Well… this wasn't exactly what he had been expecting, but Nick supposed it'd have to work. He glanced over to Ellis who was standing next to him, staring into the silent waters, one hand rubbing at his lips worriedly.
Virgil had about laughed himself to death when Nick had inquired if there was as shower anywhere on board. No, the captain had said, you tie a rope around your wrist, strip naked and hop over board with a bar of soap in hand. Nick had at first thought he was kidding, but as it turned out, Virgil had been serious.
So, now they drifted lazily, the engine cut from the little fishing boat so Virgil's guests could give themselves a proper wash down.
Yeah, Virgil had been completely serious.
Ah, well. Nick began to undress himself and looked to Ellis who still had this strange look on his face as he stared hard at the water. Nick felt a frown tugging at his lips. "What's wrong?" the conman inquired gently.
"Ain't there like… sharks an' stuff in there?" the southerner asked uncomfortably.
"Uh, yeah, Ellis. It's the ocean. It's where they live." God, did Ellis ever think before talking? Nah, probably not. Nick decided he liked that.
"What 'bout them like… giant squid an' stuff? They're in there too, ain't they?"
Nick's face scrunched up, obviously unable to even begin to grasp where Ellis' anxiety was coming from. "What does it matter?"
Ellis moved closer to the edge. "Loch Ness monster?" he whispered fearfully. He turned to Nick but whatever he was going to say next came out in an incoherent stutter. Nick was standing there, naked. Very, very naked. Ellis' heart jumped into his throat.
"The Loch Ness monster is in Scotland, Ellis," Nick said patiently. Then splash the conman dove overboard.
Ellis let out a little whimper, running to the side of the boat and searching the water desperately. Nick surfaced, throwing back his wet locks and brushing the water from his eyes. Well, it wasn't exactly a hot shower, but it sure beat the hell out of smelling and feeling like walking death.
"Throw me that soap, would you?" Nick asked, swimming back to the boat and grabbing hold of the small platform underneath the ladder. Ah, well, at least Virgil had made a few minor tweaks to the vessel making it easier for a 'man over board' to climb back in. Ellis came shuffling over with the bar of soap and leaned over to hand it to the other. Nick took it and began to run the soap into his locks, studying the nervous mechanic. "Well? Coming in, or are you just going to watch me?"
Ellis blushed. "I don't know 'bout this Nick… I mean… I can't…" Ellis made a face. He struggled visibly for a moment, like the next few words were simply just too torturous for him to spit out. "Nick, I can't swim."
Nick titled his head up at the little farm boy from Georgia, soapsuds bubbling down his face in little white rivers. "Are you being serious, Ellis?" he asked.
Ellis really wished he was kidding. Honest to God he really wished he was. His miserable expression made it clear.
"Well," Nick frowned, shrugging. "Just stay by the platform here. You don't have to swim out any further than that to get clean." He slipped under the water and ran his fingers vigorously through his hair to free it from bubbles. When he resurfaced, Ellis was still standing in the same spot. "Ellis… I promise, I'll kick Nessie's ass if it tries to eat you." Ellis, despite how he still looked unwilling, smiled goofily at the thought.
It was odd how their roles had reversed. Here Ellis was, timid; shy, unwilling to compromise (like a certain conman had been recently) while Nick coaxed him, not only with masterful words, but with some seriously sexy smirks. Aw, hell.
Before Ellis knew it he was jumping off the side of the boat (stark naked) while flailing and hollering as he went over.
Nick chuckled under his breath as the water splashed over him. Ellis came to the surface; clawing and gasping like a drowning rat. Nick grabbed the other by the arm and guided him to the platform. Ellis clung to it like his life depended on it, his face scrunched in the same pathetic way it always did whenever a Boomer puked its loathsome bile on him.
"Jesus, just relax, Ellis. You're fine." Ellis gave him a terrified look but he calmed a little when Nick ruffled his wet locks. "You're fine, kid, I've got you. Relax."
