Chapter Text
Everything was not alright the way it was.
It was a month and a half after the Halloween party and Markus was currently disastrously gay for Connor. The fact that he existed seemed to be Kamski’s take on his dream partner: Markus had always been a fan of strong jawlines, soft eyes, and even softer personalities. He wasn’t sure how the rich bastard did it, but it feels like something planned and it most definitely feels unfair.
Markus loved the way he smiled, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about an interest of his, the way he’d relax whenever Markus was around, the list goes on and on.
Connor was vibrant and lively, his person an electric blue hidden on a dull, gray canvas.
Keeping true to his model, Connor is a marvel, perfect in every way.
Minus all the times he’s fallen down the Jericho stairs. And that one time he accidentally toppled a display in a halloween shop. And that one time he called one of his former coworkers a cockshit, unbeknownst to him that said coworker was walking by him right as he said it.
Alright, to rephrase: Connor is divinely imperfect and that’s what Markus loved about him. His smile is shy and his disposition is diffident, but his bright personality managed to shine through despite his reserved nature.
Markus found himself wanting to see more.
His optical units were covetous, desperate to see the prototype’s endearing grin.
So he grabbed a pencil and a brush and made the outline of his new muse.
-
Connor buried his face into Sumo’s velvety fur, gently grasping at his soft pelt as he told his furry companion his life problems.
After weeks of endless pining, it appeared that the android wasn’t going to let go of Markus any time soon.
Sadly, he was all panic and no disco as he was left to suffer alone through his exasperating gay epiphany.
Connor, being very young in the android world, knew nothing about love minus what he heard in cheesy 2014 love songs. After experiencing it himself, he could confirm that love is absolute bullshit. He wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive Beyonce for telling such boldface lies. All he gained from her was the knowledge that 1+1=2, as if he couldn’t figure that out on his own.
Suddenly, the door began to creak as it slowly opened, causing Connor to jump as he gazed at it. Hank appeared in the doorway with a glare on his face and his hair in his eyes.
“Connor, can you turn off that old ass music?” Hank rasped, rubbing at his eyes and scowling. “God, it’s too early for this shit.”
“It’s never too early for Beyonce, take it back right now.”
Hank squinted, rubbing at his eyes yet again before sighing and letting his shoulders sag.
“Just… turn it down.” Hank exhaled, a his face betraying a mix between exasperation and total exhaustion. “I’ll make sure to judge you for this later, maybe just… when it’s not the asscrack of dawn. I’m goin’ back to sleep.”
“We have work tomorrow, this could ruin your sleep schedule.” Connor tilted his head, hoping he got his exasperation across.
“I know.” Hank turned and grasped the doorknob before the android could respond. “Night’, Con.”
Hank shut the door behind him and all Connor could hear were Hank’s footsteps and Crazy in Love.
He made sure to turn up the Beyonce.
-
electronic emissary > robo bitch
4:26 AM
electronic emissary: *i lean and dab my way into those mf dms*
electronic emissary: hhey bitch
robo bitch: this is why i always catch myself forgetting that you’re the android ambassador
electronic emissary: im actually at a meeting lmao
electronic emissary: im multitasking ;) im doing this, givin the public a half assed opinion, and playing the sims 10
robo bitch: rA9 i wish that were me
robo bitch: Wait, are you using up processing power on texting me?
robo bitch: smh you’d think that as a revolutionary leader, you’d make better decisions
electronic emissary: ik its time well spent
electronic emissary: im texting u to ask if you want to come over to carl’s house??
electronic emissary: i have free time aaand i got the idea of teaching you how to paint
electronic emissary: maybe we could cheat at arcade games or somethin after that, idk
There was a pause. It’s been 2 minutes and Connor hasn’t responded. (That doesn’t sound like long to a human, but to an android, it’s about two hours, considering that text messages show up as a popup to their optical units and to ignore them, you have to turn them off manually.) Markus bit his lip, wanting so badly to tune out the droning voices of the politicians around him to focus on Connor.
