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Nick’s mouth tastes like shit. Or, more accurately, boomer bile, which--you know what, no. He doesn’t even want to think about it. It was horrifying enough when it happened, he doesn’t need to go around reminiscing about it. He’d washed his mouth out as thoroughly as he could with what was left in his water bottle, but he’s still pretty sure he can taste it. Or it may just be the days upon days without properly brushing his teeth tricking him into thinking there’s still traces of boomer bile in his mouth. Whatever the case, he’s pretty sure he’s going to go batshit insane if he has to scrub his teeth with his finger in lieu of an actual toothbrush yet a-fucking-gain.
Unfortunately for him, that is looking to be the case, as the safe house they’re in is distinctly lacking in dental hygiene products. And this one even has a bathroom, what the hell.
Nick slams the door to the supply closet he’d searched in the vain hope of finding something (anything, even just a tube of toothpaste would do) to assuage the gross feeling in his mouth and groans, putting his head in his hands and slumping against the wall in defeat.
“Would it kill someone to leave behind a fucking toothbrush for once?! A bar of soap, maybe?! I’m going crazy here,” Nick says testily, voice somewhat muffled by his hands.
“I don’t know why you bother lookin’ every time,” Ellis says. “People aren’t exactly thinkin’ about their teeth when running for their lives from zombies. They’re thinking about the zombies’ teeth more like. Heh.”
“Oh, you’re so clever. I’m laughing so hard. Can you hear how hard I’m laughing?”
“Ah, chill out, man. There’s no need to be salty about it. ‘Sides, you’re whining for no reason. I got you somethin’ when we stopped in that convenience store about a mile back.”
Nick removes his hands from his face, curious, to see Ellis standing before him, grinning and holding out what appears to be...no fucking way.
Nick stares at the four toothbrushes (individual toothbrushes in individual packaging; Nick thinks he might cry) balanced on Ellis’ outstretched palm for what is probably longer than the moment calls for. It’s a simple thing, really, but as far as Nick’s concerned, it’s the most beautiful thing he’s seen in what feels like forever.
“There’s toothpaste, too,” Ellis says, proudly, holding out a tube in his other hand. Nick wonders for a moment if he really might actually start crying.
He blinks out of his haze of shocked joy and looks up at Ellis, his expression for once free of any sarcasm or smugness.
“Kid, I could kiss you right now if I didn’t know very well that you need to use one of these just as much as I do.”
He hears Coach snort from where he’s cleaning out his shotgun on the other side of the room.
Well okay, maybe there was still a bit of sarcasm.
Surprisingly, instead of chuckling or rolling his eyes and letting out a flat “Ha ha” like Nick was expecting, Ellis blushes to the tips of his ears and immediately averts his eyes. Then he coughs a bit to clear his throat, shrugs, and says, “Uh, right. Well, you don’t gotta make a big deal out of it or nothin’. I just happened to see them and grabbed them on my way out. Err...Sorry they’re pink.”
“I couldn’t care less what color they are. They could be covered in Hello Kitty and hearts and I wouldn’t give a shit.”
When this doesn’t even earn him a laugh, Nick flicks his gaze to Rochelle, who’s been watching the exchange from the opposite wall with an amused expression, and raises a questioning eyebrow at her. She scrunches her mouth up like she’s trying not to laugh and super unhelpfully shrugs at him. Nick sighs and focuses on Ellis again.
“Really, though. Thanks.”
Still blushing furiously, Ellis mumbles out a “you’re welcome” and practically shoves one of the toothbrushes and the toothpaste into Nick’s hand before hurriedly passing two more off to Coach and Rochelle and escaping into the safe house bathroom.
Baffled, Nick looks at Rochelle again. “What was that all about?”
“Oh, honey, I’m pretty sure you know exactly what that was about.”
Coach snorts again.
Nick blinks. And blinks some more.
“You don’t mean--”
“I do mean. I mean very much.” She glances at the bathroom door and lowers her voice. “Have you really never noticed how much he blushes whenever you give him a compliment? I compliment his shooting, too, and he’s not nearly so affected as when you do it.”
Rochelle doesn’t seem very bothered by this. In fact, she looks delighted. Nick would scowl at her, but he’s too busy feeling gobsmacked.
There’s a pause and then Nick says, “Huh.”
“That’s it? Huh,” Rochelle says. “You’re not going to act all grossed out and macho to assert your masculine heterosexuality? Nick, I’m so proud.”
“Hey, I may be an asshole, but I’m not that kind of an asshole, okay. Really, you wound me.”
“You’ll live,” Rochelle says flatly. “I work in the news and I’m a black woman. Forgive me if I’ve come to assume most people are assholes in that way.”
“Touché.”
“Anyway,” Rochelle says, voice quiet but stern. “I don’t know what you plan on doing about it, or even if you plan on doing anything at all, but if you do, I swear on my dead grandmother that if you hurt him you will regret it.”
“You better listen to her,” Coach pipes up. “She’s serious.”
“Yeah, yeah I’m aware,” Nick says, giving Rochelle a serious side-eye. “I don’t think it’s any of your goddamn business, but I got it.”
