Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/33887881.

Notes

Uh, hi! I'm just seeing how posting to this site turns out, I guess. Sure as hell is a blast from the past

It was one week after Christmas, and the busiest time in the year for the DPD. At the crux between Christmas and New Year, where people traveled and drank all throughout the holidays, while the rate of crime skyrocketed. Which, for Gavin and Nines, meant increasingly longer workdays; getting stuck to desk work as the department's top detectives, and spending late nights falling asleep in a cluttered mess of paperwork, curled up on the couch around their respective devices.

Every day was the same for both of them, if not increasingly longer and more tiring, and that didn't change as Gavin dragged himself out of bed half an hour past his alarm, a pressure building up behind his eyes as he prayed that he would get to go home earlier today. He was exhausted, completely run thin on this case, and ready for the holidays to end.

Sleep followed him into the car and through the 15-minute drive he took to the precinct. It greeted him at the door he walked in and permeated the breakroom. It lived in his desk chair, embedding itself in the fabric and looming at the edges of his consciousness, waiting to sink its claws in and pull him back down for more rest. He dropped his leather jacket on the back of the chair and sunk into the seat, tilting his head against the back of it in an effort to ease the pounding that hammered at the forefront of his brain.

He felt groggy and dazed, but he pulled himself up to sit forward in his chair, looking like a marionette on strings in his attempt at putting on a brave face for the day ahead. He reached forward to switch the computer on, and as he moved his hand away from the keyboard, the back of it found the hot cup of coffee left on his desk, "Phck!"

Gavin shot up on his feet, throat burning and eyes watering from the exertion of his voice as he rushed to grab the napkins left on his desk from last night's dinner and clean up the mess before it trickled under the keyboard or soaked into the collection of post-it's from Nines. Two got wrecked in his battle with caffeine and creamer, but the rest had remained otherwise unscathed. He scooped up the mush that once resembled a stack of neatly folded napkins and shoved them in the empty cup with a splat.

"Detective Reed," Connor set his hands on the back of Nines' chair, leaning forward with his voice low and offering the man in front of him a smile, "Nines informed me that he's on his way back from your brother's house. His updates went just fine."

"Thanks, tin can," Gavin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers as he sunk back in his chair, and completely missing the taken aback expression on Connor's face. His eyes had widened minutely and his face fell into a poorly concealed expression of surprise and concern at the lack of sass.

"N-" He cut himself off, nipping his own comments at the bud, lest he starts a fight with a rather pale and sickly-looking detective, "Are you okay, Gavin? You don't look well."

"I'm fine, asshole," Gavin bit back, shoving the coffee cup into the trash and giving him a tense grin. He turned in his chair and shot him a finger gun before pushing up out of the chair. Tipping as he stood and surging forward to catch himself. He was going to vomit, "Just- I'll be back."

Gavin rushed past Connor, down the hall, and stumbling into the bathroom. He went for the closest stall, pressing his palms to it and leaning heavily against the metal walls. The world spun around him, threatening to pull the world right out from under his feet.

Once it felt like he had spent an eternity bent over against the outside of the bathroom stall, trying to collect himself within the confines of the DPD bathroom, he pushed himself up and stepped towards the sink. Grabbing the handle with more force than he needed, he flipped on the faucet, running cold water over his hands before pressing them to his face.

Everything felt fuzzy; his head full of cotton and lead, the cold doing nothing to cut through the fog. He felt unbearably hot in the bathroom, the lights far too bright, and the cold draft causing his arms to break out into goosebumps as it brushed across his skin.

"Gavin?" The breath that puffed against his face startled him, Nines' soft tone in his ear doing nothing to suppress the jolt of fear that shot through him. A careful hand placed itself on his hip, a kiss pressing to the side of his face, "Are you alright?"

The concern in his voice was almost tangible, causing Gavin to melt from it alone. He sunk into the warmth of Nines' chest, letting the android wrap his arms securely around him as he did in turn, weaving his hands under the white Cyberlife jacket the RK refused to go without. He sighed in relief, pressing further into the safe embrace of his lover. His home.

One of the arms around him receded, only for a cool palm to press against Gavin's forehead a moment later, "You're running a fever. Why didn't you take the day off?"

