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Nines is doing that thing that Gavin hates. He's just sitting there, across from him, his plastic brow furrowed, lips set together as he concentrates. It doesn't take much, him being a super computer and all, but when he's in the zone he's impenetrable. Drives Gavin crazy to have to repeat himself and he knows Nines hears him the first time but he still takes a beat, waits for Gavin to say it again and then tears himself from his work. It's a system, a little quirk only Gavin knows so he holds that knowledge close because how many people can say they have an in on the most advanced piece of software in existence?
Gavin knows a lot about Nines that no one else does. Like how he can drink and he steals sips of Gavin's coffee, knowing damn well the bitterness doesn't agree with him but he persists because it drives him crazy. Gavin knows almost everything about Nines, down to a science. He didn't mean to pick up on his shit so quickly but hey, he's a detective and Nines has tells just like anyone else. A year ago Gavin would have throttled himself, knowing all he did now about androids and Nines specifically. Some things he would have lost his mind over, like how Gavin knows there's a cluster of freckles at the center of Nines' back or how his ass had twin dimples in each cheek. Gavin knew how his skin tasted, always clean, like antibacterial soap he knew was stocked in Nines' scarcely used shower back at his apartment. Which Gavin had a fucking key to.
There was a little white cat in that apartment that Gavin adored, who didn't give him the time of day but scratched insistently at Nines' legs until he picked her up. There was a couch, a love seat, a bed, each surface Nines had done unspeakable things to Gavin. Just the thoughts made his ears and neck burn. Gavin knew Nines' face, knew how it pinched together, how his brow wrinkled and how his mouth fell open as he came unraveled over Gavin. Gavin knew exactly how he tasted in that moment, thirium blue and bitter but something Gavin had become increasingly partial to.
"Clocks ticking, tin can."
Ignored, again, by a fucking bucket of hot ass bolts. Nines lifted a hand, held a finger up. Gavin studied those hands briefly, long fingers, pink knuckles. Those hands were soft as anything Gavin had felt, firm when they needed to be, a locked grip around his throat, pressing down until Gavin is gasping. He fucking loved that feeling, chased it for as long as Nines allowed, teeth catching at the bruises blooming along his collarbones.
"Patience, detective," Nines hummed, standing up smoothly, "I thought I would have that trained into you by now."
He nudges past Gavin, set on the car, and Gavin is left stuttering like some horny teenager, mouth open.
____________________________________
Gavin whines, a pitiful fucking sound he'd deny making in about fifteen minutes, as Nines trails a series of hot, wet, open mouthed kisses down his chest.
"Remember how we spoke about patience?" Nines asked, teasingly, catching the swollen nub of Gavin's nipple between his teeth.
"Fuck patience." Gavin retorted, not at all cleverly. "Suck my dick or get out of here."
Nines laughed and Gavin could feel the deep vibration of it through his sternum. The closeness of it fills him with impossible warmth and he curls his toes at the feeling. He gasped, hips jerking up as Nines takes him fully in his mouth. There's another golden thing about Nines only Gavin knows, no gag reflex. Fuck, he was the perfect man. His hands, wide and warm, hold Gavin's hips down as he works over him. His thumbs circle gently at his hipbones, worrying at the skin there in a comforting way that Gavin translates as "I've got you."
Nines always does that, anchors him until it's too much.
"Fuck, Nines-" He stuttered out, fingers threading through the android's hair.
It was soft, just like the real thing and he pulled at it. It didn't hurt him, just felt like a tugging sensation which gave Gavin full liberty to pull as he pleased.
"I'm- Nines, holy shit-"
Nines laughed around his cock and that was a golden sensation.
Nines resurfaced with a slow, lingering pop and dragged himself upward. He grasped at Gavin's jaw and pulled him into a searing kiss.
"Tease." Gavin choked out when they parted, throwing his head back to give Nines better vantage of his throat.
Nines always liked marking him up and Gavin- fuck, he was just happy to be there. He didn't know what it meant, if it was a possessive sort of thing, but Nines always made sure the marks were below his collar.
"I'm making sure this lasts longer than five minutes." Nines said into his throat.
