SEQUENTIAL ━ Connor // RK800 ✔️

seventeen ━ when in doubt, test

"How?" Connor tilted his head to the side. He anticipated she won't be holding eye contact for long and he was starting to understand that she was feeling some form of shame or embarrassment over the idea of him taking care of her, so when Mia inevitably looked away and took the handful of bandaids out of the bag, he was more than willing to remain patient with her.

"It's my job to take care of you."

"And you are my mission," he dismantled her weak argument with ease. "I didn't get hurt trying to get that apple for you," he focused next on disregarding any reason for this shame of hers to be warranted. "It may not be much, but it's better than eating nothing." He watched her movement as she sat the bandaids on the sink to his right. He had just noticed the colorful nature of the bandaids — blue with yellow stars on them. Before a smile could properly build on his lips at the image that brough in his mind of a younger Mia handpicking that exact pattern for her bandaids, Connor lifted his gaze to seek her own, even at the cost of leaning slightly closer. "It's similar to my Thirium, in a way. Every drop counts, no matter how little."

Seeing as she was trying to hide behind the ministrations of getting some of the bandaids open, Connor came to the brief realization that he needed to change his approach in order to force Mia into paying attention to him and his words. The solution he found and executed was unconventional, but if he's learnt anything since they've had to go off the beaten path of their project plan, it was that unconventional often worked the best in reaching out to Mia.

"Will you please consider eating that apple?" Connor inquired softly, much softer than he would have otherwise spoken, "For me?"

"I will," Mia voiced a rather short confirmation, but one which was really all he needed to hear in order to settle down and let her do whatever it was she was hoping to achieve with those bandaids. He could protect her from every external danger, yet as long as she didn't take care of her human needs, sooner or later, his efforts would all have turned out to be in vain.

She didn't know if she should be gratedul there was way too much on her mind for her to also feel concerned in that moment about just how easy it has been for Connor to get what he wanted out of her. She had come to terms with the fact that she was not immune to the illusion of humanity he was built to portray, so why should another weakness being added to her long repertoire be of bother anyway?

"Now, please, keep your arm as still as possible" Mia checked in with him through a single glance upwards before lifting her shirt up and catching the bottom edge of it between her teeth.

Mia may have requested he didn't move his arm, but she said nothing about his head, which is why Connor followed his instinct and looked away before his prompt of confusion could even fully load past the initial processing of the fact that he saw a part of her skin he's never seen before.

Using her teeth as leverage to start ripping the bottom edge of her shirt off conferred the sound that ultimately returned Connor's eyes to her. "What are you doing?"

"Improvising a bandage," she explained with a puff, pulling the now loose piece of material completely off.

So me stealing an apple for you is troublesome, but you tearing your clothes for a my damaged arm which doesn't even hurt is not, Connor computed the thoughts which would begin to sound a whole lot like frustration had he given voice to it at all. But with much restrain, he bit back saying anything at all.