Things Come Alive
Title: Things Come Alive
Fandom: Primeval
Disclaimer: Primeval is not my property and I intend no copyright infringement with this work, just a bit of fun.
Pairing/Characters: Nick Cutter/Connor Temple; Abby Maitland, Jenny Lewis, Stephen Hart
Word Count: 5,871
Rating: pg-13
Summary: When Nick is injured by a creature Connor takes him home, despite Nick's protests, to make sure he rests and gets better. But perhaps there is more. (set in early season 2)
Author notes: This story is for echo_fangirl who placed the winning bid over at help_japan. I hope you enjoy it dear!
Nick opens and closes doors in the kitchen at the ARC. He just wants a new coffee filter, how hard is that? He doesn’t know where they are though, Stephen tends to make the coffee.
It’s been weeks but he still sometimes finds himself lost in this alien place. He turns down wrong corners, forgets names of people who call him ‘Professor Cutter’ without a pause, clicks through folders to files on his computer he couldn’t have made but there they appear. He tries to train himself, the personnel list is saved to his computer desktop, to learn everything he ‘should’ already know. It’s still better, better than the feeling of drowning he first felt. Most days Nick calls Jenny ‘Jenny’ and not Claudia even if ‘Claudia’ still forms first in his head. Most days Nick knows what is real.
He catches Connor watching him at least once a day, concerned eyes as if he’s waiting for Nick’s complete break down. The constant supervision brings a small amount of comfort to the changed world in that at least one person knows and believes something happened. Having an entire research center at his disposal does make the sting of losing Claudia a bit easier to bear; apparently the Lester of this incarnation of the world learned how to see some reason. Still, time passing makes everything feel more normal each day; Connor certainly helps by ensuring Nick works forward and not on a world lost. Without Connor who knows what Nick might have irrationally done by now.
However, at this very moment, Nick would just like to make some damn coffee.
“The pot is right here,” Nick grumbles, “can’t keep them together?”
“Professor?”
Nick turns around to see Connor giving him a quizzical look. Nick sighs and crosses his arms.
“I can’t find the coffee filters.”
“Oh.” Connor steps over and pushes Nick aside. He crouches down and opens the cabinet beneath the counter where the coffee pot sits. He pulls out a box and hands it to Nick as he stands. “There you are.”
Nick glances at the cupboard below to his right then to the box in his hand.
Connor raises his eyebrows. “You remember how to open the box, yeah?”
Nick frowns at Connor and turns back to the pot. He all but rips open the box and pulls out a filter, stuffing it unceremoniously into the coffee pot. He pours in some coffee from the can beside the pot then knocks the top closed, turning the pot on. When he turns back around Connor is still standing there.
Connor raises his eyebrows slowly. “Fight with the coffee pot?”
Nick pauses then shrugs his shoulders. “I just don’t like the hazelnut stuff Abby brings.”
Connor starts laughing and Nick smiles, annoyance lifting away. Then the new anomaly alarm begins to blare. Connor locks eyes with him then they both run from the kitchen and out into the antechamber.
Thirty minutes later when the four of them crouch behind the wall of a cubicle, Nick couldn’t care less about the damn coffee filters.
“Didn’t we just have raptors?” Stephen grumbles as he peeks around the edge of the cube at the two dinosaurs sniffing closer and closer through the rows.
“Sort of, this is a Dromaeosauridae like the raptors before but this one is a Deinonychus. Last time -”
“Shut up, Connor!” Stephen hisses then to Nick. “I told you we should have waited for the team.”
Nick snorts and rolls his eyes, Jenny’s voice in his head saying something about ‘can’t have a mess to explain to the company.’
Abby laughs quietly at Stephen and smiles. “Aw, and miss all this fun, not a chance.” She crouches and quickly runs across the aisle into the cubicle to their right, eyes coasting each way as she goes. “There’s a door just over there, we can make it.”
Nick shakes his head and peers around the edge of their cover as he hears something clatter to the floor. “Maybe if we split up. These fellas are fast.”
Connor curves around Nick, one hand on Nick’s shoulder and he pops up quickly above the cube then jerks back down. “Another door to the left. We can do two there and two the other way, what you reckon?”
The creature behind them suddenly makes a squawking noise and they hear its pace increase as it catches their sent. Stephen cocks his gun and Nick nods in the affirmative. Abby holds up three fingers, then two, then one. Abby and Stephen jump up and sprint to the right, swinging around cubicles and fallen chairs as they make for the exit. Nick grabs Connor’s coat and they race the opposite way to the door at the left. Both raptors scream at once, a moment of stillness in the face of choice of prey then sound erupts as they charge forward.
“Shit!” Connor snaps off, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s us!”
They hit the door and fling it open to fly out into the corridor. Nick chances a gun shot back at the creatures but he misses and hits the wall.
“We’ll go for the anomaly,” Abby’s voice says over the radio.
“Keep those two busy,” Stephen snaps as well. “We’ll make sure there’s no more.”
“Oh, so helpful,” Nick mutters.
Connor cuts in front of Nick and bangs into a swinging door. “Come on!”
Nick shoots again and follows Connor through, picking up speed. The door leads to what must be some sort of records library, books and files and boxes in rows and rows of shelves. Connor slams into one case, unable to stop in time from the speed he was running, and tumbles to the floor. Nick grabs Connor’s arm and hauls him up again.
“Come on, no passing out.”
“Aw, my head.”
“Don’t go breaking it on furniture then.”
Connor groans. “Good advice.”
The door behind them slams open, the top hinge breaking off, and one dinosaur charges through as its tail sends a shower of papers into the air. Nick yanks Connor’s arm and they bolt down the aisle.
“Some archivist is going to be so angry!” Connor shouts over his shoulder with a laugh.
“That’s why we have computers.”
Suddenly something crashes like splitting wood. Nick and Connor stop in time and turn to see the far shelf falling under the weight of the raptor jumping on top. The dinosaur fumbles and jumps back down but the shelf is not as lucky as it creaks forward and knocks into the other beside it.
“Oh god, that is so typical,” Connor moans.
“Gotta go,” Nick points to the far door which is too close to avoid being blocked when the last shelf falls.
“Shit.” Connor flails his arms and they both run toward the door through the nearest aisle as the shelves fall closer and closer with the screech of the predator right behind.
The two of them reach the door, swing it open and jump through just as the last shelf falls, smashing the door into the wall against it and breaking it clear off the frame.
Connor makes a hissing noise and snaps his fingers. “I was hoping the door would be blocked closed and then we’d have caught one.”
“No such luck.”
The Deinonychus screeches and Nick holds his gun at the ready for when it comes through the door.
“Wait, look out!” Connor shouts just as Nick sees something to the left in the corner of his vision.
He turns just as the second creature tears out of the narrow corridor beside them. Nick jumps back but not far enough as the raptor claws him in the side, knocking Nick against the wall. Nick screams in pain and falls, gun going flying. He hears Connor shout something and gun shots. Nick’s vision is already turning blurry with the pain and shock so all he sees is the animal fall hard onto the carpeted floor. Nick lolls his head to the side and watches as Connor shoots the animal again, pumping it full of tranquilizer.
“Cutter!” He shouts coming toward Nick but he stops short and stumbles back.
Nick sees a blur as the raptor from the archive room finally reappears, screeching. Connor runs and the creature follows. Nick hears more gun shots far away. The ceiling seems to be fading, turning into dull gray. He can’t even feel the pain because his brain has turned to fog.
