Time might as well have stopped flowing forward with how still everything seemed in the silence that stretched. You grew steadily more anxious that you'd somehow insulted his entire bloodline.
The words were foreign on your tongue and the pronunciation most likely off. You'd never heard anyone from Sumeru speaking their native tongue and such had nothing but intuition to go off of.
"I.. loving you?"
Dottore laughed.
But it was a genuine one. Perched on his lap, your body fitting perfectly against his, you could feel his abs tense with every chuckle.
The tips of his ears, barely visible through unruly hair, were flushed. A calloused hand reached to pinch your cheek.
"Your grammar is all wrong."
Before you could protest, huff, defend yourself and the effort it had required to memorise in the first place, he tucked your head under his chin, voice lowered to a whisper.
where connor worries too much about your habit of sleeping at work.
word count - 1.4k
warnings: mentions of struggling to sleep (not sure if that’s a warning but no harm in putting it here)
masterlist
it had been meeting after meeting — multiple, similar conversations about how to deal with deviants. how to interrogate them, prosecute them, even how to defend yourself against an android.
each one was the same.
hence why you saw no issue in quietly dozing off for a few minutes.
or maybe an hour.
“detective.” a soft, quiet whisper, followed by a gentle judge to your arm.
a groan escapes you, you’re not ready to wake up yet. not ready to listen to more rambling about incorrect techniques or whatever they said…
“detective, you might want to wake up.” the tone is still calming. “captain fowler is staring.”
and with that one comment, you gradually sit up straight, removing your head off connor’s shoulder.
“sorry, captain.” you nod curtly, voice rasped as your hands wipe at your eyes.
hank holds back a chuckle from your other side — you’re surprised he managed to stay awake during these meetings too.
with one last stern look, your captain gets back to talking and all the other officers, sergeants and whatnots turn back to him as well.
you just yawn, way too tired to feel embarrassed.
connor leans closer to you, mumbling quietly again, "l/n, do you require a coffee?"
you stare back at him, eyebrows furrowed, "hm?"
"coffee." he repeats, "since you keep falling asleep."
"oh," you smile softly at him, "no, it's okay, thanks connor."
his led flashes yellow briefly before he sits straighter, “if you say so, detective.”
you watch him for a moment longer, taking note of how caring he is for an android — especially when you’re constantly getting told that they can’t feel things.
connor has only been here for a month and he’s already made you doubt that statement on multiple occasions.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
it didn’t take long before you were back at your desk, hands cradling your head and eyes squeezed shut.
thankfully you didn’t have much work to do today. at least, you don’t think you do.
you were enjoying the deep slumber, that was until a certain coin-flicking robot decided to shake you awake.
“connor,” you groan tiredly, hands blindly pushing his solid body away, alas, he doesn’t budge. “give me five more minutes.” you ask, relenting your hands back to cover your head.
“you’ve had a total of two hours of sleep today already — bear in mind, you’ve been in the precinct for four hours.” he states simply, as though tracking how long you’ve slept was what he was designed for. “you need to start working.”
you wish you had another set of hands to cover your ears. “too tired.”
he sighs.
since when could androids do that?
“detective,” his tone is stern now, “your lunch break is in one hour, i suggest you fill out some reports and sleep afterwards.”
when you don’t move, head still glued to the table, he takes one glance at hank — who’s only smirking at the whole altercation — and decides to take things into his own hands.
he pulls a random chair up and slides next to yours.
then, he starts jabbing your bicep with his pointer finger, like an eager toddler demanding attention.
“connor.” a gentle warning. although, it’s more of a disguised plea.
“not stopping until you sit up and log onto your computer.”
a few more agitating seconds pass by before you give up.
you take your time sitting up, typing in your password, and opening up some reports — just to annoy connor.
a smile graces his face, “was that so hard?”
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
he didn’t leave your side. not even when you needed to go to the toilet — he waited outside, but that still felt like he was right there with you.
he claimed it was so that you wouldn’t fall asleep again, which didn’t happen, thanks to him.
you were excited for lunch. excited for the small nap you could fit in. however, connor had other plans.