He’d be more annoyed by the warning if he weren’t still reveling in the joy of finally being able to brush his damn teeth. He’s not overly concerned with what Rochelle thinks about him (he’s kind of a dick, he understands her worry), but despite himself, he’s annoyed that she feels the need to baby Ellis so much. The kid may be an idiot sometimes, but he’s still an adult and can make his own goddamn decisions. And, he’s not going to lie, the revelation that Ellis is attracted to him, may even have a bit of a crush on him, is kind of making his day as well. So, as hard as he tries, he can’t stay mad at Ro. Besides, he’s got somewhere else to be right now, and that somewhere else is all up in Ellis’ space, but not until he’s brushed his teeth at least five times.
“Good,” Rochelle says. “Anyway, I think it’s cute.”
“Well, isn’t that sweet,” Nick mocks. “I’m leaving now, bye. I have a date with this toothbrush.” He holds up said toothbrush and wiggles it between his fingers. “And then another date with a fine, young piece of hick ass.”
“Nicolas!”
Nick laughs. “Chill out, I’m kidding...mostly.”
Ro’s sigh is long suffering. “Oh, just go away. I’m done with your face right now.”
Nick chuckles to himself as he makes his way over to the bathroom. When he closes the door behind him, he finds Ellis standing at the sink, brushing his teeth with a hilariously intent expression on his face, like it requires all of his concentration. The corner of Nick’s mouth twitches up without his permission.
“You forgot toothpaste,” he says.
Ellis says nothing, just grabs the toothpaste out of Nick’s hand, squeezes some out onto his toothbrush, hands it back to Nick, and goes back to brushing his teeth.
“Now you forgot water.”
Ellis turns and glares at him, bright pink toothbrush sticking out of the corner of his mouth, and it’s just too much. Nick can’t help it, he laughs and pretty soon it dissolves into the tear-inducing sort of laughter that makes you bend over and clutch at your sides. Ellis’ glare fades almost instantly and it's not long before he’s laughing as hard as Nick and has to grab the toothbrush out of his mouth so it doesn’t fall on the floor. It’s been way too long since Nick’s laughed like this. It feels good. Their laughter peters out eventually and they’re left smiling at each other like idiots.
Shaking his head and still chuckling a bit, Nick prepares his toothbrush and, at last, starts brushing his poor, abused teeth. Ellis joins him, wetting his toothbrush this time and beaming around it as he brushes. After a good five minutes of this, Nick thinks that his teeth probably aren’t going to get any cleaner, so he rinses his mouth and moves back from the sink so Ellis can as well. He leans against the wall and closes his eyes, sighing contentedly. When he opens them again, Ellis is watching him with a crooked grin.
“Feel better?”
Nick nods. “Much.”
There’s a pause in which Ellis starts to look a bit nervous, like maybe he’s considering escaping to the other room, but he doesn’t.
Fuck it, Nick thinks. What’s the worst that could happen? “You know,” Nick says, voice low. “The offer still stands.”
“Huh?” Ellis’ face scrunches up in confusion. “What offer?”
Nick takes a step towards him and plucks his cap off his head, moving slowly to give him an out. When Ellis doesn’t move away or grab for his hat and, instead, flicks his gaze to Nick’s mouth and licks his lips, Nick leans in the rest of the way and kisses him, letting it linger for a few seconds before backing off slightly, faces mere centimeters apart.
“Oh,” Ellis says shakily, “That offer.”
Now it’s Ellis who closes the small distance between them, sucking on Nick’s bottom lip and threading his hands through his hair. Nick groans and presses forward, hands on Ellis’ hips, until Ellis is backed up against the wall. The kiss deepens and Ellis’ hands tighten in Nick’s hair. Eventually, Nick has to pull back so that they can catch their breath, but it’s only a moment before he’s kissing a trail down Ellis’ jaw and neck, nipping at the skin gently as he goes. Ellis makes a helpless whimpering noise high in his throat when Nick sucks at a spot beneath his ear and Nick grins. He does it again and Ellis moans, pulling on Nick’s hair to bring him back up for a hard kiss. Nick bites at Ellis’ full lips and thinks that if he died right this second, he’d die a happy man. He’s just about to slide a thigh between Ellis’ and press against him when they’re interrupted suddenly by an obnoxious pounding on the door. Ellis starts and Nick groans in frustration.
“Y’all done yet?” Coach’s gruff voice intones from the other side of the door. “Ro and I would like to brush our teeth, too, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just a minute.” Nick sighs, leaning his forehead against Ellis’. Ellis chuckles and pats Nick’s shoulder.
When Nick straightens, Ellis is giving him the biggest, most beautiful smile possibly ever, his eyes crinkling up and dimples in full force. Nick isn’t normally one to think of phrases involving smiles lighting up rooms, but Ellis is making it hard not to. It’s contagious and Nick can’t help but smile back, and honestly, he wasn’t really trying otherwise. And yeah, okay, the toothbrushes are great and all, but they’re nothing in comparison to this.