Finishing up a day is always more difficult than you expect. First, you think that all you have to do is close up your desk, pack up, and say goodbye. One thing leads to another, and you're in an interrogation room with your boyfriend's doppelganger, and the two of you are hunched over nothing but a cup of thyrium.
"Con."
"Yes?"
"Why did you want to show me this?" I asked, looking at him confused.
"I think I have an idea," Con explained pacing about the room.
"Why does it involve a cup of blue blood?" I asked, facepalming.
"If I am correct, I believe that with a few hours of analysis, I can take a portion of blue blood, and identify not only the make and model of a specific android but their specific identification code," He explained. "With the identification code, we can learn the name and previous location of the android."
"Con, that sounds great, but we're able to solve cases in only 2 hours. That's the beauty of android police officers. So before you even finish your analysis, we'll already have them," I explained.
"This isn't for now."
"What?"
"For now, Jericho is fairly independent. We can prosecute criminals on our own, but this vigilante, mob style justice won't last perfectly for long. It especially won't last after Jericho has to fly its flag under an American one," Con explained.
"So...you brought me in here to tell me that you have something for when Jericho is an American territory?"
"Yes," Con explained, smirking a bit. I sighed while just staring him in the eyes.
"Okay. Well...I'm out. You have fun with this cup of blue blood, that I'm more concerned with how you got than anything. Especially since you used it for show and tell," I explained, exiting out the interrogation room.
"Hold on!" Con called.
"What?"
Con picked up the cup of blue blood and threw it at the cinderblock wall. It of course broke, and the wall was splattered with blue blood.
"What the fuck!" I exclaimed. Con stared at it.
"This is the key to determining the aggressor in assault cases," He explained. "Our number one concern with assault cases has been finding the aggressor."
"Okay, and?"
"The splatter. This size and shape are about consistent with an android having their head slammed into the wall," He explained.
"And...?"
"If I can analyze, I can determine which Android or human was the initial aggressor, with other evidence. I can create a reconstruction of events," Con explained
"Oh..." I remarked looking at the splatter.
"Do you see now? I'm not dense," Con responded, leaving out of the interrogation room. I never thought you were, but fine. Sensitive, damn it. I left the station and headed out of the gates, where Nick was waiting patiently. I mean really, about as patient as Nick can get. I climbed into the car and Nick did not move. He didn't drive off or say anything.
"Nice fuckin job, bolts," he said suddenly, shooting finger guns at me.
"Oh, dear God," I mumbled.
"I mean, is he good?" Nick asked.
"I mean...he seemed fine when I woke up. He didn't really have any complaints?"
Nick facepalmed. "No. Never mind."
"Nick, Why didn't you tell me about Gavin? I thought we were 'buddy-cop best friends in a 90s movie' or something."
"We are," Nick explained. "I mean I trust your opinion so much. I asked him out like...5 seconds after our conversation."
"Oh, even better. I just wasn't informed."
"Not like that," Nick struggled. "I thought it was too good to be true. There was no way in Hell that everything worked out for me, and even now I don't know. What if like a month from now he's a piece of shit? I don't know."
"I guess that's true."
"Yeah," Nick explained, sighing. "I mean for androids it must be easier right? You can just calculate compatibility and shit."
Oh God. I can. "Nick...I haven't done that. I didn't know I could."
"Wait, what? I thought that would've been the only way you slept with Connor. If you could like confirm that you two were perfect for one another," Nick explained.
"What? No...I never even thought about it. But now...now I really don't want to. Because if the calculations were to say we weren't met for each other, then I'm missing out on a chance for a relationship with Connor, no matter how long it lasts. But if they were to say that we were meant for one another, then my relationship would feel ingenuine. False. Somewhat...predictable. Aren't relationships about trusting fate to act upon you favorably?"
"That's a bit too deep for me," Nick sighed. "I'm more like a checklist kinda guy, than a fate trusting kind of guy."
"Checklist?"
"Yeah like one, are they gay? Two, am I attracted to them? Three, are they attracted to me? And four, can we handle one another?"
"That's so vague, you might as well leave it up to fate."
"Yeah, true, but for a control freak, it'a bliss."
"Nick, you're not a control freak. I've never seen someone give up control so willingly."
"Are you calling me a bottom? Because I'm not. Like I'm versatile. I'm like maybe...a power twunk."
"Nick..." I mumbled.
"Kidding. Kidding. I am absolutely a power twunk."
"Nick! I swear!"
"Sorry, sorry. You know when presented with the opportunity to deflect from my emotions with humor, I'll take it," he admitted, sighing. "Listen, I know what you're saying. I'm not super obsessed with control, but because of that, in this one particular facet of my life, I do obsess over control. I want to control my relationships. I want to know what I'm getting into."
"I think that's normal, and I think that's okay. I just don't want you to avoid telling me these moments in your life, just because you're scared they might now work out."
"Bolts, don't take this the wrong way, but it isn't that a tad hypocritical?" Nick asked, genuinely.
"What?"
"You didn't tell me about you and Connor. I honestly don't think I would've found out had it not been for the situation this morning," Nick explained. "So...what's up with you? Why did you not share with me?"
"I don't know," I answered, confused. "I just didn't know we were this close, I guess. I don't know what the boundaries of friendship are."
"There's one thing you should know about me by now," Nick said, shrugging. "I don't give a fuck about boundaries."
"I know," I sighed.
"Well, this conversation has been unpleasant," Nick admitted but leaned into the backseat of the car. "Here, hold Kyle."
He returned and sat back down into his driver's seat and gave me Kyle. I held him close to me as we drove home.
~
When we arrived home, I laid down on the bed. I'm not tired, not in the least bit. I haven't done anything...physical, at least not since last night. So now, I just lay in my bed. In an odd turn of events, my bed doesn't linger with Connor's touch. Instead, I just miss him. I miss the feeling of him right next to me. He's not warm, none of us are. I just miss the feeling. Which...is strange to me. It's not something I'm used to, but it's something I want to be used to.