#Gavin ruined that perfectly good android let's be honest

[fandom-necromancer]

699. Let’s drink wine and trash-talk our co-workers.

Shoutout to the beautiful anon prompting this! I really enjoyed this!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900

part 2

'Hey, man, how about we go out drinking tonight?' Nines sighed, filing away the rest of the papers holding their last successfully closed case. 'You know? To celebrate.' Nines knocked the papers on the table twice to align them, then stared over at Gavin. 'I can't drink, detective, as I told you repeatedly.' 'Oh, but you can!', Gavin was quick to deliver. 'And no, I don't mean your thirium replacement. They developed alcohol for androids.' Nines pushed the pages in their folder and pressed it shut, talking to Gavin in a tone that basically screamed at him how utterly disinterested he was. 'They have? So what? Why should I willingly intoxicate my otherwise flawless systems?' 'Well...' one could nearly hear the gears turning in Gavin’s head. 'For once you would get to see me doing dumb shit?' 'I get to see that every day.' 'Oh come on, dude, really?' But there was a smile on the android’s face, something that told the human to go on.

'Okay, let's say it's for science? Come on, this is pretty new still and I doubt Connor to go drinking. Maybe you are the first RK to test it. Aren't you curious?' 'Well, you certainly are', the android mumbled. 'But fine. The prospect of seeing you lose even more control over your bodily functions could be entertaining. Also, this way I can make sure you get home safely.' Gavin looked at him pleadingly. 'Ugh, fine, I'll try the drinks, okay? Though I doubt their effectiveness.'

 Two hours after their shift had ended, they had changed into more comfortable clothes and driven to a local bar, sat down at a table and ordered their drinks. A glass of wine was sat in front of Gavin as he wanted to “keep it classy”; Nines got a glass full of an iced blue liquid, the exact shade of thirium, but with a few swirls of something he couldn't analyse, not until he would swallow some. Gavin grinned at him, lifting his drink in a toast: 'To another asshole put behind bars for a looong time! Let's drink wine and trash-talk our co-workers!'

Nines let their two glasses hit between them, then hesitated before taking a sip. His eyes went wide as he realised what it contained. He had thought of some chemical added, unsure how that was supposed to do anything, when thirium was basically just a cooling agent. But no, this pseudo-alcohol consisted of nano-machines solved in the thirium that were now quickly spreading in his body. Immediately his defence-systems sprung to action, eliminating one of the little bots after the next without a sweat. Weird. This wasn't even a real attack. It was like popping bubble-wrap, not like fending off a threat. That was when he realised that was probably the intended effect. Humans had their kidneys to clean their blood, androids would have to do it manually. Deciding it would be a waste of money to destroy these machines when they were the desired equivalent to ethanol, he let them fare as they wanted and although not realising it yet, Nines understood what could happen would he have one too many drinks. This could get interesting.

~

‘You know… Chris alwayssssteals the restroom-soap in the lobby.’ ‘No!’, Nines exclaimed shocked and blown away of his co-worker’s behaviour. ‘He does!’, Gavin underlined his statement again and grinned at the androids openly perplexed face. ‘Why di… did you never tell anyone?’ The two had lost count of the number of drinks they had, not that it mattered. The nano-machines were interfering with Nines’ body in more than one way: he felt light-headed, had problems accessing his walking program and his thoughts ran in weird directions. But thankfully, Gavin was in the same situation. He leaned in far enough so that Nines could practically taste the alcohol in his breath. Could. When he got rid of the little bugs hiding it from him. ‘Blackmail’, Gavin lulled smirking at him. ‘How come you nnnever realised it? You got the all-seeing-eyes!’ ‘I… concentrate on my job for once.’ His voice was laced with static and words were hard. At the same time he wanted to talk more than usually in a sober state. ‘And frankly I don’t produce biowaste so no need to use the restrooms.’ ‘Asshole.’ ‘Sssstop it with the-‘ His voice box broke off with a few cracks then it reactivated. ‘the damn compliments.’

