Chapter Text
“Whose idea was this?“
At Tina’s question, everyone turned to Connor who gave a friendly smile and a small wave. Then he went back to putting Sumo on a leash. Hank shrugged his shoulders as he swung the bag he had gotten from the trunk over his shoulder. Gavin was bickering with Nines because the android insisted on carrying all the bags himself. Chris was checking in with his wife and son at home. Tina looked back at her girlfriend in confusion.
Her girlfriend Valerie looked up and gave Tina a smile. “I think it’s a good idea. Camping and hiking are nice, especially with family or friends. And it’s so nice of you all to invite me to come along.”
“I just don’t get how Connor even came up with the idea to go camping.”
“We were watching Backcountry and Connor said that he’d love to go camping.” Gavin explained before looking back at Nines with a determined expression. “Let me at least carry something.”
“I can easily carry it all, Gavin.”
“Doesn’t mean you should!” Gavin exclaimed in frustration, throwing his hands in the air to show his disdain. “Just one of the bags?”
“Alright, but if it gets too heavy--”
“I think I’ll manage to carry one damn bag, Nines.”
“I just wanted to make sure you aren’t overdoing it.”
“Nines, we’ve been dating for over a year now and you still do this, no matter how many times I’ve told you that I can handle myself.”
Hank groaned at their bickering. “Be happy that he is nice enough to help, Kid.”
Tina chuckled before looking at Connor in amused confusion. “But how did that movie make you want to go camping? Isn’t that the movie where the guy gets mauled by a bear?”
“That is creepy.”
“See? My girlfriend agrees with me.”
Valerie chuckled softly and shook her head. “That’s not something negative. You know how much I love creepy things. I think I might even know the movie. Isn’t that the one where he takes out his toenail after he got hurt?”
“That’s the one.”
“Honestly, that scene was worse than the bear one.”
“Someone was mauled by a bear.” Tina insisted, looking at her girlfriend in confusion. “What the hell, Val?”
“I know that, Tina. But the toenail scene was harder to watch for me.”
“What the hell?”
“Honestly, I agree with Valerie on that one.” Gavin chimed in, crossing his arms over his chest. “I know the movie, too. The toenail scene was worse than the bear attack. Nines couldn’t even look at the screen.”
Nines jokingly rolled his eyes at that. “I am sorry for not enjoying someone taking off their own toenail and someone being mauled by a bear.”
Tina chuckled at Gavin’s story. “Who would have guessed that Terminator over there is scared of horror movies?”
“I am not.”
“You are.” Gavin teased, poking Nines’ side gently. “You always hide your face at my neck and won’t leave my side afterwards.”
Nines rolled his eyes affectionately. “Shut it, you meat bag.”
“You shut it, you tin can.”
“We’ll be fine, Tina.” Valerie interrupted Nines and Gavin to give her girlfriend a reassuring smile. “We’re on a camping trail, travelling toward a designated campsite and Chris’ wife, as well as your friends at the precinct and my parents, know where we are. They know where we are headed and what route we will take. There is no reason to worry.”
Tina visibly deflated at that. “I guess you’re right.”
“Come on, have some fun, Officer Uptight!”
Tina chuckled and squirmed away as her girlfriend started poking her side to make her laugh. “Alright, thanks for giving everyone a stupid nickname to use for me.”
Chris snorted a little. “Funny. I call Nines Officer Uptight sometimes.”
“Which I am not.” Nines pointed out which only made Chris laugh harder.
“Sure, Jan.”
“Who’s Jan?”
“Nevermind.”
“Really, Chris?” Hank chuckled and shook his head before clapping his hands once. “Alright, how about we get going? I’d like to make it to the campsite before it gets too dark, so we can set up our tents while it’s light.”
“Sure.” Connor smiled and locked the car, checking the handle to see if it was closed before turning to his friends. “Let’s go.”
The next few hours were spent walking up the hiking trails toward the first campsite they would stay at. Connor spent the most time talking about the sights they could visit while Hank nodded along, holding Sumo back from exploring every noise he heard. Tina and Valerie kept talking to Chris. Gavin kept complaining about nature while Nines just smirked at his complaints. Just two hours before the sun would set they made it to the first campsite. No one else was there but none of them really cared because that only meant that they’d have the campsite to themself. After setting up their tents, Connor pulled out a map and gathered everyone around.
“There’s a really pretty waterfall nearby. We should check it out.”
Valerie looked up in interest, turning to Tina. “We could go swimming! Let’s do that.”
Connor grinned, happy to have someone as excited as he was. The two of them kept planning their trip to the waterfall while Chris, Tina and Hank joine din. Gavin leaned over Chris’ shoulder to look at the map, rubbing his face gently. Looking at him in worry, Nines placed a hand on his back.
