(( Hug ))
The cornerstone of Connor's emotional stability; a gesture Lieutenant Anderson showed him.
He doesn't find the same comfort in the gesture. Wrapping your arms around someone else does nothing to lower his stress levels. It's the person that does it.
The fact that Connor cares enough to share the gesture is all the comfort he needs. If more is required he'll pull the nostalgia card ( only deviants get nostalgic ) and have Amanda smile at him in his memories.
He doesn't require a hug by any means.
The humans at Cyberlife never hugged him. The DPD androids never hug him. The Lieutenant certainly doesn't and for that he's thankful. Even those at New Jericho don't, though they don't seem the overly touchy type—at least the ones he knows personally.
It's a pointless gesture honestly given the myriad of other ways to seek and/or provide comfort. So he never offers.
But Connor does.
In his weakest moments Connor does.
The first time the darkness claims him—strong arms engulf his torso, his own voice coming from another, softer, as they tell him it's alright, he's not alone in the dark. A memory shared to bring him out, but it all started with a specific touch.
He tells himself it was their presence, not the gesture.
He tells himself this every time it happens.
But it's a different sensation than interfacing. He'd never known there to be different kinds of warmth. Connor's hand in his, a voice over their connection, their strange lightness at merely being in his presence, it's different.
It's different than the strong arms pulling him out of the dark.
It's different than the warmth of being wrapped in his predecessor.
It's different in ways he still can't comprehend, but one day hopes to. Why does a simple physical gesture mean so much to people? Because despite the fact that one can provide comfort in many ways Connor defaults to this.
"It's called a hug. Hank showed me. Is it helping?"
STRESS LEVELS v
Every time he wants to say no. It's not the hug, it's you. It's always been you despite it all. And yet, since he was never touched affectionately until after he nearly died, he can't deny the possibility.
For once in his life he is beaten by an unknown factor, all because in an apparently emotionally-charged moment, Hank hugged Connor. His pre-construction software would never have predicted that. Perhaps deviancy can provide some good things after all.
So the next time he glitches enough to panic, to break down, to lose himself to the errors, the next time he warrants a hug from Connor, he ignores his desire to be a machine and gives in to the desperation of the touch-starved when he needs comfort.
For the first time in his life,
.
He hugs back.