"Holy-" Gavin cut himself off as much for shock as for Levi, looking around his living room and kitchen, both cleaner than they had been on the day he moved in. The ancient linoleum in his kitchen wasn't supposed to sparkle. It was unnatural. The absolute mound of things on his couch and coffee table surprised him far less, Elijah going overboard was standard shit. But this...he grit his teeth as the obvious fact that it hadn't been Elijah himself who dropped off the stuff, let alone cleaned, became clear, which meant a stranger had been in his house. A stranger who had certainly (better of fucking been) been highly vetted, but had also touched all his stuff while they cleaned, and dammit, he should have known Elijah with his constant offers to help him out would take utter advantage of this excuse to interfere.

He was an adult, and unlike Elijah he didn't need a cleaning crew to keep his apartment from turning into a disaster zone. The cats had clearly gone into hiding over it too or they would've been crawling all over both of them by now.

"Gavin?" Levi was looking up at him, halfway to the coffee table, but now instead of being excited he was biting his lip. Shit, Gavin way to fuck up two seconds after you're through your front door. Forcing a grin, he shrugged.

"Elijah had somebody clean up the apartment, and, of course, he didn't tell me. I was freaked out for a sec, that's all. What's all in that mound of stuff, let's check it out, huh?" He was treated to an appraising look, Levi clearly making sure he was okay, which, the kid being worried about him was a hell of a lot better than him being scared of him, but Gavin was the grown-up here. Even if he tended to be shit at the personal side of adulthood, he still had 27 years on the kid. He could do this. "C'mon, I wanna see what all's in there, and if I know Elijah some of it is really fancy food."

"He wouldn't put it in the fridge?" Maybe it was cheating to distract a kid he'd already figured out was very motivated by food with it, but Gavin was gonna take the wins he could get-and Levi heading towards the coffee table with determination, examining the spread closely before grabbing anything, was a win. Gavin, both because he wanted Levi to know he didn't have to be too careful, and because he 'was just like that' according to many sources, grabbed the first thing in reach, grinning as he saw the science lab lego set. Of course.

"Pajamas," Levi's voice was quiet, thoughtful even, as he held up a top with a cheerful looking dinosaur on it, "they're nice."

"Yeah? You know what kind of dinosaur that is? 'cause I don't have a clue." Levi shook his head and dropped the PJ's back in the bag he'd pulled them out of, getting excited as he found the hamster habitat, easily the biggest box out of them all and picturing a practically neon colored tube system that could be attached to it. Maybe it was a good thing Elijah hadn't done the shopping himself, he would've gotten one with 'tasteful' colors, all silvery and futuristic probably. This ridiculously cheesy shit was way better.

"Look, Maybe-Caramel will like this, right?" Levi shook the box back and forth with one hand, while his other went to the big pocket in the front of his sweatshirt where the Ani-ster was snoozing.

"Sure, what's not to like? He gets a house with his own playground attached, sounds pretty badass to me."

"Yeah." Quiet again, Levi stroked his hand along the top of the box and Gavin had to swallow. Christ, this shit was making him sappy.

"Hey, wanna go see what Elijah did to th-your room?" Gavin caught himself before calling it the guest room, but Levi was observant and gave him a funny look for the cut off word. "And don't worry, if anything is really weird or you just don't like it we can switch stuff up later." Not that Gavin really thought anything too extensive had been done in there, there was already a bed and a desk, so probably kiddy bedding or something, maybe new curtains. Leading the way with Levi practically tucking himself into his shadow, that's what Gavin was expecting when he turned on the lightswitch.

And saw something that looked like a cross between a circus and a spaceship.

There was new bedding alright, and new curtains, and a rug. A bookcase with its shelves already half full and even freaking art on the walls. Bright colors, with an astronaut theme, only the astronauts were jungle animals-it was honestly fucking adorable, if maybe a little babyish for a nine year old, but where the hell had his desk and computer gone? He had important shit saved on there.

That giant beanbag chair was pretty freaking comfy looking, though.

Levi clearly thought so too since he immediately dropped into it, looking around with wide eyes. "This is really for me?"

