Gavin woke up the next morning buried deep in Nines' arms. He was being held close to Nines' chest, and the android appeared to be 'sleeping'. Gavin remembered their talks last night, then the activities that had taken place once they returned to Gavin's - now their own combined - bedroom. Gavin felt a smirk rise onto his face, but it faded as he began to shake Nines.
Nines opened his eyes. He had bad bed-hair which was messily falling over his face and sticking out everywhere. "What?" He asked with a grumpy edge to tone. Nines seemed so human.
Gavin snickered at his boyfriend's appearance. "Your hair is dead. Anywho, I need painkillers."
Nines nodded and he sat up. "Let me check your wounds," he said.
Gavin had his wounds from the tunnel attack, and bruising on his neck. He still had some healing to do, but his cuts and bites were healing quite quickly and cleanly. Nines did a basic scan of Gavin's body, searching for anything that would need attention. With his android abilities, Nines needed to simply focus on Gavin to scan him - which gave Gavin the creeps.
"Everything is fine," Nines said. "Let me grab you those painkillers." He pecked Gavin's lips sweetly before standing up and going to Gavin's bag. Gavin watched as Nines took out a packet of painkillers.
"Nines. Grab my diary," Gavin said.
"Your diary?" Nines echoed curiously.
"Yeah, don't judge me."
"I didn't take you for someone who'd have a diary."
"Shut your up fuck," Gavin said. "The backpack has like… a hidden half-pocket thing in the back pocket. In there is my diary."
Nines nodded and seconds later, he was pulling out Gavin's diary. He brought him the painkillers and the diary, along with a plastic bottle which was half filled with water. Gavin popped two painkillers in his mouth and gulped them down with the water, which he managed to spill all over himself.
"Amazing," Nines commented, amusement shining in his eyes. "I just mentally crafted a joke that would only work if you were a female."
Gavin rolled his eyes. "You're a whole fuckwit. Love ya, though."
"You are a very confusing human, Gavin," Nines said. "Have I ever told you that?"
"I dunno. Probably," Gavin shrugged. "You've told me many things." He gently pried his diary out of Nines' hands and opened to the bookmarked page. He took the pen that was clipped to the cover and began to write a new entry that was multiple pages long. Gavin described the recent events of his life, and how it all made him feel. At this point, Gavin would be very surprised if he didn't have PTSD due to all he had been through.
The whole time, Nines was staring at Gavin with his eyes softened and full of love. He didn't once ask Gavin what he was writing about, or if he could see the diary. Nines just adored him in silence as the sun gently illuminated his face. As soon as Gavin looked up to see Nines staring, he felt himself blush.
"Why are you looking at me like that, am I that ugly?" Gavin joked.
"On the contrary. I'm just admiring your unending beauty," Nines said sincerely. His face then turned serious. "Never call yourself ugly, Gavin."
"Damn, okay dad," Gavin said sarcastically. Nines then smirked, which concerned Gavin."What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're missing two letters at the end of that last word."
"What? I- oh. Oh. Nines oh my good what the fuck!?" Gavin exclaimed, his voice becoming high and squeaky.
Nines burst out laughing. He saw Gavin's blushing face and laughed harder, which made Gavin want to make a hole in the floor and perish. Just as Gavin's embarrassment was dying down, he heard commotion in the hallway.
"I suggest we go and see what is happening," Nines said.
"Yep."
Gavin bookmarked and closed his diary before slowly getting up to his feet, and grunting with pain. The painkillers were yet to kick in. Nines stood beside Gavin and slung an arm over his shoulder, and Gavin did the same with Nines so they had their one of their arms draped over the other. With the help of Nines, Gavin promptly limped out of their bedroom and into the hallway. A girl, no older than twenty, was knocking urgently on Hank's door. After some time passed, a grumpy Hank stuck his head out.
"What?" Hank asked grumpily.
"Eloise is back."
Hank's eyes widened and he seemed to be lagging the processing of those three simple words, but then his face flooded with excitement and relief. "Where!?"
"In the lab, in the basement," the teenager said. Gavin noticed her bright pink hair, and wondered where she could've gotten dye from. As Hank started moving forward, she put a hand out to stop him. "Wait, Hank. There's something you need-"
"Not now, Allison!" Hank interrupted before barging past her.
Gavin looked at the girl that Hank had labelled Allison. She looked unsurprised yet irritated with Hank's antics. Gavin limped a few steps towards her, and as he did, he felt the painkillers hit due to a distinct numbing sensation. Gavin disconnected from Nines and stood up straight.
"That absolute dumbass lacks so many brain cells," Allison said flatly.
