Work Text:
A tuxedo, perfectly pressed. A bowtie, arranged just so. A crisp, white shirt. Silver shining cufflinks, little dice that hung beneath his wrists.
Nines wondered what was missing when he looked at himself in the mirror. It seemed as if there was - something - just beyond him. A piece of himself that was hiding out of reach. Just your typical android identity crisis, probably.
His LED flickered yellow, and Nines sighed. Tonight was important, and he didn’t want to mess it up. It was his first public appearance after undergoing the tedious process of android childhood. He would not mess it up.
Connor cleared his throat from the door, making Nines jump. He narrowed his eyes at his brother, who was fiddling with his coin-shaped cufflinks. A gift from their mother.
“Ready, Nines?”
“I’ve been ready since the day I was activated, Eights.”
Connor raised his eyebrows. “Your stress levels are elevated.”
Nines scoffed and pushed past his brother. His heeled dress shoes made a satisfying clacking sound against the wooden floors of their mansion. Amanda was waiting for them in the corridor, looking authoritative in her dark pink skirt.
“You look spectacular as ever, Mother,” Nines complimented her, and leaned in with a hand on her arm for the perfunctory cheek-kiss.
“Thank you, Richard. I hope you will do me proud tonight.”
He inclined his head, gave her his arm, and lead her outside to their carriage. Connor got in after appraising the vehicle for a moment.
“I am aware of the vintage fashion of late, Mother, but… is this not a bit much?”
Amanda frowned at Connor. “It is just enough. Besides, Richard always had a flair for the dramatic.”
Richard rolled his eyes and slapped the side of the carriage. The driver obediently whipped the horses into action, and they rattled along the lamplit road.
---
Gavin nearly choked when he saw the town hall. Fairy lights, white gauzy decoration, archways, fountains, roses perfuming the air… What expense hadn’t they gone to?
“Tina, I’m out,” he hissed, clutching the armrest in desperation
“Come on, Gav, for me? Otherwise I’ll be stuck with my mom and dad being passive-aggressive all fucking night…”
“You said it wouldn’t be a big deal! Is that - is that a pink swan?!”
“It’s not a big deal, you’re with me! We’ll slip out the back and get drunk at the earliest possible opportunity. Pinky swear?”
Gavin huffed. “I didn’t even have time to iron my suit, T.”
She dusted him down, leaning across the taxi, pulling his blazer sleeves down and brushing the lint off his shoulders. “There you go, I’m rich, and I say you look fine.” She activated the doors and bounced out, leaving Gavin with the equally miserable prospects of paying for the taxi home himself, or sitting through some ridiculous rich-people party.
He let himself be dragged out of the cab.
---
Nines’ cheeks hurt. Apparently the photographers weren’t content with just one headline-worthy shot, and required him from every angle, with every different kind of smile. He wouldn’t have managed without Connor’s steadying presence at his side.
How did his brother ever do this by himself?
He let himself be ushered into the main hall, barely getting time to take in the hundreds of perfect crystalline table settings (apparently, Amanda wasn’t the only one with those stupid glass forks) before being flung into the path of the eldest Kamski daughter.
“Good evening, Chloe,” he said, bowing slightly. “May I have this dance?”
“Of course, Richard.” She curtseyed, spreading her unassuming white dress before him.
They spun across the floor, pre-programmed dance moves easily synchronizing. Her familiar hands and eyes were reassuring, as was her blue LED.
“So, you survived the paparazzi,” Chloe observed, a hint of amusement coloring her tone. “That’s the hardest part over, I assure you.”
Nines allowed his mouth to curve up at the corner. “You’re forgetting the part of the night where I don’t punch Connor.”
“What, all of it?”
“Exactly.”
Chloe let out a laugh as they twirled, and Nines sent a request for a lift which was immediately accepted. He set his hands on her hips, maximizing her dress flow as she sailed through the air easily.
---
Gavin saw a girl being fucking lifted as she spun through the air and tried to turn back. Tina’s knowing arm was tucked through his, though, and dragged him forwards.
“Don’t worry about the androids, they’re always showing off. I think there’s someone being presented officially tonight, too. Weird tradition.”
“Yeah.” Gavin didn’t know how he’d feel if he’d only been allowed to meet androids before the age of sixteen. He’d only turned sixteen four months ago, for Chrissake… No wonder they were all so fucking stiff. He realized he was staring at the dancing couple, and shook his head. It took a strange amount of effort to tear his head away.
“You alright, buddy?” Tina asked.
“Not like you to be concerned,” Gavin joked, lightly shoving her off. “Where’s the booze at, then?”
---
Nines felt sick. Amanda had called for silence with a dainty chime of her thirium glass, and now all eyes were on them.
“To the public, I present my son, Richard Kaylin Stern, Second Prince of Sileria.”
