Perhaps he should’ve tried harder to pay attention, Connor thought to himself as he sat in Fowler’s office, Detective Gavin Reed beside him.
More so, he knew that /morally/ he should’ve. He didn’t have any regrets about it, though.
The man beside him was standing up. And he was yelling at their boss. All Connor did was (intentionally, may I add) tune it out with his own thoughts:
‘Why did the detective hate him so much?
Is he like this with everyone else?
What did Connor do wrong?
He thought Gavin’s views would change even a little bit after the revolution, why wasn’t that the case?
...
Should he get another dog for Sumo so he has a friend?’
Glancing up at Gavin, he’s sure he would have scanned him if it weren’t for the anger clearly written on his face, which gave off enough indication of how he was feeling.
“Seriously, I’m not working with that tin-can-plastic-prick!!” Connor could hear Gavin yell at Fowler as he tuned back into the conversation, his words angry as he aggressively gestured to the android sitting calmly beside him. It stung his heart, like venom. Well, he assumed that’s what it might have felt like. He wasn’t sure, he’d never experienced the sensation of venom surging through his body.. However, he was sure both the man’s words & the toxins would leave behind the feeling of immense discomfort that sunk in one’s heart.
“This isn’t a debate, Reed! Either you suck it up, or you can say goodbye to your job. I’m not arguing with you about this any longer!! You’re a detective, you’re capable of deciding what you’re going to choose!”
Gavin gritted his teeth, knuckles white, his hands locked in a tight fist. He let out a few angry, mumbled curses as he turned around and stormed out the office.
“He’s like a child throwing a temper tantrum sometimes, I swear..” Fowler mumbled to nobody in particular, shaking his head disapprovingly. He then turned his attention to Connor, eyes locking with his. “I don’t want to hear complaints on either end, got it?” He demanded more than asked, his voice stern.
"Yes, sir. I understand.”
"Good. Now get out of my office. I have shit to do.”
Connor nodded, already getting up mid sentence and heading to the door.
He sighed deeply from emotional exhaustion as he stopped at the end of stairs to the office. It was a habit he picked up from Hank, and was just something he did subconsciously now, among a few other things. One that Hank didn’t like was Connor rolling his eyes, but he continued to do it anyways sometimes. However, he had to hold back that urge when he was in the office with Fowler & Gavin.
Which, must he add, was difficult.
After collecting himself a bit, he headed over to the man, who was tapping fast & subtly aggressively on his desk. Connor took note of it silently, it was something Gavin tended to do without thinking, similar to how the android would rub his hands together while walking.
His attention was fixed on the files he had received from Fowler, however, Gavin’s attention darted to Connor when he got close enough, his eyes narrowing just the slightest bit. An indication of increased annoyance, he assumed.
“What?” He snapped.
“We have time before we head over to the crime scene, approximately one hour and twenty-three minutes. After you‘re finished reading over the file Captain Fowler sent us, I thought perhaps we should discuss how we will approach the case.” He calmly responded. “We can leave to do it outside of a work environment, if you would prefer.”
Gavin stared at Connor for a few moments before looking at the file, pausing.
“I was just reading it over a second time. I already read it.” He stood up while speaking, walking to the exit leave. Several steps in, turning around to the android. “C’mon Tin Can, let’s go!” He persisted, raising his voice slightly before turning his back again, continuing walking.
Connor gave Hank a slightly bothered look, who was glaring at Gavin, a disgusted yet furious expression on his face. He then looked over to Connor, catching his gaze. Hank’s expression softened a bit.
'If anything goes wrong, tell me.’ He signed, something along those lines.
For personal reasons, Hank & Connor both used American Sign Language with each other on occasion, the lieutenant learning it specifically for the android he considered his son.
Instead of properly responding, he simply nodded before going on to follow Gavin. He knew nothing would go wrong, it was more so about if it got too overwhelming.
Regardless, hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
