enough to let him in.
Connor’s LED flared red as he saw your current state. Something was definitely wrong; he never witnessed this darkness in your eyes that he had just seen nor how fast your heart was beating. Your pulse still was not under control and your eyes remained on the wood floor in the time you had lowered your weapon.
Connor was not equipped with the knowledge of comforting people, but looking at you created a dull ache in his chest, a sudden thirst to know anyway possibility that would help. The little consolation Lieutenant Anderson had shown him had consisted on a small touch on the back and a gentle emotion coming over his greyish blue orbs. Connor was not convinced that doing something like that would help but he was willing to try, willing to do anything for that matter.
His fingers stretched out slowly, each reaching out on their own accord, begging to come in contact with your jacket. He hoped they would give you some relief, hoped that some pressure might bring you back to the now and not wherever your mind flew too. Just as the tip of his index finger came in contact with the micro polyester of your windbreaker, Lieutenant Anderson waltzed his way up the doorsteps.
“Connor, what did I tell you about -” Hank saw Connor’s reach and how your head was still down, a gun loosely held in your palm. Connor never stopped looking at you but his LED switched to yellow upon hearing the Lieutenant speak. “Jesus Christ, is everything okay?”
Hank’s raspy voice snapped you out of your daze as you quickly holstered your weapon and snapped your eyes up from the ground. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” You shook the memory away from your vision and stepped a few feet back, unknowingly, away from Connor’s attempt at solace. “Let’s go check the house.”
Software instability ^^
...
Connor could only concentrate part of the way on the rA9s etched into the wall or the knife coated with blue blood on the table, he was too concerned about you. Since the incident at the door, you had kept to yourself; hugging your arms, moving away from the space he or Lieutenant Anderson occupied, staring off into space. It was strange behavior, behavior he did not recognize from you.
“Well, did you find anything, Connor?” Lieutenant Anderson stepped in his line of sight, momentarily blocking his view of you. His light blinked blue as he thought back to all the evidence he collected; analysis of the blue blood (in his mouth much to Lieutenant Anderson’s dismay), the reconstruction of the broken chairs and the knife to know that the android escaped through the window, the convict’s body that would most likely be in the closet door right behind where you were standing.
You. His heartbeat sped up a bit at the knowledge you were close and he still was unable to fix your current condition. He could not get a clear sight of you now, but he was sure your eyes were on him.
“Yes. I believe the victim’s body is in the closet behind Officer (y/l/n) and the deviant has escaped through the window.” He made a glance at the shards laying on the floor. “It seems they were attacked.”
Connor rose to his feet and you looked back down, squeezing your arms tighter and shifting your weight to your other foot. In that brief moment, the light trickling in from the open window glinted off a small line strung behind the back of your feet. Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked for the beginning and end of this small line, but it wasn’t just a line, it was a piece of string, a piece of string held in an oddly perfect spot.
As you turned your head a little more, the device became clear. It was a trip mine and the floorboards creaking meant that Connor was coming over to open the closet, right into the path of an explosive, an explosive that would take down this whole house and the people inside with it. It only took you a split second to turn on your heel, only a split second to move away from the little ribbon, only a split second to look at him in fear.
“Connor, no!” You threw your body into him, your arms wrapping around his waist, and pulling back as hard as you could. His leg was suspended in mid-air as your weight around his middle prevented him from completing his step. His LED switched immediately to red by the tone of your voice and your actions.
His arms hung aloft by his side while you attached yourself to his back, gripping it with deadly force. “Officer (y/l/n), what’s wrong? Does the fact that there’s a body in the closet disturb you?” He tried to look down on you but you were wrapped at such an awkward angle, he couldn’t make out your face.
“No, there - there was a trip mine. You almost stepped on a trip mine.” You breathed out, slowing removing your arms from his body. Your heart was still racing a thousand miles a minute, but now the hard part was over. “Be careful where you step.” Your feet moved a few lengths away and you watched as Connor took a step back, his foot falling where it had previously been. He caught the glint of it now, but previously, he had not been aware of such a device in the vicinity. He made a mistake, partly due to not fully checking the surroundings, and party due to his constant worry for your health. Connor does not make mistakes.
Software Instability ^^^
You were scared. You knew the whole mission could have been blown if that mine had detonated, but more importantly, you were worried it could kill Connor. That it could kill the android who claimed to be just a machine, but you knew was much more than what he thought of himself. He felt things, he felt emotion even if he didn’t want to admit it. You’d seen that LED turn to yellow and red depending on his mood, you’d seen his eyes change from passive to filled with emotion, you’d seen his body language change. To you, he was as alive as you or Hank.