“Cutter! Cutter!” Connor’s above him now, yanking off his scarf and holding it against Nick’s side. “Abby! Stephen! Cutter’s hurt. We need help now! Please, hurry!”
Connor holds the side of Nick’s head and shakes him. “Come on, keep your eyes open. You can’t let a little thing like that take you down.”
Connor’s face looks less distinct, more like shapes, like a ghost and Nick tries to nod back. Of course, he’ll just lie right here, no problem.
“I’ll just… pass out…” Nick mumbles.
“No, no you won’t, not yet.” Nick feels Connor press the scarf harder into the wound and Nick feels the pain again, sharp like a slap in the face.
“Oh, bloody god…” Nick groans and clamps his hand around Connor’s, squeezing tightly.
Connor sniffs loudly, squeezes Nick’s hand back, and Nick can see tears at the edges of his eyes, “Yeah, better that you feel it, come on. Oh god, how deep is it… Abby! Please, someone get here now!”
Then it’s as if the world falls into a hole and everything spins away, lights blinking out and Nick lets his eyes follow down into the blackness. The last thing he hears is Connor’s voice.
“You are not leaving me.”
Then it’s nothing.
When Nick opens his eyes he sees Jenny standing over him, arms crossed with an expression as fierce as the raptor.
“You had to go and get yourself torn up?”
Nick chuckles weakly. “I hope you have a stack of paperwork to do for it.”
Her mouth falls open and she huffs.
“Relax, Cutter,” Abby’s voice says and Nick turns to his left to see her standing beside one of the medics. “You’re going to have some great scars now.”
Nick cranes his neck to look down his bare chest but a large bandage obscures his side where the raptor caught him. A hand presses against Nick’s forehead and pushes him back against the table.
“You can see it later.” Nick realizes the hand is Connor’s.
“Oh, I hope you do,” Jenny snaps, “so you can see how stupid you were!”
“Jenny…he didn’t…” Connor says quietly from behind Nick, his hand clenching slightly against Nick’s hair then pulling back.
“No, Connor, don’t protect him. He knows Lester said to wait for back up! What does he do but blunder ahead anyway?”
Nick chuckles. “I think it may have been worth the face you’re making now.”
Jenny scoffs. “And here I thought you were hoping for the opportunity to make a quip about ‘PR nightmare.’”
“That too.”
Jenny sighs loudly and Nick sees her give a look to Abby over him. Abby shakes her head and just smiles. Jenny waves her hands then turns on a high heel and walks from the room. Connor comes around into Nick’s line of sight filling the space Jenny vacated.
“Done with the riling up?”
Nick closes his eyes. “I think I am going home, thanks.”
“I’ll get you some pain killers,” Abby says, patting his arm.
Nick groans and sits up. “My shirt would be nice too.”
“You mean a new shirt,” Abby calls as she walks away from them. “Your other one looks like a raptor snack now.”
Connor snorts. Nick frowns then jumps down from the table. He regrets the action the moment his feet hit the ground and pain shoots through him. Nick hisses and grabs the edge of the table to keep from falling.
“Hey, hey!” Connor rushes around the table and grasps Nick’s arms to keep him upright. “You did just get attacked by a Deinonychus, remember? Shouldn’t be jumping off anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Nick breathes in and out slowly allowing the pain to subside while Connor does most of the work of keeping Nick standing, hands tight on Nick’s arms. Connor does not let go of Nick until the door swings open as Abby returns. She hands Nick a bottle of pills as well as a shirt from Nick’s locker.
Abby points at Nick. “Get some rest, can’t have you out for too long. Wouldn’t want to save the world without you.”
Nick smiles. “Good to be needed.”
Putting on the new shirt, pills in pocket, Nick returns to his office to grab his bag and keys. Everything in hand, Nick shuts off his computer and turns around just as Connor swings open the door and snatches the keys out of his hand.
“Connor!” Nick barks.
“If you think you’re driving home alone right now then I’m taking back your P.H.D.” Connor throws Nick’s coat from his locker at him.
Nick grabs it out of the air, hoping the keys will follow. “I can get myself home, nothing happened to my legs.”
“Uh huh.”
Nick holds out his free hand. “Give me my keys.”
Connor shakes his head and walks backwards through the door holding the keys up in the air. “You’ll have to chase me to get them back.”
Nick follows Connor out into the hall and tries to give Connor the stern professor look. Connor just shakes his head and keeps walking. Nick glances down the corridor at the people passing. Abby comes out of the medical room and crosses her arms, raising her eyebrows in a ‘don’t be stupid’ fashion.
“Professor.” Connor jangles the keys at Nick. “Stop pouting and come on.”
With a sigh, Nick follows Connor down to the garage, and the two of them climb into Nick’s car. Connor grabs Nick’s bag, throwing it in the back and clicks through the options on Nick’s GPS obviously looking for something like ‘home.’
“You know, thanks, but you don’t have to do this,” Nick tries again.
Connor waves a hand at Nick. “Careful, keep up this ‘I’m so self sufficient when I’m injured’ display and I’m liable to do something drastic like take you to hospital and tell them you were mauled by a bear.”
Nick glares at Connor.
Connor smiles and flutters his eyelashes. “You could have fun charming the nurses with the story of your daring escape.”
Nick clicks in his seat belt. “Would you drive?”
“Ah, he sees reason.” Connor turns the key and starts the engine.
“I see the lesser of two evils.”
Connor glances at Nick out of the corner of his eyes. “Just trying to get me to shut up?”
Nick forces his grin down. “And that.”
Connor laughs. “Relax, I can’t be any worse than the raptor.”
Nick scoffs. “I doubt that.”
Twenty minutes of driving later, Connor pulls the car into Nick’s driveway then comes around Nick’s side of the car to help him out. The two walk or limp their way to the door and inside. Nick winces as he slowly pulls his arms out of his coat.
“Careful,” Connor calls as he walks ahead of Nick down the hall, “don’t want to pull your stitches out. Abby’ll make a fuss about having to sew you up again.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” Nick groans.
Connor seems to find the light switch because the lamp in the sitting room flashes on then Connor reappears at the end of the hall.
“Thanks, Connor, I can take it from here.”
Connor points behind him. “You think I’m leaving you alone with all of these pointy objects to fall on?” He turns to look behind him then back at Nick. “There is a model ship in the corner, not to mention a fireplace!”
Nick frowns. “I’m fine.”
Connor sighs and shakes his head. “You’re going to be as bad as five year old, aren’t you?”
Nick scoffs and drags his way toward the couch. “Don’t know what you mean.”
“Right.” Connor half shoves Nick down on the leather couch and forces a pillow under his head. “You know what the word rest means, yeah? Now’s the time for it.” He looks up and around. “Where’s your kitchen?”
Nick blinks his eyes and focuses on Connor standing above him. “What?”
“Your kitchen.” When Nick just stares at him Connor spreads out his arms and tilts his head. “You have to eat, regaining strength and all that.”
“Uh huh.”
They stare at each other silently for a moment then Connor shakes his head. “Fine. I’ll find it myself.”
Nick groans and sits up as Connor scampers out of the room. “Connor! You don’t have to do that!”
“Be quiet!”
Nick groans again and flops back down. He hisses quickly as pain shoots up his side. Nick places a hand over the bandaged claw marks and counts seconds in his head until the stabbing feeling fades to an ache. Far off the sounds of opening cupboards and the slide of a pan reaches his ears.
‘Oh god, Connor found the kitchen.’
“Connor…” Nick groans.
Connor does not answer though Nick is certain Connor can hear him. So, he closes his eyes instead.
