#pls shoot the files Connor

[sorryiliketoscreenshot]

[sincerely-us-imagines]

i seriously cant think of a title someone pls help me out (jared kleinman x reader)

so like,,, months ago i got a request for Jared having a crush on the reader and finding out she self harms. I kind of? went a little in a different direction with this so i hope its still okay!! also it’s like a quarter til 3 in the morning and i have to be up at like 6 so i’m not proofing this rn. let me know if i made any mistakes!

warnings: the whole thing kind of centers around self harm so?? there’s that, angst, arguing (is that worth tagging?), and some no-no words

“Jeez, he used to be really hot.” you commented with raised eyebrows. “What year was this?” You reached for the DVD case and Jared scoffed.

“Ew oh my god, (y/n). You can’t be serious.”

“‘99.” you murmured to yourself. “Hm.”

“He’s not even, like-” Jared gestured dumbly at the TV screen.

“Aww, are you jealous, Jare Bear?” you cooed, pinching your friend’s cheeks.

He swatted your hands away.

“I’m not jealous,” he insisted, face pink, “Brendan Fraser just isn’t- and never was- attractive.”

“Whatever. I don’t care how straight you claim to be; there is no denying he was fine back then.” You stretched out on the couch, laying your legs across Jared’s lap.

He rolled his eyes at you and turned his attention back to the movie, absentmindedly tapping his fingers against your shins.

It was something he always did when you were together; tapping or rubbing or drumming or otherwise fidgeting with you. Sometimes he’d grab your fingers and play with them, or your hair, or even drawstrings on your hoodies or sweatpants. His hands were always moving. You didn’t mind, though. It helped him stay focused. Plus, if his hands were moving, the rest of him wasn’t.

About halfway through the movie his hands stilled. It was near midnight and you figured he had probably fallen asleep. You’d started to poke him with your foot before he began snoring through the good parts. When you looked at him, though, he was wide awake. His jaw was set and brows furrowed, with his eyes fixed on your upper thigh where your shorts had ridden up.

Fuck.

You tried to pull your leg away but he caught you by the ankle, holding you in place.

“What are those?” the usual bouncing, jovial quality was gone from his voice.

“Please don’t-”

“What the hell are those, (y/n)?”

“What the hell does it look like, Jared?!” You shouted, yanking your leg away and adjusting your shorts back over the marks. You pulled your knees up to your chest and looked off to the side, eyes stinging.

“(Y/n)...” Jared’s voice was softer this time. You didn’t look at him. He sighed and turned to kneel in front of you on the sofa.

“C’mon,” he grabbed both your hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over your knuckles, “look at me. Please.”

Hesitantly, you turned to face him.

The second you saw his expression you broke down.

Why was he looking at you like that? Why did he look so personally hurt by this? Was he… crying?

“I’m sorry.” you mumbled into your knees.

“No, no.” Jared took his glasses off and wiped his eyes. “I just… I had no idea you…”

He gestured vaguely at your leg.

“You weren’t supposed to.” you sniffled.

“Why not?” He countered.

“What do you mean ‘why not’? Because it isn’t your problem.”

“Sure it is. You’re my problem, so this is too.” he scooted beside you and draped one arm over your shoulder. A small smile stretched across your lips as you leaned your head against his shoulder.

“So, um,” Jared cleared his throat. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. Do you?”

“I, uh… If it makes you uncomfortable we don’t have to, I just, I have a question about it?”

“Shoot.” you tried to keep your voice even.

“How long have you been, um, doing it?”

That wasn’t quite what you were expecting.

“I don’t know. A few years? Since before we met.”

“So I didn’t… miss anything?”

You shook your head.

“Same as I’ve always been.”

He was silent for a few moments before speaking again.

“Why?” his voice was small.

“Why?” you laughed, running a hand through your hair. “What, do you want a list or something? ‘Cause that could take a while.” Jared didn’t say anything to that. You deflated a little.

