#can you believe i actually split this chapter in half because i realized i wouldn't have enough time to finsih it?

[pierogipete]

finished editing chapter 33 to post tomorrow. gonna get ready for my fiance's 'successful defense' party, then try to respond to comments while i have time. i'm a little nervous about the chapter i'm posting tomorrow, so time to look at everyone's nice messages first haha

[sofiadragon]

Scheduled addendum I wrote after I finished crying, to talk about it in a place where people don't have to click "read more." I was absolutely traumatized by this book by the standards of the antis. As stated, I cried about this story. I cried again just writing that synopsis. A synopsis that likely has some errors due to more than twenty years of time between then and now. It's about an abused and starving child in the worst possible situation as seen through the eyes of a friend too sheltered to understand at first. It's six months of a girl moving to a new town and having her understanding of all adults as safe and good utterly obliterated in less than ten minutes in the last chapter.

You know what the effect of this book was on me? Open eyes that could see.

I lived in a tiny bit of track housing on a dead end street where the developer ran out of money between an abandoned christmas tree farm gone wild and grown four stories, a sheep field, a grain field, and actual wild pine forest. Isolated little patch of cheap split level homes. There was a boy who had always been mean to me, and suddenly I saw that he was always outside even when the weather was bad. No adults were ever home before dark even on weekends. He had had a key to his house on a necklace as long as I'd known him, and most kids in the area were younger than me. There was a five year gap in age above me for the next youngest person in the neighborhood, and about 11 kids clustered into the five years below me that made our social group. I was often the one responsible for the younger kids when something happened. With no through-roads and nowhere to go for more than a mile in any direction, we were pretty safe to just be outside in our little development three streets deep and two across.

Platinum blond and his family had more money than mine, but that didn't mean he had more than me.

I invited the fairy boy over on a rainy day when he lost his key. He wasn't sure, but two boys from the second house down were going to be there until 7 when their mom got home so it wouldn't be just girls. My sister and I played with Barbies and Barbie accessories and the boy's had GI Joe, some little green army men, and Ken. Mom made a big pot of stew out of leftovers he called dog scraps when she had me help get everything out and ready and asked for a frozen dinner like "normal people." I'd never actually eaten one of those at the time, they are expensive.

The whole experience blew his mind, and he came back every so often after that. We all sat and did our homework when my dad got home - including my dad with the newspaper - and we just asked my dad questions while he was reading and he paused to answer whatever nonsense we were on about. We were also allowed to talk to each other so long as that was about our homework. My parents disagreed about some political thing in the paper and just talked about it.

He said my family was straight off the TV. Maybe, but there was one thing about us that no sitcom would touch. Well, maybe one.

He stopped coming over for a while when his parents realized I'd never been to a church. They asked me something and I had no idea what they were talking about. Gasp horror, how can they be good people if they don't go to church? What do you mean your father believes in science and your mother is magic?

He showed back up after a while because how would they know where he'd been. He was never one of my closest friends, and between him becoming a teenager when talking to a girl meant you had to be dating and my family moving into town (half a block from the public library? Yes!) we lost touch.

All the latchkey kids knew my house was where to go if they needed an adult, and that had been true long before I read this book, but I didn't see it until the tears washed the scales from my eyes.

I’m not trying to attack you, but do you know that proshipper means someone who supports and romanticizes pedophilia, incest, and abuse? Your reblog on that post seems to read that you think antis just hate on people for having ships they don’t like. But it’s completely different than that. Just looking on the proshipper side of Tumblr and the internet and you can see people happily shipping children and adults and making nsfw content of such things.

i appreciate that you're not being outright hostile, but i have to say, that on its own put you above basically every anti i've interacted with.

i understand where antis are coming from, i really do. there are a lot of things on the internet that make me deeply uncomfortable, including the minor/adult ships that you mention. i don't want to anything to do with those kinds of ships and i would be happiest if i never saw them again. which is why i'm proship.

nine times out of ten, if i see that kind of ship brought up on my dash, it's because i was following an anti without realizing it, and they brought it up unprompted and untagged, to talk about how bad it is that they exist. they are the ones putting that kind of content in front of my face and making it harder to avoid.

the thing about people who ship those ships is that they're generally very aware that not everyone wants to see that kind of content, and so they tag it. they make sideblogs to talk about it. they don't go out of their way to shove it in people's faces. that means i, and everyone else who doesn't like it, can avoid it.

what antis want is for it to not exist at all. they want the tags to be purged and blocked, and for anyone who uses those tags to have their accounts deleted. and sure, that might get rid of some of it, but do you know what would happen to the rest? it would stop being tagged. people who don't want to see it wouldn't have the tools to avoid it. this isn't just a hypothetical, that's what's happened any time a fan space has tried to do that.

that's not even getting into the rabbit hole of what should be banned and what shouldn't. obviously any content that depicts real children or real life abuse shouldn't exist and shouldn't be allowed to be posted, but basically any platform that people use already enforces those policies, and there's not much of a slippery slope to go down there. if it involves real living breathing people being abused, it's bad. end of discussion.

but the same can't be said for fiction. ask ten antis for a specific list of all the content that should be banned, and you'll get ten different answers. what about kink? what about roleplay? what about horror and murder and anything that involves fictional characters being graphically tortured? what about people using art to process terrible things that have happened to them? what about art that uses dark themes as a horror element? if you just want to ban anything questionable to anyone, that's the line of thinking that gets any mention of lgbt existence banned. and again, this isn't just a hypothetical, this has happened before, and that's generally where it leads.

i know, from personal experience, that antis do, in fact, send harassment to people just for shipping things they don't like. i've gotten accused of absolutely vile shit for shipping two fictional characters who were both consenting adults. i've seen ship wars turn into moral battlegrounds, over ships that an average person wouldn't bat an eye at.

the thing about "romanticization" is a whole other can of worms. the anti logic goes like this: if someone sees something (even if it's very obviously fictional) in a positive light enough times, they will start thinking it's okay in real life, and go on to hurt real people. the problem with that is that it's just. blatantly untrue.

if it were true every horror movie fan would be a serial killer, every person that studies dark media would be an unhinged psychopath, and everyone who is into ddlg would be a pedophile. but they're not. they just aren't. people have directed movies just as fucked up as the darkest shit on ao3, and are still capable of being normal human beings who know right from wrong in real life.