“Cutter.”
Claudia is smiling at him from behind Lester’s back, another time when she’s trying to not agree with Nick but she’s failing, that laugh showing in her eyes.
“Cutter….”
But now her face is fading, smile gone. She’s not there. Jenny’s in her place. And Jenny is wrong.
“Professor, wake up.”
It’s all wrong but it doesn’t matter anymore. He doesn’t need either of them. He needs constant, someone constant…
“Cutter!”
Nick’s eyes snap open to see Connor looking at him from where he sits on the coffee table, hand on Nick’s shoulder. The room is darker than when they first arrived home and Nick realizes he fell asleep. He focuses on Connor’s face and clears his throat.
“What?”
“Dinner.”
Nick furrows his eyebrows. “You made dinner?”
Connor smiles. “I did go to your kitchen for food.”
“You cook?”
Connor stands up and frowns. “What makes you think I can’t cook?”
Nick smiles. “I guess I’ll see then.”
Connor nods and holds out his hand to Nick. “Yeah, now come on, don’t want it getting cold.”
Nick takes Connor’s hand and pulls himself up from the couch. Connor suddenly lifts Nick’s shirt and checks Nick’s side.
“Ow!” Nick snaps.
Connor ignores Nick’s outburst, poking around the edges of the bandages, pulling slightly to ensure the wrappings are secure. He lets go of Nick’s shirt then smiles.
“Good to see you haven’t bled through or anything.”
“Thank you for the reassurance.”
“Aw,” Connor waves a hand and touches Nick’s chest. “What’s a little dinosaur clawing?”
Nick raises an eyebrow. “Weren’t you set on eating dinner before it got cold?”
“Yes!” Connor takes Nick’s arm and pulls him toward the kitchen.
Nick’s kitchen is rather large. The far wall houses the stove and oven with dark wood cabinets surrounding it, sink to the left with a window over top, and pantry to the right. The center of the room has an island table with small lights suspended above it. On the island Connor has set up dinner, a plate on each side of the width of the table. The food is stir fry. Connor leads Nick to his place, pushes him down into the chair by his shoulders then scoots around the table to sit down on the other side.
“There we are.” Connor picks up a bottle of wine, Shiraz, and pours some into a glass in front of Nick then his own. “Ready to go.”
Nick stares at the glass. “Wine?”
Connor looks at the bottle then clears his throat, eyes coasting around Nick but not quite on him. “Well, I figured if I was cooking I should go all out.”
“I don’t think I had all of this in my refrigerator.”
The stir fry contains an array of vegetables, mushrooms, red and green peppers, onions, as well as white chicken and what smells like teriyaki all over it. In the center of the table sits a basket of bread, butter beside it as well as water glasses to go with the wine. It’s a beautiful dinner and it seems to smell good.
“I did have to go out for a few things,” Connor replies quietly.
Nick looks at the wine and he knows the bottle is not from his house. In fact the only things on the table which may have come from his cupboard are the bread and butter.
“Connor…” Nick says softly.
Then Connor looks up at him, “are you going to try it?”
Nick picks up his fork and stabs a piece of chicken and pepper. Connor watches him as Nick forces it into his mouth and chews, eyebrows raised playacting. Then he realizes that it actually tastes quite good. The sauce is not too overpowering, the chicken cooked perfectly, the pepper still juicy; all delicious and clearly prepared by someone who knows how. The change of opinion must show on his face because Connor begins to smile.
“You can cook,” Nick says once he swallows.
Connor only nods, taking a sip of wine, then starts in on his own food.
Nick’s eyes casually coast up and down Connor as he eats. Nick narrows his eyes searchingly because something seems different. Suddenly he notices; Connor changed clothes from this morning. Now he looks dressed up. The normal t-shirt and jeans which usually accent the vest are gone. The vest remains but now it matches Connor’s pants, nice black pin-stripes top to bottom with a deep red shirt underneath. Even his classic fedora matches the outfit and the odd Connor fashion statement of fingerless gloves are nowhere to be seen.
It’s almost as if he’s… He’s dressed for a date.
Everything clicks together like a snap. Connor, always one to please, to impress, always wanting to do his best, so smart, right there with Nick all the time figuring these anomalies out; Connor who built the tracking system, who knows all the creatures, who may have the best brain among them. Connor who worries about him, who subtly takes care of him, who believed him when he came back, who knew when to pull him away from Jenny the first time; Connor calm in the face of Nick’s break down; Connor with his smile, close beside Nick. Connor, the one Nick trusts most of all. Connor holding onto his hand as Nick bled on the floor.
Nick blinks hard.
Connor always seemed as bad as Nick when it came to relationships but unlike Nick’s years of self imposed solitude Connor keeps at it. Connor is always thinking and even when he messes up, when he’s awkward or says the wrong things, Connor is thinking of a way to make things right, to fix it, to solve the problem - to do it all just right and succeed. He does it with everything. Nick is no different and this wasn’t just chance.
“How long have you been planning this?” Nick asks.
Connor’s fork freezes. He does not reply, eyes just to the side of his plate. Nick can’t read his expression at the angle so he presses.
“But you fancy Abby.”
Connor laughs and looks up. “How can you not fancy Abby?”
Nick laughs as well and shakes his head. “You know what I mean.”
Connor stares at Nick for a moment, small smile and that calm in the face of Nick’s bluntness one would normally not expect. Then he rests the tip of fork on the plate and touches the stem of his wine glass, twisting it between his fingers.
“Abby is Abby but… well, you’ve always been there, haven’t you? My professor.” Nick blinks and Connor smiles. “And who says you can fancy only one person at a time, right?” Connor shrugs slightly. “At least until you snog one of them and things move on, might need to pick sides then.”
Connor’s rambling like he does when he’s nervous but it’s different than the way he fumbles around Abby, shy and new and not knowing what to say. Now feels like Connor’s played this moment before and he’s afraid of forgetting his lines or afraid the audience will boo.
Nick shifts the food on his plate around with his fork and leans back carefully against his chair. “So, are we on a date then?”
“Well…” Connor chuckles with a breathy sound. “Would be weird to have a date at your own house, wouldn’t it?”
Nick gives Connor a look. “You didn’t think maybe you could have just asked me?”
“Hey, no judgment.” Connor waves his fork at Nick. “You try asking your old professor turned coworker and sort of boss out on a date sometime. Not so easy, is it?”
“You just had to wait for me to get mauled by a creature to find your way to my house then?”
Connor laughs and colors slightly. “Just lucky for me there.”
Nick shakes his head, slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“And you’re not totally mauled,” Connor corrects, “just slashed.”
Nick breaks and they laugh together. When Nick can’t think of a reply, laugh subsiding, he stabs his fork into a mushroom instead. Connor looks away back to his plate.
Nick can’t say he’s made a serious study of Connor in this sense. What with Helen screwing with his head and Claudia there then gone, Nick’s judgment in such things tends to end up flawed. But Connor, well, Connor is very smart, loyal, and kind, if occasionally rash and socially awkward. When Nick looks at Conner he sees how much they share in common; Nick sees what could be.
“It was delicious,” Nick says finally as he puts down his fork.
Connor smiles shyly and nods. “I try.”
Nick thinks Connor really looks beautiful when he smiles.
Connor stands and picks up both their plates. He walks over to the sink then suddenly turns around again.
“Should I just?” he motions behind himself with one plate at the sink. “I mean I can clean them, not much one for cleaning but I can and -” he looks down beside the sink. “And yeah, you have a dish washer so could do.”