Suddenly, he heard a beep.
robo bitch: yeah!!! sure!!! soudns cool!!
robo bitch: i actually gotta go to work rn , i dont come back till 9. are you free then??
Markus was unable to stifle his grin at the message, barely suppressing a giggle rivaling that of a schoolboy. He’s in!
“Mr. Manfred?” Michigan’s governor, Ben Diver raised an eyebrow, offering a vaguely disapproving look. “What exactly is so amusing about the economy of America crashing?”
Markus, like the value of the nation’s currency, deflated.
After having to incompetently explain his way out of that situation in a way that didn’t reveal his hopeless infatuation, the android had learned his lesson about texting during meetings. Especially if the person he’s texting can make him grin without even trying.
electronic emissary: that’s fine, we can meet at 9:30?
robo bitch: see yuo then !!! :DD
Markus’ face heated up at the sight of the message, moving to discreetly cover his face with his hand.
It was official: This Cupid guy was officially on his shit list.
-
Connor stilled in the middle of the room as he processed the texts. He went over them again, and again, and then once more until he’d analyzed them 73 different times.
Hank seemed to notice that something was up, cautiously getting up from the couch and walking up to Connor with a hesitant look.
“Hey, Con, you good?” Hank questioned softly, worry evident on his face.
Connor’s LED spun blue as he glanced at Hank, his expression betraying pure euphoria.
“Never better.”
HIs new mission regulations flashed overhead.
Prepare for the date(?).
- Find an outfit.
- Read preparatory fanfiction.
- Listen to Beyonce.
- Look up cheesy pick up lines.
Connor gave a lopsided grin at the structure his mission gave him, rubbing his hands together as he connected to the Alexa. The Beyonce seemed incredibly important, not to mention that it was the easiest. Everyone wins.
After reading 239 romance novels, listening to 395 love songs, and looking at the summary of 403 romance movies, he considered himself an expert in date preparation and dates in general.(Of course, this wasn’t exactly a date. Not at all. It was just an outing between him and a cute, sweet, funny android messiah. No big deal, nothing gay about that.) Looking for some sort of motivation, he reviewed the ending of every moving, dying to skip to the happily ever after.
Romeo and Juliet sounded like a good choice. Just like Connor and Markus, it’s a love no one would accept; The deviant hunter and the deviant leader. Connor was qualified to get a job with the human police while Jericho openly despised both the police and Connor. It was against the will of the androids, against the will of the humans.
It was nothing but love.
Connor looked over the script with hope in his eyes, only to pause.
Didn’t 6 people die in Romeo and Juliet, including the love interests themselves?
Connor swiped the script away, looking for something more hopeful.
He’d skimmed the plots of about 24 musicals and 19 movies only to realize: all of these have conflict as the center of their plot. There’s always some sort of misunderstanding or heartbreak and from what he had seen, it didn’t always end well. Through further research, he learned that in a year, there was only a 6% chance of their relationship suffering from some sort of infidelity, (Assuming they’d even get together.) over a 10% chance that Markus wouldn’t trust him, which can kill relationships, and higher than a 40% chance that they would break up. Those statistics may be low, but as he said whilst fighting alongside Markus for his rights, “Statistically speaking, there’s always a chance for unlikely events to take place.”
A new mission guideline appeared in his vision, catching his attention.
- Prepare to get your poor little gay thirium pump broken into pieces.
Connor slumped at the addition.
“Hank,” Connor muttered, tugging at the sleeves of his DPD hoodie. “I need help with something.”
“Lay it on me, kid.” Hank propped himself up against his couch, giving Connor his full attention.
“Can you, uh… c-can you help me pick out an outfit?” Connor fumbled over his words. “I’m going out tonight.”
Hank gave a grin, a playful look in his eyes.
“What, you got a date?”
Connor didn’t respond.
“Holy shit.” Hank gaped at Connor, his shock on display. “Is it Markus?”
Connor’s face reddened as he nodded.
“Yeah, I got you, kid.” Hank walked into his room, closing the door and yelling a quick “One second!”.
