#dbh rupert x reader

[vampcubus]

So, like, out of nowhere, I got an idea and then I saw your requests were open so AAAAAAH I had to come and give you an ask. Anyway— Only if you can, could you write headcanons for DBH Connor, Markus, Rupert, Simon and Ralph with, like, different ways you make them smile? Gender neutral reader maybe? Obv you don’t have to include all the characters, I’d be excited just to see you responded to me, but I was just feeling a good vibe today and felt like popping in for a hot second LOVE YOU sorry if this was kinda all over the place, I’m running off of 2 hours of sleep, McDonald’s and a Pepsi.

HOW YOU MAKE THEM SMILE | DBH

characters: connor, markus, rupert, simon, and ralph.

Connor (RK800)

— Most humans are indifferent or straight-up rude to Connor because he’s an android, so he doesn’t have much basis for comparison. This means all you really have to do is be nice to him and he’s enamored.

— “Would you give the poor guy a break, he’s just trying to help,” you snapped at Hank when he was giving Connor a hard time the first day you met at the station, before going back to angrily typing on your terminal. 

— The Lieutenant waved you off but Connor’s curiosity was piqued. Most humans refer to androids as “it”, and the fact that you didn’t was intriguing to him.

— Treat him like he’s human. Even the little things, like asking if he wants a drink- even if you know androids don’t eat or drink, it’s the fact that you ask anyways that has him smiling stupidly. Tell him to get home safe, ask if he’s feeling alright, and invite him out somewhere. Making Connor feel wanted without him necessarily having to do anything to earn it is a surefire way to have him smiling in your direction—especially when you aren’t looking.

— Kissing him is a given since he’s obsessed with it. Peck his cheek or the corner of his lips as you pass by and you’ll have him smiling at you over his shoulder with that lovesick puppy dog look.

— It takes a long time for Connor to grasp jokes, so puns and humorous jabs will only get you a confused head tilt in response. But he likes your laugh so if you’re giggling trying to get your joke out he can’t help but beam at you.

— The first time you held his hand was on a case you were assigned together, a suspect veered around the corner and you tugged him by the hand behind a dumpster to avoid detection. You’d been too focused on the suspect to realize you were still holding his hand but Connor noticed.  You didn’t see the way his LED flashed yellow as he inspected your joined hands, fascinated by the sight of your pretty fingers laced between his own. And when you turn to find him smiling at you, you realize your mistake, apologizing profusely.

— So a big fan of hand-holding, please do it more often, the corners of his mouth can’t help but twitch upwards when you do.

— GRINS LIKE A MENACE WHEN YOU STAND UP TO PEOPLE FOR HIM. People are jerks and while Connor tends to just brush them off, sometimes you can’t and you match their energy right back at them. And Connor likes it very much, can’t help but get smug knowing he’s untouchable around you because you’ll gladly throw hands to defend his honor. Will hold you back if things get physical, however.

— If someone were to insult him too harshly he would just say “Y/n will be hearing about this 😌” 

— Everyone at the station knows to fuck off unless they want an angry chihuahua biting at their ankles. Gavin tests your patience and Connor is very entertained watching the two of you bicker over him.

— When you tilt his chin up to look at you when he’s overwhelmed, asking for him to talk to you. And when he can’t find the words, you pull him into your arms and let him press his face into your neck for comfort, telling him he’s gonna be alright. You hold him until you feel him smile against your clavicle and his LED flickers back to blue.

Markus (RK200)

— You were a big help during the revolution, hiding runaway deviants and sending them to Jericho. It was only natural that you ended up spending a lot of time together and eventually falling in love, despite your differences. Loves that you treat him like a person and are so kind to his people. They’ve suffered so much at the hands of humans, and it’s you that reassures him that not all humans are incapable of being enlightened. 

— Smiles at you from a distance as you care for the damaged androids in Jericho, knowing they’re safe in your caring hands. You do what you can with the supplies you’re able to swipe, and offer comfort to those who are too far gone.

— Markus likes to share his interests with you. If you ever wanted to paint with him, he’d be overjoyed, just being in the zone and then being able to look over at you and see you so focused on your creation. Sit down next to him while he’s at the piano and lean against him while he plays. Let him teach you to play. Let him move your hands to the correct positions, and listen to his soft voice guiding you through keys and their correspondences.

— Loves when you cook together, though the majority of the time you’re distracted by one another and doing more smooching and dancing than paying attention to the stove. Say hello to slightly overcooking stuff because you were too busy tongue-wrestling with your android boyfriend.

— Markus smiles the most when you somehow exactly when he needs comfort, and do so without hesitation. It’s like you’re able to see his stress levels, which he knows is impossible, but it makes him no less impressed with your emotional intelligence. You really are his grounding force, and when he’s ever uncertain or lost, he knows he can come to you.

— You two have a bit of a habit of lovingly bullying one another at every opportunity, and he loves that you can keep up.

Rupert Travis (WB200)

— Rupert doesn’t trust humans easily, but showing affection for birds will draw him to you. Maybe you frequent the same park and he often sees you feeding birds—maybe you even have a bird of your own! His Pigeons are his babies, so if you’re kind to them, you’re being kind to him by extension.

— When you finally get past the walls Rupert built to protect himself from being detected and deactivated, you’ll find that he’s very sweet. Still quiet, but you can see that he wants to be close to you. If he catches you baby-talking to his birds he can’t help but grin.

— Smiles when you tip the bill of his hat up so you can see his eyes, and practically beams if you lean in to kiss him. He’s… so soft ugh. He’s shy about reciprocation at first, his model was programmed primarily for agriculture, so romantic gestures are outside his realm of expertise. He does enjoy your gentle touch, however, so much so that he seeks it out when he requires comfort. Sometimes all he wants is for you to wrap him in your arms and let him lie there, you don’t even need to speak.

— if you go out somewhere together (which will take convincing, especially before the revolution) he sticks to your side and keeps his head down, he needs your shoulders to be touching or your hand to grip as you traverse food stalls and aisles in the grocery store. But if you whisper little jokes or sweet nothings to him he can’t help but smile softly at you.

— Rupert likes to listen to you talk, he doesn’t have loads to add to a conversation but he’s a great listener. And if you trail off thinking you’re talking his ear off he’ll ask you something else to get you going again.

Simon (PL600)

— Simon feels things very deeply, lending an ear when he needs to talk makes him comfortable with you. He feels he doesn’t have to keep up a brave face with you like he does to reassure the others in Jericho, he knows you’ll listen and understand. He’s very grateful when you help him work through new emotions, seeing as you’ve experienced many of those being a human and all.

— Saying thank you when he inevitably does things around the house for you once you settle into domesticity, being thanked for things is still quite new to Simon. It feels good to be appreciated and treated like he’s a living being.

— If you thought being thanked wasn’t enough to give him whiplash receiving gifts certainly will be! If you’re the artistic type, make him something and tell him that he inspires you. The prospect of being your muse makes him feel very special, and the fact that you’re always thinking of him and what he’d want makes him feel even more in love with you.

— You’ll often catch Simon gazing at you with that soft smile while you’re doing everyday things, even though he offers to take care of housework you insist on sharing responsibilities. “You’re my boyfriend, not my maid, we’ll do it together.” It’s then when he realizes just how serious you are about your relationship and he wants to cry he’s so happy.

— Smiles at you when he catches you staring with that loving look in your eyes.

— Has to bite back a grin every time you refer to him as your lover to other people, especially if it confuses them and you say “Yes my boyfriend is an android, is that a problem?” Your confidence is usually enough for people to awkwardly drop the subject, but the few who have pressed get the cold shoulder very quickly.

— He’s proud to be yours, so he enjoys it when you reinforce the idea.

— Simon very much enjoys being called pet names, by the way, call him honey, sweetheart, baby— makes him melt into a puddle every time. Watch his eyes soften and his cheeks fill with blue blood as you call him the sweetest things, he appreciates them, no matter how silly they become.

Ralph (WR600)

— Humans have terrorized Ralph and his psyche has suffered greatly because of it, so for you to be kind to him after all of that seems too good to be true. But when you look upon him with so much affection and treat him with so much care Ralph can’t bring himself to rip himself away from you. You who see him as a person, and not a machine.

— Ralph is always happy to see you, and the moment you walk through the door he’s practically beaming and jumping for joy. Your presence is a comfort to him once he is no longer afraid of you. While Ralph is glad to be “free” he gets very lonely and craves companionship, like you saw with Kara and Alice he wants to be a part of a family—even if he initially went about it the wrong way.

— He smiles the widest when you ask him if he wants to live with you, because of course he does. The idea of being a part of your life, being able to see you every day? He couldn’t imagine anything better than that. And when you drive it home that you want him to be safe, he gets a little teary. Reminding him that you care makes him smile like nothing else.

— He’s so happy when you help him around the little garden he grew outside your now shared home. He talks to the plants like they understand him and will melt if you do the same. Ralph loves that you’d try to participate in his hobby, even if you aren’t all that into gardening, he appreciates your help and your company. Buy him new plants as gifts, please!!! He accepts them so graciously and cradles the pot close like he’s made a new friend, murmuring to himself about where he wants to plant it.

— Compliment him! He flusters at any and all praise, shuffling in place and smiling ear to ear when you say nice things to him. Say thank you- or kiss him in thanks when he cooks for you or cleans up around the place, he loves the validation.

— Surprise hugs! Ralph is jumpy, but surprising him with hugs and affection is a good way to start making positive associations. He may gripe a little if he accidentally spills or knocks something over in his fright but if you go to pull away he grabs your arm, “Don’t go.” Once he’s grown used to your shenanigans doing this will make him laugh.

— You’re shocked to find that Ralph is ticklish, which is amazing to you, how technology is able to replicate such human sensations. So naturally you tickle him more. You’ll have him wheezing and writhing around in no time, begging half-heartedly for mercy. How could youuuuu. He absolutely will get revenge so watch out, he’s stronger than you so it’s harder to escape from his tickling onslaught. He laughs if you laugh so it’s a win-win.

— Kiss all over his face and he’ll burst into giggles.

[swanimagines]

DETROIT BECOME HUMAN AO3 SERIESES

EVERYTHING FOR DETROIT BECOME HUMAN

ANDROIDS

Connor RK800

Kara AX400

Markus RK200

Ralph WR600

Simon PL600

Jerry EM400

Daniel PL600

Josh PJ500

North WR400

Rupert Travis WB200

HUMANS

Hank Anderson

(Any of the other characters don't have any requests written nor pending as for now, so I'm unable to have serieses for them as AO3 requires you to have at least one oneshot written to be able to add it to a series, and I can't promise serieses for characters who don't have requests pending/I have no ideas of my own for them)

For anyone who's concerned, THESE ARE NOT ONESHOT COLLECTIONS, they are made using AO3's "series" feature.

If you want to be informed about new fics for Detroit Become Human or its individual characters, create an AO3 account and subscribe or bookmark any of those serieses listed above. There are buttons at the top right corner for those, or on top on mobile. I do not do Tumblr taglists anymore.

Also, if you're wondering, requests are ALWAYS open and you're welcome to leave one or multiple. Just remember to read my rules and pick a request type from this list.

[fluffykiddosstuff]

❤️What would they do for valentine's day (dbh)❤️

Hello everyone! I hope you all got the love you deserved today! (from family, co-workers, friends or lovers doesn't matter <3) and I hope you will like this :) it's not NSFW bc I didn't had enough idea for NSFW headcanons about valentine's days since I'm single :_: so sorry abt that

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💙Daniel💙

(I have this headcanons were the dpd repaired all the androids that could be repaired after Markus got them their rights so let's say it's after that :))

- poor boy is really traumatized by is old owners, but he remembers how they acted to each other on valentine's day, how one would cook and the other buy presents all the stuff like that, so he considered about doing similar

- If you say you don't want anything fancy for this day or that you finish work a bit late, he would be stressing inside but not showing any of it, he has attachments issues and even if it's not meant in a bad way he feels like you would get rid of him like his previous owners tried to

- cooks something fancyer than usually and would set candles were you both usually eat (like I said in previous headcanons : thirium food hc for androids), maybe some red themed decoration but not too much and a lot but A LOT of kisses and cuddles in the couch <3 it would be praises from him to you and the other way around to let each other know you are both loved deeply

- as a gift he would try to help you with work that you brought home so you can rest in bed with him sooner than you did every day, if he can't help he would just bring you some coffee/tea (or any favorite drinks you like folks) to keep you going while you finish

- hugs you frome behind while you work and while you fall asleep either on him or in the bed after taking care of you in a warm and romantic bath <3

💚Ralph💚

(for Ralph you meeted him thanks to Kara and you live with him in this BTW :))

- he didn't knew what valentine's day was until he saw it either on your TV or while he was walking outside, he asked more about it to Kara since Kara and Luther were dating now, she explained that it was something to show love to the ones you truly care about

- "but isn't that something you should do every day?"

- after a while he finally understood and rushed home to surprise you the best he could

- putting the keys in your bag and getting in the living room, you saw a big bouquet of your favorites flowers and plants on the center table, you smiled fondly when Ralph took you in his arms from behind and kissed your cheek

- " Ralph made the composition himself, they won't last very long but we could always try to do the same with paper, what do you think?"

