Title: Five Times Someone Asked a Question about John or Dorian's Partner
Fandom: Almost Human
Rating: PG
Length: 932
Content notes: No
Author notes: Written for the fan_flashworks challenge prompt "Question."
Summary: John and Dorian aren't partners anymore.



“You can’t keep this up, John,” Captain Maldonado said, arms crossed. “Do you really think I’m sending you out there without a partner?”

“It’s not working out with this MX,” John shrugged and grinned. The smile faltered as Maldonado’s glare reminded him of precisely how much she didn’t care for his ‘typical Kennex bullshit’ (her term).

“Well, make it work with your MX,” she said, “Unless something changes, and you want to go back to having Dorian as your partner.”

“No,” John said quickly. “That’s not happening.”

--

One hour earlier

“How do you like your new partner, Dorian?” Rudy asked as he proceeded to the next stage of Dorian’s 6-month checkup.

Dorian shrugged. “He has no sense of humor.”

“Well, not everyone can be as witty as you and me,” Rudy said.

“Right. The problem is, every time I make a joke, he looks at me like he’s worried I’m about to malfunction. And then I explain the joke to him.”

“I almost always have to explain why it’s funny when I make a joke,” Rudy said sympathetically.

“Yeah,” Dorian said with a grimace. He didn’t have anything kind he could say about that.

The truth was, he hated working with his new partner.

But he preferred it to the alternative.

--

One day earlier

Stahl rolled her eyes as she transferred money to Paul’s account.

“What’s this?” Captain Maldonado asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Small friendly bet among co-workers,” Paul said.

“What a fine law-abiding example you’re setting,” Maldonado said. “And what was this bet about?”

Paul looked away, but Stahl shrugged apologetically and admitted, “We had a bet for how long it would take for John to get rid of his new MX.” Paul’s MX turned toward their conversation just slightly.

“He didn’t get rid of the MX, the MX is fine. John locked it in a cell so he could, hypothetically, bend the rules on the latest case.”

“A case he solved,” Stahl observed.

“So it looks like Paul lost that bet,” Maldonado said with a smirk.

Paul groaned and got out his device to transfer the money back to Stahl.

Maldonado just shook her head and walked away.

--

One week earlier

“So why isn’t Dorian here anymore? He finally went crazy?” Paul asked.

“Dorian’s fine,” Maldonado said.

“So what happened?”

“None of your business.”

“It’s a secret?” Paul asked.

“No. In fact, John and Dorian are completely open about why they’re no longer partners. So you should have no problem finding out, even if you weren’t a detective.”

“Okay,” Paul said, somewhat confused, but Maldonado was dismissing him from her office, and Paul had cases to handle.

--

The night before

“Are you sure?” John asked Dorian as they lay in John’s bed. He was lying on his side, trailing his fingers gently up and down Dorian’s stomach.

“It just feels wrong, keeping it a secret,” Dorian said, looking up at him. “But I would understand if you don’t want to tell anyone. People will… react.”

John slid his hand to Dorian’s waist, pulling him a little closer. “Do I strike you as someone who gives a damn about what people say?”

Dorian let out a little laugh. “You could care a little more in a lot of cases, actually.”

“I’m sorry, would you rather talk about my flaws than about our relationship?”

“Well, there are a lot of flaws to talk about,” Dorian pointed out.

“Says the pushy, overbearing robot.”

“Whom you love.”

“Fine. If you want to play that card,” John grumbled.

“I do,” Dorian said, and leaned in for a kiss.

“You know I’m not ashamed to talk about us, right?” John said, concern in his eyes.

“I know,” Dorian said, smiling softly.

“It’s that… I mean if you were human, they would never let us be partners if we were open about our relationship.”

“And we should assume that they’ll treat us the same,” Dorian said, nodding. “Great. The only time the police department ever deigns to classify me as a conscious, feeling being, and it’s to govern my sex life.”

“Yeah, that sounds like them,” John muttered.

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to,” Dorian said. “I don’t want a new partner. And you are obviously incapable of working with anyone without my inimitable patience.”

“Hey, you’re the pain in the ass partner, not me.”

“Of course,” Dorian said, voice dripping with amusement. “The evidence fully supports that.”

John sighed. “You know what? I’m fine with whatever you want to do. What’s more important to you? Being open about our relationship? Or keeping me as your partner at work?”

“I want both,” he said, and the sentence seemed to rest heavy on him.

“Me too,” John answered, rubbing a comforting hand over Dorian’s shoulder. “But I’m pretty sure we’re only going to get one.”

Dorian said, “Let me think about it. I’ll decide in the morning.” John could see the conflict in his eyes. He felt a little guilty for making Dorian make the decision, but when it came down to it, being open meant a lot more to Dorian than it did to him (because if John had his way, nobody would know anything about him ever).

John leaned in closer and held Dorian close. “We’ll figure it out. Whatever we decide to do. We’ll figure it out, make it work,” he whispered.

“I know we will,” Dorian said, smiling at him, gorgeous. He wrapped his arm around John’s waist and settled his hand on John’s hip. “That’s the one thing I’m not worried about.”

John leaned his head against Dorian’s shoulder and smiled. He closed his eyes.