Nicky's Very Bad, No Good Day

title: Nicky's Very Bad, No Good Day
fandom: CSI: Vegas
pairing: Nick/Gil
rating: R
warning: age-play, kink
author: nancy
email: the_tenth_muse1@yahoo.com
website: http://www.thetenthmuse1.madbrilliant.com/
feedback: yes, please!
archive: let me know!
summary: Nicky has a really bad day. Gil makes it better.

The first thing to go wrong was a flat tire on a rare, rainy day as traffic sped by and no one even paused to see if he needed help. That snowballed into being late for work, only he couldn't call to let anyone know because his cell phone died completely and for no apparent reason. By the time he got to work, Nick was wet, dirty, and sore from pulling a muscle while changing the tire.

Warrick pounced on him just about the second he walked through the door. "Damn it, Nick, where have you been man? We've been calling you for the last hour! Catherine and I were about to put out an APB!"

Taking a breath, Nick held out his hands and commented pointedly, "Mornin' Nick! You look like crap, did something happen on the way to work, today, buddy?" and stalked away from is best friend before he gave in to the urge to pop him one.

Halfway through his shower to warm up, the hot water disappeared. Nick shouted as ice water spilled all over him and jumped away from the nozzle, slipping on the wet tile. He managed to regain his balance just in time, but pulled another muscle, this time in his lower back.

Shivering violently, he grabbed his towel and dried off, more miserable than pissed, and dressed in his spare clothes. He walked to Grissom's office to grab his lover's spare sweater, still shivering. Gil, unfortunately, wasn't there so Nick simply took the sweater and headed back upstairs to get his assignment.

Nick and Greg wound up working together and, while that normally was a great thing, he just didn't have the energy to deal with him. He found Warrick and begged, "Can we switch? Please, ‘Rick, I can't take him today."

And that, naturally, was just about the time that Greg walked into the breakroom. Looking hurt, the younger man turned back around and left even faster.

Groaning, Nick briefly wondered if banging his head against the wall would help or make things worse.

It was no big surprise that Greg gave him the silent treatment for the rest of the shift, speaking only when absolutely necessary. He was also quiet in his dealings with others with no sign of the bouncy behavior associated with him. Nick got several dirty looks from others during the shift, both at the crime scene and back at the lab, which obviously meant that Warrick had dropped a dime on his comments.

Lunch turned out surprisingly trouble-free, if also Grissom-free. Nick had been looking forward to lunch together, but the morning conference ran late and so he was on his own. The sandwich was fine, just unappetizing, and he returned to work before his lunch break was officially over.

Timing being what it was, this led to Nick being in the lab during an unexpected chemical reaction that filled the room with a very nasty smell reminiscent of sulfur. The problem was, of course, that he had no more clothes in his locker. Even if he did, Nick didn't want to risk another ice bath. Admitting defeat, even though the day wasn't over, Nick called Catherine and told her he was taking a mental health day for the rest of the shift. He apologized to Greg on the way out and prayed to make it home without incident.

It was dark when he got home, but that was due to the storm clouds, which had thickened during the day, and not the time. He was soaked a second time on the dash from truck to home and stood a few seconds in the front hall, dripping and shivering. Nick finally made his way morosely to the bathroom, leaving a trail of water that needed to be cleaned up later. He stripped and tossed them into the hamper, not even caring that they were wet.

Turning on the shower, Nick kept his hand under the spray suspiciously for a few minutes before finally stepping under it. The hot water helped sore and tense muscles, but he was still a far cry from normal by the time he stepped back out of the tub. Nick went right to bed and climbed under the covers, not bothering with dinner. He grabbed his blanket and curled up with it around Gil's pillow, breathing in his lover's lingering scent.

He must have dozed off, because next he knew, Gil's hand rubbed along his back. Twisting to lay on his back, Nick frowned at him and asked, "I thought you were pulling a double today."

"I was," Gil confirmed. "And then I heard about your day and thought I would come see how you were doing."

Gil's eyebrows rose. "You ran out of spare clothes? I think you should tell me exactly what happened today."

So Nick did. Towards the end, his throat got thick and he had to swallow back tears that threatened, which he hated. He'd done really well for a few weeks and not been emotional hardly at all. He'd worked hard to regain his equilibrium and now it was all shot to hell.

"That's a bad day," Gil commiserated, brushing his hand over Nick's head. "I think you deserve something nice after that kind of day."

Tweaking Nick's nose, Gil admonished, "I'll give my good boy something if I think he deserves or needs something, remember?"

Nick blinked in shock at the large brown teddy bear Gil picked up from out of sight, likely the floor, and placed on the bed. It was big and looked incredibly soft. He reached out, but then stopped, unsure.

He grasped the bear by the paw and found that it was, indeed, incredibly soft. Pulling it in tight to his chest, Nick buried his face against the faux fur and then looked at his lover, absolutely delighted. He laced their fingers together and said, "You know, it's not like my folks never got me anything, Gris, because they did."

"I know, Nicky, I know," Gil soothed. "They just had other ideas of what a boy should want. Nothing soft or sweet or tender, and you deserve all that and more."

To that, Nick could only smile broadly and put the bear behind his head like a pillow. "I think you're about to get a present, too, Daddy."

Gil chuckled and tweaked his nose again as he countered, "Maybe later. First, you're going to clean up the mess you made on the way in and put the clothes in the washer to get rid of that God-awful smell. I'll make dinner while you do that and we'll watch a movie or something together."

Nick accepted the soft, gentle kiss with a happy sigh. Even when he tried not to need anything, Gil knew exactly what to do. He turned over and burrowed into the teddy bear for a few seconds before bouncing out of bed to take care of business. The sooner they got things done, the sooner they could go back to bed.