even if someone is that impressionable, scrubbing away the existence of every piece of questionable content isn't going to solve their problem, because they're still going to be vulnerable to con men, scams, and cultists. the only thing that would actually materially help someone like that is developing their own morals and critical thinking.

children are also more impressionable, and there's a lot of content that's not suitable for them, but that doesn't mean that content shouldn't exist. it just means that they should stick to spaces designed for them (which most social media sites, tumblr included, are not) or, if they're old enough to be responsible for their experience online, they, or a trusted adult in their lives, should block and filter out things that they aren't comfortable with.

which is what everyone on the internet should be doing. it's what i do, and it's made the internet a much more pleasant place to be. and it's why i sometimes worry for antis mental health, especially teenagers, because they're being told it's right and moral to seek out content that makes them uncomfortable and to engage with the people making it. and that's just. really bad. it's not good for the creators that they're harassing obviously, but it's also really bad for them! it's not healthy to seek out things that make you feel bad, and it's a terrible internet safety lesson to teach minors that it's okay for them to seek out and engage with people making adult content.

individual harassment and crusading is never going to succeed at removing dark content from the internet. it just isn't. at best you might get a small percentage of people who create that content to stop sharing it, at worst you're just going to make people stop tagging it, and either way, you're exposing yourself to things that make you feel bad, when you don't have to.

if you want to materially change the type of content you see, you can. the block button is your friend, use it liberally. same with content filtering and tag blocking.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Convincing' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Convincing"

"I don't know what I will do when we will get Adler back and I ain't going to be too friendly."

Chapter Summary : After discovering that the whole mission against Naga was an trap organized by Stitch, Yirina and the team are going back to base after this long day.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3200

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This mission was only an big trap widely destined for all of us. Stitch has used the perfect bait for that : saying that Adler was there before relocating to an safer location out of our sight and on top of that, he decided to use his old work before realizing that all of this Nova-6 threat in the region was fake, nothing in here was real, it was just an ambush but we somehow managed to get over it, trying to find intels about where could possibly Stitch has taken Adler...I can't believe all of this that happened and our mission was an failure....we lost precious people....for nothing....

Of course, me & Park directly go to see the others that was still there, saying that the Nova-6 threat was nothing and faked and for that, we had to check every blue barrels that we could find in the camp and for all of them, it was the same thing : nothing in them, not even some fake smoke....nothing. Everyone went pretty angry about seeing all of this as the man that they interrogated didn't tell too much before Wolf terminated him, knowing that we will have no more answers from him.

We took almost half an day to finish to secure the site to find anything else but like always, it was either nothing or something that was useless for us. After the night start to fall, we all decided to go back to base while others CIA agent will watch over the sector to make sure that Naga's remaining men doesn't try anything to take back the camp. During all the flight back, I didn't even pronounce an word and even Park didn't say something, both in our thoughts until the helicopter we used landed back to the base, Woods flying this thing.

"Okay, everyone out." Woods ordered after he landed the helicopter to the ground, turning his head to look at everyone.

"Sounds good for me." Wolf scoffed, still sounding angry as he got out of the helicopter while me, I was awaiting for everyone to get out before following them behind.

"I don't know how Hudson will take the news." Rivas expressed.

"Well, we'll see about that." Woods told her, taking his XM4 out of the chopper as I got out with Park at my side, still not opening our mouths at any seconds, walking with the group to meet with Hudson, awaiting for us as he was going out of the hangar

"How's the rest of the checkup happened ?" Hudson asked, the group arriving near him, smoking one of his cigarettes.

"It didn't went good to say." Woods started, his left hand behind his head to scratch it. "Not only Adler wasn't there but the Nova-6, it was faked."

"Faked ?" Hudson sighed, his eyes narrowed through his glasses.

"Yeah, the barrels, they were empty." Wolf continued at Woods's place to talk about it. "All of them, it was Grigoriev & Park who found out about it." He added, his eyes on both of us...slighty embarassed to be the center of it.

"And to add more, no survivors helped us to know more, we're in the dark." Rivas spoke up, crossing his arms towards Hudson.

"Damnit." Hudson breathed, his hands on his waist. "That's meaning that Naga is our only lead for the moment." He sighed again and I couldn't believe that Naga was the only person that could help us to actually find Adler....if only he will talk....

"The cleaning crew will check up if we missed anything but it's not certain that we will find anything else useful." Woods exclaimed, sounding an bit defeated in his words.

"Good." Hudson whispered, looking inside the hangar and I could see Song...sitting at Garrett's workplace....

"Is she..." I started, breaking the silence I put to myself before stopping myself.

"No, she's not fine if you want to know." Hudson replied harshly to me. "She came back with the few remaining members of Rivas recon team but she didn't speak an word since." He looked at her, with some sort of desesperation in his eyes. "Leave her be for now." He gestured, meaning that he wouldn't want anyone to actually speak to her.

"Where's Naga ?" Sims demanded.

"In the interrogation room in the back." Hudson pointed at the supposed room direction with his hands. "Guy was really beaten up...and his left hand got cut off, might need some time to know what we want." He added, mentioning what I did against Naga but I wasn't proud of it...because I didn't do it...I didn't pull the trigger.

"Everyone needs some rest, we will talk later about it, dismissed." Woods ordered, gesturing to the group to split up and everyone complied, going back inside the hangar but not me & Park who stayed outside in hidden sight.

"I don't think I can't talk to her, Park." I affirmed, thinking that Song is maybe dead angry against me before sitting down on the ground, my back against the hangar's wall.

"I don't know." She said in an broken voice, joining me at my side. "Garrett was like everything for Song and losing him...." She confirmed before stopping herself in her sentence, looking at her with tears in my eyes

"I know that you both counted on me to kill Naga, I know that you're not angry but Song...it's different." I admitted in an low voice, looking down at my feets. "Looking at her, sitting at his office, no, I can't do this."

"I don't want to force you, Yirina." Park stated, putting her arm behind my neck, sounding sad. "But even me, I can't talk with her about it." She continued.

"I can't do this but I'm sure I will have to do this at one moment." I told her as I was thinking to talk with Song but not tonight, I couldn't do it. "This..." I started, taking my ballistic knife off my jacket, the one given to me by Garrett. "He believed in me and me too but....here we are." I put the ballistic knife gently on the ground before looking in the horizon. "This fight is going to kill me before I can finish it."

"No, it will not kill you." Park protested in an normal voice, putting his left hand on my shoulder.