‘Ah, next time we shoulda invite Tina’, Gavin laughed. ‘Gurl knows EVERYTHING!’ ‘Seriously, how do you know that much about our co-workers?’ ‘Years of observation, my friend’, Gavin proudly pushed out his chest and weirdly everything Nines could think of at that view was chicken. ‘Okay, so what you have of Hank?’, he shook his weird imagery off. ‘Wanna embarrass Con?’ ‘Ecssssactly.’ ‘Cheated on all his tests in the academy. Not like he didn’t have the brains to do it, just liked havin’ fun more than study. Always passed, too. Asshole.’ ‘You were there together?’ ‘Hmm?’ ‘You and Hank?’ ‘Nah, but I have my sources… Wait. What about Connor? He got any weaknesses? Never found out anything. And damn I don’t wanna end up drooling on the floor again.’

Nines laughed and hollered: ‘That must have been a sight to behold. And I missed it!’ He shook his head. ‘He likes dogs’, he then replied smiling fondly, everything suddenly getting very, very heavy. ‘Pretends to like Hanks music but really doesn’t. I like it though.’ ‘Never pegged you for the heavy metal kind. Always thought classical bullshit was your thingy.’ ‘It is, too.’

‘Okay, what I always wanted to ask: How are you guys? I mean, probably weird because android n stuff, but he your parent or what?’ ‘I see him as a mentor. Although I can’t speak for Connor. Even I sometimes have problems figuring it out. ‘ ‘And… does he like me? I mean like, you and me….’ He gestured a bit with his hands without talking. Then suddenly realised his words and added: ‘Working together! You and me working together, haha…’ Nines was too intoxicated for him picking up on it. ‘He fucking hates you!’, he answered wheezing, and a bit later added a bit louder than necessary: ‘Hey, I said fuck!’ ‘Congra… Congratu… Happy phcking birthday, toaster, now you’re an adult.’ ‘I fucking love this. Normally my programming filters it out. Being impolite and imperfect and so on. Fuck. Shit. Fucking shit-‘ ‘Toaster.’ Nines looked up at Gavin’s face expectantly. The blue hue that had spread on his cheeks was just too cute for Gavin to immediately continue. ‘Wanna do… something reeeally stupid?’ ‘You know what? Yes. Never done something stupid before. Let’s do it. What are you thinking of?’ ‘Let’s go and egg Hank’s house.’ ‘Hell yes let’s fucking do it!’, Nines cried out enthusiastically despite having no clue what it meant. His research function was inaccessible.

They had stopped at a local supermarket, the underpaid cashier not caring enough to stop two drunks buying several crates of eggs at 11pm. Then they walked their way over to Hank’s house, what should have taken them an hour twenty-five but seemed to be far less. Nines didn’t know whether his internal clock was malfunctioning, or he simply didn’t remember ordering an automated car and frankly he didn’t care. What was important was that they stood in front of the house, eggs in hand and eyeing the windows as well as the other houses. ‘So what do we do?’, Nines asked. ‘We simply throw them?’ ‘Yeah. Throw as many as possible without getting caught!’

Maybe the little machines now attacked some part of his deviancy, because suddenly that order was burned inside his mind, the red text being the only thing that mattered. And he wouldn’t be a military grade android, the best ever created, if he failed his mission now. ‘We get a strategic advantage standing over there’, he pointed at a few bushes at a corner. ‘An easy way of retreat with optimal throwing distance.’ ‘Nice! Then let’s do this!’ With amazingly accurate aim for a drunk man, Gavin threw the first egg. It hit the wall and broke with a disgusting wet sound Nines heard weirdly amplified. But he just took out the first of his own and threw it in a perfectly calculated arch. One after the next smacking wetly against the walls and Nines kept the last bit of attention on his environmental scanner. As one of his projectiles wasn’t hitting the intended target and broke on the window, a bit of the shell still sticking to the egg and slowly descending to the ground now, the light inside was switched on suddenly.

Nines detected vibrations of someone standing up in the ground and was immensely thankful some of the more integral soldier-programs where specially protected. Quickly he took Gavin by the arm and pulled him with him into the bushes, the rest of their eggs falling to the ground. Surprisingly for his inebriated state, Gavin got the signal and started running next to him, half stumbling through the woods. Halfway through the human started giggling madly and although Nines knew they should probably stay silent, he couldn’t help himself but start laughing himself. That just made matters worse as it seemed, as Gavin stopped and fell on his back, all the while continuing to laugh.

