Puma's POV

I closed the front door as the three of us got back from our walk. It had been a couple of tiring hours of tossing Hunter a stick and chasing him to get it back so I could throw it again. Eventually, I gave up and after Hunter started showing his best puppy eyes Connor volunteered to play with the dog.

"So, how was today? Did you like playing fetch with Hunter?" I asked him as the dog plopped down to rest on his bean bag.

"I found it... entertaining." Connor thought about his answer.

"I'm glad you liked it then." I laughed, checking the clock. "It's nine-thirty. Wow. We were out for almost three hours. Anyway, I'm all sweaty so I'm going to take a shower again. Can you check if Artemis has food in her bowl? It's in the most right drawer in the kitchen. Thanks." Without waiting for Connor's reply, I sprinted up the stairs. I looked at my watch, which had a built-in BPM counter.

128. Wow, either I'm nervous around Connor, or I'm just having an energetic day.

Probably the second option. (A/N: press X to doubt) I thought after a while and grabbed some new clothes. A snow-white shirt, a few sizes too small, making my curves and edges show up. I remembered on our walk Connor asking me why my shirts are small and I gave him the awkward talk. Nonetheless he didn't seem to find it awkward. I grabbed a pair of jean shorts and found my red and black checkered flannel I wore with Oreo in the picture Connor was looking at this morning. I decided to put it on, and hopped in the shower, turning on the water which heated up in a couple of seconds. I thoroughly washed my body with my apple and cinnamon body wash. After a few minutes, I forced myself out of the shower, not to keep Connor waiting, and started putting on my clothes. After looking at myself, I realized my white shirt had a stain on it.

You have got to be kidding me.

I took off my shirt and went into my closet for some more clothes. I gave another sigh.

Well, this is just a great day, can it get any better?

I looked at all the options of no shirts that I had and went downstairs to get to the basement, remembering I had just washed some clothes a couple of days ago. I stopped dead at the foot of the stairs, realizing Connor was in my house now.

"Hey Connie, can you bring me a shirt please?" I asked with an awkward fake smile. The android, who appeared to be reading a book, whipped his head up to see me. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, not knowing what to say. He gave me a slow nod and went downstairs. I looked down at myself.

How does wearing a black push-up bra and jean shorts cause an android to lose speech?

"Is there anything you want?" Connor called from the basement.

"Uh, no, nothing in particular. I just need a shirt." I yelled back to him. Connor returned a while later, being careful not to look at me. I could see he was trying to control his blush, but ultimately failing and bursting a dark blue shade.

"Here you go, Puma." He tried to act professionally as he handed me a shirt with a mix of pastel light blue, yellow, pink, green, and other colors. I recognized the shirt and gave Connor a smile.

"Thank you, Con." I took the shirt from him and went up the stairs. The shirt was cut to small strips from the middle down, with tied knots at the end.

Just like I remember making it. I looked in the mirror, patting down my shirt. I went down the stairs again to see Connor reading the book again. His blush had disappeared and he was immersed in the book.

"Connor?" I called him again. He looked up and tried to smile. "I was wondering... can androids become uncomfortable in certain situations?"

"No. It would be unnatural for an android to feel uncomfortable since comfort and discomfort are considered human emotions. Why do you ask?"

Because that's exactly what you were doing, you android. I thought to myself.

"Oh, just um... curious. What are you reading?"

"It's called The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's a philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde. It sounds very interesting so far."

"Ah, I remember when Dad gave it to me after he read it. I was still in the ninth grade. Ugh, I looked bad with black and red hair." I shook off the thought, remembering I'd dyed my hair red and black for the year; red at the top blending softly into a black. We were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That must be Dad with the eggs probably." I thought out loud, coming to open the door. I was surprised to find Oreo standing in front of me. He had on a galactic shirt with white flannel and black jeans. The tips of his hair, which was swept from the left to the right, waving up a bit, were dyed black. He had his usual bright look in his eyes.

"Hey sis, decided to come by early, so hopefully, that's alright." We shared a hug as he walked in.

"Of course! You're just in time. Do you want anything?"

"Nah I'm good." Oreo took his dark grey shoes off and hung his flannel on a hook. The sleeves of his galaxy shirt were black.

"I love the hair, when did you get it done?" I lightly reached up to touch his black ends.

"A couple of days ago, I wanted it to be a surprise. Do you like it?" his eyes shone.

