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“Officer Chen, who is that man?”
One of the only downsides to the limitless database at his fingertips was the lack of… humanity of it all. When a man walks into the precinct with flowers in hand, eyes zeroing in on Gavin’s desk, Nines can only dig so deep. He can find his birth certificate, the street address of his childhood best friend’s cousin, what he scored on his seventh grade math exam, but he couldn’t learn the depths of their relationship.
There are text exchanges between Gavin and Officer Chen containing his name—Jeremy, how unintriguing and plain—as they both damned the man to hell for shoving Gavin against a wall during a fight. He found the man mentioned sporadically through Gavin’s texts and emails, but not much else. The information that he really wanted was most likely shared over late-night drinks in a bar or possibly Officer Chen’s apartment, not online within his grasp.
Whatever the full story of their relationship was, it was irrelevant. Nines knew enough, and what he knew was that Jeremy was toeing the line of his property.
“Ugh, that’s Jeremy. He’s one of Gavin’s fuckwad exes, but they broke up over a year ago. I don’t know why the hell he’s here,” Officer Chen responded, her eyes narrowing on said fuckwad angrily. He had just rapped his knuckles on Gavin’s desk, pulling his attention from where Gavin was absorbed in his work.
Internally, Nines tsked in disappointment. Gavin had been doing so well the last few months, working hard, behaving better both at work and in his personal life. He was sleeping better, he was learning to be more patient with himself and others. He wasn’t fucking or dating men that didn’t even deserve to be in his presence, all thanks to Nines. All of the credit belonged to Nines, whether Gavin wanted to admit it or not. If this man were to ruin that, Nines might be tempted to dismember him.
Jeremy smiled widely at Gavin, baring two rows of teeth, and gently placed the flowers down on his desk. Nines focused his energy on tuning out to office chatter so he could eavesdrop solely on his partner and his partner’s ex.
“It’s been a while,” Nines heard Jeremy say.
A pleased ripple slid down Nines’s spine when he heard Gavin respond, “Not long enough,” in a sarcastic, uncaring tone. “What do you want?” Gavin tacked on flatly.
“I wanted to talk to you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we broke up,” Jeremy drawled, lifting a hand to brush away some wayward locks of hair over Gavin’s forehead.
The sharp sound of plastic snapping under Nines’s finger made Officer Chen jump, shooting a worried look at the broken pen the android was holding.
Gavin smacked away the other man’s hand, then shot out of his seat and began walking towards the mostly unused stairwell beside the elevator. “I’m not doing this here,” Gavin snapped, to which his ex silently followed him out.
Nines had to fight to keep his face neutral as he watched the two men disappear behind the heavy door. He was unable to keep himself from following closely behind them, slipping silently through the door moments after they’d done so.
They’d only walked down one flight of stairs before Gavin had turned on his ex and began ripping into him. Tension eased inside of Nines’ chest as he realized Gavin was spewing vitriolic warnings to his ex, never letting the other man get a word in. They stood next to the exit that led to the parking garage attached to the department, and Gavin punctuated each sentence he spat out with a shove towards the door.
“And another thing, you fucking asshole, don’t ever show up to my fucking workplace unless you want to get shot at for target practice. What the fuck were you thinking?” Gavin seethed, chest heaving from exertion.
“I was thinking that I missed you,” Jeremy interjected when Gavin finally paused. Nines sneered at him from above.
Gavin tossed his head back and laughed. “You miss me? You’ve never missed anything in your life if it wasn’t alcoholic or pornographic. Don’t piss me off even more,” he snapped.
His ex gave a sigh, practiced and inauthentic, Nines thought. “God, Gav. Still haven’t gotten over the me-against-the-world mindset, have you? I’m not out to get you, babe, I just miss you.”
A shadow of doubt crossed Gavin’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “Go fuck yourself.”
“C’mon, Gav.” Hearing that intimate nickname fall from Jeremy’s mouth was beginning to make Nines feel like his chassis was being torn apart in every direction. “Can we just talk? We can go to that little diner you like going to after work,” Jeremy lured him.
“Why the fuck would I?” Gavin bristled. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and took a step away from Jeremy. The motion was protective, and Nines watched as Jeremy’s predatory instincts honed in the small show of vulnerability.
“Because I’m asking you to,” Jeremy soothed. Nines imagined all of the different ways he could dispose of his body without getting caught. “You know I love you, Gav. It’s hard handling you sometimes, you know you can be difficult. I love you anyways, you know I do,” he lied through his teeth.
Nines was taking the stairs before he even realized he was. Gavin’s face was hard and nervous as he stared at his ex, but that was wiped away as soon as he spotted Nines. He was unable to react outside of his eyebrows shooting up in surprise before Nines stepped onto the landing with them and grabbed Jeremy by the collar of his jacket.
The man spluttered in shock, but that was quickly silenced when Nines forcefully shoved him against the exit door. Wind punched out of his chest, leaving him gasping a little painfully as he recovered. Nines grabbed a fistful of the front of his shirt and slammed him against the metal once more, if only to watch the grimace that graced Jeremy’s face on impact.
“What the fuck—” he gasped weakly.
“I believe Detective Reed told you to go fuck yourself more than once in the two minutes you have been here. It seems to me like you’re having trouble adhering,” Nines cut him off coldly. Jeremy pushed fruitlessly at his unmoving wrist, and Nines pressed his fist tighter against the man’s chest in retaliation.
Nines leaned in close and gave him a slow, derisive once-over. “Do you need to hear him reject you once more? Or are you able to comprehend how little you are wanted here now?” Nines asked him with intentional and airy hostility.
Jeremy’s startled eyes filled with anger as he looked over Nines’ shoulder at Gavin. “You’re letting a robot talk outta your ass now?” he panted at Gavin.
Again, Nines lifted and dropped Jeremy against the door as if he weighed nothing more than a down pillow. He held Jeremy against the wall with enough pressure that Nines knew it had to hurt, then leaned in closer and tilted his head. “Do not speak to him,” he threatened frigidly. “Do you need to be reminded whether he wants you or not? Answer me.”
Disgruntled and with spiking levels of fear, Jeremy scowled at him. “I fucking got it,” he snapped quickly, shoving at Nines’ wrist again.
“Perfect,” Nines acquiesced. He yanked Jeremy away from the door, opened it, and eagerly shoved Jeremy out before slamming the door in his face.
The small bout of violence made Nines feel a little better, as did the general feeling of protecting his partner. Nines rolled his shoulders and turned to Gavin, waiting for the flurry of insults to hit him.
Gavin stared at him in utter shock. Nines couldn’t help but think he looked endearing, attractive, with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth dropped open in surprise. His eyes darted around Nines’ figure as he found his words, eventually forcing out a quiet, “What the fuck did you do that for?”
Nines fought a frown. He expected to be shouted at, which was the normal reaction from his quick to anger partner. This was… odd.