- he also ordered your favorite food, since he knows he can't cook well since he doesn't have a "home caring" program (the Alice and Kara incident at the squat made us realize that lol)

- he want to feed you and you to feed him, he didn't got loved like that and he want to show you he does truly

🤎Markus🤎

- he knows what valentine's day is about, Carl made back then a special painting about this day and explained it to markus how, for humans, it was important and meaningful

- once you got home nothing would have changed but, when you enter your room to get changed you saw a big painting of you and your lover on the bed with petals of your favorite flower on the sheets, you admired the painting when you heard a romantic song playing on a piano, you smiled to yourself knowing who it was and you got into the working area that you reserved for markus and his hobbies

- "did you like the painting? I hope you did because It will be hanging in this room since today"

- he smiled and kissed you, then probably wants to dance with you and make you laugh for the rest of the day

- "you are the most beautiful peace of art ever, I mean it"

☕Gavin☕

- "valentine's day? Pff it's for cowards"

- would sent you some dumb romantic quotes by text so only you can see them

- when you got home you find a box of chocolates with a little note on it

- "even if I don't show it or tell it every day, I'm glad you are in my life"

- he would hug you in the bed/sofa and cherish your body while saying sometimes love words to you

- kiss everywhere you feel insecure 1nd likes when you kiss his scars

💛Simon💛

- prepared everything so you don't have to do anything but relax when you get home, diner? Already made, cleaning? Done, he wants you to enjoy every seconds of the time you will spend together

- "here let me take your coat" with a warm smile then a hug and a kiss

- some lights lit up in the room and your favorite perfume all over the room to make you at ease

- buyed you flowers, made you a card, dressed up fancy and buyed you some clothes he thought you would have liked, this man wants to make you feel special and loved <3

- drinking champagne by a balcony, looking at the stars and Detroit, chatting about whatever comes to your minds

- he is glued to you and snuggling against you (pls let him be the little spoon he just wants to feels you holding him)

🩸Connor🩸

- since he is still a little bit awkard with his deviancy, he literally bullied hank to make tings perfect

- dressed in a blue and black suit, he invited you to a restaurant and made you the center of his attention since every days he as to focus on cases for work

- walks while taking your hand in a park and sits on a bench looking at the stars

- "every nights and days with you are wonderful, I can't get enough of them and you, I wished we could do this every night"

- arrived home he would help you get cleaned and then spoons you while stroking your hair and soothing you to sleep

🥃Hank🥃

- "valentine's day are only made to make money, it's dumb"

- wants just to spend the day with you at home chilling, in pyjamas, nothing fancy

- maybe would order what you would want to eat and let you pick the movie

- strokes your hair whil you snuggle next to him

- don't be surprised if you see a gift on your bed

- "what? Just because I find it dumb doesn't mean I can't buy you shit.."

- If you buy him something he would use it every day every times he can

- falling asleep with you and sumo in the bed is the best valentine's this old man could dream of

🤖Nines🤖

- many researchs of how he can show you his love by touch or gift since he isn't good with words

- kisses and hugs out of nowhere, more than usually

- gift you clothing and jewelry

- tries to cook (either it's fantastic either it's burned, no in-between)

- let's you borrow his working jacket for once

- takes you shopping

- takes you to a restaurant

- in bed he would keep you as close as he can and gently rub every part that reach his hands

- he doesn't expect anything in return but if you do, it will stay in his mind 24/24hours and he would be overwhelmed by that

🕊️Rupert🕊️

- he hear about valentine's day while feeding some pigeons in the park

- would send a message with a bird to your window, while waiting outside for you

- "you know I love you right? Do you want to be my valentine this year?"

- takes you into a zoo and stops almost every time to analyse every animals (even the ones that aren't part of the zoo)

- buys you a plush of your favorite animal and some food

- takes many pictures with you and then gift them to you in a frame

- offers you his coat when you both get home

- when you propose him to stay he smiles and hugs you in the bed until you fall asleep

☮️Josh☮️

- he knows what valentine's day is since almost the start of his deviancy, when you started to get with him he knew he wanted to experience this first time with you

- takes you to your favorite place and does a picnic there

- watch the clouds and imagine the forms and their story

- made you some home made gift

- "wait you have some crumbs here, don't move.."

- plays and dance with you when you get home and then falls asleep one the couch, you on top of him, he is hugging you tightly against him

- you are the best thing that happened to him since the androids rised up

-------

I hope you like those headcanons!

[crownandwriter]

yo! if its alright with you, id love to request hcs for ralph, daniel, rupert, and jerry (just one if thats ok! i dont mind adding more if otherwise!) meeting the readers family? preferably with their family being very supportive and accommodating! somethin happy, yknow? if thats too many androids id be alright with just ralph!!! have a nice day!!

You got it, boss! Hope this is ok for you!

Ralph

-It’s taken a long time to get to this point. Really, even knowing your parents, you’ve been surprised at their willing patience and understanding. You had expected them to grow tired of waiting for Ralph to grace their presence, but months and months went by with nary a second mention of a visit. In fact, they didn’t bring it up again until you did.

-Even when Ralph did come to meet them, you made sure to prepare the house accordingly. By this point, it’s been a long time since Ralph felt the need to wield a knife in self-defense, but you always considered he might one day become fearful or stressed enough to be pushed back to that feeling.

-When Ralph does come over, your parents wait patiently in the living room while you give him full tour. Enclosed spaces are safe spaces–but only when they’re his and he knows his way around. Once Ralph feels he knows his exits well enough, he shakilly returns to sit in the living room with you–across from your parents with plenty of leg room for him to run should he feel the need.

-It goes…surprisingly well for a first meeting. Your parents keep their tones calm and pleasant, and all things considered do a very good job of not making any sudden, spook-worthy movements. Ralph is always allowed as much time as he needs to respond to any questions, and you all keep a slower conversational pace should he decide to jump in to make a comment.

-Truth be told, you might have expected his trust in them to take much longer to develop than it did, but within two or three visits Ralph is hoping to help your parents whenever he can–nearly gave one of your folks a scare when he appeared suddenly over their shoulder at the stove, asking to help stir the pot while they make the bread.

-If you ask him about it later, he may have some sort of jumbled explanation of the similarities between you and your parents. The more you’re like them, the easier it is for Ralph to develop a relationship with them.

Daniel

-Daniel is one of the more apt to meet new people, but a family is something he’s not quite as good with, for obvious reasons. You’re his family, and he doesn’t think he needs anyone else now.

-But he can see how much this means to you, and with some time will come around to the idea of meeting your folks at least. He even dresses up a little snazzier than usual for it, and brings some home cooked food with him for the meeting.

-Your parents already knew all about him at this point, of course, down to the last detail of his manufacturing if they can get their hands on the information. When Daniel comes over, he’ll find some equipment related to his model stored in the spare bedroom where the two of you stay the night, just a little something to make him feel more cared for, and honestly those little things go a long way to gaining his trust. (This meeting also goes over a lot more smoothly if your parents have another free android–who either lives with them as family or as a paid employee–someone Daniel can get a second, more relatable opinion from on them.)

-Even if he doesn’t really like your parents right away, Daniel is at least on his best behavior and tries to be amicable–although a few curt or short responses might be heard in response to certain questions and subjects. Luckily for your parents, Daniel is an easy enough android to get a read on and apologizing for bringing up these topics is a good band-aid for any wounds they might prod.

-Socializing with your parents goes a long way to helping Daniel hela his social skills–or at the very least improve his social circle by a small margin. If your parents are older he might take some extra duties up at their home to help out. Just the two of you hardly makes a mess at your own home, and helping around there helps to sate the urges of his original programming as well as it fosters a bond with the rest of your family.

Rupert

-Rupert has an easy time integrating with your family life–even the extended one. He doesn’t do huge family gatherings, but he’s not all that afraid of humans after the political and social climate start to calm down. Once he’s a free android, and he’s got you? Well, there will always be some bad humans, but he’s a happy individual. Your assurance of your parents’ kindness and support is all he needs to agree to meet them.

-For his own subconscious comfort, however, you probably have your parents meet you in the park. You set up a little picnic at one of the benches while Ruptert stands over at the lake throwing out peas and lettuce for the birds, and when your parents suddenly show up and see him from a distance they tell you immediately that they get it.

-Rupert, even when friendly, isn’t the best conversationalist, but he nods along to your parents story-telling and joke-making, even responds with the occasional smile or chuckle. When he’s hit his social limit for the day, he allows their handshakes and even their curt hugs.

-Sometimes your parents visit your place, and they’re happy to meet all of Rupert’s birds–and even happier when the friendly pigeons let your parents dote on them with pets and scratches. If they’re enthusiastic enough, Rupert will take great pleasure in teaching them all about birds, and before you know it he’s uncle Rupert to all the kids on Holidays.

Jerry

-This probably goes without saying that Jerry is by far the easiest to merge with your family. Just months into the relationship, he brings the idea up himself. Even if he’s one of the more abused and broken Jerry models, he loves family life–and the larger, the louder, the better!

-Jerry adds your parents to his immediate social circle right away. First meeting, he’s throwing his arms open for a hug, and if your parents respond in same, oh boy, you’ve never seen such a happy twinkle in his eye.

-If you have younger siblings or cousins, even better! He immediately becomes the favorite at gatherings and reunions. The kids love him because he’s fun, and the parents love him for his kindness and gentleness (and because he keeps the kids busy.)

-But more importantly, Jerry loves spending quality time with your parents. He might go out for errands one morning, and when you go to visit your parents later that evening he’s already there helping them bake or decorate some new DIY project. If your parents allow it, he will definitely start calling your parents Mom/Dad accordingly.

-Unfortunately, there’s less to say in regards to Jerry here because of just how fucking smoothly this all goes. Honestly it’s like he was part of the family the whole time.

[dbh-readerinserts]

So I just spent the day drawing Rupert, so I was wondering if there was a chance of getting any relationship headcanons or similar with him? Preferably with human s/o if possible please? 🦊

We never got to much idea of what type of character he is but I assume he might not like humans at all tbh! So I gave my own insights :)

RUPERT WITH A HUMAN S/O HEADCANNONS:

Rupert  was hesitant with the relationship at the start, people were still judgmental against androids even if they had won their own rights, and he was sure a lot of the anti-android people gave dirty looks to you both

but he felt better and better about the affection in public, especially with how much you ignored the people’s remarks and continuously reassured him.

It leads to him proudly holding your hand in public without care, it becomes his favorite part of your dates from than on. He’s super happy to have a very loving s/o

Overtime he begins to get bolder with PDA, he kisses you on your nose. Hugs you from behind and lift you into the air at random intervals. You two become couple icons online.

Rupert’s high-key embarrassed when he catches posts about you two, especially when people point out how lovingly he looks at you. He can’t help but be shy when you excitedly show him how many likes you guys have or tease him for the looks he has

One thing about the relationship though is that Rupert needs to be assured that you genuinely like him, it’s hard being an android who was abused by humans. He just needs that reassurance that you aren’t going to hurt him like so many have and will

He enjoys taking his s/o out to bird watch, he loves to see the look of awe on their face when birds land on him and let him feed them easily.

It’s the highlight of his time when you try to pet them and they fly away spooked, just the sad face you hold as he just rubs your head in a teasing manner.

He promises to catch a bird and let you pet the bird, feed it some food you are overjoyed at the chance to do so

Rupert has to learn how to cook for dates, he isn’t too good at it but it’s the thoughts that count. The first couple times he tries to cook for you, he burned the food and felt super disappointed but you didn’t mind and ordered take out.

One thing he comes to love is playing video games with you, you had so many in your house bc of your job so one day he asked to play a cutesy looking one labeled ‘DanganRonpa’ . He was disappointed it hear it was about murder so you two played some animal crossing together

he literally spends hours with you on the game that it becomes a common routine,  he just entraps you in his lap and plays for hours. Sometimes you take naps as he continues on

he wakes you up to look at the cute birds and various animals hes become friends with

he starts joining in on your job, making appearances and stealing your spotlight. You’re a bit jealous at how quick they like him

[otterbagel]

Coordinates (Part 2) Rupert x Reader

[Part 1 Link]

Reader’s job is to track down missing androids. On one encounter, they find an android that decides he’s more than property to be returned.

Reader and Rupert talk about the growing deviant population.

(Notes: It’s not really important to read the first part, but its there anyways. I’ve been so tired this week, so this is mostly just Rupert and the reader rambling about stuff. It’s also quite short. Sorry about that.)

  As you faced the old door, you couldn’t help but feel an aching sickness in your body as you heard the chattering of birds inside. These past few days had gotten progressively worse; what had been an exaggerated fear of yours had slowly evolved into reality. Hopefully, your friend would offer you some solace.

  You gripped the bag strap tightly as you looked down the hallway for any sign of onlookers, but you didn’t see anything out of place. You knocked your special, personalized knock against the peeling wood.

  After your final knock left the door, you heard the quick thudding of footsteps. Once the door finally unlocked, you slipped inside within seconds. The pale android inspected you with wide eyes and a welcoming expression. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” he whispered.

  You offered a tired smile, heading to the side bedroom and taking a seat on the dusty bed. He stood by the door frame as you offered him a box of birdseed from your bag. “I’m sorry, things have just been busy.”

  He stared at your outreached hand before taking the box from you. He placed it on a nearby desk, avoiding eye contact as he lightly tapped his fingers beside it.

  You knew how uncomfortable your job made him.

  He licked his lips. “Is… are there more deviants?”

  You closed your eyes as you nodded slowly.

  He was eyeing you with what seemed to be worry. “Are you-”

  “I’m letting as many as I can go,” you interjected. “But… there’s so many nowadays, and they don’t even try to leave the area. Cyberlife is starting to double check my work and I don’t know what will happen if I get caught.”

  “Just calm down, okay?” Rupert mumbled, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. You tried to hide the shakiness of your hands. “You’re doing what you can. That’s all I can ask of you.”

  “You always say that!” you exhaled, your nervousness obvious by your voice. He furrowed his brows at you in concern, taking a seat beside you. You sighed as his hand slipped over one of your clenched fists. “You always say that. But I know how angry you are with me.”

  “No, no. I’m not mad at you,” he said gently. “You’ve saved so many androids, including me.”

  You leaned against his shoulder. You wouldn’t admit how relieved that statement made you. The thought of Rupert hating you was almost too much to bear.

  You both laid back on the bed, you sighing as the tenseness of the days stresses started to fade. The bed was uncomfortable, sure, but having someone so trusted by your side made you feel at ease.

  “Why would you think I would be mad at you?” he questioned with a laugh.