Hank left the room with a large white button-up, a blue knit sweater, and skinny jeans in his arms.
“These are the clothes I used to wear in high school,” Hank explained. “might be too big, but it’s something other than that hoodie, at least.”
“I, uh- thanks, dad.” Connor gave Hank a shy smile, grabbing the clothes and placing them on the couch for later.
No matter how much Connor prepared, he knew he wouldn’t be ready to see Markus. Not with all of the awful possible outcomes he knew of.
Connor followed Hank outside to his outdated vehicle, attempting to hide his apprehension.
“Alright, Con,” Hank buckled in, an unreadable expression on his face. “Let’s get this bread.”
Truly one of the wisest things Hank had ever said to him. After hearing his father’s intelligent words of motivation, Connor found himself slightly more prepared to obtain the grain.
This hope, however, was misplaced.
-
Markus straightened out his yellow cardigan with his free hand for the 26th time that day, blatantly ignoring the sniggering arising from Josh and North as he absentmindedly dusted the spotless area. Of course, this was not the first time Markus had been in love, as he was sure he was in love with North during the revolution. On the battlefield, he found that one smile from her could make everything alright again. The knowledge that she was alright was an upside in every battle. When Markus looked into her eyes, he truly learned what love was. They stood together and fought together, ready to sacrifice their lives both for the cause and for each other.
As it turns out, unless they were able to prove that they would die for one another, they didn’t get along well as a couple.
The fate of androidkind did not rely on the two of them reaching a fast solution and therefore their disagreements were drawn out. Their relationship was strained and all of the androids could feel it. Both seemed ready to snap at the sight of each other due to their inability to compromise whatsoever.
The both of them were opposite ends to two extremes and as it turns out, it’s hard to make that compatible in a relationship. As a result they broke it off and decided to stay friends instead of trying to salvage their dilapidated romance.
Markus really regretted rushing into that relationship. He had little to no experience with flirting or dating or any sort of lasting romance that wasn’t formed amidst a revolution.
Markus was clueless; plain and simple.
Both North and Josh knew this. They knew this and they deliberately didn’t help whatsoever, regardless of how much experience they had. The only reason Simon wasn’t joining them was because Markus kept rejecting his messages.
It was at that moment that Markus began to consider investing in better friends.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying my suffering,” Markus snarked, avoiding eye contact as his face heated up. “You both are such great help!”
“Happy to help, Mark!” North gave a mischievous grin, clapping him on the shoulder. “I gotta say, watching you fumble around with simple shit is amazing.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, eat my ass.” Markus rolled his eyes, swatting off her hand and going back to his mindless cleaning.
“I’m pretty sure that job belongs to Connor.” Josh hid his face behind the book he was reading. (Josh, who was working to become meta as hell, was reading “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. In the words of Connor, “big mood”.)
Markus froze as his face warmed, numbers and calculations running through his head as he came up with 23 different ways to incapacitate Josh with a 83% chance of success. North was cackling in her seat atop the piano, prompting him to create a second target. Just before he could execute his plans, a loud ring sounded throughout the house.
Connor was here.
-
Connor fiddled with the collar of his sweater, biting his lip and hoping his anxiety didn’t show. He ran through the outcomes of the date(?) once more, an annoying habit that he was failing to shake. After coming home from his first day bay back at the precinct, he was already buried in anxiety. Pre-deviancy, Connor’s social modules made him relatively pleasant to be around. Awkward, yes, but still polite, even to those who disrespected him.
Post-deviancy, Connor fired back on impulse.
After getting Detective Reed lectured for having porn on his computer, (It seems Captain Fowler wasn’t very amused by “SEXY ANDROID BABES GETTING THAT DIGITAL DICK”.) calling Officer Brown a cockshit yet again, (This time, it was to his face!) and wishing serious injury on about 8 different officers, Connor had narrowed things down to two outcomes:
Either Connor was a piece of shit or humans were just aggravating by nature.
After reviewing his interactions with Detective Reed, he was leaning towards the latter.
The door suddenly opened amidst his worrying, catching him by surprise.
