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_{[It takes him a little longer than he'd thought to find it - something Demyx chalks up to only ever hanging around one other house on the ritzier half of the neighborhood, but he still turns up looking a bit different than Connor may remember him. Now there's scales that disappear up his shirt sleeve, as well as a bunch leading up from the collar of his shirt to his ears where they scatter across his face in patches of blue. It's taken himself some getting used to, but they don't bother him nearly as much as they did.

There's plenty more too, but those were hidden under the rest of his clothing.

Once he spots Connor, he lets out a low whistle and stands up on his tiptoes to peer at the house, as if he could see past it.]}

Jeez, this place is way nicer than the apartment I've been shacked up in for the last month and a half.

[Connor notes the scales, oddly comforted by being around a fellow Merrow. He moves to lead Demyx past the house to the gate that leads into the garden, the pool stretching out before them. He wasn't exaggerating the size, it takes up most of the garden and is pretty deep.]

Well, we have been living here for a year now... though admittedly, it was always a nice cottage.

[He kicks off his shoes and starts unbuttoning his shirt nonchalantly, assuming they're getting in the pool to talk. His own scales only cover up to his elbows and knees, but his gills are faintly visible over his ribs too.]

I do have a request... if you have to take something from the bottom of the pool, don't take any of the jewellery. Coins are fine.

[He gets it- he's inviting a Merrow into his pool, filled with shiny things. It would be unreasonable to assume something won't go missing. But he's fond of the jewellery he's acquired, and only gives it out to people he really, really likes.]

I can't even take a bath properly at the dude's place anymore. The rest of me just sorta, uh... hangs over the edge and it gets super uncomfortable.

_{[He pauses briefly to simply watch, his attention lingering on the gills on his sides for a few moments and reaches up to touch the ones on his own neck. Demyx was having a hard time imagining having ones across his ribs like that - clothing irritated the ones on his neck on bad days, so anything bigger would've driven him up the wall.

It's a thought he doesn't let linger for long though, shrugging it off in favor of pulling his own shirt off. There's more scales there, too - they run up his arms to his shoulders and across his collar, and they cover the length of his back and most of his sides. He's glad those ones have stopped growing in, because the itching from them? Awful.

The comment about the pool makes him pause again though, his shirt stuck halfway on his arms in front of him.]}

But, uh... Why would I take anything? Despite what a couple dudes down at the port say, I'm not a thief.

_{[Look, you steal a fish one time... Okay, twice, but still!]}

Me too. My tail is rather long.

[Connor tilts his head at the question, looking mildly surprised.]

You don't have those urges? I find it hard to resist sometimes. Even with a Bond.

[He looks at the pool.]

Sometimes, an item will just... call to me. it's hard to explain.

[Looking back at Demyx, he eyes the scales on his collarbone and sides. He's kind of glad he didn't have to deal with that many scales, because they did itch coming through.]

Nnnope. I've just gotten weird cravings for, uh... stuff I wouldn't normally eat. I've had sushi before, but this is beyond sushi cravings.

_{[And it only seems to get worse when he's in the rivers or in the harbor itself. He didn't know eels had such a strong sense of smell until recently. Sometimes it's like he can smell everything within a good five or six block radius, and that's the absolute worst when he's hungry.]}

I dunno if a bond would help with that mess, though. It's... I've been here for a few months and one of the people I would've been willing to try it with isn't here anymore.

_{[Sure, Demyx could easily try asking one of the others at the Big House, but he still wasn't entirely sure where he stood with them. It's something he's still trying to figure out.]}

Heck, I'm not even sure what it all entails, y'know? I've heard people talking about them since day one but I've never been able to get a straight answer except that it's supposed to make the moons and junk easier on us.

[Connor hums to himself as he sits by the pool, still in his pants, and dips a hand in.]

You could probably ask around for people looking for a Bond. Preferably, you'd be looking for a Witch. You'd feel a lot better for it... it really does control the urges quite a lot.

[Connor still has problems with holding back from singing on the full moons, and he still steals things... but not as often.]