Gavin makes a noise he, again, isn't proud of as Nines drags his teeth down to the dip between his collarbones, traces it with his tongue. In a fluid motion, Nines pulled him onto his lap.
"Fuck." Gavin choked out, immediately.
Nines grins, wide and predatory. Another thing about Nines that only Gavin knows, he has a self lubricating dick. Maybe all male androids did, Gavin wasn't sure, he'd only ever been with the one. He silently cursed Elijah Kamski for being such a pervert but also thanked the man for the best dick Gavin had ever experienced.
"Ready?" Nines questioned, gentle now, tipped his chin back, holds him there between his thumb and forefinger. Makes him look him in the eye and everything. He always did this, made sure Gavin was ready, made sure he was comfortable.
It had been something Gavin hadn't been used to when they first started, it had even annoyed him. Now- he wasn't sure.
"Fuck, yeah."
Nines sinks into him nice and slow and he immediately keens into it, wraps his arms around Nines shoulders and sinks his teeth into his shoulders. He didn't get marked up like Gavin did, but the bite marks stayed for a few minutes and Gavin liked to watch them fade. They move and Gavin could cry at how sweet the feeling is. He bows his head and moves his hips in time with Nines. The android has one hand locked into Gavin's hair, the other on his hip, keeping up the steady rhythm.
"Gavin."
Something fluttered up within him at how ragged and soft Nines' voice got when they were like this. Only Gavin got to see him like this, coming apart and ruined, hair a mess, eyes blown wide, the black overtaking the steel blue. It was fucking beautiful. Gavin's fingers ached and they twitched at Nines' back. He wanted- he didn't know fully, yet. He just wanted. He wanted so badly that it was aching.
Nines drives deeper into him now, his thrusts becoming frenzied, more aggressive and Gavin tips his head back, the breath catching in his throat. Nines locks his mouth to a soft piece of flesh at Gavin's neck and bites down. It's almost instant then, Gavin comes unraveled for Nines. Nines drives forward, lifts Gavin effortlessly and lays him on his back. It's a matter of moments before Nines joins him.
The first time they had done this, Nines had short circuited. He'd been a virgin, sort of, and hadn't experienced that much stimuli at once. Now, he was practiced. Still, he laid heavily over Gavin. His skin was warm and Gavin let himself enjoy it for nearly a second before pushing up. Nines sat up just slightly, arms bracketing around Gavin's head.
"Okay, off."
"I think I'll just sleep here, thanks."
"There's come on our stomachs, tin can, don't be gross." Gavin protested.
Nines sighed, unnecessarily, and rolled over onto his back. There was an almost blue flush to his cheeks and chest that made him look ghostly. It was strange, somehow both human and absolutely not at all.
Gavin sat up and rolled, stretching out his legs. He was sore already but it was a good kind of hurt, one he stretched into. He went to his bathroom and found two rags. He dampened them and tossed one at Nines. It landed directly on his face. He pulled it back and fixed Gavin with a severe, unimpressed look. Gavin grinned.
"Oops."
"You're an asshole." Nines sighed, sitting up to clean himself.
"Oh- hey, you're the asshole. What the fuck is this?" Gavin got a good look at himself in the mirror.
He looked, for one, absolutely blissed out. The difference this time was a fat, already purpling mark at the base of his jaw.
"What happened to below the collar?" Gavin demanded.
Nines didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry, must have lost control." He said, busying himself with the rag.
"You don't lose control." Gavin retorted.
"I can buy you concealer." Nines said, standing up to join him in the bathroom.
His hand came up to tilt Gavin's chin back. He examined the bruise and leaned in, pressed a feather light kiss to it.
"Tina's going to have a field day with this."
"Poor you." Nines sighed, facetiously.
He turned away and Gavin's eye caught the way his perfect, plastic ass looked as he did. He began dressing and Gavin's chest went tight.
"You're leaving?" He asked, weakly.
Nines looked up, pants already up. "Do you want me to stay?"
Gavin's throat went tight. Yes, he thought.
"Uh, no. No. I'm probably going to pass out anyway." He said, clearing his throat.
Shirt in hand, Nines stared for a moment, brow pinched just slightly.
"Alright." He slipped the shirt over his head.
