Chapter Text
There were a number of things Gavin was good at. He was good at darts, at charades, and at self-motivation. He was great at being stubborn, and at lateral thinking, and he had his good moments of brilliant intuition.
He was very good at thinking on his feet. He was good at getting things done, swiftly and properly. He was good at making decisions, and at acting accordingly. He was a man of action.
And then there were things he wasn’t the best at. Baking, for example. And tennis. And keeping a level head, if he had to be honest. He was also terrible at being patient. He had no patience whatsoever. He had never been able to sit on his ass for longer than five minutes without becoming a frustrated mess.
So this shitty quarantine situation was, true to its nature, the shittiest thing to ever happen, ever. Gavin had been bottled up in his flat for what felt like a billion years but was actually, look at that, not even a week. Splendid. Also, Tripod was staying at the vet because, before all this virus madness, Gavin had been expecting the case he and Nines were working on to be one of those that kept him away from home for too long. He’d be damned before his baby would go starving, but now that meant he was truly alone within those four walls. He missed his asshole cat hopping around the flat on his three legs, meowling like crazy until he was comfortably asleep against his thigh, warm and soft under his hand.
Gavin stood up with a groan from his spot on the couch while debating whether to heat up some yesterday soup or some day-before-yesterday chicken. Ugh.
He was grabbing the soup from the fridge when the doorbell rang. The fuck? Tina was having the time of her life with her wife at their place, what with being finally home at the same time due to the quarantine, and Chris wouldn’t even go out for groceries because he wanted to keep his daughters as safe as possible. So that left...
Gavin opened the door and, lo and behold, there was his own personal terminator in all his 15-feet glory. He was holding three shopping bags in one of his hands and some work-related tablets in the other. Gavin idly wondered how he had rung the doorbell.
“Gavin,” Nines greeted him, making it sound very formal, somehow. “How are you?”
Gavin scoffed and moved so he could get in, not even dignifying that with a reply.
“I’ve brought some food and all the documents pertaining to the case that you can’t access remotely,” Nines went on. “We can work here while you can’t leave the house.”
Gavin busied himself with taking the documents from Nines. He grunted noncommittally in the direction of the kitchenette corner of the living room and heard Nines closing the front door dutifully and leaving the groceries in front of his fridge.
Gavin had just started reading the content list on the first tablet when Nines’ words hit him.
“We?? As in, you came here to stay?”
Nines was already taking off his jacket and arranging it neatly on the back of the chair closest to him.
“Of course, Gavin. You have nobody here, and I know you left Tripod at the vet. I know how restless you can get in the best circumstances, and these… are not the best circumstances. I’m here to keep you company while we work on the case.”
Gavin was aware that his eyes were the size of two saucers.
“Why would you want to stay here? You can go gallivanting in a half-empty city with all the other androids, why don’t you just do that?”
Nines stretched his mouth in his version of an indulgent smile.
“I think I’m more needed here. You don’t do well when you have nothing to do.”
“Says who?” Gavin bristled.
“Says four months of being partners,” Nines shot back smugly. With that, he returned to the kitchenette and started separating the perishables from the dry food. Yeah, prick, gloat all you want.
Gavin huffed. He knew when he had to concede. He went back to the microwave and punched in the time, huffing another couple of times for good measure. This wasn’t gonna be easy.
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As far as invading forces went, Nines was admittedly a considerate one. After his grand entrance, he quietly sat on the less-used side of the couch and took to reviewing work files. Gavin finished his soup and the fish sticks he later heated up on a whim, tidied up the kitchen, and returned to the dent he had moulded into his couch with years of loving care. He wrapped himself in a throw blanket and motioned for Nines to pass him a tablet. Nines passed him one without even stopping interfacing with whatever he was interfacing with, and they slipped in a tried and tested silence that Gavin had recently started to call companionable.
When Gavin could no longer keep himself from yawning every two minutes, he decided to call it a night. He wordlessly went to the bathroom and washed his teeth and face. The splash of cold water helped him clear his thoughts, but it did little for his nerves. Thinking that Nines was just in the other room felt strange. Not unpleasant, just a bit surreal. It wasn’t the first time that Nines had been inside his place, but he had never spent the night, and Gavin didn’t really want to prod the knot in his intestines that that thought caused. Fuck this shit. He flushed the toilet and washed his hands. Fuck this fucking shit, he was going to bed.
When he emerged from the bathroom, Nines lifted his eyes from the spread of documents on the coffee table.
Gavin felt his gaze fall on him, no doubt scanning him. Gavin was surprised to realise that he didn’t mind as much as he used to. Nines must have found whatever he was looking for, because a moment later his attention returned to his tablet.
“I assume you’re going to bed. Sleep well, Gavin.”
“Yeah. Yeah, whatever. Need anything?” Gavin wasn’t shuffling on his feet and he was very proud of himself. If Nines noticed anything, he didn’t let it on.
“I’m alright. I’ll be here in the morning.”
“Whatever,” Gavin cut short. He wanted to slap himself in the face.
He shuffled towards his bedroom and closed the door behind him. This was not going to be easy.