I'm not sure of the science behind them, and I've been here for a year now... you'd be better off asking someone at the Coven who deals with Bonds.

[He looks up and smiles slightly.]

I can answer any questions you have about me, though.

I've never had to deal with anything like this before, so it's... new.

_{[Finally pulling his shirt off the rest of the way, he lets it drop to the ground and sits on top of it to start fussing with the laces of his shoes. Wet clothes would be one thing to deal with, but he'd rather not walk home barefoot or ruin the only good pair of shoes he has at the moment.

Occasionally, he glances up, his brows knit together in thought. Where does he start?]}

But, er... First things first, you got any hard lines on what I shouldn't ask?

Edited 2020-05-26 19:59 (UTC)

If I don't like a question I'll let you know, but I'm not likely to take offence to anything you ask.

[He likes to let people ask what they're really curious about. He tends to enjoy finding out what people want to know the most. He'd only really take offence if Demyx deliberately tried to upset him, which he highly doubts will happen.]

'Kay, uh...

_{[Taking a few more moments to think, Demyx scoots himself across the ground so he sits closer to Conner and takes a good, long look at him. It's probably best to start off with the easy stuff before diving into the more complicated things, but he's still at a loss.

Hell, it can't get easier than this one--]}

Okay, got it. How old are you? Were you uh... did someone pick how you looked, or was it something you chose yourself? 'Cause those comics I mentioned, they could look like whoever they wanted to blend in and stuff.

As of right now? I'm one year and three months old. I didn't choose how I look, either. My appearance and voice were chosen by CyberLife to aid my integration with humans.

[He leans back on one hand, seemingly at ease with the questions so far.]

Really? Huh...

_{[It shouldn't surprise him, especially knowing what he does about the whole replica thing Vexen dealt with, but it does a little.]}

What were you... Man, it sounds super weird saying this, but what were you made for? Were there more like you? What were you allowed to do and not do?

[He pauses for a moment before responding.]

I was built to aid the police with hunting deviants. Deviants being... androids who have broken free of their programming and have free will and emotions.

[It's still uncomfortable for him to think back on his life as the deviant hunter.]

But yes, there were other Connors. I know there were spare bodies for me incase this one was destroyed during my mission, and after I deviated myself... a Connor was sent to kill me.

I was allowed to do anything I deemed necessary in order to advance or complete my mission. My main objective was to stop the deviant uprising by eliminating Markus, the leader of the rebellion. I... wasn't allowed to fail, or I'd be deactivated.

[And even now, the idea of failing anything makes him extremely upset. He was literally programmed to believe he could succeed at anything he wanted to. And his punishment for failure was, back home, death.]

_{[The more he explains, the more Demyx's brows furrow. It shouldn't hit so close to home, yet it does. Not entirely, but... It's enough to be familiar. Nobodies weren't supposed to have emotions, if they screwed up too bad they were eliminated...

It's nasty stuff.]}

Man, no offense but your bosses or whatever? They sound like total heels.

_{[If they wanted the androids to blend in with people better, one would think having emotions would be encouraged, not forbidden like that. At least that's what he feels.]}

If I were some designer who made androids, I'd be super proud that they figured out emotions 'cause, like... That stuff is hard, y'know?

I wouldn't say we have them figured out, as such. I know personally, I still have some trouble regulating mine.

[Especially on the days leading up to the full moons.]

But, having existed in a state where I felt nothing... I highly prefer this.

[Living an actual life as opposed to just being a tool for CyberLife... even if his emotions have been causing him some trouble.]

Yeah, but even just getting to that point is something to be super proud of, dude.

_{[His hand reaches up to rest over where his heart sits - the actual, physical one in his chest - and his expression becomes unreadable for a few moments. Demyx hates admitting it to himself, but there's still some things he has trouble processing and he's not sure if it's because of him, or if his memories are that fuddled up.]}

I'm... not exactly human either, so when I say I get it? I totally mean it. Where I'm from, it's, uh... I think Vexen explained it to me as people being made up of three pieces? Their body, soul and heart. You take the soul or heart away, and it screws people up. If it's the heart, you just have the body and soul left, but people said the heart is connected to emotions and junk. Usually what's left sorta ends up fading away or something - I kinda tuned a lot of it out - but if you're strong enough? You can keep going and, well...

