Okay, this would have fit way better back when this was initially prompted. Sorry for the delay! This was prompted by an awesome anon! O hope you still see this! Enjoy some single dad, Italian!Gavin!
Fandom: Detroit become human
Ship: Reed900
AU: Cole lived? Beach?
Warnings: None
‘Papà, I wanna go swim!’
Gavin opened his eyes, having just sunken into that state just short of sleep. ‘Really? We just got back…’
‘That was hours ago’, Matteo whined, and Gavin grinned, groaning mostly for effect as he sat up.
‘Alright, sure. Let me just get the- Is it okay if I stay at the side, Angelino? I really don’t want to wrap that plastic foil around my whole arm again.’
His son nodded enthusiastically and was already running towards the water. Gavin shook his head and followed, albeit a bit slower.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the sand soft beneath his feet. The sound of the wind and the waves hitting the beach was something he hadn’t even known he had missed and finally being able to spend more time with his son was a small blessing. He could almost thank the asshole that had decided to vent his anger about his bad life decisions on his arm. He had gotten the idiot in the end, but a complicated fracture of his arm had kept him from really doing anything in the field. So once he had finished with all the paperwork, he had decided it was finally time for a vacation.
As he watched Matteo play in the waves, he realised he should have done that a lot earlier already. But he had been very busy lately and what could he say, he loved his work. Even despite the danger and colleagues that didn’t like him. Still, this was nice, and he already dreaded the time their vacation would end.
Gavin wasn’t the only one watching someone though.
‘Hey, Richard, what’s up? It’s your turn.’
Richard’ head turned back to their picnic blanket and the cards on top of it. ‘I don’t understand. This game is purely based on statistics. You can exactly calculate the probability of the next card, especially knowing what was laid down before. It’s basic luck, there is no skill in this.’
‘It passes the time’, Hank grumbled and waited for him to continue. ‘Now make your move.’
‘If it just passes the time, a resource you have limited amounts of, maybe it isn’t worth playing at all.’
‘Jesus, I don’t believe this.’
‘Richard, just play your card, okay?’, Connor urged him with an awkward smile.
‘Go on vacation with two androids, they said’, Hank murmured. ‘It will be fun, they said.’
‘And that would be outdated memes’, Richard commented, putting down a card that would slightly increase his chances at winning.
‘Fine, Richard, what would you rather do then?’, Hank asked.
‘I don’t know.’
‘I know!’, Cole jumped in excitedly, already having discarded his deck. ‘I want Ice-cream!’
‘I’ll accompany you’, Richard immediately decided and laid down his cards.
‘And there goes our game…’, Hank sighed.
‘We can play a different one’, Connor suggested, and the man laughed.
‘Thanks Connor, but I know you hate card games, too.’
Getting away from the game was one reason to help Hank’s son get ice-cream. The other was that no one would notice him staring at a particular human at the beach. The man was standing at the shore, his son running back to him having played in the waves. The man was short, but well built as became obvious as the child jumped up and his father caught him in his arm. The other one was in a cast from the shoulder downwards. The man turned, spinning the boy around and laughing. Nines couldn’t help but notice his toned skin and balanced features.
‘Richard? You okay?’
He flinched. ‘Oh, yes, Cole, let’s get back to the others!’
By the time they were back, Matteo had had new ideas how to keep his dad busy. ‘Can we play volley-ball, Papà?’
‘Will be a bit difficult, don’t you think?’, Gavin chuckled and pointed to his side.
‘Frisbee then?’
‘You packed one?’
His son grinned from one ear to the next. ‘Always be prepared!’
It was difficult to catch the disk with his non-dominant hand, but his throw at least was okay. Still it landed off in the sand more often than he would have liked. He hoped for Matteo to grow tired soon, as his hand wasn’t used to being used this much. Instead it seemed he got even more enthusiastic seeing his dad run after the disk and struggle not to stumble when he sank too deep into the sand. Schadenfreude seemed to run in the family after all.
One very impressive throw unfortunately made the disk go far beyond Gavin’s reach and the wind helped to steer it directly towards a family sitting on a blanket. ‘Oh shit!’
Gavin tried to run after it, but it was already too late.
‘I’m very sorry, I didn’t think he could throw that far, I- Hank, Connor? The phck are you doing here?’
‘The fuck are you doing here?’
They stared at each other for a good while, before Gavin mumbled: ‘Vacation.’
‘Same.’
‘God phcking damnit! I have to choose the exact same spot to go on vacation where you guys are? What are the odds? Can I get back the frisbee then?’
‘Can I play with you?’, a child next to Hank asked.
‘Cole, please-‘
‘Yeah, why not?’, Gavin shrugged. His work colleagues were here. Okay, that wasn’t so bad. He would just keep his distance to them, no need to be rude to Hank’s child.
‘I have also never played this game before’, an android said that looked exactly like Connor.
‘Am I seeing doubles?’
‘No, my name is Richard. A RK900 unit. I live with the Andersons since my liberation from Cyberlife Tower.’
Gavin looked him up and down. Yes, the face was the same, but now that he stood up, Gavin noticed the android was a lot taller and broader, built like a tank. He swallowed. ‘Yeah, sure you can join us. Just… be careful with your strength…’
‘I will be.’
It had taken a while for Richard to learn how to play it properly. The first few times he had nearly thrown it into the sea, other innocent bystanders or even the promenade. But after a while he had found the right movements to do it properly and it was actually quite fun. Or he just enjoyed how the man – Gavin – ran after it. After a while though his energy seemed depleted, and he had to sit down on their own blanket. Richard was left with the children, but soon he left too and walked up to Gavin. ‘Can I join you?’
The man was a bit sceptical but allowed it.
‘Connor and Hank seem to enjoy a lot I don’t’, Richard explained. ‘You seemed like a nice person. You work with them, right?’
‘Yeah. Same precinct, but we don’t talk much. Never really made it work. You at the police too?’
‘No. I work at a pet shelter.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. I like animals. Care for them, play with them, get them to the vet and see that they find a good home. Gives me purpose, I think.’
Gavin watched the kids play, not knowing what to say with the android next to him. It didn’t help the bot was exactly his type.
‘That’s nice.’
‘Is he your kid?’
‘Yes. Matteo. His mother left us and thankfully I got custody having a stable job. Wouldn’t want him to stay with that bitch. Never had much luck with love.’
‘Wanna try again?’
Gavin blinked, not quite sure what he’d just heard and already feeling his face redden.
‘Please tell me that was your voicebox glitching and not a horrible, horrible attempt at a pickup-line and or flirting.’
‘Was it that horrible?’, Richard asked, and Gavin almost chuckled at the surprise in his voice.
‘Yeah. Too much on the nose. Don’t do that when you only knew the guy for’ he looked at his watch ‘for half an hour.’
‘I couldn’t keep my eyes off you for a lot longer.’
Gavin hid his tomato-red face in his hand and pressed out: ‘That doesn’t make it better.’
‘You are still sitting here, what makes it evident you are interested, are you not?’
‘Yes! No! Damn it, it’s my blanket.’
Richard cocked his head, not sure what had gone wrong. ‘What would be a not horrible attempt then?’
Gavin sighed and let his hand fall. ‘Are you free this evening? I know a nice restaurant around here.’
‘Is this an example or an offer?’
‘Both.’