“He was being manipulative and coercive, Detective Reed. I am aware that the two of you have history,” Nines explained vaguely. He didn’t mention sorting through Jeremy’s entire background, or that he kept a note of his information in case he tried to come close to Gavin again.
Across his chest, Gavin’s muscles tightened with apprehension. He looked over Nines cautiously, blinking at the door Nines had just thrown his ex out of. Then, inexplicably, Gavin exhaled and loosened up. His heart rate sped up, a sweet, pretty blush rising up his neck as he ducked his head and shook it disbelievingly.
“You’re fuckin’ nuts, you know that?” Gavin huffed, a touch of humor and something warmer in his tone.
Nines was puzzled. Gavin hated being looked after, always resisting every which way Nines came at it. If Nines were a lesser being, Gavin’s avoidance of care would have bested him. Being treated… somewhat brighter than impassively was abnormal for Gavin’s reactions to Nines’ protectiveness.
“As in nuts and bolts? That’s tactless, Detective,” Nines returned. The blooming, unfamiliar feeling of hope ballooning in his chest made it hard to look away from Gavin’s smaller frame.
Gavin snickered. Nines’ chest felt so much tighter.
“That’s literally not what I meant, you jackass. You did that to yourself,” Gavin snorted, shaking his head softly. He lifted his head and looked at Nines, seeming a bit bashful. “Thanks for scaring him off. He’s a fucking asshole.”
“I know,” Nines said simply. The corner of Gavin’s mouth pulled a small smile at the aloofness.
“‘Course you do, freak. You done shaking people down, or is there another innocent bystander you need to intimidate before we get back to work?” Gavin snarked as he turned back towards the stairs.
Nines side-eyed him as he ascended the stairs by Gavin’s side. “Don’t tempt me,” he tossed back easily, pulling another amused snort out of his partner. Inwardly, Nines preened at Gavin’s stability in the face of a situation that would have otherwise thrown him down a spiral of negativity. That belonged to Nines.
“I don’t understand why you insisted on attending this event, Detective,” Nines said distastefully as he scanned the room.
“Are you really that allergic to bonding with your coworkers?” Gavin chuckled, taking a small sip of his fourth beer.
“Yes,” Nines stated flatly, leveling Gavin with an unimpressed look.
The precinct’s detectives had decided on going out for happy hour on a random Tuesday. Several officers got roped into the outing as well, and that meant Nines was looking ahead to hours of dull, irritating social interactions. He’d hardly wanted to go in the first place, but Officer Chen had promised to go only if Gavin went. When Gavin had turned his poorly hidden hopeful gaze onto Nines, he had no choice but to agree. It wasn’t as if he wanted to allow Gavin to drink without being able to look after him, so it made sense for Nines to come along. It just didn’t mean he had to enjoy himself.
The bar was busy, Nines supposed, but he couldn’t bring himself to notice anything outside of the man in front of him.
Perched on a barstool next to Nines, Gavin’s shoulders shook with a concealed laugh. He was facing outward, though his body was angled toward Nines and not the rest of the crowd. The attention made Nines sit a little straighter, something molten unfurling in his chest.
“You’re such a freak,” Gavin said without a hint of malice. A strand of his curly hair fell across his forehead as he gazed as Nines, prompting the innate urge to swipe the wayward strand back in its place in Nines.
Before he had time to respond, Officer Chen bounded over to Gavin and tugged on his arm.
“Tequila shots!” she squealed eagerly, pulling his arm towards the direction she had just come from.
“Tina,” Gavin grimaced, begrudgingly letting himself be pulled out of his stool. He shot Nines an apologetic look over his shoulder, but somehow Nines found himself not minding the loss of his attention. Not when it meant he got to watch Gavin snicker childishly with his friend as he drank too much alcohol too quickly.
Nines didn’t necessarily want Gavin to drink, but he became so soft when intoxicated. He looked at Nines a little too much, a little too intently, a little too affectionately when he was loosened up with alcohol. His words flowed more freely as he would lean into Nines’ space and flutter his pretty little eyelashes up at the android.
Nines didn’t have it in him to feel bad about taking advantage of his partner’s defenselessness.
His eyes never left Gavin as his partner left his side and meandered over towards a group of his work colleagues. Tina jumped up and down where she stood, clapping and cheering Gavin on as he tossed back two shots of clear liquor in a row. Gavin jerked his head side to side before downing the third shot, making an obnoxious sound of disgust after it’d gone down.
A man Nines didn’t recognize splayed a hand between Gavin’s shoulders, forcing Nines to tense up immediately. The man was seated next to one of the uniforms at the cocktail table Gavin stood at, and a flurry of information informed Nines that he was simply friends with the uniform he sat next to.
Nines clenched his fists tightly and released them, repeating the motion several times to recalibrate his rising emotional state. The man leaned in closer to Gavin, shouting something in his ear over the loud chatter and the background noise of a sports game playing on the televisions in the bar.
Jealousy washed over Nines, threatening to consume him altogether. He stood without thinking, his instincts begging him to go to Gavin and beat off his new admirer until he was bloody and unusable. He wanted to—
“Tell me you’re not leaving so soon.”
Nines paused as a small hand encircled his bicep and purred into his ear. He was sizzling with anger, and the sudden oncoming of physical contact from the stranger sitting in the seat beside Gavin’s vacant one nearly made him bare his teeth in a snarl. Nines turned to glare at the woman that had touched him, but his intention seemed to be lost on her drunken mind.
She smiled, gripped his arm, and smoothed her palm up and down his bicep slowly. “You just got here. It hardly seems right to leave without getting your time’s worth,” she hummed.
Nines’ eyes flicked down to where her hand intruded on his body, then back to her face. He had to valiantly fight the urge to physically dissuade her from touching him.
“Why don’t we get to know each other a little better?” she hinted, biting her lip and squeezing his bicep again.
His separation from the clingy woman was sudden and unexpected. Gavin shoved himself between them, dislodging her hold on Nines’ arm, and inclined his head towards the woman with a wide, unhappy smile that Nines had not seen before.
“He’s not interested,” Gavin told her, his tone sugary and sharp. His smile didn’t come close to reaching his eyes, but triumph glinted there when the woman recoiled on herself. She gave him a nasty look, but Gavin had already turned to Nines with a small pout.
Unwanted attention forgotten, Nines’ body thrummed at Gavin’s pouty expression and glassy eyes. He wanted to tell Gavin that he looked sweet like that, that he’d look even better if he was on his knees.
“Let’s go,” Gavin more or less said rather than asked. The corner of Nines’ mouth twitched, pulling a small smile out of him.
“Are you sure you’ve had enough socializing, Detective?” Nines prompted teasingly. He wanted to watch Gavin squirm with impatience.
Glowering, Gavin grabbed his jacket and quickly downed the last half of his beer. “Yes, I’m fucking sure.”
