October 2002



Pants
by coreopsis
Just a little Nick vignette with another guy making an appearance.


The photographer smiled broadly at Nick and motioned behind his back at his assistant, who gathered up some canisters of film and left the room. "You're doing great, Nick. We got some really great stuff so far."

"Great," Nick echoed, tired and ready to quit. But of course, he could never say that, could he? But he could hint. He shifted in his seat. The fabric of his suit pants was itchy against the back of his legs where he was starting to sweat a little under the hot lights. "How much more do we have to do, George?"

"We're very close." George fiddled with his cameras and hummed under his breath. "Very close indeed. Ah, there you are, Dana."

The assistant had just walked back into the room carrying a pair of black leather pants, which she brought over to Nick. He thought there was an apologetic light behind her carefully blank stare as she thrust them into his unresisting hand and pointed toward the dressing rooms at the back of the studio. He waited for a shirt to magically appear and when it didn't, he asked, "Where's the rest?"

"Oh, I thought we wouldn't need a shirt for these," said George as Dana shrugged and looked away.

"We don't really do that anymore."

"I've seen other pictures of you without a shirt." George cast an appraising glance over Nick's midsection that made Nick want to curl up into a ball. "You look fine. And I will make you look beautiful."

"Ummm..." Nick stared at the photographer and shook his head. "I don't--"

"AJ certainly does, doesn't he?" George narrowed his eyes at Nick and his voice took on a hard oily tone that Nick had already heard far too many times in his life. "You wouldn't want him to keep showing you up, would you?"

"He doesn't--"

"Oh, but he does. You really have to compete, Nick."

"Yeah, you're right." Nick stood up and crossed the space between them. "I do have to compete. But not with AJ. I'm done here." He tossed the pants in the photographer's face and turned around and walked into the dressing room, where he gathered up the clothes he'd worn to the studio and shoved them into his backpack. As he headed for the door, he told the assistant, "I'll send the suit back later."

Just before he got to the door, he turned back to the photographer and plucked the leather pants out of his hands. "I'll take these too. Send me a bill."

Out in the hallway, Nick's bodyguard put down his newspaper and whipped out his cell and murmured a few words into it. Nick knew the car would be waiting at the door by the time they got down to the ground floor, and he was right. He could see it through the lightly smoked glass doors as he exited the elevator and walked quickly across the lobby. By the time he hit the sidewalk, he was almost running, his bodyguard keeping pace beside him.

As he reached the limousine, the back door swung open and he tumbled inside, landing in a pair of strong arms that immediately wrapped around him in a warm protective embrace. Nick flung his backpack aside and laid his head on Kevin's broad shoulder. "I'm so tired, Kev."

"I can tell," Kevin whispered against Nick's hair. "Did something happen?"

"Not really. I'm just tired...really fucking tired."

"Awww, Nicky," Kevin purred and then chuckled when Nick made a half-hearted protest at the name. "When we get back to the hotel, I'll take care of you and you'll feel so much better."

Nick really thought about what Kevin had just said and wondered aloud, "And who takes care of you?"

"What?"

"No, really." Nick moved out of Kevin's lap and onto the seat next to him. He took one of Kevin's hands in his and stroked his fingertips over the back. "You're always looking out for us, so who takes care of you?"

Kevin just stared at him for moment and then shrugged. "I guess...all of y'all. But you do it differently than the other fellas."

"I should hope so." Nick grinned and suddenly remembered something. "Look what I got." He held up the leather pants for Kevin's perusal.

"Okay, you have pants." Kevin squinted at them and then back at Nick. "They're...nice pants?"

"The fuckers wanted me to pose in these. And nothing else."

Kevin tilted his head. He looked at the pants then looked at Nick's crotch and thighs, then back at the pants. "I'd like to see that myself."

Nick sighed in exasperation. "Kevin! You know how I hate--"

"Well, not on the cover of J-14, but maybe...in private."

"Oh, well," Nick paused and licked his lips. "That's okay then."

Kevin leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Nick's mouth then murmured, "I was gonna take care of you tonight, but if you want to pamper me a little... Wear those and nothing else."

"I could do that," said Nick and then he kissed Kevin back.

The end.

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