Page 179 of Pistols and Plush Toys
Nikolai knew that all too well.
He sighed, tucking his head down to kiss Elliot’s hair, to breathe in the scent of his shampoo there. He couldn’t regret it. Elliot was safe, Nikolai’s businesses were safe, and under Vicki’smanagement, he hoped this city would recover from the dark slide down Vitale had tried to take it.
Nikolai laid there in the dark holding Elliot, enjoying his presence. Not even the pain of his body, which was back in full force this morning, could take away from how peaceful he felt. Nikolai had never shared a bed before. Had never slept curled up like this. It felt right. Like Elliot belonged there, with him.
It was too tender a thought to linger on. Yesterday they’d been allowed to shut themselves in. Today things would need to be handled.
He would give it until Elliot woke up. For now, Nikolai would enjoy the peaceful moment.
It was about an hour later that the man in his arms began to stir. Elliot made a small, cute noise as he roused and pushed in further against Nikolai's chest.
Nikolai took that as his cue to move, giving Elliot a gentle squeeze before pulling him in closer.
“Morning,” Elliot mumbled.
“Morning,” Nikolai said. His own voice was rough, and speaking pulled on the fresh scabbing on his lip. No doubt the bruising would be in full force today. Meredith and Elliot would be impossible about it.
Elliot made a grumbling sound. “Need to use the bathroom, but so cozy.”
Nikolai chuckled and gave him another squeeze. “We could take turns and then get back into bed.” Everything could wait an hour or two more.
Another groan of discontent, but slowly Elliot eased back, taking Apricot with him. His hair was a mess, sticking up in all directions, and he looked adorable cuddling his giraffe close.
Seeing Elliot with his stuffed toy took Nikolai back to last night, and he couldn’t help the way his body reacted to those memories. It had been a long, long time since he’d been withanyone, and none of his prior bed partners had ever made him feel the way Elliot did.
He had no idea if Elliot noticed his situation or if he just needed to use the restroom that badly, but he squeaked, “Bathroom!” and then he fled the bed on unsteady feet.
Nikolai meant to not look, because Elliot was still nude, but… he was a weak man in the end.
Once Elliot had shut the bathroom door behind him, Nikolai flopped onto his back and stretched carefully, doing his best not to make the pain in his ribs worse. He tried not to think about Elliot coming back to his bed naked and slipping in under the covers beside him, but failed miserably. Already he couldn’t wait for Elliot to return.
Nikolai wanted to be ready for him, ready to cuddle him close again, but his arm was throbbing now that he was paying attention. He rooted around in the dark and found the bottle of pain pills on the bedside table. Twisting it open, he swallowed two dry. Then he found his phone.
It was just after eight in the morning, and a quick glance through his texts showed no emergencies. Good. They could have just a bit more morning then.
When the bathroom door opened again and Elliot stepped out, Nikolai pointedly averted his eyes. He listened to Elliot pad across the room quickly, and then slip in under the covers on the other side. Nikolai gave him a smile as he put his phone back on the bedside table and got up.
After using the restroom, Nikolai stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking his face over as he brushed his teeth. He had bruising all around one eye, but the nose didn’t look too bad, all things considered. His arm hurt the most, and he probably had to count himself lucky that the cuts had been shallow and that nothing vital had been knicked.
But a dozen stitches and some bruising was a small price to pay for everything they’d won.
When Nikolai left the bathroom, he left the light on for visibility, but didn’t turn up any of the lights in the bedroom before he climbed back into the bed.
For one long moment, Nikolai hesitated, not reaching out. Yesterday had been a heat of the moment situation, and Elliot might even have been in shock for part of it. But before guilt could come crashing down on him, Elliot was scooting toward him, curling up against his side. Soft, bare skin pressed against his own, and Nikolai took a deep, slow breath.
“How you are feeling?” Nikolai asked when Elliot settled. He’d laid his head on Nikolai's shoulder, his breath puffing against Nikolai’s skin.
“I should be asking you that,” Elliot said. “You’re the one who got hurt.” His arm slipped around Nikolai's chest, and then Elliot was hugging him. It was such a sweet gesture that Nikolai had to close his eyes for a moment. “I know there’s… stuff we need to talk about,” Elliot said quietly. “But could we just do this for a little while longer?”
“I was hoping you were wanting that,” Nikolai confessed.
With Elliot on his good arm, he went to lift the stitched one, and at the flare of pain, thought better of it. He settled for inching his good arm out to better hold Elliot close.
The silence of the morning sifted around them.
Elliot hummed happily when Nikolai pressed a kiss to his hair.
“Is good?” Nikolai murmured.