Humored, Nines followed Gavin out of the crowded bar. “I’ve already called you a cab,” Nines let him know as the full force of Detroit’s January cold hit them. Gavin grunted and fell back a step to absorb more of Nines’ body heat.
“My place is six fucking blocks from here, we can just walk,” Gavin whined.
Error messages warning Nines of too much inner heat popped up in his vision, but he dismissed them all instantly. Nines allowed himself to begin inhaling the cold, winter air to cool his systems down.
“You’ve had too much to drink to be able to walk without finding a way to injure yourself. Would you prefer to have me carry you back?” Nines questioned.
Gavin snorted out a laugh, shoving Nines’ shoulder with faux irritation. “Jackass,” he chuckled as he leaned against the brick wall, obediently waiting for the cab to arrive.
Nines graced him with a small smile, not much more than a twitch of his lips to anyone that wasn’t as familiar with his body language as Gavin was. His partner was loose and relaxed, more than Nines had observed in several weeks. Warmth from the alcohol painted his cheeks a soft pink, and Nines found himself wondering how far that coloring spread.
“Hope I didn’t cockblock you back there,” Gavin blurted out suddenly, wincing and averting his gaze to the ground. He sounded… not very sorry, despite his wording presenting itself as an apology. He scuffed the heel of his shoe against the snowy ground and huffed irritably.
Soft yellow lit up Nines’ temple in confusion. Gavin was not sorry, and Nines had not prompted him to act as such, so he was left feeling confused as to what this behavior was meant for.
Taking a risk, Nines settled on responding with a simple, “Didn’t you?”
Gavin’s face scrunched up in a frown as he looked back at Nines. “Didn’t I what?”
“Hope to cockblock me,” Nines repeated, taking careful note of the way Gavin’s face flushed a little deeper at his usage of crude language.
“Whatever,” Gavin rushed out. He shook his head and crossed his arms against his chest as he sunk back against the wall. Soft-looking brown hair fell down across his forehead as his head dipped towards his chest. The warring sensations of the frigid external temperature and Nines’ steadily rising internal temperature only worsened. His Thirium pump raced clumsily in his chest, and his fingers twitched with the barely suppressed need to touch the man in front of him. To consume him whole and claim him for himself.
Nines couldn’t help it. His systems overloaded him with the objective to finally, please, reach out and touch Gavin’s soft, warm skin. Unable to resist the calling, Nines lifted his hand and skimmed his fingertips across Gavin’s jaw.
Gavin’s head snapped up at the contact, his mouth dropping open silently as his pupils blew out swiftly. Nines hummed in satisfaction at Gavin’s responsiveness. He sighed shakily, head tilting further into Nines’ hand until Nines was cradling Gavin’s vulnerable throat with his palm. Gavin swallowed, his eyelashes fluttering as his throat worked against the gentle pressure of Nines hand.
“You just wanted to be good, didn’t you?” Nines murmured. His voice was low, intimate. It almost shocked him.
Gavin was nodding silently, his pretty eyes nearly begging Nines for something.
Not bothering to think through the recklessness of his next actions, Nines crowded Gavin against the wall. His hand tightened around Gavin’s throat lightly when the human muffled a whine at being flattened against the wall. Nines tilted his head down, nudging Gavin’s hot cheek with his nose. His own eyes fell shut involuntarily, a shudder running through him at the closeness to his partner.
The heavy, uneven sound of Gavin’s breath made Nines’ head spin. He forced his eyes open just so that he could take in the blissful look on Gavin’s face. Head tilted back against the bricks, Gavin’s mouth was parted as he pushed his throat into Nines’s hold. There was no sign of anything other than contentment on his face—Nines wanted to save the memory forever. He never wanted to forget that he made Gavin feel this good with nothing but a loose grip on his throat.
Nines leaned in closer, adjusting his hold on Gavin to run his thumb along his partner’s bottom lip. He received a stuttering, sharp gasp in response, and the reaction from Gavin made Nines smile. Never in his life would he want to possess anything as much as he wanted to possess Gavin, Nines knew that much.
There was so much Nines could do to him, so much Gavin would let him do without a second thought. But Gavin was drunk, and as much as Nines liked him like that, he wanted Gavin to be utterly desperate.
An unhappy whine fell from Gavin’s pouty lips when Nines stepped away. He blinked dazed, unfocused eyes open and looked at Nines, puzzled.
“Your ride is here, Detective,” Nines said quietly, taking another moment to squeeze Gavin’s pressure points before regrettably pulling his hand away. Gavin looked just as devastated by the loss of Nines’ touch as Nines felt, but said nothing for several moments.
And then—
“Can you come home with me?”
He spoke quietly, quieter than Nines had ever heard the abrasive detective speak in the time they’d known one another. Chin tucked closely to his chest, Gavin’s gaze remained staunchly on the snowy ground he stood on. His arms crossed over his chest as he curled inward on himself, but it wasn’t the defensive motion Nines had observed weeks ago when he’d backed away from his ex.
No, under the artificial neon sign of the bar, Gavin looked shy, and Nines could only resist him so much.
Nines reached out once more, tipping Gavin’s chin upwards with his index finger. Something utterly vulnerable and human was splashed across Gavin’s handsome face when he locked eyes with the android standing in front of him.
It took strength Nines wasn’t sure how he managed to possess to not consume Gavin in that moment.
“Get in the car, Gavin,” Nines commanded softly.
Gavin’s eyes widened and his face flushed impossibly deeper as he jerked himself away from the wall and walked towards the cab. He froze when Nines steadied his shaky movements by placing both of his hands on Gavin’s waist.
“Careful,” Nines admonished, though not unkindly. Gavin looked at him over his shoulder and nodded, moving more towards the cab with more coordination than before.
Once Gavin was seated inside, Nines slipped in beside him and shut the door. He raised his hand, pulling back his skin, and interfaced with the cab briefly to direct the car to Gavin’s apartment.
Nines almost flinched when Gavin’s hand shot out to grab his own, his synthetic skin not yet returned over his chassis there. He held back a hiss at the sensitivity, gritting his teeth and letting his eyes fall shut for a moment as he accustomed himself to the feeling of someone—of Gavin—touching his bare chassis.
“Sorry,” Gavin apologized quickly, pulling his hand back.
Eyes shooting back open, Nines gripped Gavin’s wrist to keep him from pulling away only moments after he’d gotten the sheer ecstatic feeling of the man’s skin on his body. “It’s alright,” Nines assured him. His voice sounded off, a little too gruff as his vocal modulator rumbled with content, and Gavin seemed to only take that as more proof that he’d done something wrong.
To show that there was no issue, Nines let him go and flipped his hand so that his palm faced the ceiling. An offer for Gavin’s taking. Gavin looked down at his hand nervously, then back up at Nines as if he was trying to decipher if Nines was toying with him or not.
