Learning how to stay💙
Chapter 1: Unpacking
Warnings (overall): eventual smut, angst, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort. Chapter 1: none.
Additional warnings/tags may be added as story progesses
Elise moved to Detroit for a fresh start.
Connor was never meant to have one.
Set just before and during the events of Detroit: Become Human, this story follows two people learning how to choose. For themselves, for each other, and for the lives they want to build in the aftermath of the revolution.
(Slow burn Connor x oc story that spans 2038-2042)
Saturday, October 6th, 2038
The apartment smelled faintly of pumpkin, she had dug through her boxes to find a candle, wanting to make this bare space feel like home.
Her phone was balanced between her shoulder and ear while she searched for the broom she’d somehow lost less than twenty-four hours after moving in.
She scrolled through her contacts, calling one of her friends, but they did not answer. She was met with an immediate text:
“Sorry Elise! I’m out with some friends. Send me pics of the new place though, I’ll call you later.”
Elise glanced out of the apartment window at the Detroit skyline. She had never been here before, but she was excited. She loved the big city skyscrapers and the lights at night.
She unpacked what she could- kitchen supplies, bedroom supplies. She knew she would never be able to assemble her bed frame tonight so she settled for sleeping on her mattress.
However, she was determined to at least have the place liveable before starting her new job in a week.
After finally making what she has deemed to be enough progress for one night, she decides to scroll on her phone. She will never admit it, but she was terribly lonely, even though a few weeks ago she wanted nothing more than a fresh start.
She opens her location app and is immediately hit with an overwhelming sadness. She can see all of her friends' locations across the county, only her little dot in Detroit, Michigan. She tells herself tomorrow, she will explore a little, get a feel of the city, and with that she hopes she can fall asleep.
Sunday, October 7th, 2038
Elise wakes early, she wants to get through a few boxes before going to explore the city. Plus, she would really like to shower and unfortunately, she has not unpacked her shower box yet. Once the shower curtain is finally hung, and the matching mats are down does she feel like now she can go explore.
She throws on some jeans and a sweatshirt, grabs her purse and steps outside. Only to instantly shiver and think to herself “Wow, this is a lot colder than Florida.” She goes back inside, finding a puffy jacket she bought specifically for Detroit winters. She hopes that the Detroit natives do not think she’s crazy because this weather is probably nothing to them. It’s only 52 degrees and she is shivering like it’s snowing.
She strolls through Capitol Park, noticing all the shops, cafes, and businesses. She hopes she can find some clothes here for her new job.
Eventually, she finds a clothes store that will do. She finds a couple of blouses and business casual skirts and pants and thinks that is probably enough for now.
On her way back home, she can’t help but revel in the feeling. The opportunities are endless. No one here knows who she is, this is her chance to build whatever kind of life she wants, plus she had to admit. The trees starting to turn yellow and red was making her new home feel homey already.
As she unlocks her apartment door, the warmth hitting her instantly she takes off her bundles and slips into something cozy. She spends the rest of the afternoon trying to set up her wifi. After an hour on the phone with the provider, it is finally working. She puts a random movie on the TV while she unpacks more.
After hours of unpacking, she finally has made a dent. She has hung up most of her decorations, unpacked everything for her room aside from 2 or 3 boxes. The final challenge is making the bedframe, which she has decided she will leave for tomorrow.
Monday, October 8th, 2038
Elise decides it’s time to actually go grocery shopping. She’d been feeling lazy and eating takeout since she arrived three days ago. She did love how walkable Detroit was, she has already mapped her route to work and she doesn’t have to drive there either.
She’s casually looking at recipes on her phone when an android worker drops a glass near her and it shatters. Another customer on the aisle immediately shouts “Watch it, plastic!”
Elise winces at that, the android is profusely apologizing to both her and the other customer. Elise gives a warm smile and says, “Oh it’s okay! Accidents happen.” The other customer gives her a dirty look as they push past the android, continuing to shop.
After that Elise is feeling uncomfortable. Androids are everywhere in the U.S., but now she lives in android city. She had been so consumed with moving and unpacking she had almost forgotten how badly others treated androids, and that is something she has always hated.
After that interaction, she wants to go home. She quickly finishes her shopping and heads to the checkout, where another android is the cashier.
“Hello ma'am! How are you?” the android asks as he starts to scan her items.
Elise responds warmly, “Oh, I’m fine. How are you?” The android looks shocked, like most people are either rude or don’t respond to his questions.
The person in line behind her scoffs before the android cashier can say anything else, “You know you don’t have to make conversation with it.”
Elise grimaces, “I don’t see the point in being rude. Besides, I can do what I want. Maybe you should mind your own business.” she says sharply to the customer.
The android finishes scanning her things, Elise throws them into her reusable bag and says, “Thank you, have a nice day.” before walking back into downtown Detroit.