"Yeah, it's great. Connor!" I snapped the android out of his reading phase. "This is Orion. Orion, this is Connor. He's my partner from work. Apparently I got grounded for doing my job and Dad ordered him to stay with me."

(A/N: explain a book-plot badly continues into fanfics I guess)

"Interesting," Oreo said his usual phrase, scanning Connor. The other was doing the same thing. The android put his book away and straightened his tie.

Oreo nodded in greeting and turned to me. "Anything you want to do?"

"Hm." I thought. "We could always watch a movie... And build a blanket fort." I added.

"You're so childish." Oreo laughed and ruffled my hair. I rolled my eyes and poured him a glass of milk, setting it down where Oreo usually sat. He strolled over and hopped up to the edge of the counter, taking a sip of his milk. "So Connor, what's your purpose as an android?" He asked. I sat down in my seat, tucking a leg in.

"I'm an RK800. I'm a prototype built to hunt deviants and figure out what's causing them to mutate and act irrationally." Connor stated.

"Interesting," Oreo once again said his catchphrase and took another drink of his milk. "And what's the last case you worked on?"

"Lieutenant Anderson, Puma, and I got a report of a deviant sighting yesterday afternoon. It managed to get away. But we managed to discover it like the other deviants had an obsession with a word we can't quite figure out yet."

"And what is this word?" Oreo turned to me this time.

"It seems like a weird scramble of two letters and a number. R, A, and nine. Written over and over again across the entire apartment."

"Well, the deviants got an obsession with a celebrity alright." Oreo chucked, and I smiled at his joke.

"No no, it's like they see him as some sort of God."

"Huh. Interesting. Androids believing in God. What's this world coming to." Oreo shook his head.

"No idea. Hopefully, we can sort everything out soon. We've got a state-of-the-art high tech prototype over here helping us." I gestured with both hands toward Connor.

"And if you're a high tech prototype, why couldn't you catch the deviant?"

I froze. The last thing I wanted to be was for Orion to worry about me.

"When we got there, he was already gone, and we couldn't track his down." I quickly made up a lie.

"Alright. And your prototype couldn't retrace the steps back to where the deviant was hiding?" Oreo cocked an eyebrow at Connor.

"I have no excuse. I should have been more efficient." Connor admitted.

"Come off it, Oreo, people make mistakes." I rolled my eyes and stood up to make myself a hot chocolate.

"No you sit, I'll get it for you." my friend shook his head and went to the kitchen, automatically knowing what I had wanted to get. "It's a machine, Puma. Always was, always will be."

"Oh, I'm sure there's something human behind everything, right Connor?" I turned to him for approval.

"I'm whatever you want me to be, Puma." he stretched his lips to form a smile. It looked fake, but I could tell he was trying.

"See?" I turned to Oreo and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Did you just-" Orion broke off and laughed as he grabbed a kitchen towel, twisting it and starting to walk toward me. I quickly ran behind the table.

"Hunter, attack!" I ordered my dog. Hunter just stuck his head up and barked before putting it back down.

"Haha, I got you now. Don't stick your tongue out at me like that!" Oreo lightly whacked me with the kitchen towel. I gave another laugh, running to the kitchen to grab one for myself. I looked at Connor for a split second, who seemed to be processing what he was seeing. It seemed he was analyzing whether we were playing or fighting.

Well, the answer is both. I thought as I whacked Oreo on his side.

"Ow that hurt I'm not going that hard on you!"

I zoomed across the wood floor due to the power of sock and hid behind Connor, putting my hands on his shoulders. He seemed taken aback by this.

"I'm safe now, you can't get through me!" I teased him and stuck my tongue out at Oreo again. He shook his head and gave a sigh of defeat. I giggled and went back to my seat, where Oreo gave me my hot chocolate.

***

Connor's POV

"Oh, before I forget, you still have my jacket from a couple of months back. Can I have it?" Orion asked Puma a couple of hours of us hanging out later.

I must say, Orion has a peculiar personality. He's kind and caring but can smack you with a towel or something to get his "revenge". Says the word "interesting" a lot, like he's onto something or doesn't believe what he's hearing. Orion also has a certain area of interest that he's in. But Puma likes him and I guess I should like him too.

"Right. Sorry. I've grown pretty attached to it, but I'll go get it. You two have some alone time together." Puma gestured toward us and thundered up the stairs.