Another thing about Nines. His wardrobe was far more fleshed out because of Gavin. Before it had been button ups, suspenders and slacks. Gavin had managed to worm his way into Nines' shopping and had convinced the android to adventure out with jeans, a few henleys and some casual long sleeves. He was wearing a long sleeve now, the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and he looked so fucking good-
"See you tomorrow, yeah?" He asked.
Nines nodded. "Yes. Goodbye, Gavin."
The door shut behind him and that itching feeling came back. Gavin shouldn't but he wanted- he wanted so badly for him to stay.
"Fuck."
____________________________________
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
There's a bullet in his leg and Nines is gone, somewhere downstairs. There's screaming, more gunshots and Gavin is paralyzed with fear, staring wide eyed at the shooter. His hands are pinned to the gunshot wound, applying pressure. There was blood, a crazy amount of it and if he looked too closely at it, he got queasy.
"Hey, man," Gavin started, shakily, "my partner is downstairs. RK900, he's a fucking machine, man, you don't want to fuck with me anymore than you have."
The man's hands shake as he holds the gun. Please, please, Gavin thinks, be Nines that's thundering up the stairs. There's more shouting and Gavin can't decipher who's yelling but he's sweating, palms slipping over the wound. His chest is heaving as he struggles to keep his breathing even. There's too much, he thinks, too much happening and he can't think straight with a fucking bullet in his leg and all this yelling. Plus there's a gun aimed right at his forehead.
"Put that down."
Gavin whips to the doorway, body aching as he does so, and Nines is standing there, blood splattered over his cheek, thirium sprayed and pooling down his arm. Gavin watches it trickle down his fingertips, wonders vaguely how he would taste now. Fuck, he's losing blood quickly.
Everything happens too quickly for Gavin to track but suddenly Nines is in front of him, absorbing bullet after bullet that the moron of a shooter unleashes on him. Nines' movements are stunted, slowed, but that might just be Gavin losing consciousness but he subdues the man rather brutally. Slams him into the ground and cuffs him before turning to Gavin.
Gavin doesn't even realize he's going down until Nines catches him, one hand touching his cheek, the other stabilizing his leg.
"I've got you." There he goes with fingers rubbing gently into his skin. "I've got you."
Gavin looks up, eyes half lidded. "Holy shit. When this is over you're fucking me until I can't walk, kay?" He knows his voice is slurring now.
Nines has the nerve to laugh at him. His thumb brushes over the mean looking hickey he'd left on his neck only days ago. "Once your doctor clears you, you've got a deal."
With that, Gavin feels himself being lifted.
The next thing he remembers if the bright white walls of a hospital room. Tina is there, half asleep in the chair, a bouquet of ugly, florescent balloons at her side. One reads 'get well soon' with 'bitch' added in crude black marker.
"Gavin." He tilts his head to the other side and finds Nines sitting there.
"Don't move." He warned, standing up quickly to meet his side. "I'm glad you're awake."
Gavin smiled weakly. "Afraid you lost the best piece of ass you've had?" He asked.
Nines' eyes rolled. "I was afraid of losing my friend." He corrected. "And my partner."
"Hey," Gavin mumbled, voice still weak, "I'm good. I'm here."
"That was the first time I've been afraid," Nines admitted, "you have a habit of introducing me to firsts."
Gavin laughed, cringing slightly as he jostled his leg. "Yeah, well, stick with me, bud, I'll show you a lot more." He winked and Nines shook his head.
"You still can't do that right." He shifted his chair closer, leaned onto the bed. His forearm bumped gently into Gavin's side. He tucked himself into his side, gently, like he belonged there. "We should wake her. She's been here all night."
"What about you?" Gavin asked.
"I carried you into the ambulance, I've been here ever since." He responded, immediately. "I, uh," He bit back a nervous smile, "lied and said I was your fiance so they'd let me on the ambulance with you."
"Huh." Gavin said. "That worked?"
"It nearly didn't. But I needed treatment myself so they allowed it."
Gavin startled. "Oh, fuck- you took like eight bullets, how-"
"I'm alright. Nothing too extreme. They patched me up overnight." Nines eased his worries, calmly. "You were the priority."
You were the priority. Gavin hadn't heard that before, from anyone. His throat went tight.