She’s feeling angry now. In her opinion, there is no need to be so rude to androids. Why can’t people just be polite? It’s not that hard.
She walks home at a brisk pace, unsure of why that made her so angry. She feels so baffled because to her it takes more energy to be hateful than it does to be kind.
When she makes it back to her apartment, she starts to unpack her groceries. That is one of many errands done that she needs to finish before her first day at work.
She decides though that was enough for one day. She really needs to put her bedframe together today. She is tired of sleeping on the mattress on the floor.
After a really frustrating two hours, she finally has the bedframe put together.
Sweating, she says to herself, “See! I knew I could do it. Thank fuck that’s done.”
Finally, feeling like she can relax now, she takes a well deserved shower, makes dinner and falls asleep in her cozy apartment.
Tuesday, October 9th, 2038
The next morning, Elise is awoken to heavy rain tapping against the window. She groans into her pillow as she forces herself to get out of bed.
She whines to herself, “Why did it have to rain today? I have so much to do!” She reluctantly makes her way to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and getting ready for the day.
A few minutes later, she walks into the kitchen area, looking at the stack of documents on the counter. Birth certificate, social security card, car insurance, proof of residency, internet bill. She triple checks, because she knows the DMV will turn you away so quickly and she really needs to update her license before she starts working.
She is very anxious on the walk over, trying very hard to keep her documents dry in the pouring rain. But, once she arrives all goes smoothly and she is told her new ID will be in the mail within ten business days.
She thinks to herself, “Oh, I don’t know why I was so worried about that.” The next thing to do on her list is walk her route to work from various coffee shops. She always told herself if she lived anywhere walkable she would romanticise her life. However, she is very punctual and needs to know exactly how long it will take. She has never been late to anything, and she won’t start now.
As she walks, she keeps track mentally of how long it takes her to get to the office she will be working at from each coffee shop. As she does this from her third coffee shop, she sincerely hopes no one inside recognizes her from her interview and thinks “What the fuck is she doing?”
Suddenly, feeling anxious about that, she decides she can practice the routes from the other shops a different day.
Returning home, she decides since she has so much free time she should really try to meet other people her age. She would like to meet friends, maybe even a romantic partner eventually, but for right now: friends!
She changes into some pajamas and immediately starts searching online:
Book clubs in detroit for women
Women running club detroit
After about an hour of research, she feels overwhelmed and decides she could probably do this another day. And maybe there will be cool people in the office to become friends with.
Now, she tries calling her friend again to no response. Elise knows her friend is probably busy, it’s a Tuesday, but still she feels an ache in her chest. No one has really been responsive in the last four days and suddenly she wonders if all of her friends will forget her. Especially since she practically moved across the country.
Deep down, she knows that is not true, her friends love her, adore her even, but she can’t make the feeling go away. Especially when they all still live close together, and she lives so far.
She decides she can’t think about that or she might actually spiral, so she puts on some music and is determined to unpack the last few boxes before bed.
Wednesday, October 10th, 2038
Elise tries to sleep in. Tries. But, unfortunately she cannot. She is genuinely so bored. She thought she needed nine days to prepare for her first day at work, but it turns out she only needed four. Now, she has nothing to do.
She sits at her computer contemplating emailing HR to see if she can start early, but deletes it. She thinks to herself, “They would think I'm insane.”
She decides, “Okay, I can be productive today.” She showers and gets ready for the day. She decides maybe she should check out some book stores or maybe just get more familiar with Detroit.
She walks to a nearby bookstore first, and as she is browsing a news report plays overheard.
The news reports mention there is an increase of androids becoming deviants, they will behave irrationally and if you notice any weird behavior from your own android please contact the authorities.
Elise tries to ignore that, but as she moves to the next aisle, she overhears a couple arguing.
The man says, “I can’t stand them. Why do you want one to take care of our child?”
The woman responds sharply, “We are both so busy and they are made for it. It would be helpful.”
Elise moves away from them because, hearing them refer to an android as “it” never sat right with her. She does not want to hear any more of their conversation.
She decides it's time to go somewhere else. She was getting angry at this. As she steps back into the street, she passes a pet store that is having an adoption event.
She decides to indulge and goes inside, petting all the cats and kittens through their enclosures. A volunteer approaches her smiling, “Looking to adopt?”
Elise smiles back, “Not yet. Maybe when my first paycheck hits.”
The volunteer says, “Oh, are you new to Detroit?"
She responds, “Yes, I just moved here four days ago. Just doing a little exploring.”
The volunteer says, “Well, be careful. Before you know it those damn androids will have your job.”
Elise shifts uncomfortably, “Oh.. okay. Well, have a nice day.” and turns to exit the store. She decides to head back home, done with the public. Somehow here, even a normal conversation becomes anti android.
She makes her way back home, debating on if she should call her friend again or not. But she decides she will try. To her surprise, her friend picks up.