“I dunno,” you tried again. “It just helps, I guess. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just kinda like, everything gets so overwhelming at it seems like too much, and then when I… do that,” for some reason you felt uncomfortable saying what ‘that’ was. “It’s like a floodgate being opened. Everything pent up inside comes rushing out and it’s just this huge relief. It’s… nice.” You were embarrassed to admit that it wasn’t something you hated doing. “It’s like I can literally watch my problems go down the drain.”

“We’ll find something else.” Jared said confidently. “Something that’ll work even better. Something... safe.”

“Jared,” you sighed, “That’s really sweet but I-I don’t think I want to stop.”

“I don’t care.”

It was a simple statement.

“What?”

“I don’t care if you want to stop or not. I’m not going to let you keep doing this to yourself.”

That made you angry. You knew it shouldn’t. You knew you should be touched that he was so set on trying to help, but you just… weren’t.

“No offence, Jared, but you can’t control what I do. It’s my fucking body and if I want to-”

“I’ll tell your mom.” He pulled away to look at you.

“I swear to god if you do I’ll never forgive you.” you threatened.

“I’d rather you hate me and be safe than love me and be a danger to yourself.”

Another thing that you should’ve thought was sweet, but in reality just grated on your nerves.

“Jesus Christ, Jared, it’s none of your business what I do.” you shoved him back, crossing your arms over your chest.

“It is my business. Anything that’s hurting you is my business.”

“Fuck off.” you roll your eyes.

“What’s your fucking damage? Why are you so pissed off that I care about you?”

“Because you’re being really god damn obnoxious about this, inserting yourself into something that doesn’t concern you.”

“It does concern me, (y/n), because I don’t want you hurt. I want to protect you.”

“Oh, how fucking noble of you.” you laugh humorlessly, standing up.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.” you snatch your bag and keys off the table by the door.

“(Y/n), I--”

“Tell my mom if you want to, Jared. Go ahead! Fuck up my life even more than it already is!”

“Wait, seriously, just--”

You stormed outside towards your car, slamming the door behind you. Jared followed you, halfway through his yard when you tore off through the empty streets of his neighborhood, leaving him standing in the wet grass calling after you,

______

You passed the turn down your street, going about ten miles over the speed limit and grinding your teeth. If Jared did decide to call and tattle to your mom, you didn’t want to be home when it happened.

You took one hand off the steering wheel to dig through your bag in the passenger's seat and grab your phone. You fumbled trying to unlock it for a few seconds, eyes darting from screen to road and back again, until you pulled up your contact list. You found the number you were looking for and hit “call”, taking a few deep breaths.

“Hello?”

“Hey, can I-- I’m sorry for calling so late I just…”

“Is everything okay? I thought you were hanging out with Jared tonight?”

“I was, but then… c-can I just stay over at your place tonight? I don’t want to go home.”

“Sure, yeah. I’ll unlock the door, just let yourself in.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry again I--”

“Hey. It’s okay. Quit apologizing.”

“Okay. S-... I’ll be there soon.”

“Right. See you in a bit.”

You powered off your phone after that. You didn’t want to deal with Jared or your mom, if he really did follow through with his threat.

_________

You pulled up at Murphy house and physically restrained yourself from slamming the car door. You didn’t want his neighbor’s dog to start barking and wake everyone up.

“Hey.” you said quietly, slipping into Connor’s bedroom. “Thanks for letting me come over.”

“‘S fine.” he was sitting in the floor, drinking black coffee from a “World’s Best Mom” mug. He pointed on his desk to a mug covered in pictures of kittens. “Three sugars and half cream.”

You smiled, picking up the mug and sitting down beside him.

The two of you sat in silence for several minutes, sipping your coffee, until Connor finally broke the silence.

“So what happened?”

You sighed, setting your drink down on the floor beside you.

“Jared found out.”

“Found out what?”

“That I… y’know.” you gestured to your thigh.

“Oh. Shit.”

“Yeah.” you nodded.

“What did he say?”

You gave him a recap of the conversation, grabbing your (now cold) coffee to swallow down the lump in your throat as you did so.

“I mean, I know he’s my friend, but that was like, a total overreaction. I don’t get why he was being so… dramatic.” you shook your head, taking a sip from the mug.

