Michael wasn't the most agile person, often tripping over his own feet if he wasn't focused. And ever since Nick started travelling with the him, Michael had been tripped a whole lot more. It was certain that everyone knew about the Sole Survivor's and Nick's feelings for each other, save for the aforementioned duo. Michael wasn't very good at being subtle, then again Nick could be fairly oblivious, for a detective.
Michael had considered that maybe Nick wasn't oblivious, he was just blatantly choosing to believe. The synth detective often talked poorly about himself, convinced that no one would ever bother with someone like him. Michael, however, wanted nothing more than to make those fears and insecurities disappear. He'd always thought that Nick was attractive, and not only in his looks but in his personality.
He loved so much everything about Nick. He could spend hours listing off everything he loved, though he thought maybe everyone would become bored of him quickly. He was relieved to be travelling with someone that would so considerate of everyone else's feelings. That and his sass? Michael always had a hard time containing snickers whenever he shoved bigotry right back at who ever deserved it.
Then again, Nick didn't smile a lot; maybe that was due to original Nick's memories. Both Nicks went through trauma and Michael was amazed that he could smile as much as he did. But when he did smile? Oh it was beautiful and made Michael's stomach flutter. And it made Michael ecstatic to know that he was usually the cause.
An example would be just the other day, they'd been sneaking around in an empty Raider hide out, not that they knew it was empty at the time. So, of course, who wouldn't sneak around? Then again, Michael being Michael, became rather flustered and distracted when Nick came too close, murmuring something in his ear about vigilance.
Two seconds later and Michael tripped over a box, onto a stack of boxes, toppling everything, creative a domino effect. Nick whipped around, paused, tried very hard suppress a laugh, before just bursting out in a fit of laughter. Michael, too, ended up laughing after a minute.
Michael thought about that time a lot. Like, a lot. As in, two minutes ago, causing him to trip over his own feet. nick had tried to catch him, usually being good about that, but he was too far away to reach.
"You okay?" the synth inquired worriedly, kneeling down to help Michael up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm cool," Michael responded quickly, though tears were pricking his emerald eyes. Nick paused, before looking over his companion carefully. "Quite the wound," he murmured gently. "Let's get you over here for a minute and I'll patch you up."
"Ah, th-thank you," Michael murmured, carefully moving himself over to a near by fallen log on the side of the road.
Honestly? Michael had been through much, much worse. He'd been shot, stabbed, blown up and drugged and nothing had really fazed him. It was the smaller wounds that bothered him more than anything. He always complained that they stung. "There's some rocks in the wounds, Michael... I'm going to need to take them out if you want your wounds to heal correctly," Nick murmured quietly.
"So long as you're the one to do it, I know you'll be gentle."
Nick paused, glancing up for a moment to see Michael with a small smirk on his face, though tears were still pricking his eyes. Playfully rolling his amber eyes, he sifted through the pack Michael was pretty much never without. So many useless things in here. Hairbrushes, teddy bears (Michael had an entire room simply full of teddy bears), and coffee cups. People thought that Michael had a lot of teddy bears? They hadn't seen his cup collection. And not just coffee cups, any sort of cup. Nick thought it was absolutely adorable and loved seeing Michael's eyes light up whenever Nick handed him a cup he'd found. "One rock down," the synth murmured after he'd carefully set his fingers aflame in order to decontaminate them.
Michael had his hands covered his face the entire time that the detective removed the rocks in his knee and his hand. "Are you doing okay?" Nick murmured quietly.
"Yeah..."
"You sure? You're face is quite flushed."
"That's just because you're so gentle with me," he murmured a little bit suddenly, causing them both to pause.
"Of course I'm gentle with you, I... care about you," Nick spoke carefully, looking up at the redhead.
"I... care about you, too. A lot. I... can't thank you enough for putting up with me all the time," Michael laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head while Nick wrapped up the survivor's leg and hand. "I mean, I know I can be a total pain, especially when it comes to tripping over literally everything and jeez I know it can be super annoying when I accidentally alert the enemy and I know, I know, I do it all the time and it's so-"
"Michael..." Nick interrupted him gently, smiling lightly. "You know I don't think you're annoying in any way. I mean, compared to Hancock, you're an angel," he teased.
"Aw, thanks," he responded, sticking a tongue out at him.
"I'm serious though, Michael," he murmured after a moment. "There's no where else I'd rather be than with you, even if you do get us into trouble sometimes."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're being pretty sappy. I thought only Preston did that," Michael laughed.
Nick just shrugged and started to stand, though stopped when Michael placed his hands on the synth's shoulders.
"I'm serious, too, Nick..." Michael reassured him, offering a sincere smile. "You're very important to me and I enjoy your company most of all."
They were both silent for a few moments. No quips, no teasing. Just silence. Not an awkward one, either. It was comfortable and content and Michael wouldn't mind staying like this for hours. The survivor gently moved his hands from Nick's shoulders to his cheeks. He'd always wanted to do this. The detective's face felt softer than he'd expected and he didn't realize his smile softened. "I'm pretty good at reading situations, but don't blame me if I misread this," the detective mumbled, reaching up and tentatively cupping Michael's cheek with his skeletal hand, his fleshy hand resting on the other man's waist.
