#My great-grandfather had pigeons and the only photo that made it through the war and out of eastern germany is of the pigeon house | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fandom-necromancer · 3 years

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Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder

This was prompted by a wonderful anon! I hope you enjoy! Also big thanks to @headfulloffantasy for giving me the idea to make this about birds!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 [Part2] [Part3]

It was one of the first sunny days of spring and after being holed up in the house the entire winter, Gavin enjoyed sitting on the perch of their house. The sun had just risen, and it was still cold, but as soon as the first light would hit them, he knew he wouldn’t need his jacket anymore. He smiled as he heard footsteps and a cup of coffee entered his field of vision. He smiled as he looked up in the android’s face and scooted to the side a bit to make room for Nines to join him on the bench. ‘You are a life saver’, Gavin moaned, taking the first sip of his coffee. ‘Pretty sure indulging your caffeine addiction does the exact opposite’, Nines commented. ‘Take the damn compliment.’

They watched the sun rise over their neighbour’s houses and Gavin had to blink as it finally hit his eyes. He had never thought to leave his shitty apartment and definitely never had thought to move into some suburban neighbourhood with orderly lawns and driveways that looked the same with every house. All thanks to the massive departure of people getting to safety during the revolution. He doubted he could afford such a house otherwise, even when they were both working for it. Still he was glad. He leaned back, enjoying the view – Nines next to him more so than the other houses. He smiled as the android seemed fixed on a specific point. He knew from how his brows furrowed, he would soon share his discovery with him.

‘Look, there is a nest over there. A bird’s nest.’ Gavin followed his finger and indeed saw a small nest sitting on a second storey windowsill of the house. ‘Yeah, isn’t that one abandoned? Water damage I think the saleslady told us.’ Nines nodded, and Gavin shrugged. ‘Well, at least it’s undisturbed then.’ ‘As long as they don’t decide to demolish it’, the android mumbled. ‘Yeah, but who knows. The company probably still struggling with the fact they need to pay their working androids now. Could take months. When they start, the birds will be long gone.’ ‘I hope so’, Nines said and stood up. ‘I’ll go check in with Connor. He wanted to talk with me about a case, best to get it out of the way so we can enjoy our free day.’ ‘Do that, I’ll sit here and do nothing as I do best.’ Nines smiled at him and pressed a kiss on his forehead. ‘We both know that’s a lie.’

It was evening about two weeks later and the sky looked like it would start to rain any moment as Nines drove home from a crime-scene he had been called to. He was ready to go straight to bed and enter stasis with his human next to him. Instead he frowned as he found the street partly obstructed by construction fences and machinery. He drove past, watching humans and androids walk about, holding tablets and preparing everything to demolish the building. He was surprised it had happened so quickly, but he guessed some bureaucracy could solve itself quite fast if humans were embarrassed about their past actions. He was about to drive past and park the car as usually when his HUD highlighted something in the second storey. The nest was still there, the brooding bird nowhere to be seen. Likely abandoning the eggs due to the sudden activity and noise. It was something that happened every day, he shouldn’t care about something like that. But… But he did care. He had a soft spot for animals, he wasn’t gonna lie about it. All living things held an absurd fascination for him, a being of metal and plastic. So, he parked the car on the pathway and stepped out, approaching the construction workers.

‘Hello. Are you aware there is a bird nest on the windowsill?’, he asked someone standing in front of a foldable table that looked important. The man turned around and looked him up and down. ‘And?’ ‘Are you going to demolish a building with it still in place?’ ‘It’s just pigeons. Little pests are everywhere.’ Nines stared at him highly doubting he had understood him correctly. He thought about starting to argue with him, but decided it would be wasted time anyways, so he just bolted for the house. A perfectly preconstructed jump against the pillars supporting the roof over the porch followed by another push in the right direction brought him up to the second story windowsill, where he held onto the rim and a drainage pipe before carefully lifting up the nest with three intact eggs. Only then he allowed himself to exit preconstruction mode and slid down the pipe to the ground.

Disregarding the construction workers, he held the nest in his hands like the most fragile treasure and walked back to their home. He rung the bell with his elbow and hoped Gavin wouldn’t be too angry. ‘Hey Nines! Long day? How- what the phck?’ ‘I couldn’t let them be destroyed’, Nines stated and pushed past him before Gavin could say anything. ‘Yeah, okay, but…’ The man closed the door and followed Nines to the kitchen table where he carefully put down the nest. ‘But what are you going to do with them now? I know jack shit about birds. I always had cats, birds were a no go most of the time. What kind of bird is it even?’ ‘Pigeon’, Nines answered, holding his hands over the nest and heating them up. Who knows how long the mother had been gone already. ‘Seriously? You rescued some pigeon eggs?’ ‘Yes. They deserve to live like any other being.’ Nines looked up at Gavin, challenging him to say anything different. ‘I- well… Aren’t they carriers for diseases?’ ‘A myth. Very little diseases the could carry are affecting humans.’ ‘Okay, but they shit everywhere.’ ‘All birds do.’ ‘Phck, Nines, I’m not raising wild animals in our house!’ ‘City pigeons aren’t wild animals. They are leftover pets you didn’t want anymore. And don’t worry, you won’t be raising them. I am!’ With that Nines stood up, the nest still in his hands and left to a secluded corner in their living room where he set up an improvised heating via an old hot-water bottle. He didn’t care that Gavin likely was still staring at him, thinking of new arguments, but he was done. He had made his decision when driving by and he would stand up for it.

That night he didn’t enter stasis, as planned, but sat with the eggs, watching over them.