An eyebrow lifted, the small gesture begging the question of why he would possibly expose himself like this for any alternative reason. Gavin seemed to melt into the seat a little, his face going impossibly soft as he looked back down at Nines’ hand and briefly skated his fingertips across the length of the android’s palm.
Nines’ fingers twitched minutely at the foreign sensation.
“Does it hurt?” Gavin asked him suddenly, looking a bit unsure of himself.
“No,” Nines bit out. He flexed his fingers, then inhaled and exhaled deeply, as he attempted to calm himself down. His Thirium pump surged in speed, nearly beating out of his own chest. His sensors lit up like fireworks, pop ups exploding in his field of vision as he was touched. “It is… new,” Nines tried to explain.
Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed, his soft fingers dancing across Nines’ chassis subconsciously as he looked at Nines for more.
Swallowing the excess of fluid that had begun to gather in Nines’ mouth, he again worked to force his systems to relax as he continued speaking.
“No one else has touched my chassis before,” he admitted despite feeling like his chest had cracked open to expose something delicate.
Gavin’s mouth dropped a little in shock, the expression tugging the corners of Nines’ mouth up against his will. “I—what? Yes you have. What about when you and Connor connect to each other or whatever,” Gavin rushed out.
Nines shook his head immediately. “That is… so very different,” he huffed. His eyes fluttered when Gavin placed his palm in Nines’, squeezing his hand before sliding up to his wrist and back down again. Nines shuddered noticeably, and when he blinked his eyes back open he found Gavin staring at him in awe. If he hadn’t been so disrupted by the overwhelming feeling of being touched by the other man, Nines swore he would have laughed.
“Connor is the only android I have interfaced with, and even then… this is not interfacing. It does not feel the same for me. It isn’t the same.” Gavin’s hand was lazily drifting up and down his body, the heel of his palm almost massaging Nines from his palm to the center of his wrist. Gavin’s fingers swiped up higher, passing his wrist and brushing against where his synth skin still covered the majority of his forearm underneath his sleeves.
Embarrassingly, though he knew Gavin would not recognize his bodily reaction, the bits of synth skin that Gavin’s fingers did manage to reach pulled back at the touch. Nines willed his body to act accordingly, but it paid him no mind. Every time Gavin’s fingertips caught against the edges of his synthetic skin, it jumped back as if it was begging Gavin to touch him higher, more, all over.
“Why not?” Gavin then asked curiously. He sounded breathless, Nines noticed. Waiting on Nines’ answer with bated breath.
Why not? Nines scoffed internally. Why wasn’t having Gavin touch him so intimately in the back of a cab as he curled into Nines’ side the same thing as having Connor briefly interface with him to share work-related information?
“Idiot,” Nines huffed quietly into the quiet of the car.
Gavin paused, looked up at Nines with a bewildered expression, and then, with the hand not cradling Nines’ hand, smacked the android’s shoulder.
“That didn’t hurt,” Nines informed him flatly, just to be an asshole.
That made Gavin fall into genuine laughter. He leaned into Nines, forehead falling onto the android’s shoulder, as he drunkenly giggled.
“Asshole,” Gavin breathed, the smile in his voice obvious although his was was still buried into Nines’ shoulder.
“You’re one to talk,” Nines countered. His voice was abnormally soft with emotion. Without thinking too much about the (very unlikely) negative possibilities of his actions, he wrapped his free arm around Gavin’s shoulders and pulled him properly against his side. Gavin let out a small squeak as Nines tugged him flush against the android, but relaxed in his hold within a split second. They were only three minutes away from Gavin’s apartment at that point, but Gavin remained tucked into Nines’ side with their hands clasped together the whole way.
Not much changed afterwards. Not really, at least. They still bickered an argued, Gavin still had a smart mouth that Nines wanted to fuck out of him, Gavin still looked at Nines like he hung the moon, Nines fell more in love with him with each passing day.
Physical contact happened more often—Nines certainly did notice that change. A hand squeezing the other’s bicep, fingers catching on the other’s wrist in lieu of a verbal call for attention when needed, arms tantalizingly brushing against one another’s when they walked side-by-side. The increase in touch was equal sided, if not surprisingly a little heavier on Gavin’s side. He began standing inexplicably close to Nines, regardless of their location. He was constantly brushing up against Nines, constantly in his space and causing his synthetic skin to involuntarily pull back to beg for touch.
It was driving Nines insane, the amount that Gavin would inadvertently touch him. The extent to which he yearned to feel Gavin’s fingers on his skin, on his chassis, again nearly crippled him. Nines needed—
He needed.
He was deviant from the first time he opened his eyes, awoken by his predecessor, so emotion was not exactly foreign to him. Nines felt things. He felt anger and frustration, mostly directed at Gavin during their earlier days of partnership but nowadays directed at, well, everyone else. He felt nervousness and apprehension, he felt isolation, he felt happiness, he felt longing.
Need was new and uncomfortable. It wasn’t as if he’d thought his feelings towards Gavin were watered down, but needing him was different. Nines hadn’t needed much of anything in his short lifetime, let alone some one. Connor, he undoubtedly cared for. He cared for Lieutenant Anderson by extension, he supposed, but there was no craving for those two. They were friends. Gavin was not a friend, he was… everything.
“Do you need to go take something out on the gun range?”
Nines blinked. He spun his blade between his fingers, the movement bringing a sense of relief to his swarming mind.
“Are you offering, Detective Reed?” Nines deflected, lifting his eyes to his deskmate’s concerned expression.
“Ha ha, very fucking funny,” Gavin grumbled sarcastically. He didn’t look away from Nines, though, and the concern seemed to deepen. “Are you… alright?” he hedged unsurely.
“Quite alright. I’m just a bit off-kilter today,” Nines brushed off. He swirled the silver blade again, waiting for Gavin to take the bait.
Gavin frowned deeper. His eyes scaled over Nines’ torso to check for any outward signs of distress or injury. “Is something wrong?”
“You’re showing concern for a coworker, Detective. I only assumed that meant Hell froze over,” Nines deadpanned.
Tension melted away into amused exasperation. Gavin’s shoulders sank with a laughing sigh, an irresistible smile crossing his sweet mouth. “You’re a fucking dickhead, you know that?”
Nines hummed, lips twitching. “Yes,” he said.
“Of fucking course you do, asswipe,” Gavin snickered as he pushed away from his desk and stood. His eyes were bright and amused when he looked at Nines, but a sense of nervousness dimmed that light as he considered his partner. “I’m heading out,” he began, sounding forcibly casual. “Do you want to, um, grab a drink with me? Or something else since you don’t, y’know, drink.”
Gavin ducked his head slightly and scratched at the back of his neck self-consciously, but otherwise bravely held eye contact. Nines would have purred pridefully if he could have, satisfaction curling around his every wire at Gavin’s request.
“Yes,” Nines murmured. He let his eyes drag down over Gavin, then back up to take in the detective’s bashful expression.
