METAL GUARD DOG ⊳ connor x reader

Ch. XVII

"I'm the driver!" Pavel shouted as soon as Mikolaj had stopped beside a rather shabby, yet big car near Hank's house. Connor scanned it, yet was unable to identify its model.

"Fine, asshole." The short haired boy smirked and threw a bundle of keys at the chubby young man. "You're too fat to fit through the window anyways."

Fitting through the window? Why would any of them need to exit or enter through the car window?

"Is that supposed to hurt my feelings? Get some better insults." Pavel answered with a shake of his head and opened the car, throwing himself onto the driver's seat.

"Mikolaj." Connor spoke up, dragging Vader behind him as he approached the boy.

"Yeah?"

"What do the car windows have to do with...well, anything?" He asked, changing Vader's position to be able to support him better.

"Oh, let's not spoil the surprise, alright?" Mikolaj smiled cheekily, to which a strange, uncomfortable feeling settled in Connor's stomach. Maybe he hadn't been born with instincts, but he was still willing to trust the emulations he had been endowed with after his deviancy.

"I won't partake in whatever this is if you don't explain your so-called plan to me."

"Don't get cocky with me, you fucking Mecha." The boy hissed at him. "I make the rules. If you don't like them, leave. But know that you won't be finding out anything about your little friend."

Connor could only scoff, left without anything else smart to say. For the nth time in the past two days, he found himself having no choice.

"Connor, Vader, backseat." Mikolaj added smugly, glad to have won the argument and pointed at the car before settling down beside Pavel, who turned on the engine with a rumble.

With a grunt of displeasure, Connor pried the back door open and let the Vader stumble inside before entering as well. He had no idea what exactly he was getting himself into, and, quite frankly, disliked it. Connor inhaled sharply, watching Vader lean his head against the car window as he burst into low, throaty chuckles. Mikolaj and Pavel were both talking about something before Miko grabbed the steering wheel forcefully and moved to tower above the chubbier boy, who put his hands up in submission and nodded. Why the hell was he even going through with this? For Hank.

He was doing this for Hank.

"To the overpass, Pav." Mikolaj interrupted Connor's thoughts, earning himself a form nod from the chubby blonde.

"On it."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

There was a small space under the bridge where Pavel pulled over, barely enough to fit roughly 5 cars, with some blankets and other things Connor realized must belong to the homeless, sprinkled all over the asphalt.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, a strong, salty-bitter smell of piss invaded his nostrils, causing him to let out a broken cough.

Since when can deviants smell?

"Some Febreze might come in handy to these guys." Pavel joked, and Mikolaj responded with a chuckle before spinning around on his heels to look for, Connor could only guess, (y/n). A few seconds passed as the boy continued to look around fruitlessly.

"Hm." Mikolaj finally gave up and tapped the tip of his shoe against the asphalt, biting the inside of his cheek. "She's not here."

"Yet." Pavel added sharply. "Want me to call her?"

"No, she should-"

The deviant heard steps from behind him, however his name was called out before he could react.

"Connor?" The voice was all too familiar.

The deviant spun around quickly, almost coming fave to face with none other than (y/n) herself, their noses almost touching. She backed away about 50 centimeters, putting some space between the two of them.

"...yes?" Connor asked, confusion clouding his chocolate eyes.

"You're— What—" Her gaze skipped back and forth between Mikolaj, Pavel, and Connor. The deviant could literally observe her thought process just by looking at her face. Confusion, realization and finally, fear. "You'll have to excuse us, boys." She forced a rather convincing smile before firmly grabbing Connor's wrist and tearing him away from the small group.

As soon as she made sure that they were out of earshot, she grabbed Connor by his shoulder and whirled him around.

"What do you think you're doing, hanging out with people like them?" (Y/n) whisper shouted, her grip on his shoulder only tightening.

"I could ask you the same." The android retorted with his classical diplomacy and a sympathetic, yet knowing smile.

"That's not the same thing, okay? They help me get by and make some cash, but you— You're still— This—" She finally sighed in disdain and massaged her temple with her pointer finger. "You're still innocent. You shouldn't get mixed up with people like Miko, or even that fucking Pavel."

"My actions are not for you to decide."

(Y/n) drew in a sharp breath, obviously reminded of that morning's events. Her eyes left his face for a second, focusing at the group of boys before returning to Connor.

"Play along."

"What?"

Without another word, (y/n) tiptoed, bringing the deviant into a soft hug, running her hands up and down his back, settling her chin on his left shoulder so that her mouth reached his ear.

"Pretend I'm telling you something romantic and smile, okay? It was starting to get suspicious, and this is the best way to keep them away." Her embrace around him tightened in the slightest. "I've got a plan."

What kind of plan? Why would they even need one?

The deviant decided to agree and see where it'd take him. (Y/n) still seemed somewhat more trustworthy than Mikolaj, in a way, he supposed. Connor didn't know. He really couldn't tell who he was supposed to lean on at this point. Yet...something told him (y/n) was his best bet.

"Alright." Connor picked up on the blood that rushed into his cheeks, for some reason, as well as the warmth that flooded his chest. What was that? "I'm listening."

"We're going to go with this, otherwise it's going to look weird if we leave like that." Her voice seemed almost strained, and Connor couldn't decide wether it was because she had to tiptoe or because of emotional reasons. Regardless of what it was, the deviant hoped to ease it by lowering himself in the slightest, curling his frame against hers as he did so, wrapping his arms around her middle. Connor picked up on the hitch in her voice, yet decided not to comment about it. "W-We're not going to take any of their profit, especially if it's not cash. Avoid any personal questions. Did you tell them your real n-"

"Yes."

"Fuck, okay." He could hear take a shaky breath before letting go and faking another smile. "Leave this to me, I'll get us out of this. I promise."