Archive of Our Own

Nines sat on Gavin’s sofa, posture perfect and hearing turned up to a hundred percent. It was a bit illogical to be waiting like this, when Gavin was merely a phone call away, but something about the anticipation was exciting, so he refrained.

It had been a long week at the DPD with Gavin being outsourced to a rural branch for a critical serial killer case. Connor, saint that he was, had been willing to take on most of the extra workload, but things just weren’t the same.

But today Gavin was scheduled to return, so here Nines was, waiting anxiously.

Within a few minutes, Nines’ audio processors picked up the distinct rumble of Gavin’s car, and he stood in one smooth movement. He’d already boiled water, so the only thing left was to pour it over the coffee grinds, fresh and ready for a surely-exhausted Gavin.

When heavy footsteps clomped up to the door, Nines was there to pull it open.

“Welcome home, Gavin,” Nines greeted with a smile.

Gavin’s heartrate jumped up twenty beats per minute and he nearly fell backwards off the doorstep. Nines grabbed his wrist with one hand, still balancing the cup of coffee in his other.

“Holy— Nines! What are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to create the optimal circumstances for your return, Detective. Is this not acceptable?” Nines inquired, holding out the coffee. Bright sparks of electricity were dancing along his processors. Amusement, he realized.

“Not when you give me a heart attack the second I step through the door,” Gavin grumbled, lifting the mug from Nines’ hand.

“Although elevated, your heartrate is nowhere near irregular enough for a heart attack,” Nines said amiably.

“I know you know what ‘heart attack’ means, Nines. Stop being an ass.”

Nines laughed and followed his partner inside.

--..--

They ended up curled up together on the sofa, Netflix playing in the background as Gavin scrolled down a tablet, giving Nines all the recent case details.

“We caught that piece of shit in the end, obviously,” Gavin sighed roughly, “but he knew we were tracking him, and he was taunting us. Got in two more kills before he finally slipped up and I pinned him down.”

The shadows under Gavin’s eyes were even more pronounced in the dim TV light.

Cautiously, Nines decided it was an appropriate time to slip an arm around Gavin’s shoulders. “But he’s behind bars now. Death sentence, even. You did it.”

“Yeah… it’s just— yeah.”

Gavin lifted a hand and pressed it, almost idly, against his side.

Nines’ pattern recognition software pinged a warning. Gavin had repeatedly expressed his displeasure about being scanned, but Nines decided this merited an exception.

Sure enough, his scan returned signs of tissue damage, stitches, and disinfectant chemicals.

“What’re you lookin’ at, Nines?”

He met Gavin’s suspicious gaze as his eyes reset to regular input status. “You’re injured.”

Gavin’s fingers clenched over his side and he scowled. “You scanned me again, didn’t you.”

It wasn’t really a question.

“I apologize. But your behavior indicated a non-life-threatening injury, and I know from past experience that you are unwilling to tell me about anything less serious than emergency hospitalization.” Nines knew his LED was flickering yellow.

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s none of your—” Gavin stopped, face twisting. “No, okay, it… it is your business, I guess.”

They’d come a long way in learning to open up to each other. Nines simply nodded.

“How did you get it?”

Gavin sighed and looked away. “Careless. One of the other officers took a hit, and I stepped out from cover. Tackled that fucker and he knifed me. It’s really not that bad though. I didn’t even have to stay in MedSurge overnight.”

“I see.” Nines focused his scanners on the wound again. “When was it last dressed?”

“Uhh… yesterday morning.”

Too long. Nines consulted his medical database. It had expanded significantly since going deviant and working with Gavin.

Gently, he lowered his hand until it rested on top of Gavin’s. “Will you allow me to treat it?”

“Seriously, Nines, it’s fine. I can just stop at the hospital tomorrow and get it taken care of.”

Gavin’s refusal to accept help, however, clearly still needed a lot of work. Fixing him with a stare, Nines waited.

“Jesus. Fine, if you want to so badly.”

“Thank you.”

The medical kit was still parked under the coffee table from its last use, so Nines could get started right away.

Laying all the materials he’d need strategically out on the table, Nines turned to Gavin. “Please remove your shirt.”

“Damn Nines, at least take me out to dinner first,” Gavin mumbled even as he pulled the hem over his head.

Nines had learned what that phrase meant only a month ago. “I gave you coffee,” he said primly, “I think that’s enough for your shirt.”

With a bark of laughter, Gavin tossed said shirt in his face.

Conversation ceased when Nines picked at the edge of the dressing patch and Gavin hissed in pain. As he worked, slowly and carefully, Nines realized he almost never saw Gavin in any state of nudity. Brief flashes of bare skin happened occasionally during injury or while changing uniforms, but even though they’d been dating for months now, clothes had always been on when they were together.

The bandage finally peeled off, and Nines bent in close to inspect the stitches. It was a clean job, with very little redness or swelling. Above him, Gavin twitched.

