So I decided to chip into the slow but steady stream of K/Joi fics. I love the movie, and I really liked their relationship, so the fact that there were only a handful of fics that I could find felt almost criminal. This fic is super-duper short btw, but it's something at least. Fair warning, it takes place literally a second after the credits start rolling, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you should probably hold off before reading this.
Joe laid back on the steps, enjoying the feel of the snow on his battered face. Distantly, a voice told him the blood coming from his abdomen was going to ruin the clean white steps, but the concern was dismissed almost as soon as it had registered. No, the Blade Runner, former Blade Runner he noted, felt at rest for the first time since had managed to lounge on that balcony in Las Vegas, before everything had gone to absolute shit.
"You should get that patched up," came an impossibly chipper voice.
Joe tilted his head up, "And you should put on something warmer."
Joi rolled her eyes and smiled before doing a turn, changing from the see-through yellow rain slick into a warm winter coat in an instant.
"Better, Joe?"
"It's just K," said Joe, his head falling back on the stair, a lump forming in his throat. The snow continued to fall lazily, and he focused on the feeling of the flakes melting against his hot skin.
"Does it matter?" asked Joi tentatively.
"Yes," answered Joe, the slightest quiver escaping with the word.
The footsteps were accompanied by crunches in the snow, but no prints and Joi took a seat next to him.
"I don't think so, Joe," she said, emphasizing the last word. "You have lived. More so than most could ever hope to live, and isn't that what matters?"
Joe huffed a bit and turned his head to look at her, she was beautiful, but it wasn't her looks that drew him to her, "You're very persistent, you know that?"
She smiled at that, "So you've said. Many times."
Joi shifted, and her hand came down on his shoulder. Instinctively, Joe's moved to hold it. He held nothing more than fabric, which was nothing out of the ordinary, but this time he knew that it wasn't even due to her being a program. Her hand rested on his jacket in his mind alone. A part of him found it a little funny that it felt more solid now than it ever had before. Maybe his wounds were a bit more severe than he thought.
For the moment, though, he enjoyed the peace. Looking into the face of the woman he loved, her soft smile and her concerned eyes, lines gently forming at their creases. Joe smiled back, his thumb lightly grazing her knuckles.
"What now," Joe asked, as much to himself as to his mind's projection.
"First, you get up and patch up that hole in your side," said Joi.
"And then?"
"And then you go back to living," Joi's smile grew even warmer before she leaned in and kissed his forehead.
Joe smiled back; he couldn't help it, never could when it came to Joi. The Blade Runner gripped the stone steps through the snow and lifted himself up.