"Yeah, he does," Gavin agreed. "What did you need to tell him?"
"That Eloise is damaged hella bad, which is why she's in the lab in the first place," Allison answered.
"What's Hank's relationship with her?"
"They're very close friends, but that's all strictly platonic." She shrugged, then looked at Gavin with a knowing look in her eyes. "Who knows, maybe he's like you in some way."
"What a suggestion," Nines said as Allison turned and walked away.
"I feel like she was hinting that Hank may be a part of the not straight gang," Gavin said.
"Perhaps. I do not recall him ever discussing sexuality apart from referring to us."
"Anyway, we should go and check on him," Gavin said. "Considering Hank's bond with Eloise - as far as we can tell anyway - he's going to be crushed when he hears the news."
"What's this?" Connor's voice chimed into the conversation, which startled Gavin, but he didn't show it.
"Just- follow us," Gavin said. He gripped Nines' hand tightly and quickly walked towards and then down the staircase. He stopped as soon as he saw someone.
"James, where's the basement?" Gavin asked, remembering meeting him one time.
"Go straight until you reach a hallway, go to the end of the hallway, and then go down the stairs at the end," James replied.
Gavin nodded and quickly thanked him before walking towards the hallway.
"This mansion has such a weird ass layout," Gavin commented as he beelined towards their destination.
"It is indeed strange, but it is also humongous," Nines said. "The architect likely wanted to make most of what land they had planned to build on. Maybe they were disappointed they couldn't use more of the forest."
"It's a good refuge and that's what matters," Connor said.
Gavin didn't reply. They made it to the hallway, and he sped up as they walked down it. It was dimly lit with flickering lights, and along with the grey walls, the passage reminded Gavin too much of the tunnels. Gavin, fearful from those dreaded memories, held Nines' hand tighter. Nines gave Gavin's hand a reassuring squeeze, but Gavin could easily pick up his unease as well.
"I don't like this hallway," Connor said, speaking the thoughts that were running through all of their minds.
"Neither. It's too much like those tunnels," Gavin agreed.
"We are no longer in the tunnels, we are safe and well," Nines said. "Although, I share the same feelings, and I dislike the design here."
At the end of the hallway, there was a staircase, as promised. The trio walked down the staircase and went through the entrance. They were now in a large room with lots of different technology and hospital beds, along with curtains and long strips of cardboard around some.
"This seems more like a makeshift hospital than a lab," Gavin said. "Maybe it serves as both."
At the other end of the room, Hank was yelling at someone, and they were both standing next to one of the hospital beds that was surrounded with some weird tech Gavin couldn't recognise. On the bed Gavin saw someone , and watching the android was another person. As he looked around the room more, Gavin saw android parts and bodies in glass cabinets and on racks, along with thirium and medical products.
"How many androids do they have here?" Gavin asked with a frown.
"I'm not sure," Nines replied. Gavin looked at him, and Nines seemed equally confused. "In fact, we don't know how many humans there are - or were they sleep. Very easily fifty."
"Of course there's at least fifty," Gavin said. "Easily over a hundred, babe."
"We can ask later," Connor said.
The group stopped next to Hank and a woman wearing a white lab coat, which complimented her tanned complexion.
"What the hell do you mean, you can't fix her!?" Hank yelled.
"Hank, I didn't say that. I said there's a large chance she can't be completely restored to how she was. It's not my fault."
"Well you should know how to fix her, being an android doctor or whatever!"
"What's happening?" Gavin asked the bystander watching Hank and the doctor yell back and forth.. She looked relieved to have a distraction from the argument, and turned to Gavin.
"Jasmine can't completely repair Eloise, and Hank is pissed."
"I see that. Where was Eloise?" Gavin asked.
"I found her on my way back from shopping. She was in an alleyway, and I only found her because I wanted to try out a new shortcut. I had to carry her all the way back here, and I was stopped a few times by people asking about her. I was scared of being found out as being human."
"But you're here and fine now," Gavin said. "You said you found her basically by chance. So she was missing and no one went looking for her?"
She nodded. "Yeah, something like that."
"I see…" Gavin's face pulled into a thoughtful one, which earned a curious look from Nines.
"I've never seen you so intensely concentrated," Nines said with a raised eyebrow. "What are you thinking about, Gavin?"
"Oh, nothing. You'll find out," Gavin said.
"Then it must be more than nothing if I'm going to discover what it is," Nines said.
"He has a point," Connor said.
"Shut up and let me be mysterious."
"Okay, whatever you wish, baby," Nines smiled.