Standing, Nines stepped around the desk to come mere inches in front of Gavin. He leaned in, just enough to snag a reaction out of Gavin. The man reacted beautifully, perfectly, as Nines knew he would—eyelids drooping, mouth parting, and his neck tilting backwards to look up at Nines as he loomed over him.
“I would be agreeable to whatever you choose to do, Detective,” Nines purred darkly for only the two of them to hear. He relished in the small shudder that shook Gavin’s frame. “I need to provide Connor with some of our previous case files. Why don’t you wait for me in the car?”
Gavin was nodding his head furiously before Nines had finished asking his question. He bumped into his desk chair, whipping around to shove the thing towards his desk with a flustered grumble. Nines could only watch the little human with a smile pulling at his lips. “Don’t break anything,” he teased, unable to help himself.
A middle finger was thrown at Nines over Gavin’s shoulder as he left the station and made his way to the parking lot. Nines exhaled when Gavin was gone, pocketing his butterfly knife after a few more eager swipes. He glanced at their desks to make sure everything was in its place when he ended up spotting a pair of keys on Gavin’s desk.
Fluttering adoration in Nines’ chest made it harder to keep a wide smile from breaking out. Idiot, he thought to himself affectionately as he swiped the keys. At least it gave him the opportunity to offer to drive.
Nines made quick work of approaching Connor at his desk across from Lieutenant Anderson. Connor smiled at him in greeting, to which Nines nodded in return. Wordlessly, Nines retracted his synth skin and reached out to accept Connor’s similarly offered hand. Case files and other bits of information passed through the two of them seamlessly once they’d touched. Once they’d separated, Nines spotted a smug little smirk on Connor’s face that he didn’t like.
“Any fun plans after work today?” his predecessor asked knowingly.
“Yes. Your mother and I have quite the evening planned,” Nines returned immediately.
Lieutenant Anderson snorted, then chuckled into his hand to poorly hide his reaction. Connor inclined his head towards his partner with a look, rolling his eyes as he did so. The Lieutenant snickered some more with a shrug.
“You’re telling me that wasn’t even a little funny to you?” the older man huffed through a mirthful smile.
“See? I’m funny,” Nines taunted, spinning on his heel and heading towards the lobby without letting Connor get another word in.
Nines absently toyed with Gavin’s car keys as he strode through the parking lot towards Gavin’s reserved spot. Getting Gavin alone in a bar was tempting, but finding a way to get Gavin alone in his apartment sounded far better.
His steps faltered for a moment once he was able to see Gavin’s car. Namely, his eyes narrowed to slits on the man Gavin was arguing with directly beside the car. Nines’ LED pulsed red at the unwelcome sight of Jeremy for the second time. He’d thought he’d done enough to scare the man off last time, but clearly not.
No matter. Nines was there to stake his claim again, and he wouldn’t leave any room for questioning this time around.
“—know, typically don’t show up at my job means don’t show up at my fucking job, jackass,” he heard Gavin snarl. Nines felt pride wash over him all over again at the fierce rejection.
“You’re off the clock, Gav.” Nines wanted to gut him. “I’m playing by your rules,” the man deflected, raising his hands up in a placating gesture.
Gavin sneered at him, that much was obvious, and took a step closer to his ex with his shoulders squared back confidently. “You’re even stupider than I fucking thought if you think that bullshit will work on me. I mean it, get fucking lost, Jeremy. I don’t want to see you,” Gavin seethed.
The other man scoffed, clearly put off. “Stop being a little bitch. You’re so fucking dramatic, you know that?”
More vitriol was lying in wait to spill out of Jeremy’s mouth, but Nines’ long legs allowed him to cross the parking lot in no time. The second Gavin’s ex caught sight of Nines out of the corner of his eye, his jaw snapped shut and his face flattened into an outraged glower. Gavin looked over his shoulder when he saw the change in Jeremy’s face, his shoulders softening in relief when he locked eyes with Nines.
Nines kept quiet, something that joyously unnerved Jeremy by his vital signs, as he approached behind Gavin. He quickly unlocked the car, dragging his eyes away from Jeremy to assess Gavin. Spiked stress and anger levels decreased when Nines’ presence was known, but they did not diminish entirely.
“Get inside,” Nines ordered once he’d come up directly behind Gavin.
Warily, Gavin’s eyes darted back towards Jeremy and remained utterly still where he stood. Nines narrowed his eyes and nodded towards the car, urging Gavin to listen.
With a short, unhappy grumble, Gavin leveled Jeremy with one more scathing look before throwing himself into the passenger seat and slamming the door behind him. Nines would be getting an earful about ordering him around, no doubt. Nines didn’t care. Anger boiled within him, the intensity of which being something he had never experienced before in his life. He felt bloodthirsty with it.
Nines walked up to Jeremy and stared at the man down his nose. “It seems I did not make myself clear the last time we spoke,” he commented cooly, daggers of icy fury prickling his tone. Jeremy took note of this and stepped back, though he continued to glare at the android less than two feet away from him.
“Do you remember how powerful you felt when you hit him?” Nines asked, almost conversational. Jeremy’s eyes widened at the mention of his physical tendencies, but he didn’t dare interrupt Nines. “The power you felt putting your hands on your domestic partner will be nothing compared to the satisfaction I would feel if I chose to snap your neck with my bare hands. And, I promise you, if you come near Gavin again, I will make that choice,” Nines threatened viciously.
“What—that’s—” Jeremy stuttered, cutting himself off when Nines took a menacing step closer.
“I would advise you against merely thinking about him, because, if you do, I’ll know. I’m showing you mercy, Jeremy,” Nines mocked sharply, “and I can promise you that my kindness ends here. I am not asking you. Leave my partner alone unless you’d like to end up in pieces floating along the Detroit River.”
With that, Nines stepped away and, after pinning Jeremy down with his gaze for a few more tortuous moments, turned to make his way back to the car. Silence fell around them, without another word being uttered by Jeremy as he watched Nines start the car and pull away with a horrified expression. Likewise, Gavin did not utter a single word from where he sulked in the passenger seat. Nines felt his eyes boring into the side of his head as he navigated back to Gavin’s apartment, but nonetheless, the man stayed quiet.
Unease had begun to creep into Nines by the time he parked Gavin’s car in his apartment’s lot. Gavin was out of the car in a split second, but Nines easily followed closely behind. A glare, though soft and looking quite easy to break, was shot at Nines when they stepped into the elevator together. Nines would have sighed at the heatless anger if Gavin was less pissed off.
“What did you say to him?”
As soon as the door shut behind Nines, Gavin rounded on him. Nines watched Gavin carefully for a moment, and decided it would be of no benefit to him to lie. Though his words lashed out, it was easy for Nines to read his behavior as harmless. Nothing more than a puppy biting his leg for attention.
He dropped Gavin’s keys where they belonged, making sure to avoid stepping on Leah’s tail where it poked out from underneath Gavin’s coffee table as he stalked closer to Gavin. “Verbatim?”