Instead of Markus, he was greeted by Josh, who looked him over with an impish grin decorating his face.
“Connor!” Josh smiled, gently clapping Connor’s shoulder. (Who tried his hardest not to flinch away.) “We were just leaving.”
“We?” Connor questioned, trying to inch away as subtly as possible. Of course, being an android, Josh noticed and settled for removing his hand.
As soon as Connor asked, North sprinted up behind Josh, jumping on his back and invoking a yelp from the latter android.
“Alright, fucker, let’s move it.” North patted his head twice and pointed ahead, looking down at Josh expectantly.
Connor gave Josh a look of pity which didn’t go unnoticed by North.
“Don’t worry, Connor, you’ll get your own ride with Markus.” North rested her head on top of Josh’s, passively gazing down at Connor with raised eyebrows.
Connor looked up at North with a faint blush on his cheeks. Well, North did look like she was having fun on Josh’s shoulders.
“I sure hope so!” Connor gave a smile he remembered his social module telling him was polite.
North appeared to choke for a second whilst Josh began to laugh. The reason for this, however, was unknown.
“I like this one!” North giggled as Josh began to walk away, both of them waving back at him. “See you ‘round, Connor!”
“I-uh, I’ll see you later!” Connor grinned, waving back. When he turned around, he was greeted by Markus, a smile tugging at the RK200’s lithe lips.
Connor’s thirium pump seemed to flutter as Markus greeted him, the latter android offering his hand to lead Connor through the house. Connor quickly accepted the offer, following Markus’ lead as they made idle conversation. Connor flatly told Markus about his first day back at the precinct, causing Markus to let out a small chuckle.
“Look at the bright side,” Markus’ lips twisted upwards in a breathtaking smile. “It’s not as bad as your first job.”
Connor shuddered at the thought of it. Connor managed to get fired within the day over his first job. He had originally chosen to be a florist due to his love for flora of all kinds. He looked forward to taking care of them in his free time. When he went to work, however, he came to the realization that he had no clue how the fuck to take care of flowers. He knew what climate the flowers thrived in, he knew what times certain flowers bloomed in, he knew the scientific names for every single flower in that shop.
That, of course, didn’t stop him from killing over 75% of the flowers in the shop.
The owner of the establishment berated him, expressing that he was only hired because she believed androids were good at everything.
She underestimated Connor’s absolute incompetence.
“I think the people you work with being intolerable isn’t an obstacle, but an opportunity,” Markus continued, appearing deep in thought. “You told me that Lieutenant Anderson was a dipshit when you first met him, right?”
Connor gave a small nod, memories swimming around in his mind.
After an explanation from Hank, he now knew where he could stick his instructions.
Rude.
“Well, now you get the opportunity to change the minds of a couple more ignorant humans.” Markus opened the door to Carl’s studio, revealing a paint covered room, multiple covered canvases, and art supples sitting on a table next to the 3 uncovered canvases in the room.
Connor stared at the room in awe. So many supplies and he had no clue how to use any of them.
Markus let go of his hand as he walked further into the room. A heart wrenching loss, but alas, such is life.
The RK200 picked up an angular brush and a palette resting in front of a blank canvas, beckoning Connor towards him. Connor stood next to him, hesitantly gripping the brush and palette.
“Alright, uh, I’m kinda new to this, so… just bare with me,” Markus rubbed at his arm, a mousy smile gracing his lips. “Just… Do something for me. Close your eyes.”
Connor tilted his head, but obeyed, darkness obscuring his vision.
“Try to imagine something that doesn’t exist,” Markus prompted. “Something that you’ve never seen.”
Color began to decorate the canvas of Connor’s mind, pinks and blues and whisps of white forming a vague shape, of what, he didn’t know. He stayed silent as he took in the soft colors of his mind.
“Now let your hand drift across the canvas.”
His hand moved in precise strokes, making an image he could feel in the back of his mind, but couldn’t see beyond vague shapes. Hours felt like minutes as he painted, only for his hand to still.
He was done.
