Chapter Text
Officer Ben Collins walks into the bathroom, eyes bleary with sleep. Maybe splashing some water on his face will help. He nods to Nines, the android hovering over one of the sinks with his arm in his stomach-
with his arm in his stomach?
”Uh,” Ben gasps, feeling himself pale. Nines’ shirt is undone, a big panel on his stomach open, and one of his hands is inside of it. The android hears him, raising his head to acknowledge him.
“Officer Collins, hello,” he greets calmly, gaze instantly returning to the panel.
”You have your hand in-your-guts,” Ben blurts, aghast.
Nines pauses, and this time he looks up much slower, LED flashing red. His eyes widen. “…Officer, I must apologize, I was distracted and not considering how this might look to a human - especially one not familiar with androids.”
“Right, yeah, yeah,” Ben stammers out, nodding rapidly. “What… you’re okay?”
The tone of his voice makes something in Nines’ eyes shift, and the android slowly removes his hand from his own innards. He drops something into the sink with a plink, plink. His fingers are stained blue. He raises his hands in a placating manner, turning to fully face the panicking officer. From here, Ben can see inside of him. It’s glowing blue, pulsing wires and bits and bobs he couldn’t name if his life depended on it. He knows the thirium pump regulator, at least, the circular biocomponent sitting above the open panel. That’s about as far as his android knowledge goes. That and what the colors of the LED mean.
“I was just performing a small repair, Officer,” Nines speaks softly, hands still raised away from his body. “Something wrong in my…” He pauses, considering, “…in what would equate to a stomach, in a human.”
Ben steps closer as he explains, locating the… container thingy sitting where a stomach would when Nines points to it. It’s tilted forward at a slight angle, open at the top. There’s thirium in it. Nines’ insides suddenly turn to yellow, along with the blinking light at his temple.
“…Please calm down, Officer Collins,” Nines pleads.
He didn’t really realize how much he was freaking out until now - no wonder the android has gone all soft-spoken with him. Ben takes a deep breath, nodding, and rests his hands on his hips as he exhales slowly. He feels better after a few more.
”What was wrong?” He asks after he’s caught his breath, now becoming aware of how his heart was racing and the slight ringing that still lingered in his ears. Whew.
At this, Nines’ expression changes. His jaw clenches, mouth thinning into a straight line. His cheeks go a bright blue, and directs his eyes to the floor. His face doesn’t emote as openly as Connor’s does, so this is the most emotion Ben’s ever seen on the younger android. He reaches a hand in his stomach and closes the lid on the container thingy, popping it back into place. The panel in his stomach clicks closed, projected skin sliding back in place over it, and he crosses his arms over his chest self-consciously.
”There was an item in the oral analytic processing cavity that didn’t belong there, and that my systems were unable to cycle,” he responds in a rush, eyes flicking towards the sink before settling on the floor again.
Ben follows the glance.
…There’s several coins in the sink. Pennies and dimes mostly, it looks like. Maybe a nickel or two. Dripping with thirium.
Nines straightens up as soon as he’s noticed them, looking downright pitiful. His eyes are practically begging for him not to mention it. But he’s curious.
”…So uh,” he starts, “those get in there the way I’m thinking they did?”
“Affirmative,” Nines responds mechanically.
”They’re all out now?” Ben can’t help the smile tugging on his lips. Now that his heart rate’s back to normal, the situation is amusing to him.
”Affirmative,” Nines repeats in a very slightly higher pitch.
Officer Collins steps up to a sink that doesn’t have blue-soaked coins in it, splashing water onto his face like he’d originally planned - although he’s definitely more awake now.
The android still stands there when he’s done, looking like a kicked puppy. For such a big, intimidating guy, he looks pretty small right now. Ben sighs, getting his attention.
“Hey, man, I’m not gonna tell anyone,” he shrugs casually. “Sometimes humans do that shit too.” Blue eyes meet his, eyes showing confusion. “Pica?”
Nines’ LED spins yellow, looking it up probably. His face smoothens back into his normal neutral, and he nods his head slowly.
”…The coins felt pleasant to chew on,” he admits in a near whisper, as if confessing to a horrendous crime.
”I bet,” Ben nods. “Probably be good not to uh, swallow anymore of ‘em, though?”
“Affir- yes.”
Officer Collins gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder, and leaves the bathroom. He hopes the android realizes his shirt is still open.