“Are you alright?”
“Just a little exhausted.” Gavin said before smiling. “Let’s go swimming.”
“I think it’s a good idea.”
“Sumo likes swimming, too.” Hank said and looked at Chris. “What do you say? Do you want to go swimming?”
“Sure. But you guys go ahead. I gotta call my wife and check in on her and Damien.” Chris smiled and nodded toward the trail. “I’ll be with you in ten minutes.”
“Do you know where the waterfall is?” Nines asked softly, grabbing the map from where Connor had put it to help his friend. He and Chris had gotten close in the past few weeks and Nines was very happy about that. “It’s basically just down the path over there and then you should already see it. And if you see the waterfall, you will most likely see us, too.”
“Thanks, Rich.”
Nines was taken aback by Chris suddenly bestowing a new nickname on him but he smiled nonetheless. Gavin saw his boyfriend smiling about the nickname and felt almost overwhelmed by the rush of affection he felt for him at that moment, as he saw him so surprised by his friend referring to him by a name that wasn’t his CyberLIfe assigned name or the one he usually went by. But Chris didn’t seem to have noticed and he just waved at them before grabbing his phone.
“I’ll see you at the waterfall!”
---
“Do you think I could jump down the waterfall and survive?”
“Gavin, please don’t.”
Hank looked back and forth between Nines and Gavin. “I have to agree with Nines, Kid. Jumping down the waterfall sounds pretty dangerous and stupid.”
“And you think I’m above doing something stupid?”
“No, I don’t think so, but I hoped so.”
Connor made a face and shook his head. “Why is jumping down a waterfall your first instinct upon seeing one?”
“Well, that’s Gavin for you.” Tina chuckled before turning to her girlfriend. “Okay, Valerie and I are going to change behind a bush or something. And I swear if anyone peaks at us, I will punch them, okay?”
Connor quickly held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. “I would never.”
“I can assure you, I have no interest in either of you.” Nines said before nodding toward his boyfriend. “I am quite happy with Gavin.”
Gavin chuckled but felt his face heat up, especially as Nines put an arm around him. He cleared his throat and tried to laugh his bashful feelings off. “I prefer Nines’ dick.”
Hank groaned in annoyance. “Why are you like this?”
“I have a lot of issues.” Gavin shrugged with a grin before looking at Tina and Valerie. “Go change. We’ll wait here.”
Connor smiled and looked at Hank. “Do you want me to watch Sumo while you go and change?”
“That’d be great, son.” Hank nodded and handed the leash to Connor. “I will take the leash off when I’m back. I don’t want him to just jump into the water.”
“You think Sumo would stoop as low as Gavin?”
“Shut it, tin can.” Gavin laughed and shoved Connor a bit before looking back at his partner. “Nines, do you need to change?”
“No, Connor told me about the waterfall beforehand so in the hopes that we’d go here I put on swimming trunks underneath my pants before we set out earlier today.”
“As did I.” Connor said. “You go and change. We will wait here with Sumo.”
“You two do that.”
Gavin grabbed his bag and went to change behind a tree. He took great care not to get too close to Tina and Valerie, opting to go a bit deeper into the undergrowth instead. While changing he looked out for Chris but didn’t see him so far, so he assumed he was still on the phone. After putting on his swimming trunks and stuffing his clothes back into his bag he met up with Connor and Nines again who were now dressed in swimwear, as well. At Gavin’s whistling, Nines turned around, acting annoyed but blushing furiously.
“Stop that, Gavin.”
“As if you’re not flattered, Sweetheart.” Gavin said charmingly, closing in on Nines and putting his hands on his chest, leaning up to peck him on the lips.
“Of course, I am, Love.” Nines chuckled and wrapped an arm around the other man. “But please save it for later.”
“In a tent?” Gavin grinned, pressing up against Nines. “Are we living out our Brokeback Mountain fantasies out here?”
“If I hear you two banging in your tent, I’m going to pour lake water on you.”
They turned to find Tina coming out of the undergrowth, dressed in a bikini and followed by Valerie who was still tightening the straps of her bathing suit. The latter of them grinned in amusement as she looked at Gavin.
“Please tell me that the tent scene from Brokeback Mountain was not that sexy to you. I mean going in dry like that can’t be too pleasant.”
Hank’s groan made them all turn to the man as he approached. “You are all terrible, you know that? I emerge from the woods to hear that conversation.”
Connor looked up at him. “What did I do?”
“Apart from you, Son.” Hank ruffled his hair with a small chuckle. “Even though you can be pretty terrible at times, too.”