‘Ah, shit, toaster, hadn’t had such fun in a long time!’ ‘It’s still interesting what you humans do for fun, but I think I get it?’ ‘Damn, I love you.’ Maybe the adrenaline had made him sober up a bit, because he looked up to him shocked upon his slipped words. But if he was sober, Nines definitely wasn’t until he decided to become. He just smiled. ‘Damn, I love you, too, Gav. No other moron would see me and think “yeah, let’s get drunk with a war machine and be idiots together.’ ‘You do?’ It was uttered in such disbelief that Nines started neutralising the bots in his systems. He shrugged. ‘Yes? I think so? I just never said anything. Didn’t know whether you would be open to that and I thought it would be better to not risk what we’ve built together.’ Gavin let his head fall to the ground, looking up to the treetops. ‘Same here, but not as eloquent’, he mumbled. ‘Shit, we’re some dumbasses, aren’t we?’

In the following silence, a distant ‘What the actual fuck?’ could be heard and that made them both giggle uncontrollably again. Nines reached down and helped Gavin up from the ground. ‘We should probably drive to your home.’ ‘We?’ ‘Well, I don’t think going back to Hank and Connor for the night wouldn’t be the best decision now’, Nines laughed drily. ‘Ah, damn, you’re right. But how…’ ‘I already called us a cab.’ ‘God, Nines, I could kiss you, but I think I have to throw up.’ ‘The next time, then.’

[monchikyun]

XIII. give you everything

Connor can’t help but laugh when a palm lands on his cheek ever so softly. 

“You’re aware that I can’t feel physical pain, right?” 

“Shut up,” Gavin pretends that he’s bothered by that rhetorical question, but the hint of a smile trying to force its way in doesn’t go undetected. Ever since the morning, his face has been graced by the shade of red Connor can’t get enough of, which is the main reason for his good mood.  

Somehow they ended up playing rock-scissors-paper and Gavin insisted that the loser should receive some form of punishment, “to spice it up a little”. He thinks that the man just wants to test how advanced his programming is, to find out whether he’s even capable of losing. The truth is he could accurately estimate Gavin’s move if he concentrated enough, but then this would be no fun now, would it. 

Of course, he had to draw paper in their first round and the fact that Gavin immediately went for scissors was all but unexpected. The man himself can be sharp like a knife when you touch the wrong side of him. 

Connor has a hard time admitting to himself that he lost on purpose because he can’t quite figure out why. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Gavin mumbles and invites him for a rematch. 

He supposes there are better ways to spend their free time, but since no one is willing to talk about what is going on between them, childish games count as the next best thing. 

And Connor really enjoys the limbo they trapped themselves in. It’s just warm enough without the possibility of leaving burns. Luke-warm, if he’s being honest with himself. A bit bland. Still, he could live with that. He can ignore the longing in Gavin’s eyes if it keeps them safe like this. 

“Guess I win this time.” Gavin’s fist uncurls in disappointment, preventing Connor from enveloping it in his ‘paper’. 

“You sure you didn’t cheat with your robo mind-reading power?” There is nothing but playfulness seeping from his voice, still, Connor can’t believe he even has to ask. 

“You really do think highly of me, don’t you?”

“So that would be a ‘no’.” He squeezes his eyes shut and winces in anticipation. 

“I’ll be gentle, I promise.” 

And he is, imitating the slap he got just a couple of minutes ago. 

“Seriously? Well, that was kinda underwhelming.” He sounds almost dissatisfied. Connor never considered Gavin was into that kind of stuff but one never knows what the other person might be hiding. Not that he minds, it’s just a piece of information he needs to get used to. 

“So was yours.” He smirks at him, creating a petulant frown on his friend’s face. 

“Good point.” At least he doesn’t initiate a fight. It would be a shame if something ruined their so-far peaceful day. 

The snow has finally stopped falling, letting a ray of sunshine peek through the thick clouds. He would suggest taking a walk if Gavin hasn’t coughed three times in the past two hours. Connor has been monitoring his vitals, not noticing any significant change to his health, but that might have been only thanks to their current sufficiently heated location. At least according to his scans it is so, because the detective’s hands rub his arms up and down in an attempt to get rid of the cold only he can feel. 

“If only you had a perfectly comfortable sweater to wear.., what a pity,” Connor shakes his head in theatrical sorrow. 

“Oh, wait.” 

