{; Pets ;}

"We'll have to take a detour." Connor gently tugs on the leash to coax the dog into following them.

"Why?"

"So Sumo doesn't freeze."

"His fur is meant to keep him warm. He'll be fine."

"Our thermoregulators do the same but we can still freeze."

"Fair point."

"Hmm. Maybe I should carry him over the ice?"

He sighs, grabs the leash, and tugs. The dog barks once but starts moving after that, likely wanting to get back to the house. "Don't be an idiot, Connor."

As they begin walking again his predecessor frowns. "I wasn't. It's rather cold out and Sumo doesn't have anything to keep his paws warm."

"I reiterate; fur." The ensuing silence is almost deafening. He has to break it somehow. "Why does it matter? It's not even your dog. So what if he gets a bit cold? He'll survive."

There's the familiar disappointment. "Sumo may not be my dog but I want him to be safe and happy all the same. He's family."

And that confusing term again. "And if he wasn't?"

"I would still care. Why don't you?"

Well. There's a difficult question. Why doesn't he? He only cares to the extent of the dog's well-being affecting Connor and the Lieutenant. The animal means nothing to him outside of that connection. Yet here is Connor treating it like a person. Like it has its own importance.

It's not the only one. He's done this for other animals as well. The entire reason he got Connor that fish plush was because of the Philips case back in August with the broken aquarium. He would have walked right past it to continue with the mission. It wasn't important. Connor stopped to rescue the dying fish. Why?

Then the deviant with the birds. While the Lieutenant pitched a fit over the pigeons and shooed them off Connor simply sidestepped them and gently ushered them away from whatever he needed to reach. He didn't have to so again, why?

Then while waiting for the Lieutenant to join him so they could head to the Eden Club for a case he spent some time petting a sleeping Sumo in the living room. Why?

None of these actions were necessary. He would not have taken any of them. Connor had. Why are they so different? "I don't know." Once more there is nothing but silence. It stretches for several blocks until finally he makes it snap. "I suppose you're simply a better deviant." Only deviants care about animals. That he knows. Is this the proof of his machine status that he so desperately seeks?

"Everyone adapts differently. There's no such thing as being better at deviancy. Or so I've been told."

A half-hearted shrug. "Perhaps. But I have no attachment to animals. You and most other deviants do. Case closed."

"Maybe we just need to find the right animal to pique your interest."

"Or maybe, once again, I simply won't give a shit." They have no use to any of his outstanding missions. Sumo the dog is the only important one and again, only useful for keeping Connor and the Lieutenant in pleasant moods. He simply has no desire to care for another being that cannot provide back what he needs from a relationship. Oh. He may have just answered the question. "Animals can't help me so I see no need to bother with them." he summarizes for Connor.

The slight slump of the shoulders, the downward tug of the mouth, the faint crease in the brow, he will always recognize his predecessor's 'disappointed in you' face. It's fairly common after all. "Not everything is important just because it matters to you. Some things are important because they matter to others. Everything means something to someone."

"Not always."

"Well even if they don't it doesn't make them any less important."

"I know."

"Then why act like that?"

Yet again he doesn't have an answer. Everything can be of vital importance in the right situation. But this simply isn't it. Animals aren't of enough importance in his situation. But they are to Connor and they are in practically the same situation… "Maybe I'm broken in more ways than we thought."

Connor's disappointed frown shifts to something sadder. "Don't say that."

"It's true. I'm damaged."

"Maybe physically…" Connor switches the leash to his other hand so he can use his now free one to take hold of his brother's. "But that's not what matters. Please don't put yourself down. Life is confusing I know, but you're doing well. Please don't insult yourself."

That's… It's always a warmly pleasant surprise when Connor shows that he cares. So of course the second that warmth rushes through his system he has to deflect it, hide that he cares too. Machines aren't supposed to care. "This is me, take it or leave it Connor."

The light laugh from his predecessor is another pleasant warmth in the frosty air. "I'll take it. But only if you promise to try."

An over-dramatic eyeroll. "Fine. Now can we get back inside before the Lieutenant starts to think we kidnapped his dog?"