“detective, i can’t let you sleep, especially since you haven’t eaten all day.” his eyes look at you with so much concern
“but you said if i did my work i could sleep at lunch.” you whine.
“i was only negotiating with you. now come on, i know a great place for burgers.” he pulls you up off your chair by your hand, tugging you towards the exit.
“how do you know of good food places? you don’t even eat…” you query out loud.
he shrugs, hand still attached to yours as you now leave the station. “hank eats.”
that explains it.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
it didn’t take all that long to reach the burger stand — and you have to admit, it was good.
you’re both sat on a bench, overlooking a river as it slowly frosts over.
connor thinks it’s peaceful. he notes how still you’ve become. how your heart rate has decreased to a gentle thrum. how low your cortisol levels have dropped.
he’s slightly amazed that you’re not asleep.
yet. there’s still time.
he takes the quiet opportunity to ask you some questions. “y/n…”
he waits for you to look at him first.
“what’s up?” your response is soft. gentle.
he purses his lips — a habit you think he’s obtained from you. “why do you have such troubles staying awake?”
your stress levels increase slightly.
“i just- i don’t get much sleep at home.” a simple answer.
he nods, pretending to understand. “how so?” his voice stays hushed.
his eyes track how you begin to fidget with your fingers.
“it’s embarrassing…”
he shakes his head, placing his hand on top of yours to stop you from fidgeting. “if it’s giving you issues, it can’t be embarrassing. i would never judge you, y/n.”
he says the latter with such sincerity that you would mistake him for a human had you not known he was an android.
then you look at his eyes. they look more human than most.
his led flashes again, awaiting your response.
a sigh escapes your mouth. “i get nightmares most nights. every night, really.”
his thumb begins to stroke circles across the back of your hand — a tactic he’d just searched up to help people calm down. “are they of anything in particular?”
you have to think for a moment, recall every night. then you shake your head, “no. maybe it’s just because of the job?”
“could be.” he comments, actively wracking every website page he can access that mentions ‘nightmares’. he’d do anything to help you.
you shuffle closer to him on the bench, gradually beginning to feel the brisk, winter air.
“an article says that having a companion with you can help to reduce nightmares.” he suggests, “have you ever tried that?”
instantly you shake your head, a laugh leaving you too, “i don’t know anyone who would willingly stay over at mine.”
“i would. to help you, of course.”
your heart beats a bit faster.
he notices.
“i mean- if you wanted to- if it helps, right?”
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
so now here you are, you and connor both sat awkwardly on your bed.
“maybe close your eyes.” he attempts to help but it just sounds like teasing.
you move under your covers, connor copying, “do you know how to turn off your sarcasm?” you jab back.
“sorry, i’m just trying to help.” he absentmindedly moves closer and simultaneously makes you feel bad.
“i was just playing with you, connor.”
“oh.” he looks around your room, “do you need me to turn the lamp off?”
“uhm, sure, thank you.”
he leans over you to reach the switch, flicking it off before laying back down, now even closer to you.
“would you like me to tell you a story?” he whispers.
“no, it’s okay.” you mumble.
“you’re already feeling tired.” he states with a small, successful smile on his face.
you shuffle your head across your pillow, making contact with his chest as you relax into him. “maybe because you kept me up all day.”
much to his surprise, he enjoys the human contact. maybe that’s because it’s you. he wouldn’t enjoy it if hank were sleeping in his arms instead of you.
he quickly blinks that picture away.
gently, he wraps an arm around you, soothingly rubbing your back.
you’re out before you know it.
if connor had a heart, it would be melting. your soft snores take over his hearing. the smell of your shampoo filling his senses.
but it’s not until he looks down at your sleeping face to see your hand clutching onto his top, your face completely relaxed — that’s when he feels it.
love, maybe?
is that something an android can feel?
the room faintly lights up red as he ponders. it quickly returns to blue when he focuses back on you.
he doesn’t care about what he can and can’t feel- not right now- not when he’s got you.
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