Gavin blushed. "Die."
"I would suggest that you read the room," Nines said.
"... Right." Gavin walked right up to Hank and stood in front of him. "You done yelling at the person who should be working on Eloise but is instead dealing with your dumb ass?"
As Hank suddenly looked embarrassed, the doctor thanked Gavin.
"No problem," Gavin replied. "What's your name?"
"Amy Diaz. Who are you?"
"Gavin Reed. This is Nines, and this is Connor," he said, beckoning to each android in turn. "I don't wanna tell you how to do your job, doc, but you should probably think about treating your patient now."
"You're right. I'm the only one in this whole building with enough knowledge and training to get back to working order," Amy said. "I suggest that you and your friends leave."
"Damn okay, bye," Gavin said. "Come on, let's go. That includes you, Hank. You can come back later to check on Eloise."
Hank sighed. "You're right. Okay, let's go."
The group of now four exited the lab, keeping to the left as a few people went down into the lab, undoubtedly to see Eloise's condition. Going down the hallway, Gavin held Nines' hand tightly again. As soon as they got to the end, Gavin disconnected their hands.
"Hey, I'll be back," Gavin said.
"Where are you going?" Connor said.
"I have something to do. I won't be long."
"Alright," Nines said, kissing Gavin on the forehead. "I will be seeing you soon, my love."
Gavin nodded and walked away from them, looking around for a certain person in particular. Gavin locked eyes with his target, Lillian, and immediately approached her. As soon as Gavin reached her, she ended conversation with a random person she was talking with, and turned her attention towards Gavin.
"Hi, can we talk somewhere private?" Gavin asked.
"Sure. Follow me," Lillian said. Gavin nodded curtly and followed her as she made her way up a different flight of stairs to the one he used to get to his bedroom. Lillian entered the first room, and Gavin followed her. It seemed to be a hybrid of a bedroom and an office.
Lillian turned to Gavin. "Now, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
"You know how Eloise is back?"
"Of course, I was one of the first informed."
"And so you know her critical condition."
"It was a miracle that she was found."
"Right, a miracle," Gavin said. "But what if she wasn't found?"
"But she was."
"Perhaps she was. But there was a huge chance that she wasn't found, and she would have been left to suffer and die. How many of your people are missing?"
Lillian diverted her gaze as her eyes clouded with sadness. "A few."
Gavin knew he had stirred up some painful feelings, but he had to continue. "Well, it shouldn't be like that. Sometimes humans and androids go and sneak out into the society, don't they?"
"They do… Gavin, what are you getting at?" Lillian asked sternly, looking directly at Gavin again.
"Well, what if we sent a group out to find the missing members, and also try to recruit new members, all the while looking for resources?"
"Gavin, we have too many mouths to feed as it is-"
"And? There could be actual humans and even androids out there, suffering, that need our help! We can get more people recruited, swell our ranks! Someone we help can have valuable information or access to something we need. What if we end up with an ally of someone who, I don't know, works at a convenience store? Is a doctor? Is an engineer? Lillian, we need to do this, we need more people. And the people we send can find more food as well."
"Well, what about the bedrooms? They're almost full."
"How many people do we have right now?"
"One hundred and eight."
"And how many bedrooms?"
"Sixty-five."
Gavin's jaw gaped. "Sixty-five!? I didn't even know there were that many! That's enough for everyone to share a bedroom with someone else, like myself and Nines and Connor and Hank. Plus, if you're worried that lack of beds is an issue, maybe the night guards can just share a bed with someone who sleeps during the night. Lillian, can't you see that this is the right choice? We can bring back new people! We can be stronger!"
"There is a huge danger doing this," Lillian said. "The wrong person can be asked to join. One misstep and our whole sanctuary could be lost - again."
"That's fine. Maybe we can send androids that can check potential humans, and people can search for signs that a stranger is actually human. We just have to be cautious. I promise this is for the greater good."
"I suppose," Lillian said, still looking hesitant. "Wait for a moment, let me think about it."
Gavin waited silently as she contemplated. Quickly enough, Lillian announced her conclusion.
"Okay, I'm willing to give this a shot. It's a good idea and you're right that we do need more people with us. Not only that, but we are a safe space for any human or androids who are disadvantaged or have a distaste for this new society. We can have new allies, more resources, and maybe we can learn more about the new world around us."
"Yes, yes! Exactly. Thank you, Lillian," Gavin said.
"Of course," Lillian replied. "But we still have to get the opinions of everyone else in Verum. Right now I'm the person who takes authority, but I was never really suited to lead. I just try to keep things in order. We don't have anyone truly suited for leadership, and we've been waiting for someone who is." She looked at Gavin, but she didn't say anything more about the matter. "I'll call a meeting tonight in the main hall. Be there. Seven pm sharp."