"Shut up." He groaned, turning his face away. "Tina, babe, wake up."
Tina woke, reluctantly, and immediately began fussing over the pair of them.
"We can't take you two anywhere!" She scoffed. "It's like you attract trouble."
Nines laughed at that and Gavin turned his face to catch the ends of that smile. Nines caught him staring and the smile bloomed wider. He shifted closer somehow, both of his arms pressing into Gavin through the thin hospital blankets. He was radiating warmth, or maybe that was just Gavin caught up in the high of having him so close. Either way, Gavin chased it.
____________________________________
"I am not fucking you. You can barely stand without a cane." Nines said, flatly.
"You're no fun." Gavin sighed, dramatically reclining into his bed, an arm over his forehead.
Nines looked unimpressed. He pulled the blanket over Gavin, smoothing it over his abdomen.
"You gonna tuck me in, mommy?" Gavin snorted.
Nines raised a brow. "Should I add mommy issues onto your list of kinks, Gavin?" He asked, dryly, hand still resting flat over the blanket.
Gavin scoffed, shaking his head. "Maybe daddy issues." He conceded, shrugging loosely. "What about you, tin can?"
"Are you asking about my parental issues? I'm an android, I don't have-"
"What about the rose lady? Connor told me about her. He's definitely hung up over her, what about you?" Gavin pressed.
Nines pulled his hand away to lay in his lap and Gavin immediately missed the gentle pressure.
"I-I'm not sure. I only remember a little about her. She wasn't unkind, just firm. She told me I needed to be better than RK800. I only saw her a few times before she was removed from my programming." He admitted, reluctantly.
"Yeah, bud, that's mommy issues all the way. Set you up for sibling rivalry? Classic." Gavin diagnosed him, frowning. "That why you came out with that stick up your ass about Connor and being the superior model or whatever? Because she told you?"
Nines' fingers twisted together, uncomfortable. "I suppose so. I hadn't thought about it before."
"Well, welcome to the club, tin can."
"I don't want to be in your club." Nines retorted.
"Too bad. You and Con are in." Gavin pressed, shooting finger guns Nines' way.
Nines sighed, head bowed. "You are so frustrating." His hand lifted again and he tapped at the love bite, faded a little more now, more red than anything. "Tina asked me about this while you were asleep. She said it looked like someone had mauled you."
"Yeah, well, someone sort of did." Gavin pointed out.
"Sorry."
"No, you aren't."
Nines smiled again, hand dropping. "You're right."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Nines stood to let in Gavin's small herd of cats, all who swarmed the bed in an attempt to sniff out Gavin. One, a particularly fat tabby, settled onto Nines' lap when he sat on the otherside of the bed. Nines kicked off his shoes and settled in, much like a cat, against the pillows.
"Guess you're stuck here." Gavin said, nodding towards the cat, beaming.
"There are worse places to be stuck."
Arm to arm, they sat together, cats spread out across their laps. Gavin felt warmth again and decided, yeah, there was no where on earth he'd rather be.
____________________________________
"So, who gave you that monster hickey? Nines said he didn't know and he knows, like, everything about you so, spill." Tina demanded.
He'd been contained to his desk for the next four weeks until he was able to walk without a cane. It sucked, but he was at least back at the precinct and able to work. Nines was there, as always, sitting across from him, his stupidly handsome face in that concentrated, drawn expression Gavin loathed so much.
"Nines does not know everything about me." He scoffed.
"Gavin, he has your entire schedule down and he knows the names of every single cat you have. He's a Gavin expert, I've been outmatched." She mockingly wipes a tear and Gavin snorts.
"Anyway, who was it?"
Gavin looks up from Tina's desk. Nines is busy at work, most likely not listening. The input of the noisy bullpen could be too much for him, so he typically turned down his auditory function.
"Uh, some guy from the bar."
Tina raised a brow. "Ooh, are you gonna see him again?" She wondered.
"Maybe. He was, uh, really good." He wet his lips, looked down to the floor.
"Did it mean anything?"
That startles him. He sits up in his seat, glances again in Nines' direction.
"It meant something to me."