"You and Puma seem to have a... brother-sister relationship. Am I right?" I asked when she was out of earshot.

"Yes," he answered dully. "What truly happened yesterday? I could tell Lye-Lye and you were talking about two different things."

"The deviant was there, unlike Puma had told you. I chased after it as she followed. We went through a UFD field. Puma was on the edge of dying multiple times that day. (A/N: hah, mood) I managed to save her, but that resulted in the deviant getting away. Her survival rate was 89%. I should have gone after the deviant. She was hanging on the railing under an open road, and I decided to pull Puma up instead of following my orders."

"Interesting. Looks like you're going deviant, buddy." He slapped my shoulder.

"I-I'm not going deviant," I told him.

"Hm. Okay. Well, you protect Puma at all costs. I care about her a lot."

"I thought the two of you had broken up a couple of years ago, is it still possible for you to still have feelings for her?"

"As a brother, dumbass," Orion hissed.

Orion is lying.

"Of course." I smiled, getting up from my seat.

"She seems to have taken an interest in you. Why?" Orion asked after a while.

"I don't know. I'm developing a connection with her too."

Orion lifted an eyebrow at me but decided not to say anything. "Interesting." He muttered. I heard Puma softly walking down the stairs with a black jacket.

"Here," she said quietly handed Orion the jacket.

"Okay, thanks! I better get going, I have work tomorrow so I don't want to be late. Thank you for letting me come over." He gave Puma a hug and a quick kiss on her cheek. She returned a kiss and went to walk him to the door.

"Nice meeting you, Connor," Orion called over his shoulder and gave me a wave before exiting. "Goodbye, see you sometime soon?"

"Yeah, come by whenever." Puma nodded as Orion closed the door.

"So, how was he?" she turned around to look at me after closing the door.

"He has... a peculiar personality." I concluded.

"That's one way to phrase it. But he's one hell of a sweetheart once you get to know him better." Puma laughed and went to do something in her kitchen.

"He still loves you," I stated, remembering how Orion was lying about having feelings for her as a brother.

"Of course he does!" Puma gave a laugh as she returned to sit on the couch.

"He doesn't love you like a brother," I explained. Puma stopped.

"What do you mean? He still has... feelings for me?"

"Correct."

Puma sat on her couch looking stunned. I sat down next to her and tried to find a way to make her feel better. None were coming to mind so we were just silent.

"I would've never known. Damn. My head is dizzy and... my heart is pulsing and it feels like I'm being stabbed twenty-eight times." She put a hand over her heart and got up.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" I asked, trying my best to be helpful.

"No, it's fine. It's physiological pain. Too many emotions." She looked over at me. "You wouldn't know how it feels."

"Why don't you sit down?" I offered to her, taking her by the shoulders and sitting her down.

"I was going over to my bed." She said.

"It's best if you stay here," I replied.

"Alright." Puma laid down onto my lap and closed her eyes. I couldn't help but stare at her. Stroking her hair, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Forgetting about the mission, I leaned back, slightly tilting my head on the head of the couch and closing my eyes.

***

I opened my eyes four hours, twenty-three seconds later. The sun was starting to set out the window. I looked over at Puma, who was still sleeping. Carefully picking her up bridal style, I carried her to her bedroom, being careful to not wake her up. Placing her onto the bed, I decided to lay down next to her, just like the night before. I decided to remove my tie, jacket, and socks, leaving me with my white t-shirt and jeans. I tucked Puma in leaving myself staring at her blank white ceiling.

"Connor?" I heard her softly call me five minutes and forty-six seconds later.

"You should be sleeping, Puma."

I normally get five to six hours of sleep, it's alright. What time is it?"

"Time for you to sleep," I stated.

"Nuh-uh," she stated childishly.

"Puma..." I said warningly. She sighed and flopped onto her left side, looking at me.

"Fine. But what if I'm not able to sleep?"

I thought for a moment. "Just try." I finally said.

Without saying anything Puma pulled out a book from under her pillow and started to read.

Silently getting up, I started to go downstairs to see if there was anything for me to do.

"Connie? Where are you going?" I heard Puma ask. I stopped midway down the stairs.

"Downstairs. I can leave you to your reading."

"Don't go," she said after a bit. I took her words as order and came back to her room to sit at the foot of her bed.

"Connie?" I asked, recalling what she'd called me two times now.

