Comfort Zone (Connor x Reader)

Six

It took a good twenty minutes to get you to calm down. Hank had to literally carry you out of the room completely, which left Connor with his pseudo-bully cuffed to the table. But it was Gavin that spoke up first. "So. Flirting with the detective here to train you? Ballsy move, man."

Dark eyes glanced over, most of his confidence put away for now. "I had no choice. She has a very large chip on her shoulder, and... flirting seemed to be the best course of action to settle her."

Looking towards the door and back, Reed shook his head. "Dude. That is not settling her down." The android winced but nodded. "... I'm probably the last person to be giving you advice on women, but listen. Don't cross that line, all right?" When the android looked over, Reed went on. "A little flirting is fine. Maybe it does give you whatever reaction you want, I dunno. But don't end up with your fuckin' name on a harassment form. I've been on enough of them." He paused and looked uncomfortable. "You... know better. Don't be at my level. Assertive is different from aggressive. That shit was probably bordering harassment."

There was a long minute or two of silence. "... I don't know what else I can do," Connor admitted. "I am seen as an object of hatred, and have been since our initial meeting. I was advised to defend myself appropriately, and at the time it seemed that a little flirting might ease her. Sometimes she lashes out, other times she is just embarrassed." The android sank, sliding down the wall until he was sitting down. "I want to learn what she is here to teach me but I cannot get a grasp on her personality."

Why the hell he was interested in this, Reed wasn't sure. "... maybe you're taking the wrong approach. Maybe flirting does work, but not as aggressively. Dude, you're not aggressive unless you gotta shoot someone. So don't try and flirt with a woman who will obviously be more aggressive than you'll ever be." Shifting, Gavin shrugged. "You're... polite. Pretty amicable. Go that route. Slip in a comment during a normal conversation or something. Be aggressive and she'll flip shit."

"... why are you helping me, Reed?"

"Because I don't feel like seeing that sad sack expression on your face. Also... because... maybe I'm fucking trying, okay? She... she's giving me a shot. I'm here to let her show off, and in exchange I don't hit on her...... and she also doesn't call me that," he added quietly.

The android got to his feet again. "Call you what?"

The look in Gavin's eyes was one Connor hadn't seen before: regret. "I'm sick of being called Reed, okay? It's my name but... Look, it's fucking stupid. Don't--"

Holding a hand up, Connor smiled a little. "It's not stupid. Please don't lash out at me, there's nothing wrong with wanting others to use your name... Gavin."

Another minute of silence. "You do realize what's going to happen, right?" When the android shook his head, the cuffed human smirked. "Either she's gonna brutally destroy you, or you're gonna end up bending her over your desk."

[Why would I want to bend her over? I'm not interested in that...]

By the time Connor was working through some internal argument, the door opened again. Hank led you back inside, and you looked much, much calmer. "All right, can we do this now?" the lieutenant asked. "Are you able to do this?" he added, looking right at you.

You nodded, mouth working. "I can do this, I promise." Looking around the room, however, you didn't see what you needed. Until you eyed the android. Both of you seemed to have settled down, at least. "Connor," you spoke up, "your model has polygraph capabilities, yes?"

The android nodded. "Everything save for the attachments are internal. And those-" he added, reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, "- are here." Two white squares were held up. You held your hand out for them, but Connor didn't hand them over right away. "Detective, one thing first..."