#kegstandking

kegstandking said: “ So tell me, rust bucket. You actually feel pain or does it not compute when you do. ”

▌ ▲▐ ─────                    His LED circled a calm blue as he watched the young man from the other side of the Plexiglas, which already had a few new scuff marks added to the bunch. He appeared the perfect pinnacle of calm from the outside, though his very circuits were abuzz with frustration. The teen was trouble since the moment they had met, though admittedly the android had expected nothing else. It began with a call to a nearby public disturbance - not really his job as a police detective, but he had been in the area.

                   That, & the authorization for the use of force against a human suspect was expected to be required. Connor hadn’t wanted to arrest Billy. The young man was a troubled youth, not completely unlike a familiar someone in his own work space. A bully, but no less redeemable. But of course, he had to resist after displaying no small amount of aggression. Connor hadn’t had much of a choice after that. He simply hoped he hadn’t caused any bruises.

                   While he had been praised for his work, the android didn’t feel as though it were appropriate in this situation. Having read Billy’s files he felt more perturbed than anything. The young man didn’t need jail time, he needed therapy, but that wasn’t up to him. For now his superiors felt it best Billy cool his heels in a holding cell for a while, let him calm down while they sort things out. Connor had come to check up on him, only to discover Billy still less than cooperative. He knew he should have expected as much, but that didn’t quell the disappointment.

                   “ I think you know perfectly well by now that I can’t feel pain, Mr Hargrove. ”  Connor said in return, though there was the faintest bite to his words. Almost sarcastic in his calm.  “ However, I can sense damage. ”  Not as if Billy had managed to damage him beyond the interruption of projected synth-flesh during the altercation, but this fact made the situation no less exasperating. Connor wasn’t naive enough to think Billy wasn’t trying to provoke him, to find some exposed nerve & exploit it. As usual he was one step ahead.

                   His face fixed in methodical calm, Connor took care not to allow himself to frown, to let any of his emotions bleed into his voice. He knew it made him seem very mechanical, not alive, but it was necessary at a time like this. He took a step towards the cell, watchful as to take into regard each subtle response Billy made to his presence, feeding his preconstructive software with data. It helped Connor harden himself, swallow down any small hint of nervousness his deviancy caused in his nearing. If Billy chose to lunge at him, he didn’t want to flinch.

     A pause, brief and calculating, LED spiraling from calm blue to amber–and for the briefest moment crimson. No more than a second passed before Connor jolted into action, reaching up and snatching Billy’s hand away with one fluid motion, fingers tightening in an almost threatening grip. This deviant was of no real consequence, he could abandon him or put a stop to him and it would be but a drop in the ocean, barely even a ripple in the grand scheme of things. And yet he was troublesome, quickly becoming a thorn in his side and necessitating action.     

♥   ──   the  woods  are  so  much  wilder  than  she  remembers ,  flat  on  her  back  and  watching  the  radio  tower  blink .  that  sharp ,  short  burst  of  light  hurts  her  eyes ,  but  grace  laughs  all  the  same .  told  you  we’d  make  it ,  she  doesn’t  say .  hope  a  little  harder ,  it’ll  do  you  good .

the  grass  feels  green  under  her  fingertips ,  wet  dirt  and  crickets  chirping  triumphantly .  she  lifts  an  arm  and  points  at  the  tower . 

❝   i  know  my  way  home  from  here ,  what’re  the  odds ?   ❞

she  turns  on  her  side ,  looking  at  the  young  man  with  her .  grace’s  hair  falls  in  her  eyes ,  she  makes  no  move  to  right  it .   

❝   do  you  want  to  come  with  me ?   ❞

            baby. the way it passes through his smile , wolfish on a face with just a pinch of baby fat still in it , is somehow less insulting than the smile itself. like he’s the beast that goes bump in the night. contempt glimmers in golden eyes , tongue tracing the tips of double fangs. she can taste the stale cigarette smoke and beer emanating from him ; beneath that , the heady copper of young blood pumped by a strong , eager heartbeat.     

THE   GIRL   HAS   PURPOSE!   SHE’S   NOT   WALKING   UP   TO   HIM ;   SHE’S   MARCHING,   WITH   HELL’S   FURY   IN   HER   BABY   BLUES ;      and  though  she’s  half  as  tall  as  him  she  tilts  her  chin  up  as  if  looking  him  in  the  eyes,  intimidated  by  height  or  status  in  this  stupid,  little  school  or  the  fact  she’s  never  spoken  to  him  before  in  her  life.