The darts coming from Gavin prick his skin without having to look at him at all. Now, this is fun. 

“You do!.” 

The man seems offended by his toothy grin, which makes it grow even wider. 

“For phck’s sake, Connor. I told you I’ll wear that over my dead body.” 

“Guess I’ll have to kill you then.” 

He means it as a stupid joke, but the air turns serious as soon as his mouth lets out those words. 

“Sorry.” 

He shouldn’t be the one letting himself be carried away by the moment, no matter how carefree it might have been. 

But Gavin doesn’t react to his feeble apology, busy making himself smaller to contain some of his bodily heat. His temperature is still within the norm, but that doesn’t tell him anything about what might happen in the next several hours. Days. 

He repeats his actions from the night before, placing his blanket around the man’s shoulder, letting his hands linger a little longer than they should. 

They spend the rest of the day wasting their time by playing all the games from Gavin’s childhood that Connor would never have the opportunity to experience otherwise. It’s a nice gesture, if that indeed is the intention behind it. Could be that this is the detective’s idea of dealing with boredom. And since they’ve decided to forget all about their work while they’re here, there weren’t many options left if they wanted to avoid all communication that could direct them to the forsaken grounds, also known as a personal dialogue. 

Connor almost had to force-feed Gavin the lunch he ordered for him, fighting against his endless excuses of not being hungry. He needs the strength if his condition is to worsen, and he’d make sure he gets it, even if it ended up in him having to shove a spoon inside his human mouth and nearly choking him to death. The man does sometimes act like a misbehaving toddler, but he figures that’s just a part of his charm. Besides, he likes taking care of him, it makes him fulfilled, for more reasons than one. It reminds him that he’s capable of so much more than just police work. 

It’s late in the afternoon now, the sky has gone dark and their carefully structured conversation quieted down into a pleasant silence. The only light source in their room is provided by the muted television which no one pays any attention to. 

Gavin is sitting on the ground, backed propped by the side of his bed. He’s still snuggled in Connor’s blanket, cradling a cup of tea the android has made for him. 

He has packed plenty of supplies with him, thinking they might come in handy. It’s better to be over-prepared than the opposite, an opinion that this trip has confirmed to him. 

Connor has just got off the phone with Tina, assuring himself that Sumo is being adequately spoiled. He really misses that oversized lump of fur, but the dog is doing just fine without him, so he has nothing to complain about.  

Checking up on Gavin he notices his temperature has risen above what’s deemed healthy. He sits next to him and retracts the skin on his hand, pressing it on the man’s forehead to extract the precise reading, just to be certain.  

“Yeah, I know,” Gavin says, clearly defeated. He shifts a bit and looks at him like he’s seeing the most beautiful being in the world, setting the now half-empty cup aside. 

“C’me here.” 

Maybe it’s the medicine he took twenty minutes ago finally kicking in, making his brain all mushy and body too clingy, but Gavin magically pulls him in his lap and holds him like he’s the last of his kind. He rests his head on the android’s chest, and Connor is too weak to deny him this show of vulnerability. Even if it’s likely drug-induced. They stay like this for a while, basking in each other’s touch, breathing in the tender atmosphere. Their hands have found each other too, fitting together like opposite poles. His spare one is threading through Gavin’s hair, messing it up on purpose. Connor loves seeing it like that, it feels intimate to him. A secret side of the man reserved only for those who are closest to him. It’s nice. Too nice. 

The moment is so overwhelmingly light it doesn’t even occur to him how dangerous his actions are. How those small acts can wedge a rift between them if he isn’t careful enough. 

But it’s too late to back out because Gavin kisses his chest, the place whereunder his mechanical heart beats loudly. And it doesn’t stop there. He traces those kisses up along his collar bone, his jaw, his neck, eliciting a content hum from him in the process. When he comes close to his lips, the man hesitates for a second that seems like an eternity, but ultimately decides to give in. 

And that where Connor draws the line. Snapping out of his trance, he quickly shoves his hand in front of his mouth to prevent Gavin from doing something he won’t be able to take back. 

“I’m sorry,” comes the muffled expression of regret. He truly loathes having to say that phrase so often because he apparently can’t do a single thing right in his life. 

He climbs off Gavin, dropping his body right next to him instead. 

“Why,” the man breathes softly. 

