Chapter Text
“Hey Nicole~” Nico mutters as Nicole walks into the kitchen. She gives him a short look, rolling her eyes, “Let me get a piece of that ass.”
“Whatever, Nico,” Nicole grumbles as she pulls her hair back into a ponytail. Nico tosses down the fry he’s eating, walking up to the pass as he leans over the pass, looking up at her. She plays with her bangs before she pulls out her phone, looking at it briefly. Her eyes narrow at him, clearly unamused with him and his usual antics.
“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Nico asks.
“Nothing,” Nicole whispers under her breath, “Don’t you have a husband?”
“Yeah,” Nico replies, pulling away from the counter, “You’re my hallpass, though.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Nicole says, looking away as her face burns a bright red, “I’m in a relationship, Nico.”
Nico winks, shrugging as he pulls away. Nicole shakes her head, walking back out on the floor. Nico turns back to his batch of fries, tossing another one into his mouth as he preps his onions, chopping them slowly and gently. He chews slowly, being careful with the precision of his slices as he blocks the dull noise of the kitchen out. Prep work was never his favorite thing to do, but he and Pickles had traded out shifts tonight so that Pickles could take Asher to his grandmother’s house. Pickles’s grandmother was really the only person on either side of the family that they talked to, save for Spencer every now and then, usually when he came by for inspections.
Joey walks in, muttering under his breath as he starts on sauce prep, Ruby walking in quickly behind him. The kitchen’s quiet for prep work, it usually is. However, once the first few tables start rolling in, that’s when the noise picks up. It doesn’t take too long for Joey to be barking orders, calling for them to cook his food right or leave his kitchen. Nothing that Nico isn’t accustomed to, of course. He’s been working behind the line for so many years, he could hear Joey yelling for runners in his sleep– when he gets sleep, that is.
Nico’s able to get through the majority of his shift, all goes off without a hitch. He’s only burnt a couple of ribeye, better than his average of five per shift. He’s on a pretty good high, sliding Nicole her usual fries. Her mood’s picked up a bit since the beginning of the shift, likely because she’s going to head home soon, Nico can see that glint in her eye of waiting for the mid to come in. She’s chatting with Ruby, the two flirting as they’ve hit a lull in the service.
“NICO,” Joey yells, looking over at Nico as he scrolls on his phone. Nico quickly clicks off his phone, sliding it into his pocket. He knows that Joey saw him, but he’s hoping that maybe Joey wasn’t going to reprimand him for it, though he knew better than to trust that. He swallowed hard before Joey continued, “Go take your break, Ruby and I can handle it if she can stop scissoring for two seconds.”
“Fuck you,” Ruby snarks, “I’ll see you later, Nicole.”
Nicole rolls her eyes, slipping out of the kitchen into the dining room. Ruby hops back onto the line, muttering under her breath. Joey catches part of it, turning around, “You wanna repeat that to my face, smart ass?”
“I said you’re a fucking douche nozzle,” Ruby snaps, “You want me to say it louder for you?”
Nico slips between the two as they argue, not wanting to get dragged into it. He heads for the exit, slipping out the back. The stillness of the alley has always been calming to Nico. He finds himself a pile of boxes, walking over as he sits down on it slowly. He sighs, leaning forward as he rubs his head. He’s never been prone to migraines, being one of the lucky few in his family to not have them, however he’s been feeling like one was coming on. His brain’s been foggy, more than usual. He unbuttons his chef’s coat, allowing the gentle breeze to brush across his bare, dark brown skin as he breathes slowly. Rubbing his neck, he looks up at the night sky, slumping his shoulders.
Nico reaches into his pocket, pulling out his cigarettes. Normally he’d go for a joint, but he’s not specifically keen on weed at this moment. He flicks open the box, pulling out a cigarette as he slips it between his lips. In his right pocket he pulls out his lighter, lighting it quickly as his hands shake uncomfortably. He takes a short draw from the stick, coughing as the taste coats his mouth in a way that makes his head pound harder, making him feel sick. Nico rubs his neck, looking at his shaking form. He sighs heavily, taking another puff as he tucks one of his dreads back behind his ear.