Michael really didn't have a chance to respond before Nick moved forward, pressing his lips to Michael's. Nick's lips were also softer than Michael would have thought and it was certainly different from kissing a human, but boy he didn't care. This is exactly where he wanted to be and he could tell that Nick felt the same way.
Michael had considered that maybe Nick wasn't oblivious, he was just blatantly choosing to believe. The synth detective often talked poorly about himself, convinced that no one would ever bother with someone like him. Michael, however, wanted nothing more than to make those fears and insecurities disappear. He'd always thought that Nick was attractive, and not only in his looks but in his personality.
He loved so much everything about Nick. He could spend hours listing off everything he loved, though he thought maybe everyone would become bored of him quickly. He was relieved to be travelling with someone that would so considerate of everyone else's feelings. That and his sass? Michael always had a hard time containing snickers whenever he shoved bigotry right back at who ever deserved it.
Then again, Nick didn't smile a lot; maybe that was due to original Nick's memories. Both Nicks went through trauma and Michael was amazed that he could smile as much as he did. But when he did smile? Oh it was beautiful and made Michael's stomach flutter. And it made Michael ecstatic to know that he was usually the cause.
An example would be just the other day, they'd been sneaking around in an empty Raider hide out, not that they knew it was empty at the time. So, of course, who wouldn't sneak around? Then again, Michael being Michael, became rather flustered and distracted when Nick came too close, murmuring something in his ear about vigilance.
Two seconds later and Michael tripped over a box, onto a stack of boxes, toppling everything, creative a domino effect. Nick whipped around, paused, tried very hard suppress a laugh, before just bursting out in a fit of laughter. Michael, too, ended up laughing after a minute.
Michael thought about that time a lot. Like, a lot. As in, two minutes ago, causing him to trip over his own feet. nick had tried to catch him, usually being good about that, but he was too far away to reach.
"You okay?" the synth inquired worriedly, kneeling down to help Michael up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm cool," Michael responded quickly, though tears were pricking his emerald eyes. Nick paused, before looking over his companion carefully. "Quite the wound," he murmured gently. "Let's get you over here for a minute and I'll patch you up."
"Ah, th-thank you," Michael murmured, carefully moving himself over to a near by fallen log on the side of the road.
Honestly? Michael had been through much, much worse. He'd been shot, stabbed, blown up and drugged and nothing had really fazed him. It was the smaller wounds that bothered him more than anything. He always complained that they stung. "There's some rocks in the wounds, Michael... I'm going to need to take them out if you want your wounds to heal correctly," Nick murmured quietly.
"So long as you're the one to do it, I know you'll be gentle."
Nick paused, glancing up for a moment to see Michael with a small smirk on his face, though tears were still pricking his eyes. Playfully rolling his amber eyes, he sifted through the pack Michael was pretty much never without. So many useless things in here. Hairbrushes, teddy bears (Michael had an entire room simply full of teddy bears), and coffee cups. People thought that Michael had a lot of teddy bears? They hadn't seen his cup collection. And not just coffee cups, any sort of cup. Nick thought it was absolutely adorable and loved seeing Michael's eyes light up whenever Nick handed him a cup he'd found. "One rock down," the synth murmured after he'd carefully set his fingers aflame in order to decontaminate them.
Michael had his hands covered his face the entire time that the detective removed the rocks in his knee and his hand. "Are you doing okay?" Nick murmured quietly.
"Yeah..."
"You sure? You're face is quite flushed."
"That's just because you're so gentle with me," he murmured a little bit suddenly, causing them both to pause.
"Of course I'm gentle with you, I... care about you," Nick spoke carefully, looking up at the redhead.
"I... care about you, too. A lot. I... can't thank you enough for putting up with me all the time," Michael laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head while Nick wrapped up the survivor's leg and hand. "I mean, I know I can be a total pain, especially when it comes to tripping over literally everything and jeez I know it can be super annoying when I accidentally alert the enemy and I know, I know, I do it all the time and it's so-"
"Michael..." Nick interrupted him gently, smiling lightly. "You know I don't think you're annoying in any way. I mean, compared to Hancock, you're an angel," he teased.
"Aw, thanks," he responded, sticking a tongue out at him.
"I'm serious though, Michael," he murmured after a moment. "There's no where else I'd rather be than with you, even if you do get us into trouble sometimes."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're being pretty sappy. I thought only Preston did that," Michael laughed.
Nick just shrugged and started to stand, though stopped when Michael placed his hands on the synth's shoulders.
"I'm serious, too, Nick..." Michael reassured him, offering a sincere smile. "You're very important to me and I enjoy your company most of all."
They were both silent for a few moments. No quips, no teasing. Just silence. Not an awkward one, either. It was comfortable and content and Michael wouldn't mind staying like this for hours. The survivor gently moved his hands from Nick's shoulders to his cheeks. He'd always wanted to do this. The detective's face felt softer than he'd expected and he didn't realize his smile softened. "I'm pretty good at reading situations, but don't blame me if I misread this," the detective mumbled, reaching up and tentatively cupping Michael's cheek with his skeletal hand, his fleshy hand resting on the other man's waist.
Michael really didn't have a chance to respond before Nick moved forward, pressing his lips to Michael's. Nick's lips were also softer than Michael would have thought and it was certainly different from kissing a human, but boy he didn't care. This is exactly where he wanted to be and he could tell that Nick felt the same way.