The Man and the Tin Can (Gavin x Connor)

3. October 7th

"Finally, that plastic prick fucked off already..." Gavin thought to himself, as he put his last paper he just finished writing on the pile.

"Finally. Whole week's work is done." Gavin felt proud of himself, putting his hands behind his neck, relaxing.

Then his eyes caught a glimpse of a coffee cup on his desk, confusing him for a few seconds.

"Oh yeah, the plastic detective brought it to me." He picked up the cup and took a long sip. "Heh, it even knows how I like my coffee. At least the tin can is useful for something."

The coffee was still warm, so he drank all of it then threw the cup in the trash. "Just cause it brought me coffee, doesn't mean I'll be the machine's friend." He thought, wiping his lips.

He then looked at the time on his phone. 23:02.

"Damn, I'm turning 37 years old in 58 minutes. Life needs to slow down, Jesus. First it's like I'm 16, having my first kiss, then I get a fucking robot as a partner literally just a day before I'm 37." He mumbled to himself, standing up and taking out a ciggarette from his pocket.

He smoked a few minutes away by the DPD's smoking area.

Throwing the ciggarete and stomping on it, he then drove home.

The ride lasted about 20 minutes, which wasn't that long. He blasted Britney Spears on a high volume, not giving a shit, just hoping nobody gets too angry for the loud noise.

Gavin then walked into his apartment, being greeted by none other than his ginger cat.

"Hey Baker." He unusually calmly said, locking the door behind him and carefully picking up his furry friend. "I'm sorry I was at work for so long. I had a bunch of stuff to finish, plus, I got a machine as a partner now."

As he vented, Baker sympathetically meowed and nuzzled into the man's neck.

He loved his cat so much. Since the first day he found him outside, in winter. Baker was the best secret keeper in his life.

"I'll put ya down now, sorry, Baker" Gavin mumbled and put his cat down, so he can get his shoes and jacket off.

The man that walked into his bedroom, where an LGBT pride flag was hanging above his bed proudly.

There were also pictures of him and his friends, Baker and DPD holiday photos on his shelves, one of them featuring Connor.

It was last year Christmas, where everyone accepted Connor and talked to him like he was human and shit, while at the time, Gavin was getting drunk by his desk.

God, he fucking hated that Christmas party.

There was also one photo of him, his step-brother, father and step-mother.

Gavin stopped and looked at it for a second. "Fuck all of you" he murmured and turned around, plopping down on the bed.

Baker followed, jumping up and cuddling next to the man.

"What's the fucking point anymore... An android will replace me sooner or later anyway..." Gavin had an urge to go to the kitchen and get some beer to ease his mind, but he was too tired, plus, Baker was comfortable near him, so he didn't wanna disturb the ginger cat.

"I'm sorry if I dissapear one day, Baker. Just know that I love and appreciate you." Gavin pet the cat, it's eyes closed.

Gavin had little tears in his eyes. "Goddamnit. I'm probably gonna have an episode again." He wiped them and tried closing his eyes and sleeping.

But the thought of being rejected by his whole family, on top of that, the fear of being replaced by an android and it being favoured over him was too much.

Gavin Reed sobbed quietly, resisting shooting himself in the head with his pistol given by the police department yet another night.

"You still have Baker, your friends Tina and Chris. Come on, everything's going to be okay. You've come this far, you have to keep going. You'll be 37 soon, you can't give up right now. You may not be a smartass like Kamski, but you're a good detective." The voice of support and reason in his head told him, calming him down.

He pet Baker again, to reduce his stress.

But when he remembered he has to go to work and see that machine that is now his assigned partner, he shuddered.

"Fuck. It's my birthday, and a Friday. Should I not go to work tommorow and celebrate?" He asked Baker. The cat was sleeping, so he got no response at all.

"Nah, I have duties to do. Despite having an android in my way. I can celebrate after the day. Goodnight now, I'll stop bugging you, Baker." He scratched Baker's ear then fell asleep, his tears drying on his face.

In the morning...

Gavin, most importantly, fed his cat, washed up his face, fixed his hair and changed his clothes to a dark red hoodie and a pair of jeans, so he doesn't look like a human version of the term "Depression", then left for work.

First thing he did after coming into DPD, was taking a mountain of reports and getting them to Fowler's office.

Shocked by the amount of papers on his desk, Fowler was about to yell at the inferior for not finishing them on time, but the Detective just said "See ya later, boss" and walked out with a tiny sprinkle of sass.

Since he knew his friends should be in the break room by now, he quickly walked there, a happy grin on his face. "Hey-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!" Before he knew, Tina and Chris were yelling their lungs off at his face while there was confetti shot above him.

He nearly tripped on the ground from the sudden noise. "Jesus, guys! No need to scare me like that!"

"Come on, loosen up a little, report-writer! You got so much work done yesterday, so why not celebrate today?" Tina patted his shoulder gently, smiling.

"Oh yeah. You guys wanna go to a club with me after work, or something?" Gavin asked.

"Wait, wait, wait, come to my desk, Gav, you need to see what I got for you!"

Gavin braced himself. "What will it be now, Tina?"