“Are you alright, Gavin?”

Nines briefly scanned him again. There were no other apparent locations of discomfort.

“Peachy,” Gavin said through gritted teeth.

Better to finish the job quickly, it seemed. Nines carefully wiped around the stitches and sprayed on a sheen of disinfectant. Since there was no infection, it would be better to keep the area uncovered and dry.

As he leaned back to check his work, Nines’ attention caught on a large white slash across Gavin’s chest. Its location matched the description Gavin had once given him of a fight before his days at the DPD. Nines found he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Curious, he momentarily traced a finger along the edge of the scar, storing details of bumps and smooth tissue and skin warmth. Gavin made a noise suspiciously similar to a yelp and snatched Nines’ hand away. Nines looked up to meet his wide eyes.

“What are you doing?” Gavin hissed.

Entirely without permission from his systems, Nines felt his gaze drift back down to Gavin’s scars.

“I’m… not sure,” Nines admitted, mouth twisting into a frown. “You are fascinating, it seems. This must be another result of deviancy.”

Gavin choked.

“May I touch it again?”

After a long pause, Gavin waved him on, apparently mute. Pleased, Nines returned to his inspection.

Although the one on his chest was the largest, Gavin’s torso was littered with scars. Nines realized he was compiling a map of them in his memory bank, but found he really didn’t mind. Gently, he rubbed a thin line just below Gavin’s ribcage, pressed individual fingers to a scattering of uneven shrapnel bumps, and returned to lay his whole hand over Gavin’s chest.

Nines glanced up. Gavin was resting stiffly against the back of the couch, eyes screwed shut, and hands trembling minutely. He was clearly on edge, and Nines pulled away immediately. After a moment, Gavin lifted one eyelid to seek him out.

“My apologies, Gavin. I didn’t comprehend how uncomfortable I was making you. I’m done now.”

Rising from the sofa, Nines picked up Gavin’s now-empty coffee cup, but hesitated to take it to the sink.

Gavin exhaled a long breath and pressed a hand over his face. “Yeah. Shit. Uh, I’m just gonna— go to the bathroom. Be right back.”

He stumbled to his feet and nearly fled from the room.

Quietly, Nines carried the cup to the kitchen, methodically rinsing and placing it in the dishwasher. The stainless-steel sink reflected his yellow-red-yellow LED back at him.

This, Nines understood with creeping finality, was attraction. He recalled their conversation from the Ada case stakeout from so long ago. He’d meant every word he’d said, but it hadn’t quite become a reality until now.

Gavin was exquisite. His scars, the strength in his body and soul, the spark of life deep in his eyes, the hunched lines of his body as he cuddled his cat in the late hours of night, even the rough skin of his chapped lips, all of it sent tingling along Nines’ wires and processors, errors of system inefficiency and limited external awareness popping up left and right.

But Nines’ fascination had made Gavin run away. There was nothing else to do but apologize one more time and leave Gavin his space for the night.

Just as Nines arrived at that conclusion, he heard the bathroom door creak and slam, and Gavin’s footsteps retreating to his bedroom. Nines followed.

--..--

He found Gavin halfway under the comforter with his back against the headboard, the way he usually sat after a nightmare. His shirt was still off.

“Oh. Hey, Nines.”

Gavin did not appear angry, at least. That was good.

“I apologize again for overstepping boundaries. Failing to observe your discomfort was unacceptable. It won’t happen again.” He added an instinctive bow for good measure.

“Failing to… what?” Gavin said, his voice rising with incredulity. “Nines, I’m the real piece of shit here. You just wanted to look at my scars for a bit and I’m the one who…”

Nines watched with detached interest as his sensors informed him of Gavin’s increasing flush.

“I’m the one who got a boner over it.” Gavin said finally.

Taking that new information in, Nines lifted an eyebrow, even though Gavin was unlikely to catch it in the dark.

“I told you on that balcony ages ago that I wasn’t with you for the sex, and I meant it. It’s just that you’re so—” Gavin stopped again.

Nines was beginning to understand. “So?” He prompted gently.

“…Beautiful,” Gavin mumbled, the word even further muted by his hands over his face.

“I see,” Nines said. “Well, that’s a good thing then. Because I also happen to find you stunning.”

Gavin lifted his head. “Sorry?”

“Remember what I told you in the car on one of our first stakeouts together? When you asked what it would take to make me feel something? My answer is you, Gavin. All of you.” Nines settled on the edge of the bed as he spoke.

There was a long silence.

“Damnit, Nines,” Gavin said, voice thick, “keep talking like that and I’m gonna get hard again.”

“Of course,” Nines added, hesitant to ruin everything he’d just said, “what I said on that balcony also still stands. I can’t satisfy you the way another human might. But I do love you, Gavin. And I want to be with you.”