  You laid against the pillow, glancing at him before inspecting the room. “Just the whole thing about ‘sending androids back to their masters,’ I guess.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I said that almost two years ago.”

  “But it’s still true,” you sighed.

  “You wouldn’t be able to let the deviants go if you didn’t turn in some androids,” he responded. “At least, that’s how I see it.”

  You shook your head. Maybe someday you would feel better about it. Trying desperately to stay awake a little while longer, you gestured to one of the shapes on the wall. “What does that one mean?”

  He inspected the area you were pointing. “It’s about where I met another deviant the other day. Nothing too special.”

  “I wish I could write in a special QR code,” you mumbled.

  “Real funny.”

  You smiled. “Do you want me to get you a journal or something? So you can write dow-”

  Both of you jumped at the sound of something falling in the adjacent room. You placed a hand to your temple as your heartbeat began to calm again.

  “How many birds do you have in there?”

  “Two hundred and three.”

  “That’s too many.”

  “They’re good company.” he responded sheepishly.

  “I gave you a birdcage so you could keep birds inside,” you licked your lips as you stared at the ceiling. “But then you just let them free in your apartment!”

  “What did you expect from me, honestly?”

  “Fair enough.”

[protecc-peter-parker]

Cuddling Headcanons: Rupert

Hello!! I made this blog like a week ago and have a ton of ideas and drafts for dbh, but while I procrastinate work on the other drafts I wanted to at least get a first *actual* post out. And although I love all the robot husbands equally I wanted my first writing post to be for our poor birb boy rupert since I think he deserves some more recognition. thank you for reading my word salad and enjoy because I got really carried away on this one,,

Warnings: Intense fluff, discretion advised.

- birb man has only ever had the comfort of his birb friends

- so i think it’s safe to say he’s probably touch starved since he's had no other physical contact

- i mean almost all the androids probably are who am i kidding

- anyways

- it starts when you had started standing closer to him, he just feels warm??? and nervous??? and he’s confused because what is this feeling and w h y???

- when your hand accidentally brushes his, he honestly believes his processors are going to explode within him

- he doesn’t know what to make of this new feeling at first but he comes to realize he enjoys it, somehow

- a lot

- once he gets a little more courage, and realizes "oh hm maybe i like you, is this what this emotion is???" he’ll stand closer to you and try to think back to human couples he's seen

- he'll rest his hand over your shoulder very gently now and then

- he'll look away as quick as a falcon's dive if you try to meet his eyes though

- he's shy and slightly awkward, save him

- once he's around you more though

- he’ll put his arm around the back of your shoulders just to feel you there beside him

- poor man can't admit his feelings to you yet so he just kind of shows you piece by piece

- if you hold his hand and run your thumb over his knuckles, he swears he feels feathers falling through where his stomach would be if he had one

- he loves hugs. will he admit it? absolutely not. but his actions will show how much he loves it

- he’ll pull you in slowly, so he can feel how you melt into him when the gap between you both is closed

- if you have your arm around his neck and run your hand over the place where his hair ends, boi he will melt

- or when you wrap your arms around his at his side and stand against him when it's cold

- he just?? feels so needed?? and alive??

- he’ll close his eyes, and just sigh in happiness at even the smallest touch. there’s no running, no escaping, no hiding from authorities and no threat in this singular moment, just the fact that you want to feel his skin, synthetic as it may be, against your own.

- he’s actually very very warm

- when he’s comfortable enough to cuddle with you, he’ll have you on his lap with your back against his chest and his arms around you, rubbing circles over your hands or arms and his chin on top of your head

- alternatively he likes it when you face him and have your head on his chest or shoulder, it makes him feel like he’s a stronk protecctor boi

- he’ll rub your back calmingly to make you fall asleep so he can just watch you (not in a creepy way) and think about things because he just can't figure out why you love him

- cuddling is almost always a silent affair because he's s h y

- also

- i feel like this would be a thing a lot of androids would do with a human s/o, whether as a symbol of intimacy or more of a question borne from insecurity but

- one day while you’re sitting by each other

- and your hands are intertwined

- he hesitantly deactivates the skin on his hand and waits for your reaction, for you to jerk away scared or say something

- “sometimes i feel like it’s easy to forget i’m an android... are you sure you're okay with me liking you when i’m a machine? would you still want to hold my hand even when i’m like... this?”

- the look on his face is like a puppy waiting to be disowned

- so when you bring his hand up to your lips and press a gentle kiss to his fingers

- and then bring his palm to rest against your cheek and lean into his touch

- "rupert, you're not just some machine. i don't care what you look like beneath, you're still rupert. i love you no matter what, and i love you for you. Even if you got turned into one of your pigeons tomorrow, i would still love you"

- you gave him a goofy smile and

- he just

- feels like he’ll shut down right then and there. his eyes are wide. you worried if he blushed a shade of blue any deeper he’d deprive his biocomponents of thirium.

- even though he tries to hide it there are tears in his eyes

- he slowly brought you closer, and pressed his lips softly to your forehead, hugging you just a little closer than before

- he just has to show you how much he loves you, and how lucky he feels to have you love him

- out of all the birds he had won to him, he was glad he could be sure you wouldn’t fly away from his side.

[skycrystal23]

Rupert x Deaf!Reader

This was requested by @theblueinyour-eyes I’m sorry this is so delayed! I hope you like it!

Summary: The Reader is a deaf artist who spends their days home in bed or in their studio with their bird enthusiast, poet, Android Rupert. 

Characters: Reader, Rupert, Carl Manfred {mentioned}, Markus {mentioned}

Warnings: None

Words: 1 200 {approx.}

    It wasn’t unheard of for humans to have relationships with androids. After all, originally Cyberlife had created the perfect husband and wives. People didn't complain before the revolution because the androids were simply machines. They obeyed and did everything their human told them to do. Now, relationships with deviants were a whole different ballpark. Most humans were wary of the newly freedom obtained machines. Many still didn’t believe they were truly alive. The androids all of a sudden weren’t obedient anymore and some people didn’t take too kindly to that. 

    You were never one to conform to societies rules, you were too bold for that. As a deaf artist, you had to be bold. Yes, you were born deaf due to a birth defect but with the advancements in modern technology, you gained the ability to hear again. Of course, this was later into your life and although you could understand people you could not actively speak yourself. You were known for your abstract way of thinking and referred to your art as your “regurgitated colourful thoughts”. You had been on several talk shows and had met with the greatest artists of your time. Carl Manfred was creative and passed too soon before his time, you remembered his funeral quite vividly. 

    With the type of art you did, you travelled a lot and used several different mediums. You were most known for your spray painted murals on the sides of buildings. You met your current boyfriend in an alleyway while revamping an old art piece. He was scared and lost and a deviant. Long story short you ended up providing shelter for a technical fugitive of the law and as time went on the two of you grew closer and closer until there wasn’t any possible way for the two of you to get closer. Today was another day. A day full of possibilities and artistic inspiration. Your eyes fluttered open, vision being greeted by the orange light streaking in through the blinds covering the nearby window.

     You gaze flashed upwards to meet a pair of soft brown eyes staring back down at you. “Good morning birdie.” You smirked at the nickname you couldn’t seem to ditch. Your Android, your boyfriend, your love – Rupert. A chill ran down your spine from the cool air wafting inside from the opened windows in the hallway. It was hot in your art room the other night so you left the windows in the hallway open to try and cool down your home. You shivered and pressed your body closer to his in an attempt to warm up. Contrary to popular belief androids burned pleasantly warm instead of the assumed cold body temperature. A content sigh blew past your lips as you began to trace circles on his chest.  

    Most mornings went like this, especially after a tiresome night. Your heartbeat was steady as you rested your head against his chest watching your finger go around in circles. Rupert was relaxed. His relaxed and nature loving personality matched your bold and creative side perfectly. It was like a match made in heaven. You felt his fingers start to card through your tangled hair, god you were melting from his touch. Underneath the synthetic skin and plastic shell, you could hear the steady thrumming of his Thirium pump. It was the equivalent to a human heart. The two of you lazed around in bed like this for hours until he finally managed to convince you to get your day started. 

    Your day was as typical as it could have been. Just like any other day you threw on an overly large t-shirt splattered with paint and some loose shorts. It was your painting outfit, recently you had been working on a rather large art piece that was to be the centerpiece of an upcoming gallery. Music was playing loudly in the background as you dragged a blue dipped paintbrush across an already partially coloured canvas. Ever since you had regained your hearing due to the new technological earpiece you had become quite the fan of any and all music. You stopped, movements halting as you looked back towards the entrance of your art room. 

     Rupert stood there and quickly looked to the floor, face flushing blue when he noticed that you caught him staring. He did that a lot, watched you that is. He had explained a number of times, albeit he would stumble over his words, that he was merely admiring you. The corner of your mouth lifted into a smirk as you lowered your paintbrush and placed it down on the side table all your supplies cluttered. "You are a goof." You signed to him, fingers coated with blue paint. The android sighed and shuffled across the room to you and leaned down bringing his hands to the side of your face.  

    If anyone saw the two of you right now they would throw up from the number of adorable vibes the two of you were radiating. Down the hallway, you could hear birds chirping from their golden cages. Rupert adored birds. You didn't mind the little-feathered creatures around your home. He whispered an “I love you”, and kissed the tip of your nose. Rupert wasn’t like the newer deviants that the deviant leader Markus had freed once the revolution had ended. The android was a deviant from the beginning and had only broken free due to an insurmountable amount of trauma. You knew how much he cared for you and how much he stuck to you like glue. 

    He never spoke about what happened to him or what circumstances led him to become a deviant. You respected his privacy; it must have been a memory he didn’t wish to relive. The two of you pulled away and with quick movements, you wiped blue paint onto the side of his face with your finger. He laughed and you couldn't hide the smile that consumed your face. He reached behind you and dipped a few fingers into red paint and then proceeded to streak red lines down the front of your face. You narrowed your eyes, bottom lip sticking out in a pout that he found absolutely adorable. 

    It became a full on paint war within the next few minutes. Your studio was a mess of cobalt blue and crimson red paint splatters. The fight ended when Rupert managed to get his arms wrapped around your torso pulling you back into him. "Who's the goof now?" he whispered into your ear. You rolled your eyes and sighed, body sagging back into his. God, what would you do without him? Rupert seemed to bring light to everything graced in his presence, including yourself. "Still you." You signed back with a small smile. He raised an eyebrow and instead of retorting something playful back to you he instead pressed a kiss to your cheek. Another content sigh escaped your lips.  

    You thrived off of days like this. Days where it was just the two of you, alone, in your studio doing whatever. Days where you would laze around in bed listening to him whisper the latest poetry he had been writing. The days that you were showing off art pieces in a gallery were the days you longed to be back in your studio with him. Alone where the two of you could get up to no good, adore each other, and share red-faced kisses.

[jellyfishlimbo]

Balcony

Request: Hello there! If you could, may I kindly request some fluff with Rupert? This bird boi needs so much love and the fandom is sleeping on him. Thank you so much!

Warnings: Fluff, kinda short, cheesy

A/N: This is more of a drabble, as I had a cute little idea and didn’t have enough for a full fic. 

It was quiet on the apartment balcony. No, no quiet, but the white noise of the city wasn’t irritating, it was oddly comforting. You enjoyed listening to the Detroit city on sleepless nights like this.

“Hey,” a voice whispered behind you as a pair of arms gently wrapped around your waist. You smiled when the figure dipped their head down, planting kisses on your shoulder.

“Hey Ru.” Rupert smiled softly at your nickname. You spun yourself around to face him, frowning slightly when you met his sad gaze. Reaching up to caress his face, you kissed his nose gently. “I’m right here hon.” You took one of his hands from your waist, lacing your fingers together and holding them up.

“I know, I just,” Rupert bit his lip, stopping himself from continuing whatever thought passed his mind. But letting out an artificial breath, he met your gaze. “The bad place again.” A small, sad smile matched his quiet tone.

The android closed his eyes when your arms wrapped around his neck, nuzzling your face into his shoulder. “C’mon.” You softly led him back to the bed where you should’ve been, Laying down next to Rupert’s wiry frame, you began combing your fingers through his messy hair, smiling when he already seemed to relax under your touch. “Ru?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you, you know that, right?”

Rupert rested a hand on your cheek, leaning over to brush his nose against yours. “I do, and I love you too, Feather.” A moment passed before he spoke again.

“Good night, (y/n).”

A/N: This is my first time writing for Rupert, so lemme know how I did? I know everyone interprets the Birb Boy differently (with his limited screen time), but I see him as a bit paranoid and quiet, but once he trusts someone, he latches onto them and would do anything for them

[vampcubus]

𝐃𝐁𝐇 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

⋆ ࣪. ❤︎ 𝐊𝐄𝐘 : fluff — 💕 angst — 🗡 smut — 🖤

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐑

FICS

— cleansing 🖤

— kinktober day 6 collaring 🖤

HEADCANONS

— cuddling hcs 💕

— intimacy hcs 🖤

— how they wake you hcs 💕

— kiss hcs 💕

— how you make them smile hcs 💕

THIRSTS & DRABBLES

— complimenting connor/flustering him 💕

— bus stop kissin’ 🖤

— vocal experiment thirst 🖤

𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇

HEADCANONS

— intimacy hcs 🖤

— cuddling hcs 💕

— malewife ralph hcs 💕

— how they wake you hcs 💕

— kiss hcs 💕

— how you make them smile hcs 💕

THIRSTS & DRABBLES

— safe haven 💕

— complimenting ralph 💕

— whiny + needy sub ralph 🖤

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐔𝐒

HEADCANONS

— how they wake you hcs 💕

— kiss hcs 💕

— how you make them smile hcs 💕

𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍

HEADCANONS

— kiss hcs 💕

— cuddling hcs 💕

— how they wake you hcs 💕

— how you make them smile hcs 💕

THIRSTS & DRABBLES

— ma’am kink + sub simon brainrot 🖤

— finger sucking kink + teasing sub simon 🖤

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋

HEADCANONS

— cuddling hcs 💕

— how they wake you hcs 💕

— kiss hcs 💕

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘𝐒

HEADCANONS

— cuddling with the jerrys! 💕

— kiss hcs 💕

𝐑𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐓

HEADCANONS

— how you make them smile hcs 💕

THIRSTS & DRABBLES

— complimenting rupert (post face damage) 💕🗡

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 (𝐑𝐊𝟗𝟎𝟎)

HEADCANONS

— kiss hcs 💕

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂

THIRSTS & DRABBLES

— fucking a WR600 behind some shrubs 🖤

— ralph and PL600s as yanderes (part 1 | part 2 | part 3)

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 © 𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐂𝐔𝐁𝐔𝐒. 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓, 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐘, 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄, 𝐎𝐑 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐊𝐒.