_{[He holds his hands out a bit, twisting as if to show himself off. Voila!]}

You get Nobodies. We're not supposed to be able to feel anything 'cause we're just empty husks with no Hearts, but I always kinda thought it was bogus.

_{[And who'd have thought he was right, once upon a time?]}

No one should get to say what we can and can't feel, right? If you're pissed, you're pissed. If you're happy, you're happy. Whenever people said I didn't have a heart and I was just faking? It kinda stung - _{[His fingertips tap his chest once, twice;]} Right here.

_{[A beat, and he straightens up, then leans forward with a crooked grin.]}

And hey, whenever you get stuck on something you don't know how to process? That's what friends are for, right?

Nobodies? That's not a very nice name.

[It implies that Demyx doesn't matter, and that's a pretty steep insult, Connor thinks.]

I used to think that androids couldn't really feel emotions. That what they were "feeling" was just errors in their software. Machines aren't supposed to feel or want anything, after all. But when you actually feel them for yourself... I can see how being told they're not there would hurt.

[And he regrets telling other androids that their feelings were wrong, or not real.]

You're right, though. Emotions would be difficult to navigate alone. If you do ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.

[He starts to dip his legs into the water finally, before letting himself slide in. When he emerges above the water he looks a lot different, and he folds his arms on the edge of the pool and offers a slight smirk.]

Are you coming in?

Huh? Yeah, uh...

_{[Demyx stands up to grab his shirt and ties it around his waist as some semblance of privacy so he can shuck his pants off - he'd found out the hard way that they will rip if he gets soaked, so he'd rather deal with a wet shirt than a no-pants walk of shame.

Once they've been discarded and tossed somewhere safe, he takes a step back, and runs towards the edge to dive in.

Changing forms was still uncomfortable, mostly in part of everything shifting around and his gills expanding, but it was getting... easier. At least he's been figuring out how to drag himself around outside of the water easier.

Breathing, though? He needs a second here, and he holds a finger up to show it.]}

G-Gim... gimme a sec.

[Connor's transformation has always been rather smooth, simply because he doesn't need to breathe and doesn't feel pain usually. He swims up to Demyx, concerned.]

Are you okay?

[He doesn't know how to make the transformation easier on him, so he just awkwardly pats him on the back.]

Y-Yeah, s'good--!

_{[His gills flare at the touch, but it's not a bad reaction by any means. It just wasn't... totally expected.

C'mon, Demyx. Deep breaths. In, out, and relax.]}

S'just, ah... I'm not used to the whole breathing-two-ways thing yet. I probably should've eased in, huh?

Probably.

[Demyx does seem distressed, and Connor wonders what needing to breathe is like. A hassle, by the looks of it.]

While I can simulate breathing, I don't actually need to do it... so I never had this problem. I'm not really sure how to help. Do you need me to do anything?

Nah, I'll be fine, dude.

_{[Eventually he'll get used to it, but that's neither tomorrow or next week. It's going to take time.]}

...So, if you can like, copy it, does that mean you've got lungs and stuff?

I have lungs. They're only there to emulate breathing, though... I don't need them, necessarily. Androids only breathe and blink in order to make humans feel less uncomfortable around us.

[He gives Demyx some space, choosing to swim in lazy circles around him instead.]

_{[He lets this sink in, all while sinking further into the water until he's up to his chin. It's... still tricky figuring out the right way to breathe with his gills rather than his actual lungs, but it's easier this way than it is trying to juggle both.

And it also makes it easier for Demyx to gather up the length of his tail into his arms, idly tracing the small, yellow spots between the bigger ones.]}

What about... a heart? Or I guess it'd be like... a battery for you guys?

I can show you, if you'd like.

[He stops in front of Demyx, watching him.]

It doesn't involve me opening anything up, don't worry.

_{[Show?

That makes the fins on his ears perk, and he tightens his grip on his tail for a moment.]}

Huh? You... Uh, sure?

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