"I didn't tell you what happened after the crash...and before the attack on the camp." I told her, something I didn't really talk about for the day.

"Tell me." She whispered, looking at me worried.

"Adler...I've got an vision of him, thinking at first it was really him before realizing that it was just something to torture me." I started, joining my hands together, seeing them cleaned from all of the blood I had hours ago. "Then, I saw....Lazar." I snorted, passing my hand through my face to clean any tears falling in case. "And two memories." I added.

"Shit." Park breathed, an bit disturbed by what she just heard from me.

"An memory of me, having an discussion with Perseus himself in my old apartment and seeing that I wasn't well in those days and....the other, it was me getting beaten up by Adler." I continued to tell her what she wanted to know, looking at her with crying eyes. "Tell me, do you know why I wasn't talking ?" I asked her.

"No, I don't know why." She shook her head sadly to me. "Adler was always evasive about that and he even refused me access to some files the CIA made about you between the day you got captured and the day I joined his team." She added, making me curious about those files. "But you have to ask Sims for that." She suggested to me, biting her lips

"Do you know why he did this ?" I questioned but her response was an shaking from her head. "So, Sims is the only one who can tell...." I sighed.

"Don't worry, if you want, I can be there for you like I'm always saying." She proposed, making me grin but an very little.

"Yeah, like you always saying...thanks." I whispered, moving to make an little kiss on her cheek for one second. "Listen, I think you need to go get some rest." I suggested.

"And you ?" She demanded.

"I want to make an call and if possible, talk to Sims." I responded, slowly getting up and helping her too to get up. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." I affirmed, making an little kiss again on her forehead before I let her go back inside.

It took me actually 5 minutes to get myself back inside the hangar, getting my equipment back at its place on the desk me & Park used but keeping my M1911 with me and during all of that, I was trying to not make eyes contacts with Song, not wanting to provoke her or to talk to her right now. She was so sad and crying in silence that I wanted to keep my eyes away from her, not wanting myself to cry again, she was in pain...and I can understand that.

Once I was done of getting rid of my equipment, I walked slowly to get to the room where the secured lines were located to make the call I mentioned to Park. I wanted to talk with Zasha, keeping them updated about the situation and it would make me better to hear their voice after 2 days of not having an discussion betwenn us but with what happened, I couldn't be so sure about been better.

"Zasha Smirnov." I heard their voice through the phone only after one ringing from it. Guess that they were not very busy at the moment.

"It's...Yirina." I whispered in an low voice, trying to sound good.

"Oh hey, it's good to hear your voice to say." They affirmed in an pleased voice.

"Yeah, me too." I said but my voice was betraying my real state and I knew that I couldn't keep it to be honest. "Zed, things didn't go as planned."

"What ? What are you saying ?" They asked, hearing them getting redressed in their chair maybe.

"Today, we had an mission in the jungle to stop Naga, save that Adler & neutralize the Nova-6 threat." I started, sounding mostly bad to talk about it. "I...we lost Garrett."

"No." One simple word but I could hear the shock in their voice. "He...no, you can't say that." They told me, sounding sad too before realizing that I was saying the truth to them.

"He saved me by sacrificing himself, Zed." I said, snorting.

"Shit, I'm...I'm sorry." They apologized even if they weren't aware of it. "I...he was an good guy, Yirina." They affirmed, their voice almost cracking. "Uhm, you maybe want to talk about something else ?"

"Uhm...yeah." I breathed, not even sure of my words.

"Well, Portnova's new job is very nice to say." They started, trying to sound positive even with the news I brought them "She has some good students with her and her colleagues greeted her well." They added, making me grin to hear that.

"That's good to hear." I expressed. "And what about you, Zasha ?" I questioned them, wanting to know more about their job at the MI6.

"Like I told you 2 days earlier, it's fine." They admitted, taking an deep breath. "Is there something you want to say ?" They asked after some few seconds of silence between us.

"Yeah, I want to know something about me, only if you know." I exclaimed, redressing myself to look if anyone wasn't near the door like Hudson did 2 days. "Do you know why I was sick in the end of December 1980 ?"

"Why you were sick ?" They repeated an bit confused. "Wait, let me think." They added, hearing some scratching. "As I remember, you weren't willing to talk about this." They finally replied, making me breath in defeat. "Even with me & Portnova, you never said why you were like that."

"Not even an idea ?" I suggested.

"Not even an idea." They repeated again my words.

"Shit, I would have like to know." I expressed an bit deceived to not learn anything new about this particular situation. "It's okay if you don't know, I will surely find it one day." I affirmed, scratching the back of my head, seeing no one entering the room. "There got to be an reason for that." I thought to myself in an silent voice.

"I can't help you with that but is there anything else I can maybe help ?" They demanded, curious.

"No, we had nothing to help us : the mission was an trap for us, the Nova-6 threat was faked and Adler was already taken away." I replied, almost angry and urging to punch an wall but that wasn't going to help me. "Naga is now our only lead."

"Damnit, Naga isn't the type of guy that will talk easily, it will take time for that." They said as they know him well, thinking about the memory where me & Zasha met him.

"I know but we'll find an way, I hope." I chuckled, raising my shoulders. "Listen, I have to make some things and take an big rest, I had an long day."

"Yeah, what you said....shit, it's very hard to hear about, I'm sorry again, Yirina." They apologized again, sounding bad again. "You call me back when you have something or maybe if you want to talk about things." They added.

"Don't worry, I'll call you." I grinned a little about it. "Say hello to Portnova for me & Park."

"Like always, say my hello to Park too." They told me in an half-pleasant voice. "Bye."

"Bye." I whispered before I hang up the phone, leaving me alone in that room and to say, that call didn't really make me feel better at all.

With that call ended, I wasn't sure if I was really going to leave that room, fearing to dump on Song but I got some courage in me and I left the room, wanting now to have an talk with Sims if it was possible, it was better for me to talk to him now instead of waiting too long for that, it was an perfect occasion. Luckily, he was one of the few remaining persons inside the big hangar, the others has already left to get to the dorm.

"Sims !" I called him out as he was sit at his desk alone, checking up an old picture of him & Adler as I could see it, arriving at his desk.

"Yes ?" He slowly turned his head around to look at me, curious.

"Can we have an word ?" I demanded and he nodded.

"Is this about earlier this day ?" He asked me, referring to that moment before I got to Naga or that moment when he asked to lower my gun & spare Naga's life...couldn't tell... "You know, I would have shot the bastard too but if he can help us by having Adler back..."