Ellis let out a shaky breath, adjusting his deathlike grip on the wooden platform. "Aw, man, this reminds me of this one time when Keith and I were just kids and we had gotten this really cool new teacher at our high school. She was all nice and everythin' and so we always did what she wanted 'cause she always had this really nice smile when she asked. Well, anyway, for our senior trip we went to this like, camp or somethin' where they got them really big tight-rope walkin' things and she knew that Keith was afraid of height's and all, but she wanted him to like, overcome his fear or somethin'. So, because she had asked with such a nice smile, he decided he was gunna go ahead and try it out." By this time, Nick had started soaping Ellis' hair. Nick half-listened as Ellis continued to ramble. "And she kept tellin' him he as gonna be okay and stuff, but then like, half way through Keith fell—and his harness, I'm not even kiddin' ya, like undid itself or somethin' and he came, like, flyin' halfway out of it. Then he was like, hangin' upside down and everyone was freakin' out and stuff and he was screamin' and hollerin' and cryin'. Man, it took them four hours to get him down from there. When they finally did they had to take him to the hospital and stuff 'cause all the blood vessels in his face had exploded from hangin' upside down for so long and—"
"Ellis…" Nick said softly, "Go under the water and get the soap out of your hair."
"Okay." Ellis did just that and when he resurfaced he sputtered and coughed as though he had forgotten to hold his breath. Nick assumed as much. Ellis brushed the water from his eyes before looking back at Nick. The mechanic flushed at the sight of the other—Nick's normally meticulously placed hair was sticking to his face in wet locks. Ellis kind of wanted to grab him and kiss him full on the mouth… but he was too damn scared to let go of the only thing keeping him from drowning.
Nick pushed away from the boat and floated on his back, blinking up at the blue sky. He exhaled softly. He had almost forgot what the suns warmth felt like. He had missed it. "Damn," Nick swore softly, "does the weather really always change this fast around here, Ellis?"
"Y-Yeah," Ellis replied, shifting his arms on the platform so he could look over at the conman. His flush from before only deepened. Man, Nick really didn't seem to realize how entirely exposed he was—or maybe he just didn't care. Either way, Ellis wasn't complaining. He chewed at this lip. There was so much about Nick that was a mystery. Ellis found this sudden burning desire to know more. "Where are ya from anyways, Nick?"
Nick was silent for a moment, eyes closed as he took in the calmness all around. Ellis' question took a moment to register. "Originally? Ah, that'd be Castellammare di Stabia."
"Castawhadabia? Huh?"
"It's a city in Italy, Ellis."
Ellis' eyes grew wide with wonderment. "You're shittin' me, Nick?" he breathed. "I knew ya were an Italian mobster!"
Nick jerked slightly in the water to look at the other, blinking. Then he began to laugh, hard. "Ellis, just because I'm Italian doesn't mean I'm in the mafia, Jesus. You watch way too many god damn movies. Besides, I only lived there until I was nine. My family moved to the states after that." Nick made a little noise. "In the mob. Jesus."
"Well, where else would ya have learned to shoot a gun?" Ellis asked defensively. "And, besides, ya look like ya walked out of that movie Godfather." Nick laughed even harder.
Nick gave up trying to relax in the water and instead swam back to Ellis. He took hold of the platform beside him and raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Let's just say, instead, that I wanted to be a cop when I was a kid." Ellis stared hard at him, like he didn't believe a word of it. Nick smirked at that look. "Any other questions?"
"So, um… like… are ya still close with your family?" Ellis tilted his head one way, staring down at the wooden planks. "All I ever had was Ma. My daddy died when I was just a lil' kid. Ma always told me he was a good man. He liked cars, ya know? I think that rubbed off on me too. I think Ma was proud that I was alway's fixin' 'em and stuff. She used to watch me from the porch and jus' smile. I think it reminded her of him…"
"I'm sorry, Ellis." Nick crossed his arms over the wood, resting his chin down onto them. He was frowning, his brow furrowed. "That really sucks."
"Yeah, it does, but I turned out all right." Ellis elbowed the conman. "Ya never answered me, Nick."
Nick almost sighed, not really wanting to venture down this road, but this was Ellis—and he trusted him. "I ran away when I was sixteen."
"Whaaa? Seriously?" Ellis' asked, flabbergasted. "Why would ya go and do that for?"