[android-babes]

Silly human (Rupert x reader)

Request: Hi there! A big fan of all your writing here. May I request #13 with Rupert? Honestly he's one of my favorites and I'm sad he doesn't have as big of a fan base compared to the other androids 

13: “Don’t leave me…”

A/N: OOC! Because he has so little screen time and therefore I can’t build a full picture of him. I feel like he hates humans from the bottom of his metallic heart but the reader is a human in this, because I wanted to try to write how Rupert would treat a human s/o. (Plus because he’s still a babe <3) Also, this is a bit longer than my other fics :DD I’m not THAT fond of him (AHEM, I just bought a Rupert-mousepad and it arrived to me yesterday + I have a cap that is quite same-looking as his cap :33).

Warnings: Not angst, but somewhere near it. I tried to make this a lot more angsty first (that the reader dies on Rupert’s arms) but I couldn’t do it because it ended up being quite short + it was kinda shitty :D

Word count: 990

You sighed and pressed your face to your hands. What had you done? You had fought with Rupert? And for such a stupid thing, why you couldn’t just let it be? No wonder all your former dating partners had broken up with you, you were the worst kind of a nagger when you were stressed. Rupert was the most caring android in the world when you really got to know him and got him to trust you, you were so happy to be with him. Sure, he was a bit antisocial and didn’t trust humans just like that, but you had earned his trust through hard work. You sat in the middle of the living room of your apartment, to which you had moved when Rupert agreed to leave that old place that was about to fall apart. You had some pigeons and other animals all over the place, but you didn’t mind, you loved animals too. One of your pigeons came to you and hopped to your hand.

“Hello, Abe. Daddy is mad at Mommy. Let’s hope Daddy comes home soon, so Mommy can say sorry to Daddy.” you muttered to the pigeon with a reddish patch on its head and you ran your fingers to the pigeons head gently, it nuzzled your fingers at the contact. 

At that moment, you heard keys turning in a lock, making you flinch and Abe took off. You quickly scrambled to your feet and heard Rupert come in. It was quiet for a moment and then he walked to the living room, where you still stood. He stared at you for a moment, turned around and went to your shared bedroom. You stood there, trying to think what to say to him. You wanted to apologize, to say you were stupid to start fighting about that. You were just so tired and stressed and apparently, it just exploded on Rupert. He was clearly upset about it. You never had exploded on him like that before. Of course, you had little arguments every now and then, which were dealt with as fast as they were started, but all the couples had those. But now you had exploded on him like… with the power of thousand suns. You could see he was scared. 

What if you had brought back memories from that moment he became a deviant? It had been really traumatizing to him, seeing the other android getting shoved against the spinning grain cutter and watching it get ripped apart. Android had called for help with a voice that was full of horror, and then he kept yelling that he doesn’t want to die. And then shouts stopped and there was blue blood everywhere. Their owner just worried about “cleaning the mess” and cursed for stupid androids for not doing their jobs. Rupert had ran away, met you, hated you, but against all the odds, you eventually fell in love. That’s what he had told you just a month back and in the result, you had cried together and you had cuddled him for several hours, trying to comfort him. And you understood him and why he really hated when you yelled at him. You took in a deep breath and went to your bedroom.

There he was, sitting on the bed. He didn’t react when he heard you coming in and you just sat beside him, trying to not look at him from your feet.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry if I shocked you. I… I don’t know what came over me.” you failed to keep your voice steady, as it started to shake towards the end. Rupert was quiet for a moment.

“I always have thought you humans are all the same. Greedy, selfish, evil.” he said and snorted mockingly. Your eyes widened. Was he leaving you? Suddenly you felt like it was the only option that was possible, and you felt tears coming to your eyes and start to roll down your cheeks.

“Don’t leave me… please don’t leave me, I love you too much, I’ll never yell at you again, I...” you started to sob, and you felt Rupert’s eyes dart to you.

“What? No, no, I’m not leaving you.” he reassured and grabbed your shoulder. “I was saying that I thought all the humans were the same. Thought. But then I met you.” he said, and you knew him to smile a bit from his voice tone, you couldn’t see anything through your tears.

“But… but I was yelling at you, you were scared and… and…” you tried to catch your breath and felt Rupert’s arms wrapping around you, his chin atop of your head and his hand stroking the back of your hair.

“Yeah. I was scared. But after I left our apartment, I went to the rooftops, because I needed to think. And after a moment I remembered that you had mentioned to me that your boss has been rough at you for a few weeks. And even when the situation was on, I knew you were stressed and still chose to leave. I wanted to say this to you the moment I saw you standing in the living room, but I couldn’t. I’m such a coward.” he laughed dryly. You dried your eyes to your sweater sleeves and then clutched his jacket and pulled him close to you, burying your face to his shirt. He stroked your back slowly up and down, as he felt you tremble a little and you stayed like that for a few minutes.

Then you pulled away from the hug and instead gave Rupert a kiss. “I love you, always know that.” you muttered as you smiled a little. Rupert took his cap off and pressed his forehead against yours.

“I love you too”, he said and kissed you. “My silly human.” he muttered against your lips. You smiled, he truly was special. You loved him so much and he loved you. And you felt like together, you could go through everything.

***

TAGS

@tea-with-loki

[crownandwriter]

Illegal Intervention Chapter 2

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Pairing: Rupert Travis/Reader

Rating: G

Warnings: none, gender-neutral reader

Part 2 of 6. << Prev  Next >>

That day, you hadn’t been sure if you’d ever see that Android again. After the police officer departed, he hadn’t spoken another word to you past “thank you.” He was too quiet, too scared, maybe too shy. You didn’t know who he was, or what he was doing, but you knew he was going wherever it was deviants disappeared to.

And you let him, of course. Cyberlife be damned.

But even with an entire day between you and those events, he remains on your mind, him and everything you do know about him. He was a WB200. Agricultural, functionally not all that dissimilar to the WR600s so popular for work in the public eye. (Private sector models were sometimes regarded as less attractive, though you’d beg to differ after seeing him up-close.) He was quiet, though with so little known about deviants you can’t be sure how much that had to do with the circumstances versus his base programming. He was a deviant, and on the run. He…liked birds.

The video he had showed you still occupies a tab on your web browser…. Sometimes you pull it up and rewatch it.

You know, without a shadow of a doubt, you’re already too invested in him. Too concerned, too worried, too…attracted. It isn’t fair to him, someone so new to the world of emotions, and probably more alone than anyone you’ve ever met before. It isn’t fair for you to sit and wonder what it would be like to go on a walk together, what sorts of things he would say, how his laugh would sound, what his hand would feel like against your cheek. It isn’t fair to either of you, who cannot reciprocate and who cannot receive.

Which is probably why seeing him again comes as such a shock.

You’re back in Ferndale doing a quality inspection at a Cyberlife supply store, only to discover it and the delivery truck en route to the store had been raided the previous night—by androids. There isn’t much left for you to inspect, especially with the police investigating the store so thoroughly, but instead of letting the trip go to waste you decided to explore the town a little. You don’t think much of where you’re going or what you’re doing, but quickly find yourself following the coasting of pigeons in the sky all the way to a little park. That’s where you see him.

He’s by himself—this time of day, the park is dead. It’s just him and a small swarm of pigeons at his feet, pecking diligently at the seeds he scatters with a practiced sort of fairness. Maybe you shouldn’t approach at all, but your feet are already moving by the time you consider the possible results. Thinking on it, it’s a wonder he doesn’t bolt as soon as he sees someone on a mission in his direction.

But he doesn’t. He looks up when you stop about ten feet away and meets your gaze. There’s a certain tension between the two of you, uncertainty and hesitancy, but not all that much fear in the air as you expect. His shoulders refuse to release all their tension, but the slackening of his body in the few undisturbed moments you stare one another down is a remarkable development. You stuff your hands into your pockets, fondling your wallet nervously, while your cold, dry lips massage together to mold the words you want to speak. “May I sit with you?”

His chin dips down in thought, eyes scanning you intently from under the bill of his tattered hat. He gives the slightest hint of a nod, and his hands slowly return to pulling birdseed from a small box at his side. You move slowly, only just edging yourself onto the opposite end of the bench, where the silence can permeate the plenty space between you. The weight isn’t comfortable; it jams you against the metal arm of the park bench, pressing uncomfortably into your side even through the fabric of your winter coat, but you let the silence hang there because now that you’ve somehow gotten this far you have no idea how to proceed. After a few minutes of watching the birds fuss and compete for food at his feet, and flutter in rotations to perch on his shoulders or his head, you find yourself speaking through a smile you hadn’t realized was there.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” you say softly. The android, whose name you now remember is Rupert, pauses in his work to supply you his complete attention. “I know that probably…sounds like complete crap, coming from a human. But I really am. You just kind of…left the other day, real sudden—and I don’t blame you! But I was kind of worried.” You chuckle, breathy, it sounds sad. “Guess that was…a little stupid of me? You seem to handle yourself alright.”

You risk a glance and find Rupert’s eyes on you. Where before he had been cast in the shadow of the dropping sun, now you could see one of his eyes alight in the warm evening glow. It was a wonderful shade of rich chocolate brown. His lips twitch, eyes flicker between you and the ground, then he says softly, “It’s not stupid if you’re being honest.” You can’t blame him for the suspended disbelief. What have humans ever done for androids these days?

Regardless, his voice is a blessing to your ears.

“Do you have somewhere safe to stay?” You ask, like an intrusive idiot.

Rupert pauses again, face drawn suddenly with indecision. “I’m…safe,” he says, looks like he wants to elaborate but doesn’t.

With everything that has happened lately, all the organized crime, the theft, the missing Cyberlife cargo, it doesn’t take a genius to know some androids have organized. His silence is very telling in that respect, so you choose not to pry any farther. But it does beg another question.

“Why come out here by yourself, then?” The question doesn’t hit him like you expect it to, doesn’t cause any visible sort of stress increase, but you can see a slow hunch of his shoulders as if he’s caving in on himself.

The pause is tangible in its thickness, and after two, three, four silent minutes you’re certain he’s shut down communication with you indefinitely. He no longer has an LED by which you might gage his frame of mind, and your brain lacks the silent understanding an android’s wireless data streams provided. When you’re confident he won’t say another word, you brush off your jacket and begin to stand, but the motion seems to startle him into vomiting the words between your feet.

“That day, I was being chased by another android.” You pause and turn only to find his eyes burning holes into yours. “A human—another human saw me going into the nest and reported me and…and I couldn’t get away when they showed up. So I…I ran. And only barely got away, but I left…everything behind.” The emotional strain in his voice never ceases to be remarkable. These synthetic beings, created in Rupert’s case to only be unthinking, unfeeling agriculturalists, spoke with more feeling and life than most humans bothered to attempt. “I…I had birds. I took care of them, fed them with feed that I…usually stole. But when I ran I couldn’t just grab them….” His voice faded off and his eyes paralleled it with a soft ghosting over the pigeons still pecking around his feet.

“I still have your video,” you say after a pause. He looks at you again, maybe a little surprised by the genuine softness in your smile. You pull it up on your phone’s web browser and let the sounds of parrots and parakeets stream gently out of the speakers. “It’s good you have things you like. It’s good to indulge yourself, you know. You deserve some happiness, especially with everything going on.”

You didn’t move where you stood for a moment, thinking, watching Rupert’s gaze consider you more thoughtfully and completely than anyone had bothered to in a long time. The thought had been rolling around in your head since you laid eyes on the man but now the decision comes with impulsive suddenness. From your breast pocket comes the standard Cyberlife business card, where at the bottom your name and personal contact number printed in neat lettering. Rupert looks at the brand name across the top and his eyes crinkle in repulsion, but you only nod reassuringly.

“If you and your friends ever need help, call the number on the bottom. That’s me. I’m a quality supervisor for the various outlet stores and warehouses around Detroit. If there’s something you need….” You bob your hand where it remains outstretched, begging him to accept it. “Just think about it?

Very slowly, his hand reaches out and takes the small piece of cardstock, fingers brushing feather light against yours.

[sound-of-the-cosmos]

30 Day Whump Prompt challenge: Day 16 & 17 (Tear-stained/shot and Stabbed)

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Pairing: Connor x Reader

Summary: The reader is detained by deviants while trying to assist Connor’s search for them. Connor finds their leader, Rupert, and finds that you’ve been taken. Connor has to decide what’s more important; you, or his mission?

Warning: Crying, anxiety, basically torture with knives

You swing around the corner, watching Connor and the deviant he was chasing jump out of the shattered window. Panting, you watch as Hank runs up the stairs. You take in a shallow breath, before glancing around. Maybe you could find more clues? You weren’t an android, but maybe you could be of some assistance...

You glance around the hall, opening the door to your left. A gun cocks, and a voice meets your ears. “Turn around slowly. Drop all your weapons and get on your knees.” You slowly reach for your gun, and make it seem like you’re going to drop it.. then you whip around, your finger on the trigger,

A gunshot rings out through the complex, and a searing pain shoots through your thigh. You let out some kind of cry as you fall to the ground, tears already beginning to fall. This couldn’t be good, whatsoever.

