More Than A Machine || Connor x Reader D:BH

#2 | Stress Struggles

When he's stressed

(Y/N) watched from the doorway, concern spread across her face as she fiddled with her hair, hoping for a distraction. Once the revolution came and went a massive spike started to tear at the DPD's records. People had aggressive opinions on the deviants - whether they were positive or not - and felt as though they needed to express them; up to the point where the cops needed to step in.

Connor was in the household office, papers were spread across the desktop, pencils that he'd knocked over with his arm were now laying around the chair and he was running his hands through his now messy brunette hair. His girlfriend leaned against the cold wall, worried about his current state. She'd never seen him this frazzled, it wasn't like him to work this late or this long and he looked exhausted for someone who didn't need to sleep.
Connor had been assigned a separate case to (Y/N), because of this she had to work on completely different clues, suspects and witnesses, meaning Connor was going solo to catch a pretty important perp that'd been causing havoc throughout Detroit.

And it was really taking a toll on him, especially since nothing seemed to add up.

(Y/N) pulled at the bottom of the oversized t-shirt she'd swiped from his closet, mainly because her night gown was in the laundry. Plus, his shirts were comfy and made good pyjamas. She watched him scramble to look for a document, sighing.

"Come on, come on... I put it right there.." He muttered, searching through the drawers of the desk.

"You good babe?"

He glanced over his shoulder, gave a quick, obviously forced smile and nodded before picking up more papers and scanning over them. "Yeah, yeah..Just fine, love." He paused, looking at the page in his hands. "That's not it either..You would've thought in our day and age they'd give us digital files instead of paper copies."

"Yeah, you would've." She tried to hide the anxiety in her tone. She could see his LED whirling a bright yellow and didn't know what to do about it.

She figured he needed a break from work, and when her light bulb moment hit she was glad they installed the swinging chair to the backyard varanda. Her feet padded across the flooring as she went to stand behind Connor, his cocoa eyes flicking over each document in front of him. She sat her head on top of his, loose strands of (H/C) hair tussled over either side of her face as she sat a hand on his tensed shoulder. He placed his hand over hers, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.
"What are you thinkin'?" She nestled her nose into his hair, a soothing warmth washing over her body.

"I'm thinking I've got to get this case done, yet it's almost impossible." He pressed a quick kiss to (Y/N)'s hand, now more focused on her rather than the case. "I might take a break soon, though. I'm getting nowhere."
"You should've taken a break 3 hours ago."
"3 hours, but- how long.." He looked at the clock on the wall and was almost shocked by how late it had gotten. "2AM? How is it already 2AM?"

He felt her hand tense and the weight on his head was gone. His LED went back to its cool blue as he searched for signs of exhaustion or anger in (Y/N)'s face, but she just smiled gently at him, patience in her (E/C) eyes.

"God. Love, I'm so sorry. Is this why you've been up so late?"
She replied with a quick 'mhm' before taking him by the hand and dragging him out of his chair.
"I'm not saying you should stay up all night and work like the psycho you are only to feel shitfaced by morning," they passed the living room - where Blue was snoring peacefully without a care in the world - and the kitchen before they reached the back door. (Y/N) opened it with her free hand, Connor trailing behind without question as her bare feet tapped across the wooden boards, leading him over to the swing. "I'm saying if you're gonna do that then you need a break."
"Hon-"
"Nup nope nope nope. No buts, except yours in the chair." She pointed to the colourful cushions sitting on the suspended seat. It rocked gently due to the light evening breeze. She let go of his hand, waiting in anticipation for his next move. She just hoped he didn't think this was stupid, she was too caught up in worrying about his stress to think about her own.