"Didn't wanna mess up the case," Gavin simply mumbled, already dozing off against Nines' chest. The arm around his waist tightened, pulling him just a little closer to lean against him.

"Your health is more important," Nines whispered, pressing a kiss to Gavin's sweaty curls. He shifted on his feet to let Gavin step away, causing him to jolt, "I'm taking you home, we'll call in sick for today."

Together, they were able to clamber out into the car, with Nines supporting Gavin on his left and guiding him out to the parking lot through the back alley. He opened the car door and gently pushed Gavin into the passenger seat, placing him there with a kiss on his forehead and receiving a weak smile from the Detective in return.

Nines slipped out of his Cyberlife jacket, placing it over the man's chest before reaching over to slot the keys in the ignition and turn the car on. He turned up the heat before gently shutting the door and walking back up to gather their belongings.

When he made it back inside the heated buildings of the DPD, cheeks flushed cerulean from the cold, Tina was sitting in Gavin's chair, waiting for him like a queen in her throne. She caught sight of Nines before raising her brows in playful surprise, letting her feet drop from Gavin's desk and making a show to check behind the android by leaning drastically to the left, "Usually I don't see you without the rat close behind. You didn't finally get sick of him, did you, Terminator?"

"Officer Chen," Nines greeted. The smallest hints of mirth lit up his eyes, an expression invisible to the rest of the precinct bleeding into his features as he reached around her to pick up Gavin's now-cold coffee and drop it into the trash, "It's always a pleasure to know where we stand."

"Oh c'mon, Ni," Tina groaned, pushing herself up onto her feet and stepping out of Gavin's cramped and cluttered workspace to let Nines in, "Don't do me like that, you know you're my favorite RK."

Nines rolled his eyes, not without a smile edging at his face, turning the glint in his eyes a little brighter and causing the corners of his mouth to twitch. He leaned over to interface with the computer, downloading the paperwork they needed to sort through by today and signing him out, "I'm sure you won't mind if I tell that to my brother then, will you?"

Tina let out a scandalized noise, placing a hand over her chest with an aghast look over her face, "You wouldn't dare! Sixty is my best friend!"

Nines threw a smirk at her as her voice trickled into laughter and she shook her head, "Okay, what did you do with him? We didn't even get our morning gossip in before he mysteriously disappeared." She put her hands up in front of her, waggling her fingers.

The screen on Gavin's computer turned blue, indicating its shutdown. With that, he took it as his cue to leave, standing upright and picking up the leather jacket that was draped over Gavin's chair, folding it over his arm as he talked, "Gavin is running a fever, and quite frankly, looks like shit. I'm going to take him home and make sure he rests."

Concern passed over Tina's face, darkening her expression before her eyes flitted over one- jacketless, she now realized- worried RK900, Slowly, that concern morphed into something lighter, something more teasing, "And you offered him your precious jacket, too?"

Tina knew just how important that jacket was to him. She remembered the last time Nines had offered it to somebody; it was after she had fallen in the Detroit River two years back. He spent the whole time without it itchy and anxious, and even though he would've vehemently denied any trace of deviancy to any person who would listen back then, anyone who even looked his way could tell he was attached to that jacket. It was a safety blanket he held onto tightly, the last and only item from his activation that was marked as his . To him, it was a ward against the rest of the world, a shield that had protected him through the worst times of his life and would continue to do so.

Tina, fulfilling her own role as Gavin's ultimate wingman, may or may not have pushed him to offer up his own jacket to the RK. She still remembers the way Nines flushed brightly while Gavin stumbled over his own words, and despite one's arguments that androids didn't need extra clothing to stay warm while the other refused to keep his jacket, Nines eventually took it.

That was the start of history for them. That same leather jacket had become a treaty of sorts, one they had both been searching for in the months leading up to that night. It was a means for them to finally warm up to each other, going from 'barely tolerated' to lovers in their own, unique way.

Now as his partner, Nines stood with that same jacket in hand, squeezing and scratching lightly at the worn leather with worry ingrained in his features.

