Chapter Text
Monday, February 14th 2039
5:36 AM EST
[ NEW MESSAGE FROM: MARKUS ]
[ MARKUS: heeyyyy dude hows it goin dood? Got anything for ya bestie #2 yet? ]
[ CONNOR: Yeah! I'm preparing vegetable soup for the Lieutenant like you suggested. He didn’t like the grassy surprise last time, so I’m leaving it out this time. A shame, really. What about you? ]
[ MARKUS: Sucks. Carl would’ve loved it, I think. ]
[ MARKUS: One suggested getting him a dead rat, but I wasn't really sure if he’d enjoy it. The rest of them said to ‘just kiss him already’. Maybe I’ll follow through with their suggestion, along with some flowers. ]
[ CONNOR: Best of luck, Markus. ]
[ MARKUS: You too, bestie. <3333333 ]
Before making a trip to the local farm market, Connor makes his way to Jericho, hoping for a little sneak peek of Markus’ first kiss. Simon’s usually with the kids at this time, so Connor scans the environment to take a good shot: the rooftop of a two-story office across the street seems to give a good view.
When he makes it to the spot he marked, he’s greeted by two androids.
“Hey there Connor, you here for the smooch?” Josh is on the ground, eating thirium chips.
“Shh, Markus will be here anytime now!” North is also there, sitting by the ledge with binoculars.
Connor settles beside Josh and sneaks a chip into his mouth. Being the most highly advanced android Cyberlife had to offer, of course he had built-in binoculars.
Simon’s at the distance, observing the kids swirling around in a frenzy. Markus is meters behind, with a large bouquet of flowers behind them.
North squeals: “Here it goes!”
Simon jumps at the sight of flowers, and goes in for a hug. A small conversation ensues until Markus quickly pecks him on the cheek. The PL600 turns azure as the children wildly cheer.
7:45 AM EST
Hank awakens to soft chattering outside his door. The alarm—which consists of Connor bursting into his bedroom with Sumo and relentlessly ripping his bedsheets off—hasn’t gone off yet, so he grumbles underneath his sheets, tucking himself into a cocoon to delay the Connor-alarm.
“Sumo, if you eat all the kale, Hank won’t get his daily vitamins,” Connor whispers. Fuck, not that green shit again. He wonders what’s the special occasion, other than it being Monday. It seems to always brighten up the kid, knowing that it’s the start of a new work week (loser).
February 14th. Oh right.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Hank rolls out of bed and rummages underneath a pile of clothes, careful not to alert the others. He never had a knack for gifts, but there’s been an unspoken pressure to step up his game ever since Connor decided to call this place his home.
Finally, his hands manage to reach for the first gift: a pumpkin chew-toy. Sumo often had a knack for the melon, even licking the scraps off the table during their last pumpkin carving session. Or maybe he just liked a change of course from the regular dog food he got. Whatever.
For Connor, he bends down—fucking back hurts—to reach underneath his bed, and pulls out a plant, called catmint or something to those lines. It’s somewhat shriveled due to what he presumes is a lack of sunlight, but it’ll do. That android had recently gotten into gardening and he hadn’t asked him why, for fear Connor would spend the rest of the day explaining.
He mentally prepares to straighten out his back. Slowly, he crawls upwards and—
“FUCK!”
The sounds past his door fall silent, then hurried footsteps approach. There goes his surprise.
A knock on the door. “Lieutenant?”
“I’m fine! Don’t come in or my pride will be shattered…it's just my back,” he yells through the rest of his back straightening.
There’s a silence between them, and eventually Hank wonders if Connor had left already, but there’s panting at the other side.
“Go away Connor! And you too, Sumo.”
“...Okay.” The floor creaks, and the tapping of nails follow along.
“Hey, what’s all this about?” Hank arrives with unruly hair, a gray shirt with marker stains (when did they have markers?) and sweatpants.
“Happy Valentine’s day!” Connor throws his arms up, with Sumo following along with a bark. “I thought maybe we could celebrate as a family today, so I made you some grass-less soup.”
“Aww, I sure missed the grass though…”
“Is that sarcasm?”
“Yeah.”
Connor glares at him while a smile creeps up from his face. “I’ll sneak some in just for you.”
Hank laughs his way back into the hallway with a middle finger up in the air.
Another “FUCK” later, Hank returns to the kitchen looking slightly more decent, with hands behind his back. He tilts his head in response, wondering if Hank had gotten something for him too.
The surprise is ruined when Sumo trots behind Hank and returns to Connor’s side with a pumpkin toy in his mouth. “The fuck Sumo?!?” Hank sighs, “fuck, uhm, happy Valentine’s day to you too.”
He reveals a small bush, consisting of purple and green that spread out from the white pot in the shape of a bun.
[ SCANNING… ]
[ NAME: NEPTA ; COMMONLY KNOWN AS “CATMINT” ]
[ COMMONLY KNOWN AS “CATMINT”, NEPTA IS NATIVE IN SOUTHERN TO EASTERN EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA, BUT CAN BE FOUND IN NORTH AMERICA. ]
[ CARE: WATER INFREQUENTLY. PLACE IN FULL SUN. ]
“I did some research, and figured you would’ve liked something with the colours green and purple, since they match with the uh…aroace community. I hope I said the right term.”
Cleansing fluid collects at Connor’s face.
“Kid, it’s just a plant,” Hank nervously laughs.
Hopefully Hank’s back is okay now, because he then immediately reaches the old man for a hug. “Thank you,” Connor sniffs, “I’ll take good care of it.”
“That’s great. Now where’s that soup buddy? I’m hungry!” Sumo barks again in excitement.