Nick shakes his head and stands up from the chair. “Connor, stop.”
He walks over to Connor and takes the plates out of Connor’s hands, dropping them with a clatter into the sink. “Look, I’m not saying if you’d asked me on a date I would have said yes. That’s not the point, the point… it’s, well…”
“Nick.”
Nick stops in surprise and stares at Connor because Connor just used his first name. Nick doesn’t think he’s ever heard Connor say his first name before. Connor looks up at him and smiles. Connor’s face is as serious as Nick has ever seen it, an adult side beyond the youth Connor always seems to exude. It surprises him every time.
“I really just wanted to make sure you were all right,” Connor says. “I wanted to do something nice for you, so I did. I feel how I feel and I’m not expecting anything from you. So, we can both just - ”
Then Nick kisses him.
Connor’s words turn into a higher pitched ‘umuhmm’ of obvious surprise and his hands clasp onto the edge of the counter behind him. Then his lips press back against Nick’s.
An array of sensory awareness snaps into focus for Nick and its really ridiculous how much flows at once; Nick notices only their lips are touching despite mere centimeters between them, Connor tastes like wine, he smells like soap, Connor feels totally different from Claudia, the lights seem dimmer, the last color he saw was Connor’s eyes, Connor isn’t breathing and neither is Nick, oh, yes, wow.
Then Nick moves back and breathes again.
Connor stares at him, hands still stuck on the counter. He slowly tilts his head. “You quite sure you meant to do that?”
Nick shrugs once. “Well, I had to shut you up somehow.”
“So, you’re saying I should talk more?”
Nick laughs and Connor grins like he just solved every puzzle of the anomalies.
“I can’t believe this,” Nick mutters.
Connor’s smile falters slightly. “Uh, which part? The gay part? The former student part? The me part?”
“No, actually, I was thinking the having a date in my kitchen part.”
Connor laughs with embarrassment and looks away sheepishly. Nick touches Connor’s arm and he looks back.
“The point as I was trying to say before, Connor, is that if this is a date then… then now I’m saying yes.”
Connor laughs again this time in surprise, “Right, yeah, brilliant.” Nick nods slowly as Connor grins. “I mean, well, yeah, kissing, so I think I got that when you...”
“Connor…”
“Yeah, right.” Connor cuts himself off, pulls Nick against him by Nick’s hips and kisses him again.
Nick plants his hands on the counter and kisses back. Nick’s mind reels at how this is new and the same all at once; how it feels like something he should have done sooner. Nick wonders how he never saw Connor right in front of him like this before but then again maybe he always did.
Then Connor slides his tongue one way and it’s like a shot in Nick’s brain making everything blur slightly. Nick kisses Connor harder like he’s ten years younger, traps him against the sink. Connor slides his one hand up Nick’s side and Nick hisses sharply in pain at the pressure on his recent battle wounds. Connor stops touching Nick in a flash and tries to pull back but Nick grabs Connor’s waist.
“I’m fine,” Nick says and kisses Connor again, “really.”
“I think,” Connor says between kisses, “you’re probably not.”
Nick pulls Connor forward by his vest, “Connor, shut up,” and begins to walk backwards.
Connor opens his mouth to protest but Nick kisses him again before he can speak. Nick slides a hand around Connor’s waist and apparently hits the mark because Connor suddenly kisses back hard and grabs onto Nick’s hair. They clumsily stumble along into the living room, nearly tripping over an end table. Nick knocks Connor back against the piano, Helen was better at playing it anyhow, and pulls at Connor’s shirt tucked into his pants, sucks on Connor’s bottom lip. Connor breathes sharply through his nose and slides his hand under Nick’s shirt. Suddenly, Connor pushes Nick back. Before Nick can say anything in protest Connor steps forward, kissing Nick again and knocks them both down onto the couch.
“Fuck!” Nick shouts as they land and pain erupts like a storm.
“Shit!” Connor jolts up to his knees over Nick, hands up. “Oh god, I’m sorry, I forgot! I mean I know you’re - how could I forget! You were just… and your hands…”
“It’s okay, Connor,” Nick gasps out, trying to breathe slowly, “I’ll be fine.”
Connor looks guilty and sighs. “Not the night for this.”
Nick shakes his head, swallowing slowly, the pain lessening. “Looks not.”
Connor slides down and rests his forehead against Nick’s, hand carefully threading into Nick’s hair. Connor sighs and tilts his head against Nick just enough so they can look at each other. “Why did I have to wait until you were raptor clawed?”
Nick chuckles and touches Connor’s sides. “And aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”
Connor groans again. They rest still together for a moment, Nick’s wound keeping up its persistent throbbing like a warning bell. Finally, Connor leans back and stands up off of Nick.
Connor holds out his hand to Nick. “I suppose you should rest then, yeah?”
Nick smiles. How like Connor.
Nick leads the way out of the living room and to his bedroom. The room is a slight mess, a map on his desk with anomaly locations marked in red, a stack of Helen’s old papers, one of Connor’s anomaly detectors with half the back broken off. Nick sees Connor’s eyes linger on the device. He glares half heartedly at Nick.
“You could have just told me you broke it.”
“I didn’t break it, just having a look.”
Connor glances at him skeptically and tosses Nick the bottle of pain killers from Abby. “Uh huh.”
Nick catches it and shakes his head, popping two pills straight off. Nick throws the bottle back to Connor as he stumbles out of his shoes. Connor steadies Nick by his shoulder then lightly nudges Nick down onto his bed. Nick looks up at him and raises his eyebrows because this is kind of amusing after all. Connor taking care of him, Connor kissing him, and Nick finds that he really does not mind.
“You need…” Connor turns and looks around the room, “ah… can’t sleep in those trousers.”
Connor starts to scamper around the room opening drawers then rifles through the closet. Connor stifles a laugh then gets up, pulls his pajama bottoms off the floor on the other side of the bed and changes his trousers. By the time Connor turns back around looking slightly defeated, Nick is already sitting back on the bed taking off his watch.
Connor stands with his mouth open for a moment then snaps it closed and smiles. “Well, good on you then.”
“Connor, I do know my own house.”
“Right, of course.” Connor smiles.
They stare at each other for a moment then Connor steps forward and places the bottle of pills on Nick’s side table. Nick slides over on the bed and slips himself under the covers. Connor sits down on the edge of the bed beside Nick, knocking off his shoes so he can scoot closer to Nick.
“You heal up now, professor.”
Nick laughs, a sluggishness starting to seep into his movements from the pills. “You still going to call me that?”
“Well, it’s your title.”
Nick scoffs quietly. Connor reaches out slowly and smoothes down Nick’s hair. He leans over and kisses Nick, kisses his lips, his jaw, his temple, and his lips again. Nick hums at the back of his throat and feels drowsy, drunk on feeling, on Connor’s hand cradling his face.
“I’m here,” Connor says, “if you want me.”
And Nick knows that Connor does not just mean tonight.
Connor kisses him hard and speaks against Nick’s lips. “Sleep and maybe I’ll make you eggs in the morning, if you’re lucky.”
Nick laughs lazily and his eyes slide shut.
In the morning Nick wakes up slowly, sun through his blinds and renewed ache in his side. He turns his head to see Connor curled under the covers beside him still quietly asleep. Nick’s smiling before he realizes it and traces the exposed line of Connor’s collar bone with two finger tips. He glides his hand along the bone and up Connor’s neck to his chin. He drums his finger tips once on Connor’s jaw with a last tap on Connor’s lips. Connor opens his eyes and smiles sleepily.