This time, the puff doesn’t go over so well. The smoke triggers his gag reflex somehow, resulting in the line cook getting sick, throwing up on the pavement between his feet. He coughs, his throat raw as he stares at the mess he’s made. He looks at his cigarette and then his shaking hands and arms. He tosses the cigarette on the ground, crushing it beneath his shoe as he closes his eyes, trying to gain any possible semblance of peace. As if the thing he’s been doing for nearly ten years hasn’t been making him violently sick the past few weeks. He hasn’t been able to smoke or vape or anything without getting sick. At first he thought it was the tobacco taste, but when his grape flavored vape gave him the same shakes and bile reaction, he knew it wasn’t the taste.
The door clicks open but Nico doesn’t look up. He doesn’t really care who it is. He figures it’s probably a server on their break. Maybe Joey asking what’s taking him so long even though he’s barely been out here for three minutes. He knows his breaks are short, but he knows that he’s not going back into that kitchen until he doesn’t feel hot and light headed. Joey can handle the kitchen for an extra few minutes, it’s not going to kill him if Nico takes a little bit longer on his break. It’s either feel better out here, or risk getting sick again in the kitchen.
“Joey told me to tell you to get back in,” Trick crosses his arms, hesitating, “You good, man?”
Nico looks up at Trick as he leans against the door frame. Nico swallows hard before nodding, “Yeah, just took too deep of a puff.”
“You’re usually pretty good with the whole smoking thing,” Trick notes, “You sure you’re all good?”
“Yeah,” Nico mutters as he stands up, “I’ll be fine.”
Trick nods, stepping out of the way to let Nico back into the kitchen. Nico quickly buttons up his chef’s coat so Trick can’t see the binder he’s dawning beneath it. He doesn’t need any more people catching onto the fact that he’s trans. When Terry found out, he started treating Nico differently and it was an uncomfortable few months. The only people that knew were Joey, Terry, Pickles, and Nicole. As far as Nico’s concerned, it was going to stay that way. He quickly hops back on the line, using his forearm to wipe the sweat breaking out off his forehead as he washes his hands before he starts chopping up more onions for the sauce.
“Hey, Joey,” Trick calls, motioning Joey over. Nico watches the two discuss something at a volume he can’t hear. He bites the inside of his cheek nervously. He’s not usually a paranoid or anxious person. But, then again, he’s not usually the person who can’t handle a puff from a cigarette. He just blocks out the father and son while they talk, staring intensely at the onions he’s cutting. He falls back into a familiar rhythm, the shaking in his hands leaving as he’s able to focus on the task at hand
They all start to fall into a familiar rhythm again and they’re able to get stuff out at a decent pace. Nico even starts to come out of his shell a bit, able to feel more comfortable as he jokes with the others as if he didn’t get sick out in the alleyway hours before. Nico’s smiling and joking with Ruby, trading stories with her regarding Nicole. The rest of the night seems to run rather smoothly and when they’re about thirty minutes out from close and no more orders are rolling in, Joey tells them to shut down, clean up. Nico and Ruby quickly oblige, but not before Joey grabs Nico’s arm.
“Hey, can I talk to you?” Joey asks, nodding towards the walk-in. Nico’s brow furrows, confused why he's asking to talk to Nico.
“Uh, sure, you’re not coming onto me, right? That’d be weird.” Nico laughs, smiling but Nico doesn’t mirror it. Nico’s smile falls in response, following Joey to the walk-in. Joey closes the door behind him, crossing his arms as he looks at Nico. For a moment Nico thinks he’s in trouble, like when a child gets caught doing something they’re not supposed to. Although, Nico’s nearly thirty and he’s not done anything wrong, so things aren’t adding up for him.
“Are you okay?” Joey’s face seems to be tainted with concern, “I only ask because it’s not like you to get sick without having done something… crazy… Are you back on drugs?”
“I wish, man,” Nico stares off for a moment before shaking his head, “No, I’m not. I just got sick, it happens. I feel fine, Joey.”