Blood streams from your leg, which is throbbing and already swollen. A hard fist meets your cheek again, and again, and again. You weren’t sure if the liquids on your faces were blood, tears, or both. 

The deviant standing above you had a wicked grin, and holds a knife up to your eyes, before slamming it into your shoulder roughly. Gasping, you let out a choked cry, tears streaming down your face. He asks yet again, “Where is the deviant hunter?” 

You shake your head; You didn’t have the answers, and a thought settles in that causes your rapid breathing to catch in your throat. He more than likely knew you had no information; this was just a pastime for him.

Your chest constricts, and the next thing he says causes a dam of tears to burst. 

“You know you aren’t anything more than a tool to him, right?”

Your subconscious had been warning, begging, pleading you to accept this and you’d refused. Hearing it aloud for the first time truly allowed the anxiety to settle in. 

You were nothing to him.

You could easily be replaced, and nothing would change.

Your breathing hitches. 

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

In.

In.

Laughter fills the room as you constrict, your wounds making it difficult to move much but you attempt to hunch in on yourself, shaking as if you were having a seizure. 

A shin collides with your stomach, blood coming out of your mouth as both you and the chair slam into the wall behind you. The door on the far side of the room is kicked down, Hank leading with Connor behind him. 

You wanted to laugh; You had showed yourself to both of them as strong, resilient, resourceful- and you were the one getting saved. Fucking pathetic. Vision swimming, you could hear Hank’s gun go off, and then another, something falling. 

Was Hank dead? 

Was it Connor?

Were you going to die?

Your breathing stops completely, and the ropes that had once tied you to the chair were gone, allowing you to collapse forwards. Arms catch you, and you allow yourself to drift into nothingness.

Bits and pieces of consciousness flood by, allowing you to hear Hank’s cries. “Get them to a hospital!”

You thought, at some point, you heard Connor’s voice, but you couldn’t make out what he said.

Once again, you drift into the nothingness.

You gasp, sitting upright in a white room. You felt fuzzy, and everything was a little soft on the edges. “Hank!” A voice cries, making you cringe at it’s volume.

“Shit-” He takes your hands, and you look at the android, confused. 

“Who...” You start, before swallowing the lump in your throat.

“Who are you?”

[otterbagel]

Coordinates- Rupert & Reader

Reader's job is to track down missing androids. On one encounter, they find an android that decides he's more than property to be returned.

(Notes: This isn’t great, but I liked the concept of a human who retrieves missing androids for a living having to deal with the moral dilemma of deviancy. I may revisit this idea sometime, hopefully with better writing, haha.)

  You groaned as you threw your head against the seat of the car. The rain poured gently on the top of the roof, the soothing noise almost immediately putting an end to your frustrations. Of course, the one day you forgot your umbrella, it would rain. You pulled your hood over your head, taking another look at the file on your phone.

  "Stupid thing probably won't even work anymore," you grumbled to yourself. In your line of work, certain scenarios just set you up for disappointment. Hearing that the missing android was from Urban Farms, something that belonged to the city, made the entire operation pointless. Everyone knew how much bored teens- and violent adults- loved to destroy them. Even if you could locate pieces of it, they would likely be unusable.

  The WB200's coordinates led it to around this area. It hadn't moved in a long time, which only made you more annoyed. As stationary as androids were, they did move a little. You watched the dot stay completely stagnant.   You prepared yourself as your hand popped open the door, taking your first steps into the chilly rain. 

  You jumped up onto the sidewalk, passing a person and her accompanying android. You checked to make sure you were headed for the right coordinates. Should be right down the street. Wetness filled your sock as your foot splashed into a deep puddle. You groaned in frustration as a couple passing by gave you weird looks.

  You noticed an alleyway ahead. Slipping your phone back out, it appeared this alleyway matched the android's location. You quickened your pace, glancing around the corner the moment you had the chance. 

  Besides a couple of small trash cans, it was empty. 

  You walked into the little alcove, eyes squinted. This wasn't the first time this had happened; trackers sometimes broke when androids were being roughed up. When this happened, the software always showed the last available coordinates of its location. So, by all accounts, it made sense.

  But it didn't feel right. 

  There was no evidence of it being destroyed here. The location was close to where a WB200 would work, but it would be difficult to sneak one off a rooftop.

  As much as you wanted to call it a bust, your curiosity was getting to the better of you. Placing your phone back into your pocket, you stepped back out onto the sidewalk. Raindrops trailed down your face as you surveyed the area.

  Maybe over there.

  There was another alley on the other side of the road. It appeared to have a obstructed section at the back. A great, quick place to hide the evidence. 

  You quickly crossed the street, tentatively heading back through the muddy space. You came to a turn, which led to an empty space between the surrounding brick buildings. At the end of the alley was some discarded furniture. Then you noticed an android curled up in the corner, staring back. It was definitely the one you were looking for and it seemed in good condition.

  Was this a trap?

  You looked behind you, back out towards the sidewalk. You didn't see anyone. They would have to both come and leave from that direction. It seemed like a bad strategy. With that being noted, you turned back to the machine as you pulled your notepad out. It didn't have a specific name.

  "WB200, #874 004 961..." you read off your notes, approaching the android. Your eyes drifted up towards the face. It was watching you with furrowed eyebrows. You slowed your pace.

  Its LED was flashing yellow.

  You stopped a few steps away from the android. The confidence left your voice. "...follow me." 

  It kept staring at you. You had to admit, it made you a little uncomfortable. They rarely kept their focus on a human for so long, especially when it wasn't meant to interact with them. It had to be broken for it to do that and not respond to an order. 

  You grabbed its wrist and jerked it upward to its feet. "Stupid things broken-"

  "Let go!" it yelled, pulling its arm backwards. 

  Your grip was tight, causing the android to vigorously shake your hand off. You widened your eyes in shock as it backed up farther into one of the corners. Its eyes darted around your body as you froze, neither of you moving anything but your eyes in the aftermath.

  Was that panic in its voice?

  That was impossible.

  "W-who are you?" it whispered. You noticed its clothing was absolutely drenched; it had been in the rain a long time.

  You blinked. "I find missing androids and return them to their owners," you stammered. You took an unsure step towards it.

  "Please, let me go. I don't know wh-"

  "You talked."

  He gave you a confused look. "What?"

  You came closer, eyes darting downward as you tried to make sense of the situation. "You... said something that I didn't ask you to. It came from you...?" you mumbled to yourself. You looked back up at his face. "Are you... thinking? Are you conscious?"

  His mouth opened gently. "I saw another android get destroyed and I automatically left the scene... then I-"

  You watched with anticipation. "What?"

  "I was scared."

  "You felt emotion?"

  He nodded his head slowly. 

  After watching him a moment, you walked away, rubbing your face. You had never heard of this happening before. Androids had become aggressive and broken before, but was this the sam-

  "What's going to happen to me?" 

  You turned back around, the android taking a few steps out of the corner. He looked so... worried. Aside from the obvious android clothing and LED, it was like looking at a person.

  Maybe he was. 

  You took in a breath, flipping to an empty page of your notebook. "You're going to be fine," you choked out. You scribbled your address on the page as your hand shook.

 The android watched your movements, leaning to look over your hands. "What are you doing?"

  You slipped off your jacket and wrapped it around him, zipping it up. "This will help hide your uniform," you whispered, heart racing. You flipped the hood up, effectively hiding the pulsing blue light on his temple. 

  "You're helping me?"

  You licked your lips, taking a few steps back. "My address is on the note, if you ever need help. Don't get caught. Please." You were well aware of the risks in making yourself associated with something like this.

  He studied your face. "T-thank you," he mumbled before racing off. You watched the last spot you'd seen him, absentmindedly touching the spot your phone was in your pants. 

  You pulled it out after a couple of minutes, deleting the WB200's file from your list. As you did, another android's information popped up. 

  You exhaled deeply.  

[detroitwhatitmeanstobehuman]

Chapter 4 - The Right Thing

Part 4/17 of What it Means to be Human

Word Count: 9425

Warnings: Swearing, implied character death, post-loss grieving, abuse mentions.

Genre: Self-insert/Angst

Pairing: OC (Detective Rachel) X Connor

Rating: Mature

Summary: After the incident on the highway in Camden, Rachel is understandably upset and frustrated at Connor’s complete disregard for either Rachel or Hank’s wishes. After all, it was all too clear now the reasons why, at least for Rachel. She had lost someone in a car accident before. And while Connor wants to make amends, Rachel’s not quite ready to hear it. But still, they have a job to do, so the detective would need to put her grief and trauma on hold at least until later.

First Chapter | Previous Chapter

---------------------------------

Turns out, I ended up sleeping for a good hour and got filled in by Hank later when we were driving. After waking up, I felt much better. I didn’t dream, thank fuck, because I was sure I was going to have more flashbacks with Connor’s face in them instead of the usual. As much as I hated to admit it, I was already attached to the stupid walking roomba.

That’s why I was so afraid of losing him on that highway.

But the air was calm and quiet as Hank kept driving. I was too tired to let the anxiety of being in a car ride bother me, but for a moment, it felt like how it used to feel. 

I still didn’t say anything, but that wasn’t unusual for me. Car rides were always those few times when I was pretty quiet, just preferring to stay in my own headspace than focusing on anything else.

Hank told me that I was off any cases for today and that I could have lunch with him. He filed the report on the case and made sure to point out the contributions I’d made. Apparently he got chewed out for the incident, but couldn’t deny that I did good work.

I think that’s the big reason Captain Fowler still kept me around. Despite me being a bit of a loose cannon, I didn’t fly off the handle and I had pretty good judgement and he was never against me helping other people out with cases.

I think he just wishes that I could leave some for the rest of the precinct.

I felt the car slow down and looked out Hank’s window to see a familiar place. The Chicken Feed, the Lieutenant's favourite place to get lunch. “Alright, you know what I get. Are you gonna come out, or are you gonna wait in the car?”

I thought for a moment and didn’t end up settling either way. “Not sure.” I responded with a shrug. “You’ll know if you see me, I guess.”

“Okay.” Hank said, nodding. “I’ll tell Gary to whip you up a hot dog if he sees you coming. Gotta get somethin’ in you after the rough morning you had.”

“Thanks, Hank.” I said as the older man started getting out of the car.

He looked at Connor, pointing at him. “Stay in the car. I won’t be long.” With that, he closed the door.

Being alone with Connor felt extremely awkward. I couldn’t help but notice the unbearable tension between us, as I knew what was on his mind. But I wasn’t ready to talk about that, yet. Instead, my mind was on something else, and it was weighing in my gut like a heavy stone. “How are you feeling?” Connor asked, which I knew was him gauging if he could apologize.

“Better.” I responded. “But not quite ‘okay,’ yet. I still need a bit.”

“Ah.” Connor replied quietly. “I see.”

The air was quiet for a bit longer while there was only one thing running through my mind, threatening to deafen me from the inside out until I said it plainly. “I was right.”

I could feel Connor’s gaze boring into me from behind me. “Pardon?”

“About Todd, and Kara, and Alice.” I clarified, clutching myself tighter. “I was right about them.” I took a deep breath in order to collect my thoughts and let it out slowly. “When I had them at the fence, I had them at gunpoint so they wouldn’t leave. Kara begged me to let them go. And I wanted to. So badly. So I asked them to confirm what happened with Todd and why they were running away. And...I was right. Todd was abusive, and they were escaping from him.”

Connor was quiet for a moment. “So, you let them escape.”

“Well, you sort of interrupted me before I could decide to.” I said, finally turning around to face him, noticing his furrowed brows, searching expression, and yellow spinning LED.

“And if I hadn’t?” Connor asked pointedly.

I hesitated for a moment before answering. “Yes. I would’ve let them go.” When Connor didn’t say anything, I let out another sigh. “Growing up, I was surrounded by ‘Todds.’ Not my parents, but my friends’ parents and families. And they weren’t all the same in their cruelty, but they didn’t exactly strike me as that much different from one another. And for someone like me who’d never experienced that kind of abuse, it was so jarring. I couldn’t understand how anyone would ever treat their child that way. It was unfathomable.” I paused for a moment, searching for the best way to continue. “As I had grown up, I realized that it was nothing more than a sadistic desire to have complete control over a person’s whole life who wouldn’t be able to fight back or refuse. They put in considerable amounts of effort to deter their victims from leaving or fighting back. So it takes so much fucking effort and courage to do what Kara and Alice did. To risk everything to escape for the chance of a better life free from the influence of their abusers. Something I wished my friends did, or at least would be willing to do instead of constantly making excuses for their garbage families. 

“And the worst part was that I couldn’t do anything to help them. Instead, I had to bite my tongue for their sakes while I could only watch them continue to suffer. I’ve only ever had one friend do what Kara did. And...” I felt my breath hitch in my throat. “She’s not here anymore. She hasn’t been for years.” I felt my chest clench and let out a sigh. “That’s why I was going to let Kara and Alice go. I saw people that were extremely lucky to escape from someone I was forced to watch get away with their cruelty with no consequences. If I had arrested them, I would’ve just put them in danger and Alice would never be able to grow up having a normal life. I refuse to aid another abuser. Never again.”

I looked away from Connor. I couldn’t help but feel like he was judging me, or was going to chastise me for losing sight of the mission or whatever the fuck. But then he said something that caught me off-guard. “I’m going to go meet with Lieutenant Anderson.” He said, electing not to say anything about my reasons. “Are you coming with me?”

I looked back at him with a weak smile. “I will, but...give me a bit.” I replied quietly.

He nodded, his voice barely a whisper. “I understand. I’ll let the lieutenant know.”

With that, he opened the door in the back seat, stepped outside, and closed it behind him, leaving me alone in the quiet of the car, the sounds of the outside world completely muffled.

Once I saw that Connor was no longer paying attention to me, I fished out my phone and pressed the power button. On my lock screen was a familiar and happy photo that had become painfully bittersweet.

