Lyrics from Hot'n Cold, by Katy Perry, requested by DoodinHyde.
(BLD)
You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes.
Nick and Ellis had just gotten released from the quarantine ship at the coast of San Diego. As they were loaded off the ships, their sterilized belongings were given back to them. They were given cash, totaling up to 10,000 each. It was part of the government wanting to give back to the survivors who had lost everything. Along with the cash, they were given the option of living in an on base military home.
Ellis, not having ever had such an easy way to start over, was of course overjoyed to learn he and Nick could live together, having already planned for it. They agreed on this before they were even rescued. Sometime around living on Virgil's ship and heading into the old sugar mill to retrieve gas.
Yeah, you, PMS
Like a bitch
I would know
It was all they would talk about running all over New Orleans. They wanted a truck and a car, so they could have a vehicle for the each of them. Ellis wanted something at least similar to his old beat up truck he had back in Savannah, until he ruined it with all the tricking out he tried to do. In the end, the infected had been stronger, and the first horde he plowed into tore his truck to shit. Nick wanted something sporty. Not necessarily the red Lamborghini he once owned, but maybe something cheaper, yet sporty. It drove Coach crazy to hear it all, at one point, threatening to move in with them if they didn't shut up about it.
And you over think
Always speak
Critically
Though, it was a little surprising when Nick suddenly wanted to decline the offer the government gave them.
I should know
That you're no good for me
They'd been sat down with a nice looking lady at an information kiosk, pamphlets and papers spread out in front of them, ready to be read over. But with Nick's change in attitude, they weren't going to needing them.
"But… Nick, it's free, and they'll give us-" "I know, I know…" Nick stopped Ellis protests with a small gesture of his hand, "I'm not saying no, it's just another option I'm putting out there." Upon hearing the conditions of the housing they'd be given, Nick was quick to bring up an alternative, which was his home back in Las Vegas that was still waiting for him to get back from his trip along the east coast.
Ellis furrowed his brows, now sitting a bit more uncomfortably in his chair. Ellis couldn't forget all the things Nick has told him about Vegas, and the things the con man had done there. He'd hate to take him back to that environment; it'd be like taking a recovering addict to the crack house.
Somehow, Nick had seen what was running through the mechanic's mind and was quick to explain himself, "Ellis, my place is a lot bigger than this one bedroom box," he stated, trying to set Ellis' mind at ease, "It's a goddamn loft. We can have people over if we wanted and not be worried about not having enough seats."
"I get it Nick, I just…" Ellis wearily eyed the lady who sat at the desk, feeling embarrassed for the both of them, "I'm sorry, this might take us a moment to decide on…" he told her. Nick sighed, rubbing at his forehead with fingers as he sat back in his seat.
The lady nodded with a small smile, "I understand. This is a big decision, and it should take some time to talk about." She stood from her chair, "I'll just step out for a moment. Come get me if you have questions, or you think you've decided." She left the kiosk, leaving the couple to themselves.
'Cause you're hot then you're cold
It wasn't but a second that Ellis started up, "Nick, listen. You said you didn't want to do the con thing anymore. How's movin' back to Vegas gonna help that?"
Nick sighed, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "There's a lot more to Vegas than conning, Sweetheart. And you know the only reason I bring Vegas up is for the loft. There's no fucking way I'm letting us live in a shit hole." Nick's eyes turned pleading, hoping Ellis would see he wasn't lying. Really, conning didn't interest him anymore. It had been about the thrill of the chase and the adrenaline of lying straight at someone's face and knowing they were too trusting to think otherwise.
You're yes then you're no
But Nick had gotten his fill of adrenaline that'd last him five life times. He was ready to become a couch potato- that's how much he's sick of 'thrills'.
"Besides, you know I'm into gambling more than anything else. Where the fuck am I going to find a good casino in bum-fuck nowhere?" Nick nudged Ellis with an elbow, a smirk beginning to make its way across his lips.
It became infectious, and Ellis was soon smiling as well, "Aww hell, Nick. Fine." Ellis gave in to his lover's wants, and accepted his plea. "Just know I ain't havin none of them connin buddies over at my house." He told Nick moodily.
You're in then you're out
You're up then you're down
Nick's smirk turned sharp, "Your house? Excuse me?"
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
Ellis was only half joking, "You heard me. And no old girl friends, either." Ellis gave Nick a look, one that was so overly done that it was obvious Ellis was only trying to get a rise out of Nick.
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up
It made Nick start to chuckle, "Not even old boy-" "Nick…" Ellis stopped him in his tracks, but he'd started laughing anyway, and Nick leaned out of his chair to give Ellis a kiss, staying close to whisper to him, "Thanks, Sweetheart. This means a lot to me." And sat back in his chair as he smiled at him.
Ellis had blushed lightly, "Uh-huh…" he looked away, folding his arms over his chest in a non-argumental manner. Ellis had a feeling he might regret this decision in the future.