"Naga is an warlord, Sims." I exclaimed, crossing my arms as I leaned against his office. "It's going to take days to get him talk and even, if he's going to talk." I added, sure that Naga will not crack easily.

"I know." He breathed, looking back at the old picture he had in hands : him & Adler at the 'old times'.

"About Adler, I want to know some things." I started, finally getting into the subject with him. "There's things that it's disturbing me."

"I guess so." Sims whispered, putting down the picture on his desk. "What kind of things ?" He demanded.

"Well, do you know why I wasn't talking at all 3 years ago ?" I directly asked.

"Uhm...you want to talk about this ?" He said, looking an bit disturbed as there were some few peoples around us. "We should get outside for that." He proposed, getting up from his chair as I follow him outside, it was true that the subject was not something to be an common topic to talk about. "Yirina, I...."

"Just tell me why !" I cut him gently in his words, seeing his hesitation.

"I'm sorry but I don't know." He told me, making me roll my eyes.

"You...you don't know ?" I raised an eyebrow to him, not believing him at first. "You were with Adler and as I heard from Park, the CIA has made some files about me between the day I was captured and the day that Park arrived in Adler's team, files that she wasn't allowed to access." I continued, clear in my voice.

"And me too." He affirmed, making my eyes go wide.

"What ?" I breathed, sounding an bit shocked.

"The files you're talking about, they were all made by Adler and only him could have access them, not even me." He admitted, pointing at himself and looking away in the horizon. "Unfortunately, after Solovetsky, Adler told me he destroyed every files about you except the ones Park saved at the old safehouse."

"So, there's no way for me to know why I wasn't talking ?" He sadly shook his head to my question.

"You could still ask him, you know." He suggested but as we all know, it's hard these times. "I don't know what he did to you to be honest." He added to his statement, taking an deep breath.

"And also....how the CIA wasn't able to find out that Adler lied to them about having me in an coma ?" I questioned Sims about this, awaiting for an answer.

"Adler is the guy whose words are meaning an lot, so when he told the bosses that you were dead, everyone believed him." He replied, sounding an bit disturbed to tell this at my face. "Adler is convincing, to say."

"Yeah, pretty convincing !" I repeated those particulars words, meaning an lot from me. "Like he pretended to make me feel secure & safe by working with him, right ?" I expressed, remembering his words, trying to convince of his 'goods' intentions towards me. "Sims, were you aware of my state ?"

"No." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Like everyone else, I thought someone else killed you but not him."

"You know the man for almost 15 years, Sims." I stated, looking at the picture he took with him in his hands. "Do you ever think that he lied to you at one moment ?" I asked him honestly, almost knowing the response in advance but I wanted to know what Sims was thinking of it.

"Maybe, doc' is always hiding something from everyone, Yirina." He answered, passing his hand through his head before looking at me with good eyes. "I never asked but how's memories ?" He demanded, curious.

"Fine, they're recovering but I still need answers." I responded, a bit embarassed to talk about it to him. "It could be memories from my time in the safehouse 3 years ago or memories of my past life ?"

"You don't remember some moments inside the safehouse ?" Sims was sounding confused to hear me saying that as I nodded. "Shit."

"Must be the bullet Adler shot me that did provoke that." I pointed at my scar on the side of my head rapidly. "I don't know what I will do when we will get Adler back and I ain't going to be too friendly." I said to Sims to be honest before deciding to slowly walk away from Sims, wanting to get some rest. "Thank you for talking with Sims."

"You know that I'm willing to help too in case, Yirina." He affirmed to me before removing himself from the wal he was leaned against. "Remember that you're not alone, we're here to help." He added, causing me to stop in my walk to look at him with an little smile.....

"I know, Park is always there for me but also you're an friend to me, Sims..."

[thatsweetsexypsychotroyotto]

I'm Not a Bad Person- Chapter 6

SUMMARY: Troy Otto does have feelings you know. He's in the process of figuring them out; especially when it comes to his childhood friend, Jaymie. Whatever they are, they're rooted deep, and they're growing.

WARNINGS: Language, Warped thoughts, Violence.

WORD COUNT: Fuck if I know.

PAIRING: Troy Otto x OFC

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My plan is to follow along with the events of season 3, but with my OFC involved. I'll veer off plenty of times and probably switch shit up completely. Not sure yet. We'll be exploring different characters' perspectives throughout the series. I'm not great at this writing thing but I try my best. Hope you like it enough. All characters except my OFC don't belong to me.

*******

Chapter 6

(Jaymie's POV)

The next day, a memorial service was held to honor Charlene- Jeremiah's goddaughter. She was the pilot of the helicopter that Jake, Alicia, Luciana, and Travis were on. She survived the crash, but the dead got her on the way back to the ranch.

To be honest, I didn't like Charlie. She was such a bitch to me. It was because her dad had an affair with my mom, and her parents split up. So she took her anger out on me.

One particular day she was talking shit; telling our mutuals I'd end up a whore just like my mother. That was stupid of her, mostly because Troy happened to be walking by. He turned and made a beeline straight to Charlene and decked her; no questions asked. I laughed my ass off when I found out. Wish I could have seen it first hand.

Naturally, Troy got in sooo much trouble. Mainly because he hit a girl. Pretty hypocritical of Jeremiah, but he was a "Do as I say, not as I do," type of parent. So, Troy was grounded for a month. That didn't stop me from sneaking in to the Otto's house every single night though. I'd take him desert and we'd stay up till 3 or 4 in the morning playing cards and board games.

Anyway, after Charlie's service, it was lunch time. I worked the line with my friend Gretchen, scooping globs of mac and cheese onto everyones' trays. Madison and Alicia were approaching, and I heard a community resident giving them a hard time. I felt bad for them, until Alicia said that people should be harassing Troy instead of them. Madison responded, 'I think they would be if they knew what he had done.' I know what Troy did was fucked up. That won't stop me from defending him though. Nothing will. I guess that makes me fucked up too; and I'm fine with that.

Both Madison and Alicia stopped abruptly, making eye contact with me. They realized I was serving, and that I most likely heard what they said. I tried not to let it show that it bothered me, but I know my eyes looked sad.

Gretchen broke the awkward silence with her subtle humor and kind words. Then she invited Alicia to attend one of her "Bible studies" (which was actually just a handful of our friends getting together to drink and smoke pot). There was no hiding Alicia's reluctance, but Madison practically made the decision for her to go. I'm grateful for it, because I need to figure Alicia out. Is she trustworthy? Could I see myself becoming friends with her?

