From Your Wires to Your Core

Girl Talk

Since Nines was taken care of, Gavin drove home and changed before calling Tina to find out where they were meeting. The bar she'd picked wasn't too far from the station. She'd likely changed clothes at the precinct and went there to make it easier to get home afterwards. She lived quite close to the bar and could walk back afterwards. It wasn't too far from Jimmy's Bar, where he knew Hank often stopped on the way home. This place was a little younger. A little trendier. A little brighter and more romantic.

Gavin grabbed a bottled beer and sat in a small booth facing the door. There were androids and humans mingling in pairs and groups around the bar. Most were wearing office attire, having just finished work. Tina turned up around fifteen minutes later, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt with her hair still pinned up in its messy bun. She tugged it loose as she sat in the booth, long ebony locks spilling down to her slim waist. Gavin immediately got to his feet to get her a vodka and coke. Her usual starting drink. He also got himself a whiskey. Tina fixed him with a look. She knew whiskey was his crisis drink. Any time he was stressed about work or his love life, he'd get blind drunk on the stuff.

"Is that a double?" Tina asked warily, wondering just how much shit Gavin had gotten himself into. Gavin shot her a defensive look as he sipped the amber liquid. "Oh, shit..." Looking at the level of the glass, she guessed it was a triple. Gavin hummed his agreement and waited. This is how they worked. He wasn't good at talking, and Tina knew that. She was the one who'd speak about it first.

She took her time, thoroughly examining him with sharp, dark eyes. He looked fucked. Beyond exhausted. He wasn't sleep deprived tired though, which was a vast improvement on a few days ago. He seemed to have settled somewhat since Nines' appeared. Nines had been a positive influence on his health. He was making sure he ate regularly, monitoring his caffeine intake, and somehow making sure he actually went to bed at night. She was aware of his injury and how that had affected his mood, but he'd gone missing the day before and something had clearly happened last night. Something that had made him jittery and nervous around Nines all day.

"You fucked." Gavin's dropping eyes and the shameful way he bit his lip gave him away. They'd fucked alright, but it wasn't that simple. She could see it in the way he was squeezing his glass and bouncing his leg. "Oh, shit! Are you catching feelings? For Nines?" she realised almost excitedly, watching as Gavin shifted his body to angle away from her as he raised his glass and took a gulp. Fucking bingo! Not that she hadn't expected it. She'd seen the chemistry the moment they'd been paired up.

Although he'd firmly denied it a few days ago, it had been obvious that Gavin had started crushing on him. It wasn't even a secret that Nines liked Gavin. He followed him around like a lovesick puppy, even though he looked more like a tiger with those ethereal eyes. He'd also done his fair share of eye-fucking, though she knew Nines wouldn't have understood it if anyone brought it up with him. She knew that wasn't the only thing that Gavin had to unpack.

"Let's start with yesterday. You disappeared somewhere and Nines was going fucking crazy, not to mention Connor and Anderson. What the hell happened there?" Tina asked, thinking this may be the easier topic to tackle. She began to doubt that assumption as Gavin downed what was left of his whiskey and pushed the glass across expectantly. "That bad, huh?" Tina mused as she got to her feet and headed up to the bar. She bought him another shot, but got it watered down so it would last longer.

Gavin took a breath while Tina was away, ordering his thoughts. He hadn't even thought about what to do about Elijah. Not that I need to do anything about him. I can either call him or not...That made him feel a little better. It took the pressure off somewhat. Along with Elijah came the conflicting feelings he had about his father. A man he'd never known. A man he'd never get to know. There was a sense of loss he hadn't expected, and a hint of bitterness. He took the glass Tina pushed across to him. He could already feel a lazy fuzz creeping into his head. Good! Fucked if I'd do this shit sober!