“I- I can’t. I can’t give you everything you want, Gavin.” He tries to communicate his despair through his doleful gaze, which his friend appears to be drowning in. 

“What-” Connor grabs the upper side of Gavin’s hand, guiding it towards him in an answer. It discomforts him greatly, but he leads it to where his genitals would be if he had any. He’s not the only one unsettled by this, for he senses Gavin struggle against his grip and at this point he has no choice but to set him free.

“You phcking toaster, you think I don’t know that?” he laughs without mirth. 

“You think that… that I want you just for your body?” 

Connor has hurt the man again, despite trying to do the exact opposite. 

“...no?” 

“No!” It’s not that difficult to believe, but not as easy when the truth has been spoken out loud. 

Gavin leans back into him, resting his head on his shoulder. At least they haven’t spiralled down the path of pretend animosity. 

“You don’t mind that I’m not a man?” Connor has never really regarded himself as one. It’s a label that doesn’t feel right to him. He’s simply himself, a human-like android who has been given a soul. There is no need for something else.

“I don’t care what or who you are, Con. As long as it’s you that’s inside, I wouldn’t mind if you were a phcking jellyfish, I’d… I’d love you all the same.” 

“You… you love me.”  The world around him gets blurry as he can’t quite process what he just heard.

“Is that so surprising, tin can?” Gavin chuckles, his own tears audible in that delightful sound.  

He wants to say it back, every inch of his being is urging him to do so, but his brain has frozen over and refuses to receive any command his heart gives him.

The words are stuck in his chest, leaking out through his close eyes, unable to be turned into any shape. They stab him with their intensity over and over, making him want to pluck them out and throw them at the person who has created them. 

“I-”

“You don’t have to, Con.” 

Maybe neither of them is ready to carry the weight behind that sentence just yet.

@a-convin-new-year i had to change the title a bit to suit my story hope you don’t mind 

[emeraldembers]

Fic: Happy Birthday, Beautiful (Connor/Hank, PG13)

Title: Happy Birthday, Beautiful

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Pairing: Connor/Hank Anderson

Summary: Celebrating Connor's birthday starts out as a joke.

Warning: Mention of alcohol and vomiting.

Author’s Notes: This is the first fic I’ve finished in six months, and my first fic for this fandom, so comments would be dearly appreciated. Big thanks to my beta @decadentmousse!

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865215

It's easy to make fun of Connor. He's upbeat to the point of absurdity, baby-faced, and lacks anything resembling street sense. As time has passed, he's got better at handling banter, but all too often he still takes back-handed compliments with sincere gratitude, or takes sarcastic instructions literally.

It's good that Connor doesn't take offence to being teased, because he's the most infuriatingly pretty thing Hank's seen in years, making it all the harder to stop teasing him.

Hank doesn't know what to do with pretty, never has. He talked to Cole's mother by fussing over her dogs for weeks before he could trust himself to say anything to her face without making an ass of himself, and that was back when he still had good health and sobriety as selling points.

Faced with Connor, he has nothing of use to offer but increasingly irrelevant experience, and it's androids like Connor rendering him obsolete.

Even so, Connor still looks at him as if he's worth something.

The idea of celebrating Connor's birthday starts off as a joke, a way to spite Gavin for giving Connor shit when Connor refuses to pay towards Gavin's own birthday drinks. It's an idea that quickly gains traction because there are few people in the office who would ever miss a chance to roast Gavin, and labelling the day Connor turned deviant as his robo-birthday makes a nice distraction from all the more painful reasons the day is memorable.

It helps that Connor's better liked around the office than he realises. A habit of risking his life and taking bullets for others has that benefit, even if it's a habit that's going to give Hank a heart attack sooner rather than later.

The office does a whip-around and Hank buys Connor a music player with the proceedings, plus a few songs so that they're not all illegal downloads, and presents it to him on the day along with a card.

Connor's face is politely pleased, almost unmoved when he thanks everyone for the music.

He tears up when he reads the card.

Hank grabs tissues for him quickly, hoping Connor doesn't cry anything worse than water or thirium, and rubs Connor's back while he dries his eyes. Connor honest to god looks embarrassed by the crying, even though it doesn't last long or leave him red-faced and snotty.

"I've never…" Connor starts, before folding the card neatly and tucking it away inside his jacket, straightening himself up. Hank waits for an end to the sentence, but it never comes.