"Yep. All yours. Like I said, if you want to change any-" He cut himself off as Levi shook his head almost frantically at him, the kid's eyes getting shiny as panic attacked Gavin's gut, "Hey, shit, I'm not saying I'm taking it away, it's yours, okay? No one's taking anything, I promise." Fuck, fuck, he'd been doing pretty okay so far, but of course once it was just him and Levi he'd screwed up twice in less then ten minutes. Forcing down the memory of Christmas presents being tossed in the trash for an alleged lack of gratitude, Gavin repeated his promise, "Your stuff is yours, I'd never take it away just because, okay?"

And was immediately slapped with the realization that assuming his issues and Levi's lined up was fucking stupid when, after wiping both watery eyes and nose on his sweatshirt sleeve, ew , the kid shrugged and muttered, "I know, I just don't want to make Elijah sad, that's all." And uh-huh, that wasn't all, but there was enough truth in it that Gavin was hoping that his previous thought was out in left field. More like Levi thought Elijah would hate him if he didn't like his new stuff, which was still another landmine their shit of a sperm donor could probably be blamed for, but Gavin thought maybe he was better equipped for this one. Maybe.

"Elijah would be more sad if you pretended to like stuff you didn't, but I feel you. This is a pretty impressive room makeover even if you didn't see the original, huh? You want to pick out a spot to put Maybe-Caramel's cage, and I'll see if I can find the bedding and whatever Ani-sters eat in all the stuff in the living room?" Also, he could make sure his desk and computer were in his room or something, not disappeared.

"Okay." Looking around the room with a determined expression now that he had a task, Levi went to push himself up out of the beanbag and stopped, it's giantness and his hurt ankle combining to trap the kid. Hiding a snort at the ridiculously frustrated expression and smack Levi gave the beanbag, Gavin moved close enough so he could lever him up.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna let it eat you."

*.*.*.*.*

"Shit." It was about the tenth time Leo had said that since he'd answered his phone and Gavin smirked and shifted further back into the couch, the part of him that wasn't still in freak-out mode himself laughing at Leo's floundering. He'd known his text earlier hadn't explained the half of it, but Leo had waited for him to call like he'd asked. Gavin would've left it until he could talk to tell him anything, knew Leo was bad with stress for a lot of reasons, but android's could talk with their minds and he wasn't gonna have him finding out from saintly-ass Marcus just because Connor was still figuring out boundaries.

" Shit , your voice box stuck on repeat?" He grabbed for his soda, one ear on Levi in the guest-no, in his room-introducing Maybe-Caramel to Tank because 'if they're already friends then the cats will have to like him'. Possibly this conversation should have happened when the kid was farther away, but his apartment only had the two bedrooms and the open kitchen and living room combo. Well, and the can, but he was farther away here. Gavin was keeping his voice down, it would have to work.

"Are you okay? I mean, I know you aren't, but-shit."

"Wish you were here," Gavin mumbled, feeling his face heat, because really, they didn't get all goopy with each other like that, but he did.

"I can call a cab right now, like, I'd be there in twenty minutes." The earnestness in Leo's voice did things to Gavin's stomach, and he wanted to say yes, God he fucking did. But…

"Meeting another new person is gonna be too much for Levi today. Kid's already been through the ringer. Captain gave me the rest of the week off, maybe tomorrow? Levi has to make a statement about this shit eventually, and we're hoping the old man will give permission to go get some of his stuff-it'll make him look better and he knows it. But probably better for that not to be tomorrow."

"Yeah, give him some time to settle in and get used to your place without even having to think about that asshole. I can come over with cartoons and kid friendly junk food whenever tomorrow if you want? Hang out for a while and if the kid seems overwhelmed I'll take off."

That sounded pretty fucking great. "You still have all the seasons of Avatar on your cloud?"

"Hell, yeah. That's perfect. I'll bring all the shit we really shouldn't eat and by the end of it your brother will think I'm awesome."

"Bribery works, that what you're telling me?" The familiar bullshitting was succeeding in loosening the knot in his chest and Gavin let himself shift sideways and flop back, so his head was propped on the arm of the couch.