You don't really wanna stay, no
But you don't really wanna go-o
It was weird how Ellis started to learn so much more about his boyfriend now that they lived together. Most of the things he learned were cute, amusing, or just surprising.
We used to be
Just like twins
Like how Nick didn't like to walk around his house with a shirt on. Kept everything else on, pants, shoes. He just walked around topless. It reminded him of his Daddy, cause he did that a lot. 'Cept, when Nick did it, it was hot. No beer belly in sight.
So in sync
And he liked to sing in the shower, but most people did that, Ellis even did that. But it just made Ellis giggle the first time he heard Nick belting out Hurts so Good during his morning shower.
Nick had names for all his suits. This surprised Ellis, because he hadn't heard Nick speak of his white suit with a name of any kind. He had a black pin-stripe suit named Marlon Brando, a gray suit named Frank Jr. and a black suit named The Fixer. Ellis found out later on that Nick's white suit had been named Leonard. When he asked why just 'Leonard', he replied, "Because Memento was an awesome fucking movie." Ellis never quite got that, unfortunately.
The same energy
He also liked to leave notes around the house for Ellis to find. It was the cutest damn thing, cause he'd be getting up in the morning, and Nick might be in the kitchen cooking, or already in the shower, and there'd be a little yellow sticky note on the alarm clock saying, "I turned it off for you. You looked like you needed the sleep. -N" And sometimes, Nick had drawn a little heart besides his name.
Now's a dead battery
Damn cute.
His favorites though, were the ones he found leading to the bedroom after he got home from work.
He'd find one by the key bowl, "How was work?"
One by the light switch at the end of the hall, "Take your shoes off."
Another by the couch, on the arm rest, "There's a beer for you in the kitchen."
On the opened bottle of beer on the counter, "I went and bought strawberries today."
When he opened the fridge, there was one on the case of strawberries, "I already have the whipped cream. 3"
And the last note being on the door to their bedroom, "I hope you're in the mood for desert."
That was another thing. Nick was real kinky.
But of course, with the good things, he also learned of the not so good things.
Used to laugh 'bout nothing
Like how Nick hated waiting. He'd seen it back in the apocalypse days, but everyone had been impatient to a certain degree. He just hadn't realized Nick was like that normally.
The biggest, and most gleaming example was when they went out to have lunch, and Ellis would go to the restroom before ordering and when he'd come back, Nick would inform him he'd already ordered for him.
At first, it hadn't really gotten on Ellis' nerves but after the thousandth order of a regular burger or sub, Ellis was annoyed. Not to say it happened every time they went out, but still.
Now you're plain boring
Another thing, Nick didn't like sports. At all.
He got annoyed when Ellis was watching Nascar or football, or even baseball. He'd suggest Nick go watch something in their room if he wanted, and he'd always get a look from Nick, and sometimes that look would be accompanied with an annoyed swat at the back of his head.
Nick also didn't like how Ellis would go a couple days without showering. Ok, Ellis will admit, that was kind of understandable. But if he hadn't worked up a sweat, he didn't think he needed a shower. It's not like he stunk, he made sure to wash before it got to that point.
I should know that
You're not gonna change
He'd always known Nick was a germ-o-phob, but he'd never given it any serious thought until now that they lived together. He made Ellis clean the toilet and sink every time he felt it was messy, and claimed it was always Ellis who had made the mess. He had to wash dishes immediately after dinner, because he didn't like them setting in the sink overnight.
And Nick had a bad habit of changing his mind.
Someone call the doctor
Got a case of a love bi-polar
This seemed to be the most offending of all of Nick's quirks. They had been thinking about changing the paint in the kitchen, and they'd dwindled down to two colors, tan yellow, and orange-red.
"I like the yellow, but I can really get used to the orange-red." Nick had commented. So, the next day, Ellis had went out and got the paint cans filled with the color and when they came home, Nick and Ellis got to work painting the kitchen. Ellis hadn't realized how much fun it would be painting with Nick.
He'd been playing around at one point and doodled a horse in the red-orange paint, giggling at his master piece, and when Nick saw he rolled his eyes and promptly painted over it with the rolling brush.
Stuck on a roller coaster
Can't get off this ride
As they painted on, Ellis noticed out the corner of his eye Nick doodling what looked to be rocket ship… but as Nick turned his head slowly around to grin mischievously at Ellis he realized that it wasn't a rocket ship at all…
Ellis then snatched the rolling brush from leaning against the wall and covered up the phallus, Nick chuckling away behind him. Mature.
So, it was with great displeasure when he heard Nick sigh. He looked to his boyfriend as they stood in front of the freshly painted kitchen, white shirts sprinkled in drops and smudges of orange-red paint.
"I think I would've liked yellow-tan better." He mumbled, a hand rubbing at his chin.
You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
When they went furniture shopping, Nick swore up and down he wanted an all-black set of everything. Then they brought it in the house.