“Asshole,” Gavin sighed with an annoyed roll of his eyes. He glared at Nines, though he watched Nines’ approach with thinly veiled interest. “Yes, verbatim. You have a perfect fucking memory, right? What the fuck did you say to him?”
Nines smiled as he came to stand almost chest-to-chest with Gavin. “I told him that I would be more than happy to break his neck if he came near you again. And, just for good measure, I told him that I would ensure his body ended up in pieces if he decided not to listen to me,” Nines confessed, never once tearing his eyes away from Gavin’s.
For a few seconds, Gavin stared up at Nines, taken aback, and Nines only waited patiently. Then, after a few unsteady breaths, Gavin asked, “Why?”
Nines narrowed his eyes. “I’m far from clueless, Gavin. He’s hit you before. Both times I’ve walked in on you two talking, it’s been nothing but him putting you down and speaking to you out of turn,” he said shortly, somewhat angrily.
Gavin’s eyes fell shut as he shook his head. He lifted a shaky hand to place it on Nines’s chest, clutching the fabric of his turtleneck for stability. “No. Please, just—” Gavin made a sound of frustration, opening his big eyes and settling them on Nines’ face pleadingly. “Tell me why,” he begged.
Ah, Nines thought, the anger leaving him. Gavin was asking for it, he realized. A pleased thrill ran up his spine.
Nines closed the distance between them, caging Gavin against the wall of his living room. Reminiscent of their night outside of the bar, Nines wrapped a possessive hand around Gavin’s neck. A debauched moan was ripped from Gavin’s throat when Nines’ then pinned his hips against the wall with his own.
“I did it because it was all true,” Nines confirmed, applying an authoritative pressure to Gavin’s throat. “Seeing him near you made me want to rip him apart, Gavin. Being forced to watch anyone garner your attention is sickening enough, but he wanted you. I did it because I wanted him to know that it’s as good as a death wish to want you now that I’ve decided you’re mine,” Nines whispered reverently, his lips ghosting above Gavin’s lips.
The way Gavin jerked eagerly when Nines’ mouth came close to his could have sent Nines spiraling if he was a lesser being.
“Gavin,” Nines murmured, his own eyes fluttering shut when Gavin’s hips rolled forward into his. Their erections brushed against one another, attesting to the shared want both men suffered from.
“Please,” Gavin nearly sobbed, and Nines was finished.
Their lips met with a growl from Nines and Gavin’s teeth digging brutally into Nines’ bottom lip. Both men moaned in relief at the violent kiss, Nines’ other hand wrapping around Gavin’s thigh to hoist it up over his hip. Nines slotted their hips together roughly as he slipped his tongue into Gavin’s willing, wet mouth. Gavin only clung to him frantically, gripping Nines wherever he could reach as he let the android dominate his mouth.
Whoever moved first was irrelevant as they shifted away from the wall and stumbled towards Gavin’s bedroom. Nines was too tall, making one of his steps nearly two of Gavin’s and interfering with how quickly they would be able to get to the bedroom. Snarling in frustration, Nines reached down to palm Gavin’s ass and effortlessly lift him up into his arms.
Gavin squeaked in shock, his hands clambering to grip Nines’ shoulders for support. In response, Nines chuckled against his mouth.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you laugh,” Gavin panted dopily, smiling into the next wet, open kiss he laid onto Nines’s mouth.
The bedroom door was kicked shut behind them, slamming against the hinges and no doubt sending the cats scattering wherever they were hiding in the living room. Nines broke their kiss, albeit almost painfully, and tossed Gavin down on his bed.
“It’s difficult to find reason for laughter when the funniest person in the room is myself,” Nines said drily with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Gavin’s face twisted up in outrage as he heaved a dramatic sigh where he laid on the bed. “Oh my fucking God, you’re so unbelievable. Where did you learn to joke like that?” he groaned in exaggerated distaste. Despite his ongoings, his teeth gleamed under the bedroom light where they peeked out of his smile.
When Nines laid out on top of him, Gavin immediately pulled him down and bracketed his body with his legs and arms. “You know what the first thing you said when we met was?” Gavin asked breathlessly, his smile widening as it softened with fondness.
Of course Nines remembered. Nines hadn’t forgotten a single second of his life since his eyes had been opened. But still.
“Tell me,” Nines requested.
Gavin sighed dreamily as Nines hands wandered underneath his shirt and then promptly worked on his belt.
“I asked you if you had as much of a stick shoved up your ass as Connor did,” Gavin started, his words almost slurring together as Nines pressed heated, open-mouthed kisses against his jaw and throat. Nines hummed in encouragement, a smile already forming at the memory.
“You told me that you didn’t, but that you could shove one up mine if it’d make me ‘more collaborative’,” Gavin said, making a small, soft sound that reminded Nines suspiciously of a giggle. He lifted his arms obediently as Nines stripped his sweatshirt up and off of his body.
“That only proves I have always been the funniest person in the room,” Nines commented lightly as he worked his way down Gavin’s body with his lips and tongue.
It was only with wonder that Nines watched the way Gavin’s muscles shifted with his delight. Abs tensing, Gavin tossed his head back against the mattress and laughed loudly. Nines could feel the vibrations underneath the sensors in his fingertips, through his lips, everywhere his body touched Gavin’s.
Nines realized how deeply he could understand religion at that moment. Every atom of his being was made to worship and devote itself to Gavin, he would never be more sure of anything else in his life.
Fingers tunneled into his hair, scratching lovingly at his scalp. “Whatever you tell yourself,” Gavin teased airily, entranced, as he combed through Nines’ hair.
“Jealous,” Nines shot back, sounding equally heady.
The remainder of Gavin’s clothes were stripped from him and discarded carelessly. Nines felt his chest tighten as he took in the sight of Gavin’s body, unconsciously muttering words of bewitchment onto Gavin’s skin. Scars paler than the natural tan of his skin littered his body, the ages of the assortment decorating his body varying wildly. Nines tasted every scar he could see, still murmuring praises as he did so, as he pushed Gavin’s thighs towards his chest.
Gavin squirmed atop of the sheets. “Nines,” he implored, tugging on the strands of his hair that he still held between his fingers.
Nines straightened up. He was panting, he realized belatedly, in the hopes that it would cool his steadily overheating systems down. Excitement thrummed throughout Nines, allowing him to easily disregard any concern for his systems sweating it out when it meant he got Gavin like this.
Underneath him. Warm. Trusting. Happy and real and wanting Nines right back.
Nines leaned overtop of Gavin again, ducking down to take his mouth in a deep, slow kiss. His tongue swiped against Gavin’s lazily, savoring the taste of him and storing it away in his endless databases. Arms wormed their way around Nines’ waist and pulled him down. Gavin’s ankles crossed behind the small of Nines’ back and urged his hips to grind against Gavin’s.