"Works with you."

"You're a fucking brat," he said flatly, making sure his lips trying to twitch up into a laugh couldn't be heard.

"I know, it's my favorite trait." Leo laughed his weird, whispery laugh, clearly very satisfied with himself. Gavin rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I want my bribe to be nachos."

"Shit, what do I need to bribe you for? You already think I'm awesome." The only answer Gavin could give to that was a long, drawn out, rude noise. "Oh, fuck off, I am awesome as hell."

"Sure you are. But you'll be even more awesome if you bring your boyfriend nachos."

"Alright, alright, fine, gas station nachos with neon yellow cheese and shriveled jalapenos, since I know that's what you want, freak. You're gonna get cancer or maybe radiation poisoning."

"Not everybody drinks Evian, rich boy." A strangled protest came down the line, Leo claiming that Mt. Dew ran through his veins and Slim Jims made his muscles, and Gavin was laughing so hard that somehow he wound up half off the couch, almost dropping the phone. He was being loud as hell, so, of course, Levi appeared, staring at him like he thought Gavin might be broken. Pepperoni had draped herself over the kid's shoulders, a furry, purring scarf and Gavin was pretty sure his smile was straight ridiculous now. Feeling a bit reckless, he blurted, "Hey, Levi, you want to say hi to my boyfriend? He's a riot."

A long "Uhhh," and, "What? Shit, okay," hit Gavin's ears at about the same time, and he had to swallow not to laugh again, putting the phone on speaker and holding it up.

"Just say hello, you don't have to be impressive or anything-that was for Levi, Leo, be impressive as shit." Levi was smiling instead of staring now and he crossed over and, one hand raising up to balance Pepperoni, plopped himself down towards the end of the coffee table, square in front of Gavin and his phone.

"Hi."

"Hey, Levi!" Leo's voice cracked a little, nervous, and Gavin wasn't gonna go to mush because he actually wanted to impress his little brother, he wasn't. "Uh, we were thinking I'd come over for lunch tomorrow and to watch cartoons-I'm bringing food and snacks. Your brother wants gas station nachos," Gavin huffed a little at the clear tone of 'because he's nuts' shoved into the words gas station, "the worst of all nachos, but because I'm nice I'm gonna bring them to him anyway. What do you want? It does not have to be gas station food."

"I thought Mt. Dew ran through your veins, jackass."

"You can get Mt. Dew everywhere. Duh."

"Yeah, how many of your dad's fancy-ass dinners have you smuggled a bottle of Mt. Dew into?"

"Everyone," Leo said proudly, "because I'm slick. But slipping a waiter a twenty and telling him what I want would do the same thing. Because you can get Mt. Dew everywhere."

"That's a lot of money to spend on soda," Levi informed Leo, but his smile had become a grin

"Well, yeah. That's another reason I sneak it in, not just practicing my smuggling skills. Or offending rich jerks with my garish green bottle. Do you need time to figure out what you want? Candy is encouraged."

"Mac and cheese. With bacon. And broccoli." There was just a hint of challenge in Levi's voice, though Gavin wasn't entirely sure whether it was about asking for real food instead of junk or about whether Leo would actually get it for him. Leo was 100% blinking in surprise, he knew that without having to see his face, and Gavin was 100% proud. Little badass.

"Baked mac and cheese? Or regular? And what about dessert? Gotta have dessert for cartoons." Snorting to himself because 'be impressive' and 'be a suck-up' had the same meaning in Leo's head, obviously, Gavin shifted so he was sitting on instead of hanging off the couch, waiting to see how this was gonna go.

*.*.*.*.*

"Can I call my mom after dinner?" Gavin was busy tearing into a bowl of the chicken and rice casserole that Chris had dropped off (he wasn't sure if there was a form you filled out to promote a guy to sainthood, but if there was…well, Gavin wasn't gonna fill it out, but somebody should) and it took him a minute to process the words and then their meaning.

Give him a break, detective or not his brains were fucking scrambled and fried after today.