“You don’t just get sick, Nico,” Joey crosses his arms, his eyes narrowing, “Don’t lie to me. What is it? Meth? Acid?”
“I’m not on drugs,” Nico shakes his head, “I swear on my life, I’m clean. I’m not even on pot right now.”
Joey’s jaw tightens and loosens, “Trick told me you threw up.”
“Yeah,” Nico nods, “And then I came back in and worked like it didn’t happen. I worked hard and did a damn good job tonight. Did I ever do that when I was on drugs?”
Joey hesitates, “The worst part is that I believe you…. Okay, but you tell me if it gets worse, okay? We don’t need a sick line cook on our hands.”
“It was a fluke, man,” Nico reasons as he starts to leave the walk-in, “Won’t happen again.”
“HEY,” Joey calls as Nico walks away, “TELL ME NEXT TIME, ASSHOLE.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nico hangs up his keys on the hook by the door. He sighed, trudging into the bedroom where Pickles was reading in the bed, the bedside lamp offering minimal light to his efforts. Nico flops onto the bed, sighing as he rolls over, looking up at Pickles. Pickles puts a bookmark in his book, setting it aside as he lays on his stomach beside Nico.
“How’s your grandma?” Nico asks before stealing a quick kiss from his husband.
“Good! It’s always hard going over there, you know,” Pickles nods, "Everything that happened in that basement, I can’t look at the door without getting anxious. But Asher loves her and I love her, so, you know. It was nice to see her.”
“I wish I could’ve gone with you,” Nico mutters, “She’s such a sweet woman.”
“There’s always next time,” Pickles replies, “How was work? Everything go smoothly?”
“Define smoothly,” Nico grumbles before he sits up, Pickles doing the same, “I threw up again. I’m worried, I’ve been doing it for a while now. I think something’s wrong.”
Pickles’s green eyes soften, wavering slightly as he scans his husband. Nico sighs, rubbing his neck as he looks away. He’s just in a constant state of emotional and mental discomfort at this point. Even when his body feels fine, like it does right now, he’s always worrying about what’s going to happen next to drop his mood. Migraine? Nausea? Right now Nico is fine, physically. But that could change in the matter of seconds.
“I know you don’t want me to say it,” Pickles starts, reaching under the bed.
“Then don’t,” Nico covers his face with his hand out of exhaustion, “You know I hate when you suggest it.”
“Maybe you should take a test, just to be sure,” Pickles offers, pulling the box of pregnancy tests they store in case of a situation like this, “Best case scenario you’re pregnant and we know. Worst case scenario, you’re not pregnant and we need to figure out what’s wrong.”
Nico looks at the box out of the corner of his eye, “Pickles, please…”
“I’m serious, Nico,” Pickles mutters, “We’ve been talking about adopting again anyways, maybe the universe gave us a kid in a different way.”
Nico looks up at Pickles, “Ugh, I hate when you make sense. But can it wait until the morning?”
“If that’s what you want,” Pickles sets the box on his bedside table, “Go change, I’m tired and want cuddles with someone who doesn’t smell like onions.”
“Do I smell like onions?” Nico looks down at his chef’s coat before he starts unbuttoning it, “Well, you can thank Joey for that.”
Nico stands up, tossing his chef’s jacket to the side as he pulls his binder off. He sighs, taking a deep breath. He’s probably been binding for far too long that day, he’s honestly lost track of the hours. He grabs one of his band tees, throwing it on before he kicks off his shoes, peeling off his socks and pants. He unties his bandana, then his bun, allowing the dreads to fall in his face as he climbs into bed beside Pickles.
“What are we gonna do if I am?” Nico asks, biting his lip subconsciously.
“I’m gonna take care of you,” Pickles wraps his arms around Nico, “And then we’re gonna take care of the baby. Nothing we can’t handle, right?”
“Yeah,” Nico mutters, “You’re right, nothing we can’t handle.”
Nico buries his face naturally into Pickles’s chest before Pickles pulls his arm away, hitting the light. Nico breathes in the scent of his husband, starting to fall asleep as Pickles pulls the blanket up to cover him better.