Nick thinks this could be the start of something wonderful.
Fandom: Primeval
Disclaimer: Primeval is not my property and I intend no copyright infringement with this work, just a bit of fun.
Pairing/Characters: Nick Cutter/Connor Temple; Abby Maitland, Jenny Lewis, Stephen Hart
Word Count: 5,871
Rating: pg-13
Summary: When Nick is injured by a creature Connor takes him home, despite Nick's protests, to make sure he rests and gets better. But perhaps there is more. (set in early season 2)
Author notes: This story is for echo_fangirl who placed the winning bid over at help_japan. I hope you enjoy it dear!
Nick opens and closes doors in the kitchen at the ARC. He just wants a new coffee filter, how hard is that? He doesn’t know where they are though, Stephen tends to make the coffee.
It’s been weeks but he still sometimes finds himself lost in this alien place. He turns down wrong corners, forgets names of people who call him ‘Professor Cutter’ without a pause, clicks through folders to files on his computer he couldn’t have made but there they appear. He tries to train himself, the personnel list is saved to his computer desktop, to learn everything he ‘should’ already know. It’s still better, better than the feeling of drowning he first felt. Most days Nick calls Jenny ‘Jenny’ and not Claudia even if ‘Claudia’ still forms first in his head. Most days Nick knows what is real.
He catches Connor watching him at least once a day, concerned eyes as if he’s waiting for Nick’s complete break down. The constant supervision brings a small amount of comfort to the changed world in that at least one person knows and believes something happened. Having an entire research center at his disposal does make the sting of losing Claudia a bit easier to bear; apparently the Lester of this incarnation of the world learned how to see some reason. Still, time passing makes everything feel more normal each day; Connor certainly helps by ensuring Nick works forward and not on a world lost. Without Connor who knows what Nick might have irrationally done by now.
However, at this very moment, Nick would just like to make some damn coffee.
“The pot is right here,” Nick grumbles, “can’t keep them together?”
“Professor?”
Nick turns around to see Connor giving him a quizzical look. Nick sighs and crosses his arms.
“I can’t find the coffee filters.”
“Oh.” Connor steps over and pushes Nick aside. He crouches down and opens the cabinet beneath the counter where the coffee pot sits. He pulls out a box and hands it to Nick as he stands. “There you are.”
Nick glances at the cupboard below to his right then to the box in his hand.
Connor raises his eyebrows. “You remember how to open the box, yeah?”
Nick frowns at Connor and turns back to the pot. He all but rips open the box and pulls out a filter, stuffing it unceremoniously into the coffee pot. He pours in some coffee from the can beside the pot then knocks the top closed, turning the pot on. When he turns back around Connor is still standing there.
Connor raises his eyebrows slowly. “Fight with the coffee pot?”
Nick pauses then shrugs his shoulders. “I just don’t like the hazelnut stuff Abby brings.”
Connor starts laughing and Nick smiles, annoyance lifting away. Then the new anomaly alarm begins to blare. Connor locks eyes with him then they both run from the kitchen and out into the antechamber.
Thirty minutes later when the four of them crouch behind the wall of a cubicle, Nick couldn’t care less about the damn coffee filters.
“Didn’t we just have raptors?” Stephen grumbles as he peeks around the edge of the cube at the two dinosaurs sniffing closer and closer through the rows.
“Sort of, this is a Dromaeosauridae like the raptors before but this one is a Deinonychus. Last time -”
“Shut up, Connor!” Stephen hisses then to Nick. “I told you we should have waited for the team.”
Nick snorts and rolls his eyes, Jenny’s voice in his head saying something about ‘can’t have a mess to explain to the company.’
Abby laughs quietly at Stephen and smiles. “Aw, and miss all this fun, not a chance.” She crouches and quickly runs across the aisle into the cubicle to their right, eyes coasting each way as she goes. “There’s a door just over there, we can make it.”
Nick shakes his head and peers around the edge of their cover as he hears something clatter to the floor. “Maybe if we split up. These fellas are fast.”
Connor curves around Nick, one hand on Nick’s shoulder and he pops up quickly above the cube then jerks back down. “Another door to the left. We can do two there and two the other way, what you reckon?”
The creature behind them suddenly makes a squawking noise and they hear its pace increase as it catches their sent. Stephen cocks his gun and Nick nods in the affirmative. Abby holds up three fingers, then two, then one. Abby and Stephen jump up and sprint to the right, swinging around cubicles and fallen chairs as they make for the exit. Nick grabs Connor’s coat and they race the opposite way to the door at the left. Both raptors scream at once, a moment of stillness in the face of choice of prey then sound erupts as they charge forward.
“Shit!” Connor snaps off, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s us!”
They hit the door and fling it open to fly out into the corridor. Nick chances a gun shot back at the creatures but he misses and hits the wall.
“We’ll go for the anomaly,” Abby’s voice says over the radio.
“Keep those two busy,” Stephen snaps as well. “We’ll make sure there’s no more.”
“Oh, so helpful,” Nick mutters.
Connor cuts in front of Nick and bangs into a swinging door. “Come on!”
Nick shoots again and follows Connor through, picking up speed. The door leads to what must be some sort of records library, books and files and boxes in rows and rows of shelves. Connor slams into one case, unable to stop in time from the speed he was running, and tumbles to the floor. Nick grabs Connor’s arm and hauls him up again.
“Come on, no passing out.”
“Aw, my head.”
“Don’t go breaking it on furniture then.”
Connor groans. “Good advice.”
The door behind them slams open, the top hinge breaking off, and one dinosaur charges through as its tail sends a shower of papers into the air. Nick yanks Connor’s arm and they bolt down the aisle.
“Some archivist is going to be so angry!” Connor shouts over his shoulder with a laugh.
“That’s why we have computers.”
Suddenly something crashes like splitting wood. Nick and Connor stop in time and turn to see the far shelf falling under the weight of the raptor jumping on top. The dinosaur fumbles and jumps back down but the shelf is not as lucky as it creaks forward and knocks into the other beside it.
“Oh god, that is so typical,” Connor moans.
“Gotta go,” Nick points to the far door which is too close to avoid being blocked when the last shelf falls.
“Shit.” Connor flails his arms and they both run toward the door through the nearest aisle as the shelves fall closer and closer with the screech of the predator right behind.
The two of them reach the door, swing it open and jump through just as the last shelf falls, smashing the door into the wall against it and breaking it clear off the frame.
Connor makes a hissing noise and snaps his fingers. “I was hoping the door would be blocked closed and then we’d have caught one.”
“No such luck.”
The Deinonychus screeches and Nick holds his gun at the ready for when it comes through the door.
“Wait, look out!” Connor shouts just as Nick sees something to the left in the corner of his vision.
He turns just as the second creature tears out of the narrow corridor beside them. Nick jumps back but not far enough as the raptor claws him in the side, knocking Nick against the wall. Nick screams in pain and falls, gun going flying. He hears Connor shout something and gun shots. Nick’s vision is already turning blurry with the pain and shock so all he sees is the animal fall hard onto the carpeted floor. Nick lolls his head to the side and watches as Connor shoots the animal again, pumping it full of tranquilizer.
“Cutter!” He shouts coming toward Nick but he stops short and stumbles back.
Nick sees a blur as the raptor from the archive room finally reappears, screeching. Connor runs and the creature follows. Nick hears more gun shots far away. The ceiling seems to be fading, turning into dull gray. He can’t even feel the pain because his brain has turned to fog.
