Love Rivals

Learning to Get Along

Third
Gavin stood there, jaw hanging slightly as he tried to find the words to use. The man stood there, eyes staring the shorter male down. He steps closer and Gavin gulps, LED spinning red briefly until it makes the man stop. His eyes soften, "It seems you have deviated... Fascinating..." They stare at each other in silence as a cat leaps onto his back, crawling up to his shoulder. The naked little thing meowed a greeting to the android, purring as she rubbed her head against his neck. He nervously walks over and pets the cat, hearing her purr before biting at his fingers and moving to the black-haired male's other shoulder. "She seems to like you, well... Sort of anyway. Isn't that right, Parker?" He asks sweetly, scratching her chin before looking back at Gavin. "When did you deviate?" He asks, shifting a lock of the hair out of his eyes.

"At the... That place filled with android bodies... Detective Stern attacked and ordered me not to flee or fight back." He speaks up more confidently, trying to make himself look tough.

Instead, he's shot down with a small, 'Good your memory function is working properly.' The man turns his back on the android and pauses, "What do you refer to me as?"

"The man who woke me up, I've never registered your name," Gavin replies, scanning his features.

"Ah, yes of course. And you've never scanned me for that information?" He watched as the brunette shook his head. "Of course, you didn't... Well, I suppose introductions are in order!" He clasps his hands together in a clap and smiles at him.

"Yeah..." Gavin looks around his little home, wondering why it was so well-kept. Had this man gone around every inch of his home and cleaned it? He noticed his pile of clothes had been washed from the corner and neatly folded on top of Gavin's dresser. Had this man come breaking into his house, clean it, and take care of his chores? He raises his gaze to meet the man.

"Alright, down to business. To properly monitor how you're adapting to being a deviant. I'll be staying here, the good news is that I'll clean and do everything on my own time. The second being, my name is Eren." He holds his left hand out to shake. "And I'm the man that woke you up." Gavin quietly reached out and clasped his hand in the man's.

The Next Morning!
Gavin's eyes fluttered open, the human living in his house sat there with a cup of coffee in his hand and the laptop on his legs. He was curled up on the small couch, eyes never leaving the screen for a moment too long. "Good morning." He greets, not sparing the male a glance.

He walks around to peer at the screen, seeing Eren going through someone's memories. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping my partner android in check... He likes to disobey even when he's not supposed to..." He clicks on a button and a shock goes across the screen. He adjusts the microphone in his left ear. "Obey the command, Peter."

The android lifts their hand, twirling it around to flip the black-haired male off. Disgusted the man shocks him again before turning his body to face Gavin. "Is that going to happen to me?"

"No! Not at all, well unless you disobey too many orders, but you've been doing just fine. And you're deviant, you have that choice. I'm not making you do anything. Just Peter here." With such, he turns back to the screen and orders a command, a small and non-threatening command that would be easy to perform. "Goddamnit Peter, can't you listen to one thing?"

Gavin steps back into the living room part, scanning the male. Facial recognition showed his background and what shocked Gavin was that he worked for the FBI. Is that why he was woken up? Was he a spy for this man? These thoughts were shut down the moment he heard Eren chuckle tiredly.

"That's not what I meant... And you know it!" He leans back against the couch, showing a more laid-back look to himself. His stress wasn't too high and his comfort level increased slightly. Parker lay curled in a ball, right on his lap, and made the computer dangerously close to falling. Eren didn't seem to mind that much, lifting his left hand to reveal the metal beneath his skin briefly. "My father hit me with his car..." Eren confesses suddenly, startling Gavin.

This sudden sense of vulnerability confused the brunette male, making him walk closer in curiosity at the hand before the false skin covered it again. "You can do that?"

"I learned how... It was a little creepy at first... I'm used to it now..." He looks over his hand and shakes his head, petting Parker's head gently. She purrs in her sleep, cuddling closer to his warm hand. He then noticed the small little sweater she was wearing, one that looked almost homemade. "Before you ask, no I didn't make it. My household android did."

"You own an android?"

"My father did... I just... I saw her as my mother when my actual one..." He bites his bottom lip and looks away. "That's a story for another time I'm afraid. You should get going. You'll be late." His eyes widen and Gavin looks to the clock on the wall and immediately he flees his home. The man takes a sip of his coffee and stares at the closed door, unfazed by the loud sound it erupted. Gavin ran along, reaching the front of New Jericho within milliseconds. Which just so happened to be the exact time Nines' Cadillac appeared.

A sigh escaped his lips as he walked over, the window on the passenger side rolling down. "Good Morning looks like you ran a Marathon..." He joked, getting an eye roll from the shorter male. "Hop in. We got work to do!" Gavin opens the door and climbs inside, only now realizing he'd forgotten his jacket.

He didn't bother mentioning it, but Nines noticed. Maybe he was warming up to the other male? Surely he wasn't so bad and they'd known each other for a day. Maybe they could become friends. "Good morning detective." Gavin finally greeted back, grey eyes moving sheepishly over to the male's stern blue ones.

"Where's your jacket?"

"I left it at home... I woke up later than I meant to." It was an honest lie, after all, he had woken up late. He adjusts his seating and turns to face the other male quietly. "And what did you do this morning?"

"Got my ass out of bed for once, the usual." He smirks a little, avoiding eye contact as he turns the corner. "At least I wasn't late."

"Yeah well phck off..." He grumbled out, eyes leaving the man and looking outside instead. Nines couldn't deny he didn't miss Gavin's watching him. His brother had scolded him for getting injured while on the job and silently chastised Gavin for not being there for his baby brother.

"Now listen..." Nines began, eyes looking over towards Gavin briefly before finding the road again. "I know... That we started pretty... Badly. But I wanted us to get along. We're partners after all. Let's restart how we met, my name is Conan Stern, but I'd like you to call me Nines."

"But I already knew that..?" Gavin didn't follow, he was confused. His gaze fell upon the taller male and he sighed softly, glancing at him and locking eyes for a hot second.

"Just trust me, pretend you don't know who I am."

"Why would I get in the car with a stranger...?" Gavin asks, Nines hitting his forehead on the steering wheel. "Hey stop! You'll hurt yourself!"

"Just forget I said anything... God, I see what Connor meant..." He turns the wheel again and pulls into the parking lot. He parks and shuts the car off. "Another fun day at work." He beams sarcastically, sarcasm dripping from his voice alone. Gavin stared in awe at the man, surprised he could be so angry and yet happy all at once. He felt something in his stomach flutter and didn't understand what it was.