AN: This chapter takes place in between chapters 6 and 7 and is once again in Gavin Reed's point of view. Trigger Warning for mildly dubious consent.

It was nearly 2 a.m. when the doorbell rang. Gavin rolled out of bed with a curse and stubbed his toe against his nightstand.

"Someone better be fucking dead!" he yelled as he stomped through his living room in the dark. "Dead or dying, you hear me?"

He'd almost gotten to the door when it slammed open in a shower of wood splinters. In walked Connor and Gavin could only stare at him with his mouth hanging open as the cheeky android said, "Excuse me." Then closed the damaged door behind him.

More than anything it was the way he closed it that got to Gavin. Slowly, softly, as if worried about damaging it further. But the damage had already been done!

"The fuck do you think you're doing?!" Gavin said. Here he was standing in his apartment at 2 a.m. in his goddamn underwear glaring at a freak show who had the nerve to say excuse me after breaking into his apartment?!

"Originally, I thought I would wait for you to let me into your home," Connor said. He began picking up the splinters. "But I became… Impatient."

"I was almost at the door! Couldn't you hear how close I was?" Gavin growled. "What's the emergency anyway?"

He tried to stomp forward, to get in the android's face and really give him a piece of his mind, but Connor sprang up and put a hand on his chest. Halting him in his tracks. Goddamn, it was ridiculous how fast this android could move. Before Gavin could so much as blink he'd been roughly shoved back. He almost lost his balance.

"Jesus fucking christ," he said. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Your feet," Connor said. "Without shoes, they are… vulnerable. Allow me to clean up after myself before you…" He paused, but couldn't seem to find the words he needed. "Please, let me clean up."

Then he crouched back down to continue picking up splinters and wood shavings.

"Clean up?! Don't we need to get going?" Gavin said. "Jesus, I thought you were supposed to be a smarter tin can than the rest."

Connor continued gathering every single wood shaving he could find in the carpet. "Where do you need to go?" he said without looking up.

"You tell me, asshole," Gavin said. "A crime scene? The station?"

Connor had a tidy little pile in his hands now. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen like he owned the place, dumping it all in the trash. The expression on his face reminded Gavin of the time he'd refused to accept that cup of coffee from him.

"Hello? Ground control to robo cop?" Gavin wanted to smack him with his fridge door. Connor was standing in the perfect spot for him to do it. But it would damage his freaking fridge more than the android. "Why. Are. You. Here."

"There isn't a crime scene," Connor said. He opened the door to the pantry and Gavin slammed it back closed. "Would you allow me to get a broom?"

"If there isn't a crime scene then why the fuck are you here?" Gavin said. He glared at the android and almost wished the creepy fucker would glare back. But he'd gone back to being as blank as a store mannequin.

Gavin groaned. "The broom isn't in the fucking pantry."

"The laundry room then?"

"Yeah. Fuck," Gavin said. Whatever, let the android clean his whole house. See if he cared. He leaned against a wall and crossed his arms, determined to be… What? Unaffected by this nonsense?

He didn't know what the fuck was going on. But Connor went about his task with the single mindedness of a train with only one set of tracks. Might as well wait him out, Gavin figured. Or maybe he really would make the dumb fuck clean his house. It's what androids were for, wasn't it? Though supposedly this particular android wasn't made for that.

Connor had said so often enough.

"Cyberlife will pay for the damage to your door," Connor said when he finally finished sweeping. "I apologize for my impatience."

"Didn't think an android could feel things like impatience," Gavin said. Now that his hands were free Connor was giving him his full attention.

But Connor didn't say anything to that. Why wasn't he throwing his usual lines around? Normally this is the part where Connor would explain, in that snooty voice like a teacher addressing a toddler, that androids only simulate simple emotions and facial expressions as part of some socializing protocol to make humans comfortable or whatever.

Instead Connor stood there staring. Saying absolutely nothing.

Suddenly Gavin was painfully aware that he was still wearing only an undershirt and his boxer briefs. He should have gotten dressed while Connor was sweeping. But then again what the hell did it matter? He was just an android.

It. It was just an android.

To distract himself he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and took a swig. Connor was in fucking standby mode, just watching him.

Store mannequin, Gavin thought. He's a store's mannequin standing in a window just to show off that goofy suit.

"You going to stand there all fucking night?" he snapped.

"No, of course not," Connor said. "That wouldn't be... prudent."

Gavin finished the beer in a few quick gulps and was tempted to smash the empty bottle over this android's empty head.

"Why are you here, Connor?" Gavin said. "It's almost three a.m. for chrissakes."

"Ah," Connor said. "I'd forgotten to take your sleeping patterns into consideration. I apologize. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you."

