Connor observed many things ever since he first stepped into the DPD precinct. Back then, when the mission to stop the deviants was the only important matter, he observed everything that would aid him in succeeding. He observed Hank Anderson's destructive behaviours and patterns to find a way to work with the man, so they could solve the cases and so he could be one step closer to succeeding in the mission. What he didn't expect, didn't entertain the possibility of, was for him to form some kind of attachment with the human. Back then, he wasn't aware of how it felt to care, he simply didn't want Hank to be hostile with him, they were partners after all. Then Connor saved his life on the roof and let a deviant go, something he wasn't meant to do. Letting go of the suspect in order to save a human wasn't in his program. Yet that was exactly what he did and as days passed, he made more illogical decisions. Decisions that made him question himself, question the mission, question Amanda and the garden and for the first time in his short existence, he felt doubt. Perhaps, he was wrong, maybe the androids really did feel emotions, maybe it wasn't just an error in their code. The only thing Connor was certain about was that without Hank guiding him, he would have never had the possibility to break away from Cyberlife, to be free and think for himself.
Ever since he became a deviant, he observed things not because it would aid him in some mission, but because it would satisfy his newfound curiosity.
But no matter how much he observed his coworkers, Gavin Reed remained a mystery. His view on androids never wavered. Ever since Connor was reinstated after the revolution, Gavin had seemed to double down on making remarks about Connor but to Connor's surprise, he stopped approaching him with violence. Perhaps it was because of their altercation in the evidence room or maybe it was because Connor became an official part of the taskforce so Gavin couldn't do anything that wouldn't have consequences. Whatever it was, Connor was glad.
During the first few weeks, Connor went out of his way to avoid the young detective but overtime he couldn't help but watch him in hopes of finding something to mend the hostility between them. Integrating among humans in harmonious ways was ingrained in him after all, so his relationship with the detective was troubling him. He noted that even though Gavin was an absolute ass to him and others, he was not a bad detective by any means. The cases he got, he solved fast enough and even though he procrastinated with the paperwork until the last moment, Connor could see him succeeding a promotion down the line. Connor also picked up the smaller details about the man. He had a nasty habit of smoking cigarettes and sourcing his energy from countless cups of coffee or energy drinks instead of balanced meals and healthy sleeping patterns. He never ate at his desk and kept it bare and spotless unlike their colleagues who had sentimental items around them. He stayed well past his assigned hours, often being one of the last to leave and Connor only saw him be late on a few occasions. He never worked on Thursdays and seemed to only leave on time if not half an hour early on Wednesdays. Gavin also spent a good amount of time on his phone, sometimes he just kicked his feet up on the table and held his phone horizontally to play some game, other times just to mindlessly scroll through the apps in between writing the reports. Connor, however, was most intrigued about his notifications for messages. At first Connor barely noticed, but after countless hours spent on desk duty especially in the evenings when there weren't that many officers on duty, Gavin's phone either vibrated or remained still when he received messages. Connor wasn't sure why he picked up on it, it didn't seem important in his quest to form a better working relationship with the detective. Yet his reactions like everything else about him puzzled Connor; if the phone went off without the small vibration, Gavin seemed to take his time, sometimes not taking it out of his pocket at all. He only seemed eager to answer when the device buzzed and it didn't seem to matter whether he was at his desk or watching an interrogation. During the few and rare times that they were at the same crime scene, Connor noticed Gavin pulling out and taking a quick peek at the screen after looking around. Gavin mustn't have seen Connor watching him as a small smile flashed on his face as he typed a quick reply and it wasn't followed by an angry outburst. When he pocketed the phone, Connor pretended to be busy analyzing a sample of blood.
Connor came up with the theory that perhaps it was the detective's significant other that was behind the messages. He didn't know about him that much and wasn't going to hack his phone, that would do nothing but make Gavin resent him more. It was the most logical guess Connor could make with the information that he had, even if he could not understand how someone could stand the detective that much. But humans were weird, and it satisfied Connor's curiosity enough to not overanalyze him.
That was until Gavin received a vibrating phone call instead of a message that he picked up on the fourth ring. The office was quiet on the Monday afternoon which made Gavin's voice louder as it traveled around through the office.
"What do you want now ?" Gavin asked, but his voice was lacking the usual snarky bite to it. Connor turned in his chair so he could listen in just a bit. He was still too far to effectively hear the person on the phone so he had only Gavin to go off. Whatever was said, made Gavin straighten up.
"That bad? Did you eat something or what?"
"You know I can't just-" A moment of silence passed before he groaned lowly. Pressing the phone between his cheek and shoulder, he put on his leather jacket and groped his pockets briefly.
"Fine I'll talk to her. See what I can pull off. "
"Oh for fuck sakes. Look just stay where you are, I'll ring when I get there okay?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Off to powder your nose in the mirror Reed?" Hank grunted out not lifting his eyes from the screen as Gavin had to pass their tables to get to the lockers.
"Fuck off, Anderson." in response Gavin flicked his middle finger to their direction.
Connor watched as he departed, his L.E.D flashing yellow before settling down to the usual blue.
"What?" Hank asked once Connor's attention turned back to him.
"Detective Reed's heart rate rose from 64 b.p.m to 82 b.p.m since he answered his mobile phone. Do you think he is alright?"
"You know that's really creepy right?"
"Sorry Lieutenant, I can't help it. Scanning my surroundings is a vital part of my code." Connor wasn't really sorry though and he had to fight off the small smile he felt forming.
"Like I said, creepy ." Hank leaned back in his chair. "Why you care about the prick anyway? He hates your guts."
"It's… a curiosity of mine. I am simply trying to find a way to a way to improve our work relationship. I believe it would benefit the whole office."
"Look at you using big boy words." Hank chuckled. After a moment he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know what to tell ya Con. Probably ran off to clean up after his kid again."
Whatever Connor expected Hank to say it was most certainly not. The news might as well have hit him across the face and short circuited his processor.
"I'm sorry detective. He has a child ?"
"Well, she's not really a child at this point. But yep. Clearly, the guy couldn't keep it in his pants."
"I don't understand Lieutenant. Keep what in his pants?"
"Jesus Con, it's an expression." Hank looked both perplexed and embarrassed. "Just means..uh..ya know he messed around. I don't know nor do I care."
"Is having children young frowned upon?"
"No..well kind of." He grunted out trying to find a way to explain. "Most guys just run off. Dump the kid with the mother with no support and carry on with their lives as if nothing happened."
"That's... terrible ."
"Yeah, pretty shit. Gotta give it to the kid though. He may be a sleazebag on the daily basis but he manned up and took responsibility. It takes some balls."
"I...see" Connor couldn't see it, not really. He wasn't familiar with children, neither human nor android, but he simply couldn't imagine the detective in the same room as a child, nevermind interacting with it. Just as he thought he figured out something about the man, he slapped Connor with more mysteries.
"And that's too much talk about the prick for the day. Let's go take a break, I'm starving."
"Lieutenant, perhaps you could try out -"
"Shut it or I'm leaving you behind."
So this is a thing now. I'm actually super excited to toy with the many ideas I have for this. Cannot wait to add some angst to the charactersssss. Lemme know what ya think.
See ye soon x