Connor gave him a playful scowl at that and Hank chuckled, wrapping an arm around him and taking Sumo’s leash. “But you’re my favourite kind of terrible.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Alright, do you guys want to go inside?” Gavin asked and leaned over to look down the waterfall. “Let’s go.”
Tina shook her head at that. “We should wait for Chris.”
“I’m sure you can go inside already, Gavin.” Valerie offered with a small smile. “And then tell us how cold it is. Good plan, right?”
“Don’t be a wuss.” Gavin snorted and smirked at his friend’s girlfriend. “It’s probably not even that cold.”
“I am not a wuss. I just get cold easily.” Valerie huffed before a grin spread on her face. “Fine, if it’s not that cold, you jump in.”
Nines looked up at that. “I must advise against it. We don’t know how cold it is and the human body can go into shock at the sudden drop in temperature and he could get into serious danger.”
Valerie was just about to take back her dare when Gavin took a few steps back and then ran toward the edge of the cliff, leaping off and jumping over. Nines screamed out Gavin’s name in shock as he ran to the edge to look over it, just in time to see the other man submerge under the water. Valerie squeaked in terror and followed suit, stopping just in time to not tumble over in her frenzy.
“Oh, no!” She screeched, grabbing onto Nines’s shoulder in shock. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. It was supposed to be a joke.”
Tina put a hand to her shoulder in the hopes of calming her down. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine -- even though he can never turn down a damn dare, it seems.”
“Where is he?” Nines asked in shock, sheer panic seeping into his voice. “He is not resurfacing!”
He called out Gavin’s name a few times, each time getting more and more terrified until after half a minute, the detective resurfaced, grinning up at them and gasping for air. Nines breathed in relief, his whole body sagging with relief while Tina began laughing at her friend.
“You’re such a dumbass, Gav.”
“Is it cold?” Valerie asked teasingly, seeming much more relaxed now that she knew Gavin was fine. “Is it?”
Gavin shook his head, willing his teeth to stop chattering. “Not at all!”
“Are you insane?” Nines glared down at him, leaning over the edge of the small waterfall. “Do you know what can happen to the human body when you suddenly jumped into water that is too cold?”
“Good thing that it’s not too cold then.”
“Your luck.”
“Don’t be angry at me, Nines.” Gavin chuckled, swimming back to the shore and getting out of the water, looking up at Nines. “Come on, Sweetheart.”
Nines was still glaring at him, arms crossed and brows furrowed but Gavin noticed that his actions might have actually worried the android more than he let on. His boyfriend actually looked much more concerned than angry now that he took a closer look at him. So he quickly climbed back up the small cliff and within another half minute he was a Nines’ side, kneeling on the ground next to him. He tried to kiss him on the cheek but Nines turned his face away so Gavin opted for pecking his shoulder gently, wrapping his arms around him.
“Don’t be angry at me, Sweetheart.”
“Do you know how terrified I was when you didn’t resurface immediately?”
Gavin began to smooth back Nines’ hair, pressing another soft kiss to his shoulder. “Well, the water down there is deep and it took me a few seconds to get back to the surface.”
Connor raised an eyebrow, looking down at the two of them. “Good thing the water was that deep, given that you just jumped in without a second thought. Had it not been that deep you could have been seriously injured.”
“Exactly!” Nines exclaimed in the same fearful voice that he had been calling out Gavin’s name a few minutes ago, now finally looking back at his boyfriend. “Do you ever think anything through?”
Now that Nines was looking at his, Gavin reached out to cradle his face in his hands and press a soft kiss to his lips. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Gavin pulled back, leaning his forehead against his boyfriend’s and lowering his voice.
“I’m sorry, Sweetheart. But I’m fine and I didn’t get injured, alright? You can see that I’m fine and you can feel that I’m here so please stop worrying.”
“I will never stop worrying for you, Gavin. I love you.” Nines said in a low voice. “I care about you and I don’t want anything to happen to you. Please, be more careful.”
“I will.”
Hank decided to change the subject and took Sumo by the leash, gently leading the dog down toward the water. Once there he let him off the leash and waited into the water himself, calling out for everyone to follow him. Connor followed his example and climbed down the cliff before making his way toward his father in the water. Tina grabbed Valerie by the hand and pulled her along. Nines got back to his feet and held out a hand to Gavin who took it before following his boyfriend into the water. They spent the next five minutes trying to get used to the water’s temperature and carefully exploring the depths of the lake until Nines spoke up, looking up at the forest and toward the trail they had come from.
“Shouldn’t Chris be here by now?”
“Yes.” Connor nodded, now looking up at the forest, too. “He said he would quickly check in on his family and then follow us.”