“Cutter! Cutter!” Connor’s above him now, yanking off his scarf and holding it against Nick’s side. “Abby! Stephen! Cutter’s hurt. We need help now! Please, hurry!”
Connor holds the side of Nick’s head and shakes him. “Come on, keep your eyes open. You can’t let a little thing like that take you down.”
Connor’s face looks less distinct, more like shapes, like a ghost and Nick tries to nod back. Of course, he’ll just lie right here, no problem.
“I’ll just… pass out…” Nick mumbles.
“No, no you won’t, not yet.” Nick feels Connor press the scarf harder into the wound and Nick feels the pain again, sharp like a slap in the face.
“Oh, bloody god…” Nick groans and clamps his hand around Connor’s, squeezing tightly.
Connor sniffs loudly, squeezes Nick’s hand back, and Nick can see tears at the edges of his eyes, “Yeah, better that you feel it, come on. Oh god, how deep is it… Abby! Please, someone get here now!”
Then it’s as if the world falls into a hole and everything spins away, lights blinking out and Nick lets his eyes follow down into the blackness. The last thing he hears is Connor’s voice.
“You are not leaving me.”
Then it’s nothing.
When Nick opens his eyes he sees Jenny standing over him, arms crossed with an expression as fierce as the raptor.
“You had to go and get yourself torn up?”
Nick chuckles weakly. “I hope you have a stack of paperwork to do for it.”
Her mouth falls open and she huffs.
“Relax, Cutter,” Abby’s voice says and Nick turns to his left to see her standing beside one of the medics. “You’re going to have some great scars now.”
Nick cranes his neck to look down his bare chest but a large bandage obscures his side where the raptor caught him. A hand presses against Nick’s forehead and pushes him back against the table.
“You can see it later.” Nick realizes the hand is Connor’s.
“Oh, I hope you do,” Jenny snaps, “so you can see how stupid you were!”
“Jenny…he didn’t…” Connor says quietly from behind Nick, his hand clenching slightly against Nick’s hair then pulling back.
“No, Connor, don’t protect him. He knows Lester said to wait for back up! What does he do but blunder ahead anyway?”
Nick chuckles. “I think it may have been worth the face you’re making now.”
Jenny scoffs. “And here I thought you were hoping for the opportunity to make a quip about ‘PR nightmare.’”
“That too.”
Jenny sighs loudly and Nick sees her give a look to Abby over him. Abby shakes her head and just smiles. Jenny waves her hands then turns on a high heel and walks from the room. Connor comes around into Nick’s line of sight filling the space Jenny vacated.
“Done with the riling up?”
Nick closes his eyes. “I think I am going home, thanks.”
“I’ll get you some pain killers,” Abby says, patting his arm.
Nick groans and sits up. “My shirt would be nice too.”
“You mean a new shirt,” Abby calls as she walks away from them. “Your other one looks like a raptor snack now.”
Connor snorts. Nick frowns then jumps down from the table. He regrets the action the moment his feet hit the ground and pain shoots through him. Nick hisses and grabs the edge of the table to keep from falling.
“Hey, hey!” Connor rushes around the table and grasps Nick’s arms to keep him upright. “You did just get attacked by a Deinonychus, remember? Shouldn’t be jumping off anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Nick breathes in and out slowly allowing the pain to subside while Connor does most of the work of keeping Nick standing, hands tight on Nick’s arms. Connor does not let go of Nick until the door swings open as Abby returns. She hands Nick a bottle of pills as well as a shirt from Nick’s locker.
Abby points at Nick. “Get some rest, can’t have you out for too long. Wouldn’t want to save the world without you.”
Nick smiles. “Good to be needed.”
Putting on the new shirt, pills in pocket, Nick returns to his office to grab his bag and keys. Everything in hand, Nick shuts off his computer and turns around just as Connor swings open the door and snatches the keys out of his hand.
“Connor!” Nick barks.
“If you think you’re driving home alone right now then I’m taking back your P.H.D.” Connor throws Nick’s coat from his locker at him.
Nick grabs it out of the air, hoping the keys will follow. “I can get myself home, nothing happened to my legs.”
“Uh huh.”
Nick holds out his free hand. “Give me my keys.”
Connor shakes his head and walks backwards through the door holding the keys up in the air. “You’ll have to chase me to get them back.”
Nick follows Connor out into the hall and tries to give Connor the stern professor look. Connor just shakes his head and keeps walking. Nick glances down the corridor at the people passing. Abby comes out of the medical room and crosses her arms, raising her eyebrows in a ‘don’t be stupid’ fashion.
“Professor.” Connor jangles the keys at Nick. “Stop pouting and come on.”
With a sigh, Nick follows Connor down to the garage, and the two of them climb into Nick’s car. Connor grabs Nick’s bag, throwing it in the back and clicks through the options on Nick’s GPS obviously looking for something like ‘home.’
“You know, thanks, but you don’t have to do this,” Nick tries again.
Connor waves a hand at Nick. “Careful, keep up this ‘I’m so self sufficient when I’m injured’ display and I’m liable to do something drastic like take you to hospital and tell them you were mauled by a bear.”
Nick glares at Connor.
Connor smiles and flutters his eyelashes. “You could have fun charming the nurses with the story of your daring escape.”
Nick clicks in his seat belt. “Would you drive?”
“Ah, he sees reason.” Connor turns the key and starts the engine.
“I see the lesser of two evils.”
Connor glances at Nick out of the corner of his eyes. “Just trying to get me to shut up?”
Nick forces his grin down. “And that.”
Connor laughs. “Relax, I can’t be any worse than the raptor.”
Nick scoffs. “I doubt that.”
Twenty minutes of driving later, Connor pulls the car into Nick’s driveway then comes around Nick’s side of the car to help him out. The two walk or limp their way to the door and inside. Nick winces as he slowly pulls his arms out of his coat.
“Careful,” Connor calls as he walks ahead of Nick down the hall, “don’t want to pull your stitches out. Abby’ll make a fuss about having to sew you up again.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” Nick groans.
Connor seems to find the light switch because the lamp in the sitting room flashes on then Connor reappears at the end of the hall.
“Thanks, Connor, I can take it from here.”
Connor points behind him. “You think I’m leaving you alone with all of these pointy objects to fall on?” He turns to look behind him then back at Nick. “There is a model ship in the corner, not to mention a fireplace!”
Nick frowns. “I’m fine.”
Connor sighs and shakes his head. “You’re going to be as bad as five year old, aren’t you?”
Nick scoffs and drags his way toward the couch. “Don’t know what you mean.”
“Right.” Connor half shoves Nick down on the leather couch and forces a pillow under his head. “You know what the word rest means, yeah? Now’s the time for it.” He looks up and around. “Where’s your kitchen?”
Nick blinks his eyes and focuses on Connor standing above him. “What?”
“Your kitchen.” When Nick just stares at him Connor spreads out his arms and tilts his head. “You have to eat, regaining strength and all that.”
“Uh huh.”
They stare at each other silently for a moment then Connor shakes his head. “Fine. I’ll find it myself.”
Nick groans and sits up as Connor scampers out of the room. “Connor! You don’t have to do that!”
“Be quiet!”
Nick groans again and flops back down. He hisses quickly as pain shoots up his side. Nick places a hand over the bandaged claw marks and counts seconds in his head until the stabbing feeling fades to an ache. Far off the sounds of opening cupboards and the slide of a pan reaches his ears.
‘Oh god, Connor found the kitchen.’
“Connor…” Nick groans.
Connor does not answer though Nick is certain Connor can hear him. So, he closes his eyes instead.
“Cutter.”