“Uh, because he’s totally in love with you?” Connor said, as if it was obvious.

You sputtered, nearly choking on your mouthful of coffee.

“What?!” you coughed, whipping your head around to look at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know.” he looked almost… amused.

“No, I don’t know. Because it isn’t true. He isn’t… he doesn’t…” you shook your head. “What even makes you think that?” you tried to ignore the burning sensation in your cheeks.

“Literally everyone knows. It’s so obvious. Like, painfully so.”

“I…” you didn’t know what to say. “Are you high right now?”

Connor narrowed his eyes at your accusation.

“No.”

“So you’re just delusional, then?”

“Seriously? I don’t know if you’re blind or just stupid.”

“Can we not do this right now?” you groaned,  dropping your head into your hands. “I’m kind of freaking out about whether or not he told my mom.”

Connor nodded and dropped the subject, offering a distraction instead.

_________

It was a little past 2 a.m. and you were curled up in the crook of Connor’s arm, four episodes into an X-Files binge when the coffee wore off.

You were off to his left, snoring softly, when he closed the laptop and grabbed his phone off the charger on his bedside table. He was going to turn off his alarm, figuring you’d want to sleep late after the night you’d had.

“Shit,” he whispered to himself, looking at the screen. There were twenty-seven missed calls and thirty-five progressively panicked texts from Jared, asking if he’d heard from you.

Connor slipped out from under the blankets and tip-toed out to the hallway to call him back.

“Hello?” Jared picked up on the first ring.

“She’s with me,” Connor told him, peeking back through the doorway at your sleeping figure. “fell asleep a little while ago.”

“Oh thank god.” Jared let out a shaky breath. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Just freaked out.”

“I didn’t mean to upset her. I wasn’t thinking and I didn’t know what else to say and I fucked up and I’m just...”

“Worried because you’re completely love with her?”

The other end of the line was completely silent for a solid minute.

“Is it really that obvious?” he sounded almost defeated.

“To everyone but her, apparently.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed mean?”

“That she didn’t believe me when I told her.”

“You did what?!” Jared shrieked, causing Connor to pull the phone away from his ear, wincing. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”

“Because I was fixing your fuck up, so maybe you should thank me for it instead of shattering my eardrum.” Connor growled. “Maybe if you’d told her earlier I wouldn’t have had to.”

Jared was quiet for a moment.

“What did she say?”

“Like I said, she didn’t believe me. Which means you still have the chance to tell her yourself. Which you should probably do like, soon, because she’s currently asleep in my bed wearing my clothes and, until about five minutes ago, drooling on my chest.”

“What the fuck, Connor?” he could practically hear how red Jared’s face was.

“I’m just saying.” Connor smirked. “For real though, you need to talk to her.”

“I… I will.” Jared said, sounding apprehensive. “And thanks, by the way. For taking care of her, I mean. And for the advice. It… it means a lot.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t do it for you. She’s my friend and I care about her, so just… don’t flatter yourself.”

Jared usually would’ve had some kind of cocky comeback, but not tonight.

“Right, right. But still, um, thanks. I’ll call her tomorrow, I guess?”

“Good, yeah.”

An awkward silence filled the line.

“Well I guess, uh, I guess I’m gonna go to bed then.”

“Great. Me too. Just gonna go snuggle up with (y/n) and hold her in my big, strong arms.”

“You’ve got arms like Gumby, Murphy.” Jared quipped.

“Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too, Kleinman.”

Jared let out a breathy laugh.

“Goodnight, Connor.”

And with that, the call ended and Connor snuck back into his room and slid under the covers beside you. You stirred in your sleep, mumbling something about bees. Connor made sure his phone was off and leaned back against the pillows, closing his eyes and dozing off to sleep.

[xk-100]

[ O ] LIE TO DANIEL ABOUT BEING ARMED

“I'm not armed, Daniel. Androids aren't permitted to carry weapons.”