"Your mom? You-" he managed to not say 'you have a mom?' like it was a question, because obviously he didn't spring out of the old man's head like kids from weird myths did. But he'd just 100% assumed Levi's mom was dead, like his and Elijah's.

The old man restricted himself to women who were weak, in more ways than one. Bastard.

"I, of course you can, whenever you want." Though if she'd left Levi with him, Gavin wasn't too sure she qualified as any sort of fucking parent. "You know her number?"

"Yeah, but I don't have a phone, and," Levi fidgeted with his fork, "Dad didn't like it," of course the bastard hadn't, "he said it was too expensive to call Russia, but my friend Stephie says it doesn't work like that anymore with cellphones and he was just lying to be mean. She let me use her phone and her parents never even noticed, so it can't cost too much right?"

Russia? Levi's mom was in Russia? What in the fuck?

Also, Stephie for the win.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't think so, anyway, and either way you can call her, that's some important shit. Uh, why's she in Russia?"

Levi fidgeted with his whole self now, and yeah, that had been a dumpster fire way to ask, but Gavin was a dumpster fire of a person on his best days, so, he was gonna give himself a pass. "Dad messed up her green card interviews and paperwork stuff on purpose, I think. And nobody likes Russians anymore, so they probably wanted to send her back anyway." Gavin knew he was gaping, and judging by the way Levi's gaze went from his face to the casserole dish sitting in between them, flicking his eyes up at Gavin and then down again, he had to cut that shit out fast.

"He had your mom deported?" Swallowing, the buzzing feeling in his limbs telling him if he hadn't had a kid to watch it would've been a good night to head to the gym, break his fists on a punching bag or two, Gavin sucked in a breath slowly. Levi did not need him flipping out, but fuck, how had that shit-stain managed to get even worse in every fucking way? "Fuck, Levi, I'm so sorry. That goddamned asshole. "

"Can I say that?" Levi's expression was utterly serious, eyes narrowed a little. Gavin got what he meant right away, but his head was still spinning (anything else smacked him in the face today that was gonna wind up being literal) and it took him a second to answer.

"Call him an asshole? Sure, it's the truth," though, thinking of how the social worker they were both going to have to talk to in the next couple of days might react to that, he quickly added, "just here in the apartment, though."

"The first part too," Levi bargained, determination in his voice. Gavin smirked. His brother was fucking adorable.

"Yeah, okay. Go ahead." Levi sucked in a deep breath, which might mean his neighbors were going to hear a prepubescent voice shrieking swear words out of the blue, but fuck it, the kid had earned it.

"Dad's a goddamned asshole." No screaming, but Levi said it with relish and Gavin put up his hand for a high five across the table. He got it, hard enough to make his hand sting and he laughed, proud of the kid. Levi was a tough little shit.

A tough little shit who then immediately started sniffling into his bowl of casserole. And okay, mood swings made sense-had to be better than Levi just pretending to be fine-but Gavin was starting to wonder if it was possible to get emotional whiplash. What the hell did you do with a crying kid who was trying to pretend he wasn't crying, anyway? "Hey, uh, you want a hug or something?" Christ, he sounded like a moron and when Levi glared at him through teary eyes he didn't blame him at all.

"I want him to stop being an asshole."

*.*.*.*.*

*.*.*.*

*.*.*

A/N:

Yeah, I took a grip and a half to get this out. For awhile there it felt like I'd lost Gavin's voice and it was like pulling teeth, but reading a shit ton of other DBH fics helped with that. I hope, lol.

(Also, ngl, I got the Sims 4 finally and am kind of obsessed, holy crap are the mods amazing. The game on it's own is kind of shit, but now that I have 25 gbs of mods and cc downloaded it's pretty amazing, lol. There are DBH sims. There's even mods that make non-deviated and deviated android sims and the like, and someone is currently making a mod that lets your android sim slowly deviate. Like. I could have my own android revolution. Lol. If only I could find Magnificent Seven sims...)

As always comments and favorites/follows are soul affirming (or, okay, I'm as obsessed with them as I am with both DBH and The Sims), and thanks for reading! I appreciate the reviews so much!