Nick absent-mindedly studied the water droplets drying on Ellis' arms, resisting the urge to run his wet hands all over him just so he could watch them disappear slowly again. The conman shrugged quietly. "By the time I was thirteen our family had fallen apart. You can call it cultural shock or you can say my parents realized that they actually hated each other, I guess it really makes no difference now. I got sick of the yelling." Nick blinked slowly, recalling the memory from so long ago. "Mom made Risotto the night I left. I remember Armand complained. He hated Risotto."
"That's seriously depressin', Nick." Ellis frowned, "Why didn't ya go back? Most kids take a stroll 'round the block or punch stuff. I know I did when Ma and I got in fights, but, damn, I never left for good."
Nick shrugged slightly. "I think it's a little late for regrets now." A heavy silence followed. Yeah… it was a little late for that. Ellis swallowed thickly, frowning hard. Nick tangled his fingers into Ellis' hair. "Don't sweat it, Ellis. I'm a big boy now and that was a long time ago." Ellis smiled at the touch.
Then the mechanic found himself becoming lost in those jade-gold eyes.
Damn, everything just seemed so naively perfect now. Like this was turning into some kind of sickly sweet honeymoon vacation or something. Nothing in the world could possibly ruin it… not even the thought that tomorrow they would be back out there, fighting their way through hundreds of snarling Infected towards New Orleans. Not even an uncertain future could possibly ruin this moment.
Ellis leaned over, pathetically attempting to kiss Nick on the lips. He couldn't quite reach at the angle and so he settled with kissing the conman tenderly on the shoulder.
Nick's face slowly became something just short of devilish. "Ellis… If I wasn't so sure you'd drown, I'd be all over you right now."
The slyest of smiles crept onto Ellis' lips. "Well… there is this here platform." He leaned his weight experimentally on it, glancing sideways at the conman.
"Well… then, I say, get your ass up there."
Ellis hauled himself up onto the platform, legs still in the water as he sat there, grinning that ridiculously adorable grin that always made Nick smile back. The conman slid his arms up around the others waist and pulled himself high enough to place a kiss on the mechanic's lips. It was hard though, since they were both grinning so damn much.
Ellis buried his fingers into Nick's hair, running them through the wet locks and admiring the texture, relishing the feel of it, loving everything about it. Nick's lips left his with a soft sigh, but returned with little butterfly kisses that worked their way down Ellis' throat, collar and chest with perfect tenderness. Then, suddenly, the kisses stopped.
Ellis blinked curiously down at the other. Nick's eyes hovered just over the area where the Witch from not so long ago had about ended his life. It wasn't quite healed, and it was obvious that when it did, it would be a very nasty scar. Nick closed his eyes and leaned forward, gently kissing the wound. He kissed it over and over and over; firm kisses that were wet and warm. It made Ellis shiver.
Nick had such a masterful touch. His rough fingers brushed Ellis' body in gentle sweeps, his nails ran down the mechanic's sides and Ellis' skin exploded with goosebumps. Everywhere Nick touched sent a shiver of pleasure down Ellis' spine. The southerners breaths began to catch in his throat. His body practically shook with anticipation.
If he died now, he was convinced that not even Heaven itself could have felt any more blissful.
A/N: All right. So, writing intimacy and posting it is like, totally a new experience for me and so right now I'm struggling really hard with doing it without dying of embarrassment. So I'm going to try and build my courage as this goes and if things go well, it will become more detailed. But.. man... I kept turning red with the thought of posting what I had originally written. AHEM... yeah. So... bare with me, I'm a little bit of a coward. I'm workin' awn it, man! (And I'm super sorry if you were reading this with the expectation that there'd be some hot steamy yaoi goin' on all over the place).
I BS'ed Nick's background. I know I've read a few comments that a lot of people find Nick being Italian as a cliche... but in my opinion, it's a good cliche because it fits him. The name of that city in southern Italy just sounded super cool. I wish I lived there. (Also, I've never seen the movie Godfather LOL)
Also, Ellis not being able to swim is just... my way of making myself feel better for not being able to swim. LOL. And I thought it'd be cute.
Anyways... Thank you so much for reading and for the reviews