At least, not like El for the first few months...
His mind changed the night the hick uttered his first word since transformation.
He had been in the kitchen at the time, cooking something up on the gas stove. Ellis had been napping in the corner of the living room, but at the smell he traipsed in on cautious paws. By now sometimes the kid actually liked to eat cooked meals, so long as they were chock-full of meat. He was a little nervous about sharing too much 'real' food with him; the corner store he had been sniping from these few months stock was depleting slowly. But he couldn't ever say no to the puppy-dog face El had learned… or was that re-learned? It had always got him what he wanted. But when Ellis came in, Nick hadn't bothered to look back at him or anything, stirring the meal so it wouldn't burn. He heard him and knew he was there; he'd whine if he wanted his attention.
Apparently the hick did want it. But he tried a new tactic.
"Nchhhhhh…" he heard the kid growl.
Nick spun on his heels, his heart skipped a beat as he stared incredulously at him. "What did you say…?" he whispered, setting down the spatula.
Ellis blinked at him slowly, then opened his mouth again to reiterate. "Nchhhhh," he growled simply.
He fell to his knees in front of the kid then, grabbing his hands tightly. His name. He was saying his name. And more miraculously he had remembered it. He had to have remembered it, because he hadn't told him. "Ellis? Ellis are you in there?" he begged, starting to hyperventilate. He touched his face. "My God… El..."
"Nchhhh," the hick smiled, baring his teeth, happy to have pleased him. "Nchhh, Nchhh, Nchhh!"
Nick closed his eyes, drew him close and began to cry.
After that it was tempting to try and teach El how to "act like" El. But he reminded himself daily that he wasn't looking for an approximation of the real El, but that he wanted El to remember who he was.
Who he was had to be deep in there. Not that it was an easy task to bring it out. But it was a goal he was dead-set on because, more than anything, he wanted the hick back.
Six months after Ellis' transformation, Nick plucked up the courage to finally attempt intimacy with his little friend. By then the shock collar had become obsolete, though he had not removed it; most times a bap on the nose or a sharp yell of his name had been enough to keep him in line. That, and he had taught El to tolerate his touch– petting his head or back, a kiss on the forehead, right between those big yellow eyes, gentle hugs.
Ellis regarded him curiously as Nick removed his clothing, because he was on the bed, not in the bathtub, where he was usually undressed. His attention grew even more rapt as Nick stripped himself naked. The kid had watched him take showers before– sometimes even randomly pounced into the tub with him– but he seemed to recognize this was not what was going on because of the location they were occupying in their dwelling.
Nick lubed himself and then leaned the kid onto his back; Ellis hissed at the unprotected positioning of his stomach, the urge to curl up strong. Nick shh'd him and he stopped hissing, petting his front, down those still strong, hard abs. He sucked in a breath– six months was too long.
He crawled between his legs; Ellis twitched and sniffed and wriggled uncertainly beneath him. "Relax, El…" he cooed. "Take it easy… I just want to make love to you…" His voice seemed to ease the kid, so he kept talking a little longer. "Do you remember, El? Remember how we used to do this…?" His own breath hitched, though he hadn't wanted it to. "I love you, El."
"Nchhhh," the ex-mechanic responded, tugging on his hat.
Nick nodded. He licked his lips, then proceeded.
Ellis gave a jerk and a growl, his eyes flaring with luminescence. Nick made a grab for his arms before he could lift them. "El!" he yelled at the hick angrily and Ellis took a couple sharp deep breaths, effectively pinned. His fingered claws curled and uncurled; Nick could feel the tendons tightening in the kid's wrists. Slowly his bared teeth went away and he stilled again, letting Nick push himself a little deeper.
The kid was definitely not happy with this. He squirmed numerous times, growling and grunting and huffing as he kicked his legs, but Nick got a rhythm going and slowly the hick stopped fussing as much and just allowed him to work.
Nick moaned. "Ohhh Ellis…"
Ellis wrinkled his nose and snorted, watching him.
His voice went deeper, louder. There wasn't any reason to hold back. "Ehhhhllis…"
At the conman's throaty emission, Ellis decided to respond. "Nchhhhh…"
Nick's back gave a buckle and he lost it.
Well, a little rusty after all this time. But it was probably good to have kept it short. He released his compatriot, who was quick to flip back over onto his front and haunches, stretching his shoulders around in a circle with a little low growl.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it, El?" he asked with a smile.
Ellis blinked his two round eyes at him. He gave something akin to a sneeze, then shook his head.
"Bedtime sound good to you?"
He visibly perked. Nick knuckled his head. "Alright, Tiger. Gimme a sec, I'm gonna brush my teeth. You can stay here if you like."
But the kid didn't like and followed him into the bathroom, watching from the ground as he scrubbed his molars. He spat into the sink and when he looked up, the hick had risen to his two feet, hands holding him steady against the counter, teeth bared.
Nick laughed. "Really? You want to brush your teeth too?" God they needed it, but that hadn't been a task he had undertaken.
The hick's mouth didn't close, so he assumed that was a yes. He put more toothpaste on the brush and leaned over to go to work. The minty tingle must have come as a bit of a shock, because as soon as it hit his tongue he was spitting all over the place. He stared at him like he was crazy for doing this every night. Nick quickly cleaned up the froth and Ellis' chin and they hit the sack, both quite contented.