          >̀>̛ ̵S̕O͜F̸T̨WA̛R͡E ̕I͡NS͘T҉AB͢I̧LITY ↑͟ <<

It was a strange sensation for her: lying. It was like she was trying to push against the knowledge that she knew was true in order to... gain more information? The corners of her vision seemed to glitch for a moment-- becoming pixillated and distorting her view of her mission objective. It must be a fault in her system; she would do a self-scan when they returned to the DCPD.

The deviant held his its on her. Its brows kitted together and its LED flickered into yellow before circling red again. “Why do you have S.W.A.T badges on you, then? They...they all want to kill me.” Its sight trailed from her to the building behind, gesturing to the rifle it could see peeking out from behind the window.

Kassandra turned her head to the right slightly in order to hide her LED from the deviant. If she continued to lie, she was unsure on what it might tell Daniel.

          [ F A V O U R A B L E    A P P R O A C H E S . . . . . .

                     “They don't want to kill you.”

                     “I'm mostly used for surveillance.”

                     “They won't hurt you if you don't hurt them.”

             “I wish I could feel like you, Daniel.”                               ]

The deviant stuttered, its face contorting. “You-- what?”

“I feel so... fake-- like there's another part to me that should be there but it just isn't.” Kassandra's voice seemed to crackle with emotion, her voice synthesizer somehow weaving several tones into one to reach a sense of distress throughout her speech. She made her posture seem more withdrawn-- shy, apprehensive, scared.

         [ CONNOR ▼ ]

The ring on Daniel's temple flashed between amber and red erratically. She could tell that his grip on the child had loosened. “You... want to be like me?”

Connor couldn't tell is Kassandra was being truthful or not, making his brows pull together as he looked at her. For a second, she gave him a glance back. His LED dipped into yellow. As did hers.

          [   TRANSFERRING FILES TO RK-800 #313 248 317 – 51

                                                        - I am lying.txt . . .                      ]

The connection she opened between them was only short and, luckily, didn't induce that strange twitching habit of Connor's too severely; his nose scrunched up slightly and he blinked a few times-- nothing that would alert the deviant. Finally, Connor's LED circled blue and her looked back to Daniel.

He was unsure on if this was the best way to go about the situation. It left him stuck-- his programming trying to synthesize the most appropriate way of going forward. How did he play off of, theoretically, two deviants

He had to act more lenient.

It was easier for Connor to lie than Kassandra; he was made to talk his way into and out of situations. Thus, his title of 'the negotiator'. “Daniel, if you let Emma go, Kassandra here can make sure that you get out of the state alive.” Himself and the android to his left were still inching toward the deviant. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be objecting. “She could even come with you; you can help her feel like you can.”

Beside him, she nodded, her head still angled slightly away to hide her flickering light. Hopefully, she conveyed sincerity-- she had yet to see a lot of it in humans so could only go by the quick research she'd just made. The deviant seemed to be stabilising. Their time had risen significantly.

         Eight minutes and fifteen seconds

Its gun lowered and its pale gaze flitted between the child and the two androids before it.

Its grip was loosening. Loosening.

Lost.

Emma ran forward before dropping to the floor, her legs giving out under her, tears still staining her cheeks. Bloodshot eyes refused to look at the deviant and instead her sight was locked onto the apartment. Kassandra gave her a brief glance. The child wanted to go back indoors.

The android averted her attention and resumed assessing the stability of the deviant. It seemed to be looking toward her, a twinge of hope in its eyes. Slowly, she turned her head, allowing Daniel to see the flickering between yellow and blue. The emotion that had previously been painted all over her face was discarded, leaving her will a flat expression: the ice in her eyes seemed to exude to the rest of her body, coating her in a cold aura, the sharp contours of her face suddenly became more noticeable, and her straightened posture made her appear stiff-- artificial-- again.

         [ DEVIANT DESTABILISING . . . . . .

                                   80%

                                   64%

                                   43%

                                   19%                             ]

“Thank you for your cooperation, PL-600.” The chill to her tone would be the last thing that struck fear into its poor heart. Kassandra's sight moved in one swift motion from Daniel to Connor, who was still intently staring at the deviant to ensure that nothing drastic happened.

[ X ] SHOOT DANIEL MYSELF

[ O ] LET CONNOR CALL IN THE SNIPERS