He opened his eyes and was astonished by what he saw.
-
Markus gaped at the beautiful picture before him. It was a drawing of both Markus and Connor, their hands joined together as they sat atop a wispy white cloud. The background was a pleasing mix of baby blues and pastel pinks that supplementing the magenta of Markus’ jacket and the navy blue of Connor’s sweater. The expression on their faces was nothing short of infatuation, both of them meeting the other’s gaze with soft smiles and even softer eyes. Connor’s sat in Markus’ lap, gazing up at Markus’ face which sat on his shoulder.
It was all Markus had wanted.
Connor appeared to freeze up as his eyes fluttered open, the palette falling from his hand as he stepped back.
“rA9, help me…” Markus muttered, an expression of pure awe in his eyes. “It’s amazing.”
Connor avoided Markus’ gaze, his face going red as he struggled to process what he had done.
“It’s fine, Connor,” Markus gave a reassuring smile, fingering the zipper of his jacket. “I have something to show you.”
Connor was dumbstruck as he took slow steps in Markus’ direction towards a covered canvas, the former rubbing at the bottom of his sweater as he bit his lip. His eyes seemed unfocused as he followed Markus’ lead.
Markus slowly uncovered the canvas, placing the tarp on the table next to it.
Connor’s eyes widened as he took in the canvas, his gaze flickering between the picture and Markus. He stayed silent as he processed for exactly 55.024 seconds before he finally broke the silence.
“Holy shit.”
It was a detailed image of Connor with an endearing grin decorating his reddened face. His head rested in his hand as he observed something in the distance. Behind him was a starry night sky contrasting the light purple Connor wore. His LED was spinning blue with a flicker of pink in the midst of it.
Connor’s LED spun yellow as he observed, astonished at the sight of the image.
“Markus…” Connor started, his expression indecipherable. “I think… I love it.”
Markus huffed in amusement, ogling Connor with a smile.
“I hoped you would.”
Markus took a step towards Connor, catching the prototype’s attention.
“I’m a fan of it myself.”
Connor gaped up at Markus, clearly noting his close proximity with contentment.
“I think I want to kiss you?” Connor made it sound like a question, seeming unsure of it himself. He then stiffened as he realized what he had said. “Never mind, it was… a dumb thing to say, you don’t have to-“
Markus cut him off by capturing his lips in a chaste kiss.
“The sentiment was shared, believe me.”
Connor gave a timid smile, looking at his shoes and grasping Markus’ hand.
“I believe I remember asking you about cheating at arcade games?” Markus offered. “You still up for that?”
Connor met his gaze with a bright smile, giving a short nod.
“Lead the way.”
-
“‘Deviant Leader Caught Locking Lips With the Deviant Hunter’,” Simon read aloud from the doorframe of Markus’ office from an article he found online, raising an eyebrow at Markus and Connor who sat next to each other on the desk. “Care to explain?”
“They’re clones,” Connor lied. “Absolute frauds.”
“You heard the man.” Markus said. “I myself am also a witness.”
“Clones of the original model Kamski made and Cyberlife’s personal prototype, which has no known matching models.” Simon’s eyebrow could not raise any further.
“Yep, now you’ve got it.” Markus nodded at Simon, resting his head on Connor’s shoulder, who in turn kissed his forehead.
“I come here to get a confirmation and instead I get disgusted. Nice.” Simon turned back where he came from and left, shutting the door behind him. “If you touch dicks in there, I’ll know! I’m not sitting on a desk with dick traces on it!”
“Who’s gonna tell him it’s plastic?” Connor whispered.
“No one, let him live in peace.”
“So, are we planning on ignoring the press entirely?” Connor muttered. “Because that sounds like the only thing that won’t result in my death.”
“Tell the press to suck your dick, it works every time.”
“Have you done it before?”
“No. It’s a goal though.”
Connor laughed and kissed Markus, his boyfriend on the cheek. He’d honestly be willing to go through with that idea if it meant more moments like this.
It was moments like these where he had time to look back at their reconciliation and remember why Halloween was his favorite holiday.