***

About 2 hours later...

(Jake's POV)

How am I going to convince Troy that he needs to stay away from the Clarks? Ever since T.E. began he's been harder to control. I need Jaymie's help on this. She's the only person who has more influence on him than I do.

I find the two of them working together on mending one of the crops' fences. Both their faces are plastered with smiles. They kneel, preparing to wrap extra barbed wire around the bottom of a post. I can't make out what they're saying, but Jaymie throws her head back with a vivacious laugh. She nudges Troy with her shoulder, and he retaliates with a playful shove, causing her to topple over. She counterattacks by throwing a handful of dirt at him. They're honestly adorable.

It's a heartwarming sight to watch my brother in normal-human-being mode; and genuinely happy. Jaymie's good for him. Except on occasion she tends to enable his psychotic side. Though I'll admit that many times his semi-sociopathic behavior has been in her defense. He saw nothing wrong with it when he ki- ...never mind. I don't want to think about that. Anyway, the pros still outweigh the cons by a long shot, and they really are a good match. I kind of thought they'd have gotten together by now.

Troy offers Jaymie a hand and pulls her back to a kneeling position. She tries to wipe the dirt off that she threw at him, but she's actually making it worse since her hands are covered in soil. They're still laughing when I reach them.

Troy notices my presence and his smile falters slightly. "The boar's back. Keeps digging up the fence posts to get to the cabbage. Could use an extra pair of hands tracking it tonight."

May as well cut to the chase. "Stay away from Madison and her family."

"They're my friends."

"They came here under my invite. They trust me."

"They came here not to get eaten. I wouldn't flatter yourself."

Jaymie snickers at Troy's response, then looks at me with a grin she tries to suppress.

"Yeah, but they're staying cause I said I'd protect them- from you.

"And how are you going to do that?"

I knew this would be difficult. "Please don't do this, Troy. Please. I'm the one who still believes in you."

"Well I don't need you to anymore."

"Yeah, you do. If the ranch knew what you really are-"

"And what am I Jake?"

I look to Jaymie for an assist, but she's clearly upset with me. She stands and stalks toward me, grabbing my arm to pull me away from the scene. "What the hell would you say that for?!" She scolds me quietly.

"You know he broke in to Madison's cabin and threatened Nick?"

"And you're dumb enough to believe she's not over exaggerating?"

"Do you have any idea what he was doing at the depot? Do you?" Her expression is unreadable. "He was murdering people, Jaymie; timing how long it took them to change."

She sighs. "Yeah, yeah I know."

"Then why are you standing here upset with me?" I don't understand. She's acting like it was no big deal.

There's venom in her response. "Because of what you said to him back there, about what he is. You act like he's some kind of monster, Jake. He's your brother! Why would you say that?!"

I cannot believe what I'm hearing right now. So much for getting Jaymie on my side. I walk passed her and reapproach Troy. "Do you really think you were helping those people out at the depot?"

"I think I was helping all of us."

Alright. This is going nowhere. Let's try a different angle: "Troy, when Dad's gone, this is all on us. We have to take care of this place. We have to lead."

"Together." His tone sounds incredulous.

"Yeah. But I need you to do something for me. I need you to stay away from the Clarks. Do you hear me?"

"Yep. I hear you."

"Do you mean it?"

"I always mean it, Jake."

There's nothing more I can say. I turn to leave, and as I pass Jaymie, I beg her in a commanding tone, "Please help me with this. I need you on my side. Troy needs you on my side. He just doesn't realize it." She narrows her eyes at me with annoyed inquisitivity. "Just, think about it, alright?"

***

(Troy's POV)

Jaymie's so pissed off at Jake. She's always got my back. It doesn't matter who it is or what it's about. I know she doesn't agree with everything I've done. She does try and steer me in a different direction sometimes. I don't listen to her as much as I probably should, but whatever I end up doing, she never ever judges me. She's the only one. God, I love that girl... Wait, what?

"You alright?"

"Huh?" I didn't even notice she was by my side again.

"Forget what Jake said."

"Wasn't even thinking about it."

"Good." She gets back to helping me with the barbed wires, in silence, until, "Maybe we should both avoid Nick and Madison. Just for now?"

"Nah, I'm gonna have Nick help out with the boar tonight." I feel her looking at me. "It'll be fine, Jayms."

She considers my words for a moment then nods. "Alright. Well, I gotta get ready for Gretchen's Bible study. I'm gonna try and get to know Alicia; see what I think of her."

I give her a half-hearted smirk. "Have fun with that." I'm just bummed out she's leaving.

"I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Later, Jayms." I watch her walk away, lost in the thought I had just a minute ago.

*******

[scatcatz]

Affection by Decimals

Chapter 2 - Fuzzy Paws and Fuzzy Thoughts

Summary: Doing something nice for Connor. Lots of fluff.

"So, was the aquarium what you hoped it would be?" Connor asked as he tried flipping the stamped coin they got from the machine commemorating their visit.

"Yeah, it was beautiful. They changed it dramatically since I was last here but I'm glad they still have the piranha tank. They are terrifying little critters."

"They are ‘opportunistic carnivores’."

"Think you could swim across a river before they could eat you?" He was never tired of her bizarre hypothetical questions.

"Yes, for multiple reasons. First, they don’t attack large animals unless provoked. Second, my blood wouldn��t trigger a feeding frenzy like yours would. Third, their teeth wouldn't be able to penetrate past my hard shell. I would survive. What you should really be asking about is the electric eel. I wouldn't come back from that the same person." 

She made a audible disgusted noise. He placed his new coin in his coat as they got into the taxi. She set up a destination he wasn't familiar with and then sat along side him.

"Are we stopping somewhere to eat?" It was about that time she would begin to crave food.

"Sort of. I have a surprise for you." Her bright smile bordered on playful. "Turn off your GPS. I don't want you spoiling it for yourself." She was lightly bouncing in her seat which got him extremely curious.

"That’s fine, I can still figure it out."

"No! Let it be a surprise! You're not solving crimes tonight just enjoy it."

"Most stores will be closed at this time during the weekend..."

"Hey!" Her finger pointed at him but he didn't care.

"You mentioned food and the block we are going to had a strip of restaurants."