“ELISE! I’m so sorry. I've been so busy. But tell me, how is Detroit? Do you love it??”
Elise responds hesitantly, “It’s pretty. My apartment is nice and it feels homey now that I am done unpacking.”
Her friend can tell something is off, “What’s wrong? You don’t seem so confident in your answer.”
Elise responds, “ I don’t know… I mean people here are different. They outwardly are so rude to androids, they argue over them in public. I guess I'm just having a bit of a culture shock.”
Her friend responds, “ I'm sorry. I know that must be difficult for you, because you hate when people are rude to anyone.”
Elise is just like “I don't understand why being polite is so hard for people here to do. Someone today told me to watch out because they’ll take my job.”
They talk a few more minutes before Elise says she is tired and they hang up. Elise is a little conflicted, and honestly worried Detroit is not the place for her. But, she’s here with a year lease so it’s going to have to be okay. Plus, she’s just a little homesick. She is sure the feeling will go away… she hopes. She finally goes to bed, hoping she will feel better tomorrow.
Thursday, October 11th, 2038
Elise wakes up at 6am sharp, she is trying to establish her morning routine to be at work by 7am. She decides to make some coffee, and turns on the TV. She turns to the news, something she will come to regret and what is playing is:
“CyberLife has once again assured consumers that reports of deviant behavior remain isolated incidents. Company founder Elijah Kamski has declined to comment.”
“The Detroit Police Department has confirmed there will be an increase in investigations related to alleged deviant incidents in the following weeks."
Elise thinks that is weird, androids back home were not nearly as political as Detroit. She wants to take her mind off of that, so she turns the TV off and decides she will read a book.
She decides, no. No spiraling. She needs to establish her routine, romanticize her life here. She decides to scroll social media a bit, hoping there will be some kind of event she can meet new people at, yet all the people in Detroit are posting about are androids.
She quickly closes the app. She does not want to think about this, she thinks to herself, “Can everyone please just calm down? I just got here.”
Friday, October 12th, 2038
It’s raining in Detroit again, Elise has decided she will finish the coffee shop routes to her office. She only had two left, but she was anxious someone would recognize her and think she was weird.
On the way to the office from the second coffee shop, she witnesses genuine hatred for the first time. An android had dropped a man’s groceries outside of the store, and they spilled everywhere.
The man starts to scream at the android, “You stupid piece of plastic!”, “Can you do anything right?”, “I’ll have you replaced!!”
Elise slows, as if she wants to stop and say something, but no one else is stopping. No one else even bats an eye. Teenagers passing laugh, a couple walking by doesn’t even seem to notice.
The man notices she is staring at them and snaps, “What’re you looking at?”
Elise quickly says, “Nothing.” and walks away. On her way home, she thinks that she knew some people disliked androids, but this is a little extreme. Elise had always believed that most people were kind when it mattered. Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, watching strangers pretend not to notice, she wasn't so sure anymore
She comes home, only to turn on the TV to see an anti android protest downtown.
“They’re stealing our jobs”
“Send them back to CyberLife”
Elise shuts off the TV because now she's thinking "Holy shit. What have I gotten myself into?"
Saturday, October 13th, 2038
Saturday is a blur. The nerves set in as Elise realises oh my god. Her first day at work is Monday. She is busy picking out her outfit, she’s tried on three so far. When she finally decides on her outfit, now she decides to meal prep. Just to make her first week go smoothly, and she is searching up “how early to arrive on your first day?”, “what to expect on the first day of a new job?” By the end of the evening, she'd checked the weather forecast three separate times.
Sunday, October 14th, 2038
Elise is nothing but nerves now. She woke up at 5:45am, her new normal. She started walking her route at 6:15, stopped for a coffee and walked past her office at 6:45. She deduces that this routine will work, it even gives her some leeway.
The rest of the day, she decides to stay in, doing extra preparation. She hangs up her outfit, prepares a week’s worth of lunches, double-checks her work bag to make sure she has everything.
Two days ago she had thought moving here had been a mistake, but now? No. She wanted this. She could do hard things and tomorrow, everything she'd worked for finally became real.
Elise stands at the window, admiring the Detroit skyline. Surely there are people who think like her, feel the way she does. She just needs to find them.
She climbs into bed, putting something random on the TV as background noise, and slowly falls asleep with four alarms set for the next morning.
The TV, still playing in the background:
‘CyberLife stock dipped slightly this week following consumer concerns over reports of so-called 'deviant' behavior."
And Elise, unaware dreams of her first day of work.
i know i said this would be out next week 😭 but i genuinely sat down to draft chapter one this morning and accidentally hit a flow state and could NOT stop writing. i had SO much fun writing this and i'm very excited to hit the dbh timeline and start seeing our favs show up. thank you sooo much for reading and hope yall enjoy 💙 ig chapter 2 later this week or early next week!!! If u see any gramatical errors i apologize and i will fix them 😭
