Chapter Text
*WHFWHFWHFWHF*
Connor was quickly awakened from where he lay on Hank’s sofa, studying the ceiling above him and wondering what brought him out of stasis mode. His gaze began to follow the odd shapes of the room, the moonlight beaming through the windows while creating various silhouettes from the shadows across the living room. He waited a few minutes without finding a disturbance in the room, aside from the old saint bernard, Sumo, snoring in his little corner on his dog bed.
The once Deviant Hunter shrugged and readjusted his blanket, getting comfortable as he closed his eyes and reinitiate his stasis mode.
.
..
…
*WHFWHFWHFWHFWHF*
Connor’s brown eyes shot open and frowned.
There it was again, that weird sound.
Tossing the blanket aside, the deviant detective rose from his makeshift bed and wandered around the living room in search for the mysterious sound. The first place he checked lead him to crouch down in front of Sumo, the old dog oblivious to the deviant and deep in his own slumber.
“Are you the one generating such noise?” Connor pondered aloud.
All Connor could detect from the saint bernard was the continued heavy snores created from such a large breed. Standing his full height after determining Sumo was not the source of the disturbance, Connor continued his search as he quietly walked about the living room. He inspected every piece of furniture, bookcase, and even checked the kitchen. He opened the cupboards and drawers with no avail. Every piece of equipment in the vicinity failed to hold the source of the sound that plagued the curious android.
Connor went towards the hallway and approached a door to a long dormant room of its previous occupant. His hand was held hovering over the handle, carefully reconsidering his decision, then slowly withdrew his appendage. Connor did not want to disturb the capsuling memories within.
*WHFWHFWHFWHFWHFWHF*
Connor heard the noise again and gently cracked open the door to another room. His android optics scanned the bedroom, his eyes landing on a large form sleeping on the bed.
Lieutenant Hank Anderson: a once decorated officer of the law, a now recovering alcoholic, and a man who once hated androids… the one who helped lead Connor, who somehow wormed his way into the older man’s torn heart, to his eventual deviancy. A man the deviant respected and considered a friend.
Smiling, Connor reminisced when the two met up at the Chicken Feed the following days after the Revolution. Hank found out from Connor the deviant had refused to stay with his people, never revealing the true reason as to why. The only explanation Connor gave was he did not trust himself and the other free androids were wary of him. With no place to go, Hank invited Connor to stay at his home for the time being until the new laws allowed for Connor own his living space. The reformed ex-deviant hunter tried to decline the offer but after much insistence from Hank, Connor accepted. During the passing month Connor eventually was rehired by the DPD and ended up becoming a continued resident in the lieutenant’s home.
A loud snort and a grumble from the older man knocked Connor out of his musings, causing him to refocus and continue inspecting Hank’s room. From the doorway the deviant searched the bedroom and furrowed his brows when his software failed to detect any sign of the annoy sound. Slowly he closed the bedroom door, relenting his search and making his way back to the living room.
*WHFWHFWHFWHFWHFWHFWHF*
Connor froze when he heard the mysterious noise once more, except this time it was different. The noise was much closer and was near his head. With wide eyes Connor placed a shaky hand on his right ear and heard the dreadful sound again…
Deep inside his artificial ear…
Something moved…
Fluttered…
A glitched scream belted throughout the house.
The sleeping lieutenant shot straight up from his bed as he heard thundering steps in the hallway and the door to the bathroom being flung open. Hank realized the scream sounded like Connor. Worried and confused as to what was happening, Hank quickly got out of bed and made his way towards the bathroom. Once at the doorway, Hank stood confused as he witnessed the deviant standing in front of the mirror, head tilted to the side while frantically probing his right ear. He had never seen Connor look so panicked, even during the point when his doppelganger was holding him at gunpoint.
“Connor?” Hank spoke as he walked cautiously towards the deviant. “What’s gotten into you? What’s wrong?”
Brown eyes darted in the mirror at Hank’s reflection and pleadingly he turned to face the gray-haired man.
“H-Hank… please help! It’s in my ear!”
As he finally was near the frightened deviant, something told Hank this was going to be an interesting night. Hank tried to calm the deviant by placing comforting hands upon Connor’s shoulders.
“Hey calm down! I can’t help you if you don’t chill out!
Trying to ground himself, Connor focused on Hank while still grasping his ear.