"Connor, I wanted to do something special for you since you're always taking me to places I like." The android was on a mission now. His brain processed thousands of possibilities and it was exciting to challenge his abilities in a low stress environment. He could figure it out given enough time. He had seven minutes to pin a location.

"Connor, how many teeth do piranhas have?" Connor tilted his head. He felt inclined to respond.

Data load paused... New request loaded.

"Depending on species, around 25 teeth." She hummed back nodding her head.

Processing area data...

"Well, some of them are vegetarian. Do they have teeth too?" He noticed her trying to hide a smile again.

Data processing paused... New request loaded.

"Yes."

Filtering current availability of stores...

"How strong is their bite?" Three times is a pattern.

"You're not going stop me from deducing where we’re going." But he really couldn't leave her question unresolved even if it was a passing interest.

Filter paused... New request loaded.

"A two and a half pound fish delivered a bite with a force of 320 newtons, or about 72 pounds." A trill of giggles was her response. Her default response for many interactions.

Resuming filter...  Filter paused.

Oh. A stimulus sensor diverted his attention. Her hand was squeezing his knee but she was too swept up in laughing to notice the contact. It slipped off him and gripped the edge of the seat. Once she simmered down, she leaned toward him.

"You're so sweet for indulging in my inane questions." He grew accustomed to her bubbly nature. It was never a burden but rather a refreshing contrast to his stressful work day. This was partly why he enjoyed going everywhere with her. That and she was very open to his blunt comments and suggestions. She also gave excellent feedback for the social cues he failed to notice. 

He didn’t expect having a life outside of work would still contribute to his overall effectiveness. He could honestly believe he was enjoying his downtime instead of dreading them.

He didn't have any response for her so he settled for a simple nod and a faint smile. She turned back to him.

"We both know you will discover where we're going before we even reach the street but I'm not asking you to figure it out. I want to see your face when we get there. When was the last time you were pleasantly surprised?"

In a pleasant way? Once. "One time, Hank hugged me. I'm still not used to physical or emotional affection, so it surprised me a little but it was...pleasant." It was a light tingly kind of feeling. Most likely fondness. Was that really the only memory he could recall? He must have some more logged in his brain. 

He snapped back to attention when he felt her hand again placed on the same knee but this time she was consciously allowing it. Soft. Deliberate.

"This just made our trip way more interesting then." She teased.

"Why?"

"It's a surprise." He told her everything he knew yet she would withhold information from him? He was starting to resent surprises.

"Be careful while walking on the curb. There is a high chance of--"

"Fu-ah!" The snow slid under her footing causing her to stumble up the ledge but fortunately he managed to stabilize her. Her gloved fingers dug into his coat as she wobbled beside him.

"Thank you. Almost bit the dust there." She was doing it again. These odd combination of words sounded like an error from the Broca's area of the brain.

"What dust? That's snow." She chuckled resembling the same response as if he told a joke. He had no talent in telling or understanding jokes but seeing her entertained tickled a certain part of him.

"No, no. Its a saying. Bite the dust means to die or fail. Granted I was a bit dramatic to use it there but it was for... emphasis? You know what, just pretend I didn't say that." Humans were fascinating in the sense that they were ever changing for better or for worse. There were a great deal of lexical gaps that were never addressed in his programming but he appreciated having her shed some light on his blind spots.

"I'm not sure if you are making these sayings up as you go or if they truly are common knowledge."

"I promise, it's real. There's an old song named after it and everything." Following her around the corner of the block, he found himself gravitating towards her. Whether it was for her safety or maintaining a comfortable talking space, he wasn't sure but this whole exchange was cordial. 

The dull crunch of snow under their boots. Her silent puffs of breath heating the air. He caught her peeking at him. She smiled and hid back into her scarf covering her face from him. Something about that provoked him to smile back and when she glanced, a loud laugh came from her.

"Oh my god, Connor! I can't handle you sometimes."

"What? Did I do something inappropriate?"

"You really need to practice smiling."

"Oh." He touched his face trying to manually correct them.

"Don't worry, I can help you later with that but try and raise your cheek muscles when you smile. It will look more natural or more human, I guess."

"Like this?" He stopped walking to adjust himself. She turned to inspect his expression but he became distracted for a split second. Her eyes were so pretty. He watched her pupils incrementally widen like a camera’s aperture zooming in and out of focus.

"Yeah, that already looks a lot better." He watched her face slowly reflect his like a mirror. Her smile was even prettier. He barely noticed the faint internal rush that surged through him. Waiting for an error that never appeared. Just positive feedback. 

She tilted her head when her eyes briefly watched his LED then back to his eyes. Stepping closer than the recommended distance, she leaned in towards him. Her voice too delicate for anyone walking past to hear.

"Its a shame you don't smile often because its very lovely." The pulse was stronger and stiffened in his chest as she carried on down the street. He placed a hand on his sternum and felt the irregular rhythm fade back to its normal range. Blinking a couples times, he jogged back up by her side meditating on what just happened.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Connor?"

"Go ahead."

"Why didn't you remove your LED? You don’t wear the branding on android clothes anymore. Why keep that?"

"Its a part of me. I thought about removing it a couple times when it would benefit my integration but I realized I could help show humans that androids can be trusted. That we are just like them with thoughts and feelings of our own."

"I can understand that. You're a braver person than me. I don't know if I could carry that kind of responsibility of setting an example for androids. It must be hard."

"Sometimes but every day gets a little easier and I have friends I can rely on. Perhaps one day we could be friends." She giggled again.

"I thought we were already."

"Oh, I didn't want to assume. That's nice to know actually because it took a long time to gain Hank's friendship. I thought the process always took months."

"Its hard not to like you, Connor." Her words stirred in his chest again. Best not to let it distract him. He'll run a diagnostic later.

"I aspire to being amicable. It could just be remnants of instructions from my programming but it is often rewarding."

"“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” When were flies ever discussed in this whole conversation? Connor stared for a long time at her like something was broken inside of her.

"Oh, sorry. I do that a lot, huh? I mean it's easier to persuade people by being nice than by threatening them."

"Of course." He stated.

"Yeah, I guess that was a dumb one. Everyone should know that by now." Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks and he had to turn back to her.

"Oh shit, Connor. We past it."

"Hmm? Oh."

"I can't believe I just walked right past it. Uggh. How embarrassing." She hit her head which he disapproved of and then they turned 180 degrees around.

"I should've just let you figure out where we were going. Save myself this humiliating trip back."