"Huh?"

"Why did you refer to me as Connie?"

"It's a nickname. I can call you something else if you'd like."

"You can call me whatever you'd like, Puma." I gave a smile. I liked her calling me that. No one has ever shown me any kindness before.

"Aw c'mon, you like it." She smiled to herself, reading her book. She quickly put it away and turned her night light off. I remained sitting with her for an hour and fifty-two minutes.

"Puma?" I called her name, checking to see if she was asleep.

When I heard no answer I quietly went downstairs. The dishwasher wasn't on and had some things that needed to be cleaned up in the kitchen. I put the dishes away and loaded the machine. Looking around I saw the countertops were dirty, and especially the oven top. I grabbed a soapy kitchen sponge and decided to clean the kitchen.

Puma likes cooking.

Hunter walked up to me and whimpered. Turning around, he had a toy in his hand.

"Not now, Hunter. I'm helping your owner clean the kitchen. In the morning when she's awake, we will play catch." I told him. The dog seemed to understand as he walked off. I heard a knock on the door sometime later. I've gotten back to reading the book The Picture of Dorian Gray. I went to open it to see Hank standing in front of me.

"Good evening, Hank." I stepped back and invited him into the house.

"Evenin'. Where's Lia?" Hank stepped in and swung his backpack onto the table. He took out a plastic bag and placed it on the table, swinging his backpack over his shoulder again.

She's asleep. She had a rough day and has been sleeping from four thirty-two to right now." I said, locking the door behind me.

"What kind of rough day has she had? She's not allowed to leave the house." Hank gave a dry snort of laughter.

"After we went from our walk, her friend Orion decided to come over for a couple of hours."

"Fuck... Never liked the guy." Hank stated his opinion and sat down in an empty seat.

"You're right. While they have an interesting brother-sister relationship, I had discovered that Orion still has feelings for her." I told him what happened as I sat down opposite him.

"She obviously turned him down, didn't she?" Hank asked.

"I don't know. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart. When I asked if I could look, she said it was phycological."

"'Course it's phycological! That fuckin' prick ruined my daughter's day. I've considered the fact she should block him out of her life, but that would be considered 'too strict'. What do you think?" I opened my mouth to respond when Hank waved me away with his hand. I closed my mouth. "What am I even talking to you for? What are you? Just a machine that's listening to me. Er, tell my daughter I said hi, and dropped off the eggs. If there's anything going on, call me."

Hank stood up and I followed him out the door.

"Thank you for stopping by." I tried smiling as Hank heavily sighed in annoyance.

"Listen, just don't even try? Alright? We all know you don't have a smiling program so there's no point in trying."

"Good night to you too, Lieutenant." I bowed my head and closed the door after him.

I opened the plastic bag Hank had left and put the two dozen eggs in the fridge. There was also a milk chocolate bar with vanilla and strawberry filling in it. It had a note on it scribbled in Hank's handwriting.

          Hey Lia,

I'm not giving these to you for you to eat the entire fuckin' thing in a sitting. I expect you to not be a five-yo and eat two a day, there's enough for the week in there.

Love,

Dad

I put the chocolate on the table and folded the plastic bag, putting it under the chocolate. Puma's cat, Artemis, seemed to creep up on me and rub her cheek against my shin. I ruffled her fur, which she didn't like and elegantly stepped upstairs. I heard a door creak open. I cautiously walked up after the cat to see that she had opened Puma's bedroom door.

She must be a smart cat. I concluded, walking into Puma's bathroom right across the hall to look myself over. I had forgotten I'd taken my jacket, tie, and socks off and they were still in Puma's room. I didn't want to disturb her, so I awkwardly stared at myself.

Maybe I was like Dorian. I was designed to be the perfect deviant hunter, but who was I really? I touched the mirror in my reflection. I didn't look destructed like Dorian's portrait did. The more I looked at myself, the more I looked, the more unnatural it seemed.

What a human thing to do. I scoffed at myself, fixing my shirt collar, and taking out my coin from my back pocket of my jeans. I turned off the light in the bathroom and I went downstairs, aimlessly standing in the kitchen doing coin tricks. How much longer do I have to wait to get back to solving the android deviancy problem? Quite a while it seemed.

A/N: another chapter done! I'm really excited for you guys to read more chapters, tell me how well I'm doing on the book on scale of 1-10 (with one being worst and ten being best)

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