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Years have passed since the android revolution. Androids and humans are getting along, to some degree. You can always remove the systemic oppression, but some people will always discriminate. Some androids are fine with it, some are not.
Connor is one of those that are fine with it. He can handle a few slurs thrown his way. Hank on the other hand, will punch anyone that tries to hurt his adopted android son.
Not that he can do it better than Connor now that he's suffering from osteoarthritis. It sucks, but Connor took it upon himself to lessen the pain. And that means more nagging. Which also sucks, but Hank is also grateful that Connor cares.
Now that Hank is retired from DPD, he spent his days sitting at home doing moderate exercises and watching tv as he waited for Connor to come back home from work. So it's just him and his old dog in the cozy little house for the most time.
And it's fucking boring.
Don't get him wrong, he knew that he can't take another punch to the gut and another broken bone. But come on, there's nothing to do besides sitting around. Sumo is getting older too, he can't walk the block as long as he used to. Sometimes Hank is still amazed by Sumo because he's so much like him. And now to add another similarity to a growing pile, they both now have arthritis.
The first time Sumo felt enough pain on his joints was when he was taking a walk with Connor. He refused to walk back and Connor had to carry the 170 pounds of fur and boofs back home for five blocks.
Connor has stated there is no cure for arthritis, the cartilage won't simply grow again. But both of them can undergo a joint replacement surgery. Hank decided not to, Sumo is too old to have a full blown surgery and he's worried that it's just going to cut the dog's life short. Also Hank is too stubborn to get a joint replacement. Said he's going to die with all of his original bones to respect his mother's great effort at growing it.
Sometimes Hank wonders how the hell Connor could tolerate taking care of two arthritis ridden beings while also doing a hella good job of being the new Lieutenant.
That's right, Connor got promoted. The rest of the team kind of agreed that they would be a mess without Hank or Connor and now that he's retired, Connor would be the best next choice and Fowler seems to agree. Gavin is kind of frustrated, but so far he's been treated fairly by Connor so he doesn't have any real complaint.
The door clicks open and Connor marched in with grocery bags all over him. He went to the kitchen to organize it, and Hank is still observant enough to see that Connor's left arm has a huge chunk of it missing and his normally pristine black suit now has a dark stain, and Hank is willing to bet real money that if you wipe the stain, it'll be blue in color.
"What happened to your arm?" Hank asked when Connor kept putting it foods in the frigde without saying anything.
"Oh, a suspect attacked me with a crowbar. I'd go to a repair center, but the supermarket would be long closed after I'm done and I'm not about to let you eat instant noodles for dinner," he said with a tone like he's describing the weather. "Plus it's not bleeding anymore so I don't need to rush, it's a minor wound."
"A minor wound? Half of your upper arm is missing!"
"Actually, half is not right since-"
"Shut up. Go to a repair center, dumbass."
"No, I'll go tomorrow. I'm tired."
Hank let out a frustrated sigh. Connor can't get tired, but he used that excuse everytime he doesn't want to do something and he doesn't want to explain why.
Connor really took after Hank in terms of stubbornness. He had worked 50 hours straight when he's determined to catch a murderer, at the expense of his system overheating and he had to take the next week off to fix his fried components. And that was when Hank was still a lieutenant. Thinking about how Fowler is the only person authorized to stop Connor from overworking himself puts another wrinkle on his face.
"Fine, suit yourself. If your arm malfunctions tomorrow don't come crying to me."
Connor just shrugged as he prepared dinner. It's not going to malfunction. He was lucky enough that the crowbar didn't hit his main wiring so he still can move the arm just fine.
Well that's what Connor thought.
The next morning, Connor woke up Hank at 7 for their morning exercise.
"Good morning, Hank. I've prepared a breakfast, then we can do our routine exercise," Connor said as he moved to draw the curtain.
A loud squeak startled both of them.
"What the hell was that?" Hank jolts upright, checking if Connor accidentally stepped on Sumo's toy or something.
Connor made a confused face before saying, "I'm not really sure either."
They both decided to forget about the squeaky noise and went to have breakfast. Well, only Hank is eating breakfast. Connor went to fill Sumo's bowl with nutritious foods to lessen the joint pain.
Another loud squeak rang through the quiet house when Connor opened the cabinet where he kept Sumo's food.
"Okay, will you tell me what the hell was that or should I call Markus and have him send North to drag you to the nearest repair center?" Hank said as he dropped his fork irritably.
"I swear I don't know what's going on! I checked my systems before going to stasis last night and everything is fine!"
Hank eyed Connor suspiciously. Connor felt his stress level rising.
"Okay okay, it's not fine. My arm's main receptor is missing."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"That means I'm receiving a bunch of error message but it's all garbled since it's not translated. I don't know what's wrong with my arm."
"And the squeaky thing? You have any guess where it's coming from?"
"I think I do. I'll have to make sure, though."
Connor deactivates his skin to check his arm manually. He opened one of the compartment to check what's wrong.
The android fell silent after seeing whatever is wrong with his arm. Hank swears he looks embarassed.
"What? What is it?"
Connor just lifted his forearm, creating another squeaky sound.
"It seems that there's a tiny crack on my elbow and the thirium inside of it has leaked overnight," he said. "My, uh, joints are now rubbing together harshly and it's making a squeaky noise."
Hank just nodded absent-mindedly before the realization hit him full-force.
"Wait, does that mean-"
"Yes, Hank. I am aware that right now I'm suffering from the android equivalent of arthritis."
Hank broke out in a fit of laughter. Connor looks unimpressed.
"That's what you get for nagging me every day you little shit!"
"Alright, enjoy yourself. I'm going to the repair center."
Before Connor could stand up and run away, Hank stopped him right on his track.
"I'm going with you."
The smugness of his smile told Connor that he's not going to take no for an answer so he just resigned to the fact that Hank is going to ridicule him in front of everyone in the repair center.
Embarrassment is one of the thing Connor dislikes in his deviancy.
And right now he'd like to bury himself and never come out ever again, thank you.