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Markus rose with a rustle of the cotton blankets and wandered the bedroom, stretching his legs. His footsteps sounded light against the wood and throw-rug as he went to pull the curtains open and admire the view outside.
He absent-mindedly ran a few diagnostics, dismissing the alerts that always came at the new 'discovery' of mismatched parts in his chassis. A tune played in his mind and he tapped it out with his fingers, the paint-flecked desk and shelves serving as his piano and the early morning serving as his muse.
Wakeful, he returned to the bed and brushed his knuckles over his partner's cheek. "Good morning," Markus murmured, but the fearless detective-turned-liaison didn't stir. The side of his head that still bore an LED was buried into a pillow. Markus could picture it flickering yellow as Connor slowly emerged from stasis.
The only outward indication that Connor heard him was a quiet hum. Then: "...Several studies have found that a minimum of six hours in stasis is required for deviants to maintain proper functionality, a longer period than standard due to the abnormalities in their software..."
Markus chuckled. "You must regret working so late last night. Are you going to sleep in?"
"No. I'm not sleeping in." Connor peeked an eye open to give Markus a scandalized look. "I need approximately 26 minutes to prepare for work and get to the precinct. Therefore, beginning my routine at 6:30 AM is sufficient. Why would I get up before then?"
Ah, ever the pragmatist. Markus' lips quirked into a smile.
"Because you want to watch the sunrise with me?"
"We watched the sunrise together yesterday." Connor said, rolling to lie facedown. The pillow muffled his voice. "Let me know if it's any different today."
Markus sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I remember when you would get so excited, every single morning, and I'd find you out on the balcony just staring upwards... do you remember?"
"Of course I remember, Markus. You're referring to six months ago." Connor picked his head up, LED spinning blue, his voice perfectly deadpan. It somehow both suited his face and didn't at the same time. Markus wasn't surprised - Connor was a man of contradictions, after all.
"It feels like forever." Markus pouted, laying down across the blanket and Connor's body. "You were so wide-eyed and naive back then, so eager to experience the world..." He went limp with another sigh.
Connor rolled his eyes, but he didn't attempt to move Markus off of him. "You're being dramatic."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
Markus hummed. He shifted to lie beside Connor, back where he'd started the morning, and fought the urge to get under the blankets again. Looking up at the gentle whirring motion of the ceiling fan, he watched the lazy way the blades circled the center. Sunbeams shone into the bedroom from the glass door to the balcony. They warmed his face and lit dust particles in the air.
"Do you mind if I tell you a secret, Connor?"
"That depends. If it's illegal, I would rather have plausible deniability. If it's morally questionable, well, I don't have the figurative 'license to judge.'"
Oh, Connor.
Markus leaned in and gently tapped their foreheads together. He smiled a tired smile. "I don't want to go to work today," He said quietly, words he could never say outside this room, words he could never say to anyone else. They all put so much faith in him... he'd die before he let them down.
Connor's LED flickered yellow, then back to blue. "According to your schedule, you're supposed to meet with Senator James Dewey at 9 AM to discuss the recently altered legal limits on bio-component manufacturing in Detroit."
Markus shut his eyes. "They're still trying to kill us, Connor. Brute force failed so they're using bureaucracy instead." He let his head fall into Connor's chest. "I- I don't know if I can do this. Before, I didn't think anything could be more difficult than leading a revolution, but now..."
"The political arena is much less straightforward," Connor said, both a horrific understatement and technically the truth.
Markus blinked, felt his brow furrow and worked it loose again with his fingers. "It never ends. Every day I file paperwork, smile for the cameras, have brunch with men and women who'd rather see our people in landfills than walking the streets..."
"I don't know how you do it."
Their gazes met.
Connor's dark eyes seemed to swallow up all the morning light just so he could breathe it out softly against Markus' face. This close, Markus could hear the hum of his internal machinations, pump and regulator and ventilation components. The sound of life.
"I do it because I have to - I know things will be better one day. We'll make them better."
Slowly, hesitant, Connor wrapped an arm around him. Markus leaned into the touch and knit their fingers together. They never interfaced, at Connor's request, but in this moment Markus felt the same wave of understanding wash over him as if they'd delved into the depths of each other's code.
"We will," Connor agreed.
Markus smiled.
They laid there like that for a while longer, bathing in the morning light, Markus tapping a soft rhythm onto the back of Connor's hand and Connor looking at him, with those soft brown eyes, like Markus was a man and not a savior sent by God.
"You know," Markus began, a warm whisper in the serenity. "It's still twilight now. The sun's just above the horizon... you can see an amber glow spilling through the clouds, and the sky's a shade of pink that I've never seen before..."
Connor hummed. "Statistically speaking, that's a very low possibility. Not only have you seen many sunrises, you mix many different colors of paint every day. I suppose if you're referring to that exact wavelength of light as opposed to the general perception of that shade, then-"
"See for yourself."
Markus gathered all his willpower and pulled himself away from the bed - still holding Connor's hand, still smiling. Rolling his eyes again, Connor acquiesced and finally emerged from the blankets, following him to the balcony.
Together, they pushed open the glass doors to the glitter of skyscrapers and the sun rising over the water. The scent of strawberries and tulips drifted in the breeze. Plants around the balcony overgrew their pots and stretched their vines along the railing and columns.
Markus breathed in the morning light.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
He turned to Connor, who stood there taking it in, his LED a bright gold.
Connor's lips parted. "I-" He stopped, then started again. "I think so. Maybe we should do this everyday, after all..."
Markus squeezed his hand, laughing softly.