He gives Connor a one-armed hug around the shoulders, figures he can get away with that much under the circumstances, and forces himself to keep calm when Connor leans into it.

Taking Connor out for drinks when the day shift ends is more for their colleagues' benefit than Connor's, but he bears their insobriety well.

Hank feels safer getting drunk around Connor than he does with most people, despite remembering the humiliation of waking up freezing wet and reeking of booze while Connor stood over the bathtub.

Connor still scolds him if he drinks too heavily, but other than that, he's a great drinking partner despite being unable to drink. His soft voice, cool hands, and mothering tendencies are a balm whenever the nausea or dizziness of excess drinking kicks in, and he always ensures his colleagues get home safe. There's also the reassurance that no one's drinks will ever be spiked in his presence.

Connor doesn't even draw on people with sharpie after they pass out unconscious, more likely to hold their hair back while they vomit and leave a glass of water and two advil on the bedside table ready for the morning after.

Maybe that last part was just for Hank, but Hank didn't dare ask.

Hank wakes up covered in sweat, dying of thirst, and desperate for a piss in the early hours post-Connor's birthday, rolls over to deal with it and realises there's an arm around his waist.

Connor moves his arm quickly, but Hank's still awake enough to know what just happened and definitely awake enough to realise they're going to have to talk about this as soon as he's done having that much-needed piss and a drink of water.

Hank answers nature's call as quickly as he can and returns to find Connor still lying on top of the sheets, stripped down to pristine white boxer-shorts and an equally white undershirt.

They're as modest as bedclothes could be, but Hank's heart still jumps at the sight. It's the closest he's ever seen Connor to naked, and Hank's not so old as to be unmoved by having someone beautiful in his bed, no matter how ridiculous the circumstances.

"Okay," Hank says, trying to think about the thousand and one reasons it's a really, really bad idea to climb back into the same bed as Connor.

None of those reasons are as convincing as Connor's pleading expression.

Hank lies down beside Connor so that they're face to face, cock twitching when Connor rubs a foot against his own.

"You're still drunk," Connor says when Hank leans in to kiss him, and Hank groans, resigned.

"Yeah."

Connor licks his lips, and Hank wants nothing more than to lick them himself.

"Will you kiss me when you're not?" Connor asks, and smiles when Hank nods. It's torture to be so close that he could count Connor's moles if he wanted to and still be unable to touch them, but Hank promises himself he's going to do just that as soon as he's sober.

Connor wraps his arm back around Hank's waist and closes his eyes.

"You don't sleep."

"You should sleep," Connor retorts, voice modulated to sound sleep-soft.

He's getting better at teasing people back, and Hank's oddly proud of himself for that.

Hank has to get out of bed for another glass of water part way through the night, but when he finally wakes up with the intention of waking up, he finds two things waiting for him; a hangover ready to punch him in the skull, and Connor ready to try and kiss it better.

Hank takes his advil first and gets out of bed to brush his teeth before he lets Connor try, because he'll be damned before he ruins what's likely to be Connor's first kiss with morning breath, and because it gives him more time to panic about the fact Connor wants to kiss him.

When Hank finally kneels over Connor and kisses him as best as he knows how, it's worth waiting for. Connor is nothing if not a quick student and in this, at least, Hank is perfectly happy to be his mentor.

It's still easy to tease Connor, but the nature of the teasing has changed. Connor can't blush, but if Hank works him up in public he'll dip his head as if to hide it in his collar, lose track of his train of thought, or find something to fidget with. It's neon obvious when he's flustered, and Hank delights in it.

He doesn't know why Connor lets him get away with any of it - the teasing, the kissing, the manhandling of someone stronger and faster than he was even in the prime of his life.

But the way Connor looks at him makes him feel as if he's worth more than his outdated experience and poor health, and against all better judgement, he hopes that Connor's right.

Not just because he wants to deserve Connor, but because Connor already makes him feel as if he does.

[fandom-necromancer]

1740. This isn’t what it looks like, I swear! Okay … it’s kind of what it looks like, but just give me a chance to explain.

