Wardrobe

Summary: Interactions between Nell and other team members regarding Eric's wardrobe choices. Neric.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: LA or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Second part in the series. As promised, we'll be looking at Eric's choice of footwear. I decided to focus on Hetty and Nell for this one since Hetty is the only one I could find who talks about his flip-flops. We'll call this season three sometime?

"Dammit!" Eric exclaimed, breaking Nell out of her concentration. She jumped in her chair, startled by his sudden entrance. "Stupid chair," he muttered. As she turned to face him, she saw him already reaching into his wallet for a dollar.

"Stub your toe again?" she asked, though she could already tell the answer. He nodded and handed her the dollar to clear his debt to the swear jar. "Take over here," she nodded her head toward the computer in front of her, offering her chair to him so he could take the weight off his throbbing foot. He gratefully claimed her seat, and she set off to deposit the dollar she now held.

"Eric stubbed his toe again," Nell explained to Hetty when she reached the older woman's office.

"That seems to be happening more frequently of late," Hetty observed. "A pair of sensible footwear would serve him well."

"Hetty, I'm not sure Eric knows what sensible footwear even is, let alone owns a pair." Though she attempted to be gentle, the words sounded accusatory in Nell's ears. Hetty, however, simply laughed.

"I'll have to see if there's room in the budget for a pair or two," she considered as the phone rang.

"What were you and Hetty just giggling about?" Deeks asked Nell, catching her as she walked to the stairs.

"Buying real shoes for Eric," Nell relayed.

"You know that even if you get him a pair, he'll never wear them, right?" Nell angled her head upwards to look at him more directly, confusion etched into her expression. "It's a surfers' thing. I only wear real shoes because I'm not allowed in the field without them."

"Technically, Eric's not allowed in OPS with the shoes he wears," Nell pointed out.

"But if the worst thing that could happen is he stubs his toe, what's the harm?" Deeks held back to allow Nell to enter OPS first.

"How's that toe?" she checked. Eric grimaced. "You know, you could switch to sneakers." His eyes narrowed, and he made a show of looking down and then back up.

"Never."

Author's Note: I know it's short, but the next one is longer, so that makes up for it, right? Please review!