Despite the two being in a relationship for well over a year now, despite living together and dealing with the Detective's complete inability to care for himself properly, Nines still couldn't seem to adjust to seeing Gavin sick. It scared him to no end, digging into his worst fears and letting them bubble up to the surface. He stared over Tina's shoulder, letting his thoughts wander past that front door and to where Gavin was laying at this very moment.

A hand set itself on his arm, gently squeezing around the chassis and snapping him back to the present. He tensed, ready to snap at whoever dared to touch him, but relaxed once he focused on the woman in front of him again. She offered him a reassuring smile, "He'll be alright. Just go to him, 'kay? And make sure that asshole doesn't go having an aneurysm over missing work."

Nines nodded, giving her a grateful smile as he slipped past Tina, speeding up his steps to get out the door and back to the car as fast as possible. When he finally made it down to the parking lot and into the driver's seat, Gavin was fast asleep; face pressed up against the window and fogging up the cold glass with gentle breaths.

It didn't take long for them to get home after that. Once he parked in the car park and toted a grumbling and groggy Gavin up the stairs to their apartment, he laid him in the bed and gently pushed his shoes off. Gavin pushed his hips up just enough to shuffle out of his jeans, although not without help, before turning over and pushing his face into the nearest pillow.

Nines gently tugged at the Cyberlife jacket he held, but after Gavin refused to give it up, he resorted to hanging up the man's leather jacket alone by the front door. Peaches pranced into the room in Nines' wake, hopping up on the bed and curling up next to Gavin.

Munchkin, on the other hand, lingered at Nines' feet, crying up at him for attention while he walked over to the kitchen to get a glass of water for Gavin. She sat on her hind legs, peering up at the seven-foot android standing in front of the sink before she was abruptly lifted with one hand.

He tucked her under his arm, not unlike if he were holding a football, and ducked into the safety of his and Gavin's room before setting her on the bed beside the man sprawled out across the sheets.

Gavin turned over to peek at Nines, watching him set a glass of water on his nightstand while the cats settled at the end of the bed. Spotting a lump on the thigh of his slacks, he grinned, raising a hand to press his palm to it, "'s that a bottle or are you just happy to see me?"

"I'm glad to see you're still well enough for your crude remarks," Nines shot back, pulling the medicine bottle out of his pocket to open it with a pop before taking Gavin's hand with the other. He poured two capsules in the palm of his hand and pressed calloused fingers to curl over them. In a much gentler tone, he added, "Take these."

Gavin put them to his mouth, tossed his head back, and swallowed them dry, making Nines frown, "Gavin, you know it's not good for your esophagus-"

Gavin coughed out a laugh, "Two pills ain't gonna hurt me compared to what you do." He wiggled his brows suggestively before rolling over to lay on his side.

Nines, ever the worried partner, sat down next to him. He reached a hand over, pressing it to Gavin's forehead to check his temperature, "You should still drink. I don't have enough… juice- as you called it- to refill my reserves-"

That seemed to get Gavin's attention, the sincerity in Nines' tone completely catching him off guard and causing him to choke out a 'jesus phckin christ' before rolling over onto his back. He paused a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning around him before reaching a hand out for Nines to place the glass in it. "You're gonna be the death of me with this shit," He mumbled out before downing what he could of the glass.

He made it halfway through the glass before his stomach flipped again, threatening to push back up the half-a-donut he had grabbed from the breakroom in his rush this morning. Laying back down across the comforter with a pout, he crossed his arms, blinking past the haze his brain was trapped in to stare expectantly at Nines.

In true RK fashion, the android didn't take his next actions lightly- nor gently. He grabbed one end of the comforter and pushed it over Gavin, rolling him across the bed and wrapping him up in a blanket burrito. He shuffled out of his clothes, stripping down to only his boxers and socks before tossing a hoodie over his head.

"You look like a dipshit with those garters," Gavin grumbled, holding a weak facade of spite and a dislike for the clothing in question. He loved those garters, no matter how dorky or hard to strip Nines of in the dark of the night, and such lies were written all over his face.

Nines settled in next to him with a smile, pulling Gavin close by his pseudo-swaddling and pressing a kiss to his forehead, running one more scan of his vitals in the background, "I know, Gavin. I love you too."