This was prompted by the wonderful @definietlynotsatan! I hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: mentioned smut in the third and fourth paragraph, discussion of what could be considered cheating)

When Gavin was driving home that day, he wanted nothing more but have a hot shower and fall into bed. He hated the days he was alone at work and all the work for two was his to finish. His and Nines’ workdays were near synchronised by now but every now and then it did happen that one of them was free for the day while the other had to go to work. Sometimes Gavin wondered how he had managed to do this for years. Maybe there really was a reason they weren’t supposed to work alone. Maybe it had been the main reason he had been a total asshole to everyone around him. Maybe he had overworked himself all these years to the point he hadn’t even realised it himself. Or maybe it was just his personality.

‘I’m back home’, he murmured after unlocking the front door, hanging up his leather jacket on autopilot and bowing down to untie his shoes. His fingers had just gotten a hold of the laces when he froze. Nines hadn’t answered. For a moment he thought of all the possibilities why he wasn’t. Maybe he just wasn’t home? But the faint sounds that came to him from upstairs made him mentally recoil. It sounded every bit like- no, that couldn’t be. Gavin let the key in his hand drop to the floor and stomped towards the stairs, taking two steps at once. It couldn’t be, that had to be some kind of prank, Nines could recreate any sound after all and-

But as he ripped the door of their guestroom open, Gavin’s worst nightmare seemed to come true. A very familiar back was angled towards him, showing off Nines’ very defined pseudo-muscles and perfectly imperfect skin. In any other situation Gavin would have welcomed that sight. But not when foreign hands trailed it up and down while the android’s hips rocked in a motion that couldn’t be misunderstood. Neither of the two people on the bed had realised his presence, moaning with static voices he had thought only he was allowed to hear. Gavin stood there in shock, watching Nines having sex with another person, unsure what to do or how to even react. He felt so many different emotions and none of them were good, but he couldn’t find one of them to act upon.

‘Nines, what the phck’, he whispered then, his voice not cooperating with him at all. Immediately all movement stopped, and Nines’ head jerked up. He looked behind himself in about the same moment the person underneath him turned to the side a bit to see who had come into the room. Gavin connected eyes with them. An android like Nines, but not a model he recognised. His face was cold with hate as he uttered a single word to them: ‘Out.’ He tried to keep his anger at bay for everyone’s sake, but on the inside, he was ready to explode. At least they had the courtesy to nod and hurried out form underneath Nines, gathering their clothes and running past him. All the while Nines had fetched the blanket to cover himself, before turning to Gavin. ‘Gavin! I- I’m so sorry. This isn’t what it looks like, I swear! Okay … it’s kind of what it looks like, but just give me a chance to explain. Please!’

Gavin took a deep breath his chest trembling with anger. He was ready to hit this damn android, to press him into the mattress and punch him until no one could recognise his face anymore. But he held back. He didn’t know where he got the strength from. Maybe all their time together, all the trust Gavin had been able to put into Nines allowed him to not kill him on the spot. He had to look away though. He couldn’t look him in the eye. ‘Fine’, he pressed out between clenched teeth. ‘Here is your damn chance, explain how it kind of was exactly what it looked like.’

‘Gavin, I’m sorry, I-‘ ‘No! No apologies!’, Gavin screamed, not being able to keep the tears at bay. He was furious. He would need a new word for just how angry he was at what he thought to be his partner. ‘I want an explanation! I want reasons, I want-’ He had to lean against the wall, his knees suddenly weak from the added stress on his already tired body. ‘Phck. I thought you loved me. I thought you loved me, Nines!’ Gavin was about to collapse, and Nines was there to catch him, but Gavin struggled against his hold. ‘Don’t you phcking touch me!’, he shouted into his face. ‘Don’t you dare pcking touch me you cheating asshole! Do I really matter that little to you? This dumb human isn’t enough for you, am I right? Why bother when you can have others while he is away, right? I hate you, Nines! I phcking hate you.’ The android visibly swallowed, but guided Gavin gently down to the floor to lean against the wall. Then he let go as ordered. Gavin immediately pulled his knees to his chin and looked to the ground, tears running freely. He was far to exhausted to care or deal with the situation. He just wanted to hear an explanation from Nines and be done with it. He would just gather his things and go. Wouldn’t be the first time.