Claudia is smiling at him from behind Lester’s back, another time when she’s trying to not agree with Nick but she’s failing, that laugh showing in her eyes.
“Cutter….”
But now her face is fading, smile gone. She’s not there. Jenny’s in her place. And Jenny is wrong.
“Professor, wake up.”
It’s all wrong but it doesn’t matter anymore. He doesn’t need either of them. He needs constant, someone constant…
“Cutter!”
Nick’s eyes snap open to see Connor looking at him from where he sits on the coffee table, hand on Nick’s shoulder. The room is darker than when they first arrived home and Nick realizes he fell asleep. He focuses on Connor’s face and clears his throat.
“What?”
“Dinner.”
Nick furrows his eyebrows. “You made dinner?”
Connor smiles. “I did go to your kitchen for food.”
“You cook?”
Connor stands up and frowns. “What makes you think I can’t cook?”
Nick smiles. “I guess I’ll see then.”
Connor nods and holds out his hand to Nick. “Yeah, now come on, don’t want it getting cold.”
Nick takes Connor’s hand and pulls himself up from the couch. Connor suddenly lifts Nick’s shirt and checks Nick’s side.
“Ow!” Nick snaps.
Connor ignores Nick’s outburst, poking around the edges of the bandages, pulling slightly to ensure the wrappings are secure. He lets go of Nick’s shirt then smiles.
“Good to see you haven’t bled through or anything.”
“Thank you for the reassurance.”
“Aw,” Connor waves a hand and touches Nick’s chest. “What’s a little dinosaur clawing?”
Nick raises an eyebrow. “Weren’t you set on eating dinner before it got cold?”
“Yes!” Connor takes Nick’s arm and pulls him toward the kitchen.
Nick’s kitchen is rather large. The far wall houses the stove and oven with dark wood cabinets surrounding it, sink to the left with a window over top, and pantry to the right. The center of the room has an island table with small lights suspended above it. On the island Connor has set up dinner, a plate on each side of the width of the table. The food is stir fry. Connor leads Nick to his place, pushes him down into the chair by his shoulders then scoots around the table to sit down on the other side.
“There we are.” Connor picks up a bottle of wine, Shiraz, and pours some into a glass in front of Nick then his own. “Ready to go.”
Nick stares at the glass. “Wine?”
Connor looks at the bottle then clears his throat, eyes coasting around Nick but not quite on him. “Well, I figured if I was cooking I should go all out.”
“I don’t think I had all of this in my refrigerator.”
The stir fry contains an array of vegetables, mushrooms, red and green peppers, onions, as well as white chicken and what smells like teriyaki all over it. In the center of the table sits a basket of bread, butter beside it as well as water glasses to go with the wine. It’s a beautiful dinner and it seems to smell good.
“I did have to go out for a few things,” Connor replies quietly.
Nick looks at the wine and he knows the bottle is not from his house. In fact the only things on the table which may have come from his cupboard are the bread and butter.
“Connor…” Nick says softly.
Then Connor looks up at him, “are you going to try it?”
Nick picks up his fork and stabs a piece of chicken and pepper. Connor watches him as Nick forces it into his mouth and chews, eyebrows raised playacting. Then he realizes that it actually tastes quite good. The sauce is not too overpowering, the chicken cooked perfectly, the pepper still juicy; all delicious and clearly prepared by someone who knows how. The change of opinion must show on his face because Connor begins to smile.
“You can cook,” Nick says once he swallows.
Connor only nods, taking a sip of wine, then starts in on his own food.
Nick’s eyes casually coast up and down Connor as he eats. Nick narrows his eyes searchingly because something seems different. Suddenly he notices; Connor changed clothes from this morning. Now he looks dressed up. The normal t-shirt and jeans which usually accent the vest are gone. The vest remains but now it matches Connor’s pants, nice black pin-stripes top to bottom with a deep red shirt underneath. Even his classic fedora matches the outfit and the odd Connor fashion statement of fingerless gloves are nowhere to be seen.
It’s almost as if he’s… He’s dressed for a date.
Everything clicks together like a snap. Connor, always one to please, to impress, always wanting to do his best, so smart, right there with Nick all the time figuring these anomalies out; Connor who built the tracking system, who knows all the creatures, who may have the best brain among them. Connor who worries about him, who subtly takes care of him, who believed him when he came back, who knew when to pull him away from Jenny the first time; Connor calm in the face of Nick’s break down; Connor with his smile, close beside Nick. Connor, the one Nick trusts most of all. Connor holding onto his hand as Nick bled on the floor.
Nick blinks hard.
Connor always seemed as bad as Nick when it came to relationships but unlike Nick’s years of self imposed solitude Connor keeps at it. Connor is always thinking and even when he messes up, when he’s awkward or says the wrong things, Connor is thinking of a way to make things right, to fix it, to solve the problem - to do it all just right and succeed. He does it with everything. Nick is no different and this wasn’t just chance.
“How long have you been planning this?” Nick asks.
Connor’s fork freezes. He does not reply, eyes just to the side of his plate. Nick can’t read his expression at the angle so he presses.
“But you fancy Abby.”
Connor laughs and looks up. “How can you not fancy Abby?”
Nick laughs as well and shakes his head. “You know what I mean.”
Connor stares at Nick for a moment, small smile and that calm in the face of Nick’s bluntness one would normally not expect. Then he rests the tip of fork on the plate and touches the stem of his wine glass, twisting it between his fingers.
“Abby is Abby but… well, you’ve always been there, haven’t you? My professor.” Nick blinks and Connor smiles. “And who says you can fancy only one person at a time, right?” Connor shrugs slightly. “At least until you snog one of them and things move on, might need to pick sides then.”
Connor’s rambling like he does when he’s nervous but it’s different than the way he fumbles around Abby, shy and new and not knowing what to say. Now feels like Connor’s played this moment before and he’s afraid of forgetting his lines or afraid the audience will boo.
Nick shifts the food on his plate around with his fork and leans back carefully against his chair. “So, are we on a date then?”
“Well…” Connor chuckles with a breathy sound. “Would be weird to have a date at your own house, wouldn’t it?”
Nick gives Connor a look. “You didn’t think maybe you could have just asked me?”
“Hey, no judgment.” Connor waves his fork at Nick. “You try asking your old professor turned coworker and sort of boss out on a date sometime. Not so easy, is it?”
“You just had to wait for me to get mauled by a creature to find your way to my house then?”
Connor laughs and colors slightly. “Just lucky for me there.”
Nick shakes his head, slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“And you’re not totally mauled,” Connor corrects, “just slashed.”
Nick breaks and they laugh together. When Nick can’t think of a reply, laugh subsiding, he stabs his fork into a mushroom instead. Connor looks away back to his plate.
Nick can’t say he’s made a serious study of Connor in this sense. What with Helen screwing with his head and Claudia there then gone, Nick’s judgment in such things tends to end up flawed. But Connor, well, Connor is very smart, loyal, and kind, if occasionally rash and socially awkward. When Nick looks at Conner he sees how much they share in common; Nick sees what could be.
“It was delicious,” Nick says finally as he puts down his fork.
Connor smiles shyly and nods. “I try.”
Nick thinks Connor really looks beautiful when he smiles.
Connor stands and picks up both their plates. He walks over to the sink then suddenly turns around again.
“Should I just?” he motions behind himself with one plate at the sink. “I mean I can clean them, not much one for cleaning but I can and -” he looks down beside the sink. “And yeah, you have a dish washer so could do.”
Nick shakes his head and stands up from the chair. “Connor, stop.”