Hank watched the whole scene go down with a face of disbelief. You were keeping your distance, maintaining a bit of space from the focal point of the investigation, but he’d never seen you flip so quickly. He was thankful that you had stopped Connor from blowing the house and everything in it, but he also saw your concern. He saw Connor’s concern for you as well. Whatever was going on, it certainly left him speechless. He watched you untangle yourselves and move to your personal spheres. Oh boy. More mushy disgusting hormones.
...
The tension in the air diffused upon bringing the investigation to a close. The deviant was nowhere to be found but from the trip mine sitting in the house, it was safe to assume they were afraid and had an extensive knowledge of military tactics, most likely due to the ex-military officer dead in the closet. When he had the opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge, you had no idea.
The three of you walked out of the house and into the howling wind and rain. Your windbreaker could only do so much to protect you against the freezing water droplets, they punctured your skin, cold seeping into your bones and sending chills down your spine. Gritting your teeth, you pushed towards your car.
“Damn, who pissed off mother nature?” Hank shivered too and huddled over an attempt to bring his coat over his neck. His silver hair could only do so much to protect his exposed skin and sometimes it barely did that much.
You kept your mouth closed for fear that if you tried to say something, your teeth would chatter and interrupt your speech, but a smile crept onto your face. Connor watched with curiosity as your face lit up following Lieutenant Anderson’s comment and he felt his thirium pump speed up, a slight pounding behind his chest. A small smile mirroring your own took shape on his face, painting it in a warm, calm light despite the raging storm. However, he noticed the slight movements of your jaw as your teeth moved in order to bring some heat to your face.
An idea popped into his mechanical little brain.
You fished your keys out of your pocket with a satisfying jingle and went to put them into the lock to open your car door, but Connor beat you to it, his hand closing over yours. His chest was pressing into your back gently and if you turned your head, your cheek would touch his chin. Your heart slightly sped up.
“Connor, what are you doing?” You tried to turn to look at him but he was already putting his plan in motion.
“Lieutenant, would you mind if I escorted Officer (y/l/n) home? She doesn’t seem as if she’s in an adequate state to drive.” His brown eyes looked calm and concerned, but Hank knew better.
Hank opened his car door and draped an arm over it. “Bold words, coming from you. Have you even asked if she wanted any help getting home?” His arm gestured towards you. He sighed before stooping to lower himself into his Oldsmobile. “If she doesn’t oppose it, then do whatever.” He wasn’t about to get in the way of whatever Connor had in mind, that was one stubborn android.
Connor looked down at you, stepping back a bit so he could get an accurate reading of your face. “Would you mind if I accompanied you home?”
You didn’t know how to respond. You’d never seen Connor do something like this nor get this close to you without bringing something with him; a folder, a cup of coffee, a piece of evidence - this was completely out of the ordinary. You hoped he was feeling alright but looking at his warm brown eyes boring into yours, waiting for an answer, made you rethink your original thesis. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him, in fact, he had been acting fine during the whole day, you were the one exhibiting unordinary behavior. You almost shot him, Connor, the android you’ve known for months now.
Connor watched all the emotions you were feeling flicker across your face and something in the pit of his stomach fell. Of course, you would not feel comfortable with him, you barely knew anything about each other. His LED moved to yellow and he began to take a step back, but then he saw your face land in a small smirk.
“Sure, why not?” You spoke out. The LED moved back to blue and he tried to refrain himself from jumping up and down, so he compromised with a small grin. Moving his hand around, he gently slid the keys out of your hand and unlocked the car.
Software Instability ^^^^
You moved to the other side, giving Hank a small wave to let him know he could head for home and plopped yourself into the plush seats of your car. As soon as you sat, you felt a weight on your lap. Your hands brushed over the cotton fibers of Connor’s jacket, the blue triangle glowing in the upper right-hand corner.
Holding the jacket up a bit, you looked over at him as he put the key into the ignition. “Connor, why are you giving me your jacket?”
He put the car into drive and turned in the seat to look behind him, but his eyes stopped on you, a wholehearted look in his brown orbs. “You’re teeth are still chattering. Please, use it to get warm, at least until I get the heat on.”
That was the second time you’d been at a loss of words while dealing with Connor, but your heart warmed at the sight of how genuine Connor was being. You’re not saying that you agreed with him giving up his coat so willingly, but you certainly appreciated it. Letting your fingers ball around it, you pulled the jacket up so it covered your chest, thankful for the coverage to allow you to warm up.
Connor felt a surge of warmth through his veins as he saw you move the jacket to a more comfortable position through the corner of his eye. At least, you trusted him enough to accept his kindness, it was not a lot, but it was a start and that was all he needed. He kicked up the speed on the windshield wipers before backing up and turning into the street. The rain droplets struck the car with a loud thud, spreading out in all directions. Connor now wondered if he would finally understand what you meant by your joy of driving in the rain.
Software Instability ^^^^^
131 notes
·
View notes