Love Rivals

New Jericho

Third
The ride was peaceful and quiet, making Gavin more comfortable as he relaxed into the leather seat. "You coming to the get-together my idiot big brother is hosting?" Nines asks, breaking the silence. Gavin turns his head to watch the man, seeing his eyes never leaving the road even for a second.

"I've never been to one before, what are they like?" This earned him a glance.

"You're not a deviant, are you?" This sudden question unnerved Gavin. Of course, he wasn't! A software instability flashed at the top left corner of his vision, only to go ignored.

"No, I'm no deviant. Why do you ask? Is that going to be a problem? I assure you that-"

"Just shut the fuck up..." Nines whines, shaking his head.

Gavin opened his mouth to retort but closed it quickly. The silence nearly suffocated him to the point he couldn't take it, seeing a red barrier across his vision. Go against his orders over something so small? No, he wouldn't do that. He fought the urges, even going so far as to stare out the window to avoid it. Yet it wouldn't go away, the wall kept trying to hit him over and over again.

Dragging him down into an empty abyss of shadows. Nines took a left, which was supposed to be a right. Due to his orders, he remained quiet, letting this man take him wherever he intended to. After a few minutes they stop outside of a dump, Gavin looking over at him in confusion. "Get out." He orders, turning off the engine and stepping into the rain.

His door swung closed and Gavin cautiously followed suit. No one would replace him if he went missing. He was a one-of-a-kind and the only extra model he had for a temporary body was a cat. Nines leads him inside the dump, revealing piles upon piles of android corpses. His eyes were wide, surprised to find the horror reflecting in his grey hues as his LED flashes red briefly.

The barrier remained despite having been given new orders. "Look at it all, this is your future." Nines snaps, pointing at the shorter android. He then points at several of the Androids in particular and writes off their names. "Well? What are you really?"

"I'm just a machine built to follow orders, nothing more... nothing less." With that, he turned on his heel and began walking back.

"Don't you take another fucking step!" Nines' sharp words make the male stop in place. He doesn't move, instead waiting for him to give a new order. He walks in front of him, staring the shorter android down. "Don't fight back and don't run away."

Gavin nods, only to be punched in the jaw by the male. He flinches back, his left hand flying to that spot as Nines hits him again before shoving him into the mud. He remains quiet despite knowing this treatment is unfair. Nines kicks him in the ribs and he tries to endure, LED flashing red before the wall appears again. This isn't fair! Why is this happening to me?

Gavin broke through the barrier and snatched Nines by the ankle. He knocks him over and straddles him, going in for a punch and failing as Nines shifts his head out of the way. His fight collides with the concrete and a wave of pain shoots through the skin. He yelped and recoiled, falling away and holding the injured hand. Thirium appeared on the knuckles as he looked at Nines in horror.

His eyes were wide, LED blood red with nothing to say for it. His lips open, "What. Did. You. Do?!" He shoots to his feet as his panic increases, stress rising to fifty percent.

"Gavin calm down... Listen to me..." He reached out to gingerly pull the Android closer, yet only to be shoved away.

"No... no.... No.... No!" His stress increased as he was pulled into the male's arms, held firmly in a hug he couldn't deny. He felt something bubble up in his stomach, creating a sensation he didn't understand. Was this what feelings were? Things he wasn't sure about?

After a few minutes, he began to calm down, his stress levels decreasing as his LED returned to a worried yellow. "It's alright, okay? You'll see that deviancy opens a lot more doors than not being one. Let's get you home, okay?"

He looks around himself anxiously, feeling eyes on his body. He nods sheepishly and climbs into the passenger seat, tying himself to the seat before they drive off towards Jericho. "Why did you do that? What... How..." He whines quietly, crossing his arms over his chest like a child would.

"I want you to feel better, to feel things. I'm not having an emotionless prick for my partner. It's better this way, you'll see." He parks the car and takes in a small breath of air. "Here we are, try not to be late tomorrow. Okay?" Gavin sent him a shy glance and was cut off before he could even open his mouth. "And if you'd like I can pick you up in the morning."

"Won't you miss out on sleep that way?" Gavin asks worriedly, showing off genuine worry for his human partner.

The male simply shrugs, "Only a few minutes. I never need them anyway. I spend them trying to sleep in a little." Gavin nods and shyly steps out of the car. "See you tomorrow."

He's waved off by Gavin, "Yeah... see you..." He steps away from the car and watches Nines pull out and drive away in peace. He stands there in the rain as his components slowly grow colder before finally turning on his feet and heading towards his little temporary home.

He steps inside the small apartment-like building and closes the door behind himself. He peels off his jacket and sets it on the rack. He walks into the living room part and goes quiet, sitting on his couch was the man responsible for him waking up. "Good, you've finally fucking shone up." He stands up and turns towards Gavin contently, black hair falling slightly over his blue and green eyes. "You've become a deviant."