He walks over to Connor and takes the plates out of Connor’s hands, dropping them with a clatter into the sink. “Look, I’m not saying if you’d asked me on a date I would have said yes. That’s not the point, the point… it’s, well…”
“Nick.”
Nick stops in surprise and stares at Connor because Connor just used his first name. Nick doesn’t think he’s ever heard Connor say his first name before. Connor looks up at him and smiles. Connor’s face is as serious as Nick has ever seen it, an adult side beyond the youth Connor always seems to exude. It surprises him every time.
“I really just wanted to make sure you were all right,” Connor says. “I wanted to do something nice for you, so I did. I feel how I feel and I’m not expecting anything from you. So, we can both just - ”
Then Nick kisses him.
Connor’s words turn into a higher pitched ‘umuhmm’ of obvious surprise and his hands clasp onto the edge of the counter behind him. Then his lips press back against Nick’s.
An array of sensory awareness snaps into focus for Nick and its really ridiculous how much flows at once; Nick notices only their lips are touching despite mere centimeters between them, Connor tastes like wine, he smells like soap, Connor feels totally different from Claudia, the lights seem dimmer, the last color he saw was Connor’s eyes, Connor isn’t breathing and neither is Nick, oh, yes, wow.
Then Nick moves back and breathes again.
Connor stares at him, hands still stuck on the counter. He slowly tilts his head. “You quite sure you meant to do that?”
Nick shrugs once. “Well, I had to shut you up somehow.”
“So, you’re saying I should talk more?”
Nick laughs and Connor grins like he just solved every puzzle of the anomalies.
“I can’t believe this,” Nick mutters.
Connor’s smile falters slightly. “Uh, which part? The gay part? The former student part? The me part?”
“No, actually, I was thinking the having a date in my kitchen part.”
Connor laughs with embarrassment and looks away sheepishly. Nick touches Connor’s arm and he looks back.
“The point as I was trying to say before, Connor, is that if this is a date then… then now I’m saying yes.”
Connor laughs again this time in surprise, “Right, yeah, brilliant.” Nick nods slowly as Connor grins. “I mean, well, yeah, kissing, so I think I got that when you...”
“Connor…”
“Yeah, right.” Connor cuts himself off, pulls Nick against him by Nick’s hips and kisses him again.
Nick plants his hands on the counter and kisses back. Nick’s mind reels at how this is new and the same all at once; how it feels like something he should have done sooner. Nick wonders how he never saw Connor right in front of him like this before but then again maybe he always did.
Then Connor slides his tongue one way and it’s like a shot in Nick’s brain making everything blur slightly. Nick kisses Connor harder like he’s ten years younger, traps him against the sink. Connor slides his one hand up Nick’s side and Nick hisses sharply in pain at the pressure on his recent battle wounds. Connor stops touching Nick in a flash and tries to pull back but Nick grabs Connor’s waist.
“I’m fine,” Nick says and kisses Connor again, “really.”
“I think,” Connor says between kisses, “you’re probably not.”
Nick pulls Connor forward by his vest, “Connor, shut up,” and begins to walk backwards.
Connor opens his mouth to protest but Nick kisses him again before he can speak. Nick slides a hand around Connor’s waist and apparently hits the mark because Connor suddenly kisses back hard and grabs onto Nick’s hair. They clumsily stumble along into the living room, nearly tripping over an end table. Nick knocks Connor back against the piano, Helen was better at playing it anyhow, and pulls at Connor’s shirt tucked into his pants, sucks on Connor’s bottom lip. Connor breathes sharply through his nose and slides his hand under Nick’s shirt. Suddenly, Connor pushes Nick back. Before Nick can say anything in protest Connor steps forward, kissing Nick again and knocks them both down onto the couch.
“Fuck!” Nick shouts as they land and pain erupts like a storm.
“Shit!” Connor jolts up to his knees over Nick, hands up. “Oh god, I’m sorry, I forgot! I mean I know you’re - how could I forget! You were just… and your hands…”
“It’s okay, Connor,” Nick gasps out, trying to breathe slowly, “I’ll be fine.”
Connor looks guilty and sighs. “Not the night for this.”
Nick shakes his head, swallowing slowly, the pain lessening. “Looks not.”
Connor slides down and rests his forehead against Nick’s, hand carefully threading into Nick’s hair. Connor sighs and tilts his head against Nick just enough so they can look at each other. “Why did I have to wait until you were raptor clawed?”
Nick chuckles and touches Connor’s sides. “And aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”
Connor groans again. They rest still together for a moment, Nick’s wound keeping up its persistent throbbing like a warning bell. Finally, Connor leans back and stands up off of Nick.
Connor holds out his hand to Nick. “I suppose you should rest then, yeah?”
Nick smiles. How like Connor.
Nick leads the way out of the living room and to his bedroom. The room is a slight mess, a map on his desk with anomaly locations marked in red, a stack of Helen’s old papers, one of Connor’s anomaly detectors with half the back broken off. Nick sees Connor’s eyes linger on the device. He glares half heartedly at Nick.
“You could have just told me you broke it.”
“I didn’t break it, just having a look.”
Connor glances at him skeptically and tosses Nick the bottle of pain killers from Abby. “Uh huh.”
Nick catches it and shakes his head, popping two pills straight off. Nick throws the bottle back to Connor as he stumbles out of his shoes. Connor steadies Nick by his shoulder then lightly nudges Nick down onto his bed. Nick looks up at him and raises his eyebrows because this is kind of amusing after all. Connor taking care of him, Connor kissing him, and Nick finds that he really does not mind.
“You need…” Connor turns and looks around the room, “ah… can’t sleep in those trousers.”
Connor starts to scamper around the room opening drawers then rifles through the closet. Connor stifles a laugh then gets up, pulls his pajama bottoms off the floor on the other side of the bed and changes his trousers. By the time Connor turns back around looking slightly defeated, Nick is already sitting back on the bed taking off his watch.
Connor stands with his mouth open for a moment then snaps it closed and smiles. “Well, good on you then.”
“Connor, I do know my own house.”
“Right, of course.” Connor smiles.
They stare at each other for a moment then Connor steps forward and places the bottle of pills on Nick’s side table. Nick slides over on the bed and slips himself under the covers. Connor sits down on the edge of the bed beside Nick, knocking off his shoes so he can scoot closer to Nick.
“You heal up now, professor.”
Nick laughs, a sluggishness starting to seep into his movements from the pills. “You still going to call me that?”
“Well, it’s your title.”
Nick scoffs quietly. Connor reaches out slowly and smoothes down Nick’s hair. He leans over and kisses Nick, kisses his lips, his jaw, his temple, and his lips again. Nick hums at the back of his throat and feels drowsy, drunk on feeling, on Connor’s hand cradling his face.
“I’m here,” Connor says, “if you want me.”
And Nick knows that Connor does not just mean tonight.
Connor kisses him hard and speaks against Nick’s lips. “Sleep and maybe I’ll make you eggs in the morning, if you’re lucky.”
Nick laughs lazily and his eyes slide shut.
In the morning Nick wakes up slowly, sun through his blinds and renewed ache in his side. He turns his head to see Connor curled under the covers beside him still quietly asleep. Nick’s smiling before he realizes it and traces the exposed line of Connor’s collar bone with two finger tips. He glides his hand along the bone and up Connor’s neck to his chin. He drums his finger tips once on Connor’s jaw with a last tap on Connor’s lips. Connor opens his eyes and smiles sleepily.
Nick thinks this could be the start of something wonderful.