“There… there was a disturbance I continued to hear throughout the night and… could not find the source. But now—”
Connor cringed as he felt and heard the fluttering sound and began to panic once more, clawing his ear.
“Now I have come to realize it’s in my ear! Hank, there is SOMETHING in my EAR! I NEED HELP!”
“Okay, okay! You need to get a grip on yourself otherwise I can’t help you!”
Slamming down the toilet lid, Hank coaxed the distraught deviant to take a seat.
“Just try to relax for me, alright son?” Hank reasoned as he searched in the medicine cabinet for a particular item.
Connor looked up and saw the older man place a men’s grooming kit on the countertop of the sink. Opening the small container Hank found the item he was looking for, tweezers. He then left the bathroom briefly and brought back a mini flashlight. The whole time Connor tried to hold it together as the fluttering noise continued to invade his inner artificial ear.
With a flashlight in one hand and tweezers in the other, Hank took a deep breath as he prepared for the unsettling task.
“Alright, let me take a look in there and see if I can find whatever the heck’s going on in your ear.”
Mimicking Hank by taking a breath of his own, even though the deviant had no need for the human gesture, Connor tilted his head to allow Hank access to his artificial ear. Hank placed the small flashlight in the android’s ear and began searching for what was ailing his friend. The old detective had to pause in awe at one point of how human the inner workings of the deviant’s ear appeared. The only difference was the absence of human hair follicles and the occasional ear wax.
Connor was worried when Hank just stood there. “Hank?”
Rousing from his curious inspection of the deviant’s ear, the burly man shook his head.
“Sorry kid. It just looks so… human.”
“CyberLife designed androids to have the closest appearance to humanity,” Connor commented. “They left very little to the human imagination.”
“Yeah… hold still for me,” Hank continued while shining the light deeper into the artificial ear. “Crap I don’t even know what I’m looking for, or if I’ll end up pulling something wrong!”
“Don’t worry Hank,” Connor tried to keep his voice steady. “I trust you.”
Hank had to smirk to the deviant’s unintentional child-like plea.
“Thanks for the confidence—Hey I think I found it! Hold still!”
Connor gripped at his knees and clinched his pajama pants as he felt the tweezers dig in his artificial ear canal.
“Almost there… and… GOT IT—What the?”
Hank pulled the tweezers out of Connor’s ear and with it the terrible noise. Connor exhaled a breath he had no idea he was holding and felt relieved. The deviant android turned to see what Hank had found and was staring with the same perplexed expression as his friend.
Held between the tweezers was a small fluttering gray moth.
“A moth? You had in your ear this whole time a MOTH?”
“I’m… very confused as to how such an insect found it’s way into my artificial ear.”
“Well,” Hank began, “bugs can crawl into any small orifice they can find, especially insects that like to burrow. Ever heard of Earwigs?"
Connor contemplated a little as he did a brief search with his database on species, “Hank, that particular insect rarely ever ventures into a human ear and mostly likes to burrow into rotting wood.”
“Yeah, but aren’t ears moist on the inside? It’s still a possibility since we just found a moth in your ear, right?”
“Perhaps… but—”
“Anyways, what’re we going to do with this little guy?” Hank questioned as the moth struggled to free itself from the utensil.
Connor stood from his seat and encased his hands around the restless moth.
“We’ll release it outside.”
Hank gave a lopsided smirk and removed the pressure from the tweezers to allow the moth into the deviant’s hands. They both went to the front door, Hank leaving the entry open as Connor released the moth into the cool morning air. After closing the door, Connor was just standing there while sheepishly gazing at the wooden floor.
“I can’t believe I let a tiny moth get the better of me.”
Hank patted the deviant on the shoulder, “Hey don’t feel embarrassed! We humans tend to freak out over the smallest things!” Bringing Connor into a shoulder hug, Hank gave one last encouraging pat before continuing. “After all, that’s all part of being human? Right?”
Side glancing at the old lieutenant, Connor shook his head as he felt at ease with his experience. With a yawn, Hank stretched his limbs and rubbed his lower back as he trekked his way down the hallway.
“I’m going back to bed. No more yelling tonight, `kay kid!”
As Hank rounded the corner to his bedroom, the deviant gave a soft smile, genuinely appreciating having a good friend.
“Thank you, Hank.”