System_err0r | Detroit Become Human (Connor x Hank)

Chapter 3: before_alice_went_to_wonderland_she_had_to_fall

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They were out, sitting in Hank's favourite bar – Jimmy's –, when Connor first 'fucked up big time', as Hank would call it. Connor blamed the fact that androids were usually far more in control of their bodies than humans, making every slip that much more noticeable.

The bar was loud and bustling with regulars, the music drowning out most of it, but Connor's audio components could pick it up easily nonetheless. He usually turned their volume down a bit whenever he played the role of Hank's drinking companion because it distracted him. But he still kept the background noises at an audible level, in case there was a threat. Like the time an android hater had thrown a half full bottle of beer at him. Hank had been furious, almost shaking with anger as he had rounded on the man. The man had quickly been thrown out by the barkeeper and some regulars, but not before Hank had given the man a bloody nose. Most regulars were used to Connor by now, even greeted him and exchanged some words with him, but sometimes new faces came.

Whenever they came here, Connor would order a beer for himself, even though he couldn't drink it, but Hank said he appreciated the gesture. Throughout the evening Connor would sample the beer dozens of times, although a single sample would be sufficient. By now he had a list of over twenty different beers to compare against each other.

Jimmy would sometimes buy some brand he didn't usually have by the bottle for Connor. Hank had roared with laughter, saying Connor got better treatment than Hank did.

At the end of the evening Hank would finish Connor's bottle, saying it was a waste of perfectly fine beer.

Tonight, Connor ordered 'Simpler Times'. Hank snorted in amusement next to him, and Connor felt a smile tugging at his lips.

They sat there in comfortable silence half the time, conversation topics often scarce with Connor. Hank didn't seem to mind, but Connor often felt something that could be regret at not having experienced enough to keep up an easy conversation.

Something in him clenched – Connor isn't sure what precisely as his system doesn't give him error message – as Hank joked with Jimmy and some regular sitting next to him.

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Connor wanted to be able to replace them, wanted to be able to joke with Hank like them, wanted to be the cause why Hank's eyes crinkled at the corners as his body shook with laughter.

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He turned his head away from Hank, staring at the bottle of 'Simpler Times' in front of him, mouth turning down at the corners without his consent. He quickly schooled his features into a blank mask, turning the bottle around so he wouldn't see the label and his optical sensors would stop focusing on it. Instead, he opted for sampling the beer again, so as to have something to do and have his RAM occupied with something else.

Just as he lifted the bottle, Hank's arm was suddenly a heavy weight around his shoulders. The quick movement obviously had not only caught him by surprise, as the motion sent Hank tilting dangerously close.

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Processing....

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Before Connor had time to recover, Hank's face moved towards his ear, nose bumping against the shell of, making Connor's system flash with error messages.