“You stupid plastic prick,” Gavin growled out. He slid down the headboard and scooted over the bed. “If you don’t care about me being disgusting whenever you do anything even slightly attractive and you’re still voluntarily with me, a walking disaster, then how could I give a single shit about you being yourself? Now get in here.”

Gavin flipped the corner of the comforter open and turned his head away. Nines’ sensors continued to indicate a ferocious blush.

A smile was helplessly stuck on his face. It was a heady feeling, it seemed, to be accepted so fully by someone he loved. Nines lifted one leg onto the bed, but paused when a thought struck him.

Gavin’s unobtrusive squint swiftly turned to wide-eyed shock when Nines tugged his shirt up and over his head.

“Whoa, Nines, what the hell are you doing?! We just talked about this? The sex bit? And how it wasn’t gonna happen?”

Laughter bubbled readily from his voice processor as Nines tucked himself in at Gavin’s side. “I know. We aren’t. But I decided both of us being shirtless would level the playing field, so to speak. And also, I want the… intimacy; I believe it would be called.”

Gavin stared at him for a moment with lips parted before rolling over with his back to Nines. “I literally can’t believe you.”

“It’s just one of my many perks,” Nines agreed teasingly.

Mindful of the stitches, he wrapped an arm around Gavin’s stomach and pulled him closer until they were comfortably spooned against each other.

“Why am I always the little spoon,” Gavin grumbled.

Nines considered the possible outcomes and decided it would be wisest not to answer.

Slowly, lovingly, he traced over every scar on Gavin’s front, as Gavin shivered under his touch. His internal map was useful after all, it seemed. More scars were speckled across his back too, and, after analyzing Gavin’s comfort level, Nines pressed a kiss to a round mark his shoulder blade. Gavin jolted.

“Nines?!”

“You’re so beautiful, Gavin. May I keep going?”

Gavin muttered something into his pillow that even Nines’ heightened senses couldn’t catch before speaking up again. “Sweet Jesus above. Yes, please, carry on.”

Eagerly, Nines returned to his task of mapping out all the scars of Gavin’s torso. When he was certain he’d pressed a kiss to every mark, he pulled Gavin close once more and tucked his chin over Gavin’s shoulder.

All of Nines’ cold, calculating detective programming was in shambles, but his processers were warm and purring in satisfaction. Deviancy was wonderful.

“God, Nines, you’re so clingy tonight.”

“Hmm. Is it bad?”

“Don’t you dare stop.”

Gavin rolled back over and their eyes met. The spark of stubborn, brilliant fire still burned brightly in his dark gaze, and Nines could watch him forever.

But Gavin apparently had different ideas. He strained up for a kiss and Nines met him willingly. It was easy and unhurried, nothing sexual about it. Gavin’s tongue flickered out over Nines’ mouth, and in return Nines nibbled gently at his upper lip. They broke for air, foreheads pressed together and noses touching. Then Gavin dove right back in, and who was Nines to deny him?

After what felt like hours, but Nines’ internal clock informed him was only a few minutes, Gavin pulled away and just looked.

“I guess someone designed all this, huh?” He murmured, running a finger down Nines’ sternum plate.

“…Yes. Naturally.”

“Well whoever it was did a damn good job.”

Nines felt the tingle flicker through his wires again, and he couldn’t stop his synth skin from peeling back under Gavin’s touch.

“Wow, even here?”

Gavin poked at Nines’ pectoral, then collarbone, then the smooth plane where a belly button would be on a human, presumably intrigued by the appearance of Nines’ chassis.

“God, that’s… something alright.”

Nines trusted Gavin absolutely, but reminders of how physically distant he was from humans sometimes made him anxious. “A good something, I hope?”

“Yup, uh huh. Dangerously good, actually.” Gavin didn’t even look up, instead laying his whole hand flat over Nines’ stomach. His synth skin vanished in the shape of Gavin’s print.

Gavin held it there for a moment before yanking his hand away. “Yeah, let’s not do that for much longer.”

His pupils were hugely dilated. Nines was strangely flattered.

Pulling Gavin’s head in to tuck below his chin, Nines began rubbing small circles over his shoulders and neck. “Rest, Gavin. You deserve it after this week.”

Gavin stiffened for a moment before relaxing again under Nines’ touch. “Guess so. I won’t be useful to anyone else if I’m wiped.”

“Exactly,” Nines agreed. He placed a soft kiss on Gavin’s forehead. “And I’ll watch over you while you sleep.”

“Don’t be creepy,” Gavin yawned.

“What else is there for me to do all night except study you?”

Nines felt Gavin make a face against his collarbone.

“I’ll prepare pancakes in the morning to celebrate your return. And we can take some to Lieutenant Hank and Connor too, since they’ve been kind enough to cover your load.”

Gavin groaned. “I literally hate you.”

“No, you love me.”