He still sat there watching over them the next day, when Gavin came down from their bedroom. He made himself coffee and looked at Nines completely invested. He sighed. He still couldn’t understand why it was so important for the android, but it was. He felt a bit bad about how he had reacted. He still didn’t think this was a good idea, but who knew if the eggs were even fertilized. If anything he didn’t want their argument from the day before to linger. So when he drove off to work, leaving the android behind, he had a plan how to make it up to him.

‘Nines, I’m home!’ He pulled the key out of the lock and struggled to close the door with the huge box in his arms. He didn’t get an answer, but found Nines in his corner like before, exchanging the hot-water bottle. He sighed shaking his head and toed off his shoes before walking towards him. ‘Hey, tin-can, you set up all this stuff and I’ll get the coffee table.’ He basically dropped the box in his lap and walked off. The android frowned and opened the box. ‘Gavin, what is this?’ ‘Everything the clerk from the pet-store said you needed to hatch birds. Incubator, lamp, food and litter.’ ‘Why did you get all this?’ ‘Listen, I’m still not convinced of this. I don’t want some featherbrains flapping around the house shitting everywhere. And you won’t see me anywhere near the eggs. But it’s important to you, so I got you the stuff you need.’ Nines looked down on the box, then back up to Gavin, who was already pulling the table over. ‘Thank you.’ ‘Don’t stress it.’

A few hours later the incubator sat neatly on the coffee table in the corner, eggs placed inside and heated to the perfect temperature. Nines and Gavin sat in front of it and looked through the glass. ‘Do you know if they are even fertilized?’ ‘Two are’, Nines answered. ‘And quite far in development, too. They could still die; I don’t know how long they’ve been sitting in the cold.’ ‘I really don’t know a thing about pigeons’, Gavin sighed. ‘They are very intelligent’, Nines said softly. ‘They can pass the mirror test and distinguish different humans. They are outstanding at navigation and mate for life. Also, both parents equally care for their young.’ Gavin huffed. ‘Well, they will have to do with a single dad I guess.’ ‘Why don’t you like them?’ ‘I don’t know. I just never thought about it, I guess. Likely would phck it up.’ Nines smirked and laid an arm around Gavin, pulling him close. ‘I think you already did a great job.’

‘Gavin! Gavin, I need your help.’ Gavin blinked his eyes open and cursed. He was sleeping on the couch for quite a while now since Nines was sitting next to the incubator night and day. ‘What is it?’, he asked sleepily. ‘Fowler just called, I have to go.’ ‘I thought you were on vacation?’ ‘New lead to a cold case, I have to go. But if they are quick, the eggs could hatch today already! I don’t think so, but it is possible, and I can’t watch over them! I-‘ ‘Yeah, yeah!’ Gavin sat up, holding his head. ‘Go, I’ll watch over the stupid eggs.’ ‘Thank you, I’ll hurry!’ Gavin looked after the android that basically ran out of the house, then turned towards the incubator, throwing back his blanket to drape it over his shoulders instead. ‘Sorry, need coffee first.’

He made himself a cup and walked back to the incubator. The eggs still laid there completely motionless. ‘Well, nothing’s changed so far. Maybe you’re not even alive. At least that would solve my problems, hmm?’ Although the next thought was Nines’ reaction to that. All that work for nothing. He wanted to see his husband happy, that was a large part of his motivation in life now. Well, he couldn’t do much else than sitting there watching them and drinking his coffee. ‘Hope you like metal’, he mumbled, switching on his radio to let the time pass quicker. An hour later he was lost in his phone playing stupid games and reading the news. His stomach demanded for instant noodles after another hour and he caved in.

As he came back, he almost didn’t recognise the change. Only as an egg moved, he looked up and saw the cracks. ‘Oh, you gotta be kidding me! Your damn father isn’t home yet!’ He put the bowl down untouched and scooted closer. The cracks centred around a patch of shell that was soon lifted up. A beak became visible as the cracks widened and spread, slowly circling around its breadth. Gavin stared in fascination at the pink flashing between the shells, moving and breathing. There was something alive in there.

Only when the shell was being pushed open, he thought to grab his phone and call Nines. ‘Yes?’, came the immediate answer. ‘What’s happening? Are they-‘ ‘Yes’, Gavin answered. ‘Yes, they are hatching. One is getting out of the egg. The other one is moving.’ ‘I’ll come home immediately!’ Gavin smiled without noticing. ‘Congrats, Nines. Guess you are a dad now.’ ‘As are you’, the android answered before hastily ending the call.

Nines was sure to break some speed regulations, but he didn’t care. Of course, he had to miss the eggs hatching. He had had a feeling this would happen from the very beginning. At least Gavin was there. But he hadn’t been on board raising these baby pigeons from the beginning. What if… No, he would care for them surely. Still Nines didn’t put any effort in parking neatly, jumping out as soon as the engine was killed, and the break pulled. He unlocked the door and ran in, searching in panic for a while as the chair in front of the incubator was deserted.

He found Gavin sitting on the couch then, holding a blanket with the hot-water bottle underneath in his lap and smiling as he kept his hands on two tiny baby pigeons. ‘Look at our two bastard children’, Gavin cooed lovingly and Nines carefully sat down next to him. ‘They are beautiful’, Nines nodded. ‘No they are not’, Gavin chuckled, gently petting one of them with a finger, the grey-yellowish hairs not even close to covering the tiny fleshy body with overly big eyes.

‘But I love them.’

[>next part]

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #Okay that was super self-indulgent #my favourite animals are pigeons cats donkeys horses and orca #and pigeons are kinda my special interest because it's just sad how they are treated #My great-grandfather had pigeons and the only photo that made it through the war and out of eastern germany is of the pigeon house #from him at least so there's that #so yeah maybe not what was expected but I had my fun #I can write you a cute story about kittens or doggos too I just thought to take my chance because when will I ever be allowed to choose XD #so hit me up if you wanted something else anon!

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