Who Are You Really? - RK1K

Chapter Eleven - Wake

When Markus had heard Connor groan uncomfortably, he had thought it was because he had disturbed him. He hadn't expected the younger android to begin shivering violently, eyebrows furrowed in discomfort and... fear. There was no way Markus would mistake that intake of breath, the twitching movements of his face, the unnecessary tensing in Connor's body for anything else.

Connor was scared.

And as much as he wanted to help, Markus didn't know what to do. Connor never got scared - not that Markus had seen Connor on the roof of Stratford tower as he looked over the edge, fearing the fall that would surely kill him on impact again- and despite the few days they had spent together, he didn't know how the other android responded to contact unless Connor had initiated it.

Still, he reached out his hand to rest on Connor's when it reached out, soft and gentle as he ran his fingers along the pale skin. Cold. How had Connor gotten so cold so fast? Markus had only gotten up for a quick sip of thirium, and Connor's temperature had dropped unhealthily quickly, even for an android.

"Hey, Connor?" Markus tried, voice soft. Perhaps Connor could hear him, maybe it'd help. Unlikely, but it was worth a try. "I'm back, it's alright."

Connor let out a soft whimper, though the shivering slowly slowed down as Markus sat down on the couch next to him. Markus' hand travelled up to Connor's shoulder, rubbing slowly. "I'm gonna take you to bed, alright?"

Markus was sure Connor couldn't hear him, but it felt right to say something before he carefully picked the hunter up, finding the android was light than expected - especially for someone built to kill.

Said 'built to kill' android made a light groan of discomfort before managing to turn back to Markus' chest in his sleep. Markus suddenly found it hard to believe Connor had once completely intended on killing him - well, subduing him, but Connor may've killed him if Markus hadn't managed to make the deviant hunter deviate.

He laid Connor down on his bed, climbing in afterwards, smiling softly when the younger deviant snuggled into Markus' chest again. It occurred to Markus that this is the sort of thing human couples did, though he guessed it was fine - the majority of humans thought they were a couple anyway.

Markus still couldn't decide if the article was a curse or a blessing - the cuddles and dates were something he could indulge in for a very long time yet.

Distantly, Markus decided to introduce Connor to Carl.

Connor woke up warm and comfortable, despite the weight of something draped over his waist and back. Despite how it held him down, it was more grounding than caging as he shuffled further into the warmth.

Slowly, he blinked his eyes open, letting his systems reboot as they always did, giving a small smile when he tilted his head up to see Markus' sleeping face just above his. He watched as the leader took calm, even breaths, chest rising and falling in time with the warm air escaping from his slightly open mouth.

The sun that peaked through the window proved to not disturb Markus' rest at all as it shone on his face, reflecting off of the smooth, soft skin, no imperfections visible despite the eye that Connor knew was a spare part. He'd have to ask about that, actually.

"Markus," Connor whispered, "Markus, I need to get up..."

Markus gave a soft groan as he turned onto his back - or tried to. There was no bed there, so the deviant leader, the one who led an entire revolution, fell off of Connor's bed with a thump, tumbling over the floor for a little before he sat up. "...Did I just fall off the bed?"

"Yes. You overestimated the size of the mattress and fell of the bed," Connor confirmed with a nod, leaning over the edge of said bed with a bemused expression. Deciding it was the perfect opportunity for a joke, Connor gave a wink, "Bit early to be falling for me, don't you think?"

Markus blinked a few times before laughing, hand covering his mouth as he tried to dampen the sounds of his wheezes. What Connor didn't know, is that Markus was wondering when Connor had become so smooth, because holy shit-

"I'm gonna go wake Hank up, I'll be right back, okay Markus?" Connor smiled, flipping his body around easily. Legs hanging over the side of the bed, Connor leant forward, reaching an arm out, "You really should be more careful, Markus."

Markus let out another laugh as he used Connor's hand to haul himself up, "Where's the fun in being careful? It's not like a fell of a building."

"But you did fall," Connor combated, letting out a soft, loose chuckle - not unfamiliar to Hank's - as he stood. "Like I said, I'm gonna go wake Hank up. You can get changed, if you want. I have an idea for what we could do today!"

"Sounds good," Markus grinned, brushing off non-existent bits of dirt from his wrinkled clothes. "Actually... Can I borrow some of your clothes? Mine are wrinkled."

"Sure, there's a dress shirt in the closet and some jeans in the second draw down," Connor nodded, finally leaving the room to wake Hank.

Markus was pleasantly surprised to find that he and Connor were only two clothing sizes apart - Connor's dress shirt was a little smaller than Markus would usually wear, but it didn't look bad under his coat, the jeans were quite... tight-fitting, though.

Either way, he looked good. Giving himself a nod, he turned away from Connor's mirror and entered the kitchen, were a grumpy human lieutenant and enthusiastic android detective awaited him. Connor turned to him first.

"Hello, Markus," Connor greeted, flipping some pancakes in one hand as he shook up some whipped cream in the other, "Would you like some thirium?"

"Oh? Sure, I'm a little thirsty," Markus nodded, sitting down across from Hank, who was looking at him with a smirk. "Is something wrong, Lieutenan- Hank?"

Hank shook his head, letting out a bemused chuckle. "You two act like an old married couple."

Connor turned around, eyebrow raised as he handed Hank the plate of pancakes, "Why would you think that? Android marriage hasn't been legalised, and won't be until human authorities decide to accept it."

"Don't worry about it, kid, just my old man imagination running in overdrive," Hank smiled, shaking his head at Connor's obliviousness. Markus, however, was internally celebrating - the most likely thing for Connor to say was 'Markus and I are not romantically involved, and therefore would not marry', but he didn't. Markus sincerely hoped Connor had avoided saying that on purpose.

Connor blinked for a moment before giving the smallest shrug - something he had picked up from a few other officers on the precinct. He gave Markus his thirium before getting a bottle for himself from the cupboard.

He wondered if a feeling could be warm as he watched Markus.