Time Frame: End of Swamp City
Rating: M for language
Relationships established: None yet, or very light Nellis if you squint.
Description: Nick and Ellis watch a movie.
"Hey Nick." Ellis called, getting Nick's attention as he passed by the downstairs den of the safehouse they were currently inhabiting.
The younger man figured it would be best to catch his somewhat-friend after he'd been in the bathroom with his soap for nearly an hour. Maybe after feeling as close to clean as possible when all he had was bloody clothes would put him in a good mood.
"Yeah?" Nick paused just outside of the room. This den was tiny, big enough for a couch and an old book case.
"Do you wanna watch a movie with me?" Ellis offered, patting the weather worn couch beside him.
"Yeah. Yeah Ellis, I do. How about we just go down to the electric company and since we're both qualified electrical engineers, we can just turn the lights back on and watch a movie. Maybe I'll pick up nachos on my way home." Nick smiled sarcastically.
Nope, false alarm. Nick was not in a better mood.
"Well, before you got into one of your miserable old man sass-parties, I was gonna say that this little DVD player has a battery." Ellis replied, holding up the little machine before sitting it on the arm of the couch.
"I'm not old, goddamn it." He settled on that, unable to further bash the other man for being smart enough to pay attention to the DVD player's power source.
"Uh huh. You're grumpy and old. Now take a seat, since you said you would. We got a couple to choose from. There's this What Dreams May Come one and then there's Old Yeller." Ellis held up each movie box.
"Okay...what the fuck is wrong with the family that lived here? They have two movies and that's it? Two fucking horrible depressing shitty movies? We live in a depressing goddamn world where we kill things or otherwise come up on already dead human beings and my salvation is choosing one of two depressing ass flicks that should have never been made? You know what, I hope they got killed, this family. I hope each one of them got ripped to shreds-" Nick was ranting, like he did. Nick's rants were almost as bad as Ellis telling Keith stories lately.
"Well there you go not lettin me finish again. Nick, I only got two hands, unless you want me to hold up our other options with my feet." Ellis scoffed, pointing at a small stack of dvds by the player.
"There's more?" Nick asked, almost in disbelief. This was too good to be true.
"Sleepless in Seattle?" Ellis asked.
"No."
"The Da...Vinsee Code?"
"DaVinci Code, dumbass. And no...I haven't read the book yet."
Ellis shook his head.
"The Muppets?"
"Goddamn it, Ellis."
"Okay, keep your pants on. There's Close Encounters. Wanna watch Close Encounters?"
"As if being in the same room with you isn't uncomfortable enough, I do not need to watch almost two hours of intermittent naked guys." Nick answered, starting to become flustered.
"Naked guys? Buddy, I think you're thinking of the wrong movie. Its Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Its actually a good one. Its about aliens and shit. C'mon, I promise you'll like this one." Ellis was trying not to laugh, patting the couch beside him again.
"Well, since that seems like the only option that won't make me kill you..."
"Trust me, when this is over, you'll pretty much love me for introducing you to it."
"I find that hard to believe."
The two sat together as the movie progressed and Nick felt the man beside him relax into the cushions. No one would ever get him to admit it out loud, but this was absolutely okay. Nick couldn't remember being this confortable in ages. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't annoyed at Ellis, wasn't worried about the zombies, and almost felt normal again. Yes, off in the distance he could hear the many sounds of the infected blending into the night, but it was far off enough to where it didn't matter. Nick was a realistic guy, and having shelter and a semi-full stomach seemed like all he needed.
His eyes opened hours later, adjusting to the dark. He must have fallen asleep, but it was definitely still night time so it could not have been for long. The battery to the DVD player died, leaving the screen black. In his sleep, Nick must have stretched out to get comfortable and he did a damn good job of it. He was comfortable. Comfortable and warm. But it wasn't that stuffy warm he'd been forced to endure with this southern weather. It was an even warmth.
He peered downward, noting the source of this warmth. It was Ellis, sound asleep, curled up into himself save for one arm wrapped around Nick's waist. His head rested on the older man's lap and the two were wound closely together, being that they slept on such a small couch and there was no room to spread out. Had the kid been awake, Nick would have banished him to another room but with him sound asleep, fuck it. Nick decided to let him be, let him get a full night of sleep. Nobody was around to see the two of them sleeping together and who would care? Their positions were still innocent enough to pass of as two guys that just fell asleep. The way Ellis' arm was draped over him could have easily look like it just dropped that way when he fell asleep.
Besides, Coach was completely passed out. His snores were warning enough. If not the snores, his approaching footsteps would have woke Nick (a very light sleeper) before he was able to enter the room. Rochelle still wasn't feeling well. Her cramp medicine ran out and she was sleeping off a very long day. Neither of them were going to be spying through the house.
Nick adjusted himself, trying to move as little as possible.
"Nick?" Ellis snorted, "like the movie?" He was clearly not awake, just talking in his sleep, but the older man answered anyway.
"Yeah, it was okay. Not good enough to make me fall in love with you like you said." He snarked.
"Hmm.." Ellis snorted.
"Goodnight kid." Nick smirked, closing his eyes as well, sinking off into the first easy sleep he had since before jail.