____________________________________
"Please, please-"
Nines' fingers catch his chin to silence him, swallowing his pleas in an open mouth kiss. It's messy and wet and careless but everything in Gavin's being is telling him to chase this high. They break apart, for Gavin's sake, but he misses the touch. He shifts forward so that their foreheads touch. His eyes are half lidded, lazily, but he's wide awake, wanting, needing again.
It's over much too fast for Gavin's liking but he blames that on nearly a month of sexless healing. Nines punctuates the end with a chaste kiss that Gavin forces himself to break from.
"Want to shower?" Gavin asked, sitting up on wobbly legs.
Nines' eyes trail over Gavin's body before he smiles. "Is this an invitation?"
"It is." Boldness, Gavin decided, is the only way forward.
Nines stands and follows him. They've never done this before, never thought to. Gavin had always thought it was too intimate. Now, he just wanted Nines to stay as long as he could.
"I'm not scrubbing your ass." Nines said and the romance is dead.
Gavin snorts and tossed a rag his way to scrub with. "I wasn't asking, creep."
The shower isn't big enough for a grown man and a massive android but they make do.
"Give me the shampoo." Nines requested.
"Demanding." Mumbled Gavin before handing it off.
He's struck silent when he feels large, gentle fingers brushing through his hair. It feels absolutely divine and he tips his head back and shuts his eyes.
"Don't get used to this." He can feel the rumble of Nines' voice against his back and shivers.
"You can't do this and not expect me to ask for it forever now." Gavin groaned, shifting back so he can wash it from his hair.
With the conditioner comes the same treatment, massaging it ever so gently, blunted fingernails dragging over his scalp. He sighed, feeling even more sated.
"Rinse." Nines told him, softly.
He did, though his own hands didn't feel half as satisfying.
He opened his eyes and found Nines looking at him. He felt that shiver again and opened his mouth to say something stupid when Nines shook his head and stepped closer.
"Don't ruin it." He murmured, sinking down just an inch to kiss him.
And this felt so much different. This wasn't heated, sexual- it was languid, comfortable, gentle. When they parted, Nines smiled, a gentle little grin.
"My turn." He handed the shampoo bottle off to Gavin.
Once the shower was done and they were dried, Gavin sat on the bed, dressed in pajamas. He dragged the leg of one up and studied the bullet wound. The bruise around it was fading yellow and green, but the wound itself was scabbed over and no longer hurt. It was more of an ache, but Gavin didn't mind it too bad. There was a lot of aching going around nowadays.
"Are you alright?" Nines questioned.
"Yeah, just checking out the damage." Gavin shrugged it off.
Nines' brow furrowed. "May I?" He asked.
"Uh, sure."
Nines knelt before him, which was familiar in a way Gavin really couldn't handle thinking about right now, but his fingers traced gently around the bruise. He felt the cords of muscle there. He could track where the veins were, see where arteries crossed, knew how close the bullet had been.
"I'm glad you're alright." Nines told him, shifting forward.
"Fuck, me too." Gavin snorted.
Nines stood and Gavin became keenly aware he was wearing one of his shirts. It was a ratty old t shirt but on Nines' it looked fantastic. It took some stretching over his massive pecs though, Gavin wondered what it would look like on him now.
"You don't know how scary it was to hold you and feel how light you were." Nines' voice went taut, like he was barely holding himself together.
"Hey, big guy, I'm still here. Thanks to you, really." Impulsively, Gavin reached to brush Nine's hair back from his forehead.
Nines nodded, before resting his chin atop Gavin's good knee.
"Do you want me to stay?"
There it was again. Gavin's throat felt tight.
"Do you want to?"
"I don't want to go home yet."
"You can stay."
The smile on Nines' face was too pretty to look directly at. As he stood, he kissed Gavin again, solid, warm, staying.
He shifted to the other side of the bed, his side, Gavin thought, only he ever lay there.
Gavin yawned and rolled to his side, looked at Nines tiredly. "I might fall asleep." He warned.
Nines smiled again, quieter this time. "Get some rest, Gavin."
He nodded and rolled again, back to Nines. He couldn't look at him like this, his hope would rise up and he'd have to push it back again. His stomach swooped painfully when he felt an arm, solid and strong, loop over his side and a warm body press to his back. He was shaking, adrenaline coursing down to his toes. Was this really happening?
