System_err0r | Detroit Become Human (Connor x Hank)

Chapter 1: Ignorance_is_bliss

Life in Detroit had returned to a semblance of normal after only a week had passed by. People that had fled the city returned as snow still drifted from the sky, laying a thin sheet of white over the bustle of life and making everything appear calmer than it was.

The day after the revolution, when Hank had learned that Connor had no place to stay, he had declared that Connor would be staying with him until he got sick of Hank. – "I do not believe I would be capable of that, Lieutenant." – "We'll see about that and call me Hank for fuck's sake". And Connor was more than alright with that arrangement. He felt more stable with a clear purpose. Take care of Hank, Sumo and their home.

Two weeks after he started living with Hank and Sumo, the Detroit police department had allowed him to take up his post as Hank's partner again. Connor had been unable to refrain from smiling, not that he wanted to. It was fascinating to feel something so strong that wasn't part of his program, yet being unable to supress it. But mostly, he had hated being at home while Hank was hunting down criminals without him. Without Connor being there to act as his shield should the situation require it.

Cleaning and taking care of Sumo had only been able to fill a small part of his day while Hank was at work. Connor didn't particularly mind going into stand-by mode until Hank returned, as it was better than actively waiting and having his system send him the priority task titled "Hank status update required" every three hours. But Hank had caught him once while in standby mode and grown increasingly upset when he learned that Connor would just switch off after doing the chores.

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Hank and Connor had finished a particularly violent case earlier in the day, where a male android had been dragged off the walkway into a side-alley by a group of android-haters, beaten until he was close to shutting down and then hacked into pieces. The body parts had been strewn about the side alley and blue blood had left its mark on almost every trashcan and object, painting the concrete and walls.

When they had gotten home, Hank had gone straight to getting himself drunk, after making sure that Connor was taking this case better than he was. His system had detected a software instability when he had seen the victim but that had been neglectable. Far more neglectable than the software instability that arose whenever he saw Hank drinking, his hard drive supplying him with already downloaded information about the consequences of prolonged heavy drinking.

Connor had disabled that information window weeks ago, after its appearance had almost forced him into emergency mode and caused error messages about his thirium pump not working correctly to pop up.

It reminded him of the time when the other RK800 had threatened Hank with a gun. After cross-checking the situation with various movies and books, he choose to classify it as feeling panicked.

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Since he started living with Hank, the latter had cut down on his drinking habit but it still remained his go-to solution whenever something upset him a great deal. There was nothing Connor could do about it, except hope that his presence could continue to make Hank feel at least somewhat better.

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Connor looked at Hank, who by now had fallen asleep on the kitchen table, nearly empty whiskey bottle at arm's reach to his right.

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He opened the bedroom door before going back to the kitchen to pick up Hank and carried him to the bed that was bathed in the light of a streetlamp, laying him down on his side. There was a pile of dirty clothes next to the wardrobe. On Hank's insistence, Connor only did laundry and a thorough cleaning of the house once a week. After pulling the covers over Hank's frame, Connor just kept standing there, looking and memorising Hank's exhausted face caressed by the warm, yellow light that came through the window. It made his face look softer, the wrinkles less pronounced. He seemed startlingly vulnerable. More so than usual. Most would not realize because of Hank's gruff exterior, but the man was undeniably fragile and yet unyielding and strong.