As aggravated as Connor was, he refused to leave the two of you alone until Gavin agreed to go to his room, drying himself off with a towel as he went. Only then did the male prototype turn to you, looking ridiculous in his soaking-wet gray uniform. "Is there anything you have to tell me, Nove?"

"Did it frighten you? Suddenly being thrown into the water?"

Your reply was too genuine, considering your newly-discovered fear. All of his irritation melted away as he shook his head. "No. As we do not need oxygen, we are more fortunate in that we cannot drown. May I ask, is drowning your main concern?"

Wincing hard, your shoulders were taken as an anchor of sorts. "....... no. Drowning is not what scares me. I do not know why being underwater is worse. Please do not ask me again." Not allowing him to respond you pulled away and shut yourself into the guest room, LED still yellow.

The tears were starting to stream down your cheeks before you finished sending your message: [Sir, are you still awake?]

[Yeah, you okay? Did you chew him out?]

[Should I have? He questioned this... fear.]

[Goddamnit. Give me two minutes.]

Due to your programming, you started a timer. With fourteen seconds to spare, there was a soft knock at the door. The second you let him in Gavin shut the door and pulled you close, so much so that you could almost feel his heartbeat. "Don't worry, I'll kick your Dad's ass tomorrow," he mumbled, chest heaving as he laughed under his breath. "I think I might have figured it out myself, though."

The human's words were barely registered; his heartbeat was lulling you. "...... can we wait until tomorrow for this?"

Swallowing hard, Reed nodded, trying not to frown. "Want me to leave, then?"

He was clung to tightly, his face burning unseen in the dark. "... stay with me."

◇___#$&!___◇

As much as he wanted to, Gavin knew better than to drive you back himself if the two of you were alone. But things would have been fine that early morning... if your directive hadn't tried to slip out of your room and smack right into the RK800.

Why Connor was taking this Dad role seriously was beyond everyone else. Elijah had conceeded to his brother's drive to show his remorse. Chloé had never truly given the human detective much grievance. And Hank had seemingly settled down, as well.

But the male prototype was taking it almost too seriously. So before the group of you left, Reed had pulled the tall android aside to get some answers. You did not know what was said, as you remained outside per the human's request, but neither male looked pleased when they emerged from the house again.

Only when you paused and asked where you were going did anyone actually stop to think. "I mean... there's still the week at the precinct to deal with, but far as I'm concerned, you can just go back with him," Hank replied first, shrugging as he let Sumo into the backseat.

"The entire purpose of this weekend was to supervise their interaction," Connor interjected, frowning a touch. "That cannot be done if no one is around."

"Yeah. But they don't fuckin' need supervision, Connor. Elijah said Reed's more than showed enough, and based on what I saw, I'm on his side." Gesturing towards Gavin, he added, "Besides, he ain't stupid. He knows what would happen if he fucks up again."

"It is up to you to decide whether or not they need your supervision. But seeing as how I am at least partially responsible for Nove and her well-being--"

"So you trust me enough to not actually look at me, but you still wanna hang around and act like you're doing me a favor?" Having gotten fed up, Reed crossed his arms. "You fucking said you saw no reason not to trust me! But the second I actually feel like she's comfortable with me, you come in like a raging bull with a megaphone!!" He advanced on the RK800, prodding the android in the chest with his index finger. "So it's all well and good if you're watching and nothing's happening. But ohhh, nooooo, if it looks like we're getting physically close YOU COME IN LIKE THE OVERPROTECTIVE DAD WITH A SHOTGUN POINTED AT THE POOR BOYFRIEND. DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME YOU TRUST ME IF YOU WON'T LET ANY ACTUAL PROGRESS HAPPEN."

"Are you protesting the arrangement? I'll be happy to inform the Captain of your lack of compliance." Connor stood rigid as he always had, looking down at the human trying to intimidate him. "Do not misunderstand me. While I do trust you to be cautious in your requests, I do NOT trust the simple fact that you are male. I am not going to stand idly while you attempt to overcompensate for your abuse with physical attention." The megaphone was back in his hand once again, pointed right at Gavin's face. "DO NOT THINK WITH THE WRONG HEAD."