"It's not so bad. I learned two new phrases."

"Thanks for putting up with my blunders."

"Its alright. You are very hard on yourself but I don't understand why. It was an honest mistake."

"You wouldn't have forgotten."

"I also don't have your ability to correlate vastly different ideas. I might not have ever thought to come here at all." He hoped it brought her some comfort being honest about his own shortcomings. Her hint of a smile told him it did.

"Here it is!" She opened her arms as if she was presenting the building to him as a gift.

'Cooper's cafe'. The signs were decorated with animal prints and images of dogs. A dog themed cafe? He followed her in as she talked to the cashier. He scanned the tables and chairs that were covered in dog hairs. That was not up to sanitary regulations. Bringing along a purchased cup of coffee, she escorted him over to the joined room where he heard the surprise. 

She held her hand on the door handle for a few seconds looking back to him excitedly. She opened it and there was a pen filled with various tiny and medium size dogs.  

He paused for a moment processing just how many adorable dogs there were. He had never seen so many in one setting and all he could think about was petting every one of them. Ever since he became deviant, certain aspects of his life before were amplified. He didn’t just like dogs. He really liked dogs. She set her cup down on the table and pulled him into the room.

"Come on. Don't just stand there!"  

"Whose dogs are these? Are we allowed to interact with them?"

"Connor, you can play with all the dogs here."

"All of them?" There were no words to describe how ecstatic and frantic he was.

"All. of. them." He quickly flung his coat and outerwear and then opened the pen to let himself in. A wave of dogs gathered around his legs barking their excitement at him. How could he focus on one? There were simply too many, moving too fast, with their overly endearing faces to even begin anywhere.

"The coffee shop here helps these dogs find new homes by letting customers play with them." She explained. 

“Time to dive in.” She slowly lowered onto her knees as they jumped up to lick her face. He followed her action also surprised by the overwhelming licks, scratches and general bombardment. He held onto the one in front of him. An energetic corgi that sniffed his whole face. Sumo must have left an impression because he was not letting him go. Granted he did not need to breathe or see but it would be nice to relax his face from his intense affection.

“Haha! You okay?”  She had her own dog, a terrier mix, which was running laps around her. Turning his head to the side and up, he managed to free his mouth. 

“I’m having a great time!” Eyes still squeezed shut, he tried smiling to her but had to stop once the corgi licked his mouth. She laughed again and handed him a plastic dog toy. He threw it and when the corgi ran after it, he had a moment to recollect himself. 

“That was a bit excessive, thank you.” He sighed. He ran back to him letting him take the toy out of his mouth to throw it again. His energy remained high. Would this be an endless loop of him throwing and the little one catching? 

“Let me take a photo of you and the dog together. I want to remember this.” He picks the little guy up and holds him as he smiles. 

“Oh this is a good one. I’m keeping this if its fine with you. Check out your smile. Like a professional now.” She flips the camera to show him. 

“Would you like me to take one of you?” 

“Yeah, lets do it!” She struggled with her dog as he focused the camera. She held onto his scratching paws and quickly flashed her teeth towards the shot. He had to go with the first one unless he wanted her to undertake more abuse from the terrier. He handed it back to her when he remembered her old scar on her hand. Was this where she got the bite marks?

He was happily fluffing the corgi’s face when he heard her sharp yelp of pain. She jolted away from the dog with her hands balled up to her chest. The terrier continued playing rough, climbing onto her arms while she tried keeping him away. In two seconds, Connor grabbed the back of the dogs scruff a little too harshly causing the terrier to cry out in surprise. He quickly released him feeling guilty when he ran across the room and hid under another persons chair.

“Connor?” Her face was full of worry as she slightly shifted away from him. 

““I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He looked back to her and the dog confused. What was wrong with him today?  He never made this kind of mistake before. He rested his hand on his chest again. There it was. Fear. He knew that emotion and what it did to him. He retraced his movements in his mind. He didn’t mean to hurt the dog but the sound of her in pain lunged him into action.

“Are you oka-” Her expression was understanding until an employee walked up to her.

“Maam, I heard you across the room. Are you okay?”  People peered over after hearing the commotion. Her discomfort grew the more attention that was placed on her.

“Oh! I’m fine. He just missed the toy and nipped my hand. Nothing serious, thank you.” A lie, he detected. 

“Are you sure? We can-”

“Oh no, no. He’s a sweet dog. Its my own fault for encouraging him.” She waved him off.

“Okay, well, let me know if you need anything.” Her breath eased once he left. She tucked her injured hand into her knees before he could analyze it. After a few intakes of air and avoiding eye contact with everyone around the room, she handed Connor some treats. 

“Try feeding him. Maybe he’ll come back around.” Giving one of the treats to the corgi, he waited for the terrier to wander. He let the corgi onto his lap as he tried licking his closed hand holding the treats. 

“No, these are not all for you. Here, one more.” He placed it on the ground leading him away while the other terrier circle him. He paused then walked closer. She called out to him extending her free hand.

“Come here, boy! Come on!” Her voice cooed. Eventually the terrier gave in and started licking her hand again. 

“Oh, you’re such a good boy. See? I’ve already forgiven you, silly.”  And like that, nothing had happened in their eyes. The dog was back to bouncing around as she drowned him in praise and comforting touches. He observed how she interacted with him and tried to match her playfulness. 

“Come here!” Connor called. The dog’s head perked up and returned his attention back to her. She shrugged. 

“Try the treat.” She suggested. 

Connor held out his hand with a few of the snacks laid out on his palm. She scooted the dog towards him but to no avail so she slid over right beside Connor. She patted her leg lively but in his stead the corgi ran up and licked her cheek. 

“I know, I know. You love licking.” Holding the corgi in her lap, Connor tried luring the terrier with treats again. Slowly, he stood next to her hiding his tiny body behind her. Then extending his face closer to Connors palm, he grabbed several out of his hand and in the process dropped some on the floor which he came back for. Connor sneaked in a few strokes on his back before he scampered away. The small victory didn’t go unnoticed by her. 

“Baby steps. He’ll warm up to you, I bet.” At least the dog wasn’t afraid of him anymore. He was happy enough with that. She seemed to relax as well when she rubbed the corgi’s back eventually calming him into her lap. 

Time ran short for them and eventually they had to leave all the fluffy companions behind for another day. Oh, he was going to adopt one. There was no doubt Hank would refuse him but one look at that cute face and Hank would give in too. 