"How can you not have an answer? It's a simple question!" Gavin took a deep breath and tried to think of a robotic way to phrase it. "What's your… Objective. Or whatever?"

Connor looked confused. "My overall objective remains the same, Detective Reed. You are already familiar with my mission."

Gavin was ready to throw the fucking beer bottle now. Maybe Connor could see that in his face, because he hastened to add, "But I cannot do anything without Lieutenant Anderson. Technically speaking my current objective is simply to wait for the Lieutenant to return to the station."

"Then why aren't you at the fucking station?!" Gavin said. He wanted to put his hands around Connor's neck and throttle him. But that didn't exactly work out last time, so he restrained himself. Instead he stomped out of his little kitchen, feeling cooped up, shoving his shoulder into Connor's as he passed him.

Connor followed him into the living room. "I don't know," he said. "I would normally have gone into standby. Or reviewed the case files. But tonight I felt-"

"You're a fucking android, dipshit," Gavin said. "You don't have feelings."

Connor didn't have a comeback for that. The weight of his silence filled the apartment. Feeling fed up with it all, Gavin spun around- ready to kick him out and be done with the whole thing, but something stopped him in his tracks.

The tin can was holding Gavin's handcuffs. He regarded them as if they might hold the secrets to the universe or something. And then he said the strangest thing he'd said all night.

"Why do humans enjoy being handcuffed during intercourse?" Connor said. He looked up at Gavin then, with his freaking bambi eyes, and Gavin thought he'd have a heart attack.

"Wh-what, not all- hey! Put those down and get out of here," Gavin said. He tried to grab the cuffs and Connor closed them around his wrists. "Fuck, if you just wanted revenge for-"

"I am an android," Connor said. "Revenge, lust, frustration. These are emotions I cannot feel. However, I find myself pondering… Curiosity. It's an interesting concept."

"Well, take your experiment somewhere else!" Gavin said. Connor grinned, and in one swift motion Gavin lost the ground under him. Connor was carrying him bridal style.

He walked towards Gavin's bedroom. "Th-that's not what I meant Connor!"

When deposited on the bed Gavin's first instinct was to kick Connor in the gut. But that would be useless, wouldn't it? He'd probably break a toe. Instead he just tried to roll away.

Connor got on the bed and caged him, looming over Gavin on his hands and knees. He unlocked one of the cuffs and maneuvered Gavin's arms closer to the bars of the headboard. Then re-cuffed him.

When he was furniture shopping with his ex-girlfriend Gavin had joked about just this sort of scenario. She'd called him a pig, but agreed to get it anyway. He'd thought they'd work up to it, but before he knew it she was moving out.

He also thought he would be in Connor's shoes.

"I thought you didn't know anything about sex, you lying fuck!" Gavin said. "You're a goddamn Ken doll, didn't you say that?!"

"It's true that I was not made like a Traci," Connor murmured. He was leaning close enough for a kiss. As he inched closer Gavin scrunched his eyes shut. But Connor pressed his lips against his ear. "Yet there are certain… Images. Footage from a Traci that I cannot expel from my database."

"Why don't you delete that shit then?" Gavin said. "And delete your memories of this too, yeah? We can both pretend this never happened."

"We could certainly do that," Connor said. "But first… What was that word you used? Experiment?" Connor hummed and licked Gavin's earlobe. His tongue felt coarse. Almost like a cat's tongue? No, like the green side of a sponge. "I want to experiment."

"F-find another test subject," Gavin said. Fuck, he could feel himself getting hard already.

"You are the only human that has expressed sexual interest in me," Connor said. He leaned back and sat on Gavin's crotch. "You're hard, Detective."

"I fucking know. It's my dick! That's a stupid porno line, it doesn't suit you."

He wanted to add that it would be easy for Connor to find someone else. He could walk into any gay bar in town and be worshiped. He'd just have to dress normally and hide his LED. Hell, plenty wouldn't care that he was an android.

But Gavin didn't say any of that.

"Alright," Connor said. His hand hovered in the air uncertainly. "May I… lift your shirt?"

"Oh, now you want my permission?" Gavin said. "Fuck you."

"I thought this was what you wanted?" Connor said. The little furrow in his brow was ridiculously realistic. There were even wrinkles on his forehead. "I'm… willing. I'll pretend to be a Traci this time."

"A Traci wouldn't restrain me unless I told it to," Gavin said. He liked Connor's mole and hated himself for wondering if there were more. Wondering where they were.

He wished he could order his dick to soften.

"You're right," Connor said. He leaned forward and Gavin flinched. But Connor just unlocked the handcuffs and then backed up, getting off the bed.

"This was foolish," Connor said. "I'll let myself out."

"Wait, wait. Wait I said!" Connor walked too fast for Gavin to keep up with. "Come back, I said! Hey, consider it an order!"