"Good night, Gavin." He punctuated it with a warm kiss to Gavin's bare shoulder.
He made it sound so easy, like Gavin wasn't having a breakdown in his arms. But as he felt the kiss, the warmth flooded through him and the shaking ceased. He felt certain, safe.
"Night, tin can."
____________________________________
"Is that one of Nines' shirts?" Connor asked.
Gavin nearly dropped the coffee in his hand. He hadn't expected anyone to notice, certainly not Connor. Figures it would be him though, nosy as he was.
"No, mind your business, asshole." He snarked back, glaring.
He caught the eye of Nines', who was reclined in his chair, a smug grin on his lips.
____________________________________
He was drunk. Tina was drunk, dancing with some pretty girl she'd met only an hour before but had already declared was her 'fucking soulmate'. Gavin was stewing alone at the bar, drunk enough that the ground spun when he walked. Watching all the couples dance he could only think of Nines. He wondered if Nines would dance with him, how he would feel, if he could get him to smile the way Tina was smiling at the girl.
He felt sick. He fumbled in his pocket for his phone. One text.
Nines: Have fun, stay safe. Call me if you need me to pick you up.
He was perfect. So fucking perfect Gavin could cry. How had he managed to get into this situation? They weren't boyfriends, more fuck buddies but it was evolving. Friends with benefits didn't cuddle or wash each other's hair or kiss like they did. So what did it mean? Did Nines even want him?
"Are you crying? Gav, what happened?" Tina demanded.
"I think I love Nines." He hiccuped.
Her expression shifted from disbelief to a wide smile. "Really? Gavin that- why are you crying?"
"We've been fucking for, like, six months. If he-" He inhaled raggedly. "If he wanted something he would have said so awhile ago, right?"
"Oh, Gav, sweetie, no! Nines is as emotionally constipated as you. And six months? Holy shit!" Tina shouted over the music, shaking her head. "That makes so much sense."
She looked over her shoulder to the girl. "Gimme a minute, Sam, dealing with some drunk love sickness."
The girl looped her arm over Tina's shoulder, tucked her chin on the other side. "Aw, love troubles, huh?"
"He's in love with his fuck buddy." Tina sighed.
The girl sucked her teeth. "That's rough. Have you asked him about it?"
"I just found out." Gavin mumbled. "Fuck, I'm drunk."
"Yeah, you are." Tina sighed in agreement. "You wanna go home?"
"I'm gonna call him, he'll pick me up." Gavin told her, scrubbing his face with his hand.
"You sure that's the best idea?" Sam asked, frowning.
"No, Sam but it's all I've got." He growled, pointedly.
Sam raised her arms in mock surrender. "That mean you're free?" She asked Tina, beaming.
"You sure?" Tina asked Gavin again, who nodded firmly.
Gavin stumbled out of the bar. He leaned against the brick wall and squinted down at his phone. Dialing as carefully as he could, he called Nines.
"Gavin? Hello?" And fuck- he'd gotten Connor.
"Shit, meant to call your evil twin." He groaned.
"Are you drunk? Why are you trying to call Nines so late?"
"Nunya' fuckin' business."
"You called me." Connor grit out. "Do you need a ride?"
"Uhm, yeah."
"What bar are you at?"
"The Isis."
"I'll be there in five."
True to his word, Connor was there driving Hank's old hoopty. He looked frustrated, his face all pinched up and constipated. He somehow looked identical and nothing like Nines. It was weird, and something a very drunk Gavin couldn't grasp right now.
"I don't know how my brother puts up with you." Connor sighed.
"Aw, fuck you. It's a saturday night." Gavin scoffed. "And we get on fine." He snorted at that, ill contained giggles bursting out. If only he knew.
"I know." Connor sighed. "Gavin, I mean, I know."
"How t'fuck?" Gavin demanded.
"You aren't nearly as subtle as you think. But I could sense something changed between you. Nines seems happier, somehow."
That got his attention. "Really?" He choked out.
"Really." Connor confirmed.
"Huh." His throat went tight again but Gavin refused to cry in front of that asshole.
They pulled up to Gavin's apartment and he got out, suddenly feeling more sober.
"Thanks, Connor."
