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Nico Kim had gotten into a weird sort of habit. It’s not a habit he was necessarily proud of, nor did he want to admit the true reason he started this habit. Almost every day for the past couple of weeks, Nico has purchased five hot chocolates from the cafe around the corner from the hospital and distributed four of them to the hospital interns. Well, not all of the hospital interns, just the one he had a crush on and those closely associated with his crush.
Was it just a crush at this point? He and Levi Schmitt had gotten pretty hot and heavy in the ambulance during the windstorm, as a result of Levi essentially baring his soul. While they frequently had romantic dalliances in on-call rooms, there had been no discussion of what exactly their relationship had become. Were they dating? Hooking up? Talking (whatever that meant)? All Nico knew was that he felt warm and fuzzy anytime Levi directed a smile his way and he wanted to be around him as much as possible.
Hence, the hot chocolate. The first time he had gifted him with the festive cup of peppermint hot chocolate (Levi’s absolute favorite, which he had mentioned once in passing), the smile with which Nico was rewarded was almost blinding. He made it through his whole 36-hour shift coasting on the high of that smile.
He also noticed the jealous glares thrown his way by Casey Parker, Taryn Helm, and Dahlia Qadri. The next day, he came prepared with a quintet of cocoas, one specially labeled to ensure Levi received his peppermint-flavored drink. The gratitude and nods of approval from Levi’s friends felt like another major win.
And then. The real catalyst for these gifts becoming a ritual was the aftermath of Levi’s first sip. He liked to take off the plastic lid to properly enjoy his beverage, whipped cream and all; he liked the see the steam and smell the rich, minty scent. Or so he told Nico, a serious expression underlining his sincerity, the first time he disposed of the lid. By not having the lid as a deterrent, Levi always came away from his first few sips with a small dab of whipped cream on his upper lip. Nico found himself staring at this dab, wanting to lick it off. Or maybe just kiss it off. Either way, he was mesmerized by it.
Eventually, Levi would always become aware of the whipped cream mustache and, while he often just wiped it off, a few times he had licked it off. Nico had followed the movement with his eyes, flushing slightly and wanting to just drag Levi into the nearest on-call room.
And now, here was Nico, a full-grown adult man with a willing partner. Getting all hot and bothered when said partner innocently licked his upper lip. Honestly, he couldn’t even be that ashamed. So what if he now spent close to $20 almost daily on what could very well be powdered hot chocolate? Levi was always grateful, as were his friends, and Nico got to watch that glorious dab of whipped cream.
*******
“Hey, where are your partners in crime?” Nico sauntered over to Levi, hands laden with hot chocolates. Except 3 of the 5 regular cocoa recipients were nowhere to be seen.
“Hey!” Levi leaned up to plant a small kiss to Nico’s cheek before grabbing his drink, completely oblivious to Nico’s giddiness at the PDA, “Taryn’s sick, Dahlia’s just off today, and Casey’s been in surgery for a couple of hours now. He should be out in a bit and will appreciate this drink. The other two will… appreciate the effort!”
“Huh. Okay. I guess I’ll bring one for Link and figure out something to do with the last one. Maybe that nurse on 5 would like it. She’s always so nice to me.”
“Ha, she’s nice to you because you look like that.” Levi gave him a pointed once-over for emphasis.
“What? No way! I thought she liked me!” Nico was affronted.
“She does. Just not the way you thought.” Levi winked - winked - before turning back to his drink and prying off the lid. He closed his eyes as the steam swirled around his face and the smell permeated the air. After a satisfied sigh, he took a long drag from the cup, eyes still closed. When he lowered his cup, the whipped cream had, as expected, taken up residence on his upper lip.
Nico stared at that damned line of whip on Levi’s lip. It was taunting him, bringing his attention to the place he couldn’t stop thinking about, tempting him to have just a small taste. How sweet would that kiss be, lingering and soft, the whipped cream dissolving in his mouth as they kissed?
What was holding him back from having that small taste? The hallway was fairly empty, just the two of them in close proximity; neither had any pressing responsibilities right then so they could indulge in the moment.
“Levi,” Nico softly said. When Levi turned to him, a question in his eyes, Nico carefully grabbed his cup, setting it on a nearby surface. Levi was watching him with curious and wide eyes, following his movements with just a hum of anticipation.
Nico, having set the other cups next to Levi’s, reached out a hand to caress Levi’s cheek, thumb stroking his cheekbone, prompting a small hitch in Levi’s breath. As he leaned in, Levi closed his eyes and pushed forward to meet him, eager for whatever Nico wanted to give him. Parting his lips slightly, Nico captured Levi’s upper lip, tongue darting to lick off the whipped cream. He savored the sweetness of both the whipped cream and Levi himself, pushing further into the kiss, wanting to get lost in it.
Levi was melting into it, grasping at Nico’s arms and gasping slightly. As Nico pulled away, not wanting to get too caught up in anything right out in the open, Levi whimpered at the loss and tried, in vain, to chase his lips. He seemed to remember himself quickly, opening his eyes and blushing bright red as he stared at Nico with a dazed look in his eyes.
“I- What? Why? What?” Levi stumbled through his questions, eyes now darting around to make sure no one noticed his admittedly wanton reaction.
Nico laughed quietly and said, “I see you drink that hot chocolate every day and you always get whipped cream on your upper lip. And every day I want to kiss it off you.”
“Oh. Um, why, uh, why haven’t you? Done that? Before?” Levi, trying so hard to be flirty, was betrayed by his awkward nerves and continued insecurity about Nico’s attraction to him.
“Your friends are always around. I figured you wouldn’t want them to see us basically making out in the hallway. I mean, I don’t even know if they really know about us.” I don’t really know about us . But Nico didn’t add that last part, not wanting to come off as uncertain at this moment. He had taken charge and it seemed to have come off kind of sexy; to practically beg for a definition to their relationship would undercut his sexiness.
“They, uh, know. They know how I feel about you. And that we hang out a lot. And, uh, make out. Sometimes. A lot. And that I like being around you.” Levi closed his eyes and clenched his fists, seemingly in frustration, “The point is, they know. But I get what you’re saying; they probably don’t need to see it.”
Nico knew he had a shit-eating grin, but he couldn’t help being excited at hearing Levi voice that what they had was maybe more than quick trysts in on-call rooms. Levi also liked the nights they’d spent watching bad TV or the short lunches they’d have together, both scarfing down hospital sandwiches as they recapped their day so far. Maybe he liked him beyond the physical; maybe he wanted those mundane relationship moments in addition to the hot and steamy moments.
“No, something tells me they wouldn’t be too happy to see that. I’ll just keep that little urge suppressed around them.” Nico leaned back in to give Levi a small peck, delighting in the small noise of surprise he elicited.
“Um, are you busy? I mean, you’re probably busy. But do you have anywhere to be in the next few minutes?” Levi was giving Nico the full force of his doe eyes.
“I have surgery in half an hour. Nothing ‘til then. Unless I get paged.”
“Cool. Yeah, cool. I also am free for a bit. Um, we could enjoy our cocoas together. In that on-call room. If you want.” Levi fiddled with his fingers, somehow still nervous Nico may reject him.
“Hm, that sounds like a good use of my time.” Nico grabbed the other drinks and followed Levi into the on-call room, glad to get a few more tastes of whipped cream, and Levi, that morning.