Chapter Text
It took the team a while to notice it. The cracks in Robert's facade. The secret he, chase, and blazer seemed to be in on. And it took them even longer to realize what it actually was. Robert wasn't human. Well, not fully at least. He's just so unassuming, they weren't looking for anything strange or different about him. Odd behavior gets brushed off as Robert being bad with social cues (which he was). His side burns go down a little more than they should and his hair is fluffy but that's not specifically inhuman. His odd yelps and yips that slip out. His canine scent that sonar picked up on but assumed was because of beef. The baggy clothes he always wears. It took a while for the z team to put together the pieces but one by one, they figured it out. Robert is a hybrid. It seems like such an outlandish claim but when the evidence is put together, there isn't another explanation.
Prism noticed but brushed it off as Robert being irritable. The way Robert avoided her light shows, shut down her attempts to show him. He even snarled at her once for flashing lights at him. "Rude bitch", prism huffed
Robert growled, "no one likes being flashed prism".
"Speak for yourself", Invisigal appeared, only to disappear again. "You just don't appreciate art", Prism shit back as she practiced making butterflies. Robert looked away quickly and got up to leave. But the slight second where he was looking at the butterflies was just enough for prism to see it. The vibrant yellow ring around Robert's green-ish eyes. Prism didn't really know what to think of it. Maybe it was a trick of the light? Maybe his eyes were reflecting her light oddly? She eventually let it go. She barely caught a glimpse of it anyway.
Coupe is a very observant person. You can't be an assassin without sharp observation skills. She noticed when Robert left his coffee mug in the break room sink without washing it. She noticed when he was faking annoyance with the team to avoid being vulnerable. She noticed when his voice teeters to a pitch a little higher than his regular voice. As if his deep voice was forced, or at least exaggerated. But people have insecurities around their voices all the time, and it wasn't something that concerned coupe. She found it more sad than suspicious. Robert shouldn't feel the need to make his voice deeper than it actually is. "Why do you do that?", she asked Robert as she placed a glass of water on the table in front of him. He was sobering up with her while the other's sang karaoke. "Do what?" Robert perked up. "You lower the pitch of your voice when you talk". Robert looked uncomfortable at that. Like he didn't expect her to notice. "I-um ... I'm insecure...of my voice". Coupe narrowed her eyes at Robert. He was too drunk to lie well. At least, not well enough for coupe to buy it. But if he wasn't insecure of his voice, why is he faking it? She decided to drop it. If he didn't want to tell her, then that's his decision. It didn't stop her from wanting to hear his natural voice though.
Punch up didn't really put much thought into what coupe told him. A lot of men lower their voices for many reasons. Maybe Robert wants to seem more manly. Or maybe he wanted to impress girls. That deep voice was half of Robert's sex appeal after all. But he made his own realizations that same night. When he was roped into a fight at the bar, his fighting style was not what colm expected. Robert fought like an ANIMAL! growling and biting. Cheap shots and a gory aftermath. He bit a man's finger's off! He clearly wasn't professionally trained. His fighting style was closer to a cornered animal than a person's. As they ate their burritos, colm brought it up. "You good lad? Took quite a hit to the head. Can't believe you but that guy's finger's off!" Invisigal perked up, "yeah, that was gross! Is that what you did to Chad?" "Fuck you invisibitch! Mechadick sliced them, the fucking bitch." Robert just sighed and held his soda to his head. Yep, definitely concussed.
Out of the many things about Robert that annoy Chad the most, was his stupidly soft, shiny hair. Like he puts no effort into his grooming and has hair like Chad's! That's fucking ridiculous, or at the very least unfair. It was made worse by what he found in Robert's bathroom last time they visited. They visited their dispatcher fairly frequently, especially after chase and Mandy got him more furniture. It looks like an actual home now. A depressing home, but it's a start. The z-team were setting up for their weekly movie night. Sonar and Robert were making popcorn, invisigal and prism were fighting over the movie choice, and malevola had brought over blankets and pillows. They loved Robert but they didn't feel like being covered in dog hair (And a strange amount of his hair shedded all over the couch??).
Flambae busts out of the bathroom looking pissed. "2 IN 1 ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" Robert looked over and shrugged. "I'll I saw in your bathroom was two in one and pet shampoo. You're seriously telling me your hair looks like that and you use body wash on it???" Flambae huffed. Prism chuckled, "should have known". Malevola put her face in her hand, "c'mon babes, you can't just not shampoo your hair. You're 30, you should know this". Robert shrugged again. "I do shampoo. I use the same one beef does." The room froze. The only one who wasn't surprised was chase. "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU USING DOG SHAMPOO?!?" Malevola and prism exclaimed in unison. Robert gave them a blank look. "I donno, It works the best for my hair." "I mean ...he does have nice hair. Soft too." Sonar said.