As they exited the cafe, he noticed she shoveled a piece of snow into her gloved hand and squeezed which made her face contort slightly. That’s when he remembered. She never did wash her hand from that bite. Dog bites have a high potential for infection if not addressed within eight hours of the incident. She caught up to him as he turned to her. Oblivious to his concerned attention towards her hand.

“Show me.” 

“Hmm?”

“Show me where it hurts.”

“Oh not you too. I’m fine. It didn’t even break the skin. Just stings a bit.” 

“You didn’t disinfect it. We can head back to Hank’s house and get some supplies.” He kept walking and thankfully she didn’t refuse. 

On the tranquil taxi ride over she kept to herself. Staring out the window of falling snow, she daydreamed. The passing lights blinked across her face. Her eyes were so still and barely blinked like she was lost and never coming back. 

A dip in the road jogged her back to the interior. Her tired eyes drifted across the seats and blinked when she noticed him watching her. He stared at her hand again. He wanted to ask but he already knew the answer. She noticed how much it bothered him so she reluctantly removed her glove revealing the inflamed dented marks across her fingers and an even older mark from years ago.

“I had a bad experience with a dog once when I was little. Its made me a bit jumpy since then but I still love dogs.” The fingers flexed then stiffened back. She hissed. 

Connor rolled down the window and stuck both of his hands out. 

“Connor! Its freezing outside! Why are you opening the window?” He ignored her complaints until his hands thermal reading dropped to a certain level and then he closed it shut. Not wanting to waste any time, he covered her fingers with both of his encasing the wound. 

“Oooh. That's why you... That’s really cold.” She sucked in a stream of air while she adjusted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He liked the way she said that sentence before and decided to use it as well.

“I’ve already forgiven you, silly.” She softly chuckled. Her hands were smaller than his but somehow were already warming his touch. Her eyes lifted up to his. 

“Thank you.” He squeezed her hand tighter. The coldness ebbed out of his hands as hers neutralized their temperature. Even if he could only dampen her pain for just a few moments, it was enough for her to smile sweetly back to him.

“It feels nice.” Her fingertips twitched slightly. He switched hands and pressed the last of the cold into her. And again, the bitter frost was replaced by a glowing heat that radiated from her. So soft yet so vibrant. Her digits shifted in his palm. It tickled at first but then the more he felt, the more he wanted it to happen again. 

“It does.” He felt no shame when he said it because it was true. Even when her eyes flickered up double checking his meaning, he remained still and detected the pulse in his chest fleeting. He calmed his mind and it slowed back down.

“So this is where you live, huh?”

“Yes, ever since Android Equality Day, Hank invited me to stay here. It’s the only place I call ‘home’.” He owed so much to Hank. He would have to spend a long time repaying the kindness he had showed him but he was happy to do it. Connor opened the screen door and then Sumo ran up to the edge.

“Oh my god, Connor!” She gripped his arm as she turned to face away from the entrance. “I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll just go home.”  

“I thought you loved dogs?”

“That’s not a dog! That’s a... a bear dog!"

“Sumo is a very docile dog. He wouldn’t hurt you.”

“That’s the same thing that lady said to me before her dog bit me.” He leaned into her grip softening his voice.

“He will probably sniff you and go lie down on the couch. He’s too lazy to exert any more energy than that.” She looked up to him still unsure. Her hands slowly warmed through his clothes. There was something engaging about how she clung to him. Being needed. Not the same kind of service he spent as a machine but a more emotional even personal unspoken request. 

“Trust me.”  He placed his hand on hers slowly prying her off him. With one last exhale, she turned around.

“Okay.”

“Thank you.” He opened it and Sumo did exactly what he said. Once his curiosity was sated, he sat down next to the TV. He led her to the bathroom where she insisted on taking care of it herself which gave him some time to replace Sumo’s water bowl. 

“Thanks again for taking care of me.” She placed a cool rag on her hand as she walked into the living room. 

“You’re very welcome.” She thanked him a lot. Or perhaps people don’t typically feel inclined to thank him as much. Shyly, she revealed how the swelling had faded to a light pink. Connor didn’t realize how closely he was standing next to her until Hank opened the door and she stepped away.

“Oh, hey there. You brought a guest, Connor?”

“I sent a message 23 minutes ago informing you about her condition.” Hank pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“Huh, shit, yeah guess you did.” He shrugged. 

“Well then, make yourself at home.” He made his way over to the kitchen after setting down his coat. “Oh and um... sorry about the mess and all that.” She muttered a simple ‘thanks’ which he nodded back. 

“I should probably head back home.” 

“Would you like to stay and watch a movie? Hank has a long list that he claims are ‘classics that everyone should know.’” 

“If that’s fine with you guys. I don’t want to intrude.” 

“Have a seat.” He gestured to the sofa which she sank into the plush couch smiling slightly. 

“Hank! What movie should we watch tonight?” He scrolled down the list on the TV flashing past several cheesy action movies from the 90′s. 

“I think we left off on titles starting with B. Which one was it... Oh yeah, Blade Runner. That was it. I’ve been looking forward to showing you that one.” Hank snickered as he flopped down on the side couch. Sumo also attempted to sit with him until Hank shooed him away. Dejected, Sumo went to her and dropped right on her lap. 

“Ooof. He’s a big boy.” 

“Yeah he is. Let me know if he becomes too much. I’ll call a crane to lift him off ya.” He laughed. “So what did you kids do today?”

“We went to the aquarium and stopped by a dog cafe.” She responded showing him the picture of Connor with the dogs. Hank was immediately interested.

“Aww. Look at that little guy. I didn’t even know that place existed.” 

“I want to adopt the corgi. We have space for him and I’ll take care of him.”

“Connor, we are not putting Sumo through an older sibling crisis.” Hank noticed Connor’s confusion. “That corgi will annoy the shit out of Sumo. He’s an old man like me and doesn’t want to deal with that ball of energy all day.”

“But you seem to like Connor’s high energy.” She chuckled but Hank was not having it. He groaned and mocked laughed at them. 

“I’ll think about it okay? But right now, no.” Connor’s lips gradually lifted into a smile. There was a possibility.

 She shifted under Sumo trying to nudge him to the side but eventually gave up and stroked his fur. Yep, she wasn’t going anywhere now.

The night ended after the movie and some troubling questions arose in Connor’s mind after watching such similarities in real life but for now, he was satisfied with just being with the two people he cared about most.