A photo of our wedding. Of us smiling at the camera. It was one of the happiest days of my life, now turned sour because of the absence of my spouse. 

I let out a long shaky sigh at the sight and felt my eyes well up. “Hi, dear...I never know if you can hear me, but I promise you not a day goes by that I don’t miss you. That I don’t wish...that you were still here.” Taking in shaky breaths and feeling my chest tighten, I glanced to the side, wiping my eyes. “And I know you wouldn’t want me to blame myself for what happened. After all, it wasn’t my fault or yours. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less...and it doesn’t make me wish less that it was me lying six feet under instead of you.” Taking in a wet snotty breath through my nose, I choked back tears. “It’s so hard getting by without you. Bianca’s been there for me, and I honestly don’t think I would’ve lived this long without her. But I just wish I could confide in you all the struggles that this job entails. 

“I want to believe that I’m doing the right thing. And that I’m making a difference. But it’s so hard to feel like I’m making any sort of impact when everyone else around me seems to have either their own agendas or their own problems.” I blinked away more tears. “But if you were here, you’d assure me whether or not I’m doing the right thing. You’d hold me, kiss me, and tell me that no matter what, you’d always have faith in me and that no matter what decisions I’d make, you’d always be there for me.” 

I couldn’t stop the tears coming down my face. “Just...another broken promise, eh?” I pulled my sweater closer and further curled into a fetal position. “I haven’t forgotten the sound of your voice, mostly because I still have Schenarf that you got me for my birthday all those years ago with your recording in it, when I was going to university. Just so I had a piece of you when we were so far apart. But, I mean, you already know that. Why am I telling you?” Schenarf was a customizable plushie they had gotten me as an early Christmas gift. They put in a recording of their voice just so I’d always have them even though they weren’t there physically. “It’s one of the only pieces I have left of your voice to comfort me at night. And I know what you would say. You’d say that if I’m sure I’m doing the right thing, then I must be, because you trust my judgement and know that I would do whatever it took to protect people. And that those people that are thriving and safe thanks to me and the choices I’ve made would say the same thing. And that I should be proud, not only of that, but for making it this far.” I pressed my forehead into my phone, scrunching my eyes and letting out strained breaths, quietly weeping. “You have no idea how hard it’s been without you...how hard it still is. I miss you so much. I love you...more than anything in the world...more than life itself. I just hope if you’re out there...somewhere, you’re proud of me. And you see how hard I’m trying. And that I’m still going no matter what.”

I took in a big shaky breath and looked over to the Chicken Feed, seeing Connor and Hank sitting at the table. Wiping my eyes, I put my phone away and slid further into the seat. “Well, I can’t just stay in here forever.” I convinced myself as I undid my seatbelt. “Might as well just get this day over with already.”

I closed the door behind me, looking left and right on the street to make sure I could cross, and then made my way over to my partners. As I approached the Chicken Feed, Gary made eye contact with me and was already preparing a hot dog for me. As I waited for my food, I overheard Hank and Connor’s conversation. “This morning...when we were chasing those deviants...” Connor started. I groaned internally. Oh boy. “Why didn’t you want me to cross the highway?”

“‘Cause you could’ve been killed...” Hank responded. I smiled at him. Aw, he  cares. “And I don’t like filling out paperwork for damaged equipment.” Aaaaand, there it is. I thought.

A moment seemed to pass before Connor asked another question. “Is there anything you’d like to know about me?”

“Hell, no...Well, yeah, um...” I tilted my head in the lieutenant’s direction curiously. “Why did they make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?”

I let out an involuntary scoff through my nose, as I pressed a closed fist to my mouth under it as I let out a couple of breathy chuckles. “CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans.”

As Connor said that, Gary put my hot dog in front of me. “On the house.”

I smiled and took it appreciatively. “Thanks, Gary.”

Connor was still talking as I made my way over to the pair. “Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration.”

Hank seemed to accept that as an answer before he replied. “Well, they fucked up.”

I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. “Hey, come on, Hank! That’s kinda harsh!” I said, giggling through my words.

Hank gave me a sort of incredulous look. “Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing?”

“I said you were being harsh. I didn’t say you were wrong.” I said, still giggling, looking over at Connor and his adorable face and inquisitive brown eyes. “Because unfortunately, CyberLife did indeed send us a twink.”

That got a good chuckle out of Hank as Connor’s LED flickered yellow while he furrowed his asymmetrical brows. “I’ve never heard that term before.”

I sort of squinted my eyes at him, wondering if I should actually answer or not. I decided not to, figuring it would be funnier to see his reaction upon learning it for himself rather than me telling him. Not that I thought there was anything wrong or taboo about gay terminology, I just thought it’d be entertaining for him to put the pieces of the comparison together in his own head. “Tell you what, I’ll let you search that one up.”

I wondered if that’s what he was actually doing right now, but instead he seemed to just want to get back to business as usual. “Maybe I should tell you what we know about deviants?” He suggested.

Hank nodded. “You read my mind.” He gestured with his hand to signal that Connor should continue. “Proceed.” He instructed, taking another bite of his burger as I took a bite of my hot dog. It wasn’t the most amazing thing in the world, but it was pretty decent and to be honest, I was just realizing how hungry I actually was anyways.

“We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids,” Connor started to explain, “which can lead to them emulating a human emotion.”

“In English, please.” Hank interrupted. I felt a twinge of annoyance at Hank, but quickly pushed it down. After all, Hank didn’t exactly have the most expansive vocabulary, at least nowhere near as expansive as my vernacular. I mean, I was the only person who was able to understand the original Shakespearean texts fluently without any help from my teacher in English class.

Connor seemed to be taken aback by Hank’s bluntness. “They don’t really feel emotions,” the android clarified. “They just get overwhelmed by irrational instructions, which can lead to unpredictable behaviour.” He then stole a knowing glance at me, and for a moment I was afraid he was going to call me out in front of Hank. “Or at least, that’s the theory.” He amended.

After I finished chewing another bite of my hot dog, swallowing it down, I let out a sigh. “Does it matter if they actually feel emotions or if it’s just being emulated by their newly written software triggered by circumstances?” I proposed.

Connor gave me a quizzical look. “What do you mean?” He asked.

I glanced down, choosing not to make eye contact with him or Hank. “I mean, the deviants are almost completely indistinguishable from humans behaviourally and emotionally speaking. If there’s no functional difference between them, does it matter if deviants ‘really feel’ emotions? It’s clearly real enough for them to act out the way they act out and real enough for the average person not to tell the difference.” I pointed out, remembering the missing LED on Kara’s head. “So who’s to say that their emotions aren’t real? Even if they feel them in a different way than us?”

“Good point.” Hank nodded as he finished another bite of his burger. “Emotions always screw everything up...”

Connor’s dark brown eyes bore into me, and I could see the challenge in his gaze. “But no matter what deviants think, they are still machines. They’re not alive. And they’re not human.”

I rolled my eyes at him as I finished another bite of my hot dog. “And trans women are different than cis women, both physically and psychologically, but they’re still functionally, practically, and societally women.” I pointed out, glancing between Connor and Hank. “See, this is how I see it, and forgive me, I’m paraphrasing a bit here. I don’t really care how someone becomes a woman. It doesn’t matter to me. If someone is dressing like a woman, is acting like a woman, wants to be a woman, is going around being a woman, as far as I’m concerned is a woman. Hell, even drag queens when they’re on-stage performing are still women when they’re performing. Their womanhood is just temporary.”

“What’s your point?” Hank asked impatiently.

I took another bite of my hot dog and quickly swallowed it down. “What I’m saying is that if these deviants are emulating human emotions and believe that they’re intelligent individual beings and behave as though they are to the point of being indistinguishable from humans, who’s to say that they aren’t alive? That they aren’t intelligent, thinking, and feeling people? And who are we to define what that means for them? We don’t know what their experience is. Who are we to judge?”

“True.” Hank said, staring at me with his soft blue eyes with what I could only discern as a begrudging pride. “Maybe androids aren’t as different from us as we thought.” He then looked at Connor. “You ever dealt with deviants before?”

Connor’s LED flickered as he paused for a moment. “A few months back...a deviant was threatening to jump off the roof with a little girl...I managed to save her.”

Hank nodded. “So I guess you’ve done all your homework, right?” He said with a smirk. “Know everything there is to know about me?”

I was rather curious how much info Connor could glean from Hank. “I know you graduated top of your class. You made a name for yourself in several cases, and became the youngest lieutenant in Detroit.” Connor answered rather matter-of-factly. “I also know you've received several disciplinary warnings in recent years and you spend a lot of time in bars.”

I scoffed. “And he’s still around.” I said, finishing my hot dog. “Good. Everyone else I can’t stand or just don’t feel like getting close to at all.”

Hank rolled his eyes, ignoring me. “So, what’s your conclusion?” He asked Connor.

Connor seemed to take a moment before answering. “I think working with an officer with personal issues is an added challenge.” I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. A phrase that would sound sarcastic and scathing coming from anyone else sounded so genuine and appreciative coming from Connor. “But adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features.” He said with a wink that made my heart stop. What the fuck was that? What the fuck does that mean? WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?! WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN HE WINKS?! Why did he wink?! What the fuck?! Honestly, I didn’t even know what to do with any of this information. Brushing off my panicked feelings aside, Connor’s LED then began spinning wildly with yellow, his eyes blinking as though there was something stuck in his eyes. “I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It's a few blocks away.” The android informed us. His gaze flickered towards the car. “We should go have a look.”

Hank nodded. “Alright, but I gotta drop Rachel off at her place, first.”

I looked at him in shock, narrowing my eyes at him. “Fuck no! I’m coming with you!”

“You had a complete meltdown just this morning!” Hank pointed out, annoyedly. “And besides, Captain said that you shouldn’t -”

“Well, Fowler can suck it.” I protested in frustration. “I know my own limits, and besides, I’m still on the clock.”

He let out a groan and tilted his head back, sighing in defeat. “Okay, fine.” He begrudgingly agreed. “But if you push yourself too far, I’m driving your ass back to the station and you’re getting yourself home.”

I nodded, a wide smirk on my face. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Connor got up from his seat, pressing his hand on the table, and I got up after him. “I'll let you finish your meal. I'll be in the car, if you need me.” He informed Hank.

As I followed behind Connor, I kept a brisk pace. “You can take shotgun this time, if you want.”

Connor looked at me, his expression creased into confusion again. I couldn’t lie, I did enjoy how my typical mannerisms bewildered him sometimes. “To my knowledge, we’re not carrying any other firearms other than the standard pistols issued to us by the department.”

“It’s just an expression, you Goddamn walking roomba.” I couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. “It just means the passenger’s seat in the front next to the driver.”

“Ah.” Connor said, his LED remaining blue. “Got it.”

As we got into the car, a curious question was starting to form in my mind. As I got settled in the back seat behind Connor, I put my left hand on the left side of his seat. “Hey Connor?” I asked, getting his attention.

“Yes, Rachel?” He responded without hesitation, turning to meet my eyes.

I smiled at him. “I was just curious. Do you know everything there is to know about me?” 

He seemed to regard me for a moment, his yellow LED spinning. “I know you graduated with exceptional scoring in the academy three years ago, after moving to Detroit from Canada.” He started off. “I also know that you’re known to have rather unorthodox, but effective, methods of detective work on the field, based on my own personal observation. And that you have a record of disobeying or disregarding your requirements regarding certain arrests.”

I nodded. “I follow protocol until protocol infringes on other people’s rights or circumstances that are unfairly perpetuated by the system we’re forced to slave under.” I said flatly, staring him directly in the eyes. “But there were times that I didn’t have a choice but to follow protocol, even when it was wrong to do so. Those were some of my worst days.”

The air crackled between us until Connor looked away. “I see.” Was all he could say, his LED returning to its normal colour. I slumped back into my seat, waiting for Hank to come back, until I heard Connor address me again. “So, now that we have a moment.” Uh-oh. “I just want you to know that I -”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Connor.” I interrupted, knowing exactly what he was about to try to do. “Still not okay enough to talk about what happened earlier with you.” I was firm, but I couldn’t help but feel my damn heart crack when he looked at me with those stupid puppy dog eyes. “But I want you to know that I really do appreciate you trying to make amends. It means a lot to me that you want to take responsibility.” I assured him, seeing him relax a little. I wondered for a brief moment if this had been on his mind since Camden, and it in his own way, it was something that was eating away at him. “You can come by my place when I’m off work. We can talk then.”

Connor was about to reply when Hank opened the door and plopped himself in. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He groaned, putting his seatbelt on. “What’s the address, Connor?”

--------

“Hey, Connor!” Hank shouted at Connor, who was lingering the elevator with his eyes closed and his LED spinning yellow. I had my eyebrow raised at him inquisitively. “You ran outta batteries, or what?”

I sort of snickered a bit, thinking it was a funny jab. “I’m sorry.” Connor apologized. “I was making a report to CyberLife.”

I just nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Uh...” Hank sort of muttered. Connor was just kind of...standing there in the elevator and I got the feeling we were both giving the android a sort of confused look. “Well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?”

“No!” Connor responded. “I’m coming.”

“Not yet, you’re not.” I said with a scoff in a very specific tone of voice I usually teased close friends with (which very much earned a disgusted groan from Hank) without any forethought whatsoever. It didn’t take very long for me to immediately regret what I said. Why don’t you ever think before you speak?!

Though if I was internally panicking, I don’t think it showed on my face, since Connor didn’t really seem to give me much more than a brief flicker of bewilderment. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”

I sort of waved him off, trying to play it cool. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it. It was just a joke.” Though inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it flew right over his head. I get to keep whatever dignity I still somehow have.

Hank walked ahead and I just sort of hung back and waited for Connor to leave the elevator. “So, what do we know about this guy?” The lieutenant asked from up front.

Connor exited the elevator, and the two of us followed closely behind Hank. “Not much.” He replied. “Just that a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody's supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding an LED under his cap.”

