Title: A Simple Letter
By: kennedy
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: Dedicated to the lovely violet_eyes, who needed a smile! Nick finds out what Greg has been up to on his day off.

***

Nick hadn't been happy to discover that his and Greg's shifts had clashed that week, and they wouldn't be able to spend their days off together. He had gone to work on Wednesday in a foul mood while Greg had teased him from the cave of blankets he had made for himself in their bed.

"Have fun!" he cried, his voice muffled as he burrowed further into the warmth. "I'll think of you when I'm lying in for another couple of hours."

"And I'll do the same on Saturday when you're going in to work." Nick grumbled, lacing up his boots while sitting on the end of the bed.

"But it's not Saturday yet." Greg stuck his foot out from under the blanket and nudged him in the rib.

Swiftly, Nick grabbed his ankle and proceeded to pull him out from under the covers. Greg struggled, laughing, but was exposed. "Not fair!"

Nick was gazing down at him, giving him one of those expressions which could be read in so many different ways "“ love, amusement, lust, exasperation all mixed into one.

"Call in sick." Greg said, in an exaggerated tone of seductiveness.

"Yeah, that'll fly at the office." Nick said, leaning in for a kiss. As Greg's lips met his, he briefly toyed with the idea but knew he couldn't do it. Duty called. He pushed Greg away, laughing, and threw the comforter back over him.

"Your loss, Nicky!" he heard Greg yell as he left the bedroom. A smile tugged at his lips.

"Your loss, too!" he teased as he pulled his keys off the hall table.

In the bedroom, Greg sighed, then couldn't help but laugh to himself.

---------------------

It was a long, gruelling shift. Nick had tried to call Greg a couple of times, but had always ended up speaking to his voicemail. He was probably at the movies, or catching up with friends. Really, he was having fun without him. And the whole process would repeat itself on Saturday, except their roles would be reversed.

At least their days off seemed to coincide roughly seventy percent of the time, and they were no worse off than anybody else who worked in the lab and managed to have a private life at the same time.

He arrived home, his arms full of chinese take-out. He moved through their apartment door with ease, despite juggling keys, brown paper bags and a sixpack of beer.

"I'm home!" he yelled.

From where he was standing in the kitchen, Greg smiled laconically. "Oh, it's you. I thought it was one of my other boyfriends."

"Funny." Nick dumped the food and beer on the counter. "In fact, real funny for somebody who has had the day off and is still getting dinner brought to them."

"Poor thing, come here."

Nick did so gladly, and Greg pulled him in for a kiss. Nick ran his hands down his sides, and Greg winced and jumped back involuntarily.

"Ow!"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "What are you 'ow'-ing about?"

Greg looked sheepish. "No reason."

Nick stretched out his arm to draw him back in, and Greg backed away out of reach.

Peeved, Nick folded his arms. "Come on, man, the food's getting cold and the beer's getting warm. What's up?"

Greg flushed slightly. "Well, I did something while you were at work today."

When Nick reached out for him again he didn't resist. Nick gently pulled him in by hooking a finger in between the fabric of his cargo pants and his skin. Greg shivered at his touch as Nick then lifted the hem of his Smiths t-shirt away and inspected the now-bare skin of his stomach and ribs.

Nick smothered a laugh.

"Hey!" Greg protested. "That is not meant to be your reaction!"

But Nick was now defenceless, giggling and sinking to his knees. Greg began to pull down his shirt again, but Nick's hands were stronger.

"Aww, I'm sorry, G." Nick drawled, his eyes red from tears. "It's cute, really."

"Cute? I thought it was romantic." Greg rolled his eyes. "It's wasted on you."

Nick rubbed his thumb around the slightly inflamed area. "Don't say that." In all truth, he was stunned. The tattoo wasn't very large, smaller than a matchbook, and sat just above Greg's hipbone. It was the unmistakable shape of Texas, and within it in small lettering the word "Nick".

Nick looked up at Greg, his eyes almost hidden behind his bangs, which were almost at the point of getting out of control. "I love you, G."

Greg grabbed him by the shoulders, and pulled him up. "I love you, too. That's why I did it."

"It's a bit extreme, but who wouldn't be flattered?" Nick lifted his shirt again. "Does it hurt?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Nick once again ran his thumb along the coloured skin, and watched as the 'k' smudged beneath his touch. "Uh... Greg? I think I broke it."

Greg looked down, and swore softly. "I was hoping that would happen much later."

"Okay, now the real story comes out." Nick wasn't sure whether he should be amused or steeling himself for disappointment.

"Well, I was in a lot of pain, you know I hate needles, and there's like a thousand of them hitting your skin, plus squirting ink!" Greg started to babble. "I told them to write the name Nick in there, but they must have thought I meant a girl..."

"What, you didn't check to make sure they spelt it correctly?" A tug of a grin wanted to appear on Nick's lips, but he was enjoying playing the wounded partner too much.

"Well, Nick, it's a pretty masculine name! I didn't think I had to show them my "I Have a Boyfriend" membership card! And when they were showing it to me in the mirror afterwards I was pretty woozy, and I couldn't see the whole name so I just assumed..." he trailed off.

Nick was shaking with suppressed laughter again.

"I'm glad you're amused."

Nick wiped at his eyes. "Well, when it heals you'll have to go back and get them to add the 'k'."

Greg's eyes widened in horror. "No way! I am not going through that pain again!"

"You mustn't really love me if you want me to stare at another person's name on your hip for the rest of my life." Nick teased.

And there it was "“ hanging in the air between them. The words the rest of my life. Greg so badly wanted to make a humorous comment, but wisely bit his tongue, instead choosing to thread his fingers through Nick's. "I'll make a deal with you. You get one, and I'll finish this one."

Now Nick looked horrified. "There is no way I'm going under the needle!"

Greg faked looking downcast.

"Okay, how about a compromise?" Nick drew him in closer. "You let me be the one to grab the felt-tip marker and write the 'k' in every morning."

"You want to do that for the rest of your life?" Greg couldn't resist bringing that up again.

Nick smiled. "Every day."

"Deal." Greg wasn't going to admit that with that affirmation he had already decided that once his skin had healed he would be making an appointment to get the missing letter applied. But he didn't have to let Nick know that right at this moment.

Nick's lips were on his once again, and the counter was against his back. "The beer's getting warm." Greg murmured.

"We can put it in the fridge." Nick cupped his neck and went in for a deeper kiss.

"The food's getting cold." Greg moaned.

"We can microwave it later."

"Do you think Nic's going to be upset I'm cheating on her?" Greg asked.

Nick laughed. "Don't you ever know when to shut up?"

Greg opened his mouth to retort but Nick silenced him with another kiss, and Greg felt his name burn upon his hip.

***