Blindly, Nines reached upwards and rummaged loudly through Gavin’s nightstand. His fingers tightened around the bottle he knew was there and dropped it beside them. When their kiss broke, it was with a filthy, wet sound that Nines knew would plague his every waking moment.
Gavin looked downright sinful like that. Out of breath, his lips swollen and wet with Nines’ synthetic saliva that Nines could fucking see when he scanned him, flushed everywhere as his hard, leaking cock twitched against his stomach. Nines was suddenly overtaken with his need for Gavin, his need to own and possess and claim the man below him.
He popped the cap with inattention, eyes locked solely on Gavin’s trembling body. When he rubbed warming, slick fingers against the tight pucker of Gavin’s hole, he slid his other hand down Gavin’s thigh and up his flank.
“Gavin,” he called, demanding the man’s attention.
Gavin dragged his eyes away from where he’d followed Nines’ fingers between his legs, looking up at Nines with easy obedience.
“If you want this, that’s it. There will never be anyone else for you,” Nines warned him. Gavin whimpered through it, arching his back to push down on Nines’s teasing fingers.
“Yes,” Gavin gasped, nodding frantically as he feverishly tried to get Nines’ fingers inside of him.
Nines surged forward for a desperate kiss as he finally dipped the first finger into Gavin. For his part, Gavin’s reaction was light-years more arousing than Nines had ever imagined. He gasped and whined into Nines’ mouth, clawing at the material of his clothing as Nines fingered him open.
One finger became two, and Nines crooked his fingers as he pushed the duo in to distract Gavin from the stretch.
“Fuck! Fuck, please,” Gavin cried out when Nines pushed against his prostate. He threw his head back violently, his veins straining with his pleasure.
Nines succumbed to the request without hesitation, gently massaging the swollen bump inside of Gavin until the man’s legs shook with it. Gavin twitched and cried out, tears falling from his eyes as Nines rubbed his skillful fingers inside of him. He babbled mindlessly, begging Nines for more, deeper, just like that. Nines felt delirious with arousal, his cock throbbing painfully against his briefs as he stared down at Gavin. His eyes darted between watching Gavin’s face, drunk on ecstasy, and the enamoring sight of his now three fingers pistoning in and out of Gavin’s awaiting body.
“Nines,” Gavin sobbed. He shook aggressively as Nines continued to assault his sensitive prostate, and the puddle of precum that his cock had leaked onto his stomach made it evident how close to reaching his peak he was.
“That’s it,” Nines cooed in approval. His fingers just barely feathered across the base of Gavin’s cock, causing him to arch his back and shout. “Be a good boy, Gavin. Let me see you come for me,” he coaxed.
Gavin’s back arched impossibly deeper as he shouted, clinging to Nines like he was the only thing keeping him tethered to Earth. He clenched down around Nines’ fingers as he shook, ropes of cum shooting out of his cock and splattering across his abs and chest. Nines worked him through it, pumping his fingers in and out of him and whispering utter filth to him about how pretty he was and how he couldn’t wait to watch Gavin come on his cock. By the end of it, Gavin’s chest was heaving with strong sobs as he tried to push Nines away.
Nines only stopped when he was satisfied with Gavin’s state. He withdrew his fingers from the twitching detective, smiling ferociously at the way Gavin sagged into the mattress with boneless relief. Relief that was half from finally having Nines and half from Nines stopping his torment, Nines thought with sharp, aching hunger.
He let Gavin catch his breath, inhaling shakily and unevenly through his ebbing sobs. Nines licked a stripe of Gavin’s cum off of his torso with a please groan as he registered the taste. A weak, shaky hand landed in his hair and held on as best he could.
“I think I want to watch you fall apart like that every day,” Nines rasped against his chest. He licked his way up Gavin’s jaw and into his lax mouth. The two kissed, messy and sinfully deep, as Gavin regained his strength.
The hand in his hair fell to his shoulder and pushed. Soon, Gavin’s other hand landed on Nines’s opposite shoulder and repeated the same weak motion. Gavin sighed unhappily against Nines’s mouth.
“Off,” Gavin uttered once he’d pulled away from Nines, pushing at his turtleneck again.
Nines laughed softly, raising himself up to pull the material over his head. He tossed his shirt aside, which made Gavin laugh sweetly.
“Messy,” he tutted, clearly making fun of the absence of Nines’ typical organized behavior.
“Are you only able to speak one word at a time after I made you come so hard, Gavin?” Nines deflected back onto him while he moved to unbuckle his own belt.
“No,” Gavin spoke with a snarky little smile. It drew another genuine laugh out of Nines’ chest, but he muffled the embarrassing noise by kissing Gavin stupid.
They fell back into a messy, energetic kiss as Gavin pushed the waist of Nines’ slacks down just enough to reveal the material of his briefs. An unexpectedly deep moan left Nines’ throat when Gavin palmed him through his briefs. Gavin swiped an intentional finger across the head of Nines’ sensitive cock, smiling coyly into his mouth as he did so.
It was frantic and quick, the shoving down of Nines’ briefs and the lubing of his cock that followed in suit. The first nudge of his cock against Gavin’s loose hole pulled a gasp from Gavin, who craned his head back and pushed down impatiently.
Nines smacked his thigh, scolding him. Gavin froze and gasped out a loud whimper at the impact.
“Good boy,” Nines panted, pleased with Gavin’s correction in behavior. He watched Gavin sink his own teeth into his bottom lip to keep himself still as Nines’ cock slowly split him open.
He was only halfway when Gavin released his lip to grimace in pure delight. “Fuck, Nines. S’too fucking big,” he whined, sounding nothing short of overjoyed.
“You can take it all, can’t you, Gavin?” Nines purred in support. He rewarded Gavin’s feverish nodding with several strokes to his oversensitive yet hard cock. “That’s it,” Nines murmured. “You’re perfect, Gavin. You were made for my cock, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Gavin mewled, still nodding. His eyes were squeezed shut in stimulation, his mouth parted on a throaty keen.
Hips flush against the hot skin of Gavin’s ass, Nines shudders with gratification. To finally be inside of Gavin, molding his body to the shape of Nines’ cock so that no one else could have him—Nines felt reverent.
“I’m going to break you,” Nines swore as he wrapped an oppressive hand around Gavin’s throat, the other securely around the thigh hooked over Nines’ hip.
Gavin only had enough time to wrap his hand around Nines’ wrist for stability before Nines pulled his cock out and surged back inside of him. Gavin arched with a shocked moan and dug his nails into Nines’ forearm as his partner promptly began to fuck him into the mattress. Nines’ spinal cord was tingling dangerously already with mounting intensity, and the feeling only spurred him on to fuck Gavin faster and harder.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Gavin wept to the ceiling as Nines’ cock pushed against his tender, electrifyingly so, prostate with each brutal, bone-shaking thrust.