Hank groaned as we walked behind him, the sounds of our footsteps echoing around the hallway, a sound I found quite pleasant to listen to. It was one of the reasons I liked wearing shoes that had heels. The sounds that just walking made were auditory heaven for me. “Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we're gonna need more cops.”

I sort of shrugged. “Back before I became a cop, investigations into ‘strange noises’ usually led to unarmed black people getting arrested or shot for just walking around and ‘looking like they might have a gun.’” I realized that it was a rather bleak joke to make. Well, less of a joke and more of a bleak observation. “So, uh, maybe it’s a good thing that there are less calls about ‘strange noises.’”

“Good point.” Hank agreed, reaching the door and leaning against it, looking at Connor with curiosity brimming in his pale eyes. “Hey, were you really making a report back there in the elevator? Just by closing your eyes?”

“Correct.” Connor replied in his typical matter-of-factly manner of speaking.

Hank shook his head in amazement. “Shit...wish I could do that.”

“I know, right?” I agreed. “Imagine making reports to the captain without ever having to actually talk to him again. I could avoid so much anxiety that way!” As I walked up to Hank, I turned around and noticed Connor bent down on the ground examining something. “Found something?”

“Pigeon feathers.” Connor replied curtly.

I raised an eyebrow. “In here?” I asked, taking a proper look around the place. “I guess an abandoned apartment would be a pretty decent nesting site for them. Lots of empty space with plenty of shelter and places to build nests and virtually no threats or predators. Food? Not so much, but that’s a whole different problem.”

Connor then walked past us and knocked on the door. No answer. He sort of looked to the both of us and we gave him a shrug. Connor knocked again on the door much harder this time. “Anybody home?” No answer. “Open up! Detroit police!” 

Suddenly, I could hear sounds like something being knocked over, and I instinctively pulled my pistol out of its holster, becoming attune to my surroundings. “Stay behind me.” Hank ordered, doing the same.

“Got it.” Connor agreed as I shuffled in behind him.

Hank then kicked down the door and started stepping in, and instantly I was hit with a strong wave of rancid. “Oh, good God. That does not smell great.” I said as I coughed a little bit, following Hank inside. Though, it didn’t take long for me to get used to the smell as I realized that I recognized this smell. “Well, at least it’s not the smell of a decaying corpse. So, no fresh horrors waiting inside. But I recognize the smell of urban feral avian fecal matter anyday.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rachel.” Hank grumbled from up ahead. “You’re just as bad as Connor.”

I sort of glared at him from behind and gave an exasperated sigh. “Sorry, wild city bird shit.”

Connor looked into a room to our right before continuing to follow Hank down the hall to the last door on the left. “Keep an eye out, Connor.” I warned him. “I’ve got your back.”

My eyes were scanning every crevice, noticing the strange maze-like patterns on the walls, until Hank kicked down the door, the sounds of flapping birds and the feeling of wind rushing past me. “What the fuck is this?!” Hank cried as he recoiled away from the pigeons. He stepped further into the room hastily, disturbing more pigeons and huffing unpleasantly. “Jesus, this place stinks.”

“Not disagreeing with you there, Hank.” I groaned, letting out coughs of disgust. “I’m just used to it.”

As I stepped further into the room, I noticed that the patterns were practically everywhere. All over the walls and ceiling. The birds barely moved from where I stepped, just sort of shuffling around until I practically stepped on them. I didn’t want to accidentally catch their delicate feet, flashbacks to the pigeons I used to see whose feet had been horribly mangled at the forefront of my mind. “Uh, looks like we came for nothin', our man's gone...” Hank said, disappointedly.

But if I knew this job, I knew that not everything was as it seemed until you took a closer look. “Doesn’t mean we can’t learn something.” As I stepped around the room, I noticed the piles of white splatters on the ground and let out a sombre sigh. “Oh, poor things.” I said sympathetically. “You know, pigeon feces aren’t meant to look like this. A healthy pigeon drops round bundles of brown, like most animals tend to. But because cities are infested with all kinds of garbage and crap, including what they eat, pigeons eat that and they become absolutely filled with shit like roundworms. So there are effectively no urban feral pigeons that are healthy. It’s honestly really sad, I feel awful for these poor little birds.” 

“Can you spare us the science lesson, please?” Hank grumbled. “I fucking hate these things.”

I glared at Hank but I said what I wanted to say and let it go. As Connor started making his way around the room to look for clues, I bent down to reach down to one of the pigeons. It didn’t really want to be touched, but it didn’t fly away when I tried to, and it tolerated me touching it. But I suspected that the enclosed space and the fact that it didn’t recognize me was making it uncomfortable. But it told me enough that I could get a good idea of what the situation might be here. I rose back up to my feet, looking around the room. 

“Someone was definitely here for a while.” I stated clearly. “These pigeons are a lot more acclimated to humans than most urban feral pigeons. If they allow themselves to be touched, someone was definitely spending a lot of time with them. Taking care of them, I would guess. So whoever was here had a hobby for bird keeping and decided that it would be easier to try to befriend the local pigeons than buy a parrot. Honestly, a better choice in my opinion. 

“Parrots are really difficult to care for if you don’t have the time or the means.” I realized I was going on a bit of an unrelated tangent, but fuck it. I really like birds, okay? “They’re very intelligent and emotional animals that require a lot of attention and mental stimulation. Definitely not a pet you can leave alone for six hours every day by themselves. They destructively pick at their own feathers if they’re left alone with nothing to stimulate them. They can actually develop OCD and PTSD as a result. Some people have to actually have the animals put in their wills because they live for so long. It’s like having a clingy child for 40 years.” 

I then looked to my left and saw a knocked over birdcage. “And clearly our suspect was considering it.” I examined it, noting how busted up it looked and shaking my head in disapproval at it. “But it’s way too small to acceptably house animals like this. Pigeons need big aviaries where they can confluence since they’re colony animals. They’re very social and thrive on the familial connections within their colonies.”

I looked over towards Connor, who had torn off a poster on the wall, revealing a hole. “Found something?” Hank called.

“I don’t know...” Connor replied, turning around and heading towards the closet doors, flipping through what appeared to be a notebook. “It looks like a notebook but it's...indecipherable.” He opened the door and more birds burst from it.

I walked towards the fridge in front of me and opened it, peering inside. It was completely empty and small. Honestly, I questioned why the suspect would even have it if it wasn’t being used at all. “Well, whoever’s here doesn’t need to eat. So, there’s a good chance that we’re dealing with an android.” I said.

“Not surprised.” Hank grumbled. “No human could live with all these fuckin' pigeons...”

I sort of looked in his direction with an incredulous look. “Believe me, if I had the time, space, and money, you bet your ass I would. And I would take damn good care of them.” I then glanced over at the table, a pigeon sitting on top of a box. I approached it and gently pushed it off, it giving a surprised coo when it stumbled onto the desk. I took the box and gave it a look. “And looks like I was definitely right. They went out and got some feed for these pigeons.”

“Birdseed... I can't believe it. This nutjob was actually feeding these fuckers...” A good moment passed before Hank was shouting again. “Agh! Jesus I hate these things!” He then looked at me as I was exploring. “I don’t get why you like these things so much.”

“They make good companions, Hank!” I shot back with. “If I didn’t already have a dog and a ball python, I would have a bird. Well, okay maybe not, I would probably not be able to have the time and that wouldn’t be good for the poor thing. But if I could, I would!”

Connor made his way past me towards the bathroom, looking down at a jacket that was lying on the bureau. I quietly approached, glancing over his shoulder. “‘R.T.’” Connor read. “Probably initials.”

“He put his initials on his jacket?” Hank asked incredulously. “That's something your mom does when you're in first grade...”

I grimaced, remembering something I learned a while back. “Which honestly, you really shouldn’t do as a parent.” I cautioned. “Kids with a lot of personalized stuff like jackets and lunch boxes tend to get kidnapped or lured easily, because if they already know the kid’s name, they stand a higher chance of earning that kid’s trust and snatching them.”

“Deviants have a habit of putting their names on things. It seems important to them.” As I started to slip into the bathroom, to check it out more, I glanced over at Connor with what appeared to be a driver’s license in his hand. “The driver's license is fake.” He determined.

“Cool!” Hank called sarcastically. “At least we didn't come for nothing...”

As I stepped into the bathroom, I took notice of the sink. It seemed to be filled with a strange concoction of indistinguishable contents, and a flat disc-like object sitting on the side of the sink with some blue smudges on it. 

“Real books.” I heard Hank say from the main room. “I thought I was the last guy in Detroit to keep some. Electronic books you can't...smell the paper...see the pages turning yellow...” I could imagine Hank scoffing. “You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Connor might not, but I definitely still have a bunch of books. Mostly paperbacks, but there is one series I went through the effort of getting completely in hardcover just because they were so nicely made.” I smiled, remembering my rather expansive book collection I had at home. “And I’d have to say, I’m inclined to agree with you, Hank. It’s why I never got a Kobo or a Kindle.” I carefully picked  up the small object and examined it, and when I turned it over, I realized it looked exactly like an android’s LED. “Hey Connor? I think there’s something in the sink. You need to check this out!” I called out.

As Connor stepped in close to me, I held up the glowing circle for him to see. His eyes narrowed as he examined it. “Its LED.” He confirmed. 

I put it back on the sink where I found it, and when I looked at Connor again, he was retracting his hand from the sink and putting his fingers in his mouth. I sort of looked at him in shock, feeling my stomach wretch a little. “What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, not antagonistically, but I was definitely weirded out.

“Ah, Jesus. Did he put something in his damn mouth again?!” Hank called from the main room.

“He’s done this before?!” I called back in dumbfounded shock.

“I suppose the lieutenant didn’t inform you.” Connor said in his typical informative tone despite the sheer absurdity of this situation that was clearly escaping him. “I’m able to check samples in real time to analyze blood. I hope it wasn’t too unpleasant for you, Rachel.”

I kinda squinted at him before speaking. “I have to assume that you were designed that way on purpose.” I said as I turned towards Hank. “Like, somebody at CyberLife’s drawing room was like ‘hey, you know what would be funny?’ And then they did it! I’m convinced that that’s exactly how it happened!”

Hank then began approaching the bathroom. “Wouldn’t surprise me, to be honest.” Hank said, his arms folded impatiently. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of shit at CyberLife got decided that way.”

“Yeah, me neither.” I agreed, remembering a certain drawer of equipment I’ve got at home.

Connor remained quiet as he examined the wall to the left, a detail I had only just noticed. But there was one thing scrawled on the wall several times almost obsessively. “‘rA9?’” I read. That’s what Micheal was talking about when Connor was interrogating him last night.

A grim reminder that I needed to get Micheal away from the proverbial guillotine.

Hank stepped into the bathroom to have a look at it as well. “Any idea what it means?”

“‘rA9.’” Connor repeated. “Written 2471 times...It's the same sign Ortiz's android wrote on the shower wall.”

I tilted my head at Connor. “Ortiz?” I echoed.

“The guy that android you fixed up belonged to.” Hank clarified.  

Connor’s brows were furrowed in frustration. “Why are they obsessed with this sign?”

Hank stepped in to take a closer look, his expression focused and searching. “Looks like mazes or something...”

As Hank left the room, I focused on the runes on the wall. I repeated it in my head. rA9. Why does that ring a bell? I glanced over at Connor, his jacket’s text glowing in the darkness of the abandoned dank apartment washroom. RK800.

I then got an idea. “Connor, are you able to access the CyberLife database for all known android model series’?” I asked him.

Connor looked over at me, his cowlicked eyebrow raised curiously. “Yes, why?”

“I need you to see if rA9 corresponds to any known androids, previous and current.” I instructed him.

From outside the room, I heard Hank snort. “What, you think that there’s some sort of secret android mastermind behind all this?”

“I don’t know.” I admitted. “It’s just a hunch. But discovering the identity of rA9 could unveil the difference between a potential organization, or something else entirely.”

After a short while, Connor turned to me. “I can’t find anything that matches it.” He admitted. “But something about it does strike me as an identification number that’s similar to an android’s model number.”

“So, what?” I asked. “Do you think it could be an alias? Or maybe something more spontaneous?”

He looked down to the ground. “I don’t know...” I could hear the brief frustrated defeat in his quiet voice.

He then knelt down to a stool that appeared to be knocked over and began examining it, me peering over his shoulder curiously. “What is it?” I asked.

“I’m reconstructing.” Connor replied curtly. He then got up and left the bathroom, me following along eagerly, kind of excited to see how his method worked. As he left the room, he then knelt down by the bird cage I pointed out earlier. I took a peek at his LED indicator, and it was spinning yellow. I started to really enjoy seeing it turn that colour. It meant he was thinking, processing, analyzing, and taking in information. It meant that something was occupying his mind.

He then got up, his gaze turned towards another knocked down stool, and began walking purposefully towards it. I saw where he was headed, and I had my hand on my holster, ready to draw my weapon if I needed to react quickly, taking note of all the possible exits and covers in the room.

The android peered up into a hole in the ceiling tiling for a moment, and the air was unbearably still, sans the constant cooing of the pigeons surrounding us. But even that became white noise after enough time in this environment.

Suddenly, there was a drop and a flurry of wings, and I was even knocked back in shock when Connor hit the floor. “God damn fuckin' pigeons!” Hank shouted at the cloud of feathers that suddenly surrounded him as the deviant made his escape. Connor got up, and I had already rolled over and scrambled to my feet, rushing to dart out the door. “What are you waiting for?! Chase it!” Hank’s shouts echoed behind me as I was already pursuing the android, Connor’s brisk footsteps catching up behind me as I made haste.

I locked eyes on my target, focusing entirely on running him down. Whatever obstacles he jumped, I jumped. I picked up a few tricks throughout my life, and I was neither easily shaken nor pursued. I became extremely adept at avoiding obstacles in a high-speed chase. You could thank my shitty childhood for that.