Ellis spent half a week listening to Nick complain about the color contrast between the furniture and carpet, not at all happy with the way it came out. Ellis finally suggested taking the furniture back and Nick insisted that it was fine.
It didn't take but two more days that Ellis called up Dave and Keith and they carried the furniture to the back of their trucks and Ellis took it all back and got a different set.
Turns out, Nick liked the off-white better.
The most annoying, though, was when Nick couldn't decide what to eat. Where Nick was impatient, he'd pick one item and once the server came back around, he'd change the order, and when they refilled their glasses, he'd change it back.
That usually worked out with plates of both orders, one free.
Ellis wasn't sure if he did that on purpose or not.
The absolute worst was when Nick decides to change his mind in bed.
One night, after a hard day of work at the shop, Ellis came home complaining, rubbing at sore muscles, hungry, and mad. A customer came back to the shop to complain they hadn't done their job and only wanted to get money out of her.
Of course Ellis knew they'd done their job, fixed her brakes up good, but the lady was yelling, screaming, complaining that she had to be somewhere, and suddenly someone was picking her up and she told them her car had better be fixed with no extra charge, or she'd sue.
Obviously crazy, everyone decided to just go with it, they didn't know if she'd follow up on her threat or not. They didn't want any trouble.
So, Ellis was stuck redoing the brakes he knew were already fixed and came home ready to eat a horse and plow Nick like a tractor.
'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
Luckily, dinner was already fixed and on a plate for him and after he'd scarfed it down, trying to explain the story to Nick through mouthfuls, he then gave Nick the most seductive stare from across the table he could muster. At first Nick only chuckled, but when Ellis didn't waver, Nick quickly got the message and stood from the table. They quickly made their way to the bedroom, this time allowing the dishes to wait for tomorrow. Nick climbed over the bed first, unbuttoning his pants as he smirked to Ellis, "I guess I can let you get all that aggression out."
Ellis already threw his t-shirt into the dirty clothes bin and was over top Nick, teething his neck, "Get my pants." He murmured to his lover, too lost in his neck to do it himself, hands roving over skin and muscle under Nick's shirt.
You're in then you're out
You're up then you're down
Nick did as he was told, unbuttoning them with a shudder as Ellis licked over a blood vessel. Ellis then kicked, getting them off and onto the floor of the bedroom, hands beginning to peel away Nick's shirt. It was before long, through kisses and pants, that they were both naked, Ellis and Nick frotting for a moment before the younger reached for the drawer next to the bed for the lubricant.
That's when Nick stilled.
Ellis felt it, he pulled back to look at Nick, confused, "What's wrong?"
Nick was eyeing the wall, his eyes averted from Ellis, "Do you think I could just…suck you off instead?"
Ellis couldn't believe this, was he really…?
"You're jokin, right?" Ellis asked, arms still on either side of Nick's chest, his own lightly panting from the built tension between them.
Nick chuckled quietly, though it sounded like more of a nervous reaction, "I kinda don't feel up to it anymore, Sport." It was almost apologetic if it weren't for the underlining annoyance Ellis could hear in it as well. Like Nick expected Ellis to give in to his request.
"Oh my God…" Ellis huffed unbelievingly, rolling off of Nick and standing, heading to the bathroom. The older man sat up on his elbows, "What're you doing?"
"Takin a cold shower." Ellis stated before slamming the door behind him. Nick did this too frequently for him to be just annoyed. He was downright angry at this point, hurriedly twisting the bathtub knobs to pour lukewarm water, then pulling the small metal knob that he couldn't remember the name of at the moment stepped inside. He pulled the shower curtain closed, growling to himself. This was so frustrating.
What was the point of having a boyfriend and living together if they couldn't ever change it up from time to time?
He grabbed for the body soap and heard the bathroom door open. He ignored it.
Then the shower curtain started to rattle as it was pulled open. He turned away and ignored that too.
A second later, the curtain closed again and suddenly there were arms wrapping around his waist, and kisses being pressed to the back of his neck, "I'm sorry." Nick whispered. It was a little harder for Ellis to ignore that. "Prove it." He answered instead.
Teeth began to nip at his ear lobe, suckling gently as hands ran up his shower slicked abdomen. Ellis closed his eyes and leaned into Nick's arms, still aggravated but willing to accept the apology and the promises it entailed.
Soon, Nick's hand found the base of Ellis' still half-mast erection, fingers circling it and squeezing as he stroked it, "What do you want me to do…?" Nick whispered, now seeming to accept the younger's requests, unlike before.
Ellis smirked.
There were a lot of things that Nick did that bothered him near to the brink of insanity. And he understood why he got divorced after only two years of marriage. He wasn't sure how his wife even lasted that long, but then again, during that marriage there had been a lot of cheating and stealing from one another…
Anyway, yea, Nick got on his nerves from time to time, but what he did to make up for it was worth all the mind-changing, germ-o-phob, impatient, sports hating, indecisive bullshit.
But he wasn't sure how much longer he had before he lost his mind.