Nines stood in one smooth motion, holding his head high, and extended a hand to his mother as per the custom. She accepted and they floated onto the dance floor. The sequence had been carefully analyzed and picked over for ultimate finesse months before, and all Nines had to do was sit back and allow his limbs to take the familiar formations.
In his peripheral vision, he saw two humans sneaking into the hall through a side door. They were laughing. His head followed them, and he almost stumbled - almost. He could feel Amanda’s alarm radiating through his being.
But it was a momentary blip. The dance finished with no incidents, and polite glove-muffled applause scattered through the crowd as he bowed.
He moved towards the side of the room as soon as chatter once again filled the hall, gentle classical music radiating onto the dance floor. It was over. It was over! Nines let his artificial breath flow through his artificial lungs in a pretense of comfort. Humans were truly fascinating, the way they had designed their superiors in almost an exact likeness of themselves.
At least they admitted that androids were superior.
Nines allowed himself a small smile, turned back to the crowd, and saw-
---
Gavin was just a little (only a little) tipsy. Tina had inadvertently snuck them in during the presentation of some bigwig android, and Gavin hadn’t been able to watch any of the dance, he was giggling so hard. Now, he collapsed onto his seat at Tina’s family’s table, turned his head lazily to the side, and saw-
---
Nines’ artificial breath froze where it was. The world around the human’s face blurred and shifted. Brown eyes, a scarred nose, and dark, messy, hair burned its way into his reality.
---
Gavin jerked upright in his chair. A perfect android in a perfect tux with perfect eyes and perfect hair was looking at him and the world suddenly became-
-perfect. He was perfect. Nines couldn’t help the step he took towards the boy, any more than he could help the way the music fading away, or his thirium pump fluttering with every-
-heartbeat, Gavin’s eyes welling up embarrassingly. He brushed a hand over his face, rising to his feet, and the earth-
-shifted, moving his weight forwards, stride not large enough, the gap too far, the distance to this boy was too far-
-away, Gavin told Tina with words that left his mouth muffled and dull. He let his feet propel him, one at a time, one by one by one by-
-one foot away, and the face of the boy was clear. Nines had to look down, because this boy was the most perfect height that any human or android could ever be, and what he saw was-
-everything. Gavin’s feet took him closer, and he felt-
-light with a thousand stars, eyes-
-shining with-
-hope-
-love-
-everything shifted.
“I think I’m someone else,” Nines murmured.
The boy shook his head. “You’re not.”
“Then have we met before?”
“We haven’t.”
“You’re…”
“I’m…?”
“So beautiful.”
The human boy blushed, and Nines rose his hand to capture the heat automatically. Soft plasteel brushed soft skin. He heard the human’s heart stutter.
“Beautiful…” He repeated in a daze, raising his own hand to Nines’ cheek. Nines leaned into the contact. The boy stroked his cheek with a thumb.
“And you’re - not joking?”
Nines shook his head fervently, taking both of the human’s hands in his own.
“I would never.”
Hazel eyes met blue. Nines grip shifted in the other’s, directing his hands to a dancing position. It was all he could do to revolve them on the spot, the human hand trembling in his own.
Gavin looked up at the perfect, beautiful android, holding his hand, leading him through slow steps that were entirely foreign, spinning them gently as if Gavin were something precious. The world around them was dark and quiet, the only light the bright blue LED shining from the side of the android’s head.
They slowed gradually until Gavin’s arms found their way around the android’s shoulders, and he was held by the waist. He let himself smile, a soft thing that saw his face crinkled up and his eyes shining.
“What is your name?” the android asked, his voice deep and soothing.
“Gavin,” he breathed.
“Nines,” said the android. It was the best sound Gavin had ever heard.
He let himself lean further into Nines’ embrace, his too-tight suit shoulders forgotten. Their eyes locked, and that thing happened again. The thing where Gavin’s stomach dropped away, and reality became one with Nines, his eyes, his face, his lips, and then they were so close, breath on Gavin’s cheek-
Their lips met. Heaven tasted like android, and everything was right. This was the only drug Gavin would ever need. Sparks tingled through his scalp with Nines’ fingers, new and beautiful sensations filling his mind to the brim. He relaxed into Nines’ hold, kissing him deeper and-
---
-Nines was yanked away, the perfect moment ending, his eyes flying open to Connor’s face creased in disapproval. He dug in his heels, leaning back towards the boy, towards Gavin, who reached back for him. The need tugged somewhere deep within him, and he broke free of Connor’s grasp, only to bounce off Amanda, who had materialized in his way.
He tried to slip past her, only to see Gavin being shuffled away by security.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Do you want to give up everything we’ve worked for?” When he didn’t respond, only trying to meet Gavin’s eyes again, she snapped a finger in front of his face. “Do you?”
“No, Amanda,” he recited, forcing himself to look at his mother.
“We’re leaving. Now.”
Nines tried to catch a glimpse of Gavin as he left, but he must have already been escorted out.
Gavin.
He would find him.
What had once been a world, an address, a place to live in, was a star.
He would find Gavin.