Nines was shaking, his heavy breathing coming faster and faster as he neared completion. He was hot, inadvisably hot, and his limbs had started to jerk with the exertion. Gavin was tight and searingly hot around his cock, and each twitch of his body made Nines fuck into him harder. It was troublesome to keep his eyes open with the strain his visual processors were experiencing due to his impending reboot, but there was nothing earthly or otherwise that could have taken his eyes away from the obscene sight of Gavin.
His back bowed off of the bed, sweat making his skin glisten attractively, and, most enticingly of all, his mouth spilled a steady stream of pleas and praises of Nines and his cock. The hand around his throat flexed possessively, revealing a pretty demarcation of Nines’ hand that would surely bruise. The thought made Nines’ head spin and he moaned at the thought. Nines fisted his red cock and stroked him only three times before Gavin scrambled for his shoulders with a whining shriek.
Gavin shook with overstimulation, tears flowing freely as Nines worked his fist over his sensitive cock.
“Please,” Gavin gasped through tears, begging.
Lost to his consuming lust, Nines released Gavin’s spent cock and dropped down on top of him. He let go of Gavin’s throat and sank his fist into the mattress Gavin’s head. Nines let his head fall between his shoulders, towering over Gavin as he gripped his waist and fucked into him with reckless abandon. His HUD was overtaken with Gavin—it was all he tasted and sensed. The sensation wrapped around him, pushing him closer and closer to his orgasm.
Synthetic skin on the hand that held Gavin’s hip pulled back unexpectedly, and Nines’ hips jerked at the flourish of pleasure that shocked him. He grunted, feral and raw with emotion, and his eyes fell shut as he snowballed towards the edge.
And then Gavin, weakly mewling at the overstimulation, reached down and covered Nines’ bare hand with his own, and Nines fell into complete darkness. He was vaguely aware that he bit out a shout from between gritted teeth, his entire body shaking as his orgasm crested and crashed over him in waves. He held Gavin’s hips against his as he pumped him full of his cum, distantly wishing he could find a way to keep it inside of Gavin forever.
Cognitive function returned to him slowly. The first thing he felt was Gavin. Gavin was everywhere, their bodies pressed together so closely that Nines probably could have conjured the energy to get hard again if he wanted to. Fingers were in his hair again, scratching and massaging around his scalp, and when Nines shifted with consciousness, Gavin held him tighter against the crook of his neck. Gavin dragged soothing fingers up and down Nines’ arm, and the reaction Nines’ body had was visceral. Synth skin pulling away to reveal the smooth, white chassis underneath Gavin’s fingertips.
He was panting heavily, similar to a human that had just pushed their limits on a run, and had sagged on top of Gavin. It was an odd feeling that he’d yet to experience before that moment, and it took him a little effort to become accustomed to it.
Fully rebooted, Nines lifted himself up and captured Gavin’s mouth in a slow kiss.
“Did I hurt your throat?” Nines asked him, peppering his jaw with licks and quick presses of his lips.
“No,” Gavin responded quietly. The gruffness of his voice did not convince Nines, but a quick scan proved that nothing was truly damaged. Bruises would surely decorate his slender neck for days, perhaps weeks, but that prospect only excited Nines. Satisfied, Nines hummed against his neck and resumed his doting. Gavin tilted his head to the side with a contented sigh, providing Nines with more space to mark.
After Nines had held off long enough, he lifted himself away from Gavin and sat on his haunches. He pulled out of Gavin with a small hiss, watching with proud eyes as his cum slipped out of Gavin’s abused hole.
“Don’t fucking think about touching me,” Gavin warned him.
Nines smiled innocently at him and rubbed the pads of two of his fingers against Gavin’s sore, leaking entrance. The motion made Gavin whimper, but he didn’t protest. When Nines smiled again, it was sharp and covetous.
He let Gavin have his reprieve, pulling away from him and standing on legs that felt only slightly unsteady. He grabbed Gavin’s ankle and pulled him down the length of bed, earning himself an indignant yelp and a smack to the chest.
“Shower,” Nines explained in amusement. He cupped Gavin’s face, his touch relaxing the grumpy expression that had been there.
“Fine. Just don’t let me slip and die,” Gavin protested woefully.
“So dramatic,” Nines drawled as he pulled Gavin up and ushered him into the bathroom.
Nines doesn’t need to shower, but he kicked off his pants and briefs to join Gavin under the warm water. He held Gavin against his chest for the majority of the time, not allowing his exhausted partner to lift a finger as he cared for him.
It was a surprise that Gavin didn’t immediately lose consciousness when Nines got him into bed, clean and warm from their shower. He pulled Nines in with him, wrapping himself around the android so tightly that he couldn’t escape even if he’d wanted to.
“There’s no one else for you either, right?” Gavin whispered once they were settled. His cheek rested against Nines’ chest with his hand wrapped around Nines’ waist and his leg thrown over Nines’.
Nines snorted. “Gavin, you’re the only person strange enough to find my personality attractive.”
“God, you’re stupid,” Gavin grumbled against his chest. “Watching people flirt with you has driven me up the fucking wall all year, y’know. You don’t even realize when it happens,” he complained.
“I think you’re mistaken. That’s quite alright, Gavin. Plenty of people are too pretty to be smart,” Nines teased him.
Expectedly, Gavin smacked his chest in retaliation. “The fucking receptionist of the precinct wants you, Nines. She makes eyes at you every morning and you just frown at her like she’s an idiot.”
Nines sorted through his interactions with their multiple receptionists over his time working at the DPD. He frowned. She wasn’t flirting, she was just odd. Nines thought it was annoying. “I don’t think that’s accurate,” Nines refuted.
“It is!” Gavin insisted, entertained by Nines’ denial. “I can’t believe you don’t agree.”
Nines pulled Gavin’s warm body closer and ran his fingers through the human’s silky soft, curly hair. “I never noticed,” he admitted, thinking of how little he cared about anything around him in comparison to Gavin. “I’ve been otherwise occupied since I arrived.”
Gavin curled closer and nuzzled into Nines bashfully.
“How the fuck did you get so sappy? You get that shit from Connor, not me,” Gavin grumbled, embarrassed by the affection bestowed upon him.
“Shut your mouth for once and go to sleep, Gavin,” Nines sighed, long-suffering. He tugged gently at Gavin’s hair to cow the brat’s remarks.
Chuckling, Gavin nodded. “You love me,” he jested shyly.
“Yes,” Nines affirmed without question.
Gavin was modestly quiet where he rested against Nines. He held him a little tighter and pushed out a short breath. “Me too,” he confessed, nothing more than a whisper.
Nines tugged on his hair again to acknowledge his admission. “I know,” he murmured confidently. Then, “Sleep, Gavin.”
Less than two minutes had passed before Gavin’s REM cycle began. Nines observed him lovingly until he hit deep sleep, and then he finally allowed himself to fall into stasis with the feeling of Gavin surrounding him and cloaking his entire being with comfort.