Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

Once Upon a Time

November 8th, 2038
AM 02:36:44

Enchanted forests were a common theme in fairy tales – often representing a place of danger, or refuge.  You'd seen them depicted as both mazes of dark, twisted trees that marked points of no return; and bright, sunny clearings framed by lush greenery.

You'd never seen Detroit as either, and yet, much like the city that held a duality of both threatening and majestic; a forest of sky-scraping guardians protecting lost orphans:

You found yourself rooted in place by an internal struggle between love and logic.

Love, an emotion that was supposedly exclusive to your kind.  That which made humans infatuated with the concept of dangerous adventure, and the sanctuary that came after.

Logic, the foundation of an android's existence.  Methodic, processed actions that dictate a system of fabricated organs.  A principle that shouldn't have allowed the being in your company to make you question if you were dreaming a romantic fantasy.

Once upon a time, you'd been sleepwalking through a dark, twisted maze – waiting for a light to guide you to refuge.  Now, your inhibitions laid in a burning stockpile of disenchanted lumber; sacrificed from a leafless canopy and reduced to protective layers of ash.

You couldn't escape. You breathed in cool, wet air to douse the flames trapped in your flesh and bone vessel, but it only fueled you with the steam.  The fizzling out of your bruised past joined the symphony of dark days, stoking the flames as they chanted a black and blue hymn.  The paranoid patterns in your mind realigned, preventing backtrack to lessons learned from a failed adventure.

Your spine met the door, the glass shuddering along with your body.

His lips slipped past your jaw and massaged the rapid pulse in your neck, his fingers locking in your hair and aiming your face at the night's sky.  Your teeth chattered at how good it felt, and you clawed at his jacket.

"Connor-"

You tried to stop him.  Tried to course-correct a derailed train of thoughts that told you this was okay.  That he wasn't risking deactivation by pursuing human emotions, or wants.

His hard body froze, and his eyes cautiously leveled with yours.  He looked nervous, scared, confused...and behind all that, there was an ounce of lust.

"What about-" You sucked in another breath, trapped between him and his hand now anchored on the door above you.

His fingers curled on your back, holding you in place.

"What about CyberLife?"

His yellow LED blinked rapidly, almost in sync with the heavy breathing that had his shoulders rising and falling.

His features tensed, and his eyes closed.  He shook his head, turning away.  He swallowed hard, and a frustrated growl rumbled in his throat.

"...Are you okay?"

He snapped awake, and found you in a wide-eyed stare.

"I don't know what happened-"

And then the panic started.

"I don't know why I-"

"Connor."

"I...I can't...I didn't-"

"CONNOR."

He jumped, his arms dropping to his sides.

He looked at you like you'd slapped him across the face, his LED flashing red, "...I should...I should leave-"