"Don't hurt him. If this means something, tell him." Connor said.
Gavin frowned but didn't respond. He watched Connor pull away and drive off into the city, off towards his own lover. Bile rose up in his throat at the thought of Anderson and Connor together. Ick.
He sighed and started up the complex to his apartment. He opened the door and was greeted by five noisy cats meowing and circling his legs.
"Hi, babies." He greeted.
He saw his bedroom light on and frowned.
"It's me." Nines called from the bedroom. "I, uh, wanted to make sure you got home alright."
Gavin blinked, still absorbing that Nines, who he nearly cried over twice that night, was now standing in front of him. His vision swam and he lunged for the sink, throwing the entire content of his stomach into it. Nines was there immediately, filling a water cup up and offering it to him. The hand on his back was warm and comforting, rubbing in smooth circles.
"I've got you." He murmured, softly, letting Gavin lean on him as he walked him to the bedroom. "I'm glad I came, I wouldn't want you alone for this."
He sat Gavin on the bed and pulled his shoes off.
"Shirt." He beckoned for Gavin to raise his arms. He did so and Nines slipped it over his head, tossing it in the dirty laundry hamper. "Pants next."
Gavin kicked off his jeans and Nines tossed those aside as well. He returned with a t shirt. "Here. I'll get more water and ibuprofen."
He left and Gavin felt the absence hard. He sniffled and his eyes went watery. Nines came back and set the pills and water aside so he could kneel before Gavin, his pretty brow furrowed. He raised a hand and touched Gavin's cheek, brushing the tears aside.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm, like, really drunk." Gavin mumbled. "I missed you."
Nines expression smoothed and he smiled, raising himself to brush his lips to Gavin's forehead.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"Yes." Gavin said immediately.
"Okay. I'm not kissing you until you brush your teeth, though."
____________________________________
Gavin woke with a pounding headache. He groaned and reached clumsily for the water and pills at his bedside. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Good morning to you too." Nines sighed, stretching needlessly as he sat up. "How're you feeling?"
"Like shit."
Nines looked amazing, though, well rested and beautiful. Gavin busied himself with swallowing the pill so he wouldn't say anything stupid.
"Are you up for a shower?" Nines asked.
"Do I smell?" Gavin asked, frowning.
"Like shit." Confirmed Nines, though he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his temple.
"Are you gonna wash my hair?"
"I can." Nines offered his hands and pulled Gavin to his feet.
True to his word, Nines scrubbed the filth from Gavin's hair and even washed his back. Between the warmth of the shower and Nines' touch, Gavin felt fantastic coming out of the shower. He scrubbed himself dry with a towel and redressed into pajamas. He didn't plan on leaving anyway. He hoped Nines didn't either.
"Feeling better?" Nines called, dressing in his clothes. He looked good, in a dark blue sweater and black jeans. His hair even had that superman curl Gavin fucking loved.
"Yeah." He choked out. "Thanks for taking care of me. Hope I wasn't too bad."
"You cried, a lot." Nines admitted, looking down at his hands. "I didn't know how to help."
"'m sure you helped." Gavin said.
Nines looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't. He took a step back.
"You said you missed me, every time I left you for a minute." He said, decidedly, like each word was a struggle.
Gavin felt the shaking come over again. "Fuck." He sighed. "Sorry."
"You don't have to be. It was...nice. Sweet. To be needed like that." Nines said, slowly. "Even if it was only because you were drunk."
Gavin's fingers twitched, itching to reach forward. "What...what if it wasn't just because I was drunk?" He spat out, stumbling over the words. "What if I always felt like that?"
"Like you need me?" Nines echoed, unsure, still a few steps away.
"Yeah."
"I-" Nines was never at a loss for words, Gavin felt the shaking intensify. His anxiety was off the charts, he couldn't remember a time he was this nervous.
"Do you want to stay?" Gavin asked, suddenly, sharply.
Nines looked up, eyes wide. The steel blue burned if he looked too hard.
"Yes." Nines told him, nodding his head vigorously. "I've wanted- I want-"
That was all Gavin needed. He closed the distance between them, grasping Nines' face in his hands and pulling insistently down. Nines melted into him, arms wrapping around him, holding his close. Anchored, safe.
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