‘Gavin, I love you.’ The man pressed his lips tightly together. What a pile of bullshit. ‘I love you and you are more than I ever wanted. You matter more to me than anything else in the world.’ ‘So that’s why you phck other people when I’m away. I’m sorry, but that’s very hard to believe, asshole!’ ‘No, Gavin, that’s not why I fuck other people. Please, listen to me and let me explain.’ Gavin kept silent, but stared up at Nines out of eyes that could kill. ‘Gav, I… Humans have many years’ time for exploration’, he began. ‘You can spend years changing partner because you learned or made experiences. I happen to be awake for a year and already finding just the right person. I want you. I love you. And I want to spend my whole life with you. I just… I didn’t want to be unprepared. I want to give you what you deserve.’ He tried to catch Gavin’s eyes again, but the man stubbornly refused to look anywhere than on the carpet. ‘I… I also have to discover what my boundaries are. What I’m comfortable with and what I don’t like. I don’t want to have any bad experiences with you. Not when I know how much you care for me and definitely nowhere where feelings are involved. I didn’t want to hurt you by ruining a night and leaving you to your thoughts. I didn’t want to hurt you, but now I realise I did exactly that.’

Gavin mulled over what he had just heard. Was this a lie? Would Nines lie to him this openly? Normally he would have dismissed the thought immediately, but now? He wanted him to speak the truth. He wanted to believe Nines’ story and continue like nothing happened, because according to the bot, nothing had. But was he ready to trust him after what he had just seen?

‘Then why the phck didn’t you tell me?’, Gavin spat. ‘I didn’t think you would like to know’, Nines muttered. ‘If you hadn’t known of it I could have just told you I had past experiences and that would be it. I don’t know of your exes and I don’t want to, so I thought you would handle it similarly. Also, I feared to get a reaction like that.’ ‘Nines, I haven’t even reacted yet’, Gavin sighed, still torn in between allowing his feelings to take over or give in to his hope Nines had been honest to him. ‘I don’t know if I believe you. I want to but I can’t.’ ‘Gavin, I-‘ The android reached for his hand, but stopped just before he could hold it. ‘I love you. If I didn’t love you anymore, I would have told you. I owe you so much; you were always there for me. It would be the least thing I could do for you to tell you if I didn’t love you anymore. I wouldn’t deceive you like this. And I can only hope you believe me and that I haven’t lost your trust completely.’

Gavin sighed and rubbed his eyes. Maybe it was his exhaustion, but he was willing to give the bot a second chance. To for once bet his money on the more optimistic choice. So, he spoke up: ‘I… I understand you, as weird as that sounds. I just… Talk to me about these things.’ He pulled up his sleeve to wipe away his tears. ‘I would like to know what you are up to, so something like this doesn’t happen. So I don’t walk in on you. Spare us both the embarrassment.’ Nines nodded, eager to take the olive branch Gavin held out for him. ‘Yes, Gavin. I will tell you in the future. And I’m sorry, I… should have told you from the beginning.’

Gavin swallowed as another thought came up. Nines wouldn’t stop. Not until he had made the experiences he wanted. He couldn’t really bear the thought, even if he tried to see it as logically as the machine did. ‘It’s just sex, though, right?’ ‘What do you mean?’, Nines asked. ‘Just sex. No… feelings, no… Nines if you want someone else, if an android is better suited for you or-‘ Nines interrupted him immediately. ‘Gavin! Gavin, no! No feelings at all. Just sex. You are the love of my life, the only love in my life. You are the one person I would do everything for and I can’t live without. You are my partner in life. I would never want anyone else. It’s just sex. I just want experience before we make our own. I want to know my boundaries. And that’s all. The people I chose are not just androids but humans too. And we don’t even know each other’s name. We meet once and that’s it. I love you Gavin and loosing you is my biggest fear. I just want to be perfect for you and determined for myself.’

Gavin sighed and held up his hand so the android could help him up. ‘Then I won’t start any drama, tin-can’, he said as all the stressors of the day settled on his shoulders and left him with an agonizing tiredness. ‘Just know that we can always talk about it and you can always tell me everything.’ Nines nodded, holding onto his arm as if the human could break down any moment again. ‘And Nines? You are already perfect to me. Just promise me the moment I am not what you want, you will tell me that too. I love you, but I won’t let myself be lied to.’ ‘I will’, Nines promised, helping Gavin towards the bathroom. ‘But rest assured that will never, ever happen.’