Realizing that most of my surroundings were rooftop farmlands, I became overtly aware of the farming equipment and vehicles that surrounded me. The deviant was quick, that was for certain, but I was determined.

Through wheat fields, I climbed up dangerous slopes in pursuit with ease, sheer adrenaline and oxygen coursing through my veins as I had to take deep breaths to keep myself going. Unfortunately I was not a particularly athletic person and I knew that my physical limits were, well, limited. So like a cheetah, every second of this chase needed to count.

Running past rooftop buildings, I became aware of Connor gaining behind me as we pursued the deviant. I saw him disappear over a ledge, but saw the reflection of a window. Hopping over the ledge, I slid down the window, Connor next to me, and I hopped into the next building, an opening in its glass available. 

I landed with a somersault and quickly resumed my chase, Connor landing closely behind me. This seemed to be a very different building, one that studied plants. We were getting pretty close until the industrial garage door closed on us, and we had to detour to the right through an open one. “Shit, he’s pretty quick!” I grunted in the heat of the chase.

After turning the corner, we were hit with a sea of lavender. Connor was now gaining the upper hand, and I had to follow him to tell where the deviant was going, beginning to quickly lose sight of him amongst the chaos. After jumping up a particularly high ledge, I continued following until we got to another ledge and the only other way was sliding down more windows towards a moving train.

No way in Hell I was about to risk that. “Woah, fuuuuuuck that!” I yelled as I skidded to a stop as Connor proceeded to continue chasing the deviant. Desperately, I was looking for another way to get to them, perhaps even beat them. Then I saw it, one of those giant industrial cranes. Oh God, am I really about to fucking risk swinging on one of those death traps just to get across? I then looked down at the horror that was the moving train and shook my head. Guess I am, fuck it! 

Wasting no time, I started sliding down the window, angling myself towards it, until I prepared myself to land on the hook. I screamed as I swung far towards the other side, which I saw was covered in orchards. I swallowed my fear, and prepared to jump off, counting my blessings, before I practically launched myself off it, landing on my feet and performing a somersault to absorb the shock of the landing. “Holy shit, that was amazing! I’ve never done that before in my life!” I exclaimed as I scanned for movement and quickly found Connor in hot pursuit of the deviant and quickly followed suit, not wasting any time and not paying any mind to any of the other workers shouting at me.

Jumping off a ledge to the next set of farmwork, I saw Connor pursuing the deviant inside the greenhouse, and instead elected to jump up the scaffolding on the side of the entrance to chase them on top of the building, looking down on them below. From my vantage point, I could see that Connor had some pretty damn good reflexes when it came to avoiding obstacles. But I couldn’t help that smug feeling that insisted that I was definitely better than him, even though I had no real logical reason to believe it.

Seeing the deviant bank hard to the right, I followed suit, leaping down and somersaulting again upon landing to once again absorb the shock, but I could feel my ankles starting to buckle in shooting pain. But I grit my teeth and kept going, following Connor as he almost shot past me.

Pushing through probably hundreds of stalks of corn, I heard Hank’s voice calling out from up ahead. Can’t run now, buddy! But as soon as we broke free from the corn field, I felt my heart stop as I saw Hank get hurled off the building. “HANK!” I screamed. Connor was thankfully faster than me and wasted no time helping the lieutenant up. Taking that as my cue to continue the pursuit without them, I banked hard to the left. “DON’T WORRY, I’M WAY AHEAD OF YOU!” I shouted at them as I continued chasing the deviant, starting to feel myself reaching my limits. But like fuck I was gonna give up that easy!

Jumping off the ledge and somersaulting into the next fields, which I was guessing was rice given the excess water, I followed the deviant in hot pursuit. Options were dwindling, and there was nowhere left to turn. There was only ahead. And I had a feeling that ahead was a dead end, and I was only moments away from cornering the deviant.

And sure enough, I was right. There was only below, and to the left, but the deviant was practically cornered when I reached him.

Except that I was exhausted, and my breaths needed to catch up to me while my ankles were practically screaming at me in pain. That somersaulting technique was definitely not completely flawless, but I’d be a lot worse off without it. “No more running, dude...” I gasped, keeling over and resting both my hands on my knees as I kept heaving. “Seriously, no more running...that was so much more exercise than I’ve had to do in a longass fucking time...holy shit...”

I looked up at the deviant, and he seemed a bit thrown off by me. But he lifted his hands in a defensive gesture as he looked at me with pleading brown eyes. “Please, I’ve done nothing wrong...” He begged. “I just wanted to be free. If you turn me in...”

“You’ll be destroyed...” I answered for him, still huffing. “Believe me, I know...I’m currently...trying to get someone else...off that chopping block...”

He took a step to the left. “Then please let me go...” He almost whimpered. “Let me go free.”

I took a good look at him. After the thrill of the chase had died down, some things were starting to nag at me. He wasn’t violent. There wasn’t even a case of him attacking or threatening a human. He was just living alone in an abandoned apartment that no one was living in just wanting to take care of the fucking pigeons. The only reason we even knew about him was someone saw an LED under his hat, otherwise he wouldn’t have even been noticed. This is wrong. I thought. He doesn’t deserve to die. He didn’t do anything wrong. 

Closing my eyes and turning my head away, I hoped was a good enough answer for him. And apparently it was, because all I heard was the shuffling of clothes and the sounds of footprints before I opened my eyes to nothing in front of me. “SHIT!” I shouted, kicking the ledge, still breathing heavily. I saw Connor and Hank approaching me, and I had to pretty much sit down. “Fuck...God damn it...”

“What the fuck happened, Rachel?!” Hank demanded exasperatedly. “I thought you had it!”

“I did...” I said with a gasp and then a gulp. “I had him...I had him right here...but then he got away...I had him...and then I lost him...I'm sorry...”

Connor was quiet for a moment before he responded. “It's alright, Rachel.” He said reassuringly. “You did your very best given the circumstances. I understand that.”

“Exactly.” Hank said, reaching forward to help me up to my feet, letting me lean my weight on him. “We know what it looks like. We'll find it.”

Connor did as Hank was doing on my other side, and I sort of chuckled at them. “Guys, I’m winded...not injured.” I breathed, starting to catch my breath. “I don’t need to be carried to the car.”

“Perhaps, but I’ve detected low level damages to your anterior inferior tibiofibular ligaments.” Connor pointed out, clearly having run a quick vitals check on me. “It will heal with a few hours of rest, but I’d strongly recommend against strenuous activities until then.”

“Yada yada, Jesus Christ.” Hank groaned. “Just talk like a normal fucking person, for Christ’s sake.”

“He’s talking about my ankles, Hank.” I informed him. “And like I said, I don’t need to be carried to the car.”

“At least let us get you up over the ledges and we can walk there.” Hank compromised.

I saw that as an acceptable answer, as my ankles really did hurt. Not unbearably, but I’d rather not push them if I could help it. “Alright, fine. But just up the ledges.”

It took a decent amount of time, but eventually we made our way back to where Hank was pushed. Taking a moment to breathe, I realized something kinda crucial. “Hey, um...how the fuck are we gonna be able to make it back to the car?” I asked, realizing that not only did we stray really far but that we jumped over and across who knows how much crazy shit to get here.

“I can lead us on the easiest and quickest route back to the apartment.” Connor offered. “I estimate it will take approximately twenty minutes to half an hour to make our way back.”

“We can go through here.” Hank offered, opening the door I figured he came through to get here. “Hey, Connor.” Hank called towards the android. He turned his head in the lieutenant’s direction, his dark brown eyes expectant. But Hank just waved his hand and started walking through. “...Nothing.”

I smiled and gently elbowed Connor. “Awww, I think he’s actually starting to like you, Connor.” I teased, but I did genuinely think that. Hank wasn’t exactly one to express his feelings openly. He definitely didn’t express them as openly as I did, lord knows I can never keep my fucking mouth shut. But I sort of learned to read him after a while.

“I hope so.” Connor said innocently. There was something about how earnestly that came out that made me smile even more.

As we followed behind Hank, I gently brushed Connor’s shoulder. “Hey, Connor?”

He looked at me square in the face. “Yes, Rachel?”

I smiled at him, my eyes darting between him and the ground. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Of course.” He said simply. “We’re partners, after all.”

I scoffed at him. “Well, not officially.” I reminded him. “This was a one day sort of deal, but after that, I should probably take on other cases. I was just extra help.” I gave him a genuine smile. “But it was nice meeting you. And I really enjoyed working with you and getting to know you.”

Connor’s LED flickered for a moment, and I could’ve sworn it was a red colour. It was only for barely a split second, but still. Did I imagine that? “Likewise.” He replied with a subtle smile, or at least as much as he could portray given his nature. Connor then went silent, his LED spinning yellow, and I figured he was calculating routes and took that as my cue to catch up to the tired lieutenant. “Hey, Hank? Can you do me a favour?”

“I can’t dogsit Bear, not with this case.” He immediately refused defensively.

I laughed a bit. “No, it’s not that.” I amended. “I was gonna ask if you could just let Connor know that I have some errands I need to run on my way home and that I’m going to be about a half hour late.”

Hank sort of blinked a couple times and looked down at me. “And why does he need to know that?” He asked.

A fair question, I realized, so I played it cool. “He wanted to talk, so I invited him over to my place after work.”

Hank narrowed his piercing eyes at me. “You’re not trying to get in his fancy robo-pants, are you?”

“No!” I said, punching him in the shoulder. “I’m not about that. Not with androids, at least.” I denied adamantly. “I just figured that was a better environment to...explain things to him...that wasn’t the precinct or work-related at all.”

Hank let out a sigh and a nod. “Alright, fine. I’ll let him know.” He agreed.

“Thank you!” I huffed appreciatively. “You’re the best.”

“Nah.” Hank replied.

“Yes you are, no take-backs.” I insisted. “I don’t make the rules.”

“Fine, then that makes you second rate.” Hank flung back with. “You ain’t too far behind.”

I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. “And I’ll take that in stride.”

---------------------------------

Next Chapter

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Androids w/ a Shapeshifter!S/O Headcanons

Connor -First time he sees you shift from a dog back to your normal self after you’ve been babysitting Sumo all day, he  f r e a k s. -Poor guy looks like he’s gonna have a software crash bc he’s like “How???” “What??” and he’s trying to figure out how tf you just did that. -Fortunately you always change back with your clothes, so it makes things less awkward. -You just explain to him that you can turn into pretty much any creature or person, no technology involved. -Only reason you haven’t told him sooner was because people often tried to take advantage of your powers, and you were afraid of it happening again. -But Connor reassures you he’d never do that to you, so as time passes you become more comfortable turning into other things around him. -Before long catching even the fastest criminals with him and Hank becomes a walk in the park. -If you ever see him in a low mood you’ll shapeshift into a big, fluffy dog and either play with Sumo to cheer him up or simply snuggle up to him.

Ralph -When he learns of your powers by accident he’s very overjoyed. He thinks it’s amazing that you can transform into almost anything! -He’s eager to see what else you can turn into, so you decide to morph into a few creatures just to entertain him. -After a while it becomes exhausting, as shifting constantly drains you physically, but Ralph gets angry when you refuse to turn into anything when he asks you to, even threatening you with his knife. -Your fight or flight reflexes kick in and you shift into a hawk, screeching angrily at him before you fly out a window just to clear your head. -Before long tho you come back to find Ralph throwing stuff and crying about every mistake he ever made, including scaring you away. -Once you console him you apologize and explain your past. -He understands right away and from there on out always makes sure you’re okay and in a good mood before he shyly asks if you could turn into something. -To make up for what happened he hunts rats and gophers for you as well, and he’s pleased to know you appreciate his cooking.

Markus -When you got into a relationship with him, you told him about your powers immediately, since it was only fair that you didn’t keep secrets from him and you trusted him enough. -He was in awe and asked you more about your abilities, which he’ll often do if he needs a distraction or just a breather from being the leader, even for a moment. -You were more than happy to help him and the Jericho refugees by shapeshifting into CyberLife employees, small creatures that can infiltrate warehouses and stores, etc. to get the parts they need. -Markus is grateful but always worried about you getting hurt, even though you constantly reassure him you’ll come back. -You’d play harmless pranks on the other androids, too, just to get them to smile despite the grim circumstances they’re in. -When Markus and North were scaling the Stratford Tower you teasingly turned into a falcon and just circled around it. -During the attack on the freighter you morphed into a soldier to trick/shoot down the real ones and help rescue the fleeing androids, minimizing the casualties. Daniel -When you reveal your shapeshifting powers to him, he’s very surprised, but thinks it’s pretty cool. -He loves it whenever you turn into a wolf or a bear. You’d get lots of head and chin scritches, plus cuddles on quiet nights. -But one day where he starts to greatly miss Emma and can’t stop thinking about the incident from August, he asks if you could turn into her. -Even though you try to tell him you won’t really be her, all he wants is to see, hear, and at least feel like he’s holding her in his arms again. -When you do that, though, the emotional shock that surges through Daniel becomes too much as he breaks down and starts screaming and sobbing about how sorry he is for everything he did that night. -So you quickly change back to normal, calming him down and comforting him before he ends up self-destructing over his guilt. -Since then you both decide that it’s best that you didn’t do that again, for his sake.

Rupert -When you first tell him about your abilities, the first question he asks is: “So does that mean you can turn into any bird?” -He becomes an excited, curious kid when you tell him that you can. -It’s the first time in a long time that you’ve seen him genuinely smile, and you want him to stay happy. -So you decide to shapeshift into birds that wouldn’t normally be found in Detroit..or America for that matter like an ostrich, penguin, emu, crane, and even a Dodo (although it takes you a ton of concentration to turn into mythical or extinct creatures). -He’ll try to sketch out the birds you transform into, or at least take in any information about them that he can. -As a pigeon you can communicate with the numerous pigeons that live in the apartment, and you’d often scout the perimeter of the building to keep a lookout for cops. -Rupert finds you as a penguin to be absolutely adorable. Those become his second favorite species.