“Maybe they held him up.” Tina offered as an explanation before going back to splashing water up into the air so that Sumo could try to catch it. “He’ll be fine. His wife is very talkative.”
“That’s likely.” Connor concluded and then started splashing up water for Sumo, as well. “If he’s not with us within the next ten minutes we’ll go looking for him. But I assume he just got help up.”
“Or maybe it was the Dogman.”
Valerie perked up at Hank’s answer and the low, spooky tone he’d said it in, an excited look on her face. “Like the cryptid?”
“Exactly.”
“What is the dogman?” Tina snorted, giving Hank a grin. “Was that your nickname in the Academy?”
“Very funny, Chen.” Hank chuckled and shook his head. “Have you never heard of the Michigan Dogman?”
Connor’s LED flickered to yellow before he started to recount a definition for it he had found online. “In Michigan folklore, the Michigan Dogman was allegedly witnessed in 1887 in Wexford County. The creature is described as a seven-foot-tall, blue-eyed, or amber-eyed bipedal canine-like animal with the torso of a man and a fearsome howl that sounds like a human scream. Sightings have been reported in several locations throughout Michigan, primarily in the northwestern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula.”
“Was that Wikipedia.”
“Yes.” Connor nodded at Tina, a small smile on his lips as he shrugged. “It was the first result I found.”
“That sounds creepy.”
“It does.” Nines looked at Hank, eyebrows furrowing. “Do you believe in that story, Dad?”
“Sure, why not?” Hank shrugged. “Why should all these people lie? And given how vast Michigan’s woodlands can be, there might be a chance that something like the Dogman is living in them and we just haven’t found him, yet. Maybe the Dogman is even around here somewhere. I mean we’re not close to any major cities since we drove for hours to get here.”
“That’s actually creepy.”
Valrie chuckled at Tina’s words and kissed her cheek, giving Hank a joking glare. “Don’t you scare my girlfriend.”
“I’m not scared. I’m a police officer.”
“Not scared of criminals doesn’t mean not scared of cryptids, ghosts and monsters.” Valerie grinned before embracing her girlfriend. “But don’t worry I’ll protect you from the Dogman.”
Nines looked back at Gavin. “Do you believe in that story?”
“Why?” Gavin asked, looking up at Nines with a smirk. “You scared?”
“Definitely not.”
“Are you not scared, Valerie?” Connor asked in interest, giving the woman a small smile. “We’re in the middle of the woods, after all.”
“Not really. I grew up in a village surrounded by a huge forest in North-Western Germany. If any creepy creatures are living in the forests of this world, they would have found me by now.”
“A village?” Gavin chuckled. “Were you living the lesbian cottage core dream?”
“Well, not really. For starters, I’m bisexual and not a lesbian, so if anything it would be the woman-loving woman cottage core dream.” Valeria chuckled. “And besides that, German villages aren’t all farms and town squares. The one I grew up in was more akin to a small town than a little village. There are supermarkets, bookstores, restaurants and so much more around.”
“So you didn’t get up every morning to milk cows and collect eggs?”
“Not me. But there were farmers and people who had chickens or cows in my village. My childhood best friend lived on a farm.”
“Then I guess you’re used to all the creepy things that happen in and near forested areas.” Gavin said with a small chuckle. “Good thing you weren’t snatched up by a European bigfoot or anything like that when you were a child.”
“I’m glad about that, too.”
Tina smiled at Valerie recounting parts of her childhood before she looked at her waterproof watch and sighed softly. “What about Chris?”
“Hank’s been telling you.” Gavin joked. “It’s the Dogman.”
The cracking of the undergrowth startled everyone and they all looked up toward the treeline. The bushes moved and sticks cracked underneath someone’s weight as whoever was approaching came closer. Nines’s grabbed Gavin’s hand out of reflex and the man drew him back a little, eyes wide as he stared at the forest. Hank looked pretty unfazed and Valerie looked intrigued even while started Sumo growling before he retreated behind Connor and Tina.
“It’s the Dogman.” Hank said in a spooky voice, grinning at Nines wincing and Tina nearly jumping out of her skin. “The Dogman is coming.”
“Real nice calling me a dogman!”
“Chris!”
The man in question came out of the forest and made his way down to the water. Everyone visibly relaxed and Tina approached her fried, relief on her face.
“We were worried about you because you took so long.”
“Yeah, I got caught up on the phone. My wife asked me to talk to Damien a little bit and I had to do so, of course.” He explained before holding up his bag. “And you guys all forgot sunscreen to put on sunscreen so I brought mine.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Gavin teased.
Hank smiled a little and motioned for Chris to come closer. “Come into the water.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!”