Excessively twitchy, Reed tugged at his hair, an ugly splotch of red across his face in his aggravation. "I wouldn't do shit if she protested you walking dumpster!! Stop treating me like I'm sixteen!"

"STOP ACTING LIKE IT."

As the pair argued back and forth, Hank was merely covering his face, groaning and just not wanting to deal with the whole situation. Eli and Chloé were in the open doorway, watching with a notable lack of interest.

Which meant that, with your LED blinking rapidly, you grabbed the megaphone and tossed it aside; the lieutenant barely managed to dodge the trajectory as it flew by his head. Shoving them both to create space, you stood between the pair, letting them both see your disappointment and irritation.

Your head whipped to one side to glare at your directive, whose stomach sank instantly. "Sir, please do not provoke him further. I will return to your home and notify Captain Fowler that you have made tremendous progress. I am certain things may still be uneasy for a short time, but rest assured that you are trusted by most. Again, however... stop provoking him."

The RK800 didn't flinch when your head snapped his way, and his own disappointment was matched and exceeded. "... as much as you think this is helping, all your reverse psychology is doing is pissing us off," you hissed. The android's expression dropped by two percent each second as he realized you'd caught on. "You are not clever. You are not doing us a favor. You are merely provoking Detective Reed to see if his temper will ruin what he is trying to mend." Turning fully towards Connor, he was about ten seconds away from shrinking back. "You have conflicting intentions, and no one is confident in what you actually aim to do. So may I suggest taking a step back and reevaluating your priorities? While you do that, leave us alone." Taking a step forward, the other prototype took one back to keep the distance. "What keeps you from behaving properly, Connor? Your first experience with a new emotion? The fear that what you created will not function the way it's supposed to? The dread of standing back and watching an android you seem to care for be destroyed? Or are you just jealous?"

Before the RK800 could speak, Reed interrupted. "Hoooold up. Hit the brakes. What do you mean he's jealous?"

"I am not jealous," the android detective replied, indicator a solid yellow. His body language was thoroughly uncomfortable. "You are correct in that I was using reverse psychology, and yes, things have gone down an unclear path. But I--"

"But you do not trust Gavin if he is physically close. You approved of sleeping since he was immobile. But you obtained a megaphone and drove a wedge between us if it looked remotely physical to you." Eyes narrowed, your gaze had gone stony. "Either you have an algorithm that is giving the wrong solution to your fatherly role, or you are simply jealous. Jealous that the prototype you spent time and effort in creating was going to someone who bullied you. You insisted on my asking for help if I needed it, you jump at the chance to separate us, and you bait Detective Reed into getting angry and then threaten his career when he inevitably takes your bait!"

The currents in his hands were sharp, his hands actually shaking the longer you went on. Was he jealous? Or was it a terrible coincidence? "Nove, I have no--"

"Stop," you cut him off. "Either you come clean now or I demand a polygraph. While defending me is admirable when needed, I will not allow you to act like this when Gavin is trying his best. You had me made for him, and if you believe I will do nothing while you act as though he is beneath you, you will experience the loyalty you gave me for him. And rest assured, it will not be painless."

If there was a word for that moment, it would have to be Awkward. Even Sumo could sense how wrong things were, his head tilting from side to side.

It was only made worse when Connor suddenly relaxed, smiling gently in his lopsided way as his hands went behind his back. "Now that that is settled, I'm happy to see that it has only taken the weekend to get to this point."

If only silence could kill. "I beg your pardon?" was your slow and dangerous question.

"You are correct: this entire ordeal was reverse psychology. But it went deeper than surface level: I had to ensure that Reed would try his best, which I did not doubt, but I also needed to see if you would commit to your mission despite his behavior. And now that the both of you are on equal footing, my efforts have been successful and are no longer needed."

The punch to his nose was both necessary and satisfying.