Connor spun around and stomped back into the room, meeting Gavin at the threshold and lifting him by the armpits like a toddler.

"You don't have the authority to give me orders, Detective." Connor dumped Gavin on the bed like a sack of potatoes.

It was a sharp contrast to the way he'd been gently set down before. Gavin winced as he bounced on the cheap springs.

Then he glared up at Connor and gulped at the android's expression. It looked like he'd finally pissed him off.

"What about a trade, then?" Gavin said. He licked his lips and tried to control his breathing. "I'll take my shirt off if you take off yours."

Connor's expression softened. "That… is acceptable." He looked around the room and spotted a chair by the window. It's where Gavin liked to smoke, the windowsill was littered with ash and cigarette buds that had toppled out of the ash tray when Gavin had knocked into it.

Some of that had landed on the chair, though not much. Gavin rolled his eyes as Connor gave the seat a perfunctory sweep with his palm. Then he methodically removed his tie, his jacket, and his shirt. Neatly folding each item and placing them on the chair.

"Oh, that's real sexy," Gavin said. "You're a natural."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "I detect sarcasm."

Gavin chuckled. "Hell yeah you do."

But it didn't really matter. Connor didn't need to do anything to be sexy. He was a work of goddamn art. There were more moles generously sprinkled on his skin. One on his collarbone and one on his hip. One on his shoulder and one just below a deliciously pink nipple. One on-

"Your shirt?" Connor said. He crossed his arms over his chest. It was a cute gesture. Shy. Human? Was that part of the program? Gavin couldn't imagine how it would be useful to an android detective. Unless he was trying to seduce a suspect during an interrogation.

Removing his shirt absentmindedly, Gavin thought that no. It wasn't a seductive action. It was cute, but it wasn't coy. It really just seemed like Connor was being self conscious.

Now they were both shirtless, but Connor was still wearing slacks and those stupid shoes. "Hey, it isn't fair that I'm the only one in my underwear."

Connor was still standing by the window and he made no move to approach the bed. He looked down at himself and sighed. "I don't have underwear."

"You've been walking around commando?!" That really set Gavin off. And once he started laughing he just couldn't stop. When the laughter had almost died out Gavin glanced up at Connor's face and the look of pure bafflement set him off again. He hadn't laughed this much in years.

Frowning, Connor said, "I have no relation to the military."

"Y-you're such a robot!" Gavin choked out. He really couldn't stop laughing, tears were streaming down his face. "You're killing me!"

In a flash Connor was on the bed, cradling Gavin in his arms. "What did I do?" Gavin leaned his forehead against Connor's shoulder and huffed. He was out of breath, but fine. Just a few more giggles slipped out.

"You need to download Urban Dictionary," Gavin said. He took the opportunity to run his hands up and down Connor's back and marveled at the weird texture of his skin. For all of his jokes about the Eden club, Gavin had never actually touched an android before.

He'd thought Connor would be cold and hard under his hands, but he wasn't. Not that he radiated any body heat either, but he was pliable under Gavin's fingers. He tried to pinch Connor's skin, but he wasn't quite that pliable.

"What are you made out of? Plastic?" Gavin said. What really gave Connor away as inhuman was how flat and smooth he was. Humans had all these little bumps. But Connor's moles were painted on. He didn't have pores. And he was completely hairless.

Gavin wondered if his eyebrows were an illusion. Like was everything just painted on or was there a different material for the hair on his head? He leaned back and was about to touch them, but then Connor kissed him.

His lips were surprisingly plush. Were they made out of memory foam or something? Gavin wanted to stick his tongue in Connor's mouth, but then he remembered how coarse his tongue was and thought better of it. He put a hand on the back of Connor's neck and tried to guide him into lying down, but Connor wouldn't come down all the way. Instead he hovered over Gavin.

"When the Tracis kissed each other it was different," Connor said. "Different than what they did with the humans. I find myself wondering why. Because they were both androids? Or because they loved each other?"

"What?" Gavin said. There was always a lock of hair falling onto Connor's forehead, but now there were more strands escaping to frame his face. Gavin reached up and ruffled his hair. It was softer than any wig he'd ever touched. His ex had a thing for "weaves" and Gavin hadn't minded the texture of them, but he'd always thought her natural hair was nicer.

But Connor's hair was freaking satin. What the hell was it made out of?

"Nevermind," Connor said. "I should go."

"What?"

"You need to sleep," Connor said. And just like that, he was off the bed and putting his shirt back on. Gavin wanted to protest, but then he thought about his ex. Don't be pathetic, she had said. I'll come back if I want you.

She never did come back. Would Connor?

But he was just an android. Just an android.

"I'll see myself out," Connor said.

This time Gavin didn't stop him.