A Learning Experience (Connor x OC)

A Human's Favorite Passtime

The evacuation had effectively done just that. Two weeks had already passed since the issue had been ordered and still the city was relatively empty. Many people were still scared of these new androids. No official laws had been made from the government, and CyberLife was at a standstill. All that was known was that any aggression taken towards androids were considered serious offenses. So people just straight up left to Canada, moved away, or were still waiting for the government's final rulings on the androids.

Some restaurants had opened, a couple of bars, and gas stations, the essentials for those who had returned. But Detroit was not the same as before and everyone could see that.

Hank had advised Margaret to stay at his home till normality was restored. With not many people around and CyberLife still a threat, it was safer at his house. But now her and Connor were at a limbo on what to do. They had been taken off of the cases and no longer worked for CyberLife, so they had no reason to be at the police station. The detective side of work was relatively slow considering there was no one around to even question, so Hank would go to work and just do reports. And everyday Connor just stayed at the house looking like a kid who had just been grounded because he couldn't go along with Hank. So while he was saddened from lack of any work, it was a perfect time for him to experience new things.

She made several calls to a couple of restaurants around town and decided to order an assortment of different foods to be delivered to Hank's home. She paced back and forth talking on the phone with the restaurants as Connor watched her go left and right, eyeing her with interest.

An hour later of receiving food, she set it all down on Hank's kitchen table. Connor stared at all the food curiously.

"Margaret, our celebration was two weeks ago. Wouldn't this amount of food be more appropriate for that occasion?" He tilted his head at her.

"It's true, but Hank's outta food, so we need something fresh. Plus, I want you to try some of this."

"You know I can't really eat right?" Connor gently reminded her.

"Well you can consume foods in very small portions. The thirium in your body will break down, although it's not recommended. But I think this is an exception," she smiles.

Connor looked over at all the foods with curiosity, unable to keep his eyes on just one item. Eventually, he carefully picked up a piece of chicken from a Chinese container and placed it on a plate. She nudged him and nodded in encouragement to take a bite.

He stabbed the chicken with the fork and slowly brought the food to his lips, where he took the smallest nibble possible. For such a small piece of food he chewed it for some time, meanwhile making an array of different faces whilst doing so.

First, he seemed confused, then he raised his eyebrows in shock, and finally, he gave a small smile.

"I think I...like it," he finally says.

She laughs at his insecurity about food, but she loved the idea of him trying one of humanity's favorite pastimes: eating.

She picked up several food items for him and placed it on both of their plates, Connor eagerly eyeing each and every one.

"The food smells...appealing," he says.

"I know. I'm absolutely starving," she says eyeing the pizza box.

"Now this is a classic, Connor. Most humans love pizza," she picks up a slice for herself.

He picks up the pizza and takes a small bite from the very tip, extending the cheese and creating a cheesy trail. She laughs as he stares awkwardly, not knowing what to do with all the excess cheese. He pulls the string away and pops it back to his mouth. He stares back at her and she motions him to tell her what he thinks.

He thinks for some time for the answer. He could get with easy route and answer what the pizza's chemical compound was, but humans usually don't describe foods like that.

"I can see why humans find these foods to be addicting," he says. "I believe I found my favorite food," he says with pride.

She rolls her eyes and chuckles at Connor's answer. It seemed like whatever was new to him became his favorite. Small bite after small bite, Connor ended up trying everything she had ordered. Every new food was a new favorite. He couldn't make up his mind and he ended up making a mental list of which were his favorites. She watched him with tenderness in her eyes as he rambled on about flavors and how he never thought about activating his taste sensors.

The front of the door clicked open and Hank walked in with his usual grumpy face and stopped mid-walk when he saw the pile of food on his kitchen table.

"What the hell's all this food?" He opened his arms wide open in surprise.

Margaret chuckled nervously, "Well, since Connor's learning about human things, I thought trying out food is some of the simplest things he could do."

"But did you have to buy out half of Detroit's goddamn food supply?"

"Well Hank, I'm sorry I don't want to keep eating your 2 week old leftovers!" She put her hands on her hips.

Hank cursed under his breath and grumbled, "Did you at least get something for me?"

She sighed, "Yeah, got you your favorite," she handed him a container.

Hank sat down and gobbled down on his food. "So...Connor, what's your verdict on eating?" He said while chewing.

"The idea of eating is...foreign to me since I have no need to eat. I've never used my taste sensors since I mainly analyze, but..." he glances at all the delicious food and smiles, "But the food is rather pleasant."

Hank nods and eyes Margaret, "I thought you were a healthy eater? The hell happened?"

She shrug and picked at some of the food on her plate. "I decided to try something different too. Too much of the same thing is boring. I guess we're all changing little by little," she smiles warmly at Connor.

"Aw, shit. Calm down with that lovey dovey crap," Hank winces and moves to the couch instead.

Margaret shakes her head at Hank's dramatics and reaches over to grab a fortune cookie for her and Connor.

"Here, Connor, open this," she places a cookie in his hand.

"What's this?" He questions.

"It's a fortune cookie. You crack it open and read the fortune inside, it can tell your future or give advice."

He inspects the fortune cookie and eyes it suspiciously, "Is this small piece of paper really capable of telling my future? That seems implausible, only special androids are capable of that."

"You believe what you want to believe. But many people take it quite seriously."

She cracks open the cookie and quickly stuffs the cookie in her mouth and reads her fortune and smiles to herself and quickly pockets it in her back pocket. She watches as Connor reads his. He keeps reading the small paper over and over again, like he was analyzing every word of it.

"You ok, Connor?" She arches a brow at him.

"I...yes. I think I understand what it means perfectly," he finally answers and pockets it as well.

"Hey, you too! The game just started!" Hank calls them over from the couch.

"Alright, Hank. Time to watch your team lose again," she teases him.

"Hey! Don't jinx it!" He yells back at her.

She chuckles and walks over to plop on the couch. Meanwhile, Connor remains at the kitchen table and continues to ponder at the fortune. He glances at Margaret and  unpockets the fortune.

Love is around the corner.

He smiles and walks over to the couch where Hank proceeds to shout at his team for the next hour.