(I have been struck by this sudden plot bunny from seemingly nowhere, and I just had to act on it before I lost it forever. This is my first Nellis fic, but I love the game and the pairing, so I hope everyone enjoys! This is just a drabble of sorts, and I'll be posting more random one-shots here as they come to me, but this is what I have to start. ^^ Enjoy, my lovely readers.)
"I cain't believe you," muttered Ellis, peering through his windshield at the crowded parking lot. His companion in the seat beside him seemed unbothered by his comment, casually examining his nails for dirt.
"What can I say? A man needs to look his best, even when he's just going for groceries." He smirked, but the younger man wasn't paying him too much attention as he maneuvered them through yet another full row of parked cars, searching for a reasonable spot to pull his battered pick-up into.
"But a full suit? Nick, yer gonna stand out like a sore thumb out here." Nick shrugged. What did he care what a bunch of hicks thought of him? As long as one hick in particular was still there to warm his bed every night, he was content.
He leaned closer, murmuring in his partner's ear, "Hey, you like it, don't you Overalls?"
Ellis inched away from him but couldn't mask a faint shiver. "Stoppit, Nick, you're gonna make me hit somebody's – Hot damn!" Distracted, Ellis swung them suddenly into an available spot twenty feet from the entrance. Nick muttered an unflattering expletive about certain female anatomy as he was jostled roughly in his seat.
"Shit! Ellis, be more careful, would you?"
The hick was already unbuckled, truck shut off, climbing out onto the pavement, his excitement returning full force as he waited for Nick to join him, practically bouncing in place. It wasn't much of a stretch to imagine perked ears and a frantically-wagging tail. "C'mon, Nick! C'mon!"
A year ago, Nick would have laughed at anyone that told him he would survive a zombie apocalypse, spend six months quarantined by CEDA, finally be released into a cleansed nation and somehow not only have a boyfriend, but that said boyfriend would be bound and determined to return to Savannah as soon as it was rebuilt and make a life there, and that Nick would somehow be convinced to join him there in the very epicenter of hick-dome. Oh, and they were living together. So it was kind of a monogamous thing.
"Slow down, Ellis," he said, chuckling. "What, is there a sale on horse meat today?" Ellis pouted, but his good mood recovered almost instantly as Nick did as he was asked and quickly climbed out of the truck. Mentally, he could hear the crack of a whip in his head, and it almost made him wince. But then he heard Ellis' exuberant chattering, tugging his hand from his pocket so they could entwine their fingers as they walked toward the entrance to the shopping center. Until Savannah was finished, they had been relocated to a smaller town that hadn't taken nearly as much damage, nearly three hours away from the famous Southern city.
Nick was still adjusting to the small town lifestyle. It wasn't as bright or exciting as living in Sin City, but the marks were a lot easier and the snail-pace at which things seemed to move was fairly relaxing after surviving a fucking apocalypse. Plus, it made Ellis happy, and so long as he could still get the things he wanted and needed (cigarettes, suits, sex, and alcohol) he was all right with the sacrifice for his partner's sake. Usually he was happy enough to stay at home and let Ellis take care of the errands since he was so comfortable in this sort of environment, but today Nick had been dragged along as well; their first grocery trip as a couple, in a nonapocalypse setting. Joy.
"Good mornin', gentlemen!"
A warm, welcoming voice hailed them before they could make it through the front doors. Ellis stopped, which meant that Nick was forced to stop too or risk losing his grip on Ellis' hand. "G'mornin', sir!" said Ellis happily. Nick gave a grunt and nodded his head. The man gestured them closer, heaving himself up from the folding chair he had been sitting on. Ellis trotted over obediently, dragging along a displeased Northern lover.
"And how're you fine folks this mornin'?" drawled the older man, placing both hands, fingers splayed out, on the tiny, crowded table between them. If he noticed the clasped hands or linked fingers, he pretended not to. Glaring out at them in stark red font was a sign taped to a red plastic bucket, which read:
Donate to the needy!
Every dollar goes to pay for meals for hungry families!
Donations of all sizes welcome!
Underneath it in smaller font were more details about the exact organization and contact information that Nick could care less about.
"We're doin' right fine, sir," said Ellis with a smile. "Jus' comin' t'do some grocery shoppin', right Nick?"
The older man glanced towards the parking lot, rolling his eyes, and said, "That's right." It was easier to just humor Ellis sometimes than it was to put up any kind of fuss.
The broad black man smiled, and Nick was eerily reminded of Coach for a moment. "Good, good," he said pleasantly. "The name's Marcus. Now how'd you folks like t'donate a li'l somethin' t'the needy this fine mornin'? You'd be m'first for the day."
Nick knew even before Ellis tugged on his hand, even before he glanced over at the other man, that he would be staring up at him hopefully, his sweet little Southern-grown heart bleeding all over the place for these 'needy families' that he had never and would never meet in his entire life. Nick sighed heavily and fished his wallet out of his back pocket.
"Yeah, sure," he said, riffling quickly through the bills tucked inside the expensive black leather. He tensed suddenly as he felt more than saw the charity worker leaning slightly closer to him across the table.
"Would y'be up t'donatin' that $20 there, by the grace of Jesus?" simpered Marcus, his expression still as wide-eyed and innocent as ever.
Nick stared at him incredulously. He glanced to the bucket sign again, which indeed read 'Donations of all sizes welcome!' His fingers tightened on the couple of one dollar bills he'd found at the front of his wallet. Ellis' eyes were burning holes into the side of his head.
"Or that there $10, it'd feed up t'four families; it'd be the first $10 in m'bucket this mornin'." The black man smiled at them winningly, white teeth flashing as he waited for the money to fall into his bucket like manna from heaven.
Nick pointedly selected the only five dollar bill in the wallet and dropped it in the bucket. "I think that will do it for today," he said quickly, and dragged Ellis inside with him by the hand before Marcus could ask about that $100 stowed discreetly at the very back of the bill fold.
"Jeez, Nick, what's the matter with you?" asked Ellis as Nick coasted past the brightly-smiling greeter and snatched a buggy for them to stow their purchases in.
The conman rolled his eyes and finally turned to look at Ellis. "I just got conned!" he snapped. Ellis blinked at him.
"Nick, man, what're you talkin' about?"
Nick waved one arm at the automatic doors which were now shut behind them. "That charity bastard!"
Elis hushed him immediately, quickly gesturing for him to lower his voice with both hands. "Quiet, Nick, there're kids here!"
Nick lowered his voice, but his anger didn't abate in the slightest. "He had us pinned as soon as we walked up there. And he conned me right out of double what I was planning to give him." Ellis watched, bemused, as the anger slowly shifted into something rather unreadable. Suddenly, Nick startled his younger lover by laughing, albeit just a little bitterly.
"Damned hick could be conning marks as well as I ever did back in Vegas," he muttered. With a final irritated – and grudgingly respectful – glance at the double doors, Nick nudged Ellis with the cart to get him moving. "Now, what did you drag me up here for again?"
(Hahaha, random one shot is random. This seriously happened to me today! It was unreal. The dialogue which I wrote for 'Marcus' is exactly what I had to endure this morning. And thus, my first Nellis attempt. Please review! :D )