"Okay, I will be. Bye."
"Bye, Gavin."
Gavin turned and left Lillian's room. They don't actually have a leader. Huh. Sucks for them.
With some trouble, Gavin made it back to his bedroom, stopping for some small talk he didn't want to take part in along the way. He opened the door and closed it behind him as soon as he stepped inside. Nines was sitting on their bed and reading a book. The sight caught Gavin off guard.
"You can read?"
Nines looked up. "Yes? Is this new information to you?"
"No, what I meant was, I didn't know you read books."
"Why wouldn't I?"
Gavin felt embarrassed. "I dunno, I just… Never mind. There's going to be a meeting with everyone in the hall today at seven pm. By the way, Verum has one hundred and eight people in it."
Nines bookmarked and closed the book, setting it beside him. "Okay. We have no other plans."
"Obviously. I don't think we've ever had plans," Gavin said.
"I believe we have had multiple-"
"No, I meant like, couple plans-"
"We have made plans of survival as a cou-"
"I meant romantic - okay nevermind," Gavin said before changing the subject. "Where did you even get that book from anyway?"
"Downstairs. It was on one of the bookshelves."
"Cool. Not saying I like books or anything, but what's it called?" Gavin asked. "Is it gay?"
"Call Me By Your Name, and yes, it is a homosexual book. I think that you would like it."
"Cool, thanks," Gavin replied. "Gay shit is the only fiction that should exist ever."
"I understand where you are coming from, but I disagree. There should be complete equality with everything."
"True but also, gay," Gavin said.
Nines chuckled. "Such a compelling argument," he said sarcastically.
"I hate you," Gavin said whilst walking over to Nines. He sat on his lap. "Die."
Nines put his arms around Gavin and tugged him close. Their torsos pressed up against each other, and Gavin put his legs around Nines' hips.
"If I die, who will do this?" Nines asked before giving Gavin a deep, loving kiss that made the butterflies in his belly awaken. Gavin wished the butterflies would just act like everything else that he had digested - either completely still or projecting out of his mouth. Nines tightened his grip on Gavin, and Gavin cupped Nines' cheeks in his hands.
After Gavin pulled away for air, he said, "Okay yeah, that was great. Please don't die."
"I'll try not to die, but I'm very sorry to say that I can't not die if someone else decides to kill me."
"That won't ever happen," Gavin reassured him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
At six fifty five, Gavin and Nines met up with Connor and Hank to go down to the main hall together. Gavin and Nines had just had a makeout session, so they both looked like flustered messes.
"Anyone know what the hell this is about?" Hank asked.
"Yep," Gavin answered.
"Well, are you going to tell us?"
"You'll see."
Hank rolled his eyes.
In the main hall, Lillian was standing next to a small stage that Gavin suspected was recently set up just for this. She spotted Gavin and beckoned him over.
"Bye sluts," Gavin said before detaching from his confused companions and wading through a sea of people before reaching Lillian. "Hey."
"Hi Gavin." She glanced at a clock. "It's time. Come up with me."
Lillian stepped up onto the stage, with Gavin stepping up after her. Lillian faced the crowd.
"Verum, hello."
She has good projection, she doesn't need a microphone. That's lucky, Gavin thought.
Lillian continued, "I'm sure most of you know Gavin Reed," she said, beckoning to him. "He has an idea that he'd like to propose to us."
Oh shit. Time to talk, I guess. Gavin took a step forward and cleared his throat. "I…" Nope, too quiet. He felt extremely anxious to be speaking his mind in front of all of these people, but as soon as he caught Nines' eye, he saw his boyfriend give an encouraging nod. Gavin took a deep breath and forced his anxiety back just enough. Speaking much louder, Gavin explained his idea of sending people out into society to find new human and possibly android recruits.
"So… what do you think?" He asked after he finished speaking.
Gavin's words were met with mixed opinions, with most of them being supportive. There was a lot of yelling, which overwhelmed him, and Gavin awkwardly did the whip and the nae nae while staring at all of these people.
"I'm going to take that as a yes!" Lillian said, her voice somehow going over the rest of the people, whose voices died down to murmurs. "Tomorrow we can start sending people out. If you're interested, be here after lunch. Now, I have one more thing to ask." She turned toward Gavin and asked him a question which made Gavin decide that Lillian is absolutely insane on many different levels. "How would you feel about a leadership role here at Verum?"
"What!?"
